Michelle's K9 Training

07/08/2023

Hey all, I know it's been ages since I've posted on this page but I wanted to provide an update for anybody who happens upon this page or my website. I am still training, however I am primarily doing lessons and not board and trains since my current living situation doesn't allow for it. If you're in the San Diego area, feel free to reach out if you're interested in getting help!

19/10/2021

Daisy's owner approached me for training because she's been showing signs of aggression as well as being anxious and fearful of many things. In this lesson, you see that once Daisy starts to become resistant, she begins to use her teeth to show that she's unhappy. She needs to learn that behavior like this will not stop her from doing the work, and as she works through this lesson you see her become more and more accepting. Even with the crate, you see that she's initially very reluctant but after a few repetitions she enters the crate faster every time. Dogs like this need to be guided and given the confidence through continued exposure to successfully doing what we ask of them. If we allow them to remain in their negative headspace, then they will spiral and their behavior will likely worsen.

05/09/2021

A little socialization! They both lost interest in each other pretty fast.

04/09/2021

Grandpaw's drop off! Here we demonstrate some introduction to the prong collar and door etiquette prior to our walk.

22/07/2021

His first outdoor obedience session! He did awesome and this was my first time adding in distractions like throwing objects and after one time giving him clarity for remaining in the position, he did great the rest of the time. His recall is also awesome, now I'm only using momentary to get his attention when I say 'come', but in the first instance he stopped to sniff briefly so I put the continuous stim on for a moment to recapture his attention. It's been really hot here, so I've had to wait until late in the day to train outdoors.

20/07/2021

Introduction to recall and some play at the end, so glad he opened up with me. Every dog is different so some react differently to the new structure and rules. To see him play with me after a few days of new structure and training is awesome.

19/07/2021

More duration and reliability with obedience commands today!

19/07/2021

I'd say this was a pretty decent social. Laramie had shown some aggression towards other dogs before, but since this is a controlled situation where both dogs are being advocated for he most likely felt more safe to behave calmly. Their playing styles are unfortunately not in sync, so I will most likely keep their presence around each other neutral.

19/07/2021

First day introducing him to Place! We break it up into parts: step onto the cot, stay on there as I demonstrate movement around the cot, and then the expected position is to be in a down while he's on the cot. You see later on that any time he stands up pressure on the e-collar goes on and once he's back in a full down I release the pressure. This gives him the clear understanding of what he should be doing and what he shouldn't be doing. We started off with a 1.5 hour session today and he did really well and looked pretty relaxed towards the end to even lay on his side! Duration is really up to you and depends on the dog. I wouldn't start off all dogs with such a long duration all at once, but he was doing well so I kept pushing it.

18/07/2021

Introducing E-Collar to obedience commands.

17/07/2021

For some things, no matter what you try to entice the dog with they WILL NOT willingly do something without force. I threw some of his food in there and he sniffed at it, but there was no chance he was going to walk in happily just for his kibble. As a result, the only thing you can do is use physical force to get the dog to complete the action and they will see that what they were afraid of didn't actually harm them. With repetition of this, they will show less resistance and start to become more comfortable with the crate.

17/07/2021

Laramie just arrived for a one week board and train! The first thing we always do is get them accustomed to how we communicate with them via the prong collar. I start off with that and then we move onto a brief obedience session for Sits and Downs. He happily takes his kibble out of my hands which will make these sessions even more awesome due to using his daily food as a reward.

09/04/2021

A bit more practice outside, like everything practice makes perfect! Moved onto the long line so I can build a bit more distance from him.

08/04/2021

Walks are peaceful now and he does a really great job at ignoring distractions :)

07/04/2021

07/04/2021

Today we're taking our obedience outside where we challenge him with more distractions :)

06/04/2021

Cuties

06/04/2021

Much better door etiquette in just a day! He's beginning to offer it on his own and he's holding it like a pro. He's even giving eye contact which I will start to wait for in order to signal the release. He struggles to settle on place which is to be expected, but today is his very first day practicing it.