Rigby to the Rescue: R+ & Force Free Dog Training Services

06/11/2021

Barrier frustration can be presented in many various formats.

In this short clip, we can see how Pokey is becoming frustrated that she can’t pass by Rigby comfortably. Notice at the end how I say, “okay, thanks for letting me know.” I want my dogs to let me know when they are frustrated with a situation and I will jump in and assist.

If pokey had stepped over Rigby or tried to squeeze by, it would be considered rude as it would invade Rigby’s space.

Spacial spectrums vary between dogs and it depends on their relationship with one another.

Pokey is always very respectful of spacial boundaries with Rigby. This keeps the peace between them. Dogs are complex problem solvers too. We can see Pokey trying to solve this problem in a way that doesn’t disrupt boundaries between her and Rigby. Doing so minimizes conflict and reduces the likelihood of an escalation such as a fight.

Fascinating right?

Humans have solved this same issue with a simple “excuse me.”

What’s unclear is what Pokey’s bark meant to Rigby. She didn’t move after all. Perhaps it’s more of a “hey, I’m frustrated” then a “I’m frustrated because you are in the way.”

It would be great if we could decode barks. I wonder how complex dog speak is? 🤔

12/09/2021

Betsy is aggressive towards dogs she doesn’t know. Rigby is okay with dogs but doesn’t really care for them, she would much rather do her own thing. Pokey LOVES other dogs and falls into the camp of being super social.

Like with humans, there is quite the scale and it can change over time as our dog’s behavior continues to be shaped by new experiences.

What about your dog?

17/07/2021

I always provide a physical copy of this to my clients but wanted to post it here too. This exercise can be a powerful tool if done consistently over a stretch of time.

This is one of the exercises I review with all of my clients who are experiencing increased reactivity from their dogs around triggers.

Triggers are commonly any of the following:

-other dogs or animals
-people
-kids
-movements (especially sudden ones)
-sounds/vibrations (other dogs barking, the sound of dog tags on a collar, knocks at the door, sirens, objects falling over, fireworks, voices, motorcycles)
-textures (stairs or metal ramps for example)

DM with questions.

16/07/2021

Let’s talk about these Instagram reels that I keep seeing go viral.

Any guesses what’s wrong with this?

Pushing your dog past threshold for a few “likes” is unacceptable.

Not respecting our dog’s personal boundaries is unacceptable.

Where is the contest? Where is the agency? Do our dogs not get a say in when and how we make contact with them?

This dog is giving every indication to its owner that it’s uncomfortable with what the owner is doing. Yet the owner proceeds anyways. Had the dog bitten, it have been perfectly understandable.

Yet, when the dog does bite, the owner will say “my dog bit for no reason” or “my dog has never done that before.”

That’s 💯 a lie! There is ALWAYS a reason and when a dog feels like their attempts to get their owner to listen are going unanswered, then that is when we see an escalation in behavior.

If you push a dog past their threshold, on purpose nonetheless, and expect complete submission, then you absolutely should not be a pet owner. Companionship is not about subserviency from our dogs. They are not human pawns. They are living, breathing, mammals with their own self autonomy. Our dogs deserve to have their own agency.

And BEWARE! This was posted to a “dog training” account. This is NOT dog training. Never, ever, ever give money to a company that not only promotes but encourages this type of behavior towards dogs.

14/10/2020

I added “take a break” to Olive’s training vocabulary. Dogs can easily overexert themselves, especially during activities like catch. Teaching our dogs to take breaks between rounds is really important so they don’t become overly stimulated by passing their stimuli threshold.

We often think of exercising our dogs in terms of quantity and not quality, so pushing them to “get it out of their system” by doing continuous activities for long periods of times instead of making their activities engaging, interactive, and mentally challenging.

In this video you will see Olive practice her cues of “here” in which I use targeting to let her know where I would like her to drop the ball, “leave it,” “down,” “take a break,” and “okay, let’s go!”

30/09/2020

We missed Meme Monday but what about “just for fun Tuesday?”

22/09/2020

Olive at her very favorite place doing her very favorite thing.

21/09/2020

Meme Monday!

14/09/2020

Meme Monday: Dogs communicate best to us through their body language. To speak dog, we must read dog.

09/09/2020

Meme Monday but on a Tuesday

27/08/2020

In this video I teach Maddy that “Yes” equals a treat, every time! Yes is our marker word. I’m also teaching her how to communicate to us with her nose. A nose bump is saying “yes I want a treat.” She can set her own pace. Towards the end, she was slow to nose bump and so we focused on the other dogs. So this was two fold: we introduce using a marker word and we teach Maddy how to use her own agency and how to politely ask for something. This is a good foundation for target practicing too!

