16/08/2024
School for Dogs đž
Weâre so lucky to spend every week with a variety of lovely dogs. â¤ď¸
School for Dogs and Puppies in Portland, ORđš
Daytraining, group classes, puppy socials, private training. Book on our website!
(4)
School for Dogs đž
Weâre so lucky to spend every week with a variety of lovely dogs. â¤ď¸
Ethel before and after working on the exercises from our Come Dog! training program. đ¤đ
If I can find the footage of her recalling from a stranger tempting her with hot dog, Iâll post it! She is so impressive. That *could* be your dog! đ
đWe have space in the series that starts Monday!đ
In our Come Dog! class, youâll spend six weeks building foundation behaviors that will get your dog coming back to you when you need it the most. Our recall class is a games-based series where we will be teaching our dogs that proximity to us pays off big time. Each week, we will learn a new game that will help build a reliable recall, and discuss the different ways that we can introduce increasing levels of distractions. This class will have your dog coming when called before you know it!
Length: 6 weeks, meeting 1x per week
For: Any dog, any age! Dogs should not be reactive on leash (barking and lunging at other dogs).
Fee: $260
Vaccine Requirements: At least one round of DAPP administered 7 days prior to the start of class, Bordetella recommended; email records to [email protected] or upload to the portal upon sign up
Class Schedule:
Mondays starting 8/12 at 6 p.m. *no class 9/2
If you have questions or need help enrolling, email us or send us a DM. đ
đś PUP CITY 2024 đś
We had a great time at this yearâs Pup City event at the Rose Quarter. It was so fun to see familiar faces! Shout out to Eddie, Frankie, Georgie, and Duncan for saying hello.
This was only our second time attending an event as vendors and weâre super excited to do it again in the near future! We love getting the chance to meet new people, chat about your dogs, and most importantly, give them treats. đđ¤Ł
We also had the pleasure of meeting Leland of and Michael of in person! đ
If you want to stay in the loop with what weâre up to, be sure to sign up for our newsletter, a once a month email that updates you on all things UP! đ§
Weâre excited to announce some completely new class series in the next newsletter. Stay tuned! đ
Calling all dog's dogsđ˘đ˘
Join us on Saturday, July 27 for Pup City, presented by
Pup City is an event featuring all our favorite things: Portland's Trail Blazers and our dogs. Dogs (and humans) of all kinds will meet at Moda Center for a walk around the Rose Quarter Campus, led by the only cat allowed, Blaze. While at Moda, enjoy drinks, tasty treats and fun things for your dog from more than 25 participating vendors, including TAVO, Blue Star Donuts, Stumptown, Portland Pet Food and more! (All of the vendors tagged belowđŤśđź)
Meaghan and Emma will be at our booth snapping photos of all the pups, and handing out goodies to folks who visit us!
Interested in joining for the walk? Your registration saves you a spot for you and your dog, 1 ticket to a 2024 Trail Blazers early season game, 1 Pup City collar for your dog, and a portion of the fee benefits to . We are giving away 4 FREE TICKETS to any folks who register through us.
Use the link in the bio to claim your ticket before they're gone!
Vendors:
Our newest mural, from Toni Doggett of Spilt Ink Gallery & Gift Shop located in St. Helens, OR
Toni and friends enjoying her latest mural "Nothing too Wild for Us". It was commissioned by Emma Brent of Urban Pawsibilities in Portland.
Our newest mural addition â¤ď¸
If you have been to UP in person, then you've probably seen some fun art around the building, including our African Dog in the office window, and our "Squirrel Fest" print in the private lesson room.
These were created by Emma's cousin Toni. Toni and her wife, Tammy, own and operate in St. Helens, along with Tammy's parents, Diane and Rick (Emma's aunt and uncle).
Frankly, that whole side of the family is incredibly artistic and talented. If you find yourself in St. Helens, Split Ink Gallery & Gifts is located right in the center of town! Check it out for all sorts of fun collectables and beautiful art pieces.
I've wanted a mural from Toni for a very long time, and I am so happy with the result! Now, I feel like we need to get a school bus with the UP logo for a shuttle serviceđ¤Ş
Toni had a suggestion for what our new motto should be, and titled the painting, "Nothing Too Wild For Us." Next time you're in, stop into the private lesson room to get a look for yourself.
