Playful Balance Dog Training

06/24/2024

Does your dog seem totally oblivious to how much work you put into walking them?! Untangling their feet, giving them a clear path to walk, keeping them safe… teach them to untangle themselves! Not only will they be more accountable for their actions but it will also save you the headache!

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I‘ve met quite a few people recently that are stressed, winded and frustrated before, during and after walking their dog. It doesnt have to be like this!

Reach out today to get started!

05/15/2024

Teaching the anxious dog

While some dogs are incredibly food motivated, some are indifferent to a tasty treat and some others are too overwhelmed by their environment to take food at all.

Yes, I’ve heard people say “if a dog is too stressed to take food you shouldn’t take them into that environment.”

And while I’d love to make that possible for Matilda here, she is overwhelmed the second she isn’t in her home. She is a very auditory and visually overstimulated dog and this makes walking her incredibly challenging!

Matilda is a dog I would never recommend go to dog sport trials. Not to say she couldn’t find some enjoyment over time but her stress to get to that point wouldn’t be worth it.

So why is taking her new places, knowing it will stress her out ok?

Because we are taking into account her needs. Her need for space. Her need for quiet.

We aren’t taking her into the busy city to tolerate busses and cars, people on bikes, people rushing past on narrow sidewalks. We went to a park and sat off to the side.

Now, while her needs are important, she also lives in a suburb and needs to be able handle the occasional bike, car, child or dog without panicking.

Her owner came to me because she realized she was avoiding things she use to do and to not do those things for the remainder of a young dogs life feels pretty unfair to the human!

And let’s not forget that dogs are very adaptable. They may need a little help but they will adapt to new environments when given calm leadership and some time to do.

Matilda has made incredible progress over the past 6 weeks and continues to get better each week.

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I train for the safety, well being and enjoyment of dogs for their owners.

If you are struggling with your dog, message me to schedule a free phone consult. It is never too late to get started!

05/11/2024

“When can I give my dog a treat?”

I get this question quite frequently because of the way I teach foundations for my private lesson clients.

Take a reactive dog.

At any given moment you are
- surveying your surrounding
- ensuring your dogs space is advocated for
- choosing a way of de escalating your dog (I teach at least 3 ways, all useful but for different situations)
- deciding when to give a correction
- deciding how firm that correction needs to be
- “Do I need to body block?”

All of these thoughts are already challenging, why?

Because with private lessons, the owner and dog are learning something new together. Both parties are making mistakes and some dogs are really challenging!

Now add to that list above…
- how food motivated is your dog?
- when do I give a treat vs give a correction?
- remembering to say your marker word
- what should the placement of that treat be?

Don’t forget, you have a reactive dog! The escalation process happens fast and reaction time of an inexperienced handler is not always as fast as it needs to be.

I’ve put hundreds of hours of thought into the best way to ensure success for people that don’t want to be trainers.

Trainers, haven’t you ever heard “All I want is to enjoy walking my dog again!”

My methods are to limit frustration for dog and owner while keeping them motivated to do the hard work of providing structure and setting boundaries for their dog(s).

So, when can I give my dog a treat?

When you can handle your dog on auto pilot. If you still have to think about your proximity to triggers or can’t effectively de escalate your dog, you need to keep practicing the basics.

I never said the work would be easy or quick😉 but it’s well worth it!

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I train for the safety, well being and enjoyment of dogs for their owners.

If you are struggling with your dog, message me to schedule a free phone consult. It is never too late to get started!

04/05/2024

Hello friends!

The total solar eclipse is just around the corner, and just about everyone is ready to see the once in a lifetime event. We are seeing some mixed information about pet/wildlife safety.

Contrary to what some may read, the sun itself is not any more dangerous during the eclipse. The reason protective eye wear is recommended for humans (who wish to observe the eclipse) is because many of us will be staring directly at the sun that day, which is something we typically avoid.

For our pets, and outdoor wildlife, that day will be similar to any other day. Our pets don’t stare at the sun, so there is no need to keep them indoors on April 08 for any extended period of time. They may notice the change in temperature, but it is unlikely they will exhibit any unusual behaviour.

The eclipse can be more unsettling for birds. The dimming of the sky can mimic behaviour at dusk and during early storm formation, so some birds may demonstrate a wind-down behaviour and there may be less activity in the sky during the peak eclipse. Once the sky returns to normal, so does their behaviour.

If you are purchasing eclipse glasses, please make sure they meet these criteria. For additional information about the eclipse please see:
https://science.nasa.gov/eclipses/safety/

For a list of approved solar-viewing goggles please see:

https://eclipse.aas.org/eye-safety/viewers-filters

It is not safe to watch the eclipse through the lens of your smartphone - it can damage both your phone camera and your eyes. Try this instead:

https://www.safeshot-viewer.com

Safe watching our friends!
Dr Renee Fleming

04/05/2024

With every passing year I have more tools in my pockets to share with my clients, and I’m so excited to do so! Here is a tutorial of how to hold the leash once your dog understands yielding to pressure.

