Having some fun building hunt drive with Mika during her very first vehicle hide and only second day of hunt drive building!
So what is hunt drive? This drive entails a dog using their sense of smell to pick up on a scent and locate an object. In this case, it involves me hiding a black Kong toy in a place that she can not see, but her nose guides her to it. This was her first time doing a vehicle search (and only the second day of building drive), and I was quite thrilled with her. She was able to navigate past the truck on the 3rd hide and go straight to the motorcycle (a place she hasn't been worked yet).
We started to build her drive inside and outside yesterday and this morning before moving to the vehicle on this lovely 35° evening. She'll gladly climb on top of, through, or under obstacles to find the hidden Kong. Mika has a natural hunt drive with a slower methodical search. She was born with it, which means that it can be built upon and made stronger. Dogs are either born with a particular drive or not (think genetics here: herding dogs herd, etc.). Depending on their particular drive, it can be sometimes hard to turn off. In Mika's case, we are fine with heavily building her hunt drive even more.
But on the same lines with building drive, we are also still working on her state of mind. I find it very important for her to still have solid obedience and be able to calm down and relax when needed. So after a long day of using her sniffer, we work on the "place" command and let her relax.
#defygravityk9rehabandtraining #DGK9
#pupalongpack #StayandTrain #RehabandTrain #DGK9puppyprogram #adoptablepupalong
P.S. I wanted to work on her gaining healthy weight before starting to build drive in her
Creating calmness instead of chaos:
Think about your feeding routine with your dog or dogs. Really think about it. For most of us, feeding the dog or dogs is a really rushed process. Most people are typically running late for work and just set the food out, and then what happens... happens. Dogs are jumping all over the place, whining, barking, eating from other bowls, resource guarding, fights, and generally just running amuck, causing a commotion.
Dogs are impatient. Owners are frustrated.
Here's what you have created by doing this: an overly excited dog who has absolutely no impulse control whatsoever. You have, in essence, created a monster.
Now here's the question... what are you going to do with the monster you created? What are your next steps to correcting this? How are you going to create calmness from chaos?
It all starts with YOU. You need to change your routine. You need to be the calm yet assertive leader. You need to set those super important rules, boundaries, and limitations daily... or... be prepared to live with the monster.
#defygravityk9rehabandtraining #DGK9
#pupalongpack #RehabandTrain #stayandtrain #dgk9puppyprogram #adoptablepupalong
P.S. Mika, the Dutch Shepherd, is currently in our Rehabilitation to Adoption Program and will be looking for a new home ❤️ (she's in the crate to the right of the freezer)
P.P.S. yes, our garage needs organizing 😅🤣
A little playtime fun for the 11 current members of the Pup-a-long Pack, and it's all about balance. They need to be able to mind their manners and be in a balanced state of mind, but they can also have fun too. Playing and having fun in a safe way comes from adding that other dimension to the relationship. The one built upon rules, boundaries, and limitations.
Being able to share that side of the equation with your dog allows you to be able to have the latitude to share the fun side with your dog without any risks (especially from overecitedness, overarousal, resource guarding, bratty behavior, etc.)
Sharing the structure, the leadership, and the accountability allow you to have so much more freedom with your dog in the long run. It also gives you the reliability and peace of mind to be able to have your dog off leash in acceptable areas once all the hard work has gone into proper training.
All the training. All the boundaries. All the rules. All the accountability. All the consequences. All the structure. It doesn't detract from your dog and make their world smaller or turn them into a robot. Instead, it broadens not only their world but also yours by tenfold. View all the hard work as something that adds value to both of your lives. It allows freedom. It allows fun. It allows play. It allows goofiness. It allows affection. It allows for a healthy and safe relationship instead of a one-sided relationship.
#defygravityk9rehabandtraining #DGK9
#pupalongpack #adoptablepupalong
#StayandTrain #RehabandTrain #DGK9PuppyProgram
Sometimes, "everyday life training" looks a little like this: having the dog stay on place while the little human runs around with a singing elephant 🤣😅
These are the moments that really add up over the long run. More often than not, training can look like this, and it makes it much easier to fit into your busy schedule (especially this time of year with the holidays). This type of training may look and feel mundane because it's passive training instead of active training, but it's vital to having a well-balanced dog.
And while we're on this topic, kids are going to be kids. They run around places, make noise, get into things, etc. However, it is of extreme importance to start teaching them at a young age how to properly interact with dogs or, better yet, ignore the dog while it's on place, in a crate, eating, etc. The same training also goes towards how the dog should properly interact with the kiddo as well.
