Fetch Happens Dog Training

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Fetch Happens Dog Training

In home lessons, board and trains, and behavior modification in the Chester/Montgomery County Area
(10)

20/11/2024

Archie just finished up his puppy classes and he’s learned SO much! When I met him he was a nervous, but extremely excitable tiny little guy- always looking for someone to pick him up or skittering toward something at the end of his leash. He’s still a happy, energetic ball of fluff, but he’s built so much confidence and gotten a great head start on his basic obedience. Watching him heel with his mom is probably the cutest thing I’ve seen all week 🥰

19/11/2024

We’ve missed you guys! I’ve had some tech issues over the past couple of months that left me unable to access instagram or facebook, unfortunately there’s not much along the lines of human customer support on either app which made things pretty difficult. If you’ve attempted to reach me recently and haven’t heard back, I’d love to hear from you! For the foreseeable future, I will be routing any inquiries directly to either the email address in my bio- or even better! You can schedule a consultation call directly through the link below. Glad to be back and happy holidays from the Fetch Happens Crew!

https://bit.ly/FetchK9Call

16/09/2024

Imagine being born in a time that “I got myself and my dog 3D printed” is a thing you can say.

03/09/2024

It’s a common misconception when greeting a dog that we should stick our hand out for them to smell. In all honesty, I prefer your hand over your face, but it’s still a behavior that a dog can misconstrue as rude, especially if you enter their space and then shove your hand even further into their space, such as their head.

There is a brief second in this interaction where the dog has to make a choice. Either a.) they will move away as they’re not interested, or b.) they can feel threatened and snap. Now, I’m not saying all dogs are like this, but generally, when we think the hand approach is a good idea, it's towards a dog who is not openly greeting us. Somewhere along our evolution, we forgot what a red flag is from a predator. Hello, if a dog is not actively trying to greet you, then they probably don’t want to meet you.

Here is the thing, most of us are taller than dogs. Generally, when we greet dogs, we bend over, stare, and do whatever weird behavior you think a dog may like, such as talking in a squeaky voice. The dog, who has already made it clear that they’re not interested, is like, whoa. This human is not behaving like other humans, and unlike us who ignore red flags, dogs do not and react accordingly because it is all about survival of the fittest.

So, what should you do instead if a dog is not actively trying to greet you? Well, ignore it. Yup, it’s that simple. If you want to increase your chances of the dog visiting you, stand and talk to the owner like a normal human. Don’t be a red flag. My guess is once the dog deems you not a threat and you’re pretty normal, they will probably come up to you and check you out. It can be that easy, and if the dog doesn’t, then so be it, he doesn’t want to be your friend.

Anywho, if I don’t do anything else in life but spread the word on how to greet a dog and allow you to keep all your digits, I will consider that a successful life.

So, the key takeaway is to stop being weird, be aware of your surroundings, and take a lesson from the dog: you don’t have to be friends with everybody.

As your teacher would say, keep your hands to yourself. 🙌

Wcdogtraining.com

26/08/2024

Roach used to be pretty dog reactive.

Okay, he was REALLY dog reactive.

I don’t think about it often and I didn’t then, either, because it’s just one of those things.

You get a nasty, high drive, low impulse control working bred dog and you just accept that you’re going to spend a few months of your life with a dog blowing up at the end of your leash.

I ignored it for a few months, just letting him be a puppy and hoping he’d choose a game tug instead of being a tornado on a string.

Always ready to catch him with treats and do a fun reward dance when he didn’t choose violence.

We were always addressing it with foundation, reward systems, engagement games- but never putting a stop to it.

He got to an age one day though, around 8 or 9 months old, that it was time to put a stop to it.

It was a little more serious and he was old enough to hear no.

This is where a lot of training stops for some dogs. There’s a movement of training systems that are averse to the idea of telling a dog “no”.

I get it, I really do, and I know I may catch some slack for this.

There comes a time though where the reinforcement dance and management doesn’t serve the dog.

I go slow with my working dogs, but there came a time in Roach’s adolescence where, quite literally overnight, he was no longer allowed to blow up on other dogs.

A few months after that, he was no longer allowed to hesitate when I called him to come to me or hit the deck when I told him to down.

That sounds harsh, doesn’t it? Let me rephrase.

When Roach became a dog, he was old enough to be given the skills and accountability to act like one.

Like a dog who gets to explore mountains and rivers. A dog who gets to walk through town for more than a five minute training session because I didn’t have to worry about taming the tornado piñata.

He slowly began to enjoy ALL of the joys that life has to offer. I’d bet that he’s experienced more freedom than all of the dogs in a lot of suburban neighborhoods combined.

He is happy, confident, fulfilled, and safe, in a way that never-say-no training might never have achieved for him.

He’s not an outlier.

22/08/2024

I remember when I was handed my first ribbon.

I was sixteen.

It was a stupid little rosette pin that I got with my Poodle, Oops for a tricks competition at Petco.

There were four other people there and he won with a routine of spin, back up, spin, dance, and a grand finale of bow.

