Take the Lead K9 Training

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Winter Springs, FL
Take the Lead K9 Training

A dog training and rehabilitation service for helping families understand how to bridge the gap in communication and create calm dogs in our crazy world!
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"Creating Calm Dogs in a Crazy World"

Hi guys - thanks for visiting my page! I hope you find it helpful with dog training tips as well as educational regarding balanced training! Take the Lead K9 Training is a Board & Train dog training service in Central Florida, focusing on obedience, behavior modification, and socialization. Dogs have a language all of their own and my goal is to help owners b

ridge the gap in communication. With a Bachelor's Degree in Psychology, I understand that the first step to strengthening our relationship with our dogs is understanding what they are telling us, but most importantly what we REALLY have been saying to them. At Take the Lead we focus on creating balanced relationships with humans and dogs through leadership, obedience, behavior modification, and socialization. Behavior problems develop from a lack of structure and leadership in the relationship between humans and their dogs. Take the Lead K9 Training provides a detailed look at what makes a functional and relaxed home environment for the entire family. The first step to changing your dog's behavior is understanding that your behavior will have to change, too! Everything we do speaks something to our dog, and it is important for us to understand that we influence both the good and bad behaviors that we see. The key to creating a successful dog-human relationship is that the training you learn continue to be applied, even after our sessions are over-- think of dog training as not a set of tricks, but a continuous lifestyle, and you will have a great relationship with your dog. You CAN have the dog you've always wanted-- they are always ready for us to take the lead! If you're in Florida and need help with your dog, or would like to talk from anywhere in the country, please visit my website www.taketheleadk9training.com to see the different service and rates that we offer! Please contact me with any questions! I look forward to hearing from you!

-Victoria Smith, Owner & Head Trainer

11/20/2024

Did you know that we offer Virtual Training programs?

Whether you live too far to work with us in person or simply just like to be hands-on with your dog's training, our Virtual Training options are an excellent option to meet your goals with your dog!

These lessons are not in a group setting - they are one on one zoom lessons with personalized after care between our weekly or bi monthly meetings. Not only do you have through notes and homework sent to you following the lessons, but you also have access to me throughout the week through a shared video folder to ask questions, upload training sessions, and get feedback before our next lesson!

We launched our highly successful virtual programs in 2020 (including one of the first virtual puppy classes offered as the pandemic started) and have continued to fine tune these programs to help folks all over the globe!

We've helped many families all over the country (and internationally) and would love to help yours as well!

You can find out more about these programs on our website (link in comments!)

11/16/2024

Just a friendly reminder to continue using your dog's crate every day, and to make sure you actually leave the house without them sometimes - even if you work or school from home!

There have been many families who have had someone home non-stop since the holidays or even before that (thanks to the pandemic )... meaning many of our dogs and puppies have never truly been alone for quite a while!

I hope that you've had your dog practicing some downtime in the crate during the day, so as not to lose their previous kennel up routine! Remember, our dogs used to spend a lot of the day in a quiet house while many owners were away working, schooling, or shopping.

Now, even if you've been good about having your dog inside their crate at times while you've been home, there is still an extremely important thing you still need to practice - leaving the house without them!

We can't underestimate how perceptive our dogs are! We may be giving ourselves a false sense of security that our dog won't have separation anxiety when we actually leave home, just because they've been settling well inside their crate while we are home. You see, dogs have a great nose and a keen ear for sounds - they know pretty easily if they are being left behind or not...and how will your dog handle that after months of having you so close?

To help your dog prepare for when the whole family walks out of the house and closes the door behind them, make sure to do a few things before you grab your keys and go:

1. Be sure your dog has eaten, gone potty, and had their minimum exercise needs met.

2. Put them into their crate calmly, 20-30 minutes prior to your departure so they can start to unwind and settle.

3. Quietly and unemotionally leave the house. Don't make a big deal about saying goodbye or disturbing them inside their crate to announce you're leaving - that will only work them up and disturb he wind down they'd been doing. If you make a big deal about your exit, your dog is going to strain to watch and hear you and what's going on, which can feed into separation anxiety. When you return home, do the same - ignore your dog when you arrive and give them 20-30 minutes to settle before you let them out.

