On The Mark Balanced Training

16/08/2024

25/06/2024

I’m so honored to be featured on the list for best local businesses in ! Voting ends on June 28th, and the winners in each category will be featured in the upcoming print magazine. If you have 2 minutes, I would deeply appreciate your support ❤️

Here’s how to vote:

1. Click on the Link in my Profile
2. Scroll down and select Services
3. Select PET CARE SERVICES
4. Scroll down to find On The Mark Balanced Training
5. A Pop-up box will appear where it mentioned your vote has been added to your ballot. Click on the Green REVIEW AND CAST MY BALLOT button
6. Select Black SUBMIT BALLOT button

Reminder: You can vote once a day. Voting closes on Friday, June 28th at 5:00PM PST.

18/06/2024

This Friday! Hurry over to the link in bio to sign up for your time slot/color backdrop. Super fun collab with and for OTM clients only! Event is at my house. Excited to see everyone!

15/06/2024

Let's talk about this photo. It's cute, except it's not. I see a dog who cannot get up without telling the child to get off. How do you think a dog is going to do that?

The 7 Golden Toddler Dog Rules:
#1: If a dog walks away from you, you DO NOT FOLLOW.
#2: Always leave room for the dog to walk away from you.
---that right there is 90+% of dog bites eliminated---
#3: We do not climb on the dog.
#4: We do not grab or pull on the dog.
#5: We do not hit or throw anything at the dog.
#6: We do not touch the dog's food.
#7: We do not go into the dog's kennel.

I promise these are not overly difficult concepts for littles, nor will they rob a kid of their bond with the family dog. It will deepen that bond, while keeping everyone safe.

"Oh, it looks like Moose is walking away from you. She is saying she wants a break. Let's play with this instead!"

"It's Moose's dinner time! Let's give her space to enjoy her yummies."

"That is Moose's room(kennel) and only she is allowed to go in there."

"If Moose wanted a break, could she walk away from you right now? No she really couldn't. Let's move away from the play house. You can keep playing but now she can leave when she wants a break."

In conclusion, ***parent your child or your dog will do it for you, and you will not like how they do it.***

01/03/2024

What does a solid ‘heel’ look like?

Focus on 3 key pieces of the heel command: position, mindset, and release.

Your dog’s nose position should be at or behind the middle of your (left) hip, NOT in front. This position puts them in the mindset to calmly follow. Leading them to be less likely to find things to worry about and react to.

Your dog’s mindset should be calm, relaxed, and focused on YOU. We don’t need them constantly staring up but they should be aware and adjust accordingly to any speed or position changes you do.
Your dog does not need to go on a “sniffari” when on walks; they should only go off to sniff/potty when released with a “break” from you.

17/02/2024

It’s time to bring back an old past time: The Pack Walk!

Join me in Redmond on Saturday, March 2nd at 10am for a pack walk and get some great practice in with built in support while being surrounded with others who have the same rules and goals you have.
(Exact location will be shared on instagram stories the couple of days prior and morning of the walk)

A pack walk with OTM is a great way to get any training questions answered, as well as have the opportunity to practice neutrality around other trustworthy owner/handler teams.

If your dog was not trained with OTM but you are able to respect the rules, feel free to join us!

18/01/2024

It felt wrong not to intro the biggest part of OTM - the dogs! First up is Croc, the cute and goofy Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever. Croc was part of an Australian themed litter and I chose to keep his litter name “Croc”. His full name is:
“Redmoon’s Crikey Mate!”
Call name: Croc

This breed is the smallest of the retrievers. Tollers are named for their ability to entice or lure waterfowl within gunshot range, called “tolling”.
Before deciding to have my own toller, I had trained a handful and really enjoyed them. Each one I trained was a great size and FULL of personality.

I absolutely love just about everything dog related and once it was confirmed I was getting my own Toller, I couldn’t wait to dive into learning all about hunting dog training and the differences between training for the variety of tests and real life hunts.
Croc has earned his Working Certificate (WC) and 2/4 legs of his novice upland title. We plan to accomplish more titles this year and keep learning about more advanced training.