25/08/2020

“Our dogs are not trying to give us a hard time. They are having a hard time.” ❤️

23/08/2020

23/08/2020

Adventures with the fox 🦊 dog! ❤️

23/08/2020

23/08/2020

Olive @ Cathedral Park

22/08/2020

Excellent educational video on how to read canine body language at the dog park! I see these sort of altercations happen pretty frequently. If you visit dog parks, go for your dog, not yourself. Don’t get distracted in conversations with other park patrons. Stay alert. Stay engaged. And be available for your dog. Not all dogs know how to read body language cues from other dogs. Be ready to intervene when necessary and redirect your dogs attention when appropriate.

https://www.facebook.com/1866216766939114/posts/2744129319147850/

21/08/2020

A long term benefit of crate training: your dog will go into an open crate when they want their own space away from everyone. Crates have always been Rigby’s “space” to relax and recharge.

21/08/2020

I’m behind on updates but this is Olive swimming! The last video was when she swam just briefly but it was enough for me to “capture” that behavior and reinforce it so that when we did our next session, she just went straight out into the water! No hesitation. No frustration. She got her ball and brought it back. She now swims perfectly fine and shows no fear or anxiety around the water.

21/08/2020

“Rebelliousness,” “stubbornness,” and “defiance” are human emotions that we try to fit into our explanations of why our dog’s do or don’t do certain things. We use it the most when explaining why our dogs aren’t doing the things we are asking them to do.

We asked our dog to come to us and when our dog failed to do so, we passed it off as “defiance.” It is not defiance. It’s a lack of practice. Dogs will always follow rewards. So if your dog is at a dog park playing with another dog and not paying attention to your cues, it’s not an act of rebellion. Your dog’s current reward (companion play) is both highly rewarding AND highly distracting. Unless you’ve practiced recall in that exact environment under the same conditions of stimuli, it’s likely your dog will not perform the behaviors you are seeking.

It’s like showing up to a piano recital and being asked to play a sonata when you’ve only ever practiced “Marry had a little lamb.”

Put in the time and I promise you will see results!

18/08/2020

18/08/2020

18/08/2020

18/08/2020

Hi all, I’m going to start posting some unedited videos that will be used in the official Project Pokey videos. These videos demonstrate the beginning exercises for loose leash walking. First, I want you to watch these two videos and see how Pokey walked on her leash before her training officially started. I want you to see that before these exercises were introduced to her, she was a lot like every dog that struggles with walking on a leash politely. If she sees or smells something of interest, she makes her way over to it by pulling. Notice the tension on the leash in these videos. Yikes!

25/07/2020

Don’t mind me getting all excited in this video! Proud moment caught on video of Olive swimming. It was only for a few seconds but she went into the water voluntarily, and went out pretty far! We were unsuccessful at retrieving the ball (it was pretty far out there) but it was a sacrifice well worth this moment! I do believe that if Olive had caught sight of the ball when she went out, she would have gone farther. This was also on a cooler day when the water was cold, especially to a dog Olive’s size. Sometimes the smallest strides are the biggest wins in dog training! Way to go Olive, so proud of you!

14/07/2020

Abby and I worked with a demo dog, today.
This video shows the end of our training when she finally got to meet the
demo dog up close and “say hello.” This was a big step in our leash reactivity training. Abby of course is a smart dog so in the end, she figured out the demo dog wasn’t a real dog but look how engaged, relaxed, and confident she is there towards the end? Great job Abby!

25/06/2020

Water training with Olive today and what a beautiful day for it! This is our third session working near the water bank and Olive is slowly learning to trust the water.

27/05/2020

Update: Project Pokey is still underway and I’m very excited to share with you all Pokey’s progress with training. We have many videos we would like to release but we are also struggling with the audio quality. It’s really important that the information doesn’t get drowned out because it’s hard to hear our voices in the videos. So I’ve ordered some equipment that will help us improve the quality of sound which will hopefully help us put these videos together a lot quicker.

Here are the videos we will be releasing as part of this series:

*walking gear- we will go over different styles and purposes and talk about finding the best one for your dog

*treats- this is a big part of our training so it’s important that we take a few minutes to talk all things treats

*sucess rates- we will talk about expectations and how to measure our dog’s progress with training

*Hand signs partnered with vocal cues. I’m going to teach you our hand sign vocabulary that we have trained Pokey which includes many ASL signs

*loose leash walking- In the beginning of this video, you will see Pokey pulling on her leash and by the end of the video, you will see her in a natural heal during her walks with me. We will break this into several shorter videos but it will go over each exercise you’ll need to easily teach your dog not to pull on the leash

*recall- there are several exercises we will go over to teach your dog the importance of coming back to you when called

*focus- at the base of each sucessful training exercise is your dog’s ability to listen to you and stay focused. We will go over some training exercises to sharpen your dog’s focus.

*we will go over all of the basics like sit, down, off, back, wait, stay, break, back, etc

Once we are caught up to this point, we will continue making videos on more advanced training as well as teaching our dogs fun tricks.

Thanks for your patience and I’ll keep you updated!

-Jaclyn