Maverick K9

14/04/2024

Do not deal with these people! “Dogs for Adoption” And please share! Extremely unprofessional and disrespectful!

07/03/2024

“Agression” …. I think there’s a very common misconception about aggression. Aggression is not your enemy, it is very valuable in many cases, being the obvious ones, k-9 , PPD, and such. We have to stop blaming the handler when you have an aggressive dog. Some dogs like the German Shepherd, it’s naturally in their DNA, they want to win and that’s OK. Aggressive dogs can be very loyal and trustworthy pets. Learning to harness that energy and not fear them, can be the most satisfying, dog and handler experience. 

09/01/2024

When people hear “dog psychology” they immediately think it’s complicated and intellectual, it isn’t! The most important part of training “any dog” is to learn body language. A dog will ALWAYS tell you what its intentions are, we just fail to pay attention to the physical signs and behaviors. Has very little to do with barks or tail wagging. Posture, saddle(fur) ears, head level and eyes are what you should be looking at. They will tell you what they are about to do before they do it, and thats when correction should happen. It is much easier to change their thought process than it is to change an event. There are proactive practical ways to learn your dogs body language and it’s psychological state. There will be a few posts about what these are soon.

21/11/2023

Training a K9 requires a completely different skill set. Not gonna call a school bus mechanic to work on a Formula 1 race car just because both are mechanics.

25/07/2023

It’s incredible work these people do and an amazing support from the American Legion Post, 90

21/03/2023

I’ve said the exact same thing about my dog, he’ll walk away from his food and choose the work. Every dog I’ve had that works have been perfect dogs. I fully believe if you have a working dog with a job and purpose, they just don’t have the problems we are called on to fix. GSD is designed to work, bring out the best in them.

09/03/2023

Teddy Council if this was my MOS i would have been a lifer.

Multi-purpose Canine Shimanski is a 12-year old Belgian Malinois with plenty of combat experience.

07/03/2023

Most issues can be solved by work, and WORK is what they were bred for.

04/03/2023

Local club photo from 1939,  that’s quite the bite suit ! You go girl!!

02/03/2023

WHAT QUALIFIES A TRAINER TO BE GREAT

Everybody wants to consider one of these two, “Education and Experience”

Education: Educating yourself is no doubt an important part of anything you do and I encourage it. But as far as being qualified to train, “education” is not the most important factor to be a great trainer. As a matter of fact, Most Top trainers in the word have no formal Education whatsoever. Im convinced that no matter how much money you give away to education, it won’t make you great.

Experience: Experience is without a doubt, more important than education in my opinion and here is why; certain schools use in particular methods, and they push them as if it’s the only way to do things.  So naturally, with your very expensive education you want those things to work and you believe in them. So what happens is you spend years trying to perfect something that’s not working and your experience and abilities are very limited. Now if you were to do some research on your own and learn as you go, without a particular influence from any particular school, it is far more likely that you will try different things and learn what works through experience and I believe that is definitely the best kind of experience. And its the cheapest.

With that being said, I believe experience and learning with an open mind through research, trial and error, will give you the best results on becoming great. But…..The most important factor on becoming a “great” trainer is neither “Education or Experience”…

TALENT!! Talent by far is the number one thing that makes anyone great at anything.  if it’s not in you, It don’t matter how much you put into it. I’ll use sports as an example,  no matter how hard you try at becoming a professional ball player, if you don’t have the talent and it’s not going to happen and you should just accept that.  It is not reality to believe that, “If you put your mind to it, you can do it “ if you don’t have the talent.  Some trainers just have “it” They just know how to work with dogs, they see the dog, and the dog sees them, not everyone has this… Anyone can train a dog to do something if they put any effort into it, but to be successful with extreme level of training with all types of breeds, it takes a talent you might not have. Your education and experience can’t give it to you. Ive seen it many times, a heavily educated trainer that passes a dog on because they can’t get results. As a matter of fact, you don’t see those highly paper educated trainers at any K-9 facility ever.

If you believe you are talented enough to train these incredible animals, go ahead and educate yourself with an open mind and learn from others who produce results not credentials. Training is a very satisfying business but I didn’t choose it, it chose me. I think we have to be realistic with our intentions for the sake of the health and welfare of these animals that we are responsible for.