03/26/2024

When I say I customize the program to fit your needs, I mean it!

Like many, it’s easy to get overwhelmed with to do lists, household chores, kids, LIFE… but adding an anxious dog to the mix?!

Ellie’s owners were so excited when I suggested tethering her to her place bed whenever her energy is getting overwhelming. For this family, it creates the perfect mix of integration into the household without a dog pacing circles around you!

Through patterning, an anxious dog can learn to actually settle themselves down, who would’ve thought!

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If you are struggling with your dog, message me to schedule a free phone consult. It is never too late to get started!

03/24/2024

Check out this goofy guy! Bingo is new to the Fundamentals program and showing us just what he thinks of being put on place!

As a young puppy, his owners did a great job exposing him to all sorts of environments, people and dogs. Though not uncommonly, many dogs reach about two years of age and become fearful or outwardly aggressive toward their environment. Bingo has made having guests over a real hassle and will sometimes bark for hours!

Follow along for more progress updates, training tips and more!

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If you are struggling with your dog, message me to schedule a free phone consult. It is never too late to get started!

03/20/2024

Today, as I met with new clients and showed them how the rules of walking works, they commented “that seems so simple!” Well, it is. They started their walk with a full treat pouch and clicker in hand, as instructed by their previous trainer. Unfortunately Denali isn’t insanely food motivated. This leaves the owners in a difficult position for handling his reactivity when life happens.

What do you do when a cat runs into a bush or a child runs through the front yard and the dog couldn’t care less for a treat?

In less than 5 minutes Denali was walking calmly and checking in frequently with his owners.

But how?

What I showed these clients is the art of pressure and release.

I find it is one of the most undervalued tools being used these days simply because it puts pressure and stress on the dog. Now I ask you, when you learn a new skill, something you’ve never done before, do you feel some stress? I know I do. Naturally, it comes with stepping out of your comfort zone.
Watch the video. Does this dog look stressed?

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I train for the safety, well being and enjoyment of dogs for their owners.

If you are struggling with your dog, message me to schedule a free phone consult. It is never too late to get started!

03/19/2024

Hey all! Due to a fracture and torn tendon, I am unable to hold group classes or pack walks until June/July. I appreciate your patience as I handle my foot injury.

In the mean time, please consider private lessons for any specific issues you may be experiencing!

03/15/2024

Warmer days are approaching, and so are the challenges for reactive dogs and their owners.

Don’t wait for summer, now is the time to act!

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Get your training on track and show off your relaxed pup's picture if you're putting in the effort!

03/12/2024

This past week, I‘ve spent some time shadowing with The Good Dog Training And Rehabilitation to continue advancing my skills.

As a trainer, there will always be a case that puts your skills to the test and it is one of my ongoing goals to never stop growing my toolbox.

Sean and his team have shared such valuable insights and techniques and I am so excited to use this experience to better serve my clients!

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If you are struggling with your dog, it’s not too late to rebuild that relationship!

Old or young, big or small, I can help!

For a free phone consult, just shoot me a message!

01/07/2024

Food for thought

We've gotten a number of posts on the theme of when to place puppies and I just want to make some very general statements on this.

1. The optimal time to place a puppy splits the end of the critical socialization period between the breeder and the puppy owner. So the breeder gets to shepherd the puppy through the first part and do all the "firsts" and the puppy owner gets to customize the socialization experience to their lifestyle. The breeder is typically more experienced and better able to navigate those tricky first intros, but the puppy owner typically has more time and energy to pour into individual socialization and training.

2. That having been said, there is no magic in warehousing puppies for an extended period of time. If the breeder is not going to be willing or able to do active socialization, training and enrichment protocols, the puppy is not going to benefit by staying longer with their litter than traditional placement age. So when you're looking at the breeder, are they doing things like leash walking, outside socialization experiences, and crate and confinement training? Or just keeping a bunch of puppies in a pen with lots of toys and gadgets?

3. For us, this works out to placing puppies at about 10 weeks of age. That gives the puppy owners a solid two weeks to customize the socialization experience. But I will not lie to you, those last two weeks between 8 and 10 weeks are a LOT of work and we take that responsibility of keeping those puppies for that extra time very seriously.

4. And, as I mentioned, developmental differences are huge...at 9 weeks our puppies are beginning to look for "their people" but are still very flexible...GSD puppies are beginning to take on their littermates and mistrust novelty...and Norwich Terrier puppies are still nursing. So, no, there is not "an age" that is best to place puppies.

