Better Friends Dog Training

19/09/2023

Hello! I am still on Hiatus from professional services as I focus on my Ghibli Poodles breeding program but I wanted to stop in and encourage dog owners to keep training their dogs!

Trick Training is so fun, mentally enriching, and a great way to build your bond with your dog which can also improve their motivation for obedience training!

In this video I am teaching my 1.5 year old Poodle to Do the Peekaboo trick!
The easiest way to teach this trick is with a food lure between your legs. However, Memrie did not like going under my legs and if she did, she would zoom right through them in a hurry, not pausing to look up while under me. Memrie has already been taught to nose target the red dot and paw target the blue square, so I got creative and came up with this solution to teach her the Peekaboo trick in 5 sessions of 5 minute each in one day! If you really enjoy trick training, AKC does have virtual trick title options and anyone, even mixed breeds can participate!

Last but not least, last I heard, Canine Karma has some spots still available in their Trick training class that is starting soon. I highly recommend Canine Karma !

02/09/2022

Puppy Preschool! Appropriate for puppies aged 8 weeks - 6 months. Tuesdays at 6pm. Sep 6 - 27.

And Puppy Kindergarten! Appropriate for Puppies 6 - 12 Months. Wednesdays at 6 pm. Sept 7 - 28.

Proof of first vaccines required. Class is one hour long and will focus on Socialization, HouseTraining Tips, Crate Training, and What To Do About All That Biting! Also will teach Attention, Name Recognition, Sit, Down, Come, Drop It/Give, Walking On Leash.

This will be my last session offered until next Spring.

Message the page to sign up! Classes located Evansport, OH.

26/08/2022

I have openings in my Wednesday evening agility class! Message the page to sign up!

07/08/2022

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=183971437350191&id=100072120082650

Message the page for information and to sign up. 😁

01/08/2022

Better Friends Dog Training is still on hiatus through 2022 and 2023 as I focus on my Ghibli Poodles breeding program. My sister is offering training classes through her company Paws & Connect, LLC.

17/06/2022

Looking for ways to entertain your dog while indoors trying to beat the heat? Try a snuffle mat for mental enrichment!

Another order completed - this snuffle mat has a sort of "watermelon by the pool on a sunny day" vibe 😎🍉🏝️🌞

12/06/2022

07/05/2022

This is what the door of my freezer looks like. I have 4 dogs. They have about 35 rubber toys between them.
And none of them is a puppy ... they are 2, 4, 7 and 9 years old.
Dogs of ALL AGES benefit from chewing. I cannot say this often enough. It is incredibly relaxing for them.
Have a stressed and anxious dog? Let them chew.
Have an overexcited, hyperactive dog? Let them chew.
Have a dog who is bouncing off the walls when you get home after a long day and just want to relax? Give them a frozen chew toy when you arrive!
Have a puppy? Of course, you should let them chew as well 🙂
Your dog needs to eat every day in any case … instead of putting his food a bowl, stuff it into a rubber chew toy and freeze it.
It is so easy, so quick, and if you use it wisely it can make all the difference. For clients who are really struggling and have limited time, I often recommend to feed every single meal through frozen toys - often adding up to 1-2 hours of chew time a day.
The other week I saw a client whose dog was going crazy every morning watching workers at the business across the street arrive and load up for their day - giving her a frozen chew toy now has her relaxing instead of barking frantically.
Your dog already has the built-in calming mechanism of chewing. Use it to your advantage!
And a little video on how to fill the toys and which common mistakes to avoid:
https://vimeo.com/461971805/2cd78cffe3

Happy Chewing 🙂

What's your dog's favorite filling?

03/05/2022

When it comes to training: less if very often more. Most dogs have a relatively short attention span, and if we exceed their ability to focus well we can sour training experiences. And we run the risk that much of what they learned isn't retained! So keep it nice and short! While I will often suggest 5 minutes, 5 times a day, the truth of the matter is if you're short on time, or mental bandwidth, just five minutes a day can work wonders! And those five minutes every day will benefit the dog a lot more than trying to push a 30 minute session on them once a week!

17/04/2022

06/03/2022

Guess the Breed / Breed Mix!
Answers and more below!
1. Lagotto Romagnolo
2. Poodle
3. Poodle
4. Poodle
5. Poodle
6. Poodle
7. Golden Retriever x Poodle ("Goldendoodle")
8. Poodle
9. Lagotto Romagnolo
10. Golden Retriever x Poodle ("Goldendoodle")
11. Wheaten Terrier
12. Poodle
13. Poodle
14. Poodle
15. Golden Retriever x Poodle ("Goldendoodle")
16. Toy Poodle

Did you think there were more "Doodles" than Poodles? Did you think some of the "Doodles" were Poodles? What about the Lagottos and Wheaten? Did you think they were mixed breeds?

