Harmony Canine

Welcome to day training, #Meeko! This guy hasn't had a ton of exposure to dogs before, so we're working on engagement while Ruca is being my distraction dog! He's learning day one things, like markers, getting on the climb, and checking in with me. This is pretty awesome for a first day without much dog experience! What a man!

Guess who absolutely aced their #walkies today?! #Theo did A loose leash alongside traffic for verbal praise only; including an about turn. Im over the moon for his success. Ready to see your dog out on #walkies tio? Ask us, and we can help get you set up.

Pivot bowl out for Silas! This little man is learning how to move his butt! Remember, most dogs don't do this intuitively. We have to teach them how to move their back end independent from their front. Last week we taught Silas how to get on the pivot bowl, so now it's time to teach him how to use it. You can see that we're taking any amount of movement at first. Eventually he'll be able to do this without a l lure, and without having to think about it so much, but first we have to help him figure out what we're even asking. So any movement is good here! It's also really typical for one direction to be a lot easier than the other. That's okay! Dogs are sort of "handed" the same way we are, but we have to make sure to develop mobility in both directions. At one point I take the bowl away to practice some twists in the direction he's struggling with, and then when we add the bowl back, we're able to get what we're looking for a little easier!

Nelli the little cattle dog isn't a HUGE fan of other dogs, especially really wiggly, chaotic ones. So obviously, I decided to work her with my really chaotic boy, Lincoln 😂 Even though Lincoln is really fast and wiggly, he's under good control here while Nelli works her impulse control. She stays engaged with me the whole time and holds her obedience. Good girl!!

FIND IT! New to Nosework (Nosework 101) is open for enrollment! This is our entry-level class for anyone wanting to learn more or try their dog at scent based games. No previous experience is required! Nosework and scent based games are a great way to build a stronger relationship in reading your dogs' body language and challenge their minds even on rainy days 📅 Starts March 14th, 2025 ⏰️ 7:30 -8:30pm 📍 13233 SE Mcloughlin Blvd 🔖 $200 / 6-week course Sign up using your Gingr profile https://harmonycaninetraining.portal.gingrapp.com or send us a text at 833.926.0791 Nosework class is open to dogs of all ages Successfully managed reactive dogs are welcome!

Let's talk about toy play! I LOVE a game of tug for rewards and relationship building with my dog! But too often we make this game too hard or not fun for the dog, and then create conflict around our "drop." So I'm working with Tater today (welcome back, kid!) on good play! I'm keeping the toy low, teasing her with it in a fairly predictable way (more on this in a second), letting her catch it, and then we can tug together! When I ask her to drop it, the toy gets really still and boring. I'm holding it really close to her mouth and not pulling any more. There's no more give and take. The second she releases the ball, we make it fun and active again! I've talked a lot about stillness and movement, and this is another place is applies! Movement is a reward, as much as access to the toy again! A note on making the toy accessible and: for most dogs, when we tease them to make it enticing, the movement is often too erratic. You can see this with Taters here, because she stop targeting the ball; and instead starts coming up the handle. This is her attempt at getting a better grip, and finding something more stable to grab. If you're noticing your dog is coming up your toy a lot, or grabbing your hand, slow your play down!

Today I am working with new kid lucy on engaging and duration. First we start off with rewarding and marking her the second she is in her down. Once she got a good grip there we slowly started to make the down time longer, the duration. For example I would ask for a down, correct and help with uh-oh if needed, once she is down, wait 2-3 seconds before marking and rewarding. This will start to help Lucy realize that when we ask for a down she needs to stay there until marked or told otherwise.

Well I think we are approaching tired.

Working on basic impulse control with (mostly) young dogs here! Some of these guys know the rules already, but others here are just learning. Gates opening is not permission to just run through! This is a common issue with a lot of dogs, and one I personally remember struggling with our family dog as a kid. An open door can start to mean a dog is going to bolt, and if you live on a busy street, that can be scary! So in a really structured environment like this, I want these guys to understand that I really want a nice sit, and to stay sitting even when the gate is open. At the end of the day, this is just proofing! I pay when the dog sits, I pay for duration, and I pay for staying seated when the door opens (a distraction!). If the dog tries to push through, I just close the door and remove access, and we try again!

In this video I am practicing some targeting with Kronk. We use the fit paws equipment as his target and once his front paws land on it, I mark the behavior and reward Kronk. Once he got comfortable with the big circle I switched him to a smaller one to make the target a little more difficult to hit. Since hes such a big boy this will also help with his body awareness and how to use his body more

Here Micheal is getting some really awesome engagement with mishka who is a little nervous and not sure if they want to work or not. But just after a few minutes with Micheal showing him how fun work can be, he definitely started to get the picture 😊