Melanie and her human enjoying walks again with a loose leash and trained attention away from people! 🎉
Melanie needed assistance walking without pulling, barking and growling at people and dogs, and would get hyper-fixated on scents to relieve stress from her big feelings. She would pull and stand on her hind legs on the end of the leash to frantically attempt to climb up people. All behaviors that make life difficult in a busy neighborhood, and Melanie’s person believes small dogs should have the same level of training as larger ones to have the fullest life possible! 🏡
Her human put in the work to get CONSISTENT with Melanie, meaning giving her clear criteria. Dogs aren’t humans—they don’t understand “rules” and what they “should” do in our world. Showing a dog what is available and eliminating unnecessary stressors in outside life got this pair where they need to be—they even went to an event at church, greeted everyone politely, and sat in the pews hanging out! Their next stop will be a summer trip out to South Haven. 🥰
Giving a dog clear communication requires skillful observation and application of proper progressions to get to the next step. While it’s reinforcing to us to “reduce” behavior, what dogs actually need is MORE options on behaviors to fulfill their purposes in order to thrive. Your trainer needs to have put in the mileage and have a cabinet of experienced and skilled peers to efficiently and effectively analyze your dog. ✅
Needing support? We offer training assistance to give you everything you need to be a clear communicator with your dog, and we have various connections in and out of state of professional-quality trainers with appropriate oversight, certifications, and experience to help link ya with someone else if need be! 😊
Our gentle friend, Cybele, enjoying a swim!!!! This girl took to the pool like a fish: we implemented careful grading of her introduction to swims to give her as much agency over the progression of her experience as possible, with mindful use of positioning from Jordan in the water to work with her sensitivity to spatial pressure so she stayed comfortable while simultaneously receiving clear direction on how and when to safely return herself to the ramp to maximize her independence while exercising. After all the walks over the years, it was our pleasure to get to splash with you, Cyb!
