There is an acceptable way and an unacceptable way to share snacks with your dogs. Your dogs climbing in your lap for food, drooling on your leg, whining, intercepting a treat meant for another dog, are all examples of an unacceptable way to share treats. Dogs maintaining a respectable distance and waiting patiently for their treat is an acceptable way to share snacks. My dogs and I are having a Harry Potter marathon and eating popcorn on this windy, snowy, cold day. They are (very willingly lol) demonstrating an acceptable way to share snacks. When I say snacks are done, they go lay down. This is possible even with the most food motivated dog. Trust me, there's nothing Stone won't eat. It just takes some time, training, patience and consistency.
A video of Canelo at the Humane Society of Danville, Illinois learning to leap on command.
A little video of Sampson at the Humane Society of Danville, Illinois today.
A little shelter dog education.
When you go into a shelter and see a dog that is bouncing off the walls amd crazy in their kennel, or even when they're first brought out of the kennel, remember this is not their normal behavior. Dogs in shelters are cooped up with little exercise for the majority of their day. They are under incredible stress, between being lack of physical exercise, lack of mental stimulation a d the stress of the behavior of other dogs. When you ask to see a dog, ask how they are after half an hour out of their kennel. A lot of these kennel dogs are couch potatoes after they expend the initial kennel energy. Most of these dogs are so eager to see people and so eager to please. A dog that is stressed in the kennel may be a laid back chill pup once out of the kennel for a little while. So, don't judge a dog based on how they behave in the kennel or in the first few minutes after they come out. When you do bring them into your home, understand they will need time to decompress. All they have known for a long time is the chaos of the shelter. If you need help integrating a shelter dog into your household, reach out to a trainer.
I wanted to show everyone the state of the Humane Society of Danville, Illinois kennels, and what these dogs have to live in. All except for Hazel were pulled from the county shelter. The Humane Society wants to renovate the kennels, but can't if there's still dogs in them. Getting these dogs into foster or adopter homes will allow them to renovate and create a better living space for these dogs. Once the kennels are fixed, they can then pull more dogs from the county shelter. Some of these kennels are unusable. One gets water in it whenever it rains, another one the wall in threatening to collapse. Most of these dogs have been there for at least a couple of years. A couple of YEARS in kennels that are in this condition. Hazel has spent the last 4 years in there! The Humane Society doesn't get funding from the government. They rely solely on donations. Let's get these dogs out of the shelter! 10 hours in a crate a day in your home is still better than 23 hours a day in these kennels! The Humane Society does the best they can, but they can't do it without our help! Don't refuse to watch the video because it's too hard to watch and hurts your heart to see it. If it's too hard for you to watch, imagine what it's like to live there. If you can't adopt, foster, if you can't foster, volunteer, if you can't volunteer, donate, if you can't do any of those, you can at least share this post and every post that will help them. Don't let these dogs spend the holidays without a family of their own.
Today I had 2 in Danville. First up was Duke. We did some work on an off leash recall in the backyard. He got the zoomies lol. We also worked a little on drop it. The last part of the session we took him for a walk on his head halter. Only the second time he was walked on it and he did great! Next up was Bucky. We have spent the last several months working with him on loose leash walking with a martingale collar. When we first started this boy was a freight train on the end of the leash, he was almost impossible to hold. Today he was perfect! He ignored other dogs and vehicles. He gave me a loose leash about 98% of the time. His owners hard work has paid off! His owner sent me this video of his great work today.
Here's a video that Zhaki's owner sent me of him working on a long distance recall.
Today I saw Zhaki in Urbana. We did a lot of off leash work today. He's a 4 month old Presa Canario that lives out in the country. So, an off leash recall is very important. By the time I left he was recalling from across the yard. We also did some work with basic commands such as sit and stay. He's still trying to invade personal space, so we did some work with that as well. He's one tired puppy now!
Hazel at the Danville Humane Society is doing great on her leash work. She didn't have much interest in the cats and sits very well. She'll make a great companion for someone!
Zhaki's owners sent me a video of his leash training today! Thank you!!
