Island Dog Training, Vineyard Haven, MA (2024)

12/04/2024

Hi everyone, I am currently taking the winter months off and am in Colorado with the dogs until March. I realize I don't post on here as often as I should and I am planning on changing that for the 2025 season.

Working with dogs can be a very personal thing. Whether it's for me or the people I'm working with. Because of this I don't always like to post videos of lessons as often times the information can be very delicate or specific to each client/dogs life.

I have been taking this time off to reflect on how to respect people's privacy while also being able to give insight into how I work and offering pieces of my knowledge and experience I've gained over the years.

I will likely start uploading videos covering various topics or including bits of lessons that I feel will be valuable to share with the people who are interested. There will also be video courses and step by step tutorials on how to teach various behaviors that will be accessible to anyone and any dog.

09/20/2024

It's that time of year again when the summer season has slowed down, and I'm ready to start getting the dogs out for adventures. If you're not familiar, my pack hiking program is where I take a small group of dogs out to various trails or beaches on island and let them romp & have fun with a select group of dogs. During this time I work with all dogs on recall training, proper social skills, manners in public in on/off leash settings as well as learning how to be calm within a group of dogs.

Pack hikes are ideal for dogs who already have decent social skills, are not extremely prey driven and have had some form of prior recall/leash training. The main point of these is to create a fun/safe environment for every dog in the group so any new dogs will go through a 3 hike trial run to see if they will be a good fit for the group.

If you're interested in signing up or learning more please contact me at [email protected] or at 508-939-0319.

03/05/2024

Hi everyone, ill be back on island in early April and am taking bookings now for anyone interested! Now is the best time to get in before the busy season and I'll be offering a lot more services to new/past clients this year.

With over 7 years of experience helping dogs and owners on island I can assist you with whatever your dog needs are.

Services I'm offering this year include:

Private lessons
Group classes
Off leash training
Pickup day training
Dog adventures
Weekly pack hikes (with owners)

Call/text at 508-939-0319 or email at [email protected]

Address

Vineyard Haven, MA

Telephone

+15089390319

Website

http://www.islanddogtrainer.com/

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Videos

Hiking tip #1 Don't let your dog run off the trail. This may be an unpopular opinion to most people, but I've been hiking dogs a long time, and this has been a tried and true rule for me that has worked. Off the trail is where most of the animal scents exist. Many dogs with high levels of Prey drive will catch a scent on the trail and take off after it off the trail. I've found that by interrupting this on the trail, you can manage that Prey drive better and keep them from taking off. Even if a dog has a solid recall, Prey and instincts can often outweigh a treat or voice command. Keeping your dog on the trail keeps them close to you and more likely to follow you. The farther away a dog gets from you the less likely your recall will work, especially if they're tracking a scent. Interrupting pre requisites to intense/Prey driven behaviors will help keep your dog calmer and more connected to you as opposed to the scents. This means that if they stop and lift their nose in the air the next possible intention could be to move after the scent. If they put it down and begin speeding up their pace they may take off once they catch the scent. Know your dogs patterns of what they do if they take off. Don't confuse Prey drive with intention to poop. Keep them on the trail where you are closer to them and don't let them track scents for too long even if your recall is 100%

Island Dog Training