We won that silly little rosette that’s now crumpled and dirty from seven or eight moves and sitting in the bottom of a box between being hung up next to Oops’ giant, much more serious total dog reserve best in show ribbon.

They’re both equally as special to me.

That ribbon was the start of everything for us.

Every rally obedience ribbon, every giant rosette, Roach’s first place PSA1 leg medallion, every flat ribbon folded up and shoved into a dress pocket under crumbs of Stella and chewy’s patties.

They all came because that little Petco ribbon lit a fire that hasn’t stopped burning since.

Today I had the privilege of handing a first ribbon to a team that I KNOW is going places.

They worked their butts off.

They initially came for their Canine Good Citizen test that we’ve been working on, among other things, for quite some time. It was an overwhelming group in a new place.

I told them I didn’t think they were quite ready to test. I pride myself in being an objective tester, even for the “little” stuff.

I’m not sure if it was intentional, but they levelled up their handling right there, as if saying “watch this”, and fixed the things I told them to work on.

We said screw it and took the test, their handling was flawless and they rocked it.

I’ve handed out quite a few first ribbons now, all of them well deserved, but this one was special.

Good job Soumi.

19/08/2024

We ran out of things to work on during our lesson so made do with brunch instead 💅 Missy and Melody’s parents have been putting in the work with these two and it shows!

10/08/2024

Many people are ✨shocked✨ to see that my dogs aren’t super dog-friendly. They’re a dog trainer’s dog, how can they be so mean?

“Mean” because they don’t run up to other dogs, mean because they aren’t dying to meet your dog, mean because they don’t tolerate inappropriate behavior..

To me, they’re an example of dogs with healthy boundaries and relationships to others. It seems to be the “norm” for a lot of dog owners to expect other dogs to tolerate all of their own dog’s behavior. If your child was being harassed by another child, would you tell them to tolerate it? Of course not; we would intervene and the same should be happening for our dogs.

Any inappropriate behavior (posturing, face licking, jumping, excessive sniffing), or really any behavior that makes the receiving dog uncomfortable, should be interrupted or punished.

This can happen in two ways: we intervene which is the preferred method. If your puppy is face-licking your older dog and your older dog isn’t enjoying it/is trying to get away, etc, it is YOUR RESPONSIBILITY to remove the puppy from the older dog. We should not except any dog to tolerate annoying behavior and we certainly don’t want to raise our puppies to continue this. Or if your male dog is excessively sniffing a female dog to the point she’s uncomfortable, you can interrupt or punish that with a “no,” a nick on the ecollar, separating them, etc. It is your responsibility to manage your own dog and advocate for others.

The other option is to allow the receiving dog to correct the inappropriate dog, but this is rarely efficient and should only happen under very strict circumstances. We never want to allow a dog we don’t know to correct our dog. There’s a good chance they won’t, which will teach tolerance, and there’s an equally good chance they will overcorrect, resulting in injury or fight.

Often a puppy is raised where other dogs are expected to tolerate behavior. One day the puppy runs up to a dog and starts behavior that they’ve rehearsed, the new dog doesn’t tolerate it and corrects the dog/starts a fight...

Read the full article here:

https://www.horizonretrievers.com/post/socialization-1

09/08/2024

Captain of Lily’s fan club over here, so proud of her ❤️❤️❤️

08/08/2024

Chip observations, day three: he appears to be a set of big ol ears with a dog attached

06/08/2024

It’s been a little while, we’re due for an introduction! I’m Emma, the human behind Fetch Happens. I’ve been training full time professionally for a bit over three years now, but before then I’ve been immersed in the sport dog world and service dog training since about 2016. I got into training because of my love of dogs, seeing first hand the amazing things that we can teach them and how we can change their lives. After I started my business, I found my true passion in not just the dogs, but in coaching people and watching relationships between dog and human transform. I began as an entirely positive reinforcement based trainer, but eventually found that humane, balanced training can not only positively impact dogs’ lives verte quickly, but also keep dogs in their homes and diminish strain on the dog-human relationship side of things very quickly as well. That’s a topic for an entirely separate post 🐾
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The dog on the left is Journey, I found her at three months ago as of today and she’s had me wrapped around her paw ever since. She struggled with some dog reactivity and restlessness initially, but she has almost entirely overcome those quirks now and has been a wonderful helper in teaching new people to fine tune their handling skills. Her hobbies include long naps on the sofa and the occasional hike.
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Roach is the Malinois on the right, he has no shortage of energy and is often the first to help dogs work through their reactivity. You may not know it when you meet him because of how friendly he is, but he is an active protection dog and will be 🤞🏻 closing out his PSA 1 title this fall. His hobbies include chaos and destruction, but we love him.
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The frenchie is Tofu, the most handsome little man, the perfect little guy. He knows how to sit and do a cute little dance, that’s about it. That’s all a guy like him needs to know really. If you have a reactive dog, you’ve likely seen him, you might even get to play with him while I work with your dog for a moment during a lesson.
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I’m forever thankful for this crew, they remind me every day why we live with dogs and why I work so hard to share these skills with others.