Croc often helps as a neutral dog for training dogs to walk with. He also acts as a goofy play partner who can take a lot of pressure (ie. Wrestling and body slams) to help teach appropriate play with my guidance as well as back off on play when I ask which helps us build confidence in hesitant dogs.

01/01/2024

New year, new intro! I wanted to start the new year off right and say hello (again). For those of you who haven’t met me, I’m the owner & head trainer of On the Mark.

In addition to a BS in Animal Sciences from Purdue, I have over 10 years of experience training, rehabilitating, fostering, & placing dogs of all backgrounds, often working with local shelters & rescues. In fact, I’m listed as a recommended trainer for !

After moving to Seattle in 2016, I eventually made the transition to training dogs full time and have continued to enjoy success with my clients and fosters, following my passion for developing happy, well-balanced dogs and building lasting human-canine relationships.

Check out Google reviews for more information on client experience and success stories.

31/12/2023

The dog training world can be cruel. Every little thing gets scrutinized especially with social media and keyboard warriors.

You have to believe in yourself and your reasons for doing things the way you do as a trainer. It’s tough to do that sometimes.

Dog training or other topics alike: Doesn’t hurt for everyone to have a reminder that there’s a person on the other side of that screen. You don’t have to agree with everything everyone does. You can even ask them why they’re doing something the way they are, but there’s a respectful way to do that and there’s an attacking way to do that. I wish people would respectfully ask questions to learn more often but unfortunately that’s not the norm.

Until a year ago, I was a trainer with a very force free approach. I didn’t believe there was a place for aversives in dog training. I didn’t have a dog that required them. Lucky me!

Until I got this chap. My very much adored kelpie, Evo. Bred to move HUGE flocks and herds of livestock out in rural Australia. A hard-headed dog, with a mega independent streak.

I worked hard with him. I’m a trainer. I laid my foundations, as I have done successfully with my other 4 dogs before him. They worked, to a point. And then, they didn’t.

I was fully prepared to give him a breed-appropriate outlet. Alongside the other work I give my dogs, I have my own sheep, meaning I can work my own dogs regularly on stock. However, my small flock of flighty sheep was far too jumpy for him to work, and he was becoming dangerous out and about in any sort of proximity to sheep.

So, you may say, just keep him on a lead! Problem solved. Well, not really.

Management can and does fail. I have heard it from countless clients. I have had it fail myself.

I also live, with sheep on my property, and surrounding it on 3 sides. Everywhere we turn, there are sheep. There’s no avoiding them.

Keep him on a lead in the garden? We have a large garden and keeping him on the lead would be unfair. He’s an incredibly active, working bred dog, who would end up spending his entire life on a lead.

We also encountered prey drive issues out and about, particularly around deer. His recall was fantastic, but once we moved, our walks were either full of deer, or sheep and he could rip a long line out of your hands to chase something particularly tempting.

So, I decided to bite the bullet and e-collar train. Controversial, particularly online.

But, the absolute best thing I ever did.

The alternative solutions I had suggested were:

Keep him on the lead - I buy good quality leads, but they have failed on me before
Move house - we’ve moved to a dream house, not an option
Avoid places with sheep etc - hard when they’re in the garden
Long line - he could still pull a long line out of reach
Train him - he was trained to a very high level and we had reached the limits via force free methods.

Management fails.

I went through the process of conditioning him properly to the e-collar. I spent ages ensuring I got it right, he understood what was expected and that he knew how to switch it off. I invested in a pricey bit of kit, and I went about it by the book.

It’s transformed his life.

He can romp around the garden, he can walk through my sheep without batting an eyelid, he can walk off lead on the hills and he can enjoy walking in the forest even when deer run out in front of us.

For him, that wasn’t ever going to be an option without it.

