Lucky Dog Training Center, 15545 County Road 1134, Tyler, Tx 75709

03/08/2024

JUST 2 DAYS AWAY! Come out to see how fun Agility can be!

BEGINNER AGILITY CLASS. Want to give Agility a try? Here’s your class! Thursday nights 6:30-7:30pm here at Lucky Dog, starting March 21st. $20/class. Bring lots of treats & toys for fun, fun, fun! Any age dog can do this starter class. On leash is OK.

02/01/2024

PUPPY PLAYTIME! Here at Lucky Dog, Tyler. Sunday afternoons 4pm, starting this Sunday, the 4th. No charge, just letting the puppies play. 2-4 month old puppies, everyone is welcome. Puppies must have their 1st shots. Call or message to let us know you’re coming. 903-571-7637
Don’t have a puppy, but know someone who does? Let them know!

01/22/2024

NEW BEGINNER SCENT WORK CLASSES STARTING! Here at Lucky Dog, Monday night, February 5th, 6:45-7:45pm. Come train with Judith Powell, long time trainer, teacher & AKC representative. Get started right with Judith. 4 week class for $100 total. Come see what this sport is all about. Call or message to get on the class list. 903-571-7637

01/17/2024

MANTRAILING INTRODUCTION SEMINAR. Saturday, January 20th, 9am-1pm, at Lucky Dog Training Center, Tyler. $65 per person. Teacher, Ellen Heavner.
Half day seminar introducing Mantrailing . The latest fun, outdoor dog sport, teaching your dog to trail & find people. What’s it all about, how do you teach your dog.
Any dog, any person can do it. If you’re interested in attending, call or message Robin. 903-571-7637

09/25/2023

LUCKY DOG USDAA SHOW OCTOBER 7-8th.
Get your entries in the mail!

08/05/2023

Stacy Goudy Seminar at Lucky Dog, Sept. 4th, Monday. 2 spots open. Adv/Masters level. Private lessons available too.

04/05/2023

AGILITY FUN MATCH. APRIL 16TH, SUNDAY, AT LUCKY DOG, TYLER.
10am-3pm. Standard courses, nested for all levels, changed throughout the day. $20/dog. Unlimited runs. Toys, treats, & training aids allowed. Come early or late. Everyone is welcome. Indoor crating available. Come practice before the upcoming Happy Hounds and TOTC trials.

02/27/2023

STACY GOUDY SEMINAR at Lucky Dog, Tyler. May 19-21, 2023
Friday - Beginner. “Get it right every time”. Foundations
Saturday - Starer/Advanced. Side Changes. When to use what
Sunday - Masters “Finding the Line”.
Message if you’re interested & I will send you the sign up info.

10/17/2022

AGILITY FUN MATCH! Sunday, October 23rd, at Lucky Dog Training Center, 15545 County Road 1134, Tyler, Tx 75709. Starting at 9am-3pm. $20/dog, unlimited runs. Come when you want, stay as long as you want. Indoor, climate controlled crating. Standard course set, nested for different levels. Come out to practice at the facility where you’ll show next weekend!

07/15/2022

BEGINNER NOSEWORK SEMINAR
Last minute working spot open in Judith’s seminar, Saturday, the 16th, at Lucky Dog. Want it?

07/08/2022

Nosework Practice at Lucky Dog, July 9th, 9am-2pm. All levels, Indoors. Come when you can. $10/dog unlimited searches

04/15/2022

NEW MANNERS & PUPPY CLASSES STARTING MAY 5TH. See events

12/31/2021

PUPPY CLASS! 4 week puppy socialization/manners class starting January 6th, Thursday, at 6:30pm. 4 week class for $100. Meeting once /week each Thursday in January. For puppies under 6 months. Teaching housebreaking, leash walking, come, sit, stay and working on other behavior problems. Plus lots of puppy play time. Call or message if you want to join in! 903-593-8424

10/29/2021

https://goldsquadronphotography.pixieset.com/luckydog/
Photographer will be at the AKC show here at Lucky dog this weekend!

Photo collection by Gold Squadron Photography

03/16/2021

Dear dog owners. .... please read. This concept applies to a number of breeds in addition to the GSD. Message me (Dave) if you have questions.

PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT

Edit: Moving this to the top because there are two pieces of misinformation that are making the rounds regarding this post that need to be cleared up. 1. Nothing below describes protective behaviour. 2. There are many stable, confident dogs who simply do not like to be touched. Nothing below suggests we should be accepting of nervy or fearful behaviour.

