Originally, I was taking this video to talk about how it’s OK for dogs to get some of their frustration out in ways that we may find odd or “undesirable”.
In my humble opinion, letting dogs get some of that frustration out in a controlled or allowed way heavily decreases it when we don’t want it. Koty loves to let loose when she plays, and we don’t discourage it (within reason) during our keep away game. In the past I would have not allowed this.. and to be honest it came out in other ways for Kota. Not to say every dog would be allowed to do this or encouraged, but for Kota, it releases a lot of feelings and makes her overall a much easier dog to live with on the daily. Not everything with our dogs needs to be shut down for fixed constantly. You’ll find yourself doing a lot of suppressing and a lot of managing.
But then after she came back, I realized Buzz was still hunting his ball. I threw it the opposite way from which he ran so he had zero idea where it went. I thought it was neat to watch him completely ignore another dog, another ball, neighbors shooting, and just natural distractions in a field of critters for his desired goal: his chuck it.
People don’t often realize how much teaching the dog to ignore things when necessary is about motivation and/or understanding of “the game” vs the actualdistractions themselves. I can’t introduce him to every distraction he may face in the world or working. Here is your reminder that play/game based training is not just about wearing your dog out. So much can be learned in that game if you approach it that way 🙂
✨ OBEDIENCE ✨
Did you know that obedience doesn’t have to flatten your dog or kill drive?! 😮
Obedience should be:
✅ Fun and exciting to teach/learn
✅ Helpful in building a cooperative relationship
✅ Used when necessary, not a constant thing for your dog to be engaged in
✅ Used to open up a whole new world for you and your dog
Buzz’s ball went down into the ravine at the property, and we didn’t want the dogs following Ben to get it. I asked for a sit, waited until I heard Ben coming back up, and then released them with a simple “ok!”. You can actually see the chuck it come flying up right before I release them if you look closely.
I want my dogs to listen when I need them to, but have the freedom to be dogs before and after that. They deserve nothing less than to hunt the mice, chase the chuck it’s freely, and roll in the dirt when their heart desires. And reliable obedience gives us that ability!
If your puppy’s training doesn’t include this… you are definitely missing out! Presley is loving his off leash freedom at the cabin. 🌲
My goal with puppies is always to bring out the happiest, goofiest, confident version of themselves. A lot of people want a perfectly trained dog immediately, and they forget about the joy and relationship that can actually come from training.
Obedience is obviously a super important part of training, but so is how your dog is feeling. Recall shouldn’t be a drag, and the basics like sit and down should be things that they WANT to do. If the dog understands and finds value in what you’re teaching, the fun never stops.
Easy enough when you know what you’re looking for!
Setting up a fun little distraction/search area for my classes tomorrow… Buzz wants everyone to know that he’s “helping”. 🤪
Umbrellas popping up can often times be super weird/startling for a dog. Fortunately for me, this wasn’t the case for Buzz. Me popping it open resulted in this ding dong trying to steal it and make a toy out of it! 😂
He is such a hoot!!
It’s the pig squeaking for me 🤣🤣🤣
Bell and Riker getting some warmer exercise in! We love the slatmill and treadmill around here, especially in the winter weather. A nice change of pace and new skill for training and boarding dogs!
And of course for Bell ball is life, ha!
In our advanced detection class we had a fun little drill to work on dogs searching, getting right to odor, and distractors for some dogs.
Decided to put an odor out for Buzz afterwards to let him work through lots of dog smells, dog food, cheese, and blank tins.
I loooove foundational exercises both in detection and pet dog training! This is where I want to work on all of my little things, so when I get to the little things made into big things the dog things they’re a breeze. 🤩
Check out this recall!!!! 🤩
My goal in training is always to give the dogs as much freedom as safely possible. I want them to experience the joys of that freedom, but also want clients to experience the joys of reliability.
Ronni is a new pup in this family and she is honestly one of the most fun puppies I’ve worked with. She’s exactly what a springer should be and has an incredible temperament. I had the pleasure of working with their other dog, Archie, a couple of years back as well and he is also just a wonderful dog! Archie is an Aussie/cav, but predominantly Aussie type desires.
Restricting both of their access to freedom would be a disservice to them, but having that freedom means we need to make sure they are reliable and understands what we are asking.
Good puppies!!! 😍😍😍