Most people don't actually realize how much difference a haircut can make.

Poodles are lovely dogs and come in a huge variety of colors and sizes. I wish I saw more of these lovely dogs and that people recognized more in them than just a gene to make shaggy coats when mixed with other breeds.

If you're considering purchasing a doodle I highly recommend at least considering a pure breed like a poodle! Their temperaments and looks are much more predictable than mixed breeds and there are many wonderful, responsible, breeders out there.
.. and if you're attracted to the hypoallergenic coat of a doodle know that it comes from the poodles and in mixed breeds the "hypo" component can actually be much lower than a pure bred poodle if they inherit a hypoallergenic coat at all (which is not to be confused with "nonallergenic" which does not exist).

ETA: I have met some lovely dogs that are poodle mixes over the years, but have also met some whose families are struggling when they would have likely been happier with a pure bred poodle. I just wish more people recognized that poodles can be great dogs.

25/02/2022

My sister is offering Beginning Agility classes in Paulding. With her wonderful instruction my 8 year old daughter is training her first agility partner and doing great!
Contact her on her page, Paws & Connect Dog Training.

25/02/2022

We graduated! :D

23/02/2022

Better Friends Dog Training is still on hiatus. We are busy busy busy whelping, raising, and training our own Standard Poodles.

For those wanting performance classes, I recommend my sister who is now offering dog training services. Her page is called Paws & Connect Dog Training.

For basic classes I highly recommend Tina Ferner with Canine Karma in Holland Ohio. Marianne Frederick also has dog training classes throughout NW Ohio area.

Here is one of my newest keeper puppies during a training adventure with some dog training thoughts by me:

19/02/2022

I am still not teaching group classes at this time but my sister is offering Agility classes

BEGGINNER AGILITY - 2 spots still available!

Jacob Ott Building, Paulding County Fairgrounds

Beginner Agility: Introduction to Obstacles

March 2 – April 27 @ 6pm

$150 / 8 weeks

21/11/2021

The breeder of one of my Poodles wrote this blog post. Worth a read!

Proposed laws with fines or other penalties for misrepresentation, requiring registration, etc only leads to more problems... here are the simple solutions.

03/09/2021

18/08/2021

Have a picture of your dog coming when called? Show us in the comments :)

10/08/2021

26/07/2021

Because emotional support animals (ESA) are not service animals under the Americans with Disabilities Act, people with disabilities cannot take ESAs to places where pets are not permitted. Unlike service animals who are trained to perform specific tasks to help a person with a disability, ESAs are not task trained. Their presence provides comfort. People often confuse ESAs with service dogs trained to help people with PTSD or another mental illness. However, unlike ESAs, service dogs trained to help people with PTSD or other mental illnesses perform tasks. - Veronica Sanchez examines explains why recent changes in the law regarding service dogs and emotional support animals is creating a growing need for trainers to support people with disabilities who are training their own dogs | Subscribers, read it now: https://barksfromtheguild.com/barks-digital-membership-2021/ | Not yet subscribed? Sign up today (it’s FREE!): https://barksfromtheguild.com/subscribe/

04/06/2021

Many dog owners believe that having your dog meet other dogs is a vital part of socialization.
It is not.
On-leash greetings will actually have the opposite effect.

Here's why I will always say "No" to on leash greetings and why you should too:

1. Leashes get in the way of communication.

When dogs greet each other naturally, they will approach from the side. They will circle each other while sniffing, and then they will either move on, initiate play, or fight.
On leash greetings are unnatural. Meeting face to face is considered rude or threatening in dog language. On leash, dogs only have about a 6 foot radius to do this little greeting dance and this can result in mixed signals.

2. Tension causes reactivity.
Forced greetings can trigger a fight or flight response, but because of the leash, the flight response is taken away. Even the sweetest dog can buckle under the tension and try to create space. Dogs create space by barking, growling, lunging, and biting. Getting repeatedly pushed over the limit will result in this reaction whenever they see another dog.

3. It reinforces poor behavior.

Lets pretend that you let your child pick out a toy every single time you go to the store.
Then one day you decide that they have enough toys so you tell them "no".
This will probably result in a tantrum right?

