The Underdog

Absolute demon from birth. . . #linda #lindabean #belgianmalinois #puppy #puppymal #maligator

Obedience contributes to the health of your animal. Inja was recently prescribed arthritis injections 2x / week for 8 weeks. The vet gave us an option of learning how and doing it and home OR driving in every time and having them do it. I figured with a little confidence (and obedience) we could do it on our own. And of course I would drive her in if that was the option, but right now we’re both enjoying the 35 seconds twice a week over the 45 minutes twice a week. Training doesn’t fix everything, that’s for sure. But it makes vet appointments, pokes and prods, eyedrops, temperature readings, blood draws, medical shaves, and everything else, a whole lot easjer.

High value rewards are great! But they can actually cause your dog to fail. This is for the same reason you’d rather go skiing than do your homework: it’s more fun! Why would Linda help me with my hat when I have THE MOST FUN TOY AVAILABLE TO THROW. It’s important to address this (yes it’s possible) so it doesn’t cause issues at the most inopportune times. Like most things in dog training, the treatment is a mixture of corrections and rewards with correct timing. High value rewards: what are they? A reward is how you pay your dog. Words like “good” are rewards. So are pets, treats, and toys. a high value reward is whatever your dog wants more than anything in the world — this will vary dog to dog. For Linda, it’s tug or any tug toys. Sometimes we unintentionally turn things into high value rewards. The most common version I see is turning OTHER DOGS into high value rewards. Dogs with this belief will lunge and bark at other dogs, creating a form of reactivity. It’s possible to “just let them say hi, so he’ll calm down,” but that’s actually quite dangerous. Most dogs don’t enjoy being barked and lunged at, and often times these dogs end up being attacked because of their over zealousness, which ultimately creates worse anxiety and worse reactivity. To prevent this, I always recommend high value rewards come from YOU (treats, toys, pets, and verbal praise), not from outside sources (other dogs, street snacks, running cats, other people, digging holes… you get the idea). #dogtraining #underdog #dogtrainingslc #saltlakecity #belgianmalinois #thebean #linda #traindogs #ethicalbreeding #rewards #dogtoys

Teaching a dog to use all its senses. This is a great prerequisite for detection training — i.e. finding stuff: drugs, bombs, bed bugs, covid, allergens, your keys, computer chips, birds, fugitives, you name it. If it has a smell, a dog can learn to find it. . By using all their senses (rather than defaulting to JUST sight or JUST smell), the dog is 1) more accurate and 2) more versatile. Dogs who rely only on their sight, for example, will struggle to find things at night, in vegetation, or in inclement weather. #THEBEAN

What happens when you take your dog off lead? Hopefully nothing! . . We often teach our dogs things unconsciously. Example: when I take the leash off, you take off like a wild dog. A better option is to build neutrality, so adding and removing gear is easy, pleasant, and safe. . . . . #dogtraining #dogtrainingtips🐶🐶 #dogsofinstagram #leashcontrol #confidence #gear #doggear #park #dogtrainingslc #slcdogs

Obedience equals freedom. . . Dogs like clarity. Dogs want to know what you expect, and like everyone, they want to be rewarded. . . Didge (lab) has a clear instruction to platz and ignore the other dogs. When he does it, he is rewarded. When he doesn’t do it, he’s shown how to do it correctly. It’s very clear to him how to perform his job well, and he gets genuine joy from it, without extra calories or toting a toy around. It’s also great mental work. . . The dogs behind him don’t have clear instruction. They’ve reverted to what their dog brains know, which is yelling until something goes away. They’ve designed this job for themselves, which isn’t necessarily bad, but they aren’t rewarded or corrected. They have an excess of authority and don’t know what the humans expect of them. . . The dogs behind the fence aren’t given discipline. They may not ever be able to leave the yard without issues: running errands, going on walks, traveling, camping, lake trips, family reunions. . . Discipline is a good thing. It allows your dog to join you anywhere dogs can go, without stress. Remember, the best leaders have discipline. Obedience equals freedom. . . . #dogs #dogtraining #lab #chocolatelab #dogtrainingslc #chocolatelabrador #confidence #obedience #obedienceequalsfreedom #dogsbyworkhorse #slcparks

Double dog timing troubles! Dogs often have different speeds. You can see Jasper is FAST and Inja is s l o w . . A perfectly timed reward for a sit would be exactly as the butt hair touches the ground— “good!” With the difference in dogs’ speed, when should we reward? The best case is to have one dog per handler so each pair can worry about themselves especially. This isn’t always feasible especially for things like walks. . . Sometimes we gotta make the best of what we have. You can see here I kind of did an in-between reward, favoring Inja’s timing (probably a result of habit + puppy + multitasking). . . You could also try rewarding with touch, so the dogs don’t get a pseudo-“good”. That would require two free hands, which I don’t have when filming. . . Make sure you make time individually to bond to each dog and give them the attention they need, with correct timing specifically for that animal. And with anything risky, like rock climbing, it’s best to have one handler per dog regardless. . . Both dogs here have been trained to sit anytime we stop (which is why there is no “sit” command). . . . . #dogs #dogtraining #dogtrainingslc #injadog #jasper #aussie #miniaussie #cattledog #brindle #heterochromia #sit #dogoftheday

One of the most common questions I get is “Is my dog too old/young/big/stubborn/etc to start training?” The simple answer is, the sooner you start training, the better. . Regardless of the circumstances, dogs crave structure, discipline, and clarity. . Without the above, the dog will default to whatever it thinks works best, which often causes confusion and unhappiness for both parties. Give clear, consistent, calm rules! Reward when they do ask asked. . As many of you know, I do not recommend or train with treats very often. Pictured is a 9 week old puppy. It is perfectly fine to use puppy kibble as a training method when they are young like this. We don’t want to use a lot of corrective methods, and want to enforce bonding, positivity, and FUN while they still have little infant brains. They are developing how they perceive the world. We will wean off the treats later. . . . #training #puppytraining #aussiepuppy #dogsofinstagram #aussiedog #jasperdog #sit #goodsit #dogtraining#dogtrainingslc #workhorsedogs @hellowellnessbodyworks