Success Just Clicks Dog Training

01/06/2025

Join us this Saturday for a seminar on how to research and evaluate a breeder and rescue so you can stack the deck in your favor with an easier puppy raising experience.

https://app.acuityscheduling.com/schedule.php?owner=12603659&appointmentType=69335856

We will spend a ton of time going over what to expect from an ethical breeder, what ethical breeders do with their litters, why what they do gives those puppies a leg up, and sets new puppy owners up for easier success. We'll go over how to identify if a breeder is ethical and someone who is doing the things that will set you up for success or if their practices could be problematic.

Unfortunately, as consumers have gotten a little wiser, unethical breeders have also gotten better. They have beautiful websites, positive social media presences, and throw around buzzwords. Many of our students thought they were getting a puppy who was set up for success from a good breeder, but that just wasn't the case and they struggled with puppy raising in predictable ways based on where the pup came from. They did look into the breeder, but didn't know what to look for to get the real answers and make sure they were setting themselves up for success.

We will also spend time (admittedly less time) talking about what to look for in a responsible rescue, what you can do to to set yourself up for success, what the rescue could be doing to set their puppies up for success, what questions to ask a rescue/foster family before adopting, and how to read between the lines of their descriptions or know what to ask about a pup to be paired with the right pup for your lifestyle.

Feel free to share this if you have friends who could benefit from this information before they get their next pup.

The more educated consumers are about ethical breeders and responsible rescues, the the more we can prevent people from supporting well-disguised puppy mills, unethical breeders, and can improve the how rescues raise their puppies to give them the same leg up.

Schedule your appointment online Success Just Clicks Dog Training

01/06/2025

Well-Trained Dogs Can Do More Contest! And the winners areeeee...... Penny and Jenna AND Anne and Zuzu (via random number draw). There were two winners because i dropped the ball pulling in July for the first contest period. (Jenna and Anne, i'll email or you can email me for the code to use for your next class).

I dropped the ball on this in 2024 (to be fair, FB changed their policies with how far out I can schedule posts and that affected it) so I didn't post often about it, but we STILL had over 30 titles or official certifications like CGC or Therapy Dogs submitted!

Here are some of our fabulous new title holders!

We love celebrating and rewarding folks for doing more with their dogs!

You can submit titles earned in December for our Jan-June contest period now! And i'll try to do better at reminding people about this fun contest!

https://www.successjustclicks.com/well-trained-dogs-contest/

01/05/2025

Let's talk about getting your next puppy... again. We are back to looking at breeders and learning how to really research a breeder and find someone that is ethical and doing things to set you and your pup up for success.

There are far more less-than-ethical breeders who are doing things that will not set their puppy buyers up for success than there are breeders who are doing amazing things with their puppies and breeding programs. It's easy to find a breeder of X/Y/Z dog... but finding a GOOD breeder is a completely different process.

These less than great breeders have, unfortunately, learned that consumers are becoming slightly more educated on evaluating a breeder. So they've become better at pulling the wool over people's eyes.

They say all the buzz words, they have really cute professional-ish pictures on a decent website, they have learned the power of social media and have cultivated active social media groups/pages to build the 'by word of mouth' popularity, and some have gone as far as learning to not just fib but also falsify information.

Almost every student who has struggled with a difficult puppy from a breeder who turned out to not be as advertised has said that they "did their research" on the breeder. I absolutely believe they did, but I also know through our conversation that they didn't ask the things I would have asked or looked into the things I would have looked into to evaluate that breeder.

Want to learn how a dog professional looks into a breeder and how to evaluate things from a 'dog person's' perspective to set yourself up for success for your next puppy?

Join us for a few hours for a seminar on Jan 11th, 930am

https://app.acuityscheduling.com/schedule.php?owner=12603659&appointmentType=69335856

The correct answer is "care" I do not specifically look for any of those things (some don't actually exist but breeders will tout it). Puppy mills are USDA inspected. Puppy mills have "AKC registered" dogs.

01/04/2025

Out with the winter snow backdrop and in with our Valentine's backdrop! Did some phone photos today but am going to go back with the big camera next time!

You can use the photo setup by renting the little room! Rent it just for photos or a longer session to play, train, or exercise your pup before taking super cute photos!

01/03/2025

This is basic level class! Dogs will be introduced to foundation skills and learn how to learn through clicker training (or using “yes”). Dogs will learn: focus, sit, down, impulse control, greeting people nicely, settle on a mat, loose leash walking, and more! Humans will learn how to effectively use clicker/marker training to build solid communication and a positive relationship.

Prerequisites: This can be used as a first class or a refresher but dogs MUST be comfortable in a group class environment.

