Ambassador K9

Ambassador K9 Ambassador K9 provides comprehensive dog training approach for people who want the most out of their relationship with their dogs.

We are based out of NW Connecticut and will often set up shop for the day at NorthPoint Pets & Co We provide dog training services in northwest CT and in Cheshire, CT. Our belief is that most people adopt dogs to enhance their lives and every once in a while we find that dogs can become a limitation. You can’t go certain places because you are concerned about your dogs behavior. You can’t have com

pany over without reduces your dogs access to guests. It’s challenging to go for a walk because your shoulders are sore from being pulled for so long. Unless you have a sled dog and enjoy being the sled, most owners are simply looking for great family pets that can be a part of all of their greatest moments in life. While we use the term “Dog Trainer”, we are both training your dog AND you. If you hired a personal trainer to achieve your fitness goals, they can help you in the gym but less so in the kitchen when they aren’t around. The same is true for when you hire a dog trainer. We can help you get results in person and teach you how to train and maintain the results with your dog but it is on you to do the work in the kitchen as the analogy goes. Your dog is being trained through every interaction with you whether the dog trainer is present or not, and whether you are supervising or not. The best path to address those unsupervised moments is to simply not create them and understand that you are 100% responsible for what you allow your dog to do. Once you embrace that responsibility, anything is possible. The Knotty Dog is a member of the IACP

Casey is boarding with us through the holidays. Here she is curled up and cozy on this snowy Christmas Eve.
12/24/2024

Casey is boarding with us through the holidays. Here she is curled up and cozy on this snowy Christmas Eve.

Rigatoni in Foliage. 😍
10/26/2024

Rigatoni in Foliage. 😍

When your dog stays with us, they are family. A home away from home.
10/20/2024

When your dog stays with us, they are family. A home away from home.

Sailor Weekend!
10/18/2024

Sailor Weekend!

10/09/2024

Would you do me a favour?

I have two questions.

Firstly, would you describe the purpose of a head collar as shown on the dog below as being a tool that is designed to

A. Apply an uncomfortable pressure on the muzzle of the dog each time the dog pulls into it, thereby causing the dog to learn that ‘not pulling’ avoids the discomfort, or that backing up and ‘giving to the pressure’ escapes it?

Or

B. Something other than what the tool is designed to do that you have dreamed up?

Please don’t say ‘management tool’ as that means nothing in terms of explaining how and why the tool is intended to alter the behaviour of the animal.

In short, is a head halter designed and intended to apply an aversive stimulus (tightening pressure) which the dog is required to learn to escape and avoid by ‘not pulling’ through trial and error learning?

2. Would you expect a team of professional, behavioural scientists to acknowledge that this tool is

A - not designed to work as a positive reinforcer (or reward), but as a negative reinforcer (an aversive stimulus to be removed or avoided by the animal), and

B - If it is being used, ought the researchers not include the fact that this stimulus is used, especially if used by a ‘reward training’ trainer, during the training sessions used to provide the data for a research paper evaluating the effects and effectiveness of ‘reward based’ training, compared to training including electronic training collars?

Is it too much to write “There were elements of the ‘reward based’ training group that included the use of an aversive tool (including the application and removal of general leash pressure) to seemingly counteract the size and strength differences between the trainer and the dog. Equally, for the majority of aversive inclusion in the e-collar group, the principal aversive applied was not the e-collar itself, but rather the training style and mannerisms of the the trainer, making it difficult to separate the effect of the electronic training collar from the effect of the individual trainer when establishing causation upon the overall behaviours displayed and observed from the dogs”.

Or am I alone in thinking that transparency matters where published research is then used to determine the fate of millions of animals?

Thank you in anticipation.

Ambassador K9 seems to be a home for many fitness junkies. Most of them talk about the gym as an outlet and endorphin so...
09/03/2024

Ambassador K9 seems to be a home for many fitness junkies. Most of them talk about the gym as an outlet and endorphin source. Stillness is not generally a core part of their lives. Activity is always a good thing to incorporate in to ours and our dogs worlds but mindfulness and calm are practiced skills separate from the physical drain that achieves a similar looking result. I’ve said it many times, but place is your dog’s yoga mat. Enlightenment is only achieved when a dog learns that the amazon delivery is none of their concern. 🙏🏼🧘🏼‍♀️😌

The sweetest boys hanging out 🥰
07/29/2024

The sweetest boys hanging out 🥰

06/25/2024
Will work for:TreatsTugRunningPraiseAffectionDid you know you can use their meals as the treats or reduce meals to balan...
06/23/2024

Will work for:
Treats
Tug
Running
Praise
Affection

Did you know you can use their meals as the treats or reduce meals to balance the calories of the treats given? The reality is that treats are rarely as nutritionally balanced as what we feed them for meals and using meals as a reward is the best way to combat obesity in dogs.

She’s a shepherd, but there’s something un-German about her 🤔🤔🤔
06/22/2024

She’s a shepherd, but there’s something un-German about her 🤔🤔🤔

Welcome Aspen!
06/22/2024

Welcome Aspen!

Often times invisible fences and reactivity go hand in hand.Like a football player restrained by their peers, it’s easie...
06/19/2024

Often times invisible fences and reactivity go hand in hand.
Like a football player restrained by their peers, it’s easier to act tough when they know they can’t reach you.