4. Be aware of subtle cues your dog may notice that you are leaving: grabbing your purse, jingling your keys, putting on your thick coat, tying your exercise shoes, the kids all lining up at the door excited, the garage door opening or closing. If your dog has been taking lots of car rides and walks with you, they are becoming very knowledgeable of the signs leading up to that routine. Those kinds of things may cause excitement/stress in your dog if they can see or hear that going on from inside their kennel. Help dull the association of that stuff by randomly doing those things during the day and not going anywhere.

5. Consider having your dog's crate somewhere that they can't see you gather your things and leave. Nothing is more stressful to a dog than watching that door close behind you and not going with you, especially if that's what they've been doing lately.

6. Play soft music or have an air purifier or white noise machine running near their kennel to muffle some of the house sounds. This way they won't notice as much that the house is eerily quiet or that you opened the garage and they "know what that means."

7. Give them a nice chew bone or toy to fiddle with inside their kennel, when you tuck them in prior to leaving.

8. Start with easy exits first - getting the mail, taking the garbage can to the road, watching the kids play in the yard, gardening outside. Stay nearby so you can spy or hear how your dog is handling being alone in the house. If they are barking or crying, remember, you shouldn't ever let them out until they are calm. Soothing or negative attention from you during this can reinforce that getting worked up means they can get you back inside - and will try harder next time.

9. Remember having everyone home with them non-stop has been as much of a change of routine for your dog, as it has been for you. Be patient as they work through some anxiety about yet another change.

10. Be proactive to help your dog not develop separation anxiety by setting boundaries during the day when you are home! That means some crate rest during normal "office hours," not always laying at your feet or touching you by using place command, and discouraging constant "shadow like" behavior. Help them be somewhat independent so they won't fall apart when their human needs to leave the house very soon.

One of the best things you can do for your puppy or adult dog is to help them be comfortable being crated and left alone sometimes :)

11/14/2024

Khaleesi, when did you get those grey hairs?!

Both Leo and Khaleesi are our oldest pups - they are close to 14 years old. Where does time go?

11/09/2024

Pupdate- Zoomie the Cairn Terrier!

If you remember Zoomie during training, I described her as a mix of Toto and the scarecrow from The Wizard of Oz because she was sooo scruffy and very uncooperative to groom! We worked a ton in her impulse control and allowing to be handled for brushing, bathing, and nails...here's an update from mom:

"Hi. This dog may not look familiar to you. It's a clean, groomed, calm, well behaved girl named Zoomie. She is like a different dog since her visit with you. She is so very much better behaved...she actually let the groomer her strip her coat and get out the gobs of loose hair. I am so happy to have her now. She is a pleasure to have around, but notice she is still wearing her fancy collar and leash. All I have to do is remind her and she goes right into trained pup mode. I can't thank you enough!"

So proud of you, Zoomie and her owners! Keep up the great work!

11/05/2024

One of these things is not like the other...

We are enjoying seeing the leaves change out here! 🍂

11/01/2024

It's not an easy thing for a resident cat to adjust to a new dog in the house or even for a new kitty addition to feel comfortable entering a house of dogs. We love having a multi species household, and many of our clients are both cat and dog lovers- so helping people achieve harmony at home is something we want to help with!

The bottom line is that your cat needs to feel safe moving around the house without being chased. When it comes down to it dogs are often curious, excited, playful, (and possibly predatory) when they see a cat - all that energy rushing up to a kitty will trigger their fight or flight, and both can trigger your dog to chase.

I am not a big fan of the phrase "let them work it out," as in my world, I am there to advocate for all of my animals - dogs and cats. Allowing the dog to pressure the cat too much causes my cat to lose trust in my ability to keep them safe AND significantly reduces their trust in the dog. Allowing my dog to approach, chase, pester the cat, lets my dog think that behavior is allowed - and it is NOT.

So what do we do?

We teach our dog boundaries with a reliable place command. If your dog can't stay in place, then keep a leash on them and use a back tie to make sure they can't get far if they break command. We want to see our dogs practicing impulse control and calm behavior before the cat even enters the picture. Then, we can expect place to help keep them managed when the cat does come into the room.

We make sure our cat has a private area where the dog can not get to - their food, litter box, and a calm space to rest needs to always be available and dog-free.

The calmer and more predictable the routine with your dog is, the sooner your cat will feel brave and confident about how to navigate through the house and around your dog.

Who knows, maybe they'll even be best friends? :)

10/31/2024

Happy Halloween from Take the Lead 🎃

10/30/2024

Do you remember learning a new skill when you were in school? Was it a foreign language or maybe complex math or science?