02/08/2024

Lily was a neighbourhood Cujo when I met her three weeks ago, even I was a teeny bit nervous to get close to her. Her family has really gotten to work though, and she was able to walk with another dog and past people today. She even sniffed my dog without making any bad decisions, that’s HUGE for her! Her neighbours were still nervous to say hi, but we got to end our session on an amazing note thanks to some help and cheese from the dog whisperers at Doylestown Air. Can’t wait to see Lily enjoy all of the fun things that life has to offer!!
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21/06/2024

The Fetch Happens Crew is currently soaking up all the AC they can get after their afternoon fun with the kiddy pool. It’s brutal outside, but you don’t have to suffer just to keep your dog happy!
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Check out these tips for ideas to burn some energy without burning up and let me know if you’d like to see more specific tips on any of these topics!

20/05/2024

Now enrolling! Imagine your dog, by the end of June, walking nicely with you on past other dogs, hanging out calmly while you grab a bite with friends, coming back to you reliably no matter the distractions, or simply just existing calmly while you have a barbecue.
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I have two openings available for my fast tracked, all inclusive lesson program. Typically an eight week program, I’m looking for two people and dogs who can meet twice per week and practice reasonable daily homework. This shortened program consistently produces fantastic results for people who commit to it, but meeting twice a week and consistently is key to staying on track and progressing while our last lesson is still fresh. This program is ideal for someone who wants to be active with their dog and is excited to put in a little bit of work.
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If this sounds like you, send me a message or submit a contact form through my website to schedule an evaluation, this program typically fills up quickly.
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If this doesn’t sound like you but you and your dog still need help , I get it, life is busy! Ask me about modifying our lesson programs to include day training field trips or our board and train programs.

25/04/2024

Got my puppy fix with Chico and Chaco, adoptable through 🐕

23/04/2024

If you’ve trained with me, you know that I’m big on handling skills. I want our dogs to not only tolerate, but learn to enjoy being lifted, having their paws touched, having their collar grabbed… anything we can think of. Emergencies happen and when they do, sometimes our dogs can get jostled and manhandled, and being able to tolerate that when they’re scared or in pain can be the difference between whether or not your dog and the people helping them are safe.
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Ivy sliced her paw a bit on our hike today, it happens, but she was definitely thrown off and in pain. Fortunately, her owner has made sure she’s used to being carried and having her paws touched, so checking her out and carrying her up some giant hills was no big deal. Instead of thrashing around and making things worse, she went along for the ride and let us check her out with no fuss by the time we got to the car and she’ll be back out in no time!

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http://www.fetchhappensk9.com/

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Videos

It’s a good day for an adventure. Have you done something fun with your dog today? #dogsofinstagram #dogtraining #rescuedogsofinstagram #belgianmalinois #reactivedog

Have you taught your dog a new trick recently? Roach’s training has been getting a little stale, so today we’re learning orbit and sit pretty 🐾 #dogtraining #dogtrainer #dogtrainingtips #belgianmalinois #dogtricks

Happy Saturday, this is an informative video. Please watch with your sound turned all the way up so you don’t miss anything important. #dogtraining #dogsofinstagram #australianshepherd #funnydogs

Journey and I stopped in to @tailwaggersbluebell to kill some time today and ended up finding our new favorite store! They have all of my favorites, including @westpawus enrichment toys, @saintroccostreats , @primal_raw dog food, and @stellaandchewys . This store is a dog lover’s dream and Journey’s paradise. If you stop in, tell my new friend Zuko he’s the very best boy 🐾

Chip joined us for a board and train because his nose has a tendency to really get him into trouble- dragging his owners, potentially disappearing… no bueno. Now that he’s mastered his recall and knows how to walk like a gentleman on a leash, he’s able to safely discover all of the great smells he was after. A beagle’s life is nothing without the freedom to sniff and explore 🐾 #dogtraining #beaglesofinstagram #beagle #rescuedogsofinstagram #rescuedismyfavoritebreed

Soumi and her family make me so proud ❤️ I’ll have to get a video of all of her tricks soon, but they’ve done such a good job with her obedience and confidence building. When I met her, we could barely talk over her barking and jumping. Look at her now!! 🐾 #dogtraining #dogoftheday #dogsofinstagram #lablove

Living vicariously through all of my foster friends… absolutely in love with their new addition, Ripley! He’ll be available for adoption in the next few weeks and he’s just the absolute sweetest 🐾 #dogsofinstagram #rescuedog #rescuedogsofinstagram #phoenixville #mainlinepa #adoptme

I got home late tonight and wasn’t up for a walk, but Tofu and Roach finished their night with a few minutes of training and are happy as can be! Physical exercise is great, but keeping those gears turning is the key when you’re on a tight schedule 🐾 🧠 #dogtraining #dogsofinstagram #frenchiesofinstagram

Have some dogs

Mr Iggy Pup learning to lay down and stay- he’ll be a pro by next week! #dogtraining #dogtrainer #dogtrainingtips #dogtricks #rescuedog #pitbullsofficial

Threshold manners can save lives! #dogtraining #dogsofinstagram #reactivedogs #frenchie #rescuedog #rescuedogsofinstagram

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