Modern Dog Training With Emily

11/08/2024

Day training is a great way to kickstart your dog’s training! I will work with your dog 1 on 1 whether you are present or not, then transfer the training to you to maintain the skills your dog has learned. Each week of Day Training consists of five 1 hour sessions with just me and your dog, followed by an in-person or Zoom transfer session with you. Initial Training Consultation required first, contact me to find out more!

18/06/2024

Meet Canela!!! Canela is learning SO fast for only being 13 weeks old. She already knows Sit, Down, Free, Break Time, Drop It, Stay and she’s almost completely potty trained! We’ve got more work to do but I’m super proud of Canela and her momma!

Daisy Mountain Doodles

04/06/2024

1. Call your vet now to get medication if needed.
2. Register your dog’s microchip.
3. Gradually desensitize your dog to fireworks noises (see my previous videos).

27/05/2024

15/05/2024

Everyone meet Buster!!! I was called in for some basic puppy training for him and I absolutely fell in LOVE with his personality!! I hope those ears always stay like that. 💕

12/02/2024

Now this is not an exhaustive list, nor is it something I would expect every single box checked off for your puppy. It's meant to give ideas for a variety of socialization experiences.

The reason a puppy's socialization period is so critical is because their brains are more receptive and accepting of new people/places/noises/experiences between 3-12 weeks (up to 16 weeks to be safe).

Beyond that age frame, puppies start becoming fearful of new things.

If you can expose your puppy to a variety of new experiences with POSITIVE associations, they are more likely to be resilient and confident as adults.

It's impossible to socialize puppies to every single thing they will meet in their lives. But by exposing them to novelty in a positive way, they will have more resilience and faster recovery from scary experiences as adult dogs.

10/01/2024

Do you wish your dog could remain calm around other dogs?

Do you want your dog to be more neutral in exciting situations?

Does your dog pull you towards every person or dog they see?

_____________

Try this and let me know how it works for you!

*Need help? DM me!*

10/10/2023

Ahh, the subtle art of social cues in public... we can only HOPE that people actually pick up on them. From personal experience, most don't! So be OBVIOUS with your non-verbal advocacy.

*See previous post for some advocacy phrases you can pair these tactics with.

Bonus points if you know the quote. Comment if you do!

29/09/2023

Advocacy in dog training can mean a lot of different things. There are lots of different contexts in which you would need to advocate for your dog (and yourself).

In regards to people asking to pet your dog, it can mean helping your dog feel safe and setting boundaries with other people/dogs to make that happen. Having a game plan for those interactions before they even happen is in your best interest.

21/09/2023

21/12/2022

This exercise is NOT meant to be a power struggle. Dogs are curious little beings and most times, I allow my dog to show me which way he'd like to go. But there will be times when I don't want him eating that Ranch packet he found in the park. So I'd like for him to give into my directional leash pressure and be rewarded for complying with my redirection instead of getting frustrated with me.

But just like with most everything, don't train this behavior when you actually NEED the response!! Start at home and work up to the Ranch packet incrementally.

This exercise is also not meant to be loose leash training. In all of our training walks there's a healthy dose of sniffing, walking with me and rewards for giving into leash pressure.

20/12/2022

Hu***ng happens. 🤷‍♀️

The best course of action is to redirect as quickly as possible.

Did you know females hump too? Type Y or N in the comments!

19/12/2022

What if the noise hadn't stopped and my puppy was too concerned about it to even want food or play?

I could have taken him by leash over to the very opposite side of the yard (create some distance) to mark and reward every time he heard the noise. So essentially, noise=food enough times and he'll create a more positive association with noises.

If that didn't work, I could have gone inside the house where the noise would have been muted more and rewarded him for hearing the noise.

If you're not sure what to do, get your dog out of the situation and calmed down without working the noises at all.

Contact a certified dog trainer to help you!

17/12/2022

If your dog is grabbing inappropriate items around the house and you're running around chasing them, you're already behind the problem there. They see that grabbing those things is a MASSIVE attention grabber and will do it for fun. So first of all- prevent it from happening by keeping items you don't want your dog to have up and out of reach. Then, if you made a mistake and your dog got one, DON'T CHASE!

