Yes Dog

Yes Dog Dog trainer for puppies, adolescents, and adult dogs. General obedience and problem behaviors.
(3)

Duke: Perfect angel training dog, crazy hilarious snow dog.
20/11/2024

Duke: Perfect angel training dog, crazy hilarious snow dog.

Jalapeno's people and I have been working with his vet to try to get him to absorb more calories and ultimately to gain ...
20/11/2024

Jalapeno's people and I have been working with his vet to try to get him to absorb more calories and ultimately to gain weight. We've had success! The result is a much less temperature-sensative dog who really enjoyed this morning's snowfall. The photos are all basically terrible due to low light and a fast-moving dog, but his silly blurs brought me joy all the same.

20/11/2024

Jalapeño tolerates an otoscope! Most dogs dislike pokey otoscopes in their ears, and Jalapeño was no exception. But he's learning that it's just another tasty chicken game.

20/11/2024

We have voluntary contact between nails and nail grinder!!

It may be difficult to hear over my little noise machine that always sounds deafeningly loud on camera but is a pleasant trickle in real life, but the nail grinder is on. I am not actually touching Prince's nails with the sanding drum yet. I'm starting with getting him accustomed to the vibration before adding in the friction. But given this boy's strong aversion to having his feet touched and his spirited personality, I'm very proud of him.

Building duration is hard when a low rate of reinforcement gives a dog anxiety. Tediously, we build that duration, being...
20/11/2024

Building duration is hard when a low rate of reinforcement gives a dog anxiety. Tediously, we build that duration, being mindful not to exceed Jalapeno's confidence level. We are getting there. Some dogs require more patience, and that is absolutely okay.

We have been expecting snow since about 11 a.m. It's 6 p.m. now, and the snow still hasn't started. But the weather fore...
20/11/2024

We have been expecting snow since about 11 a.m. It's 6 p.m. now, and the snow still hasn't started. But the weather forecast looks pretty bleak for the next two weeks, so I took advantage of the still-safe road conditions and brought Duke on a field trip to Redding where we walked the Sundial Bridge; observed 5 different dogs (one of which was lunging at him while Duke chose to sniff grass), scooters, golf carts, and people of assorted shapes, colors, and sizes; and considered going for a swim in the Sacramento River despite the chilly temps.

Afterward, Duke accompanied me on all my "batten down the hatches" errands.

He was a perfect gentleman and a wonderful companion.

Prince has a new love in his life. It's the Doggy Grandma. We all went for a walk together. Later I had Prince on my lap...
18/11/2024

Prince has a new love in his life. It's the Doggy Grandma. We all went for a walk together. Later I had Prince on my lap while Grandma practiced approaching with tasty treats. No guarding behavior was seen. Just joyous, greedy treat gobbling, which is how we like it!

18/11/2024

Here is Duke's setup for having guests over. Someone knocks on the door (or rings the doorbell). Duke gets sent to his mat, which is behind an exercise pen. The guest is let in and greeted. Duke gets reinforced for not getting up. The guest is given some instruction ("Have a seat over there. My dog is in training, and we'll let him out to meet you after he's shown that he's calm and relaxed."). Duke gets periodic reinforcement for chilling on his mat while owner engages with guest. When everyone is calm and relaxed, Duke may be released from his mat and let out of the exercise pen.

This exercise will help Duke to not feel it necessary to bark whenever someone comes to the door. He will know what to expect and have tools to deal with it. The exercise pen prevents over-zealous people from reaching for a dog who is unsure of the situation, so he never feels the need to react defensively. When everyone is calm and relaxed, Duke and guest can meet, which ensures good greeting manners from Duke, eliminates the tension of greetings done too soon, and gives Duke reinforcement for chilling out.

Disclaimer: The Doggy Grandma was given specific instructions to be overly effusive and to make direct eye contact with Duke. She knows better, but many guests will not, so we are training Duke to the level necessary to tolerate not-dog-savvy people because he can handle it.

Apologies for Prince barking in the background. We need to work on a version of this with him as well.

I want to tell you a little story.Behind this tarp is all the firewood that doesn't fit inside my woodshed. It's stacked...
18/11/2024

I want to tell you a little story.

