The K9ology Center

09/01/2025

THIS IS TRAINING THURSDAY: Shoutout to the partners, spouses, kids, and family members who join in on training!

We have always been a family friendly establishment and welcome anyone from your home willing to participate to join in! We've had kids take over training lessons, husbands surprising their wives, spouses come to an agreement where there used to be tension over the dog.

The more people are on the same page, the more consistent things will be, and the better results you will get!

I even encourage families to make a master list of commands and keep it on the counter or fridge. This helps minimze a lot of handling errors. Is it "down" for lay down? Or "lay"? Or does it mean "get off that"? Are you using "lets go" to walk or "with me?". Is it "come" or "here" for recall?

My master list starts from the top and just keeps expanding. I keep things simple and obviously defined by simple actions.

Example:
Name = give me eye contact
Sit = put your butt down
Down = lay down
Off = get off of that
Come = move towards me and arrive
Stay = hold your position
Wait = stay behind the threshold

Etc etc etc

Consider making improvements this New Year to ensure everyone is using commands consistently in your household!

Happy training!
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07/01/2025

❄️ TUESDAY 01/07/25 - SNOW DAY! ❄️
The K9ology Center will be closed today due to ongoing road hazards from the storm. Let's keep our fingers crossed we can resume soon!

All classes and lessons will be postponed. Please make sure to check your email to reschedule!

Photo of Edna attacking her Jolly Ball through the snow.

06/01/2025

❄️ WINTER WEATHER CLOSURE 01/06/25 ❄️
The K9ology Center will be closed today due to winter weather and hazardous road conditions. Lessons will be rescheduled as soon as possible!

Stay safe, stay warm, and have some fun out there with your pups! Sadie is pretty thrilled!

02/01/2025

THIS IS TRAINING THURSDAY: Process vs Results

Owners of varying skill levels all have one thing in common: they often get bogged down by the concept of "compliance" and "results" often resulting in too much pressure on the dog, frustration of the handler, and nonsensical, emotional reactions from both parties. It can really get in the way of your relationship.

Training is a PROCESS, results are inevitable! With enough time, consistency, reps, and work ... you WILL get there! It takes time and dedication... but we owe it to our dogs before we apply expectations and pressure.

Think of training as a journey! You may come across road blocks and have to take an alternate route, you may be facing difficult road conditions or weather and change your plans. You may even have to turn around and look for the detour sign. This is what training is about! It's the route, not the destination.

It's great to have goals! Just like it's great to have a destination. Do yourself and your dog a favor and put that address into your GPS and forget about it. Until you have reached your destination keep focus on the road ahead and enjoy the ride.

Focus on the process and stop wasting energy due to attachment to outcome. You will be surprised how much it can improve your relationship with your dog. As always, it takes training, generalization, and proofing to get the results you want, there is no shortcut and you get what you put in!

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01/01/2025

CLASS ADDED!!!

Due to high demand, we have added a February Intro to Scentwork class! Held Fridays at 7:00PM for 4 weeks starting 02/21 and running through 04/14! Limited to 4 participants! get your spot before this class fills by registering through our website!

Fun classes and introduction to a variety of dog sports!

01/01/2025

❤️ EVENT ANNOUNCEMENT!!!! ❤️

Our new backdrop is on the way for our upcoming LOVE / VALENTINES themed photo shoot!

For just $195 you get a personal 30 minute studio session of your pet, 3 high resolution edited images, and access to our online store where you can purchase extra images, prints, and products! A minimum of 12 images will be part of your mini session gallery.

Details -

📷 Event: Love Themed Photo Shoot
🗓️ Date: Saturday, February 1, 2025
🕰️ Time: appointments available 12-4pm
🗺️ Location: Dogography Studio at the K9ology Center 12167 Lee Hwy, Sperryville, VA 22740

We have a collection of props and accessories available for use and welcome you to bring your own items along!

❤️ EVENT ANNOUNCEMENT!!!! ❤️

Our new backdrop is on the way for our upcoming LOVE / VALENTINES themed photo shoot!

For just $195 you get a personal 30 minute studio session of your pet, 3 high resolution edited images, and access to our online store where you can purchase extra images, prints, and products!

Details -

📷 Event: Love Themed Photo Shoot
🗓️ Date: Saturday, February 1, 2025
🕰️ Time: appointments available 12-4pm
🗺️ Location: Dogography Studio at K9ology
12167 Lee Hwy, Sperryville, VA 22740

We have a collection of props and accessories available for use and welcome you to bring items along!