#defygravityk9rehabandtraining #DGK9 #stayandtrain #RehabandTrain #dgk9puppyprogram
We talk about this over and over, but why is the "place" command so important?
Well, it knocks out so many baheviorial issues with one stone. If your dog is anxious or suffers from separation anxiety, it helps to reduce it. It brings about calmness and teaches your dog to relax to the world around him. It reinforces impulse control. It adds structure to their day, along with providing mental stimulation. And for a lot of things, it keeps your dog out from under your feet while doing household chores.
If nothing else, teach your dog to "place" for the last item on the list.
#defygravityk9rehabandtraining #DGK9
#pupalongpack #StayandTrain #RehabandTrain #DGK9puppyprogram
P.S. this is Celerity's first time on the slatmill. It's all about building her confidence in slow baby steps while keeping it fun for her. Plus, it's a great way for her to exercise both mentally and physically on these super cold days and for the rainy days coming up this week. She is part of our LET'S GO! Mushing dryland bikejor and rig team 🙌🏼
P.P.S. challenge accepted from our amazing friend at Borderline Psychos Dog Training & Sport Handling with having dogs on the treadmill/slatmill while another is on "place". If you haven't checked her out, please do! She's a fabulous trainer!
P.P.P.S. want to try this challenge to? Video, post, and tag us and Borderline Psychos Dog Training & Sport Handling! We'd all love to cheer you on!
We've been there guys. We've been the ones with the unruly dogs. We've been the ones with the reactive dogs. We've been the ones whose dogs "don't know sit". We've been the ones who literally disowned their dogs at a dog park. We've been there. Trust us.
But here's the thing: we turned it all around. Our confidence grew. We were learning and absorbing all we could to better not only the dogs but also us. We went from the overwhelmed people with the worst dogs to people who had some of the best mannered dogs. Dogs who we trust off leash in almost every scenario. It was a pretty amazing transformation.
By saying all this, we aren't trying to gloat. In fact, it's quite the opposite. We wanted to share our failures and struggles with you. To let you know that you can travel through the fire and come out victorious.
You can be like us and be the biggest mess, do everything wrong, and be "that" owner who people avoid. But here's the thing, if you want to change the relationship you have with your dog badly enough then you have to be willing to work through the tough stuff. The hard love. You can change it, no matter how bad it's been.
#defygravityk9rehabandtraining #DGK9
#pupalongpack #stayandtrain #RehabandTrain #dgk9puppyprogram
Mika Progress - Sunday through Wednesday
Mika has made significant progress in a short amount of time. Evolving from a nervous, reactive, and scared state of mind on Sunday when the other dogs were let out to potty to confidently integrating into the pack today and interacting in the yard with almost everyone.
We are thrilled with her quick progress. As we progress further, we'll work to get her even more comfortable with the other dogs and also teach her the yard boundaries. We use a Petsafe Wireless Fence for the dogs here to allow them more freedoms in our yard. We are truly looking forward to watching her blossom!
#defygravityk9rehabandtraining #DGK9
#pupalongpack #adoptablepupalong #StayandTrain #RehabandTrain #dgk9puppyprogram
P.S. you'll also see adoptable Magnolia make several cameos in this video! She's the one that was pawing at me for pet pets.
We Know What You're Going Through
We've been there guys. We've been the ones with the unruly dogs. We've been the ones with the reactive dogs. We've been the ones whose dogs "don't know sit". We've been the ones who literally disowned their dogs at a dog park. We've been there. Trust us.
But here's the thing: we turned it all around. Our confidence grew. We were learning and absorbing all we could to better not only the dogs but also us. We went from the overwhelmed people with the worst dogs to people who had some of the best mannered dogs. Dogs who we trust off leash in almost every scenario. It was a pretty amazing transformation.
By saying all this, we aren't trying to gloat. In fact, it's quite the opposite. We wanted to share our failures and struggles with you. To let you know that you can travel through the fire and come out victorious.
You can be like us and be the biggest mess, do everything wrong, and be "that" owner who people avoid. But here's the thing, if you want to change the relationship you have with your dog badly enough then you have to be willing to work through the tough stuff. The hard love. You can change it, no matter how bad it's been.
#defygravityk9rehabandtraining #DGK9
#pupalongpack #stayandtrain #RehabandTrain #dgk9puppyprogram
Mika's 1st Training Session
Mika had her first training session yesterday afternoon and it went really well! I wanted to see where she's currently at and what she needs to improve on.
