System of a Dog

07/12/2024

Titus's mama! We love her ❤️

Mama Echo takes her jobs very seriously. She knows that she is to protect our kids. She keeps watch of them and if they venture out into the water, she will gently herd them back in. Wherever the kids go, Echo will follow and keep them safe. We love our amazing girl so much!

07/12/2024

07/10/2024

Group Class today at 6pm! FOR CLIENTS WHO HAVE HAD AT LEAST 1 LESSON. Bring water for your pups, we will meet in the shade to the side of the parking lot by the boat launch. Look for Jason and I!

07/10/2024

NEWLY ADDED SERVICES!

1. 3 or 5 Day Bootcamp: Daily 1 hour lessons for 5 consecutive days! Get intensive in-home coaching and get equipped through daily accountability! We come to you whether it be at  your house or at a park! Wherever you need.

2. Way of the Dog: Jason will pick up and drop off your dog for a 3 hour intensive training session! Let him do the heavy lifting and get some exposure and repetitions in with your dog. Emphasized on any behaviors or skills you wish to improve. Initial in-home lesson required prior.

Check out our website for more details! Link on our profile! www.systemofadog.com

07/02/2024

Please share. Someone's loved one is missing.

07/02/2024

Mountain Bound Hounds has a potential opening on Tuesdays! It is dependant on my route so if you are outside the route too much I may not be able to accommodate. But if you are a current or past client who has done some training and are interested, please inquire about joining the pack!

06/08/2024

A man who crashed his car over an embankment was found and rescued after his dog ran four miles to alert family members at a nearby campsite that something was wrong, officials in Oregon said.

06/07/2024

- Rescues are FULL: Save a Dog by Keeping Yours! -

We have been completely inundated with owner surrender requests (over 20 dogs in 24 hours!!) and rescues across Oregon are completely closing their intake for the summer.

Want to help our community? Share this post with your community with tips and hints:

‼️ Most rescues cannot take a dog that’s not dog friendly
‼️ Rescues do not have the funds to “rehab” your dog
‼️ If you can donate to have your dog fixed/vetted it increases your chances of finding rescue
‼️ Foster based rescues need foster to take in your dog - consider donating towards boarding costs, etc
‼️ Your dog not getting along with your other dogs? Consider crate and rotate
‼️ Need training help? Consider taking advantage of many FREE or reduced training opportunities

We have tried to keep our intake closed as long as possible, but as some of our long term stays have been adopted (yay!!), we are hoping to save more dogs - are hearts are breaking, but we need fosters!

Please consider applying to foster and save a life!: https://4allmuttkind.org/foster
:
:
:
:
:
❤️🐶

05/30/2024

A 3-month-old puppy spent Saturday enjoying the outdoors at the Woods Creek Dog Rescue in Silverton after he was found severely burned in California.

05/25/2024

We have a surplus of eggs from our chickens! I'll be bringing a few dozen to our group class today if clients would like to buy some. $5/dozen

05/25/2024

GROUP CLASS TODAY AT 9AM! FOR CURRENT OR PAST CLIENTS ONLY www.systemofadog.com/classes

05/20/2024

We were nominated! If you feel like supporting us, voting is happening now! Thanks everyone!

Vote for the top nominees in each category and be entered to win a gift card!

05/19/2024

In Home Lesson...we were there for Gigi the goldendoodle but the little old timers wanted to work too! Dogs really enjoy working when you teach them a system that they understand!

05/11/2024

Board and Train dog, Harper is learning all about the word NO, leash walking, not jumping, and boundaries in general. She is a very soft girl and is learning easily! Happy to watch her progress.

04/28/2024

Wonder what we feed our dogs???

Our dogs eat half Vital Essentials Raw Beef Fusion and half FirstMate Pet Foods (a 50/50 blend of Pacific Fish and Oats with High Performance). In addition they chew on Oregon Antler Works antlers for teeth health. And since we have chickens, they each get a raw egg per day. That's how we keep our dogs out of the vet office, and onto doing what they do best! We support Copper Creek Mercantile and Salem Pet Supply for carrying the products we use and giving us a frequent buyer discount! Shop local! Keep your pets healthy. It pays off in the long run

04/26/2024

Yep! This is how we do it too. Parallel walks is the way to do it, leading up to a 2 second greeting over time and sometimes multiple sessions, leading up to a neutral space to let them freely interact. Dogs need to develop relationships just like people need to. Most of us don't want to hug every stranger we see. Another thing we add in is, if your dog doesn't understand how to leave a dog when you say, that can be an unsafe situation to put them in. We teach our dogs to ignore other dogs first and be able to move away any time we say. This is so important for their safety especially if they were off leash interacting.

