#protip You can teach the Place command on any defined object. However in the beginning stages we have found that it is much easier to teach it on as raised bed to start
*Door manners*
There are a few reasons we teach door manners . # 1 is safety and # 2 is respect. I donât want a dog to think when the door opens it can just rudely bust through the door way regardless of who or whatâs in their way . I also want the dog to learn to pause at door ways and wait to be released for safety reason. Itâs incredible how teaching the dog to ask for permission before exiting the home can really set the tone not only for a walk but also for the overall day if you stay consistent with it.
Fear is a powerful motivator
Most of us have that one thing that just totally wigs us out. For me its rodents đđ I have such an irrational fear of any and all rodents that I would literally do anything to get away from a rodent ANYTHING.
Sometimes we deal with dogs who are irrational, nervous and fearful over various different things sometimes we may have no clue why a dog is afraid of a certain thing but they just are . Why do some people have pet rats and I canât even look at a picture of a rat without feeling panicked?
Fear is a powerful motivator. The best thing we can do for our fearful dogs is to build their confidence, help them understand that they can trust us . Babying them is not the answer, but truly getting down in the trenches with them sort of speak and working them through their fear is the most valuable thing we can do for our fearful dogs .
So whatâs your fear?
Clip from Q&A # 27
We got our YouTube channel up and running again. We have already been adding to the channel and we have plenty more tutorial videos that we will be putting up . Go to Milligan Valley on YouTube and hit subscribe and youâll get a notification when we add a new video to the channel. As always we love helping yâall
Weâre actually in the human business.
Most dog trainers become dog trainers because they donât really like people, but letâs not forget there is a human attached to the other end of that leash.
We look at things a little differently. If we cannot help the human than we canât help the dog itâs just that simple. Regardless if we do a board and train, private training or free on line help if we canât connect with the human in a genuine way weâll never be able to help the dog. Shaming and blaming owners for what they did or didnât do with their dogs is something I cannot stand, especially when I have an owner in front of me asking for my help. Because if they genuinely knew what to do or where they went wrong they wouldnât be needed my help in the first place . My thought is when I meet a new client is, today is day 1 letâs forget about yesterday and all the days before that and letâs start today. Dog training is simple it honestly is. Thatâs the biggest thing we wish to convey to our clients. Dog trainers out there making this stuff seem overly complicated just need their ego stroked because it makes them feel magical and like the dog whisper. Me? I just donât need that in my life. What pumps me up is watching my clients succeed and conquer things that have been a burden in their life with their dog. Private training is especially rewarding because we truly get to know so many awesome people and each and every week they show up for their lessons they are full of excitement to keep progressing. To watch folks come in week 1 so burdened down with some heavy behavior issues that theyâve been dealing with for months sometimes years, people that have spent hundreds or even thousands of dollars elsewhere and still cannot get unwanted behaviors under control and the thought of a off leash reliable dog is not even on their radar to watch those people walk out the door 5 weeks later with an off leash reliable dog that THEY trained under our gui