Updated this blog post over on our fresh website. :)
Learn how to properly and proactively socialize your puppy with our comprehensive puppy training programs.
All services for School for Dogs are *wait-list only* for the rest of MarchđŤ¨
The last few months have been pretty crazy! There was a canine infectious respiratory disease spreading; there was an ice storm; it's been a lot.
However, things are starting to level out again, as they always do, and with that comes good news for UP, and bad news for anyone who was hoping to book day services in March:
Sorry, we're fully booked.
March is wait-list only for the rest of the month. You can get on the wait-list by submitting reservation requests. We will wait-list it on our end, and contact you know if a spot opens up. This is also a friendly reminder to get your reservations in for April! We are already full for services on some days. Click the sign up link in the bio to put in your reservations requests.
P.S. According to the Oregon Veterinary Medicine Association, as of Feb. 15th "No New Case Updates [of Canine Infectious Respirtatory Disease have been] Received from ODA." At UP, we are always working to maintain a clean, well-sanitized facility, and our whole model is designed around keeping playgroups small and populated by healthy, vaccinated dogs! I just wanted to make sure everyone is up to date that, for now, cases of CIRD have waned.
âźď¸We have a few spots in these classes starting next week!âźď¸
All classes run for 6 weeks, cost $250 for the series, and are taught by head trainer, Emma! ⨠Classes take place in our spacious facility in SE Portland.
If youâre interested in signing for any of the classes, feel free to sign up through the client portal or if you have questions, drop a comment down below or send us a DM. Happy to answer questions! đ
đŁBIG NEWSđŁ Urban Pawsibilities is teaming up with Reese's Rainbow Mobile Pet Salon
We are officially offering grooming as an add-on service at our School for Dogs. If you'd like for your pup to be evaluated for grooming, we will be hosting Happy Visits ($30) with Head Groomer & Owner of Reese's Rainbow Mobile Pet Salon, Sydnee Ennes, on Tuesday, March 19th. Comment below or send us a DM to get your pup on the schedule and sign up for a Happy Visit for that day.
Happy visits will be conducted by our trainers, where we will prep your pup to eventually be passed off to Sydnee, with the goal being comfortable and cooperative grooming experiences. Once your pup is cleared by our trainers and Sydnee, they will be able to sign up for grooming while at school.
This is a perfect opportunity for puppies who have little to no experience being groomed to become acclimated to a grooming experience at their pace, or for dogs who need help building a relationship with a new groomer and would benefit from the gradual exposure our trainers and Sydnee can provide through this experience.
Happy Valentineâs Day friends! â¤ď¸
Thank you so much to everyone who answered our Group Class survey. We are busy trying to figure out how and where we can add additional classes to meet everyoneâs needs. In the meantime, we changed up our schedule a bit and have classes in slots theyâre not normally offered in, in the attempt to create more opportunity for new folks to attend! As always, we appreciate your willingness to provide us with feedback.
Available Classes taught by Meaghan:
Puppy Preschool: Fri. 3/15 at 7:15 p.m. *no class 3/29 OR Fri. 4/19 at 7:15 p.m.
Puppy Socials: Every W at 6:15 p.m. starting 2/28
Puppy Kindergarten: starting Sat. 3/16 at 2:15 p.m. OR Fri. 4/5 at 6 p.m.
Get Ready Dog: starting Wed. 4/17 at 7:15 p.m.
Polite Dog: starting Wed. 2/28 at 7:15 p.m.
Green Dog: Sat. 3/16 at 3:30 p.m. *no class 3/30
Available Classes taught by Fern:
Green Dog: TH 2/22/24 at 6:00 p.m. - 1 spot left
Available Classes taught by Emma:
Green Dog: Tues. 3/5 at 6 p.m. OR Sun. 4/21 at 11:15 a.m. *no class 5/26
Tricky Dog: Mon. 3/4 at 7:15 p.m.
Get Ready Dog: starting Tues. 3/5 at 7:15 p.m.
Calm Dog: Tues. 4/23 at 6 p.m.