—

With the number of dogs that have been sold over the past year, I’ve begun to see a trend of posts popping up on German Shepherd Dog forums that go something like this:

“I brought my baby home 6 months ago and he’s been the sweetest thing until now. Then yesterday I took him out and just as a stranger was reaching in to pet him he snapped and tried to bite the stranger’s hand. What’s wrong with my baby?! How can I fix this?!”

Inevitably, a bunch of commenters chime in with helpful advice like “give the strangers treats and let them feed your dog before they pet him”, or “oh, you should have redirected to a toy”, or my personal favourite “you should get him neutered”.

Let me make it easier. If you wanted the personality of a golden retriever you should have bought a golden retriever. But that’s not what you brought home. You brought home a large guardian breed that is genetically predisposed to be wary of strangers. That a GSD owner is surprised by their dog’s aggressive reaction to having its personal space invaded by a stranger does not indicate a problem with the dog, it indicates a misunderstanding of the breed. Now there will be some GSD owners who will push back, saying “my boy just loves everyone. All he wants is to meet people and get pats and treats. He wouldn’t hurt a fly”. Those dogs unquestionably exist, but know this: as working line GSD breeders seeking to preserve and advance the breed, this is not a trait we select for.

To be clear, a properly socialized GSD (note that proper socialization does not mean allowing your dog to meet and interact with every strange person and animal it comes across) should not be lunging at the end of its leash at every stranger passing by. Non-reactivity should be a training goal from early in the dog’s life. However this is NOT the same thing as expecting your dog to enjoy - or even tolerate - being touched by strangers. As owners it is our job to train our dogs to be non-reactive to stimuli outside our control. A dog that does not like being passed by strangers on a sidewalk must be taught to tolerate this stimulus as we do not control who we pass on a sidewalk, or when. However it is also our job to work within the bounds of our dog’s individual personality as it pertains to stimuli that are within our control, and to have enough respect for our dog to not put it in avoidable, uncomfortable situations.

The solution is not to give strangers treats to feed your dog before petting it, or to redirect to a toy, or to spay or neuter your dog. It’s not to try to train your dog to tolerate something it is genetically predisposed not to like. The solution is to stand up for your dog and stop allowing strangers to approach it. Some pet owners may not like having to manage their dog in this way. They should have bought a different breed.

In closing, allow me to leave you with the 5 words every GSD owner should get comfortable saying loudly and firmly: “Please don’t touch my dog.”

EDIT: To avoid any spread of confusion by the few who have misunderstood the post, most GSDs can be trained to tolerate being touched by strangers. Nothing above says otherwise. But if you feel the need to train your GSD to tolerate being touched by strangers when it hates it, perhaps you didn’t buy the right breed.

EDIT 2: Once again, none of the behaviour described in the post relates to being protective. The behaviours people most often interpret as their dog being “protective” are almost never actually protective behaviours.

EDIT 3: Although it’s irrelevant to the message of the post, I changed labradoodle to golden retriever. A few people were getting hung up on what kind of dog was chosen for comparison rather than figuring out it was just intended to be any kind that contrasts “a guardian breed that is genetically predisposed to be wary of strangers”. To avoid distraction I changed it to a Golden Retriever, which is probably what I should have gone with in the first place.

08/07/2020

GROUP CLASSES STARTING EVERY MONTH. See "Events" on this page. Nosework, Puppy, Manners classes. Private lessons also available.

07/30/2020

USDAA Agility @ home Combined Relay course 7/24-8/6, set up now. We are meeting Sunday the 2nd, at 8:30am to run. Come on out then, or let us know what time works better for you.

05/21/2020

USDAA has started a new program called Agility at Home. Since there are few or no shows, they are allowing people to sign up on their website, receive & build courses at home, run their dogs on those courses, video the run, and receive a qualifying score for their dogs title, just as if they earned it at a show.

Since most of you do not have all the equipment at home, Lucky Dog is going to build the courses for you so you can come out & practice them, then run & video the clean run. This Saturday, the 23rd. 9-10am Starters courses, 10:30-11:30 Advanced courses, Noon -2pm Masters. Standard course in the arena, Jumpers course out in the field. $10 per dog, per course, unlimited attempts.

To participate, go to the USDAA.com website & go to USDAA@home. You will need your dogs USDAA # & a credit card. There will be a list of classes to sign up for. Chose the Standard course 80x100’, at your level. ( there are other smaller courses, so be sure & pick the 80x100’ one). Also chose the Jumpers 80x100 course at your level, if you want to do both courses. Chose the courses starting May 23rd thru June 5th. YOU MUST SIGN UP BEFORE SATURDAY THE 23rd! If you want it to count for titles. If you just want to come out & play for fun, that would be OK too.

Hope to see you on Saturday!