Grab a squeaker toy and make it more fun or use some food to exchange the item with. (Since your main goal is to prevent this behavior from happening in the first place, the one-off times you need to exchange for food shouldn't develop into a reward for your dog getting inappropriate items.)

And the myth about tugging causing dogs to be aggressive is just silly. No further explanation needed.

15/12/2022

Again- this is not appropriate for nervous or fearful dogs. Those types of dogs need a lot more time and space plus the ability to go up to a person if and only if they want to.

As you practice this repeatedly (and your dog matures), the feeding changes. Instead of using it first just to orient their head down, it then only rewards the calmness and the fact that all four paws are on the floor.

14/12/2022

***This is NOT for nervous/fearful dogs! This is for the dogs that actually want to go up to people.***

There are many ways to prevent your dog from jumping on guests. This just works best for my house.

The key component is orienting your dog’s head down by feeding on the floor.

The biggest battle is the excitement! You may need to keep your dog away from the guest when they first arrive rather than practicing this procedure right off the bat.

Make sure to stay tuned for part 2!

10/12/2022

I can't recommend a long leash for your dogs ENOUGH! They need to be able to run and sniff far more than you're able to provide on a standard 6ft leash.

I personally prefer a long line rather than a retractable simply because I'm afraid of the retractables breaking with large breed dogs and because they're so freakin' bulky!

But to each their own. Whatever allows you to give your dog better quality of life in a very restricted world for dogs.

(Make sure to see my previous video of how to handle the long line when gathering it up.)

01/12/2022

Treat your emergency recall word like GOLD you guys. It may be one of the most difficult things your dog ever has to do in real life situations so it should be paid accordingly, even when training.

Your emergency recall word should ALWAYS be rewarded with the BEST thing ever, whether it's food or play. Try to set your dog up for success in practice by starting in low distraction areas like your house or backyard, then gradually building it around more and more distractions.

But what if you're not sure your dog will come off distractions? You don't want to say the word if you're not fairly confident your dog will succeed. So using your dog's name or a secondary recall word is helpful here! This allows you to practice IRL but have a better gauge whether your dog will be successful or not.

25/11/2022

Level 1- dry kibble
Level 2- soaked kibble
Level 3- packed wet kibble
Level 4- frozen wet kibble
Level 5- add water for a harder freeze

This applies to anything that has a hollow cavity- Kongs, Toppls, old marrow bones, trachea tubes, etc...

21/11/2022

Have you ever had a dog balk at going back home from a walk or inside from the backyard?

Make going inside more rewarding!

Dogs lead pretttttttty boring lives a lot of times. We try to get them on adventures as much as possible but we also have to make money to spend money. So they get stuck at home a lot while we work.

No wonder they dread going back into the house they spend most of their lives in. Outside is fun! It has interesting smells and noises!

So use this technique often.

TIP: I also like to end walks or fun in the backyard with little play sessions inside. You can do both! Why not? Treat scatter then PLAY!!!

18/11/2022

Puppies put EVERYTHING in their mouth! They need to feel different textures and chew varying degrees of hardness. But that doesn't mean they actually ingest those items. The vast majority of puppies gargle items around their mouth, shred them to smithereens and then spit them out.

WE just don't let that last part happen. You may have had a previous dog that ate rocks, you may have had a dog choke on something, etc... But the act of people rushing up to a puppy and snatching something out of their mouth works AGAINST you in the long run.

Puppies learn quite fast that someone coming up to them means their new chew toy is about to be taken away. So then the young pup learns to run away or even worse- swallow things that are too big to be ingested.

Teach a solid Drop It and Leave It, but before those cues are learned, trade the items for yummy food.

In the case of sticks or leaves or paper or cardboard, I challenge you to just sit back and watch your pup! They may ingest a small amount but typically if given the time to chew, it's small enough to pass. They much prefer shredding those items than ingesting!

**If you already have a puppy or adult dog that truly ingests non-food related items, this video is not for you! Work on preventing your dog from accessing those things and perfect the Drop It / Leave It cues.