Nothing was more reinforcing than chasing.

And it was going to get him killed. He’d have been shot, or hit by a car, or lost. All because I wouldn’t open my mind to using different tools.

Am I suggesting every dog requires one? Absolutely not. But there are MANY cases where they save lives. It’s both saved and enriched his.

He’s happy, he lives his best life. He hikes everywhere with us, he’s well mannered and fully reliable off the lead. He knows the rules, and that’s the key.

He’s not suppressed. He can still go off and be a dog. He tears around the garden with our other dogs, he sniffs and does dog things. But he’s safe when doing it all.

I see a lot of judgement towards these tools from people owning dogs who would never require these tools. That’s great. And that’s also not a problem. But it is completely unfair to demonise the use of a tool which you haven’t taken the time to fully understand. I was 100%, without a doubt, against them before I took the time to understand how they worked and how they were used.

It’s imperative that they’re used with a trainer well versed in using them. It’s also crucial that the equipment used is good quality and not something cheap from Amazon or eBay. It’s an investment, but one that is so necessary for a lot more dogs than you might realise.

Take the time to understand others’ points of view. There is truly not a one-size-fits-all approach in dog training and my change of opinion has opened up a whole new world for all of my dogs ❤

Photo by Saffy Leyfield Photography

22/12/2023

Happy Winter Solstice! It’s finally the beginning of the end of the Big Dark. Cheers to longer days ahead, and more walking hours with our canine companions! From all of us at On The Mark Balanced Training, we wanted to take a moment to wish a safe, happy, and healthy holiday season to all who celebrate. Whether it be Chanukah, Christmas, Kwanzaa, the Solstice, or nothing at all, we’re sending you warm wishes as we transition towards a New Year 🩷

15/12/2023

Dog parks and unstructured daycare are a popular way to ‘socialize’ and exercise our pups, but did you know that they are high risk environments for behavioral issues and diseases?

It can be heartbreaking to realize that something we thought was making their lives better can actually make it worse. But it can happen to ANY dog, even ones with no previous issues.

All it takes is one bad interaction for your dog to develop reactivity, start ignoring your commands, or even pick up germs! Younger and older dogs in particular are more susceptible to these issues.

Swipe for more information and resources on what you can do instead to keep your dog safe and healthy. And of course, please feel free to reach out with any questions!

14/12/2023

We hope everyone has a wonderful and safe holiday season!

Adorable festive Croc picture by the fabulous

14/12/2023

Exciting news!! Starting immediately, we are offering a 16 day on leash, e-collar training program! This is ideal for dogs who are crate trained, do NOT have any major behavioral issues, and whose owners want to focus on basic structure and calm mindset around the house and outside.
Training will include: 1 e-collar, 1 biothane slip leash, and 3 follow up lessons (1 of which will be used at pick up).
The cost is $2,900 for the program, with a non-refundable $1,000 deposit to secure your place. The remainder of the balance will be due 24 hours before pickup.
To help celebrate the holidays, we’re offering a $300 discount for the first 3 people who sign up. Please reach out with any questions. Get started on setting you and your pup up for success today!

14/12/2023

Under normal circumstances, we recommend keeping your dog away from dog parks & day cares to maintain training & prevent any behavioral issues.

However, in light of this illness, we are now instituting a MANDATORY 14 day no exposure to dog parks grooming salons or day cares before coming to our facility.

We need YOU to be open and honest when communicating any symptoms your dog may have. This helps keep everyone healthy, safe, & lets us continue to offer our full range of services.

08/11/2023

Time for an update that will be implemented January 1, 2024!

Unfortunately, due to rising costs, we will have to increase our prices for boarding & daycare. While understanding that this is not ideal - we held off for as long as we could, and kept the increase as low as possible.

Thank you for understanding. We are happy to answer any questions you may have!