Come! Dog: Sun. 3/10/24 at 11:15 a.m. OR Mon. 4/22 at 6 p.m. *no class 5/27
Triggered Dog: Sun. starting 4/21 at 10:00 a.m. *skip 5/26 OR Mon. starting 4/22 at 7:15 p.m. *skip 5/27
If you have questions about upcoming classes or need help signing up, send us a DM or email us at [email protected]
Day 11: Revisit Foundations Frequently
Training starts with you and your dogâs foundations: your mechanical skills, your reinforcement procedures, and your dogâs basic cues. The truth of the matter is that your training can either be helped or inhibited by how well you and your pup can perform your foundation skills. Clean mechanics, well conditioned reinforcement procedures, and basic cues trained to fluency really pave the way for a well trained dog which is my opinion a dog that is attentive or continuously having a conversation with/to their handler even around distraction, and can respond to at least their basic cues in a variety of varying difficulty contexts.
So what are your mechanical skills when it comes to dog training?
When Iâm thinking about the handlerâs mechanical skills Iâm thinking about:
-The ability to observe their dogâs behavior
-The ability to mark behavior with precision timing
-The ability to deliver food after marking a behavior in a way that is helpful towards the overall goal behavior with out causing unnecessary distraction or behaviors to develop
-Leash handling skills (how you hold the leash, ability to âcutâ slack)
When Iâm thinking about reinforcement procedures, Iâm specifically referring to the ways we indicate to our dogs that theyâve met our current training criteria, and how we communicate to them the way theyâre getting âpaidâ. This includes wether or not weâre skilled at following up in the intended way (ie: I say âfind itâ and grab a treat, toss it on the ground instead of accidentally giving it to my dogâs mouth). This also includes spending time ensuring our dogâs understand the different ways weâll be paying them (ie: they hear âfind itâ and put their nose to the ground to start searching for the food).
*more in comments
New blog post by Samantha Hoaglin, CPDT-KA
"How To Become A Dog Trainer" :)
For a while, dog training was just a hobby of mine. Iâd go to work at my office job, then come home and teach my dog a new trick or read whatever dog training book I was on at the time. It wasnât until I started giving unsolicited advice to friends with new puppies and random internet strangers ...
Tuesday 1/16. âď¸âď¸
Saturday 1/13/24 âď¸
For todayâs resolution, we propose you proactively commit to preventing burn out by resting and taking breaks as needed! Sure, consistency aids in getting desired results but in the long run, if youâre pressuring yourself to train every day, especially multiple times a day, then youâre likely running this risk. If you fall off the training wagon after a month because of the burn out, then the daily sessions werenât necessarily the approach for you. So often I see the posts that are like, it just takes 1 minute a day 3 times a day! And maybe it does. Realistically, most of us do not have the bandwidth for that every single day. I can tell you that I do not train my dogs every day. Yes, theyâre always learning and I am mindful of their environment, household management to prevent skills, but I am not going out of my way to practice and proof new skills every day. Do what feels right for your obligations, balance training goals with other types of enrichment that fills your dogâs cup, and give yourself permission to rest and let your dog rest, too!
In the beginning, dog training seemed intimidating to me. I didnât feel like I needed my dog to âcomply with commandsâ. It seemed harsh in some ways. I just wanted my dogs to be happy dogs. Through my journey, I quickly realized that training is so much more than sit, down, stay, heel, etc. Itâs not just about compliance or goal behavior. Training at its best is creating conversation between you and your learner. Those conversations build the relationship you share. Itâs serious business, but itâs also not all that serious. Like all skills, being a great trainer takes time, it takes practice, it takes keeping up on your mechanical skills, recognizing where you can improve and also recognizing where youâre doing a great job.
What I notice though is that we can get so focused on our end goals that we forget to make the experience enjoyable for our learners or ourselves. My dog performs the behavior, I mark, I deliver food, and thatâs the focus. Weâre using positive reinforcement but the session itself isnât encompassing âpositive vibesâ. Maybe weâre nervous to mess up, maybe weâre being hard on ourselves about our skill level, maybe weâre being hard on our dogs without even realizing it. So what I recommend to you today is to loosen up a little bit! Try doing something that makes you smile before your training sessions or taking breaks during your sessions to play with your dog. Shake it off. If you notice yourself feeling a bit tense, point out one thing youâve done well in your session. In KPA, they often talked about being âclickerlyâ. So I say be âclickerlyâ to yourself. Find whatâs going right and celebrate that. Be forgiving to your dog and to your skillset. Effort and momentum in the desired direction should be celebrated.
Fill your dogâs cup and your own cup too!
