We all need some sweetness right now. Here’s Winfrey and our cat Guzik being sweet last night- Guzik has decided he loves Winfrey (yes Winfrey stays asleep this entire time lol) ❤️
Share your sweet animals in the comments below 🐾
Happy Monday! Back to work for me today after some lovely time off. I’ll be catching up on emails and communications this week, working with students in training and getting ready for new classes to start!
In the meantime enjoy this silly video of Winfrey’s ears catching the wind at the beach 😆
Family Dog Foundations 2 students rocking their dog distraction exercise today! Not easy for adolescent dogs!
Well done everyone! 😍
I love puppy class!
First day of Puppy Foundations 1 and these teams were awesome! I’m amazed at how well these youngsters focused in a new environment amongst so many other young pups.
They’re practicing learning the marker word and getting reinforced for giving their owners attention. Success! 🥳
Sunday’s Puppy Foundations 1 class worked on building foundational skills for leash walking this week.
Polite leash walking is a concept that contains many different skills and can be a challenge for dog owners to tackle.
To accomplish a pleasant walk around the neighborhood we might want our dog to: not walk too fast, keep the leash loose, stay calm around distractions, respond to cues around major distractions, ignore cars and bikes going by, ignore the neighbors barking dog, wait for us rather than pull towards something they want to check out… The list can go on depending on the context!
Are you overwhelmed reading that list? You’re not alone! There’s a reason why polite leash walking is one of the number one skills that dog owners seek training for.
So, how do we help puppies build these skills from the beginning?
We start small and simple, and build from there. Our goal is to set our pups up for success to learn good habits.
In this exercise we are helping our pups learn:
-to stay engaged with us as we walk a few steps
-to slow down and stop when we do
-to stay engaged and listen for the next cue!
These teams totally rocked it! Look at those calm, engaged youngsters! Truly a lovely class. Well done everyone!
First day of a full Puppy Foundations 1 Class yesterday!
Such a sweet class and look how calm and focused they are while learning the first skill of the curriculum!
What does the first day of puppy class look like?
In our first class we went over:
-Introductions and the goals of the class
-Positive reinforcement training theory
-Learning the marker word & building attention skills
-How to teach reliable name response
-House training check in and discussion
-Puppy teething survival strategies
-Intro to drop it
-General questions & discussion
And this is just the beginning 🤩 So excited to keep working with these teams!
Looking for a class for your new puppy? Our September class is already filling up! FMI and to register you can head to trainmeanimaltraining.com/group-classes/ .
Decompression walk for Henri
Nose power! Henri’s got it 💪
Did you know our dogs’ noses are thousands of times better at detecting scents than our own? It’s amazing the information they can gather with those snoots!
Which is why sniffing is so important for them and a great source of enrichment and decompression. I took Henri here for a decompression walk to help him settle after getting a bit stressed- this is how he spent most of it! He was much more relaxed and tired afterwards. Success!
What are decompression walks? Read more about them in my recent blog post here: https://www.trainmeanimaltraining.com/2024/06/27/the-benefits-of-decompression-walks/
First drop in Field Trip class was a success!
Even with challenging distractions all around- other dogs barking, people walking/biking by and kids playing on the playground- these guys stayed engaged, calm and happy to work! Well done everyone!
If interested in joining a drop in class you can email me at [email protected] to get on the email list!
This week is HOT! Even puppy Henri didn’t want to do more than roll around in the shade in this heat- who can blame him?
How are you keeping your pups cool and entertained? This is great weather for kiddie pools, swimming and frozen treats! Share your pups’ favorite way to cool off on these hot days!
Today our dogs got frozen kong treats while I’m doing computer work- they very much appreciated them!
Class dates are up to date on our website and later this week we’re sending out our first ever newsletter! Keep an eye out in your email, and send me a message if you want to be added to the email list!
CGC Prep class did a great job practicing leave it with different distractions this week. Look at those focused pups walking so nicely! Good work everyone!
CGC Prep class helps pups and owners advance their pups basic training learned in Family Dog Foundations 2 to become more reliable amongst a variety of distractions.
We work on skills like people greetings, leash walking, leash walking past distractions, stay and recall.
We practice these skills and work towards the goal of taking and passing the AKC Canine Good Citizen test on the last day of class. Students are challenged but the hard work pays off!
Has your pup graduated a training class and you’re looking for the next step to keep their momentum going? Sign up today! More information can be found at trainmeanimaltraining.com
Maeve conquered the tunnel in SmartDog Games class last week, AND earned her first leg of the Novice SmartDog title! This means she was able to successfully complete 8 SmartDog Games skills- 2 from each of the four skill categories. Well done Maeve!!! 🥳
If you and your SmartDog would like to join the fun, you can sign up by visiting trainmeanimaltraining.com . We have classes starting up soon on Sundays and Thursdays!
Miss Lilah the papillon acing the new skill she was challenged with this week in SmartDog Games: go to mat, wrap around the cone, return to mat.
Love her confidence and enthusiasm! Well done team Lilah! 🥳
