Play like a Bulldog! 😂 Link to toy in comments.
Gunnar the Labrador puppy loves this Jolly Egg! These toys are great for dogs who like to pounce and smack and body slam. They are also basically indestructible -- just get one big enough they can't get their jaw around it.
https://amzn.to/3UbAw4T
*this is an affiliate link
Inky having fun trying out our new jumps! Try them out yourself -- Canine Lifestyle Farm Play & Sniff
https://www.sniffspot.com/to/wgtnr
Use the code CLA24 for $5 off while we get up and running! Hope to see you soon!!! 🐾
Elementary Manners Graduation!
I am SO proud of these ladies and all the work they’ve been doing with their girls over the last 6 weeks!
We had our last class of Elementary Manners yesterday, which meant we put all of the skills they’ve been learning in to some more practical, real life situations! Ignoring distractions, polite walking, being able to keep cool around other friendly dogs, door manners, greeting guests, polite greetings of friendly dogs, and more.
I forgot to bring my graduation photo op, so Maxwell volunteered to stand in for y’all.
Keep up the great work! 💜
Super Bowls with Archie!
One of my favorite games for people AND dogs who struggle with attention, loose leash walking, or focus around distractions: Leslie McDevitt’s Super Bowls!
⭐️ Giving your dog a physical cue for behavior (the bowls!) can help them focus on the task at hand.
⭐️ The game doesn’t progress until they check in with you - something we can build on for later manners work like loose leash walking or polite greetings!
⭐️ Keeps a high rate of reinforcement.
⭐️ For reactive, anxious, or enthusiastic dogs, this predictable, reliable structure can help them keep their heads even when they have Big Feelings.
Watch Team Archie show off at their first Elementary Manners class! 🤩
Want to give it a try? Share your video in the comments!
Dog Park TV with Maizie!
Socialization is all about puppies learning the world is a safe, awesome place, AND what we want them to do in that safe, awesome place!
Maizie is a pretty confident, obscenely social little puppy, so we dont need to emphasize meeting a gazillion people and dogs. On the contrary - we need to make sure she learns now that not every person and dog is going to want to say hi to her when she isn’t a tiny baby.
(Yes, she still gets to practice polite greetings, but most times? We practice letting people walk by without getting mugged by an adorable pit bull puppy!)
Think of what comes easy to your puppy and where they struggle - make sure you don’t *just* practice the stuff they’re good at! Practice the things they’ll need to know when they aren’t tiny, social, and adorable.
Like, yknow - attention! Auto-check ins! Sitting politely! I promise - pulling, lunging, laying down and refusing to walk, whining and barking, etc will be a lot less cute in a 40, 60, 100 lb body. 🙈
Lahey’s PT Progress!
🚨 BRAG ALERT! 🚨
A month ago, Lahey had surgery to repair a luxating patella on her right hind knee. We knew this wouldn’t be an easy or simple recovery process for her - she is a high energy, anxious, sensitive pup who does not tolerate husbandry or veterinary handling very well, and thrives on routine. Surgery, crate rest, 6-8 weeks of limited exercise, followed by physical therapy? Yikes!
We started working right away on building the foundation behaviors that would make PT manageable for Mom & Lahey’s vets. Mainly: learning to lay calmly on her side and have her leg touched and manipulated.
Previously, weird handling would cause Lahey to nip or snap at her mom.
Just check out where they are now! 😍 Passive range of motion stretching is key for successful physical therapy and recovery, so I cannot begin to explain how proud I am of these ladies for their hard work and progress!
Veterinary care, grooming, and handling doesn’t need to be a matter of manhandling and muscling through. It can be easy and low stress when your dog is allowed choice in their own care. Let us know if you want to get the ball rolling in their cooperative care!
Breed Tendencies: Pit Bull vs Dachshund
We talk a LOT about meeting your dog’s needs - filling their emotional cup, offering enrichment, giving them time to simply Be A Dog - but what does that look like, exactly?
The Dog Trainer Answer to Everything:
It Depends.