5. I think the operant question is not so much at what age the breeder is placing the puppies as what is the breeder doing with the puppies while they have them? Are they keeping them long enough to complete important protocols? Are the actually doing that work? Are they careful not to place the puppies during a fear period?

6. All that having been said, there are certainly outside limits to this. I think it's safe to say that a breeder who is looking to place puppies at 6 weeks old is not doing what needs to be done with those puppies, at least in terms of what we at Puppy Culture believe should be done. It's just an enormous red flag.

7. But, even then, there are some cases where placing the puppies really early could be a legitimate decision. The example i always use is a giant breed puppy that would have to fly in cargo if you waited until 10 weeks to place the puppy. I would place a puppy at 7 weeks old in an experienced home with a good adult dog before I would have a 10 week old puppy be shipped in cargo. So there is some nuance, here.

8. My final comment, and I have warned about this before, do not bring up "it's illegal where I live to place puppies before x age." The people who write those laws are not breeders, don't know dogs, and don't know what's best for puppies. I'm sorry for you if you live in a place that is governed by an ignorant animal rights cabal. But the fact that "it's illegal" does not somehow legitimize or lend credence to that practice.

9. And, OK, my final final comment is that I get how frustrating this is as a puppy seeker. I am trying to help my sister find a kitten of a specific breed and it's just really frustrating to navigate the waters of breeders who are ethical in the sense of health and good genetics but really just warehouse kittens and sell them. If you have a very specific breed in mind it's really just dumb luck if you find a breeder who truly does it all. I don't really have an answer, just sympathy for your position ❤.

01/04/2024

In 2023, I had several business goals. Building up my client base, finishing my website, etc, but my biggest focus was on establishing ways for clients to easily execute training.

This was all done through private lessons, which absolutely has it’s perks! Individualization is a big one and really important for certain behaviors that may only occur in the home. But what I found is that for behaviors like barking at neighbors, lunging at cars, reacting to other dogs (whether excited or fearful), I taught the same foundations.

Through teaching the foundations I do, it sets clients up to be able to tackle nearly every other behavior without much help from me. Continuing lessons isn’t affordable for all, but practice makes perfect right?

Which leads me to my exciting news… I am currently looking into getting a class space to teach a class covering these foundations!

This will allow me to reach more people at a cheaper price to YOU!

To stay updated on new services being offered, be sure to follow Playful Balance Dog Training!

12/24/2023

I absolutely love seeing these posts. Given enough time, every trainer will experience a dog (or many dogs) that challenges everything they thought they knew. Most trainers I know have found a method they find they get their best results through, as have I. However, I am always willing to question if the training plan I have comprised just isn’t the right fit for a certain dog. I’m open to trying different approaches, different tools, other trainers methods, etc. My job isn’t just to “train the dog”. It is to create an amazing bond between owner and dog, to solve behavior challenges through whatever method or tool the dog responds best to. My job is to educate owners and problem solve for and with them to help them enjoy their dogs more than ever before. I am of the belief that a good trainer is not only flexible but willing to admit their troubles and seek help from a network of other professionals. And if I am not the right trainer for you, I will help you find a trainer that will best suit your needs.

Until a year ago, I was a trainer with a very force free approach. I didn’t believe there was a place for aversives in dog training. I didn’t have a dog that required them. Lucky me!

Until I got this chap. My very much adored kelpie, Evo. Bred to move HUGE flocks and herds of livestock out in rural Australia. A hard-headed dog, with a mega independent streak.

I worked hard with him. I’m a trainer. I laid my foundations, as I have done successfully with my other 4 dogs before him. They worked, to a point. And then, they didn’t.

I was fully prepared to give him a breed-appropriate outlet. Alongside the other work I give my dogs, I have my own sheep, meaning I can work my own dogs regularly on stock. However, my small flock of flighty sheep was far too jumpy for him to work, and he was becoming dangerous out and about in any sort of proximity to sheep.

So, you may say, just keep him on a lead! Problem solved. Well, not really.

Management can and does fail. I have heard it from countless clients. I have had it fail myself.

I also live, with sheep on my property, and surrounding it on 3 sides. Everywhere we turn, there are sheep. There’s no avoiding them.

Keep him on a lead in the garden? We have a large garden and keeping him on the lead would be unfair. He’s an incredibly active, working bred dog, who would end up spending his entire life on a lead.

We also encountered prey drive issues out and about, particularly around deer. His recall was fantastic, but once we moved, our walks were either full of deer, or sheep and he could rip a long line out of your hands to chase something particularly tempting.

So, I decided to bite the bullet and e-collar train. Controversial, particularly online.

But, the absolute best thing I ever did.

