Blue Wulf K9

07/04/2023

The Easter Bunny said it’s time to get after that spring training to be ready for summer!

28/03/2023

05/03/2023

did some training at one of the local dog parks this afternoon. It’s been awhile since he worked with loose dogs around so this was really good for him. He also has recently decided it’s worth it to play with me when he has a toy instead of just running away!!

06/01/2023

A short clip from Lucifer’s first ever e-collar session! He is learning super fast and loving every minute!!

Don’t forget we are offering 15% off when you sign up for any of our training packages until January 30th, 2023.

23/12/2022

Baby Lucifer and all of us at Blue Wulf K9 would like to wish everyone a Happy Hanukkah (12/18-12/26), Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!
We also want to help anyone who may have gotten or be planning on getting a Christmas puppy get off on the right foot. We are offering 15% off when you sign up for any of our training packages between Christmas and January 30th, 2023.

22/12/2022

Lucifer enjoys hanging out in the yard after work enjoying the cool night air and working on learning to really relax. One of the most valuable things you can teach your dog (in addition to recall and emergency down) is how to just relax and be calm.

15/12/2022

Here’s another post I share annually. Many, many owners (and trainers) have found life changing insight and value from this short read. I hope it’s helpful. 🙏
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Okay, so this is a word that gets an awful lot of play in the training world, and it’s definition has come to mean an awful lot of things. Many of which, are incredibly counter-productive, if not downright dangerous.

So let’s see if we can’t clarify a few things.

Socialization isn’t:
-About letting your dog freely interact with dogs at the dog park, day care, or with friends dogs.
-About allowing your dog to meet other dogs on-leash.
-About allowing all manner of people, in all manner of mental/emotional states interact/pet/pressure your dog.
-About exposing your dog to the sights and sounds of cars, buses, motorcycles, bikes, skateboards, joggers...and allowing them to freak out, panic, aggress, hide, bark etc.
-About exposing your dog to the sights and sounds of dogs, cats, and other animals, and allowing them to freak out, aggress, lunge, bark, growl etc.

Socialization is:
-About teaching your dog the proper responses to dogs. What is and isn’t appropriate behavior, and correcting the unwanted when it appears.
-About teaching your dog to walk by the barking, lunging dog(s) on walks and ignore them, completely. Correcting if necessary to achieve this result.
-About advocating for your dog and ensuring people aren’t allowed to pressure your dog, by touching, crouching down, attempting “kisses” etc. That means being a big boy or girl, and stopping others from engaging in unwanted, uninvited interactions.
-About exposing your dog to all manner of daily life “things” and ensuring a proper response. If aggression/arousal is present, it’s corrected, if fear/arousal is present (and causes an overreaction/fleeing etc.) it’s corrected. Ask your dog to learn to ignore and not care about these “life” distractions/concerns/temptations. Teach them to listen to the training, not the world around them.
-About teaching your dog to leave other creatures alone. The cat, the bird, the cow, the goat, the other dog, is simply none of their business. If they decide those things are their business, it’s your job to correct and clarify what is and isn’t their business for them.

Socialization has become a ridiculously simplified, dumbed down, all-encompassing idea. Free interaction and exposure have been presented as a panacea, the magic gateway to a balanced dog. That’s a whole lot of B.S. you’ve been sold, by a lot of people full of B.S. 🙂

Socialization is all about teaching your dog how to behave and exist in the world...properly. People have a belief that only interactions create a well socialized dog. They don’t understand that existence is almost always preferable, and more valuable than actual interaction. Yes exposure is critical, but exposure without 100% clear guidance, and corrections for poor choices, isn’t socialization, it’s chaos, and it’s not teaching your dog what’s right, what’s wrong, and that you’ll keep them safe, so they don’t have to.

A well socialized dog isn’t fazed by the world around them. And that doesn’t come from simple exposure and interactions without guidance. Ironically, that’s precisely how you create anti-social dogs.

Think on that for a minute.

23/11/2022

came out to get the the dog mobile tuned up again. He made another new friend at in Oxford and worked on just being relaxed in a new place.

05/09/2022

Continuing to learn what “place” means and what the different markers are. “Good” means he is on the right track or he is doing the right thing and I’m asking him to continue doing what he is doing a reward is coming but hold the position. “Yes” means he did what I asked and he is free to get his reward in this case come to me to get food reward. “No” means that’s not what I wanted try again. Eventually “no” will preempt a correction to give him a chance to correct himself as you can see he already does in the video by putting his feet back on the place bed even though he has never been given a physical correction of any kind yet. In order to properly correct a dog/horse they must first fully understand what is being asked Lucifer is doing really well with sending to place but he is still learning so the closest he will come to getting a correction is calmly being told “no”. You’ll notice I don’t raise my voice I don’t change my tone much at all and he is completely off leash (fenced yard).

