Bear Leave It
One of the commands we teach the pups is "Leave It". In this case Bear was working on leaving the Bully Stick and Rawhide alone instead of just playing with them. He does get to play with them but in this instance I wanted him to leave them alone. This is a great skill for puppies to have in case you drop something on the floor that could be dangerous to them. Having a solid "Leave It" command in situations like that can literally save your dogs life.
Bear at the Coffee Shop
One of the things we do with puppies is bring them out into public to socialize. However our socialization looks a lot different than what most people think it should be. For us socialization is being in the environment, calmly observing, and maybe up to half of the time getting to interact with people if they are there. Many people over socialize their dogs by allowing them to go see every person while they are young. This can create problems later in life where the dog is jumping on people for attention, barking or pulling at the end of the leash to see someone across the street, and so on. The best socialization is balanced between allowing the dogs to interact with people and not allowing them to interact but instead just observe. Here Bear is in a coffy shop just watching and listening to all the things going on around him.
After Trampoline Training
Here is the finished result Luna making better decisions about what is allowed and what is not allowed in regards to the kids and when they are playing on the trampoline. There was no correction by us but instead Luna learning that the kids are allowed to play on their own and she decided to go play with her new friend as well. If you have a specific issue that may not be listed on our board and train programs please feel free to ask, we tailor all our board and train programs to your needs and concerns. Call us at 320-316-3787 or email us at [email protected]
During Trampoline Training
This is during one of the begining training sessions with the kids and the trampoline. One of the big issues was Luna would run and chase the kids to the trampoline as well as getting up to play with them. Here Luna is still very excited and starts barking and running towards them as they ran off. However through calling her off of the kids and back to us the kids can play and have fun. At this stage we still are doing all the work and verbally telling her what we want her to do, however over time she will learn what to do all on her own. Stay tuned for that next week.
Luna Before Training on the Trampoline
Luna Before Training on the Trampoline. As you can see Luna will do anything to get up and inside to play with the kids however this is not safe for Luna or the kids at home. So we work with her on learning that the trampoline is for the kids and not her.
Maple Off Leash Recalls
Here is Maple working on her off leash recall around other dogs as distractions. As you can see Maple is doing great off leash, responds right away, and follows through with her commands. If you too would like a fully off leash trained puppy or dog contact us for more details at 320-316-3787 or [email protected]. Nice work Maple!
Dunkin Learning Leave It
Here is a short video of Dunkin learning the command "Leave it". Most puppies love to grab anything that is dropped and immediately put it in their mouth to eat. This command helps puppies learn that some things are not meant to be eaten even if they are food items. Nice work Dunkin!
Nanitu Off Leash Heeling
Nanitu's owners spent lots of time working with her before she came into training and it showed. Nanitu was great on leash with all of her commands however the second the leash was taken off, so was she off and running. Her owners own a resort and have lots of people coming and going but didn't want to have to leash Nanitu all the time, so they sent her in for some off leash training. Here Nanitu is working on her off leash heeling out in public with another dog as a distraction.
Karma Place with Distractions
Karma is a younger dog that is busy and didn't have an "off" switch before coming to us. She was always on the go running after the cats, pestering her older 4 legged sister, and in general just on the move. Here with the place command we are teaching Karma that she doesn't need to be in constant motion even if everything else is in motion. Over time the dogs just learn this behavior and start offering it on their own without us having to give them a command for it.
Daisy Mae Recall
Daisy Mae is a field bred English Cocker Spaniel that had tons of hunting drive which meant that before coming to us her nose when get on a trail and she would be gone. Here Daisy Mae is working out in the woods off leash and coming when called. Now all three owner can enjoy their dogs out walking in parks, trails, the woods, or even just knowing that they will come when called in their yards. If you too want to have a dog that you can take out and about this summer with off leash control give us a call today at 320-316-3787.
Bailey Recall on a Trail
Bailey like most of the doodles is very smart and had figured out the fun game of catch me if you can at home. Here she is with Toby working on her recall when we asked her, coming in close so we could grab her if needed, sitting when asked, and not running away until being released. Nice work Bailey!