The alternative solutions I had suggested were:

Keep him on the lead - I buy good quality leads, but they have failed on me before
Move house - we’ve moved to a dream house, not an option
Avoid places with sheep etc - hard when they’re in the garden
Long line - he could still pull a long line out of reach
Train him - he was trained to a very high level and we had reached the limits via force free methods.

Management fails.

I went through the process of conditioning him properly to the e-collar. I spent ages ensuring I got it right, he understood what was expected and that he knew how to switch it off. I invested in a pricey bit of kit, and I went about it by the book.

It’s transformed his life.

He can romp around the garden, he can walk through my sheep without batting an eyelid, he can walk off lead on the hills and he can enjoy walking in the forest even when deer run out in front of us.

For him, that wasn’t ever going to be an option without it.

Nothing was more reinforcing than chasing.

And it was going to get him killed. He’d have been shot, or hit by a car, or lost. All because I wouldn’t open my mind to using different tools.

Am I suggesting every dog requires one? Absolutely not. But there are MANY cases where they save lives. It’s both saved and enriched his.

He’s happy, he lives his best life. He hikes everywhere with us, he’s well mannered and fully reliable off the lead. He knows the rules, and that’s the key.

He’s not suppressed. He can still go off and be a dog. He tears around the garden with our other dogs, he sniffs and does dog things. But he’s safe when doing it all.

I see a lot of judgement towards these tools from people owning dogs who would never require these tools. That’s great. And that’s also not a problem. But it is completely unfair to demonise the use of a tool which you haven’t taken the time to fully understand. I was 100%, without a doubt, against them before I took the time to understand how they worked and how they were used.

It’s imperative that they’re used with a trainer well versed in using them. It’s also crucial that the equipment used is good quality and not something cheap from Amazon or eBay. It’s an investment, but one that is so necessary for a lot more dogs than you might realise.

Take the time to understand others’ points of view. There is truly not a one-size-fits-all approach in dog training and my change of opinion has opened up a whole new world for all of my dogs ❤

Photo by Saffy Leyfield Photography

11/26/2023

For those of you who attend the pack walks, I will be resuming semi regular walks come January 2024

In the meantime, enjoy the holidays and keep up the great work with your pups!

09/30/2023

09/12/2023

08/10/2023

Yes, yes, yes!!

This morning I witnessed an interaction between two of my dogs that I realized a lot of pet owners mishandle a lot of the time.

My 5-month-old Swedish Vallhund puppy, Rune, was eating her breakfast. My (almost) 9-year-old Bull Terrier, Armani, was very interested in the food as well (many of you have heard stories about Armani - this dog, even at her age, lacks all sense of boundaries) and walked up to stop about 2-3ft from Rune and her bowl of food, then just casually stared. Not a hard stare, nothing overly concerning in body language, just rude behavior.

Rune gave a quick glance at Armani and subtly raised her lip then went back to eating. Seemingly not very concerned but wanting to communicate regardless. Saying: “go away”. She did not snap or truly snarl, just a very naturally socially in-tune puppy giving another dog a warning. Her breakfast is for her. It is not to share. We definitely agree there.

Armani, as she does as a dog who has never been socially well tuned, continued to just stand and watch. She did not take the warning as it was and did not move away. This was not to challenge Rune in this case - just a dog who is genuinely oblivious to boundaries. Harmless, but rude nonetheless.

Now I get involved. I gently grab Armani’s collar and guide her away. I tell Rune she’s a good girl.

Most people would have seen Rune’s actions as potential aggression - or, gasp, - is this resource guarding?? And punished her for it.

STOP doing this. Stop punishing the one that gives warnings or even fair corrections. Your dog is setting boundaries and advocating for themselves - if YOU don’t advocate for them, who else will but themselves?

Rune communicated a boundary with Armani and I advocated for her by removing Armani from the space. Armani was in the wrong for ignoring a warning. Rune was in the right for communicating clearly and in a fair manner. Had I not intervened, a situation like this could potentially escalate to further, more serious action being taken by Rune in order to get her point across. She is learning that she does not need to go this far. Mom always has her back 💪🏻 As I do for all of them.

Punishing Rune for this would quickly create a puppy who feels she has nobody advocating for her and isn’t even allowed to do so for herself. Do you know what this results in? Dogs that SKIP the warning and go straight into HEAVY corrections, most often leading to a dog fight.

Don’t take the warnings away. ALLOW fair and appropriate warnings and dogs who communicate well. They DO NOT need to tolerate every little thing in this world and I’d rather my dog can warn / correct / communicate confidently than to be a dog who is afraid to do so and as a result tends to go way overboard when they’ve finally had enough.

Bottom line: stop punishing the punisher. Correct the one who isn’t respecting boundaries!