Behind this tarp is all the firewood that doesn't fit inside my woodshed. It's stacked and tarped behind the woodshed to protect it from weather until I can either use it or move it inside the woodshed.

Duke and I had been playing in the yard, like we do. I paused to do some yard cleanup, and when I finished, I noticed that Duke was nowhere in sight. My dog yard isn't all that big. There aren't really any good places for a 90-pound dog to hide. I immediately started scanning for holes under my fence or for evidence that Duke hopped over the 6-foot fence, though he's never given me any indication that he'd be inclined to leave, and if he had done that, it would have been silent and effortless because I had never even left the yard.

With heart pounding, I scanned the fence and beyond, working my way to the area behind the woodshed, and that's when I heard a little rustle from under the tarp. I flipped around, and I initially saw nothing out of the ordinary. The tarp was right where it should be, and chipmonks and squirrels love to nest back there, so that's probably all it was.

But then, I saw it. The little hole in the bottom of the tarp that didn't used to be there. And poking through that little hole was a big, black, pointy, snuffling nose.

I burst out laughing, both in relief and at this hilarious predicament Duke had gotten himself into. Upon hearing my laughter, Duke could no longer restrain himself, and the top of the tarp suddenly exploded toward me as Duke leapt up over the top, his head bursting above the wood pile, and the tarp flying off the wood pile and toward me with Duke's body.

Duke appeared pretty pleased with himself for this epic game of hide and seek. We had a snuggle reunion with more laughter and a couple ball tosses. The tarp can be folded and secured well enough to survive another winter but probably not more than that. I can't even bring myself to mind.

17/11/2024

I'm preparing Jalapeño for a DNA test. This requires rubbing a cotton swab against his lower cheek for 30 seconds. The test also requires that the dog not have eaten anything for at least 30 minutes prior to the collection, so I'll need to make sure he's good and comfortable with the procedure first so that he's ready to do the whole behavior for the full 30 seconds on his first go since he can'thave treats leading up to it. We are getting pretty close!

It's hard to tell from the poor camera angle, but I've got a swab rubbing his cheek for about 15 seconds so far.

Duke handled getting barked at by a dog, people stopping and asking about his training, assistive mobility devices, hats...
17/11/2024

Duke handled getting barked at by a dog, people stopping and asking about his training, assistive mobility devices, hats, beards, hoodies, direct eye contact, and weaving through the moving cars of a multi-use parking lot. He's officially ready for field trips to Redding!

17/11/2024

I'm fairly certain that nail trims have been a repeatedly traumatic event for Prince. It took a lot of work before he'd let me touch his feet. Now, I can touch his feet to place on his harness as well as for this exercise.

In my left hand is a nail grinder, and it is on. If Prince's chin is resting on the platform, I have permission to continue the game. If his head pops up, I'm being asked to pause. This is his first exposure to the grinder.

Our little buddy, Prince, went for a leashed walk with me. We listened to a dog bark that we couldn't see. We watched th...
17/11/2024

Our little buddy, Prince, went for a leashed walk with me. We listened to a dog bark that we couldn't see. We watched three different people in their yards. We watched five vehicles go by with minimal reaction (He got one little bark out, but he then remembered our better way of dealing with scary things.). And then, one of my very nice neighbors decided to drive by, stop their truck, and CHAT with me, which, of course, was far more than Prince could handle. So I set his backback on the ground and didn't even have time to give him his cue before he was shoving his way in and didn't make another peep. Another neighbor is having a party, so things are a little extra exciting on the street right now, and with Prince over threshold from my extra social neighbor, I just carried him home.

Little by little, we'll expand Prince's tolerance level to all the normal things that exist in the world, but I'm so happy that training his little escape hatch is working out every bit as well as I'd hoped.

One of us moves beautifully when it's 28 degrees outside.One of us does not.
16/11/2024

One of us moves beautifully when it's 28 degrees outside.

One of us does not.

Wait is one of my favorite behaviors to teach because it is so useful. It simply means to cease forward movement. The do...
14/11/2024

Wait is one of my favorite behaviors to teach because it is so useful. It simply means to cease forward movement. The dog gets to choose their position. Icky floor surface that a naked dog doesn't want to put their bum on? No big deal. They can stand. Hip or knee issues? No matter. Just do what feels best. Tired after a long walk? Plop down and chill for minute. It's all good.