For those of us who didn't keep practicing those skills, if you were to be asked to have a conversation in another language or sovle a Calculus II equation... it shouldn't be a surprise that we struggle to do that! Just because we took the courses once doesn't mean we will retain the knowledge forever!

The same goes for your dogs! Their training is NOT over after coming home from a board and train, or you finish the last session of your private lessons. Your "training" is only beginning! Your dog needs you to practice your leadership and his training skills every day so that he can continue to be successful and improve in the real world.

If you only said "sit" to your dog twice a week, do you think he would ever learn the command? So why only practice place command once a week, when guests come over on Saturday night? That type of "it's time to train" pattern means your dog is going to struggle (and you're likely to get frustrated) all because you guys haven't been having "real training conversation" daily. It's one thing to tell your dog "place" once a day when you're making his food and then release him to eat; It's another thing to have your dog in a place command while you do chores and then recall him across the room to a down/stay while you carry groceries in and out of the front door.

Try taking your dog on a walk once a week, and see if your leash manners improve Instead take your dog on a daily walk and challenge him to hold a down/stay while other walkers and their dogs go by, or to heel without distraction in a busy grocery store parking lot.

Keep challenging your dog and keep practicing your stuff. Don't sweep obedience under the rug for only the days when you need major control of your dog - they will struggle, and so will you. Have your dog do some structured obedience work and calm on command behavior every day. EVERYDAY. You've invested in it this far - don't let it go! Keep this language fresh, so your dog can eventually offer good behaviors on his own, in real-life scenarios!

10/27/2024

It was so good seeing Carly when we stopped at my dad's! It feels like not so long ago we puppy raised her for him so he could have a fully trained and socialized puppy! Have you thought about getting a puppy but feel a tad overwhelmed?

We can help you build a daily potty training/crate training routine, focus on important development and socialization milestones, and teach a foundation of obedience and engagement that will imprint for their whole life!

Puppies are a ton of work, so let's make sure your efforts are productive for your puppy raising goals! :)

We have virtual options, as well as a variety of hands-on training options - please reach out! We are here to help families in Central Florida and the Pacific Northwest... and virtually, all over!

10/24/2024

Bonded relationships between dogs is special, and with littermates or puppies who are close in age growing up together, we often see that closeness! It's important to keep in mind that these guys need individual time, too!

Families often make the mistake of allowing the puppies to share the same crate, food bowls, and dog beds - allowing constant sharing of each other's space and being together ALL of the time. The downside to the inseparable and bonded relationship between littermates, is that they can easily grow to be very dependent on each other, instead of building strong individual relationships with their owners. This can make training each dog difficult, as well as just getting their attention when they are together! To the puppies, they are lost in their own world- we just happen to be people sharing the same roof. Puppies are instinctively very "dog centric" because they are coming from a litter full of playmates - puppies will always want to pick fun over listening, and will be looking to have fun with each other as often as they can!

In addition to having difficulty training and issues listening to their humans, these pups can often struggle emotionally in the future if they ever have to be seperated. For instance, if one pup has to leave the house for a vet visit and the other must stay home, or if something unforseen or tragic happens to one of them, these bonded pairs can really struggle being alone.

Often littermates, if unchecked, can also develop rivarly and even aggressive behavior towards each other as they start entering adolescence (around 8 months of age). Growing up, these duos often play frequently and ROUGH, and owners struggle to keep the play happening at appropriate times and at an appropriate levels of arousal - over time the constant rough housing and gladiator-like growing intensity can turn into scuffles and/or fights because the pups get SO intense and never learned how to regulate their play!

As they start to enter sexual maturity (even if they've been spayed or neutered) they may start trying to work out their "position" in the pack. If humans haven't managed to set believable boundaries and rules, due to the fact the dogs bonded more with each other than the people, it can be hard to represent a leadership role to influence calm and keep things peaceful...and the dogs will try to work it out themselves. 😬

So, what do we do?

To help prevent troubled waters with littermates, make sure to work on having lots of separation from each other - solo training and playing times with their humans and social experiences with other pets/people. Let them have "doses of togetherness" throughout the day - don't let them constantly be in cahoots with each other all of the time! Think of it as scheduled playtimes, instead of an all day puppy party!

Make sure you crate them separately! They each need their own kennel, and need to work on coming out at separate times. You want to work on creating patience and not create a stampede of two pups demanding to get out because their siblings is!