The idea of your dog having an âemotional cupâ comes from fabulous dog trainer Sarah Owings. This is something that has always resonated with me in the context of our dogs but people too. (See the second slide for more on this.)
How can we expect our dogs to comfortably exist in the human world if theyâre not getting their needs met? How can we expect ourselves to exist in this chaotic, often depressing and overwhelming world, let alone show up for our dogs, if our cup is empty too?
Right when UP opened up, I went through a divorce. Plus the pandemic was there. Plus the stress of a new business was there. (Emma was my superhero. She still is.) Suddenly I had 6 animals alone and my emotional cup was completely empty. Most days I was proud of myself if I brushed my teeth, my animals were fed and exercised. I did not train them. I did not go above and beyond for my dogs or myself. It was not until I was in regular therapy and finding ways that I could fill my own cup, a lot of times while filling my dogsâ cups, that I made lasting progress. Sure this is an extreme example but itâs relatable. I hear from folks in lessons so often that life happened, they were struggling with their mental health, or something else, and they werenât able to be there for their dogs in the ways that they wanted. What I tell people is that I understand and I see you. Iâve been there. I think over the last couple years especially, most of us have. We will never judge you for that.
More in comments.
For our second day of reasonable resolutions, we say teach your dog âfind itâ!
For us, we teach âfind itâ to mean weâre going to throw a single piece of food onto the ground, typically within 2-6 ft. of where weâre standing.
To teach it, I will hold treats behind my back (or keep them in your pouch), say clearly âfind itâ then with my dog watching, quickly toss a single treat close by. The treats should be big enough that my dog can easily find the treats (donât throw tiny treats onto a hard to find surface to teach this cue). I repeat this over and over again, until my dog hears the cue âfind itâ and then begins to search the ground for a treat.
There are so many uses for âfind itâ. The first thing that comes to mind is to redirect my dogâs attention. If my dog is staring at another dog, pulling towards something, or is generally stuck, saying âfind itâ and tossing a treat in the opposite direction can be enough to move my dogâs attention towards something else, giving me the opportunity to then cue a different behavior, or ask for another âfind itâ while strategically tossing the âfind itâ treats in a way that gives me more and more space from the distraction.
I have used multiple âfind itâsâ in a straight line to move a dog down a sidewalk when there was a distraction or trigger on the other side of the road, as well as used âfind itâ to keep a dogâs attention low to the ground when working on polite greetings.
Does your dog know âfind itâ already? If so, when do you find yourself using it most?
Personally, I love the New Year. Reflecting, reimagining your life, setting goals, and making resolutions are positive actions we can take. Of course, you can do this at anytime youâd like, but thereâs something that can feel special and reinvigorates that desire to change come the New Year.
One of mine and Emmaâs resolutions for this year is to meet up every Friday morning to train our personal dogs. Iâm sure you will all see lots of great footage from that shared here and in our detraining programs, but that has me super excited both just to spend more time with Emma, to spend more time training, and to be out in the world building community.
On that note, as dog trainers who love bonding on all things training, we have much to share and so many thoughts when it comes to training your dogs. â¨â¨â¨For the month of January, weâll be sharing 31 days of Reasonable Dog Training Resolutions and Tips. Follow along at home, let us know what you think of our tips, our proposed resolutions and feel free to share the posts if they resonate with you.â¨â¨â¨
Happy New Year yaâll. Weâre glad to be in 2024 with you.
Our motto has always been âlearn together, live togetherâ. Emma came up with this when she founded the original concept of UP.
The way Iâve always interpreted this is that the more we are willing to absorb about our dogs, how they learn, their body language, their preferences, and who they are as a unique individuals, the more we are able to truly live a fulfilling life with them, whatever that means for you and your dog.
Here at UP, we have a team that we are very proud of. Not only are our trainers GREAT trainers, but equally important to us, theyâre deeply compassionate individuals, both to the dogs and that consideration extends up the leash to the guardians, too.
While weâve been enjoying being closed for the week, recharging so we can be our best most rested and prepared selves in 2024, Iâve been reflecting a lot: on our motto, on our goals and vision for UP. On how far weâve come and how far we have to go.
What has been evident to me through all my observations is that in the very beginnings, the UP of today was built through compassion and has continued to branch out through reaching out, being open to conversation, meeting people where theyâre at and lifting them without judgment. When I think about it, this type of compassion is at the heart of the dog training we collaborate with our clients on.
