Recall Class starts next week!! Join us. :).
😐 Yup, there is now a bald spot on Lemon’s chin. *sigh*. Full disclosure Lemon has an amazing groomer (Erin @maxiebowdaxie) but Lemon is also a senior dog who doesn’t enjoy the clippers around her face anymore. She probably has some sensitive teeth. Lemon also gets the “quick and dirty” haircut because it is harder to stand for a full groom. Her groomer says Lemom might start whining or fidgeting and so she ends the groom as fast as she can or she simply just stops even if Lemon is only half groomed. I am 1000% ok with that because I can appreciate her respecting Lemon’s space and well being. Lemon having a great haircut is 50% for me because I like how it looks and 50% for her because I will let her wallow in more mud puddles with a short hair cut. But then I step in a tiny bit in between haircuts to help out with clippers and Lemon will sit for me for a little while and very patiently tolerates my ineptitude BECAUSE of all the training, bonding and playing we have done throughout the years. Training is so much more that SIT. It’s more than a perfect off leash recall. Training is about making these imperfect moments a little bonding time with my best old girl. ♥️ 🍋 ♥️. #mullet #seniordog #deafdog #beardedcollie #dogtrainingtips #positivetraining #puppytraining #k9
We created this little walking pattern to help our new puppies in class learn to move around and away from people and dogs they might encounter out on walks.
The goal is to simply be able to ask your pup on a leash to quickly move to you and away from a person or dog that might not want to say hello. Your body language encourages pup to chase you, move into your space as you back away and praise and kibble is offered to help reinforce your pup’s attention.
The pattern makes the human more interesting than other distractions in the environment and keeps positive associations going, you won’t have to worry about correcting your pup away from people.
We will add the cue WITH ME to our back up maneuvering and LET’S GO to our forward momentum.
Can you consider all of the places this might benefit you and your pup?
Practice login to and away from front doors both open and closed (on leash for safety!)
Set up a napkin or stray piece of food outside as though someone had dropped it and your pup was about to eat it, use this pattern to move them away from temptation.
Your pup is still learning about intersections? Practice as you walk up towards one. Make it a default behavior to have your pup orient towards you and check in.
#pupppytips #looseleash #dogtraining #lovemyjob #caninecollege #puppylove #mydogismy
#positivereinforcement #citydogs #playswithdogs #corgi #gsd
Dog Neutral/Dog Reactive
The Neutral Dog is steady and predictable as they enter a space.
They must be quiet, calm, not seeking play, not barking to any person or dog.
The Reactive Dog might bark, lunge, seek engagement or tuck tail and fold back ears and pull away from other dogs and people.
Soon you won’t be able to tel which dog here is which. *Both* of the pups in this video are dog reactive but well on their way to becoming dog neutral.
Our little doberman girlfriend here has become less and less reactive with fun and patience!
The doberman is not super food motivated for a variety of reasons, new home, heat, going in and out of heat. She is very motivated by tennis balls, playing in the water spigot and running away from dogs that concern her.
The success you see in this video where she offers without any instruction her own SIT and DOWN calmly in the presence of another dog has come from the humans watching and listening to her as they approached.
We staged our space so our german shepherd was stationary. Our Dobie got to approach from a distance and was encouraged and allowed to run away when she was uncomfortable coming closer! This Dobie has some of the loveliest coping mechanisms all on her own when people listen!
She would often walk towards us then look away and casually walk away. Her Human then responded with praise and running a little away with her which brought out sheer joy, bouncing and playfulness.
Throughout the session we would let her run and grab a tennis ball or run and apply with water from a nearby spigot!
There is not always a straight forward path to helping reduce your dog’s anxiety, fear, frustration but when you work with a great trainer they can help you read your pup and identify behavior taught will get you to your goal.
