REAL K9 Training LLC

10/15/2025

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10/14/2025

🐾 Training Tip Tuesday

🛏️ First Nights of Crate Training — Without Tears (or Broken Toes!)

Bringing a new puppy home? Those first nights can feel rough for everyone. Here’s how I make crate training easier — for the pup and the humans.

✨ My Setup:
• Crate in my bedroom, raised just high enough that I can reach a hand inside without leaving bed.
• Last potty break around 10–11 PM.
• Pup settles in with a safe chew.

🌙 When they cry at night:
Most of the time, it’s not about needing to p*e (puppies’ urine production actually slows down at night). It’s the shock of being away from mom, siblings, and everything familiar. Instead of scooping them out, I simply slip my hand into the crate. One sniff and — whoosh — they settle right back down.

🚨 But what if they can’t calm down?
Then it may be a real potty break. Take them out calmly, no chatter, no play, no cuddles. Straight to the potty spot, wait silently until they go, and then right back into the crate. Keep it all business. And yes — many puppies will still wake up early in the beginning (think 5–5:30 AM). That’s normal!

⏳ Then we build:
• Daytime crate games (short, positive sessions).
• Slowly moving the crate farther from my bedside until it lands in its forever spot.

💡 Pro Tip: Don’t skip the “hand by the crate” stage. It meets your puppy’s emotional needs while teaching them the crate is safe — not scary.

And yes… I learned this the hard way 20+ years ago when my “plan” ended with a broken toe, a wide-awake baby and toddler, and me dragging a mattress downstairs to sleep next to the crate. 😅 Trust me — this way is much smoother!

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💬 Did your puppy sail through the first nights — or were they a sleepless whirlwind? Share your funniest first-night story below!

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10/13/2025

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10/12/2025

10/11/2025

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10/11/2025

🌤️ Rehoming Alert – Sweet Goldendoodle, 4 Years Old (Western Slope, CO) 🌤️

Meet Sky — a 4-year-old spayed female Goldendoodle who’s as gentle as she is curious. 💛 She’s affectionate, playful (ball-obsessed!), and loves being close to her people.

Sky was adopted about six months ago from a very busy home with four kids and another dog. Because of her noise sensitivity, that environment was simply too overwhelming for her. Since moving to a quieter home, she’s made wonderful progress and truly blossomed.

💔 Sadly, her family recently experienced a heartbreaking life change — one of the owners suddenly and completely lost her remaining vision. With the huge adjustments they’re now facing, they’ve made the very difficult decision to find Sky a new home where she can continue to thrive.

🏡 Sky’s Ideal Home:
✨ Quiet, calm environment
🚫 No kids
🐾 Best as the only dog (at least for now)
🐱 Unknown with cats
🎧 An understanding of her noise sensitivity and willingness to meet her needs
🌈 A patient person or family familiar with positive, science-based training methods — and willing to continue with professional guidance (I’m happy to offer a complimentary in-person or virtual session to her new home!)

🩺 Health:
Sky has had a thorough veterinary checkup and is a healthy, happy girl ready for her next chapter. 💕

Because moving is hard for any dog — especially one who’s noise-sensitive — we’re hoping to find her true forever home this time. A calm, understanding environment will help her continue building confidence and feeling safe. 🏠💛

📍 Located in Montrose, Colorado
🚗 Transport may be possible if scheduling allows (pickup preferred)

Sky’s family and I just want her to find the peaceful, loving home she so deeply deserves. If you think you might be the right match — or know someone who could be — please reach out. 💕

10/10/2025

10/07/2025

🐾 Training Tip Tuesday

🚫 Stop Practicing What You Don’t Want

If your dog gets to bark at people out the window every day…
If they lunge at other dogs on every walk…
If they rehearse chaos over and over…

➡️ They’re not “getting it out of their system.”
They’re getting better at it.

Dogs learn all the time—before, during, and after your training sessions. That means if they keep practicing the very behaviors you’re trying to change, you’re working against yourself (and your trainer, if you have one!).

✨ The secret weapon? Management.
And no, it’s not “cheating.” Management is training.

💡 Management in Real Life:
• 🪟 Block window access → no chance to rehearse barking at passersby.
• 🚶 Choose quiet walking routes → so reactivity isn’t daily practice.
• 🚪 Use crates, pens, or baby gates → prevent accidents and destructive habits.
• 🪑 Block furniture or stash toilet paper/cables → avoid giving bad habits a head start.
• 🐾 Set up safe zones → your dog can relax instead of getting into trouble when you can’t supervise.

🐶 Think about puppies: we don’t leave rugs down for potty mistakes, or give them free run of the house. We manage their world until good habits are solid. Reactive and adult dogs deserve the same support.

🎯 Why it matters: Management prevents the problem behavior from being rehearsed, so training can actually stick. Without it, your dog is just adding more “reps at the gym” for the very behavior you don’t want.

👉 Set your dog up for success. Train smart. Manage smarter.

💬 What’s your go-to management strategy at home or on walks? Share your hack—I promise another dog owner will thank you. 😉

10/02/2025

🐾 “Calm” Isn’t Boring — It’s a Skill

We often dream of a calm dog… but here’s the thing: calm doesn’t just “happen.” For many dogs, calm is a trained behavior just like sit, down, or recall.

Dogs with Big Emotions especially don’t default to calm. They need practice learning:
✨ How to settle their bodies after excitement
✨ How to regulate when life feels overwhelming
✨ How to choose relaxation instead of rehearsing chaos

💡 Calm isn’t the absence of behavior. It’s your dog saying: “I know how to turn my brain and body down a notch.” And like any skill, the more we reinforce it, the stronger it gets.

🎯 The takeaway: Don’t wait for calm — teach it, reward it, and celebrate it. A dog that chooses calm is building lifelong resilience.

💬 What’s one spot in your house (or life) you’d love your dog to “choose calm”?

Calm isn’t just about rewarding the behavior you want—it starts with meeting your dog’s needs first. 🐾 A dog with pent-up energy from unmet physical or mental needs will struggle much more with calmness. Breed, exercise, enrichment, and lifestyle all matter. Once those foundations are in place, reinforcing calm becomes much easier and more effective. ✨

09/30/2025

🐾 Training Tip Tuesday

🚦 Door Threshold Manners – No Cue Needed – Because Patience Pays

Tired of your dog blasting through the door like they’re late for a hot date? 😅
Teach them that calm at the doorway is just what happens—no “wait” or “sit” cue required.

✨ Try this:
1️⃣ Approach the door together.
2️⃣ Pause, if they offer a sit, reward the sit a few times. 
3️⃣ Reach towards the door, they don’t move —reward calm.
4️⃣ Gradually work towards touching the door, open a crack, slowly open wider, only moving forward when they hold position.

🪄 The magic? Reward before they break position—not after they’ve charged the porch. If they break just start over, make it easier to be successful. 🎯 The goal? Door opens = stay put until invited out—automatic, every time.

💬 What’s your go-to release word? (“Free,” “Okay,” or “YOLO”?) Drop it below!