Awww they want to meet, look at their wagging tails ⚠️
A wagging tail is never a good indicator of your dogs emotional state.
It can simply mean their emotional state has changed, apart from happiness and joy, that can also include changing into a fearful, anxious, angry, confused state. Tail wags are not a good indicator when deciding your dogs (or another dogs) emotions.
I know this is controversial for some to hear but very few dogs are truly dog social....many are highly selective.
They may only like their own breed.
They may only like female dogs....small brown dogs...or curly coated dogs.
They may have their own unique preference.
They have (and are ALLOWED) their own social preference....just as we have our own social preferences.

Or they may just dislike any other dog outside their/your family and friends.

Encouraging dogs to meet a dog walking down the street (even with the best of intentions) can cause some serious issues. If your dog pulls you down the road at the mere glimpse of another dog, your dog is likely in a highly aroused emotional state. Allowing them to meet others in that state is habit forming and rewarding....so they WILL repeat it.
Other dogs can respond badly to over aroused dogs.

Why not just let two dogs meet ?
There can be lifelong consequences to "just letting them meet"
Reactivity and/or aggression.
Anxiety and stress
Injury.
A lessening of the strong bond they may have with you as they can no longer trust your judgement.
Why not take a bit of time and lessen the chance of these serious (and sometimes life altering) issues occur in the first place.

So.... meeting any strange or unknown dogs on a walk, JUST because there is another dog there is something I highly discourage.

However....
There are some circumstances where you may have to introduce dogs. So these are a few tips which have been written about before (separately) in graphics but I have squeezed them together for a clearer reference.

One of the biggest mistakes people make is only concentrating on their own dogs emotional state and not watching the rising stress in the other dog involved....
These cause those "Out of the blue" reactions....

They weren't out of the blue, they were just missed.

🔵Micro meetings are essential.
🔵Parallel walks are a must.
🔵Avoid face to face.
🔵Keep your voices light and happy.
🔵DON'T make a dog sit or lie down.
🔵Tension creates more tension so keep those leads loose.
🔵NEUTRAL territory....not your yard, your house or even your immediate area around your house....go somewhere else.

Biggest tip though (as mentioned) watch the body language of both dogs.....IGNORE the tail wags and watch the whole body and all the little tell tale signs given.

If it doesn't feel right...it likely isn't.
Trust your own intuition.

ALWAYS advocate for your own dog no matter how "friendly" you are told the other dog is.

Please respect that these graphics take time and effort to make. Everyone is free to share on social media🙂, however off social media use of these marked graphics is prohibited.
Unmarked graphics are available for $ 1.20 USD or $ 2 NZD each (approx), these are then able to be used off Facebook for client handouts, posters or for personal use.
Screen shots are a violation of the copyright.
Please visit ABC Dogs Patreon Shop for unmarked graphics. All graphics belong to ABC Dogs NZ and are under copyright.

04/23/2024

System of a Dog was nominated as one of the Top 5 nominees for Best of the Mid-Valley! Voting time is coming! Consider voting for us! Thank you so much to our clients and supporters for this generous nomination!! 🙏 https://yourchoiceawards.com/salem/ #

04/23/2024

04/22/2024

We are looking for a private space to practice the dog sport of IPO/Schutzhund. Titus started this training but it has been put on halt due to the lack of available space to train in nearby. In the sport there is protection training where the decoy poses a threat and the dog is supposed to learn the proper way to guard and push the decoy back by barking, and then learn to bite a wedge or sleeve. There is also a tracking portion where the dog learns to track footsteps of a man made trail (usually in grass or dirt) And then there is the obedience portion. A grassy area is what we are looking for! Happy to help maintain the space by mowing. Let us know if you would be willing to offer that up! It would be Friday mornings/afternoons that we would like to be able to use the space. Thanks for your consideration! And if you know anyone who might be open to it, please share!

04/21/2024

04/17/2024

Comment and share what Titus's deep thoughts are 😅