Sign up here - https://app.acuityscheduling.com/schedule/578095e5/?categories[]=Elementary%20Manners%20Class%20%28adult%20level%201%29

01/03/2025

Rescues (and also shelters, but shelters are a totally different structure and different resources so these things apply less to them) are fabulous sources for puppies and dogs. Many people can find a great pet that fits well into their home by rescuing a pup.

Not all rescues are equal, however, in how they set their adopted puppies and families up for success. The practices and policies in place with the rescue can really make a difference in the success of their puppy placements.

Let's look at a rescue practice that can really set adopters and puppies/dogs up for success... or not..

Some rescues are extremely thoughtful in getting to know puppies (and moms if at all possible) and placing puppies according to their temperament. Regardless of a puppy's age upon intake, they spend a few weeks in a foster home where they can learn about the world, get some good experiences, decompress and also give the foster/rescue information about their preferences, their strengths, and what type of person would be a good match (along with doing a health quarantine).

Other rescues will adopt dogs/puppies out before they are even in the custody of the rescue. Some even place them in the homes before they've had a more complete vet visit than the shelter exam before transport (this is a different but still very important concern). They base placements solely on the information given by the under-resourced and over-full shelter. This information can be incomplete to inaccurate and that doesn't set anyone up for success.

This practice of getting to know puppies and keeping them in rescue uses a lot of resources. They are taking up space for at least a couple weeks, they have higher vet costs, more food costs, and in theory it's a little harder to place an 18wk old puppy than it is a 14wk old puppy. There are definitely sacrifices, but the benefits are huge!

Want to learn more to be an educated consumer, join our seminar Jan 11 9:30am for a few hours (*rescue information makes up a smaller portion of our presentation but we'll talk about it)

https://app.acuityscheduling.com/schedule.php?owner=12603659&appointmentType=69335856

01/02/2025

UPDATE: P**F that spot was taken!

Run hurry fast! We had a spot open up in Intro To Scentwork starting this Sunday 4:40pm with Coleman!

Teach your pup foundation sniffy skills! This is a fabulous winter activity to tire your pups out inside when it's snowy outside!

https://app.acuityscheduling.com/schedule.php?owner=12603659&appointmentType=71381471

12/31/2024

Build on all the Elementary skills and Introduce a formal sit/down stay, sit for greetings, leave it and increase distractions for leash walking, settle on mat, etc. Owners learn how to reduce reinforcement successfully and increase criteria to build up the skills. We work on improving reliability in more challenging situations with fun games.

PRE-REQ-- Successfully completed Elementary school without a barrier. Not appropriate for reactive dogs.

Sign up here - https://app.acuityscheduling.com/schedule/578095e5/?categories[]=Middle%20School%20Manners%20Classes%20%28Adult%20Level%202%29

12/31/2024

Puppy training and socialization class! Puppies will learn how to offer desirable behaviors like sit, down, attention, foundation leash walking, impulse control, and more! Puppies will have some puppy play opportunities and have good experiences around a variety of people, noises, vet-prep work, and more critical socialization skills.

PRE-REQUISITES: Must be 18 weeks or younger by week 1, be current on their vaccination protocol, & have a clean f***l test or proof of recent worming before class.

Sign up - https://app.acuityscheduling.com/schedule/578095e5/?categories[]=Puppy%20Classes

12/29/2024

This is not your typical therapy dog class that is designed to pass an assessment at the end. This class is actually about teaching you and your pup the skills you'll use on therapy visits and how to become a great supportive therapy team. Although Tena is an evaluator for a therapy organization, the class isn't about that assessment.

We want your pup to learn fabulous greeting skills but also want you to learn how to support them in greeting nicely AND set up greetings so a person can easily interact with your dog. We want to have you learn how to navigate the spaces you will visit safely and easily. We want to teach you how to be a good teammate and learn to read your dog to see 1. if THEY really want to do therapy dog work right now and 2. if they happen to get stressed or uncomfortable, how you can help them.

We spend a ton of time on greetings, not greeting, focus, leash walking, and strategies for them handling the weird things they may encounter.

Humans will also learn a ton about therapy organizations so they can make educated choices moving forward on who to work with when they are ready to test to become a team!

Prerequisites: Dogs absolutely must enjoy interacting with humans and cannot be reactive to either dogs or people. Dogs should have completed Elementary Manners (we can modify things to accommodate younger pups, but I don't really recommend this class for developing pups necessarily because there's a level of maturity needed for therapy dogs and pups can go through fear periods where putting pressure on them to interact can be counter productive, BUT I won't deny a pup coming to class if they have passed EM or Adventure Puppy).

Sign up here - https://www.successjustclicks.com/upcoming-classes/

12/28/2024

Do you want your puppy to become a dog who can go anywhere and do anything with you--and who is happy and comfortable to do those things? Comfortably hang out at a restaurant patio, check out the farmer's market, watch kids playing softball at the park, travel all over the place with you and be non-bothered by the crazy world, and more.