We all want improved relationships with our dogs; or maybe we want them to be less anxious, more relaxed, and able to cope with the stressors of life. We want our dogs to experience relief. To have freedom and pleasure.
So at UP, we say âlearn together, live togetherâ. But what we mean beyond that is extend compassion. To your dogs and yourselves as you learn. Weâre here to help you equip, enrich and enlarge your dogâs world should you desire the help. After all, before UP was UP, our story was just one person asking someone else for help and that person saying âyeah, I got you.â â¤ď¸â¨
đ¨đą New Class Alert đąđ¨
FUN & GAMES MINI SERIES WITH MEAGHAN
This brand new group class curriculum focuses on building engagement around distractions while providing you and your pup with a relationship building experience. Join us for an hour of games, training challenges and contests designed to make training your dog your favorite thing to do.
Length: 3 weeks, meeting 1x per week
For: Any non-reactive dog who has completed at least one group class at Urban Pawsibilities
Fee: $125
Vaccine Requirements: DAPP, Rabies, Bordetella. Email records to [email protected] or upload to the portal upon sign up
Class Schedule:
Saturdays starting 2/3 at 12:30 p.m.
Cute pic of Loki and Jason just for fun.
New blog post by the fabulous Samantha Hoaglin on barking! :)
When I got my first dog of my own, a little rescue terrier/chihuahua mix, I was surprised to see how long she could go without taking a breath between barking. It seemed like she barked at anything and everything and nothing I did could stop it entirely. Sheâd bark in her crate all night while I t...
He is elegance; he is grace; he is Tajin.
I got to meet my first Mexican Hairless Dog client this month, and I'm obsessed. Tajin is an absolute pleasure to be around, and while he is subject to the struggles of most adolescent dogs (mildly reactive to strange people/dogs, likes to jump up when excited, the usual..), his personality is unmatched. Look at him crashed out on the couch at the end of our lessonđĽ˛
Super playful, and decently food motivated, it's easy to get a dog like Tajin to opt into work! Our biggest focus is keeping his goofiest behaviors managed when he's not being directly supervised. Tajin's story is like a lot of teen dogs' stories. In fact, I would go as far as to say teenagers of any species are a lot to deal with when they aren't being directly supervised. I'm not a parent to any human children, but I was once an adolescent, and for reference, I'm a lot to deal with now, so imagine how much of a pain Teen Emma was...
Teens need your patience and your support, even when (especially when) it feels difficult to do so.
Teens need opportunities to earn independence, and management when they've demonstrated that they still need supervision.
People tell me in my lessons all of the time, "this is just like raising kids." And it is! I think most people just don't necessarily know how to translate the concepts they would like to teach as effectively when they're dealing with their dogs.
That's where a good trainer can help you. Take some time to learn effective management solutions for your teen dog! Group classes, private lessons and daytraining are all a great way for your teen to learn new skills, and for you to learn how to set them up for success during this formative time.
Click the link in the bio to get signed upđĽł
⨠How To Potty Train â¨
Did you know we have a blog? One of our absolute favorites, Lindy, wrote a great blog piece this week about how to house train your puppy.
Visit our blog (which is now being updated regularly) by clicking on the âblogâ linked in the navigation of our main website.
These graphics are an adaptation of the blog post. đ¤
Tuesday | 07:00 - 19:00 |
Wednesday | 07:00 - 19:00 |
Thursday | 07:00 - 19:00 |
Friday | 07:00 - 19:00 |
Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Urban Pawsibilities posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.
Send a message to Urban Pawsibilities:
Everyone give a big round of applause to Riley, our first Green Dog Phase 3 graduate đĽłđĽłđĽł At our School for Dogs, we offer 7 different training programs for dogs that come in for daytraining. Since daytraining is a drop off program, we like to make sure skills are acquired and generalized with their people at home before we move the dog onto more advanced training at school. We break down each category of training into 3 phases to ensure complex behaviors are taught from start to finish in the context their needed. Riley graduated from our Green Dog program, a training program that centers around teaching foundation skills for all of the basic manners a dog should know. Her person is diligent about keeping up with the homework outside of school, so Riley has made great progress! We also offer a Loose Leash Walking program, Recall program, Reactivity Reduction program, and more. Looking for day care for your dog that will give your dog an opportunity to socialize with other dogs as well as learn skills tailored to fit your needs at home? Then our daytraining program will be a perfect fit for you! We offer full and half days, Monday through Friday. *Note* July is full for daytraining! Get on the wait-list or put in your reservation requests for August using the link in the bio.
