08/11/2024
Please please share. Thank you, my dog peeps
Grateful Dog Training
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- Grateful Dog Training
certified positive dog trainer of 15 years. Teaching humans about dog behavior is my passion.
07/02/2024
It was an 18 dog day today.
So, it was a good day
05/05/2024
Ongoing fun with this boy! Mom is doing awesome work. I met Kevin Moore and Deanne 15 years ago with their great Dane pup, Rex. ❤️.
Helped with German shepherd, Sky, two more great Dane pups, Chief and Chance. And now Reece.
Honored, blessed and "Grateful" - love Auntie Karen
04/19/2024
Working with this handsome rottie, Angus and his owner. We have some leash training skills to work on, education on how dogs learn, how to read body language, and understanding the dogs perception of their environment.
07/07/2023
Kitty peeps
06/06/2023
Hyponatremia occurs when more water enters the body than it can process.
05/27/2023
Would you want to live in a state of anxiety? Using aversive methods may stop a behavior, but really, please consider the drawbacks. What are they really learning?
Freedom number 5 - freedom from fear and distress. I'm going to circle back to number 3 on this post, too, freedom from pain.
The posts this week on the 5 freedoms of animal welfare are how they relate specifically to training.
We can motivate dogs (and all individuals) using things the dog wants and things they don't want. When we start using aversive stimuli (pain, discomfort, annoyance, things which startle), we are breaching freedom number 5.
Things which startle are spray collars, spray bottles, water pistols, compressed air cans (pet corrector), rattle cans/bottles, using physical intimidation. They work by saying to the dog - "when you do that, I'll startle/frighten you." These dogs now operate in a state of alertness/hyperalertness which affects stress levels and health.
Things which cause pain/annoyance/discomfort in training - prong collars, e-collars, choke chains, slip leads, physical corrections, headcollars, harnesses which restriction or have moving parts, collar corrections, deliberately taking the dog's space (this may fall into the fear point too).
I recently dealt with a dog who had seen another trainer. The dog was undersocialised before adoption by the new people and terrified of the world. The first thing this trainer did was put a prong collar on this dog and march her down the street, telling the client, "She just needs to get over it." The only way i can describe the actions of this trainer are cruel and barbaric.
If our training methods cause pain, fear, distress etc, we are violating this freedom.
Reminder - I have no interest in debates on training methods or hearing and excuses, justifications or reasons for endorsing these training methods. You are free to discuss these methods in many other places online where people will take you on, just not here. This is not a place for your voice to be heard, I'm too interested giving a voice to those dogs who have been subjected to these training methods.
Love and peace.
05/24/2023
This - all the words.
05/21/2023
Didn't attend the 2022 APDT/CAPDT Conference? You can still get your CEUs with the conference recordings! Closed captioning is available in both English and Spanish. Click here to purchase: https://www.pathlms.com/apdt/courses/40615
05/07/2023
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10219082620570580&id=1657995140&mibextid=Nif5oz
"How to Right a Dog Gone Wrong; The roadmap for rehabilitating aggressive dogs" Comes in paperback and ebook formats! www.pamdennison.com
05/06/2023
GREETING guests politely -
Notice the gate? Training begins with PREVENTION -- the gate not only prevents escapes but it provides MANAGEMENT while you teach your dog HOW TO GREET GUESTS without jumping up!
*Here’s how it works:
ENTRY TRAINING WITH YOUR DOG BEHIND A GATE
1. Secure your dog behind a gate that is visible to the door.
2. Outside the front door, have a container with super high-drive treats waiting for your guest to pick up and have in their hands before entering.
3. The very moment they enter, have them toss a few treats on the ground behind but near the dog.
4. Repeat - Repeat - Repeat
5. You can also be doing the same thing on your side of the gate. All we’re doing at first is creating a positive emotional response to guests entering our home.
