Client showcase! 🌟 Kai the Service Dog in Training!
Kai worked on her general service dog skills and handler-specific tasks at Planet Fitness today. She is still working on treating people like they’re completely invisible, but the staff at the vet office love her so much that she’s pretty convinced that everyone wants to pet her. Yesterday was one of her first public outings with both her handler and I, and for her first time getting to practice her job at her mom’s gym she really knocked it out of the park.
#servicedogtraining #servicedog #canecorso #canecorsopuppy #positivereinforcement #seattledogs #dogsofseattle #nobaddogs #forcefreetraining #dogsofinstagram #dogoftheday #dogtraining #snohomishcounty #gymlife #arlingtonwa
I went into a lot of debt to chase a dream!
During the first 6 months of operation, I, personally, only made $900, and I only paid myself to get my family Christmas gifts. The company brought in more money, sure, but it was all going towards the “gotta spend money to make money” debt…. Because there was a lot of debt!
Thankfully, I love my job, and working “for free” for 40-60 hours a week was better than making $40/hr, 20 hours a week at my food service job. I also loved serving food, but not like I love this. I don’t experience constant burnout, worry, anxiety, or feel beat up emotionally by others anymore. I’m greeted with excitement day in and day out, I feel like I’m helping families and their dogs, and that’s all that I need to feel rich.
#dogswhohike #dogsofinstagram #dogsofseattle #arlingtonwa #smallbusinessowners #smallbusinesstips #dogoftheday #offleashdogs #forcefreetraining #smallbusiness
Have you ever seen force free trainers criticized because they don’t have flashy “BEFORE” and “AFTER” videos?
I don’t whip out my phone to film my client dogs during reactions, pulling on the leash, jumping up on people, or other things we are set to be “working on.”
From the get go, I don’t want your dog to be rehearsing what they do every day just to capture content. If I record your dog pulling on the leash so I can show my followers how “bad/wild” on leash they are, I’m doing myself, my client, and that dog a disservice.
The beautiful thing about coming into someone’s home, or taking their dog off for training camp, is that that dog should have ZERO learning history with you. As a trainer, you have a clean slate. You establish what gets reinforced and what does not. Dogs learn very quickly that I will not reinforce pulling as a behavior, but I do turn pulling into a tactile cue, and that returning to me when you pull gets reinforced. They pick up on this quickly because in my presence, they’ve NEVER been granted forward access for pulling, and they’ve ALWAYS been reinforced for their recall. I could easily make my job a lot harder if I wanted to record a few minutes of letting your dog walk like a ham, granting them forward access and reinforcing them for thinking that the person on the end of the leash is just too slow….
Same goes for reactions. We are going to stay under threshold INTENTIONALLY, and when we are building confidence around triggers we are going to do so INTENTIONALLY. Life is life though, and sometimes a kid in a toy truck and golden retriever pass on your client’s sidewalk while you work in the corner of the yard 15 feet away and it’s not far enough on your 4th session out of 11… and you catch it on camera by accident. But I would never put Parker in this position on purpose unless I felt like he was ready for it.
By the end of our program, Parker was able to see three dogs at the same park all at the
Beautiful day to Bark Trek…
Off leash obedience obstacle course by the river! #dogtraining #everett #everettwa
Looking to create a trail tattle tail with positive reinforcement?
See how a strong reinforcement history and an understanding of dog body language can build an auto recall upon seeing a bike, car, person, or animal!
#dogtrainingtips #hikingwithdogs #offleashdogs #offleashk9training #arlingtonwa
I don’t know when we have to say goodbye to all this grass, I just know it will be parking in time.
Happy Easter! 🐣
This week at Playcare I put four different treats in four different color eggs.
💗 Beef Liver (a fan favorite, but important to limit*)
💚 Natural Balance Freeze Dried Beef
💙 Purina Pro Plan Shredded Chicken Puppy Food
💛 Dried Minnow
This exercise is cute and fun, but it also gives me an opportunity to see how the dogs’ noses work and (potentially) what their flavor preferences are.
This is also a fun exercise because I can see how dogs problem solve, whether they ask for help or try to figure out opening the eggs themselves. This game also allows me to evaluate multiple aspects of their retrieve skills.
Here is Hope, the Australian Shepherd’s Easter Egg Hunt @ Bark Trek’s Playcare.
***Dogs LOVE liver treats so they are great for training new skills, but should be given sparingly in comparison to other dog training treats. The risk of hypervitaminosis A is high if we feed more than the daily recommended amount on the bag. Reinforce your dogs, but protect them too!***
Daisy is the cutest at her job! Double tap to give her some love.
🐾
#labrador #labradorretriever #labradorchocolate
#goldenretrieverpuppy #goldenretrievers #goldenoftheday
#goldenretrieversofinstagram #goldenretriever #dog
#dogsofinstagram #doglovers #dogoftheday #doglife
#weratedogs #boopmynose #funnydogs #dogsworld
#lifeofftheleash #seattledogs #dogsofaeattle
Sorry my hair is wet, just got back from hiking my dogs for two hours while talking to my friend about how someone else would run into horses on a multi-use trail and feel it warrants all dogs to be on e-collars. 🤷♀️
“Run your dog, not your mouth” is a phrase tons of trainers use to try to shut people up about force-free methods. I could never mention my training methods in content, but with so many people advocating for the use of e-collars for dogs to gain emotional fulfillment, why can’t I be allowed to say doing it without them is possible?
#dogsofinstagram #seattledog #seattledogtraining #seattledogs #dogtraining #dogtrainer #dogtrainersofinstagram #forcefreetrainer #forcefree #forcefreetraining #domorewithyourdog #offleashlife #offleashadventures #runyourdognotyourmouth
Alabama is ADOPTABLE 🐾 She’s a 10 year old boxer mix that has been in foster care with @saveamutt for the last 8 months. She’s looking for her forever home. But until then, she’ll be going on weekly off-leash pack hikes (with her also-adoptable-friend, Harvey) as a way to decompress from kennel life. She’s a sweet girl with fantastic recall that loves to chomp on logs and giant branches! 🏔️🐕🐾🚐🐾🐕🏡 #boxer #boxermix #rescuedog #fosterdog #saveamutt #dogsofseattle #adoptme #kiro7seattle #king5pets #seniorrescuedog #seniordog #adoptabledog #adoptable #decompressionhike #offleash #gpscollar #barktrek #dogswhohike #dogsofwashington #pitmix #pitty #recalltraining
Digging party! Just one of the ways the Playcare yard can provide your dog some much needed mental and physical stimulation! What a stress reliever 🐾
Congratulations to Nora & Mike, who both won a free day of Cadet Camp!
Come see us at Arlington Street Fair to join our mailing list, spin the wheel & join the raffle! We also have enrollment forms with us if you’d like to sign up today!
Bring your dog and show us that you can ”Place” on our Cato Board or “Kennel Up” in our Demo Ruff Land to get a goody bag (with a chance to win a 5 Pack to Playcare 🐾)