I use it in so many different contexts including, but not limited to, not exiting car doors before I've got my hands securely on leashes and leashes securely on dogs; not rushing through doors in a multi-dog household and causing a fight; pausing reactive dogs while the handler moves ahead to look around objects and corners to make sure the coast is clear; asking a dog to pause before crossing a street when they are walking on a long line ahead of their person; straightening out a bed, mat, or blanket while an eager beaver pup stands back instead of stomping on it, rendering the task impossible; keeping a dog out of a kitchen while cooking; stopping a dog from crowding an infant or small child; and once, I even used the cue on my own dog after he had bolted after a cat, and he came to a screaching hault for me.

Duke is getting better and better at the wait game!

It's raining and hailing and otherwise just terrible weather for a naked pit bull, but guess who decided today was the d...
14/11/2024

It's raining and hailing and otherwise just terrible weather for a naked pit bull, but guess who decided today was the day he was gonna feel comfortable letting me put on his coat? Jalapeño looks quite handsome in his stylish and toasty jacket!

13/11/2024

The other day when the Doggy Grandma came to help us train, I failed to get video of the beautiful work that Duke did for us. We practiced having Doggy Grandma enter the building while Duke remained on his mat behind an exercise pen. This is a planned setup that I'm hoping Duke's family will be able to use at home to encourage Duke to show off his excellent manners while also giving him time to acclimate to new guests before they attempt to pet him (Don't pet dogs you don't know unless they overtly ask for it, folks!).

We'll get Doggy Grandma back here for another session soon so we can practice more, and I can show off Duke's skills.

In the meantime, we are having another terrible, stormy day, and no one wants to work outside, including the dogs. Full disclosure, my camera tripod is standing out in the pouring, 34-degree rain, and I don't want to get it. So, instead, you get this terrible video of Duke and me barely in frame while my camera is precariously balanced on a bench with some books.

Duke's dad had mentioned that he wanted Duke to be able to hold a stay while a ball was tossed and only run to retrieve it after being released. That's a tall order after a dog's enormous ball drive has already been developed! But I like to take on challenges, and all impulse-control exercises that result in Duke having a good time are a very good thing, so here I am building up his ability to remain on his mat while I play with the ball. While I'm out of frame, I'm pretending to throw the ball. I can also roll it gently. I can *just* kick it gently most of the time. I can drop the ball, lightly toss the ball underhand, and bounce the ball. Actually throwing the ball is still too advanced, but we are getting there!

I am so proud of little Prince today. He hates the snow. It's cold and wet, two terrible, horrible, no good, very bad th...
11/11/2024

I am so proud of little Prince today. He hates the snow. It's cold and wet, two terrible, horrible, no good, very bad things. But, utilizing his new backpack and his sweater, he participated in a great training session that had Doggy Grandma approaching him even while I was on his side of the fence, and she was able to deliver treats herself. There were so many little pieces of training that came together to make this progress possible.

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Choice. Communication. Companionship.

Yes!Dog Training began several years ago with the rescue of an emaciated pit bull from a fighting ring bust. She was covered in open wounds and old scars. Shortly after her adoption, it became apparent that her wounds were not merely skin deep, and her behavioral issues were very challenging. She inspired my pursuit of knowledge in the subject of animal behavior. I became passionate about learning how to help her feel safe in this world, and that passion led me to want to help other dogs and their humans live in harmony. So I became a professional dog trainer. Certified as a Karen Pryor Academy Certified Training Partner, I spent 5 years as a trainer and behavior consultant at a high-volume daycare, boarding, and training facility prior to forming Yes!Dog, Inc, through which I offered private training and trained dogs for commercial advertising. I also worked as the Manager of Behavior and Training for the East Bay SPCA prior to moving Yes!Dog, Inc. up to Shingletown, CA to build my own board and train facility at Lupine Lodge. I’ve had the privilege of working with thousands of pet dogs from puppies to seniors of all varieties of breeds and mixes. The Yes!Dog method is to empower dogs through choice, to train with clear communication while learning to understand what the dog is telling us, and to enjoy the resultant companionship. All of our training is done using positive, science-based, and effective methods. Choice. Communication. Companionship. These are the 3 C’s of great dog training.