6. The simple process is to reward for behaviors that you like, and ignore behaviors you don’t want to be repeated.
7. Practice this a lot and eventually you will have your visitor get closer to the gate to reward and pet your dog just like this photo…..these dogs have learned because their people took a little time to teach them what TO DO.
In the beginning you will be rewarding just for not jumping on the gate. You can scatter treats on the ground behind your dog so they’ll be less likely to crowd the entryway.
Then you will begin to strengthen good behavior by asking for a sit before rewarding. Practicing this will get your dog to realize that the only way they get attention is by offering good behaviors such as all four feet on the ground, no barking, and/or sitting politely.
What you are doing is CAPTURING the behavior you want your dog to do. So each time your dog has four feet on the floor you would praise and encourage and reward.
What your dog learns is that polite behavior is more rewarding than jumping up.
*Management while training DOES work beautifully together.
05/03/2023
The ability of dogs to "sniff out" certain diseases including COVID-19 infection and cancer has been well documented over recent years. Now, a new study reveals dogs can detect a person's stress level by odor alone.
04/03/2023
I've known of this organization for over 15 years! Help them help others!
03/02/2023
When a dog offers something cute, you can shape it into more cuteness!
Training should be fun, yes??
02/09/2023
Haven't got through all of them. Chuckling
We all know what it takes to adopt a dog. In spite of being cute, sometime dogs do crazy and silly things as well. But yet these shenanigans doesn’t irritates us, in fact it puts smile on our faces. Erez Zadok is an illustrator, who’s been active in comic world since very long time. Erez […]
02/07/2023
Really reaching humans to speak dog and understand how we learn
It might sound odd to say a dog trainer won’t train your dog but it’s true. The only person who can do that is you.
You are the person your dog spends the vast majority of their time with. You are the person they have most interaction with. Who sets the boundaries, who has the opportunity to consistently reinforce behaviours, who chooses the environments your dog is exposed to, who has control over your dog's day to day life & experiences.
When you go to a weekly training class or have a weekly session your trainer isn’t really teaching your dog….they are teaching 𝘺𝘰𝘶 how to teach your dog. And your success will be determined by whether you take what you learn and implement it on a daily basis. Because even if you see your trainer or attend your class religiously every single week, week in week out, that still amounts to a tiny proportion of your dog's life ( just 0.6% of their week if the training session lasts 1 hour).
Your trainer's job is to give you the understanding, skills and confidence that will allow you to effectively teach your dog and to support and guide you through the process.
Your job is to put what you learn into practice.
01/18/2023
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Videos
Ongoing fun with this boy! Mom is doing awesome work. I met Kevin Moore and Deanne 15 years ago with their great Dane pup, Rex. ❤️. Helped with German shepherd, Sky, two more great Dane pups, Chief and Chance. And now Reece. Honored, blessed and "Grateful" - love Auntie Karen
Another brilliant Aussie, Goober! Mom, Melissa is no stranger to Einstein dogs having Border collie experience. But young Goober was getting a bit too pushy in his young play with older Border Collie, Molly. We talking about management, establishing a let out and play routine without Molly for a time. Showed the kids how a flirt pole worked to help get that energy out. (Always keeping toy on ground, avoiding high jumping impact). Also talked about brain engagement, teaching tricks and basics of how dogs learn with some fun Psychology exchanged. We revisited "leave it" - He also learned down and you all know where that leads....lured him into a roll over the first time! Video for fun. And I had fun, too!
Crede's Cause foster dog Ava enjoying her master paws feeder. I've been working on some basic obedience with Ava. She is a one year old black mouth cur, available to adopt!
Soooo, I added a lil cute "head down" to Sammy's down. How adorable is this?
Walking nicely on leash demo- the slow motion was not intentional, but can be helpful for training viewing. Notice when delivery of food reward is made, my hand goes into Rosie's "lane". If the handlers hand gets "lazy" the dog can end up crossing over into the handlers "lane" and can trip up the human. I also cue a "watch me" for focus and check in. This can be very helpful when walking dogs who may want to focus on objects that create barking. Miss Rosie did very well!!!