Start by watching your dog. What makes them tick? What would they do, if left to their own devices in a veritable Disneyland of choices? Dig, bark, bite, tug, chew, swim, sniff, chase, roll, hunt, run, snuggle? What combination of things makes your dog their happiest self?
The answer is different for each individual, but breed (or breed mix) certainly influences that. We did selectively breed these dogs for a set of behaviors to make them better at their jobs - and giving those purposely bred for behaviors an approved outlet is going to go a long way in living as harmoniously as possible in our modern world.
Check out Pork Roll (the Wirehaired Dachshund) and Baker (the American Pit Bull Terrier).
One breed for hunting prey, going to ground to catch vermin, and being singleminded in their efforts to do so. The other bred for physical strength in going head to head with other large, powerful animals, having zero personal space, and being a bit of an adrenaline junkie… and being singleminded in their efforts to do so.
Can you tell which is which? 😂
I highly recommend the book “Meet Your Dog” by Kim Brophey - a fabulous start to understanding who your dog is in all ways!
Moses shows off at the park!
When you have a reactive dog, taking the step to go work IN THE WILD (ahem, your local community park) can feel like leaping off a cliff without knowing how far it is to the bottom.
But, uh, can we give a round of applause for Moses and Kim, who KILLED IT tonight? We went on a 45 minute walk - the longest she’s been on with him in years, due to her own anxiety about his behavior in unknown environments. He had ONE tiny reaction to a runner (#herdingdogproblems), but was able to see over a dozen unknown dogs and even more people while keeping his cool.
More importantly - Momma kept her cool, too!
Working on reactivity not only helps your dog feel better, but it allows us to give them a bigger, more exciting world to enjoy with us.
I hope to hear about more park walks next week, Kim!
Jaxon had his first session with a helper dog today, and he did SO well!
Learning to train, manage, and generally live with a reactive dog can feel like trying to juggle more plates than you can handle, but that’s why we’re here! We’ll help you figure out the best plan of action for various situations, when to train vs. manage, how to use reward placement to your benefit, and more. We know it feels overwhelming at first, but our hope is that we can help both you AND your dog feel more confident!
Keep an eye out for Jaxon’s continued progress in learning to handle his Big Feelings!
(Unrelated - anyone else pumped about training in cooler weather? 🙋🏼♀️)
Reactivity & Toy Reinforcement with Snert!
🎾 Ball Feelings! 🎾
I generally don’t use toys when working on reactivity. Toys add energy and intensity, and most dogs who struggle with barky-lungey behavior don’t need MORE intensity, but less of it! Snert, however, let us know that today was not a Cookie Day. Today was a day for BALL.
When using toys in training, we want to make sure of a couple things.
🔁 Can you bring it right back?
🧭 Can you let go fairly quickly?
😡 Can you play without guarding?
🧲 Are you able to still take in the environment without becoming completely magnetized to your toy? (Because we DO want him to see other dogs - we just want him to have more positive emotions when he does see them!)
Since the answer for all of these questions is YES for Snert, we can use his beloved ball!
We’ll be adding a few new skills to ensure toy rewards continue to be useful and effective for Snert & family:
- using a new marker signal that means he did a good thing and the ball is going to be thrown now (such as how “yes!” = cookie)
- teaching his parents some observational skills to know when the ball is Too Much, when he’s Too Close, or we’ve moved Too Soon (which looks different when a toy is involved than when we’re using food!)
- when to use food vs. toys
Do you use toys in your training, or is your dog just a foodie?
Things I Love About R+ Training:
Positive reinforcement brings positive feelings - as evidenced by the adorable tiny tail wags when Jax knows he got the answer right! 🥰😍
Jax is enrolled in Puppy Prodigy, our month long day training intensive for puppies 5 months & under. We work one on one with him for basic manners & socialization field trips throughout the week, plus one family sessions a week to show off his new skills and help troubleshoot those common puppy problems. Raising a puppy can be overwhelming - we can help.