Help them become individuals! Make sure they each have their own food bowl, toys, and crates, as well as opportunities to create individual relationships with YOU without the other pup around. I can't stress how important it is to build individual relevance with each dog first, and then bring them together to listen as a team - not as a two-headed monster 😄

When there is a healthy balance of these things, the relationship between bonded pairs can be so amazing, because you are an important part of their relationship! You're creating a pair of pups who literally have their best friend on the same team 😊

That said, if you are looking at puppies and considering getting littermates so they have a "friend" - it is a TON of work. Remember, raising one puppy is time consuming, so raising two puppies and focusing on the delicate relationship dynamics to prevent problems in the future is EVEN MORE work!

Ask any dog trainer or breeder and most would highly recommend not having litter mates, and instead staggering puppy ownership so you can build a strong relationship with each! Kind of like when parents space out having kids, I find introducing a new puppy when your current pup is trained and well bonded to you (around a year and a half or so) is a good time - they'll still be puppies together, BUT you can have some influence to prevent the above mentioned "puppy problems" 😉

P.S. if you already have littermates (or two young puppies around the same age), I'm pretty sure you're already pretty aware of how much work two puppies at the same time is! I hope these tips help you build a routine to help you canine family dynamic move in a less chaotic, destructive, constant-play- all-the-time, and more listening direction!

10/21/2024

I would say that the crisp PNW air has Viago very very happy! We'r trying to get a group picture, and he just zooms round and round for 5 minutes 🤣

10/18/2024

Ever seen an elephant fly? 😆

Kristin took an awesome photo of Zeus the Cane Corso about to take off! Now Nathanie the Basset Hound needs to flap those ears to keep up!

10/13/2024

Let's celebrate Redd the Ridgeback! In May, he had to have emergency surgery for a ruptured disc in his neck - he was totally paralyzed. His moms have moved mountains with his care and rehabilitation after surgery - he has made such incredible progress! He's visited with us today to see how he gets along with the routine here post-surgery, as he was a frequent visitor in the past. I'm happy to say he is back in the swing of things again, even if he needs a couple of special amenities like laying out rugs to move around on the slick floor and keep his balance. We're happy to roll out red carpet for you, Redd :)

We are so glad he's made such incredible progress! He's such a happy boy, we're thrilled to see him again ❤️

10/10/2024

I hope everyone is safe. Please reach out if you need anything! Thank you to everyone who checked on us ❤️

10/09/2024

Hurricane prep had me super busy, I forgot to upload Oliver's visit to the park and walking by other dogs! Great time to practice engagement moves :)

10/09/2024

We hope everyone is preparing for Milton and that they've made arrangements to be as safe and secure as they can be! We've got our indoor potty spot ready, brought in all the place cots and dog toys from outside, and have water and food stored.

The dogs will get as much outside time as we can today before we hunker down and likely loose power.

I'll do my best to update via social media for those of you who have dogs with us, while also trying to conserve battery on my phone.

Be safe out there ❤️ 🌀

10/08/2024

We've had a busy day of hurricane prep, go home zooms AND pickup lessons, and a little bit of kitty love for Oliver in place!

10/07/2024

Eddie had his most challenging session yet- obedience around the play pack!

Address

Winter Springs Boulevard
Winter Springs, FL
32708

Telephone

+13213484956

Website

http://www.taketheleadk9training.com/

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Are you struggling to have a nice walk with your dog? Whether it's simply pulling on leash or barking and lunging at people and dogs, there is hope to have a better walk! Leash Reactivity doesn't have to be forever :) We're here to help folks in the PNW and Central Florida with all their dog needs - big or small, we train them all! Make sure to visit our website to find out more about the different services we offer, or shoot me a DM if you have any questions! #calmdogscrazyworld #pdx #pdxdogs #pdxdogtraining #orlandodogtrainer #pnw #pnwdogs

Hurricane prep had me super busy, I forgot to upload Oliver's visit to the park and walking by other dogs! Great time to practice engagement moves :)

We've had a busy day of hurricane prep, go home zooms AND pickup lessons, and a little bit of kitty love for Oliver in place!

Eddie had his most challenging session yet- obedience around the play pack!

Oliver is working on his most challenging session yet- obedience around the play pack!

Eddie is working on ecollar heel and engagement moves!

Rhea's owner wants to be to walk her with the stroller - this is important practice of yielding to the stroller and walking behind. We even saw a neighbor dog and she did good - no barking!