#reactivedog #barkydog #doberman #germanshepherd #positivetraining #dcdogs # angrydog #k9training #dogtrainingtips #adopt #rescuedog #citydog
Did you know? Puppies often struggle with stairs! Not because they are stubborn but often because their bum is in a different place than it was just a week ago! Remember your medium sized pup can be growing 2-3# a week or more, their growth plates are not fully formed and there are so many new smells and sights that it is perfectly normal to see your pup stall out going down or up steps. Compared to humans a pup’s vision can be better in dim light but worse in bright light with a visual acuity closer to 20/75. How can you help your pup navigate your house or other stairs? Set them up for success by carrying them up or down to the last few steps in the environment. A pup that has to navigate only a step or two can easily gain confidence navigating a smaller incline. Patience, praise and a little renegotiation can get your pup flying up and down stairs in a week! #puppytips #puppytraining #doglife #dogmanners #citydog #k9training #dogislove #dogist #instadog #labradoodlesofinstagram
Long lines help you maintain a constant connection to your dog without constant tension. Your dog can slip the slack easily through your hands allowing yourself pup to sniff, train and explore! #dogtraining #dogtreats #dcdogs #dogsofinstagram #adventureswithdogs #dogsonleash #gsd #hikingwithdogs #k9fitness
You will not make your dog a begger if you feed them while you are at the table. *If* you use the food to reinforce a position that isn’t pushy and begging! This is a great example of sitting at a coffee shop and simply rewarding the calm while everyone moves around them. In order to teach a dog that this isn’t about begging our timing is to deliver goods when pup a) remains the down b) people walk past. This also builds goo feelings around new people. Instead of correcting a mistake I simply choose to walk away. But what we have here is all about leveraging successes. Good things happen to pups who wait at a rate of reinforcement that works for them. Later, we can change the rate of reinforcement when we have that learning history implanted. #dcdogs #dogtraining #dogtips #lifewithdogs #doglife #adventureswithdogs #k9 #dogmom #dogsdoingthings #novadogs #dogsofthedmv #cutedogs #dogfun #tricktraining #igdc #cutedogs #instapuppy #bethesda #chevychase #georgetown #mydogismy #dcdogs #dogtraining #dogtips ##adventureswithdogs #k9 #puppytraining #gsd #deafeogs #dogsdoingthings #novadogs #dogsofthedmv #cutedogs #dogfun #tricktraining #igdc #cutedogs #instapuppy #bethesda #chevychase #georgetown #mydogismy #dc
Where you train matters! Simple foundation skills can be taken to doorways, yards, on leash, in the car and start to take the shape of polite manners for puppy. Choose a quiet interior door or baby gate to start teaching your pup to ask for permission to come through to the other side. This is application of a life skill. It will also give you access code p more options to reward your pup! Here you see trainer Gwen using food, praise, access and toys to reward this little pups lovely calm demeanor. We will be able to wean off treats for this skill with very little repetition because our pup also wants to earn the reward of coming through the gate. #dcdogs #dogtraining #igdc #cutedogs #instapuppy #bethesda #chevychase #georgetown #mydogismy #dc #puppytraining #puppiesofinstagram
Build a solid recall “PUPPY COME!” with a little fun this week! Grab a family member or friends and some yummy, tiny pea sized treats and encourage your pup to run back and forth earning rewards from everyone! Keys to success: start in a low distraction environment, reward your pup for showing up every time and keep your sessions short! Traps to watch out for? Don’t call your pup and take things away from them, don’t call your pup to put them in a crate, don’t call your pup when it is time to leave a fun friend! In time your recall bank account will be so huge with only good things you will be able to work up to your goals but for now we have to convince these pups “COME” is a word worth flying in for! #dcdogs #puppytraining #dogtrainingtips #sheltie #sheltie #puppyplaydate #trainersofig #mypuppylove #puppytips
We are ONE month out from the dreaded and beautiful fireworks. Are you preparing your pup!?? Owner and CPDT-ka trainer Gwen Podulka was on the Doggy Dojo Podcast talking with @susanlightla about noise aversion, sensitivity and reactivity. 🐶🎆🐶🎇 Listen to the full podcast at https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/doggydojo/id1542560229. #dogtrainingtips #puppytips #dogsandfireworks #dogsafety #reactivity #positovetraining #dogsofinstagram #fearfuldog #reactivedog.
Two cues. Here @henry_yellow_lab is taking a test between UP and OFF.
Here is the rhythm of the verbal cues:
UP
OFF
OFF
OFF
Off
UP
UP
UP
and a super CUTE UP!
and on and on. It is not a one for one pattern anymore. The lab’s got the game and I *think* the words have been associated for just long enough for me to throw a little test into the mix.
I’m watching trainer body language and dog body language as we move through this exercise.
