Tails Of Harmony LLC

05/07/2024

this is sol. he was an avid little learner today for his training session!

he learned; how to put a harness over his head, get it, leave it, touch, engagement, chin, petting, touching his collar. lil rockstar!

11/05/2023

oh my goodness this hits so close to home - as a CPDT and a cane corso owner!!!!

dog training needs to be regulated. as one of only TWO certified professional dog trainers within a 5-mile radius of portland maine. i am constantly shocked by the things clients have told me, that their previous trainers have said to do, or have done to their dogs. at least these people had an inkling that what they were being told to do was messed up to say the least! my dog ardesia (aka pook) is my second cane corso. i got dolce in 2006. please sign and ask questions on training methods BEFORE you hire a trainer!
sidenote: there is no dominance theory, is any trainer tells you that, they are living in the dark ages. also shock collars have been banned in several european countries, so??? i have heard so much stupid and absolutely wrong information. here is one i have heard several times from people in the portland area - a dog should walk along with you on a walk, keep moving and not be allowed to sniff. did you know sniffing lowers a dog's blood pressure? it is their information gathering, their social media. please only seek out science-based positive trainers. there is no science in dominance theory. the idiot who invented it, based it on 2 weeks of research. he has since recanted the whole thing. he made a video recanting it, you can watch it on youtube. any idea how many dogs that purely drama-based cesar milan tv show has messed up???
please sign this petition.

The Fenixx Law

25/02/2023

front view of ardesia with “pet’s piano”
My Intelligent Pets

25/02/2023

ardesia loves this puzzle toy: “pet’s piano” this is her first time playing with it, it just arrived. shipping was so quick!
she is very musical so this suits her.
Being a Cane Corso, she’s a little bit of a bull in a china shop so this puzzle toy and the Sudoku one we got, I feel like will teach her to have relaxed engagement.
My Intelligent Pets

01/02/2023

follow my Instagram account for additional parts of this chained behavior.  link in the about section.
so I’m going to film sessions as I’m training this. this is the first part/session. In the end, what I’m trying to train is her sitting on something with her paws on a desk (like a student). It’s not gonna be a chair, definitely something lower, and it has to be safe because she’s a big tall dog. so I still have to figure that part out. so the square piece of firewood worked pretty well as the first thing I wanted her to put her paws on. each of the things she’s putting her paws on has to be stable and not tip over on her. she knows step on, but that means her front paws are on it while she’s standing. and if I used something soft, she would think we were practicing “chin,” where she lays down and put searching on something for consent. in one way it’s kind of tough when your dog nose like hundreds of words and cues, to teach new things, although you do have all those cues to build together to get to the new thing when you need it. So just different than working with a dog that hasn’t had 7 1/2 years of training.

28/11/2022

This is from Jean Donaldson’s book, The Culture Clash
it is some of the best translation of common human/dog culture i have EVER read. i just love it so much.