Happy Saturday and congratulations to all of the graduates from group classes last weekđĽłđ I had such a great time working with you all, and it was such a pleasure to see so many familiar faces. Big shout-out to Birdie, Jonsey, Cricket, Tuvix, Bixby (technically a different dog took the class before, but familiar human faces!), and Timber featured in this video. And special mention to Elmie, Margo, Teddy, Käse, Koa, Shiloh, and Riley, all returning students who have each come such a long way in their individual journey. The next round of group classes are in Gingr, and there's an Easter egg for those who go lookingđ News to follow next week!
This is how I feel about R+ training. Once you understand the philosophy, the psychology, and the practice, there's no taking the glasses off. If you have been following along since the beginning, you know that the UP insta page's claim to fame began with videos of Mo and me working through major leash reactivity, which she has exhibited since I picked her up at 8 weeks old. She was reactive to everything on leash. Dogs, people, kids, skateboards, bikes, scooters, plastic bags floating in the wind... The whole nine yards. Flashforward a few years, and here's Modoc tagging along on a beautiful Saturday to pick up a bouquet from @broadway_floral with me. She was a gem settling in the store while I purchased my flowers, and a total rockstar heeling across busy intersections as we walked home. A few years ago, I would never have even been able to walk 10ft down this street, let alone HEEL with my hands FULL while a person skateboarded right past usđŤ¨đŤ¨đŤ¨ How did we achieve this? That's the power of effective R+ training. When we first started our training journey, I definitely didn't see results immediately. In fact, for a while, things seemed to get worse before they got better. But there are no shortcuts to this kind of work. We stuck it out, and dannnggg she's been exceeding all of my expectations lately. I may never be able to take the glasses off. I may never again see things the way I'm supposed to because I see things as they are (which makes me an absolute buzz kill when it comes to reviewing @netflix shows about dog training--spoiler alert, they're almost all trash and nonsense). I may never force anyone else to wear them. I chose a long time ago to shut up and show off, because the best R+ training speaks for itself, as seen here.
Using pattern games to help reduce reactivity to passersby. I've been working with a lot of dogs lately who struggle with going for walks. First and foremost, I feel you. Getting a dog to walk nicely on a leash is really hard! And while there are the lucky few whose dogs just naturally yield to the tension of the leash and aren't incredibly overstimulated being outside, if you are not one of those people, know you are in the majority. Walking dogs on leashes is really unnatural, for both humans and dogs alike. What I like to remind the folks I work with is that leash laws were invented in the 70s and not seriously enforced (which I still don't think they're really seriously enforced in most places, but I digress) until the 90s. That means in the scheme of things, moving dogs on leashes through an increasingly urbanized environment is relatively new in dogs' evolution. Many of the dogs I meet that are just naturally good at loose leash walking are either generally more relaxed or less outwardly reactive to their environment. Dogs that struggle with loose leash walking are often less relaxed and more outwardly reactive to their environment. If you want to make walks less stressful for both of you, one easy thing to start doing is taking some time during your walk to hold still and just check out what's around you. It's especially important to practice this skill in places where you will need it, like in front of your home, at street corners, etc. You can play a pattern game, like Up/Down (credit to Leslie McDevitt and the Control Unleashed program!), seen here in the video, used to give a dog an opportunity to look around and earn reinforcement while we hold still. And maybe at this point you're thinking, yeah but I need help with the walking part of loose leash walking... Trust me. Standing still outside on a leash is the best place to start. Hope this helps!