02/11/2023

⚠️ NEVER underestimate the impact that YOUR stress levels have on your horses and dogs! ⚠️

This is Herx coming down after a week's worth of absorbing my study deadline stress. Today was the last day. You can see the effect my compounding study stress has had on my dog but you don't notice it until there is contrast and the stress is gone.

How does this happen?

Both horses and dogs have the ability to smell something you can't...
Glucocorticoids (cortisol) and adrenaline.

These are hormones and neurohormones that are produced when the mind experiences stress/trauma.

Cortisol in particular is a hormone that, when released in high levels, can be sustained at high levels, unlike adrenaline that is fast acting but also fast to deplete.

Cortisol is an essential hormone for consciousness and alertness, but when secreted in prolonged high amounts has some negative mental, emotional and physical effects.

When you experience compounding stress you won't necessarily notice it because it is slowly compounding (like building blocks of lego).

What you may eventually notice is:
🧨 you become a little less tolerant to things you would normally tolerate
🧨 you may become a little more over sensitive mentally and emotionally
🧨 you may experience memory loss
🧨 you may struggle with a lack impulse control
🧨you may have problems with reasoning and risk assessment
🧨 you might find you struggle with attention and focus
🧨 you may develop problems getting to sleep or staying asleep (insomnia)
🧨 you may find you might develop some anxiety and/or depression
🧨 you may have difficulties regulating your emotions
🧨 you may experience sensory overload problems
🧨 you may find you do things that help you feel distracted from your emotions and stay stimulated as much as possible

These things slowly creep in without you knowing it.

In the meantime, your dog is smelling the little fluctuations and surges in your cortisol levels as the baseline rises to new levels, your horse is smelling it to!

You can't smell cortisol so you aren't even aware that your dog or horse is responding to the information you are unknowingly and unconsciously giving them.

⚠️ This scent is a warning system to your dogs and horses ⚠️
This scent says "I feel under threat, be alert and vigilant of me and around me".

When you release this scent, you will display corresponding microexpressions in your body language to. So now your body smells like danger and your body looks like danger. This is a lot of information for your dog and horse. It speaks VOLUMES and 100% trumps ANYTHING you say verbally to your animal. They'll believe EVERYTHING your smell and body says over what your words say.

And we wonder why our dogs and horses don't want to partner up when we want them to!

🫵 So check in with yourself first.
🫵 Do some deep breathing.
🫵 Check your body for areas that are holding tension.
🫵 Acknowledge any emotions that you're holding on to without having an opinion or validation.
🫵 Data dump whatever thoughts are running around in your head.
🫵 Take a walk and MAKE time for yourself
🫵 SLOW YOUR MOVEMENT DOWN!!!

Happy brain training 🧠
Charlotte 😊

29/09/2023

Take time to ask questions, watch their social media, read their reviews, learn about their training methods. We understand it’s a big financial and emotional investment but it’s also really important to us that you’ve done the legwork to know you trust us and our methods so that you can sit back and trust the process. Ask those human panic questions upfront 😉, not when we already have your dog in our care. The goal is to have the trust of our owners by the time we get started with your dog. This sets us all up for the most success along the way!

Updates and ensuring owners are learning alongside their dogs is a crucial part of the process, but trainers need their down time too! Your trainer will most likely set some expectations for when they’re available and also provide plenty of updates so please respect those times of availability. For me, I try to be available during the day and reserve the evenings as quiet time for the dogs and myself to relax. Thank you for understanding!

28/05/2023

Strive for well bred and understanding the breed. Not just pure bred and you think it’s cute looking.

28/04/2023

Moral of the story - ask questions. Make sure it’s a reputable rescue if you go the rescue route. Ask to spend some time with the dog. Ask about a foster to adopt option. Ask what the dog has seen/experienced and what their response to these things was. ASK LOTS OF QUESTIONS! Don’t know what to ask? Have your trainer picked out before your dog and have them help you.

I just read an article about a dog in the UK that attacked its owner’s arm and wouldn’t let go until 20 minutes later when the police arrived and had to force the dog off her.