We'll work on confidence boosting things like--traversing unstable surfaces, climbing safely, strange noises, people who might look weird, wheelchairs and more. We'll work on focusing in a variety of environments, learning to settle on a mat with activity around them, some leash walking work, settling with another puppy walking by, and settling around other puppies. We'll also spend a fair bit of time on greeting (or not) strangers and other dogs.

Prerequisites: Puppies should be between 3 and 6 months old at the start of class. This class can be a first class with an experienced handler as a trainer, but is likely better if done after Puppy K for most teams. Puppies cannot be reactive to people or dogs.

Sign up here - https://app.acuityscheduling.com/schedule/578095e5/?appointmentTypeIds[]=71381244

12/28/2024

So you've decided that you want a specific breed or mix of puppy and are going to purchase from a breeder, do you know what things ethical breeders do to set you up for success?

SO many unethical breeders have caught on to the various lingo and the buzzwords and use them all the time, but did you know how to actually determine what the breeder is doing and how to fact check them?

Let's look at one buzz word, "health testing". This term is listed on all sorts of breeder pages and that phrase really doesn't give buyers as much information as they think. There's another layer of information buyers should be investigating.

Let's look at two actual breeders and what "Health Tested Parents" means (*breeders found randomly on 'Good Dog' breeder database). Both state parents are health tested.

Breeder A--
Both parents have a DNA test done through a company like Embark or PawPrint Genetics (no confirmable results posted, so not sure which company).

Breeder B--
Both Parents DNA tested with Embark (results posted showing 1 dog clear for everything and the other is a carrier for 1 thing but clear for everything else)
Both Parents have OFA Hip Scores (Good/Excellent)
Both Parents have had OFA Elbow Scores (Normal/Normal)
Both Parents have CERF/CAER eye exams within the last year
One parent had OFA Cardio work up with Echocardiogram
One parent had OFA Thyroid
Both dogs had BAER hearing tests
(ALL OFA test results shared and can be searched in that database--ALONG with results for many grandparents, siblings, and other offspring of the parent dogs)

Are these two breeders equal? No. Do they both say "health tested parents" yes.

Unfortunately you have to be a really educated consumer to be able to really 'research' and determine if the breeder is ethical and doing things that will help increase chances of having an easier puppy raising experience.

Want to learn more about all of these things and how to evaluate a breeder, just us for a Saturday Seminar on January 11th at 9:30am!

https://app.acuityscheduling.com/schedule.php?owner=12603659&appointmentType=69335856

12/27/2024

We are updating our Dog Sport Foundations class this year! As we've added classes over the years, this class has gotten lost in the mix and the curriculum absorbed into other classes. So it was time for an update to find it's goal again! So, this class is going to cover foundation skills for a variety of dog sports. Think of this like Puppy Einsteins for adults!

We will cover an expanded marker system (it's more than just click/yes), hind end awareness, pivot bowl work for obedience/rally, sit platform work for obedience/rally, jump foundation skills for agility/rally/flyball/obedience, focus forward for agility and obedience skills, send arounds for obedience/rally/agility, flatwork handling for agility, zen bowl for agility/rally/obedience/etc, and scent discrimination (handler) for scentwork and obedience.

Prerequisites--Dogs cannot be reactive in class and must be able to work around other dogs who might be having fun (can use a long line for most of the skills if they are not fully trustworthy). Dogs should have successfully completed Elementary Manners and at least one more adult level class.

Sign up here - https://app.acuityscheduling.com/schedule/578095e5/?appointmentTypeIds[]=71391679

12/26/2024

Puppy raising is hard... but you can do things to help set yourself up for an easier puppy raising experience!

How puppies are raised can make a massive difference for your experience. Did they come to you already with traumatic experiences with confinement or bad habits for pottying in their confinement area? Did they come to you with having good experiences in the world, or did they only experience the breeder and their kennel (or inside the home, if lucky). What the puppy raisers did those first 8 weeks matters.

Want to learn how to evaluate a breeder to determine if they are doing things to set you up for success with the puppy or if they are just producing cute puppies who are going to be a challenge to raise because of their learning history already at 8wks old. Do you want to know what you can ask a rescue to see if they set their adopters up for success with the puppies they place and how to increase your odds at being matched with a puppy that fits your lifestyle?

Join us for a few hours of a learning seminar on Saturday January 11th at 9:30am!

https://app.acuityscheduling.com/schedule.php?owner=12603659&appointmentType=69335856

Also... it's a trick question... ALL of those answers are correct. My last three puppies came with all of those fabulous features!

Can't make it but know folks who could benefit? Please share!

I will also record this at a later date to purchase as a webinar.

12/25/2024

What a special day! So many friends are celebrating holidays today and tonight!

Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah to all of our friends who celebrate!