Suwannee River Dog Training Club

05/04/2024

Our next protection training day will be Saturday April 13th, if you would like to attend, please reserve your time on the field 352-359-4298.

23/03/2024

We still have a couple open slots of field time for protection training today if you are free at the last minute call 352-359-4298

16/03/2024

Protection training Saturday afternoon March 16th. 352-359-4298 to reserve a timeslot

09/12/2023

Sorry for the short notice, but we're having protection training today at 1pm. RSVP 352-359-4298 tp reserve your time on the field.

03/09/2023

03/09/2023

08/08/2023

If you can't make it to one of our classes, sign up for some free online training, but whatever you do, don't fail to train and socialize your puppy!

30/07/2023

What? FREE PUPPY TRAINING CLASS? Yes! Message, text or call 352-359-4298 for details! Please share! There are puppies evwrywhere needing to be trained!

25/04/2023

22/12/2022

21/12/2022

This looks interesting! Julie Hughes Christina Petersen

29/11/2022

Mondays can be tough. Dogs make them better.

27/11/2022

25/11/2022

The Science of “Zoomies” 🐕⚡

Zoomies are among the cutest, funniest things pets do. It’s dogs’ way of showing that they’re irrepressibly happy. 🐶 This behavior is entirely normal for many animal species, both wild and domesticated, so there’s no need to worry unless there’s a risk your pet could be injured.

Learn more about this adorable behavior in today’s free article linked below.

More on dogs and their crazy zoomies here: http://bit.ly/3UQiAuO

22/11/2022

Sign up for this, it's F R E E

11/11/2022

Dogs are afraid/unsure of many things. The fact that they’re afraid/unsure doesn’t mean anything negative has transpired, it simply means they’re… afraid/unsure.

This reaction typically comes from weak genetics (dogs who have been born genetically less resilient and who lean more towards fear/uncertainty in general), and/or lack of familiarity/exposure (dogs who’ve simply not experienced something yet, or haven’t experienced it enough).

We humans love a good story, and we hate the unexplained. We see our dog’s intense reactions to things and construct a storyline which explains these unusual or worrisome reactions. These stories typically make our dogs out to be victims of some nefarious event or person, and make us out to be the saviors.

The gap in our understanding is filled in and we have a story to share with others that garners sympathy and attention. And we’ll continually breathe life into the story, even if it’s based on nothing but imagination, and even if the continuous telling and living of it negatively impacts the dog by making it a victim to be babied and coddled rather than a dog who can improve and overcome.

If we think about who dogs predominantly interact with in shelters, rescues, and foster care, it’s rarely men. Along with that, in general, men tend to also have a more assertive “vibe” about them. If a dog is unfamiliar with men, and/or has weak nerves, it’s fairly easy to understand why they react to men in the unsure fashion they often do. And the blowing bag, or the noisy car, even without the assertive “vibe”, can derail many dogs simply because they’re an unknown.

While I get the attraction of the story, the real question should be: is it helpful to the dog? Is making a dog into a perpetual victim and a perpetual receptacle for pity going to improve their ability to navigate their world? What if instead of the sad story we’ve told ourselves (and others) we tell a story that our dogs are simply who they are and what they are, and are works in progress? What if we prioritized their well-being over our need for certainty and attention?

Said more simply, if you’re telling a sob story about your dog, true or not, that story isn’t for your dog, it’s for you. And it’s the foolish one who is unaware of the power of the stories we tell to create the realities we, and our dogs live.

Tell a better story.

11/11/2022

If you have trained dogs for a while you probably heard “Dogs are bad at generalizing”.
I explain this concept at least once a day to an online student …
But how “bad” are dogs at it really? Or do we all struggle with generalizing?
Teaching dog training really means to teach humans how to train dogs.
Just this past week, a student approached me asking why her dog seemed to completely “forget” his Stay cue at a local park.
We discussed the impact of distractions, how to advance them gradually and why it takes a while for dogs to understand that the same concept applies in different situations.
The next day she said “So … but why is my dog coming when called at home and ignoring my recall at the park?”
Dogs are not the only ones “bad” at generalizing … in fact, humans are so bad at generalizing that they cannot even generalize how dogs struggle with generalizing :D
If you think about it, generalizing is a high level cognitive skill.
It means being able to extract the “core” of a concept regardless of accompanying circumstances and applying it to any other situation.
This is HARD both for humans and dogs.
When I started dog training, so often students would come to me with questions and I thought “But I told you this.”
I had shown them how to teach a Sit Stay and now they were asking how to teach a Down Stay. It confused me - I had explained the concept and now they should be able to apply it to any duration behavior, right?
No, not right. Just like the dog who can Sit Stay at home cannot automatically Sit Stay anywhere, the brand-new student who had learned how to teach one duration behavior cannot automatically apply it to any.
Both dog and student need to be shown the skill in more situations so they *can learn* how to extract the “core” of it.
My goal is not to have any one student forever, but to teach them how to work through training puzzles on their own eventually.
The longer I am teaching dog training, the more I think that what this actually means is teaching them how to generalize training concepts.
“Break the behavior down into small steps” sounds obvious - but it takes hundreds of training sessions to be able to actually do this skillfully and effectively.
“Adjust the criteria based on your dog’s success rate” - sure that seems easy … but it is so hard to always do correctly.
“Use great timing” - well, as long as we don’t have instant reaction times we will always be working on improving this one …
We are all students of generalization.
Nobody is inherently great at it.
So next time you're irritated by your dog’s lack of generalization skills … Remember that we are JUST THE SAME.

10/11/2022

Excellent advice!

I don’t have dog training advice for you today. I have advice for how you should think about dog training and life - and this might change more than any dog training lesson ever can.
Every day, I see many dog owners who are frustrated with their dogs. They are exhausted by their dog’s leash pulling, annoyed by their dog’s constant barking or angry with their agility dog dropping bar after bar after bar.
They feel that the problem behavior of their dog is the one thing that keeps them from truly being happy in life.
And in believing this, they become resentful towards the dog.
I hate to break it to you, but: If you right now think that you would be perfectly happy forever if ONLY your dog stopped pulling on leash/barking/dropping bars, then I can GUARANTEE this is not true.
This has nothing to do with the dog or his problem behavior, but with the general attitude that happiness is something that “happens to you” through perfect external circumstances.
If I took a magic wand and turned your dog into the 100% perfect dog today, I am sure by tomorrow there would be something else that kept you from "finally being happy". Perhaps you then want a raise, or to be slimmer, or to have a second perfect dog.
Making your own contentment in life contingent on factors you cannot control (such as whether or not your dog will bark today) is the PERFECT way to always be unhappy.
You are not defined by what your dog does wrong (or your spouse or child or …).
Stop telling yourself that your dog’s problems are the only thing that stands between you and happiness.
Of course, that does not mean that you shouldn’t train your dog. Training and management are important, and they yield amazing results that will make your relationship more joyful.
Owning a well-trained dog is better for the dog, for you AND for everyone around you.
But if right now you are in a place where you view your dog’s issues as the #1 reason you feel dissatisfied with your life - it does not have to be that way.
You are NOT your dog’s “failures”.
Today, I wish for you to be happy - whether with training or without 😉

18/10/2022

Is you dog reactive?