02/09/2022

Just playing around with Lucifer and multiple place "boards" he knows what place means but this is the first time he has ever worked with two it did take him a second to work out what I wanted but by the end he was starting to get it. There are at least a couple moments when I "corrected" him with a verbal "NO" because he tried something that was not quite what I was looking for. The ONLY tools that were used were treats, voice, and body language, the only thing Lucifer is wearing is a wide flat collar and a flea/tick collar. He was not physically corrected in any way yet you can see him correct his position a few times when he isn't given any or at least not the desired feedback.

Just about everything I've done with Lucifer has been luring or free shaping which has created and will continue to create an active thinking, problem solving dog. He has already been somewhat introduced to the meaning of "no" just as he has learned the meaning of "YES". "No simply means "that's not what i was asking for try something else if you want your reward" I don't have to raise my voice or change the tone of my voice and he will 9 times out of 10 stop what he is doing whether it is getting into something he shouldn’t or try a different position to find what it is I did want from him.

31/08/2022

This week we took Lucifer out to continue working on PROPER socialization. He went to a favorite restaurant of ours BBC Tavern and Grill that is very dog friendly, for lunch the other day. Despite the restaurant being very crowded at the time we went he did great staying focused and was even able to relax and just watch the world go by while we ate.

Socialization should be more than just taking your puppy out when they are new and young. Socialization is an ongoing process that teaches the puppy or dog what is expected of them in public. Lucifer is constantly working on proper socialization, meaning he does NOT get to greet EVERY single person or dog we come across in fact very rarely does he get to greet new dogs that I don't know and he must stay calm to be allowed to greet people, and only if they ask and can follow basic instructions.

23/05/2022

Good advice for the up coming holiday weekend!

05/04/2022

Pyro and Tess showing off their walk manners on their weekly play date

22/03/2022

Pyro and Tessie had a play date this morning

22/03/2022

Miss Minnie Mouse enjoying some afternoon playtime

09/04/2021

Your dog is not being stubborn when they ignore you or do something other than what you told them to do. They are telling you they do not understand what you are asking or why it is in their interest to do what you asked.

18/02/2021

“I don’t care about papers.”

“I just want a pet, not a show dog.”

“Who cares if it’s out of standard, I just want a companion.”

I see this time and time again when people are on the hunt for a new puppy to add to their family. It is often used as an excuse to purchase from a less than reputable breeder. They feel they don’t need all the “bells and whistles” because they do not understand why they are so important.

Breeding should be for a purpose, and it is okay if that purpose is companionship, but it should still be done in order to better the breed. So, what exactly does that mean?

It is a multifaceted concept, but in short bettering the breed means breeding toward the standard, breeding away from flaws, breeding for ideal temperament and drive, and breeding away from heritable diseases.

The breed standard encompasses everything from structure to temperament to color. It is designed in such a way to provide a dog most well suited physically and mentally for whatever job they were meant to do. The breed standard is also one of the wonderful things about owning a well bred purebred. It means you know exactly what you are getting into, from size to energy level to drive to coat type. When the breed standard is ignored, you end up with dogs with structural problems that lead to degenerative joint issues or dogs with temperaments the exact opposite of what they were supposed to be which can often result in dogs being rehomed.

So, while you may not want a show dog, a breeder who shows their dogs in conformation is proving objectively that their breeding stock fits the standard and a breeder who shows in sport or work is proving their dog has the correct trainability and drive. Every litter from two show dog parents is going to consist primarily of pet dogs, which is a better source for your family pet than the backyard breeder you found on Craigslist, because 𝗯𝘂𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗮 𝗯𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀𝗻’𝘁 𝗯𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗶𝘀 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝗽𝘂𝗿𝗰𝗵𝗮𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮 𝗵𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗮 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀𝗻’𝘁 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗰𝗼𝗱𝗲.

Breeding away from heritable diseases is one of the most important aspects of reputable breeding in my eyes. It means doing thorough health testing based on what the breed club recommends and only breeding those who pass. The goal is to create an even healthier next generation. Health tests are one way of doing this, but registration and pedigrees are the other. For example, there are not any reliable DNA tests for epilepsy which is one of the few issues Siberian huskies can have. Because there are no tests, it is important for a breeder to be able to study pedigrees and avoid lines known to carry it. So, while you may not see the merit in papers, they serve a purpose and an important one.
(It is also important to be aware that papers/registration 𝗮𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗲 does not make a dog well bred.)

The world of reputable breeding is a big one and it can be a confusing one, but it is important to understand these things. The sooner we stop making these excuses for backyard breeders due to lack of education, the sooner we can put an end to them.

02/07/2020

Great graphic on what socializing should be

26/06/2020

The first time in at least a month that I’ve gotten to track Ziva and she was perfect!!