I took the training session nice and slow (video is sped-up) because she's pretty exuberant. I wanted to give her time to think and really process what I was asking of her instead of her just moving through the motions as quickly as she could. She's an extremely smart little lady and if she thinks she can get from Point A to Point M by missing all the steps in-between, she absolutely will. But this is a nice start for her and helps me know what all we need to work on from here forward.
She's extremely underweight so we are working diligently to help her put on some healthy weight and gain muscle. Since arriving on Sunday afternoon, she is already starting to look better and her energy level has risen astronomically 🙌🏼
#defygravityk9rehabandtraining #DGK9
#pupalongpack #adoptablepupalongpack
#StayandTrain #RehabandTrain #dgk9puppyprogram
P.S. if I look a little stiff it's for two reasons 1. Because I'm wanting to work her slowly while patterning what I'm asking but mainly for reason 2. I'm currently under the weather and my nose wants to leak when I lean forward 😅
*ADOPTABLE PUP-A-LONG ALERT*
Name: Magnolia
Breed: Belgian Malinois
Gender: Spayed Female
Age: ~3 years
Meet Magnolia! This gorgeous lady is roughly 3 years old, spayed, microchipped, UTD on DA2PPL-KC-RV vaccinations, and UTD on monthly heartworm prevention.
Magnolia is low-medium energy but is willing to try new things such as canicross. She is a velcro-dog who is extremely loving and always asks for "hugs" in the most polite manner. Speaking of hugs, she also knows how to do the Conga Line for a cool party-trick!
Magnolia does well with most other dogs after proper introductions. She can be a bit pushy and will posture towards other dogs at first meet, but she also plays beautifully with the other dogs here (as seen in the video). She probably shouldn't be paired with other dominant females, though.
Magnolia hasn't met a stranger so far and enjoys "hugs" from others. However, she does have odd body language where she postures and flag-poles her tail even when she's "happy." It can be a little hard to read her by body language alone and will take some time to get used to her body language.
She does great for brushing, grooming, general vet care, and nail clips, but she does not like her collar being grabbed if she is unsure of the situation. She is muzzle conditioned and conditioned to low pressure on a Herm Sprenger prong collar and Mini Educator ecollar. She is also conditioned to a PetSafe Wireless Fence System.
She would do best in a dog-savvy home who continues with rules, boundaries, limitations, and training for her so that she can be her absolute best self.
#defygravityk9rehabandtraining #DGK9 #pupalongpack #adoptablepupalong #stayandtrain #RehabandTrain #dgk9puppyprogram
*DGK9 is located in Northeast Alabama near Fort Payne. We do not offer transport for the dogs in our Rehabilitation to Adoption Program. We ask that all potential adopters meet the dog in person to ensure a good fit for the dog and the adopter.
Cabo is flying into the new week!
So, since it's a new week, if you have let some of your training backslide, then pick it back up again this week. There's no better time to start than now, and procrastination is only deepening any issues you are having with your dog. Nothing will be resolved or improved upon until you do the hard work.
Everything you say, allow, do, correct, etc. is a very clear conversation to your dog about who you are. They know what is expected or is not expected of them through these interactions. Some of these interactions may seem benign in the overall scheme of things but paint a large picture of what your dog can or can not get away with.
Dogs are always listening to us through our actions. Because actions speak louder than words ;) So what are you saying to your dog? Start there and then dive deep into what could better your relationship.
#defygravityk9rehabandtraining #DGK9
#pupalongpack #stayandtrain #RehabandTrain #dgk9puppyprogram
Adoptable Magnolia update for everyone:
She is currently fitting in with our personal and adoptable dogs, along with earning more freedoms such as being out in the non-fenced portion of the yard. However, she still wears a long line while out of the fenced areas as a safety precaution.
Her former foster, before she was transferred to us, referred to Magnolia (they called her Ellen) as "mothering" other dogs. We're not exactly sure what that meant, but Magnolia was anything but "mothering" when it came to other dogs. She was over-aroused, pushy, bratty, dominant, started fights, and would actively latch onto another dog with her teeth. We've been working extremely hard with Magnolia to bring about more appropriate interactions with other dogs, keep her excitement levels down around other dogs, and step in if/when things start to escalate.
We've seen a lot of forward progress with Magnolia. We are still working with her to help bring her in the best headspace that she can be in, be neutral towards other dogs (especially ones outside of our pack that she isn't used to), and eventually find her a wonderful home. So here's to Magnolia, the progress she's made, and the journey ahead of her!
#defygravityk9rehabandtraining #DGK9
#pupalongpack #adoptablepupalong #stayandtrain #RehabandTrain #dgk9puppyprogram