The best invisible fence is a backup plan to other tools and training. The cheapest invisible fence is an e-collar, training, and supervising your dog. 🤷🏻‍♂️

06/17/2024

WE ALL AGREE WITH NO MORE UNWANTED LITTERS. We should consider newer, safer alternatives than a traditional gonadectomies to prevent long-term health concerns.

The World Small Animal Veterinary Association (WSAVA)🏥 has just announced their new spay & neuter guidelines.🙀 Due to growing evidence of adverse health effects of traditional gonadectomy (spay/neuter) and increases in cancers and joint disorders, WSAVA suggest the best practice for RESPONSIBLE pet parents is to leave dogs and cats unaltered (intact). Additionally noting, spaying or neutering a dog younger than 6 months of age is NOT recommended because of an increase of detrimental health risks. Acknowledging in some circumstances, such as rescues and shelters, where leaving an animal intact is not an option, they stress the importance of education and acceptance of newer, alternative sterilization techniques that have less long-term health concerns. 🙌

Discussing these alternative techniques and the pro’s and con’s today, plus much more in the Inside Scoop.

👉Comment SCOOPERS to join our troll-free subscription group and watch today's podcast. Our monthly subscription includes our weekly livestream, plus access to all past content - over 4 years of lives, interviews, ebook downloads and more!

Happy Father’s Day to dads and dog dads alike!
06/16/2024

Happy Father’s Day to dads and dog dads alike!

Perks of sending your dog to a trainer for a day. Some training opportunities come up organically that are impossible t...
05/03/2024

Perks of sending your dog to a trainer for a day. Some training opportunities come up organically that are impossible to recreate in a controlled environment. From deliveries to the temptation of toddlers running around with snacks, there are lots of moments that are hard to predict but incredibly valuable for setting expectations with our dogs.

When it comes to puppies, it takes the same amount of effort to train a puppy as to spoil them. Give them lots of excit...
04/29/2024

When it comes to puppies, it takes the same amount of effort to train a puppy as to spoil them. Give them lots of excitement while you are helping them learn their markers. Give them tons of treats when you are teaching them new skills. Give them lots of affection for making great choices. We all want to spoil them rotten but the when and why are the subtle gap between training and spoiling.

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My dogs have a right to personal space. They have a right to consent to being pet by strangers, bull rushed by other dogs, having their space invaded. Few things deteriorate trust more commonly than humans misreading body language and putting their dogs in situations they desperately don’t want to be in. (Of course there are exceptions like veterinarians and groomers but did the neighbor down the street HAVE to pet your dog?)

“Why does my dog always show off for you?” Your dog trainer isn’t a wizard. They just hold your dog to the highest standard they are capable of. That standard will wiggle from dog to dog, but all dogs are opportunists and will live to the standard we hold them too. Rigatoni here happens to be one of the gentlest, easiest going dogs I’ve ever met,(next to maybe our own Griffin) so it’s very easy to let him coast. #dogtrainersofinstagram #dogtrainer #dogtrainingadvice #dogtraining #dogtrainer #dogtrainerslife #dogsofinstagram #dogsofinsta #dogs #ctdogs #litchfieldcounty #prongcollar #prongcollartraining #ecollartraining #ecollar #balanceddogtraining #balancedtraining #realitybaseddogtraining

Growth is hard, but rehoming should be harder. Draco is an incredible dog with typical puppy issues. Literally the most minor things to work at. Before we adopted him, his prior family sent him to a board and train and told the trainer “no e-collar”. They sent him back a second time but when he got mouthy and growled from the crate, they brought him back to the pound with a love note. Here is Draco in our back yard playing fetch with an e-collar. He is happy, he is eager to play, and he won’t chase a fisher cat if it shows up in my yard or book towards the neighbors yard if their dog runs into our shared woods. He is certainly not shut down while wearing the collar. The truth of the matter is that he needed leadership. As my other videos show, my 3 year old can command him. Is rehoming a dog easier than taking a critical look at how you interact with your dog? Is your relationship with your dog about how they make you feel or about how you make them feel? People call themselves pet parents but act like fun aunts and uncles. The difference is providing a calm safe space for our dogs to owe us nothing. They are not our therapists, bar tender, or cheerleader.. as a parent, I know we would never ask that of our children. Self awareness might be the most challenging part of becoming who your dog needs you to be. Dog training is about way more than the dog.

“Discipline equals freedom” -Jocko Willink. This story is from Sailor’s owner and her mother who signed up for dog training when he was a puppy and have shared every step of their story since. From the silly criticisms and comments they have laughed about with me to every video of him doing everything from making March madness picks, to painting pictures, to dressing up for Halloween. It has been one of my greatest honors to see Sailor along his training journey 💙. There is a time and place for most behaviors. Teaching our dogs where and when is a huge part of raising dogs people want to be around. With discipline and structure, dogs get to go into situations confident that they will be able to lean on your feedback to meet expectations for each circumstance. They also will be able to earn more trust and freedom over time as they prove their ability to make great decisions or at minimum are willing override bad decisions when you give them safer ones.

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