How often does trainer rotate in a way that cues one behavior over the other?
Is Henry really “hearing” the verbal cue? Is he responding to the pattern? Is he looking for visual cues?
There is a great rule of thumb for deciding when to offer your pup a training test. 4/5.
If your pup gets four out of five right consider testing a skill. Sometimes it is this - word discrimination. Other times you get 4/5 right answers and you might wean off a hand signal, phase out a treat, ask for more duration.
Your next steps in how you forward with a cue are up to you but be fair to your pup!
#dogtraining #dogtips #yellowlab #positivereinforcement #puppytraining #pawsup
#dcdog #mydogismy ##jumpingdog #popquiz #k9trainer #sundays
Senior dogs are the best. ♥️♥️♥️
There is a lifetime with this pup, aka 12 year old Lemon. There is the history of where she came from (wandering the streets in Florida with a brother at the age of about five months.)
There were days when she first came home where she would come no where near me and I could watch from my kitchen window as played and pounced on her toys in the backyard but the moment I appeared in the doorway she would slink away.
And then we bonded with a little eye contact, toys, some walks and squirrel chasing. She and I became a team. We made a best dog friend named Trent who came with one of the kindest humans in the world and all of her amazing people. Every year I have watched her become more comfortable and tolerant of people but she has always been the best puppy teacher I could ever bring to class.
There are the homes we’ve lived in and the states we’ve traveled through. There has been agility and nosework, hikes and beach runs. There have been sooooo many puppies through our life.
Lemon led me to DC and changing jobs and giving me the strength to start Dog Trained. She is the greatest car traveler with never a complaint but still a hearty willingness to yell at motorcycles as we pass them on the highway.
Lemon has paved the way for worried dogs to build confidence and under our care and been a consistent PLAY or DIE companion for 12 years. I hope every day for 12 more but will celebrate the moments I have now.
#lemon #deafdog #positivetraining #dogtrainingtips #k9life #seniordogs #puppylife #puppiesofinstagram #newpuppyparents #newdogmom #newpuppy #positivereinforcement #positivereinforcementdogtraining #puppyproblems #dogtrainer #dogmom #weeklyfluff #barked #gooddoggo
Ideally, pup’s sit to greet without anyone yelling SIT to get bums on ground.
Ideally, we also don’t correct jumping because you don’t know where you might want a pup to offer that behavior and if we make jumping a horrible, rotten, no good behavior will your pup ever confidently offer jump again?
Where might you want you pup to jump? Into a car? Over tree stumps? Through an agility ring? Over your legs? Yay!!! Now you’re thinking like a trainer.
Behavior isn’t good or bad.
It’s behavior and sometimes we humans want one behavior to come out more than another. Sits for greeting are much safer than jumps to greet, so let’s reinforce oodles of four paws on the floors. #
dcdogs #dogtraining #dogtips #lifewithdogs #doglife #k9 #dogmom cutedogs #dogfun #tricktraining #igdc #cutedogs #instapuppy #bethesda #chevychase #georgetown #mydogismy #dc
I know! I know!! All the equipment on this soft, sweet doodle seems a little excessive, right? WHAT is that all about?!??
SAFETY
then training!
and yes, it is also training with an eye on the human individual’s limitations.
Trainer Angel is working with this pup during day training walks.
We, as trainers, get a chance to lay a foundation of skills for the owner to follow through on after we complete our day training walks. And we KNOW this pup is actually pretty low key and chill but she is young and can weave this way and that and pull very excitedly to greet or sniff a sniff (her favorite reward).
We also know this pup has a wonderful, caring owner who is recovering from surgery. The owner would love to get back to enjoying her daily walks with her pup but we’ve opted to incorporate the head halter to minimize ANY pulling. The head halter will get us to our loose leash goals quickly, we will be able to wean off treats, and just in case, if this pup pulls it will be with much reduced tension on the leash.
It is important that a trainer and owner take into account our own limitations when training as well as our’s dogs. There really are 100 things we can train better, differently, with more ease, new exercises but it is also ok to stop and take a short cut that is not aversive to our canine companions if it brings more quality of life to the relationship.
@gentleleader #hearhalter #leashwalking #positivereinforcement
#dogtrainingtips #looseleashwalking #k9training #doodle #heel #dogadventures #dogsofinstagram #dogtips