Toby's Recall Out on a Trail
Toby's owner spends a lot of time out in the woods and trail walking. Toby therefore is going to need a solid recall while walking on trails with other critters like squirrel, rabbit and even deer joining them. Here is Toby working on his recall still with a long line on. This is the middle stage between being completely on leash and completely off leash. Too many people miss this stage however it is probably the most important of all of them. It allows the dog freedom and still allows the owner control if the dog makes a mistake.
Louis Heeling
Louis was working on heeling out at a local park around other distractions like people, other dogs, bikers, and cars. Louis is a super friendly guy who loves to go up to everyone and say "Hi" so evening walking past the other person and dog is a challenge for him. Each dog will have their own challenges and dogs like Louis that love all people and dogs just a simple stroll through the neighborhood and not going and saying "hi" is a lot for them.
Ricky Kenneled 3 Hours Post Leaving
Here is a short clip of Ricky in a kennel after Manda had left about 3 hours earlier. The kennel itself is escape proof which also helps these dogs start to understand that just because they used to be able to break out they no longer can. Then with other training the dogs learn over time to start to relax in the kenels and not try to get out. If you have an escape artist consider looking into TNC Crates which build custom crates and are located here in Minnesota as well and I highly recommend them.
Tanner Double Down in the Store
The second tool we gave Tanner was teaching him an alternative behavior to calm himself down when anxious. We teach all dogs how to do a "down" and for many dogs this command in itself will calm a dog down. However for Tanner he could be in a down but was still scanning his environment for "scary" things and was still in an axious state of mind. To help him learn to relax further we taught Tanner that once in a down if we said "down" a second time he was supposed to keep his head down until released. This double down stopped the scanning and would allow his brain to slowly relax. He is not completely relaxed in this video however over time Tanner will learn to do that with continued practice.
Tanner Confidence Building at the Park
We do lots of confidence building with puppies but adult dogs also benefit from this kind of work as well. Confidence building helps insecure dogs see that in fact they can do some of these "hard" things which leads to a more confident dog overall. Confidence building also helps dogs build trust with their owners that in fact nothing bad is going to happen to them doing "scary" things. When working with dogs on confidence building activities make sure that it is controlled, safe, and you and the dog are going to be successful. Baby steps in building confidence with dogs is key and moving too fast can actually reverse what you are trying to do. As you can see in the video once Tanner went up and down once the second time was much easier for him and he was braver in doing it.
Memphis Staying Upstairs
Memphis even as a puppy had some issues with being in his crate alone however during his first board and train program those issues were resolved. However it has been a year since Memphis was here and his need to be near his people all the time caused some separation anxiety in general. Memphis' owners are at home a large part of the day and he was allowed to just follow them around, thus always being in constant contact with them. This may seem like a good things at first however it leads a dog to co-dependence and an inability to be left alone or think on their own. So we started setting up some boundaries with Memphis not allowing him to be near us at all times. In this video he was not allowed to come down the stairs but instead had to be "alone" while Manda was downstairs doing laundry. Even setting up simple boundaries like this can make a huge difference in a dog that is showing starting signs of separation anxiety.
Sasha People Watching
One of the biggest things with high drive working dog is to sometimes get them to stop working. With these kind of dogs we work on a lot of place work and long down stays. In this video Sasha was at a local park that has lots of people, dogs, strollers, and other things that pass by. All Sasha has to do is just hang out and do nothing. This may seem like an easy task however with high drive working dogs this actually is probably the hardest thing to do. As you can see even in this video Sasha is still not 100% relaxed and is still scanning the horizon to meet and great the next person. by practicing these down stays over time she will become more and more relaxed and care less and less about everything going on around her.
Louis Kennel Work
When Louis came to us he had not yet had any work being in a kennel so we had to start from the begining. Louis was very food motivated which makes teaching new commands much easier. In this clip Louis has been working on both kenneling up and laying down but now we are putting everything together. The goal is to have Louis voluntarily go into his kennel and lay down which as a life long skill is priceless.
Max and Oliver place with door knocks
Here is Max, as well as Oliver, working on "place" when someone comes to the door and getting them used to the idea that they don't have to go running and barking at every knock or ringing of the doorbell. Both dogs are doing great and if the owners continue practicing at home these skills will become life long habits which will make life easier for all.
