Life with Shepie. My heart dog. ❤️ Shepie has made me the dog mom and trainer I am today.
Shepie reminds me that it’s always more important to enjoy the moment, to train with relationship and the dogs mental wellbeing in mind, than to train with “control” and “criteria” and “making no mistakes”. He knows how to solve a problem. And he’s empowered to make his own choices rather than shut down and leave at the first sign of failure (like he did early in our relationship). He knows there is no punishment here. Only laughter at his creativity.
It’s more important to me to motivate and have an eager and happy teammate than to “correct his error” or “let him know he’s wrong”. All that does is shut him down for trying to make what he thinks is a good choice! Or for expressing his opinions.
Shepie reminds me that it’s about the journey, not the final destination. All we have are these little moments. I wouldn’t trade them for the world! 8.5 years old and forever my biggest teacher.
Julia and I held our first Rally-Obedience Trial Prep (Novice & Advanced) night yesterday and it was soooo much fun! Julia put together some great courses that flowed and had some nice challenges, and a chance to practice the broad jump! Thank you to everyone who came out to play!
Our next Rally trial prep night is on December 2! Signup is available online at www.DreamTeamCanineCoaching.com/rallyobedience
Here’s a video of the fun!
#rallyobedience #ckcrally #havefunwithyourdog #ckcrallyobedience #heelwork #trysomethingnew #buildyourbond
I am always proud of my students… but I am extra proud of my first ever Mind Over Matter teams 🐾 This is a very specific program that is such a game changer! It has been pivotal in transforming my nervous dog’s confidence (freeze or flight when encountering the unknown), while equally as important in teaching my wild and crazy boy how to be more thoughtful (rushes when not sure). It has been so so so rewarding to share this with these teams, and to watch them blossom week after week as these brilliant dogs learn that THEY GOT THIS! and that they have everything it takes, within their own fur, to navigate tricky situations.
#mindovermatter #confidenceiskey #confidentcanines #positivedogtraining #fearfree #forcefree #patternbasedtraining #movementpuzzles #igotthis
Wondering what Rally-Obedience looks like? Here are the very first Novice Level 1 students strutting their stuff for graduation night!
We still have 2 spaces available in the next Novice Level 1 class starting on November 4th! Details can be found at: https://www.dreamteamcaninecoaching.com/rallyobedience
#rallyobedience #dogtraining #dogsports #havefunwithyourdog #positivedogtraining #frederictonnb #trynewthings
Recall Refresh is one of my ABSOLUTE FAVOURITE workshops to teach!! Recall is all about your dog choosing YOU over all of the other super-awesome-cool stuff in the world. How fun is that?!
Join Rogue and I for a Recall Refresh on Wednesday, October 30 from 7:10pm - 8:10pm. We will learn SIX recall games and all participants will receive a written recap of the seminar skills and drills for your continued at-home learning. This seminar is suitable for dogs who are comfortable working in the presence of other dogs.
Details:
Date/time: Wednesday, October 30, 7:10pm
Location: Dream Team facility
Cost: $60 +HST
Book your spot online: https://www.dreamteamcaninecoaching.com/book-online
My dogs did something amazing tonight. Out of all the rosettes, awards, titles, and achievements we have…. It’s stuff like THIS that means the most to me.
We look at the deer. We continue approaching. I say nothing as I silently get out my phone and press record. I give no verbal cues. We walk peacefully by. With loose leashes!!
This is something I actively trained with both of my dogs. How to disengage from wildlife. I love off-leash time in the woods. I am also myself an animal lover. Chasing wildlife is soooo dangerous - could get injured, lost, the animal could turn on your dog, or… in many areas of the world, it is legal to actually shoot a pet who is chasing wildlife.
So. Knowing my goals, my lifestyle, and how I want to set up for success and safety… and being a little bit of a crazy dog mama … I sought out a strawberry field where deer would rest. Every week, I drove to that field weekly at dusk with Shep as an adult dog, and again with Rogue when he came into our lives… and worked on a training protocol for disengaging from triggering stimulus without verbally cueing or pressuring your dog to do so.
They’re the best Mamas boy boys on the planet. I love that we enjoy so much of life. And always enjoying it together.
COMPASSION. Compassion always wins.
Can you walk your dog without holding the leash? By letting the leash dangle from one finger? Can you walk TWO dogs at the same time using this system?
❗️LOOSE LEASH SEMINAR❗️
This seminar is designed to teach you and your dog skills and tools to apply on your walks so that you can focus on what matters most - creating a dog walk that is all about the dog; fun, enriching, building your bond, and enjoying the journey together. Skills required for a loose leash walk, and how to apply them, need to be taught before the walk so that you can actually use them on your walk - this will be the focus of our seminar!
The skills taught in the seminar will focus on:
• Preventing pulling, eating random items off the ground, and barking/lunging/biting
• How to be calm
• How to ignore distractions
• Emergency skills
• Making your walk an interactive, enriching, and fun experience
• Key leash handling skills to keep your leash loose so neither of you will ever pull again (and yes, I mean both of you!).
