Clayton Canine Academy, LLC

30/10/2024

Choosing positive reinforcement to train your dog results in less stress and a good relationship. Understanding dog behavior helps us to know how to modify unwanted behaviors and reinforce desired behavior.

26/10/2024

24/10/2024

Happy Thursday everyone! This week’s dog training tip is to catch your dog being good! When you see your dog behaving in a way you like, give her a treat. If you want to promote calmness, silently set the treat next to her while she’s being calm. Reinforced behavior is repeated

21/10/2024

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16/10/2024

Training tip for the week: For safer walks, teach your dog to cross the street when you see other dogs/ people approaching. Even if your dog is friendly with people and/or dogs, it’s easier to avoid them when on leash. If you do want to greet another dog, use the 3 second rule. Let your dog and the other dog sniff each other for 3 seconds and then say “let’s go!” and walk away.

15/10/2024

Hi friends, I think that our monthly newsletter was sent out twice by mistake. I am not trying to spam your email. Sorry if you received multiple emails from me today!! Here is a cute picture of Morty as my apology

11/10/2024

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08/10/2024

Training tip Tuesday: use a flirt pole to help your dog learn “drop it” as well as get a lot of exercise!
Grab a string cheese, tear it up into small pieces and put it in your treat bag or pocket. Start off slow, dragging the toy slowly on the ground. Let your dog engage with the toy first, chasing and catching it. Once your dog has caught the toy and is chewing it, hold a piece of cheese up to his nose or toss it at his head if he is suspicious of you. When he drops the toy for the cheese, say “drop it” and slowly move the toy away from him while he eats. Keep doing this, but move the cue “drop it” back in the sequence until you are saying it when your dog has caught the toy and is chewing it. Play this game for 5-10 minutes and then give your dog something to lick or chew to transition into rest time.

03/10/2024

DIY enrichment for this week: take your dog for a Sniffari in a new location. Walk or drive somewhere you don't normally walk and let your dog take his time sniffing and exploring. Go at his pace and allow him to make the decisions on which direction to walk (as long as it's safe).

01/10/2024

Training tip Tuesday: a long-handled plastic spoon is great for teaching small dogs how to walk on a leash without hurting your back or dropping treats everywhere! Use peanut butter/wet dog food/yogurt as a treat on the spoon.

26/09/2024

DIY enrichment for the week: buy a small silicone hot pad to use as a lick mat for your dog! You can find them at your local discount store or order them online. They are fairly inexpensive and come in many different colors/patterns. Spread some yogurt, peanut butter, or applesauce and top with some blueberries then freeze for a healthy, long-lasting activity.
Bonus: licking is a calming action for dogs. If your dog is over-excited and you need him to calm down after a walk or before a nap, this is a good transitional activity!

24/09/2024

Training tip Tuesday! If you are finding that your dog is ignoring you, do this: take 20 small treats and put them in an easy-to-reach place (your pocket or a small container next to you). When your dog looks at your face, say "yes!" and give her one treat.
Reinforced behavior is repeated! You should notice that your dog will look at you more often. This is also a great way to increase engagement outside or on walks.

17/09/2024

In case you don’t have TikTok, here is the DIY enrichment box video

17/09/2024

DIY dog enrichment box!

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16/09/2024

Thanks, Nutz About Mutz for providing this infographic about proactive and reactive training!

I've been talking with clients a lot recently about how training involves both PROactive and REactive training. So I decided to make an infographic to nutshell the concept.

15/09/2024

Enrichment project:
This week's DIY enrichment project is to create a new way to feed your dog his meals. You will need a small box. Other optional items include: paper towel or toilet paper tube, packing paper, smaller boxes, paper cups, unused coffee filters, cardboard egg cartons, etc.
Easy mode: sprinkle food in the box and let your dog eat out of the box
Medium mode: put the kibble in an egg carton and let your dog figure out how to open it to get the food
Hard mode: fold up the end of the paper towel tube and pour some kibble inside, the fold the other end, roll up kibble in the paper, close the box
Foraging for food is a fun way for your dog to enjoy her meal!

12/09/2024

Yesterday, Morty had to go to the vet. He has a double inner ear infection. This is causing him pain, he has been showing signs of being uncomfortable. When I am in pain, my temper is short, I don’t want to do anything fun, and I just want to sleep to escape the pain. Animals often show the same secondary symptoms of pain.

Usually, at our first meeting, I ask the client if their dog has been to the vet to rule out a medical reason for the dog’s behavior. You would be surprised how often “reactive” behavior is actually caused by an infected or broken tooth, arthritis, or hypothyroidism.

10/09/2024

It's training tip Tuesday! Today's training tip is that sniffing reduces stress on walks. Teach your dog to sniff in the grass by tossing a few treats in the grass for her to find. Say "find it!" and she will soon start sniffing on cue. Use this to move off of the sidewalk when other dogs or people are approaching.