Reasonable Resolutions #10: Better Safe Than Sorry! With the weather being so unpredictable and unsafe road conditions jeopardizing the safety of everyone this last week, following an approach of âbetter safe than sorryâ makes so much sense but how does it translate to dog training?đ¤ When I think about this statement Iâm not thinking of being âsafeâ solely in reference to physical safety- I think more in general terms of being proactively thorough and well prepared, as a means to avoid risk in the given situation. When weâre thinking about dog training, a list of training risks could include fall out from particular training approaches, poisoning cues, poisoning food, creating learned irrelevancy in response to cues, and of course jeapordizing your dogâs physical and emotional safety. So when Iâm applying this âbetter safe than sorryâ school of thought to my training, Iâm following a few guidelines: -If there is a physical safety risk to my dog, to the community, or to myself, I will use management and second layers of safety. This could be through muzzle training, through using a sturdy harness and long line instead of letting your dog hike off leash, through installing fences or barriers to prevent a dog from escaping or entering a particular space. This is being safe instead of sorry 101! -When training new behaviors, especially if Iâm using free shaping, I consider my dogâs emotional state by keeping my sessions short, my rate of reinforcement high, and by making sure that Iâm raising my training criteria at a pace that is not causing frustration related behaviors to pop out or to opt out of the session. -I avoid throwing my dog into the deep end before Iâve seen them thriving in the shallow end. I pay attention to my dogâs body language and I ease them into new situations to avoid creating unnecessarily negative experiences and assocations. Are there ways that you apply this concept of âbetter safe than sorryâ to
Weâre back! For day 7, we say: change up your walks by practicing engaging tricks during your routine route! Not only will this help your dog learn to generalize those tricks but it can improve your dogâs engagement during the walk, and change the overall âconversationâ that happens while youâre out! One thing that I often tell folks in my beginner classes is that our dogs learn through context, through consistency, and of course via positive reinforcement. Out on a walk, our dogs learn quickly: when on the leash, we go forward, tension can get them to where they want to go if we let that happen, and that the environment is full of interesting things. Walking (or pulling) straight ahead gets reinforced quickly and pulling from one spot to the next becomes a strong behavior. If we make the walk more about being out together, an opportunity to work on fun behaviors, and encourage our dogs to interact with us to get access to all the things they want to explore (not taking away sniffing), weâll see improvement in their loose leash walking skills with just these adjustments. So next time youâre out, try a couple things: -Ask your dog to do something simple like a nose to hand touch & when they do, tell them âgo sniffâ and take them to something they likely want to spend time sniffing. When you start to feel tension on the leash (or even better if you anticipate things your pup might want to sniff) repeat this behavior of touch and go sniff! -Before your dog is struggling to stay connected and engage with you, stop somewhere with some space and find an obstacle you can practice âupâ and âoffâ with (paw targets), as well as other fun and easy tricks like âspin/twirlâ, âmiddleâ (between your legs), touching hand targets at different heights, or anything else your dog enjoys doing. Only ask for a few reps then get back to walking. Notice when your dog is offering auto check ins and occasionally when they do, a short, enjoyable trick ses
đđđđYou Make Every Day Feel Like Itâs Christmas đđđđ Getting to train dogs all day is our version of every day Christmas. 𼲠If youâve been on the line about trying daytraining, we have a special offer for you available from 12/23 to 1/1. đWeâre offering a 3 half daytraining pack with a FREE on-site lesson for $270 available only to new daytraining clients.đ If youâre a current client and you send someone our way during this limited timeframe, all they have to do is let us know your name and youâll get equivalent rewards points to their first purchase. Woohoo đ Sign up through the link in our bio. If you need help, send us a DM đ
Sometimes you find yourself back where it all startedđŤâ Did you know Urban Pawsibilities was founded in Jan 2020, and I ran it out of my house? At the time, the only service I offered was Walk & Trains. These are some clips with one of my old clients, Boba. I'm not sure if his parents still follow us on Instagram, but I hope they see this. I used to do walk and trains with Boba about once a week. We worked on everything from loose leash walking, reducing reactivity on leash, recall and so much more. He was amazing, his parents are the kindest, coolest people, and I always looked forward to the days when Boba and I got to adventure around together. When Meaghan and I opened the facility in May of 2021, we were doing all of the services ourselves. Literally, just the two of us, running group classes, daytraining and private lessons 7 days a week. We loved the idea of continuing to offer walk and trains, but we just objectively did not have the time. So walk & trains, UP's OG service, was axed. Well, three years later, our amazing staff has agreed to help us offer walk & trains again for the first time! Our daytraining staff (Lindy, Sam and Fern) will be working with walk & train clients, and sessions will cost $85/visit. Visits will last 45mins, with options to upgrade to 1hr. Just like our daytraining program, your dog's training will be tailored to your dog's unique needs, and we will send you a report card including pictures, a summary of your dog's session, as well as links to training plans, videos demonstrating technique, and other helpful resources. Walk & Trains will not require you to be home or in attendance (unless deemed necessary by our trainers). To sign up, click the link in our bio and fill out the sign up form to get started.