Well now lets compare this to a dog.
Lets pretend you let your dog meet another dog every time you go out.
Your dog is so excited for the interactions and pulls towards the other dog because they learned that this is an acceptable behavior. (and you're reinforcing it by letting them interact with what they're pulling towards)
But one day you just want to go for a nice walk instead of meeting someone. While you're pulling your dog away to avoid a greeting, your dog throws a loud barky temper tantrum.

4. You don't know the other dog.

You also don't know how well the other dog owner knows how to read body language. The other dog could be aggressive or unsocialized.

5. It teaches your dog to value other dogs over you.

If you let your pup greet others whenever they want, they will learn to value these greetings over you. This can put a strain on your relationship and cause frustrations for you both. Forcing your dog to repeatedly meet strange dogs that make them uncomfortable makes them lose trust in you as a protector.
You should be the most important thing in your dog's life and they should be focused on and listening to you.

6. Dogs don't need to make dog friends all the time.

Would you want to shake hands with every person you see?
Then your dog doesn't need to sniff every dog they see.
Many dog owners are under the impression that dogs need many friends but that is not the case.

Better ways of socialization:

- Training in the same space. Use other dogs as a training opportunity and reward your dog for focusing on you and remaining calm

- Parallel walks. Walk alongside the other dog and it's owner without letting the two meet. They will get familiar with each other in a safe and structured way.

What about off leash greetings?

Off leash greetings are more ideal and less restricting, but for all the reasons stated above, I choose to not let dogs under my care meet any dogs we don't know.

I don't trust the handling of the other dog owner if I don't know them.
But also I want my dog to value me, and greetings are not in the best interest of my goals.

11/05/2021

08/04/2021

🐾 PUPPY RAISING SPACES 🐾

The way you set up your home to accomodate for a new puppy in the first few months will go a long way in helping develop good long term habits such as the following:

🐶 INDEPENDENCE BUILDING.
The biggest issue facing adult dogs in society is related to separation anxiety or distress. ‘Puppy only’ spaces are a great way to build your pup’s independence in the early days which will pave the way for when the time comes for them to stay at home by themselves. If you are not actively training, supervising or playing with your puppy, the best thing you can do is pop them in a contained area, close by, like this. This way they can’t practise following you around and in turn start to slowly develop the skills necessary to be okay on their own. Even if it begins with just being a metre away.

🦷 CHEWING, NIPPING & BITING.
Roughly around 10 weeks of age, a puppy will develop a new found confidence with their surroundings and following this, begin teething. Utilise this space and provide them with safe, puppy friendly enrichment to chew on and explore so they don’t practise deconstructing lounges, pot plants and clothing!

💩 TOILET TRAINING.
Generally, a puppy that is contained to a smaller space during down time, is more likely to hold on to their bladder for a longer period. It also prevents them from wandering over absorbent surfaces like rugs and carpets which is usually the type of surface a puppy will gravitate to, to do their business.

🤾‍♀️JUMPING.
If a puppy is in a space like this, family members and visitors can enter the room without a puppy running over to them, jumping on them and inadvertently being reinforced for it. You can then pick the right moments to let the puppy out, when you have full focus on teaching them to ‘Sit’ for cuddles and affection.

👫 KIDS
It’s a no brainer when it comes to kids and a puppy! A set up like this will give the puppy time away from the chaos to rest and reboot and when the puppy hits the teething phase, this place will allow kids to move around their loungeroom freely without the fear of being pounced on by the fluffy ankle biter.

🔔 DOORBELL REACTIVITY
Lots of adult dogs bark when there’s a knock on the front door or the doorbell rings. This can be learnt from being a puppy and having access the front door and learning of all the fabulous excitement and social greetings that follow a knock.
Its simple: After experiencing a handful of times what follows the knock or bell (PEOPLE!), he may bark out of excitement and run to the door, person enters and gives puppy a pat. Voila. Puppy has learnt that barking at the front door when it rings or there’s a knock results in attention. By putting your puppy in a contained space and preventing them from receiving any direct attention related to someone arriving at the house, you may very well prevent a long term door bell barker!

Who said puppy pens had to look ugly either?!! This pen set up is smart, unobtrusive and fits well in the space. This right here is the perfect indoor set up as far as we’re concerned.
👌👌

🔑 Early preparation and management is key in preventing any long term issues.
📸-

08/03/2021

Why are dog trainers calling to cancel 'Canine Intervention'? Many think we "don't need another Cesar Milan." Details!