Puppy Myra! We taught "down" first and she did so well! Course you all know how I "roll" and had fun with teaching rollover too. Smart and adorable!
Welcome Rosie, a three month old bernadoodle! Having had several dogs before, Rosie had sit, down, paw, and a few play routines under her collar already. We talked about puppy nibbling, redirecting away from fingers with a chew toy. This will be happening for awhile while teething happens. Patience!! We also talked about housetraining routines and keeping a "potty" journal for tracking success. Rosie is about 60% there. Understanding her puppy size bladder and patience go hand in hand. Mom and dad have a good routine going, And I have no doubt, she will succeed. We also talked about submissive/excitement urination, safe toys, brain enrichment, and food dispensing toys. We started "wait" at the door, too. Of course with the puppies, I must have fun with "rollover"
Dog introduction. It's important to study dog boy language- resident Peanut is the one who starts offering play bows! At first new rescue Lincoln from Crede's Cause is unsure. He had a couple days without peanut in the house to decompress and feeling safe. Dogs innately read each other pretty darn good. Keeping a looser leash and allowing them freedom of choice is so important. Happy to report all went well and Peanut said yes to Lincoln!!!🥰
Meet Nilo!! I'm a sucker for dogs and tricks, so I had to video his dance spin. We all know change can produce anxiety in humans. It's the same in dogs; change in routine, change in address, change in marital status, adding or subtracting household family members. Nilo had these changes and started showing behaviors associated with separation anxiety. Mom, Deanne took him to her vet to discuss anxiety medication and started getting her boy some help. Then hired me. We discussed how putting on shoes, grabbing key, coat, etc starts the triggers of her leaving. We discussed mixing those triggers up, ie, grab keys and go sit down in bedroom, put shoes and coat on and sit down and read something. This helps decrease the stacking of these triggers and his anxiety. We also talked about making it a birthday party when Mom leaves, by having food toys stuffed, and frozen with yummy stuff, hiding his kibble to find when she leaves, and comfy areas including a crate/ bunkers with door open. Mom's will keep a journal of working the new routines and progress. See you in three weeks lil Nilo.
These two were so scared. As you can see, their crate was their safe spot. After four days in fosters patient care they are starting to show some trust. Their two brothers are waiting for a clean bill of health. They are at a vet and their boarding bill of $40 a day as well as treatments are mounting. Crede's is a very new rescue I am part of. We need help. And I hate to ask, but I'm asking. If anyone donates $25 I will donate a 30 minute phone consult for dog training questions you may have. P.m me for more information. Help us help! Thank you, my dog peeps.💜🐾🐾
Practicing "come when called" with Gilberto. While practicing this, Dad says, yes training should be fun! Yes yes, yaahh Dad. Is Gilberto having fun? Yes! We also practiced "wait" at the door and refined Dad's skills a bit. It can be challenging (with the tiniest pup ever) to reward at this very low level. Dad was a bit to high with his hand, and inadvertently rewarding this pup to break his sit and jump up a bit. Once got better at this we saw a much better sit. See you next week Lil Berto!
ATLAS!!! I met up with with Liz (Atlas's "grandma") and Ellie, (Atlas's mom) at House of Hope enrichment center. Atlas has some reactivity behaviors produced by various things in the environment. He is very vigilant. A blowing leaf in parking lot caught his suspicious eye! Barking at it, pulling toward it in a very focused way. His bond with his mom is very strong, but her concerns are with trying to redirect his focus in these situations. I covered the very important "emergency U-turn" for that get out of dodge in a quick but happy way. Reactivity is very common, and dogs view everything through a lens of "safe, unsafe, or neutral". Creating positive associations, keeping them under threshold by not exposing them to what triggers reactivity is challenging for sure! Work in progress!!! Please check out House of Hope in Libertyville. I'll post a few pictures of our visit. Very cool, fun place!
Tori and Bailey working a "leave it" Good job guys!
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