EduCare for Dogs

EduCare for Dogs Day Care and Training for Dogs
Life skills training for dogs! Pet Behavior Solutions has developed an innovative new program called Edu-Care for Dogs.

This program combines fun & effective training with safe & stimulating group play. This unique program is held in a home environment to maximize your dog's ability to incorporate his lessons into your home.

This week we decided to challenge your student’s creativity with a shaping exercise. We will be tapping into the followi...
09/09/2025

This week we decided to challenge your student’s creativity with a shaping exercise. We will be tapping into the following skill sets: focus and relevance and problem solving and a little bit of impulse control. We will be teaching the kids to “indicate” on a small piece of suede with their paw preferably, but their nose will do as well. This means that they have to touch it but they cannot put it in their mouth or pick it up in any way. (There’s the impulse control!)

We will shape them with a clicker to interact with the suede at first and then we will turn this into a “where is it” game. Once they know to indicate on it, then we will move the piece of suede around and they have to go to where it is and let us know that they found it. This game isn’t particularly useful in and of itself, but the skills taught during the learning process definitely are. We want our dogs to be willing to engage with us in whatever we are teaching. The “where is it” portion is a fun and challenging compliance activity that requires the dogs to move away from their trainer to let us know that they have found where we placed it. At this point, this is a visual ID game so it will be hid in place sight, but maybe not where they are expecting. It will be fun to see how each of the dogs go about learning this skill as there are only a few rules they must abide by so they can choose their own pathway to learning.

Welcome to Educare Aspen!
09/05/2025

Welcome to Educare Aspen!

This week the students will be working with the remote food dispenser. So not only do they have to reliably press the b...
09/02/2025

This week the students will be working with the remote food dispenser. So not only do they have to reliably press the button, then they have to go to the remote food dispenser instead of returning to us for their reinforcement. Just a little monkey wrench in the activity. The button is still new to many of them so there is a little challenge there. Then figuring out to go to the food dispenser instead of us is another challenge. Plus the noises that each of those items make will be a challenge for the more sensitive students. This activity will work on confidence building, cognitive flexibility, and problem solving. You will see that we remediate the activity based on where we place the food dispenser. Closer for some and farther for those darn clever and more environmentally tuned students. Those super sociably compliant students who look to their teachers to resolve any conflict in these activities will have the greatest challenge. Phew - that’s a lot, but a whole lot of fun!

Are we at school yet?? - Casper
08/29/2025

Are we at school yet?? - Casper

Welcome to EduCare, Casper!
08/22/2025

Welcome to EduCare, Casper!

This week we are working on target training. These activities will build skills in problem solving, focus and relevance,...
08/12/2025

This week we are working on target training. These activities will build skills in problem solving, focus and relevance, confidence building, body control, and impulse control. When we use the word ‘targeting’ in dog training, we mean giving the dog a target to aim for and touch with their nose. This week - we will be using a target stick. This will teach them to leave their teacher to go touch the target and then return to their teacher. We will be focusing on teaching dogs to target with their nose because targeting with paws can sometimes lead to uninvited scratching on people or other things as an attention seeking behavior.
Send away target training is helpful for dogs who might be a little shy or fearful. Teaching the dog to go touch something near a scary person or scary object and then returning to you is a great way to build confidence and face fears. They are only asked to get near the scary thing/person and have a brief encounter before returning to their trusted person.
Targeting is also a way to move your dog around hands-free, as you can teach him to follow your hand or a target stick. This way you don’t need to push or pull them into places or positions such as sitting on the vet’s scale for the ever important weigh in. It can help with grooming as well by keeping your dog where you need him to be.
Send away target training can help to build focus on you and the environment, helping your dog to ignore potentially scary or tempting distractions. You can use a plastic cup, a Post-It note, or anything else you may carry with you and simply place that object in the distracting or stimulating environment and send your dog to touch.

Cooperative Care:As we move forward you will see the teachers use the bucket game as a tool to help your student gain to...
08/05/2025

Cooperative Care:
As we move forward you will see the teachers use the bucket game as a tool to help your student gain tolerance and trust for physical contact. The goal is to have the dog stare at the bucket while we brush them right? Not quite. The goal is to acknowledge your dog’s body language and respect their limitations. When this occurs the student is empowered regarding physical contact. Ultimately you will see your dog gain trust, relax and therefore become more tolerant of physical contact. For dogs who have a reactive nervous system; this is the perfect opportunity to activate the parasympathetic nervous system which is in charge of calming that squirmy response we often see when we try to groom. For the students who much rather take the time to socialize with their teacher, or show off all their obedience this will afford them the opportunity to independently ease into a new learning style of passivity rather than engagement! Who knew that looking at a bucket and eating treats would have such profound effects? As always cheer these hard working students as they keep plugging away!