How to use play to reinforce pro-social behavior⏠If you have a dog, I implore you: figure out a way to play with them. It is so important that we follow basic principles of nature and use play to model and reinforce pro-social behavior with our dogs. In my opinion, most of the miscommunications we have with dogs come from our cumulative lack of skills in regards to how to teach dogs how to play. There are thousands of books on how to teach your dog how to sit and come when called. But when I searched for books on how to teach your dog how to play, the results were underwhelming. In this video, Meaghan and I are working on parallel play with two dog-reactive dogs. Before this moment, Bailey (the dog I'm playing with) was having a pretty hard time hanging out on her side of the fence. It took about 8mins and a whole lot of attempts to finally get Bailey to start playing with me. This was that exact moment, and then once I was able to get her to play, her mood shifted entirely. She happily exchanged from play to sniffing for treats at the snuffle mats, and most importantly, was no longer fixating on the other dog behind the fence. We use parallel play to help dogs learn how to perform pro-social behavior in contexts where they have demonstrated anti-social behavior previously. We do utilize snuffle mats to give the dogs options at any point during the session to opt out and just sniff around for treats, which helps them decompress, but the goal here is not to do "training" with food. There are many steps that come before and after this to encourage dogs to perform pro-social behavior, but I wanted to share this short snippet to show you what is possible. Play can be used for so many different reasons when working with dogs, and it's my hope that learning how play with your dog can help you develop a better relationship! Need help teaching your dog how to play? Today is our last day for double the loyalty points on any purchases for services made in our client
Halloween Costume Contest submission #10: @thegoldenladdoo as an angel! đ If you think Laddoo is heaven sent and want him to win the contest, give him a like and share!
Sweet sweet Mia here to let you know we have a spot in our Calm Dog class starting Monday the 16th at 6 p.m., our Walkinâ Dog class starting Monday the 16th at 7:15 p.m., a couple spots in our intermediate manners class Get Ready Dog starting November 4th at 11:15 a.m., and space in our AKC CGC class Good Dog starting October 26th at 7:15 p.m. đ
Dog training is a team sport. No matter what you're trying to train, you will need to learn how to be an effective collaborator to achieve your goals. In the clip above, I'm working with my own dog, Modoc, on our Novice Obedience routine with Dee Pigman at Dog Days NW in Vancouver. Modoc and I have gotten two of three legs towards her title. But we've struggled to close out the last leg. There's a lot of things we had to go back to the drawing board for, but the biggest one is that we were doing too much of our training alone. Not collaborating with others meant I wasn't practicing good habits. And if I wasn't practicing good habits, then that meant I was teaching Mo bad habits đŤŁđŤŁđ oops. It can be so helpful to have someone watch you, to say "hey, your timing is off" or "try it like this next time." Furthermore, there are some things you just can't train alone. Especially when it comes to adding distractions (I'm looking at you people working with reactive dogsđ§), you need to be able to collaborate with others in order to set up effective training sessions. Part of me doing too much training alone came down to me wanting to train whenever I wanted. If you don't have anyone to train with, you can start and stop your session whenever you please. While that is certainly a perk, it doesn't outweigh the potential con of not carrying out an effective training session. But the biggest reason I wasn't training with others is because I honestly felt like I ought to be able to do it alone. Sometimes it feels like everyone is doing all these things all by themselves, without any help. Social media is a very first-person oriented experience. It can be easy to forget that when you zoom out, you see alllllll of the people who worked together to make that final product. You are not obligated to struggle through figuring out things all by yourself. In fact, for your dog's sake, please don't do that lmao𤣠Go find a professional who can help give you some guid
đŞ No treats getting by Oro! đŞ We absolutely love teaching dogs how to catch treats so we can use âcatchâ a treat as a reinforcement procedure. What I have found is that even the lower value treats will gain value through dispensing them this way! Because it is a pretty stimulating way to reinforce your pup, itâs great for building excitement and engagement around behaviors like recall around distraction. Oro here is a âcatchâ professional and you can see that he is happily offering a whole lot of eye contact that I am reinforcing with our âcatchâ technique!
Want your business to be the top-listed Pet Store/pet Service?