The seminar will focus on skill building for your continued learning at home.
When: Wednesday, October 16, 7:10pm
Location: Dream Team facility, located at 2790 Woodstock Road, Fredericton NB
Cost: $60 +HST, total $69
There will be limited space for this seminar.
To register, please book online at www.dreamteamcaninecoaching.com/book-online
OMG my food aggressive resource guarder growled at another dog while eating in close proximity?!?!?! 😩😱
If you took to social media to solve this “problem” in today's climate of "dog trainers", you would likely see a dog with a shock collar, a slip lead, prong collar, or other aversive tool, get physically punished to “correct” this “growling, dominant, aggressive, controlling, outrageous, and unacceptable behaviour". Shouldn’t I be a better and more assertive leader whose dogs are faultless?
🧐What do you see me do? & What is the result? Did I bat an eye at that? Did I panic?
Often it’s the humans that over-react… not the dogs.
You see… We had just finished an 8 minute training session on sharing resources. These sessions are normally 5 minutes, but we were having so much fun and success that I made a classic human error - I pushed it. I went a few minutes longer than Shepie’s threshold. The result? A growl. He curled his lip up. My response? First - Let’s break this down, Shep. Let’s help you see that your turn is coming, there’s no problem here. I added a bit too much arousal with my voice and asking for a trick after pushing the session longer than normal. MY BAD! Thats 100% on me.
Would “correcting” him physically with a punishment communicate what I want? I suppose that depends on what you want to communicate.
I want to communicate compassion and understanding. I want to communicate that he is safe and that his needs will always be met. I want to communicate that I hear his concerns, rooted in past traumas of survival by fighting for food. I want to communicate that he can trust me. Would causing him physical and psychological pain communicate that?
Shepie is allowed to communicate. That growl was GOOD INFORMATION. That growl told me everything I needed to know about how Shepie wanted to move forward (and out) of this situation. It’s a lot of pressure to work in close proximity with food and another dog when
😖 One thing that fear, stress, and anxiety have in common is that your dog does not feel safe. If your dog is becoming hesitant, cautious, or is trying to avoid the situation, then something is telling your dog, “Don’t do this! It’s not safe for you, you might get hurt [physically or emotionally].” Your dog feels like, “I can’t handle this.” Your dog does not trust their own ability to deal with the situation, to solve the challenge, to navigate tricky situations.
🫣 Confidence comes from within. Have you ever tried to cheerlead your dog, only for them to back away? Have you ever tried to give treats to your dog, but they refuse to eat because they are too overwhelmed? Have you resorted to luring to bribe your dog past their comfort zone, resulting in more mistrust in your relationship?
😎 What if I told you that you could teach your dog that they CAN solve tricky situations. That they do have control over their body. That they are safe and super capable!!
📣Join me for my new series, “Mind over Matter”, a transformative class where your dog will learn through force-free, fear-free, humane, and reward-based training, that they are more than capable, within their own fur, to navigate tricky situations without needing a lure, a bribe, or a temptation. During this class, you and your canine companion will learn how to navigate the world, to go over, under, through, and around different textures, tight spaces, elevated spaces, narrow planks, clutter, noisy-clutter, things that wobble, things that move. Starting October 2nd, during this 8-week program we will work together to build your dog’s joy for living in this chaotic society of ours, and to find trust, compassion, and agency in their relationship with you.
I am offering four different enrollment options for this game-changing opportunity: in-person training, online training, auditing, and a VIP package option!
In-Person Class spaces are very limited and will be carefully sel
Dream Team’s very first Rally-Obedience class debuted tonight! Julia’s curriculum is amazing and the focus on motivation and engagement, and made it fun for the dogs and the humans! So excited for the weeks ahead!
#rallyobedience #dogtraining #dogsports #teamwork #motivation #engagement
Puppy Training Tip: What is the single most important thing to teach/focus on with your young puppy?!
Having fun together 🐾💜 Building a bond of trust, joy, mutual respect, and companionship comes first and foremost. Get to know one another. Build a partnership. Take time to understand how your pup views the world. Laugh a lot. Love even more.
Puppy Train & Play
🐾💜
Announcing a brand new puppy program, "Puppy & Parent Life Skills". This five-week course is designed as a continuation upon graduation from Puppy Train & Play, or for puppies ready to join a group class environment. We will focus on learning the key skills that set up for success - for the dog AND for the human; especially in preparation for Adolescence.
Course includes:
Self control games
Stay with duration, distance, and distraction
Counter-surfing prevention
Leave it & Drop it
Really Reliable Recall
Loose Leash Walking & Intro to Heel Work
Energy/arousal management
Door manners
Calm greetings with humans and dogs
For details and bookings, please visit www.DreamTeamCanineCoaching.com/group
