The Homeschooled Pooch

To say these pups had fun with all the fresh snow is a severe understatement!

Last Friday, the puppies played hard…they got filthy…and they definitely earned themselves a pool party! 😂💕🐾

TaterTot has made new friends!! 🥰🐾

Would you believe that this little guy has “dog issues??” Check out little TaterTot enjoying a group walk with two other dogs - and one of them is a puppy! 🥰 Our “doggie day school” is exactly the kind of immersive experience that dogs like TaterTot need. Dogs at our school spend the day practicing their academic and social skills with professional trainers - and their owners get to take home a tired, satisfied pup at the end of the day! (Day school is a training option offered as a part of our combined training program, and is also available as a single-day option to dogs who have already completed a training package with us!)

We (Jason & Amy) have been fostering this girl for about 2 months now. She was anxious, always on full alert during walks, and acted a fool if she came within a block of another dog. She has a rap sheet that includes attacking and seriously injuring the family cat, and breaking loose and biting someone’s dog. Her behavior issues had been progressing quickly, and it was becoming unsafe for her to remain in her home. 😔 We have been able to offer a relatively sterile environment for Mini, and totally “reset” her. We achieved this by converting our basement into a boarding kennel suitable for a solo Great Dane. She has her own private entrance/exit, so that she can get out for walks and to do her business without being exposed to the 2 other dogs who live with us, @buck.and.onyx 🐾 With very few exceptions, her exposure to other dogs has been minimal, pre-planned, and very much controlled. Great Danes are more sensitive than most people realize, so Mini’s first week with us was calm, quiet, and dull. She was fed (oftentimes hand fed, actually) and clicker conditioned. She went for walks before sunrise and after sunset, to help ensure we didn’t run into ANYONE as she got to know her new neighborhood. She worked on her basic obedience essentially in a vacuum and experienced success after success. This video was taken about a month ago, a few days before Christmas. We are practicing long line recalls on the Waabizheshikana / western waterfront trail. Stay tuned for more updates on this sweet, beautiful girl! ❤️

Taggy & Uncle Jason

They work some, they play some 🙃🐾

Nothing to see here but a bunch of really good boys! 🐾💜

Group classes in a public park give dogs and their owners the opportunity to practice real-world skills in the real world! Portland Square Park in Duluth's hillside was the location of last Thursday night's class. What a great job these pups are doing with their leash manners! :) Watch for our fall group class announcement, coming soon. (If your dog isn't ready for group class yet, contact us! Our trainers travel to you!)

SpOoKy!! 👻 Ziggy was totally spooked by these construction materials during his 2-hour training field trip with Jason last week. So what do you do when you encounter something your pup is fearful of? Rule #1: Don’t force him to face his fears until he is ready! Force NEVER quickens the process. In Ziggy’s case, he was brave enough to approach and investigate, so Jason let him do that at his own pace. Because Ziggy is clicker conditioned, Jason is using the clicker as a positive marker to acknowledge and encourage Ziggy’s heroism. 😉 (You can also use praise, and maybe even give your pup some yummy treats to help him or her form a more positive association with the “spooky” dog, human, or object.) This is a type of learning called “classical conditioning.”

Do more with “sit” and “down” 🐾

Your dog sits and downs when you ask her to, but how well does she REALLY understand sit and down? She can sit from a stand... but can she sit from a down? Can she down from a stand? Does she sit while she’s in motion? How about a long-distance down, or a sit while you walk circles around her? (This little gal is Qi’ra, working on some intermediate "sit" and "down" training exercises with trainer Amy at Washington Square earlier this week.)