Bucket Game/Passive EngagementThis week we are working on a very challenging, evolving technique with the students. We a...
08/05/2025

Bucket Game/Passive Engagement
This week we are working on a very challenging, evolving technique with the students. We are working on getting the students to be very calm and relaxed without engaging in an active pursuit to get a treat. They also cannot appease or sociably connect with us in any way, nor can they fidget and run through their resume of the things they know. Finally , they must do this without any social feedback from their teachers. So what the heck is this, you ask? The goal for this activity is for the dog to direct and maintain his/her focus on a bucket full of treats that will be placed on the floor in front of him/her.
This has a whole lot of challenges for the students. The students have been entrenched in the problem solving skill set which means if what you are doing doesn’t produce the result you are looking for, try something else. This requires active engagement and this time we are looking for passive engagement. Phew!! A hard shift in how their brain solves problems! With this activity, we will be focusing on impulse control with trust and confidence building. Very little problem solving in the way they are accustomed.
The first goal will be to work impulse control because the dog must leave the bucket of treat alone while it sits on the floor, but he/she must still focus on it. The dog can be in any position (i.e., stand, sit, down) though a down is optimal. We will not be commanding the dog in any way - at all. This is a feedback only activity. We will be giving the dog a treat from the bucket if he/she focuses his/her attention on the bucket without actively trying to do anything else to get the treat from the bucket.
The second goal is to get the dog to maintain his/her focus on the bucket of treats for a duration of 5 to 10 seconds, despite distractions. Once we accomplish these goals, we can build in many applications for this foundational activity.

Leave It: The videos will demonstrate instructions for only one method of teaching Leave It.Do not use “leave it” as a ...
07/29/2025

Leave It: The videos will demonstrate instructions for only one method of teaching Leave It.
Do not use “leave it” as a reprimand. For some dogs, this can increase the value of the item you are wanting the dog to leave alone making the choice much more difficult. For other dogs, it can make them fearful because they think they are in trouble. The command should simply mean to look at you because what you might have for them is so much more important than what they are doing. So Leave It should always be rewarded. Praise should happen every time and a treat or toy reward should happen frequently. Leave it is a command to pay attention to you, not a punishment for trying to get the item.
This activity taps into command compliance, focus and relevance, confidence building, problem solving and impulse control.

Back to BasicsThis week we decided to go back to basics. We will be working with sits, downs, stays, and touch. Each stu...
07/22/2025

Back to Basics
This week we decided to go back to basics. We will be working with sits, downs, stays, and touch. Each student is at a different level so for those who are new to these behaviors, you will see the process of training it. For those who are pros at these behaviors we will be ramping up the distraction level. This lesson taps into many different skills including focus and relevance, command compliance, impulse control, problem solving, confidence building, and even a little bit of conflict resolution.

Cause and Effect PuzzleWe have a new puzzle toy for the student’s this week. It is quite challenging! It requires two ca...
07/15/2025

Cause and Effect Puzzle

We have a new puzzle toy for the student’s this week. It is quite challenging! It requires two cause and effect actions. The first action involves spinning a barrel which releases kibble into several little chambers. Once the kibble is released into the chamber, then there are lids that must be flipped up in order to get the kibble. Many of the dogs know how to flip up those lids to get kibble but they first have to learn that spinning the barrel dispenses the treats. What a challenge! We will be guiding each student in their own unique way of learning how to accomplish this. The activity works on cognitive flexibility, memory, impulse control, confidence building, focus & relevance, conflict resolution, and most of all — problem solving.

If I stay on the leashes then the dogs won’t leave, right? I miss them when they go! - Gulliver
07/11/2025

If I stay on the leashes then the dogs won’t leave, right? I miss them when they go! - Gulliver

Address

Scottsdale, AZ
85259

Opening Hours

Tuesday 9am - 2:30pm
Wednesday 9am - 2:30pm
Thursday 9am - 2:30pm
Friday 9am - 2:30pm

Telephone

+14802002011

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