Here’s the catch:

The dog was a shelter dog who was adopted out to this woman.

But the shelter failed to disclose to her that the dog had previously attacked two other women.

I’m all for rescuing dogs.

But I’ve also worked with a lot of behavioral cases who were rescued dogs whose shelter/rescue didn’t disclose the dogs’ issues prior to their adoption.

And I have a big issue with that.

There needs to be accountability.

If a dog has a bite history, then any rescue or shelter taking on that dog needs to pay for it to go through training.

Period.
Because most people can’t afford $6K + in training. And if the rescue’s going to take on the dog, they’re accepting that it comes at a cost. Just like they accept medical cases and pay for surgeries, vetting etc.

Just like shelters and rescues disclose a dog’s medical history, they need to disclose the dog’s behavioral history as well.

The women who got attacked by this bulldog had no idea the dog had a bite history.

The shelter knew though.

It doesn’t matter how big or small the behavior issue is, any potential adopter deserves to know about it.

It saddens (and infuriates) me to read bios on rescue dogs.

Positive
Positive
Positive

No dog is perfect. It’s only fair to be open and honest!

I recently reached out to a rescue about a dog on their website. They described the dog as “great with dogs” and “turn key ready” among other things.

Come to find out, they hadn’t tested the dog around dogs themselves yet. They used the last shelter’s description.

The dog wasn’t turn key ready either. He had separation anxiety and couldn’t be contained in a crate.

Two big problems.

Much less, how’s the dog with kids? Cats? Male dogs? Female dogs? Puppies? New environments? How is the dog’s obedience? Energy level? Drives?

If you want to know what I think should be a part of every dog’s assessment, it’s agility.

One simple obstacle.

(It’s my litmus test for rehab dogs.)

I walk the dog up to the dog walk and ask the dog to go up it, across it, and back down the other side.

The nice dogs, though they might be a little nervous, do it.

(That tells me a lot about them. Trusting. Lacking confidence. But willing to trust the handler.)

The dogs with attitude throw a hissy fit. They balk and scream and flail around on the ground.

And 20, 30, 40 minutes later, panting and exhausted they finally do it a few times without fighting me.

Tells me a lot about them. They’re usually spoiled dogs who’ve never been asked to do anything. What I’m looking for is, did the dog try to bite? Yes or no.

Because the third type of dog is the dog who says “No and if you make me do it, I’ll bite you.” And they’re dead serious.

(If you’re wondering, they get muzzled and I treat them just like any other dog with an attitude.)

And they do as they’re told.

And 40, 50, 60 minutes later, they do it.

Dog 1, the nice dog, can go to anyone and just needs basic obedience and confidence building.

Dog 2 should be put through training to work through his attitude problem first before being adopted out.

And Dog 3, well, that’s a different story. That dog probably shouldn’t be adopted out, or if it is then it HAS to be to the perfect person to fit that dog’s temperament. Those dogs can be nice dogs. And training will help a ton.

It will help with the dog’s mindset.
And get the dog in a better head space.
But it’s not a dog that’s going to do well with kids, or soft handlers, or weak minded individuals.

I fear this American bulldog from the UK story was a #3 dog. And the woman adopting him was just trying to save a dog from being euthanized.

She was paired with the wrong dog.

And she lost her arm. It was completely amputated from the injuries she sustained from being attacked for 20+ minutes. She lost so much blood.

The dog was put down immediately.

And the woman is suing the shelter for 200,000 pounds.

Her life is forever changed.

I don’t blame her one bit for suing.

It’s an eye-opening case.

That shelter was completely in the wrong for not disclosing the two other attacks they knew about.

It was their duty and responsibility.

Photo of Havok
Credit to: John Fisher Photography (WI)

22/04/2023

28/03/2023

Spot on

17/02/2023

So when you ask where the update is….the dogs and me taking a SMALL mental break are the priority. Not social media. I’m pretty dang good about posting to socials. Let me breathe please lol