🚨 ADDED BONUS! The first 3 to register will receive a FREE license plate with your image of choice!

🎟️ REGISTER ONLINE to reserve your spot! Spaces are limited for this event!

https://dogography.pixieset.com/booking/themed-mini-session

28/12/2024

Sadie is on the mountain for a visit and has been enjoying some Trek and Train! She is trained with a verbal "yes" marker and food rewards. We had some trouble with "catching" her on recall, so we've been practicing that a lot.

26/12/2024

THIS IS TRAINING THURSDAY:

Generalization: taking your dog's skills and either a) practicing them in a variety of settings and/or b) utilizing skills in different contexts.

Generalization makes up 33.33333% of your dog's education! It is something that takes time and patience as your dog relearns and adapts to a new situation. Generalization is also where owners often fail!

It's a simple paradigm: the dog who learns sit in the kitchen, ONLY knows how to sit in the kitchen.

Dogs are terrible at generalizing - which often comes in conflict with their human counterparts who have evolved to generalizing machines.

Give a man a hammer for a nail, he'll be wondering quite quickly how else he can apply a hammer. Next thing you know the human is smashing glass to bits, bending metal, carving, and doing all kinds of crazy things with that hammer.

As a rule of thumb, your dog needs to learn, and then relearn skills in a minimum of 5 environments before generalization can occur. This may be even more challenging for breeds which are easily distracted or lack biddability.

Photos of Lily at Home Depot during her last Private Lesson. Did you know? Our 8-12 lesson private training packages include working through distractions and applying skills in the real world!

We kept things simple with loose lead walking, wait, and settle. It helps to only work on 2-3 skills at a time when generalizing concepts. Your dog is already facing challenges in a new environment - help them out!

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25/12/2024

Starting in the New Year we will be introducing a new video series called "Trek and Train" which is just a little training dialogue while exploring new places with my own dogs.

Might as well start early with this morning's walk with Ralph and little tid bit on ecollar training.

Merry Christmas Everyone!

23/12/2024

Happy Pawlidays Everyone!

20/12/2024

WOOHOOOO! We are adding more classes!

IMPULSE CONTROL CLASS!

Start: Wednesday January 22nd, 2025
Time: 7:00PM
Where: The K9ology Center 12167 Lee Hwy Sperryville 22740
Limit: 4 participants!
Duration: 4 weeks, skip 02/12 due to Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show

This class focuses on teaching dogs how to resist temptations and impulses in a variety of contexts and situations. Through controlled exercises and positive reinforcement, dogs learn to make better decisions and behave calmly and obediently even in the face of distractions. This class helps prepare dogs for everyday situations such as encountering other animals, passing by food, or to commands when excited. By building self-control and strengthening their ability to focus, dogs can become well-behaved and well-mannered companions in the real world and beyond!

REGISTER ONLINE to reserve a spot. Spaces limited! Use code WINTER24 to get 25% off. Code must be used at time of purchase. More at: https://www.k9ocenter.com/impulse

18/12/2024

Pro tip ... use masking tape at thresholds when practicing "wait"

14/12/2024

Henley has learned to patiently be released from "wait" when exiting his run.

09/12/2024

We had so much fun at agility today! Diego was working that Teeter, Addie was acing the A-Frame, and Reign was doing great with the Tunnels!

We have just one week left of class, and then agility will be on hold until the early Spring 2025 (end of March / beginning of April).

We are excited to offer a variety of other fun performance-oriented classes this winter! We kick things off with Scentwork on Fridays starting 01/10/25! More classes will be added soon including: Tricks, Dog Dancing, and more!

PC: Charlotte Wagner | Dogography

03/12/2024

❄️WINTER SALE THROUGH DECEMBER❄️

Use coupon code WINTER24 at checkout and get 25% off all 4 week group classes! This includes our upcoming...

🐾 Puppy Essentials
🐾 Basic Manners
🐾 Therapy Dog Prep
🐾 Scentwork

AND MORE! We have loads of options for the winter season - a perfect time to brush up on your pets manners for when visitors arrive, during travel, and to keep your pup entertained during those long dark and cold days ahead!

Registration for upcoming classes are accepted through our website on a first come / first served basis at www.k9ocenter.com

Photo of current Board and Train Bootcamp Cadet - Henley the Staffy Bull!

28/11/2024

🦃 HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!! 🦃

We are so incredibly thankful to all who support K9ology and our many endeavors! Happy Holidays everyone!