Everyone give a big round of applause to Riley, our first Green Dog Phase 3 graduate 🥳🥳🥳
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 week🥳🎓
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 looking👀 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 us🫨🫨🫨 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 “better safe than sorry” makes so much sense but how does it translate to dog training?🤔
When I think about this statement I’m not thinking of being “safe” 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 we’re 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 dog’s physical and emotional safety.
So when I’m applying this “better safe than sorry” school of thought to my training, I’m 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 I’m using free shaping, I consider my dog’s emotional state by keeping my sessions short, my rate of reinforcement high, and by making sure that I’m 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 I’ve seen them thriving in the shallow end. I pay attention to my dog’s 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 “better safe than sorry” to
We’re 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 dog’s engagement during the walk, and change the overall “conversation” that happens while you’re 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), we’ll see improvement in their loose leash walking skills with just these adjustments. So next time you’re out, try a couple things:
-Ask your dog to do something simple like a nose to hand touch & when they do, tell them “go sniff” 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 “up” and “off” with (paw targets), as well as other fun and easy tricks like “spin/twirl”, “middle” (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
🎄🎄🎄🎄You Make Every Day Feel Like It’s Christmas 🎄🎄🎄🎄
Getting to train dogs all day is our version of every day Christmas. 🥲
If you’ve been on the line about trying daytraining, we have a special offer for you available from 12/23 to 1/1.
🌟We’re offering a 3 half daytraining pack with a FREE on-site lesson for $270 available only to new daytraining clients.🌟
If you’re 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 you’ll get equivalent rewards points to their first purchase. Woohoo 🎉
Sign up through the link in our bio.
If you need help, send us a DM 😇
Sometimes you find yourself back where it all started🫂⭕
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! 😇
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 Walkin’ 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. 😎
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 🫣🫣💀 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 dogs🧐), 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🤣
Go find a professional who can help give you some guid
🍪 No treats getting by Oro! 🍪
We absolutely love teaching dogs how to catch treats so we can use “catch” 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, it’s great for building excitement and engagement around behaviors like recall around distraction.
Oro here is a “catch” professional and you can see that he is happily offering a whole lot of eye contact that I am reinforcing with our “catch” technique!
