Canine Connection

Can we stop with the silly semantics? You know what we mean when we say e-collars provide more “freedom.” Why are we so concerned with the definition of the word? Our dogs aren’t meant to have complete freedom. Complete freedom comes with unlimited choices, and just like young kids, our dogs don’t understand that some choices are unsafe for them. It’s our job to provide guidance to keep them safe. E-collars just allow us to lessen the amount of restrictions we need to keep in place (ie keeping them leashed, crated, inside, etc.) while still keeping them and everyone else around them safe. You’re welcome to hold any opinion you want, but while you’re busy looking up definitions in order to try to demonize tools you don’t want to use, and trying to use silly word semantics to convince others to hate them as well, we’ll be out with our dogs enjoying life 😂 . . #balancedtraining #ecollar #offleashtraining #freedom #dogtraining

If you’re reading this, you’re probably not using your leash enough. #dogtraining #dogtrainingtips #balancedtraining #leashtraining

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Relationship Rewrite is available now for pre-sale at a discounted rate and officially available on April 1st! Get it now before the price goes up! . . #dogtraining #dogsofinstagram #dogowners #dogbehavior #dogtrainingtips #dogtrainingadvice

Good News! Our new Relationship Rewrite course drops April 1st and is available now for pre-order at a discounted rate! We had a ton of fun making this course and we know it’s going to bring a lot of value to dog owners like you! . Relationship Rewrite is exactly what is sounds like. It’s designed to help you get a fresh start with your dog and to put you back into the drivers seat so that you feel like you have control. You’ll learn how to communicate better with your dog, teach obedience commands to help build your bond, stop leash pulling and eliminate (or prevent) other unwanted behaviors, to live a more peaceful, enjoyable life with them. . If you feel like life with your dog is constant chaos or your dog is always picking and choosing when they want to listen to you, then this is the course for you! If you just brought home a new puppy, or just adopted a new dog, this is also the course for YOU! Whether you’ve had formal training before or your dog has never been trained, you’ll benefit from this course. . And you can save $$ if you pre-order before April 1st, so don’t wait! #leadwithlove

If your dog is cutting in front of you/tripping you up on your walk, be mindful of these things! . . #dogtrainer #dogtrainingtips #balancedtraining #looseleashwalking #heel #nj #philly #nyc

Socializing your dog doesn’t mean letting them meet as many people and dogs as possible. Letting your dog greet everyone, especially on leash, can lead to over excitement, leash reactivity, and lack of engagement with the handler. All of this, over time, makes your walks with your dog feel like a chore. . Instead, teach your dog to be relatively neutral around other people and dogs. If you have friends or family members with dogs, go for walks together, encouraging your dog to stay engaged with you instead of pulling to the other dog or getting fixated on them. This will set you up to be able to bring your dog along with you to more places, without the chaos. . If you want a social dog that you can bring anywhere, follow us for more training tips on this and so much more! #dogtraining #dogtrainingtips #balancedtraining #dogtrainer #dogsocialization

Relationship > Everything . #dogtraining #balancedtraining #relationshipgoals #dogtrainingtips #dogtrainer #nj #pa #nyc

I think this goes without saying, but this obviously doesn’t mean she’d perform exactly like this when approaching another dog. This body posture and approach is very likely to start a fight with another dog. So to ensure an interaction goes well, I would recommend the dogs be acclimated to coexisting first and foremost. . . The body language you’re seeing here is extremely dominant. She has no issue running over to investigate 🚩 she puts her chest out 🚩and hangs her head over the “dogs” body 🚩 what would a more appropriate approach look like?? . . A slower, less direct approach. You want the dogs to move toward each other but not AT each other. The dogs should not be going face to face, ideally the dogs will sniff at each other’s hind ends or one dog will stand still while the other comes over and sniffs the body and rear of the other dog. You want lose body language and posture from both dogs— the dog who’s doing the sniffing should not be intense or fixated, but instead curious and relaxed. It’s best to allow dogs to settle and relax while coexisting before you allow any interactions to begin, as a way to slowly ease into the introduction. . . Overall, I’m happy she didn’t mount or jump on and bite at this dog. This provided me with enough information to be comfortable with furthering her interactions with other dogs and now I know what to look out for! . . Would your dog fall for the fake dog!?

The walk can be a really challenging, but if you break it down it can feel a little easier to tackle. . . . To teach a nice walk, the dog must know how to relieve leash pressure, follow your body, and the position you want them in. The position is your choice— whatever works best for you and your dog! In this demonstration, I’m working toward a heel position at my left side. . . These steps should be worked on in the order in which they’re listed, as well as worked on as a whole. If your dog struggles with staying engaged with you and relieving leash pressure, work on that for a bit before you try to get them to love with you. If your dog moves well with you, increase the challenge and start working on the positioning! Move at your dogs pace and use this breakdown to improve your walk! . . If you’re not sure how to teach the “Good” marker— comment below with a ✅ and I’ll make a video! . . Let us know if you tried this out and how it went— I bet your dogs walk will improve! 😎

Tracking with ransom!

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How to approach a dog you don’t know, or a nervous dog. . . To be clear, you should have a very good reason for why you’re approaching a dog like this in the first place and ask if it’s necessary and if it will benefit the dog at all. In this case, Gunner will be staying with me for a month and I need him to be comfortable with me approaching him, so we need to work on this. Always ask before approaching any dog and always assume risk when approaching a dog you don’t know or a dog who is showing stress signals. . . The key concepts to the approach are to be quiet, be calm, and don’t make eye contact. Don’t go at the dog, but rather try to allow the dog to move to you. Never pet a dog who is sniffing you and checking you out still— wait for the dog to show you signs of wanting affection. In reality, most dogs are cool with just a quick sniff and walking away, so don’t feel bad for not petting them! . . Nervous dogs need time and trust before getting to the good stuff. It’s worth it when you break through, but don’t rush the process!

Leash management is a huge portion of being successful with your dog! This is a technique I learned from my instructors at Dog training school, who are now at @kennelwoodacademy — check them out if you’re interested in becoming a dog trainer! . . Practice this skill without your dog attached to the leash. You can simply reel the leash in then lay it back out again to practice, or have a partner hold the other end of the leash as you practice taking in the leash while they move to you— your partner can go at different speeds to help you practice reeling the leash in and be ready for all scenarios! . . Leash skills don’t come naturally, so if you struggle with this or feel uncoordinated with your leash… you should! It takes a level of skill to be able to effectively manage a leash— in fact, we had to practice leash skills like this one for two weeks without a dog on the other end of the leash in dog training school. . . It takes time to develop leash skills- but your dog is worth it!

Here’s the 4th and final part to our Doorbell series. Hope you guys enjoyed! Let us know in the comments what you’d like us to teach next!