28/02/2023

Establishing LEADERSHIP & BOUNDARIES are most important for success in my opinion. It’s healthy and safe.

24/02/2023

Never determine a dog’s wellness or abilities with human emotion…..Finding food, fighting, pain, fear, dominance, determination, Aversion..Its in their DNA they are not “your children” they accept their place instinctively not emotionally. They are not proud or thankful to be adopted. They don’t want a say, they just want to be dogs! until we understand that, we do them a disservice! Yo are being emotional and selfish.

22/02/2023

IF I SEE THE WORD “AVERSIVE” ONE MORE TIME!🤬

22/02/2023

I see so many posts about people asking how to get their dog to stop doing certain things.…. my advice is, stop recording, put your phone down and stop the dog! That would be an excellent start….just sayin

06/02/2023

I’m very often asked how I don’t have hair all over my house… well the boils down to a few simple things for me.

1.  a healthy raw diet.
Obviously, there’s no argument that a healthy diet produces healthy skin and healthy skin produces healthy coats. I found through experience that raw does that the very best hands down.
2.  I brush them often.
 obviously brushing them limits the amount that falls off the dog.
3.  I bathe them maybe once a year.
 it is known that if you bathe them too much causes they’re skin and fur to be unhealthy.  and it’s my experience that is factual.
And the very obvious one 4. I clean it up!
 I don’t think this one calls for any explanation.

27/01/2023

Is your dog only performing a task when you pay him? If so, you probably got the wrong dog for the task you want. Pick a breed+temperament that compliments your environment and task! That is number one in responsible dog owning.  you will save money on overly expensive dog training, keep dogs out of shelters,  and you both will be much happier. And you won’t have to carry around a bag of cheese.

23/01/2023

Regarding prong collars - Very important to understand who you should be listening to. Open your mind, and common sense without the emotion.

One of the post that was made states that “while professional dog trainers may be able to use these tools humanely, the general public may not, which opens the door for abuse” This argument is supported by several flawed premises.
While the origin of the prong collar is not entirely clear, it is widely published that their original purpose was to have a collar that was effective, while minimizing the possibility of abuse. In fact, among veterinary chiropractors, the prong collar is often the tool of choice. Take this quote from Dr. Daniel Kamen, one of the most respected veterinary chiropractors in the industry, from his book The Well Adjusted Dog p24-27: “The improper use of collars is the number one cause of cervical (neck) subluxations in dogs...The flat collar is the most common type, and can be dangerous if misused...It should not be used for obedience training...a frustrated owner who has difficulty controlling his pet will pull the dog in such a manner as to cause tremendous cervical muscle tightening, thus producing subluxations.” About prong collars he writes:
“Most literature suggests that this is the most effective and least dangerous of restraining collars.The prong collar distributes pressure evenly around the neck, and requires only a small amount of force...Incidence of canine upper cervical subluxations is far less with the prong collar.”

At this point one might argue that an owner can simply switch to a harness. But, Dr. Kamen continues:
“Although harnesses are normally thought of as being easier on the neck, they can be hard on the chest and forelegs. Harnesses have little training value.”

In closing,  i’m not sure I understand why people would choose ignorance over reality because of how it makes them feel. Personally, after being open to all information, I take my own experiences into consideration, and with that I can strongly recommend prong collars as a very humane non-aversive tool when it’s properly fitted. 

22/01/2023

The lady on the Facebook dog page said dog should be inside when its cold, I told him, hes not listening…

20/01/2023

A social dog is NOT the same thing as a friendly dog, friendly dogs post far more challenges. Let’s discuss.

20/01/2023

There is a very misleading study going around the internet regarding training tactics. This is a must watch if you have come across that study.

Psychology Today posted an article on their website on January 2, 2023, "Does it Matter Whether Dog Training is Positive or Aversive" which I felt had severa...

20/01/2023

Learn your GSD breed! You cant change what is genetically done. Let them do what they are designed to do. Don’t rob them of what they are.

20/01/2023

Keep your GSD LEAN!!! Its probably the healthiest thing you can do for him/her.

20/01/2023

Play time can be a learning experience. Put obstacles in the way of the target. Start off slow and soft obstacles. It teaches them to look where they are going before they run. High drive dogs don’t use self preservation when they are locked in, this will help.