Instinct. Drive. Control. Communication. Connection.
It was bird dog Saturday and Tango was showing Mav, Scout & Sway how it’s done!
Wait for it! The best part is the celebration at the end! This is Jenga’s first time going out for a real bird. She’s been successfully retrieving dummies and it was great to see her translate the skill and pick up the frozen duck immediately. Just a few weeks ago, Jenga would refuse to retrieve anything but her favorite dummy from home. And while all of this is great progress, the absolute best part of the training has been seeing both Jenga and her owner’s confidence skyrocket. Great job, guys! #digmancanineacademy #birddog #drahthaar #deutschdrahthaar
Harper would barely leave her front door a few days ago…now she is doing “scary things” and discovering that there is a lot of fun to discover beyond her fear. We taught “place” and then here we translated it to other objects so we can build some of these confidence building exercises with planned structures and anything else we might find in an environment that would be conducive to training. We can’t wait to see how she blossoms over the next few weeks!
Finn went through private lessons with us in the summer of 2020. When we first met him he was out of control, anxious, insecure and reactive. His owners weren’t sure what to do with him and it wasn’t for lack of effort. Their biggest struggle was Finn’s behavior with the cats. His prey drive was over-the-top. He treated them like squeaky toys..chasing and trying to catch them like they were a squirrel or rabbit. They had resorted to keeping them separated, but Finn would spend hours relentlessly whining, shaking and carrying on outside the door of their room. We spent the first half of their lessons building communication between Finn and his owners until he was ready to work directly on the issues with the cats. Some weeks saw slow progress and some showed big leaps but we all stuck with it and this is them now. Can you believe it?! We can and we love it! This is a common goal we work on with clients. A change in mindset in your dog is achievable. #digmancanineacademy #statecollege #happyvalley
We hope you are enjoying this snow as much as Sway!
We talk with clients a lot about how to grow their dog’s thresholds as they take to their new skills and growing relationship with their owners. We encourage them to move towards difficult environments/triggers in alignment with their mastery of skills and increased leadership and trust with their dog. They soon find themselves seeking out a challenge with their dog instead of trying to avoid it and they find some failures where we learn and a whole lot of successes where we celebrate. We had construction happening and Drew was afraid of the workers and afraid of the loud and unexpected noises….so we used it as an opportunity! #digmancanineacademy #statecollege #happyvalley
We are thankful for all our veterans today.🇺🇸But a special thanks to veteran and trainer, Ethan, on this Veterans Day! Ethan grabbed this footage during one of his lessons and it’s an excellent example of the knowledge and confidence he is giving to owners to help them succeed in their training goals. This young pup is absolutely killing it…as a car pulls out unexpectedly, many people mill around and she stays calm, collected and focused on her owner. This is a testament to a committed owner and skilled trainer working together. Great job guys!
Pack Walk! This Saturday, October 8 at 10:30am. This is for clients who have completed their training and have maintained their skills. If you are currently in training, check with your trainer to see if you are ready to join. Get in touch here or with your trainer to let us know if you want to join.
Pack Walk! This Saturday, September 24 at 10:30am. This is for clients who have completed their training and have maintained their skills. If you are currently in training, check with your trainer to see if you are ready to join. Get in touch here or with your trainer to let us know if you want to join.
Pack Walk! This Saturday, August 13 at 10:30am. This is for clients who have completed their training and have maintained their skills. If you are currently in training, check with your trainer to see if you are ready to join. Get in touch here or with your trainer to let us know if you want to join. As usual, location is TBD based on the number of dogs who will be joining.
Pack Walks are great practice for our clients and our favorite part of those weeks is seeing how well they are doing keeping up their training. We are committed to our clients doing well for the long-haul and do our best to support them long-term. #digmancanineacademy #statecollege #happyvalley
It’s time to Pack Walk! This Saturday, July 9 at 10:30am. This is for clients who have completed their training and have maintained their skills. If you are currently in training, check with your trainer to see if you are ready to join. Get in touch here or with your trainer to let us know if you want to join. As usual, location is TBD based on the number of dogs who will be joining. #digmancanineacademy #statecollege #happyvalley