“Imagine you live on a planet where the dominant species is far more intellectually sophisticated than human beings but often keeps humans as companion animals. They are called the Gorns. They communicate with each other via a complex combination of telepathy, eye movements and high-pitched squeaks, all completely unintelligible and unlearnable by humans, whose brains are prepared for verbal language acquisition only.
Humans sometimes learn the meaning of individual sounds by repeated association with things of relevance to them. The Gorns and humans bond strongly but there are many Gorn rules that humans must try to assimilate with limited information and usually high stakes. You are one of the lucky humans who lives with the Gorns in their dwelling. Many other humans are chained to small cabanas in the yard or kept in outdoor pens of varying size. They are so socially starved they cannot control their emotions when a Gorn goes near them. The Gorns agree that they could never be House-Humans.
The dwelling you share with your Gorn family is filled with water-filled porcelain bowls. Every time you try to urinate in one, nearby Gorn attack you. You learn to only use the toilet when there are no Gorns present. Sometimes they come home and stuff your head down the toilet for no apparent reason. You hate this and start sucking up to the Gorns when they come home to try and stave this off but they view this as evidence of your guilt. You are also punished for watching videos, reading books, talking to other human beings, eating pizza or cheesecake, and writing letters. These are all considered behavior problems by the Gorns.
To avoid going crazy, once again you wait until they are not around to try doing anything you wish to do. While they are around, you sit quietly, staring straight ahead. Because they witness this good behavior you are so obviously capable of, they attribute to “spite” the video watching and other transgressions that occur when you are alone. Obviously you resent being left alone, they figure. You are walked several times a day and left crossword puzzle books to do. You have never used them because you hate crosswords; the Gorns think you’re ignoring them out of revenge. Worst of all, you like them. They are, after all, often nice to you. But when you smile at them, they punish you, likewise for shaking hands. If you apologize they punish you again.
You have not seen another human since you were a small child. When you see one you are curious, excited and afraid. You really don’t know how to act. So, the Gorn you live with keeps you away from other humans. Your social skills never develop.
Finally, you are brought to “training” school. A large part of the training consists of having your air briefly cut off by a metal chain around your neck. They are sure you understand every squeak and telepathic communication they make because sometimes you get it right. You are guessing and hate the training. You feel pretty stressed out a lot of the time. One day, you see a Gorn approaching with the training collar in hand. You have PMS, a sore neck and you just don’t feel up to the baffling coercion about to ensue. You tell them in your sternest voice to please leave you alone and go away. The Gorns are shocked by this unprovoked aggressive behavior. They thought you had a good temperament.
They put you in one of their vehicles and take you for a drive. You watch the attractive planetary landscape going by and wonder where you are going. You are led into a building filled with the smell of human sweat and excrement. Humans are everywhere in small cages. Some are nervous, some depressed, most watch the goings on on from their prisons. Your Gorns, with whom you have lived your entire life, hand you over to strangers who drag you to a small room. You are terrified and yell for your Gorn family to help you. They turn and walk away. You are held down and given a lethal injection. It is, after all, the humane way to do it.”
― Jean Donaldson, The Culture Clash

25/11/2022

distance recall
100-foot line back-and-forth game
some points to follow with this exercise ( and errrr ones not necessarily shown lol!):
> make sure the dog has enough line to get to the other person without being je**ed
> reinforce (give amazing, yummy treats) just for coming, don’t ask for anything else like a sit or down. we want to make sure the dog understands that awesome treat it for the recall. once you dog has a reliable recall, ask for whatever you want from the incoming dog!
> after the person has given the dog the treat, say “free” or whatever your release word is. that way the dog knows that task is complete. the other person on the other end then knows to do their call then.
> if a dog is lingering with one person, that person should turn away, be very boring and not engaging at all with the dog.
> only give cues once, make it count, exciting jazzy call. don’t bend over or do other things you don’t want to teach you dog that you have to do in order for them to come.

20/11/2022

this is a back-and-forth game that you can play on a long line:
the first video is a 20 foot line, the second one is half of a 100’.
when you’re teaching a recall it’s really important to do this on a long line because if your dog doesn’t come when you call you need to walk the line out with some sort of delicious snacks and lure them back to where you were standing. throw a party and feed them lots of yumminess. then repeat the exercise like they did an amazing job.
you don’t ever want to use the line to pull the dog towards you. having your dog comes to you needs to be their choice. cause trust me when they’re not on a line it is going to be their choice 100%!

19/11/2022

answer honestly now. . .
how is your dog’s recall?

this, to me, is the best training. Willa needed some recall work. Here she is volunteering the behavior, I’m not asking her to come or follow me. I am reinforcing her for coming to me each time and I’m making it fun and exciting for her.

06/11/2022

more of the “get it” / “leave it” game
featuring ardesia (pook) from tails of harmony dog training in portland maine

04/11/2022

“get it” / “leave it” game, you can play on a walk.
training a dog to track thrown treats is the basis for so many other trained cues and exercises.
I always make sure I use a cue for retrieving it, for my dog it’s “get it.”
but if you already use this cue for anything else, I would pick a different one. The reason I always use a cue for throwing treats is because “leave it” it is implied, it needs to be automatic, because there’s a lot of sketchy stuff out there and I don’t want my dog eating whatever she finds.
i’m not gonna lie . . . I’ve been super lazy with training my dog lately, so we’re revisiting some impulse control games so I figured I would post them!
(don’t worry I picked up the “leave it” treats on the way home because I don’t want somebody to be concerned what their dog ate. or to be reinforced at the wrong time on a walk because there’s food on the road.)

23/05/2022

i am now a member of the Association of Professional Dog Trainers! i was doing my recertification for my CPDT and they now require you to be a member of this! more goodies in my bag of certs lol.

10/04/2021

play interrupters - so important to teach

whenever your dog is playing, practice; recall, treat, "go play." they don't need to sit or do anything else, give them a treat and send them right back to play with a cue such as "go play." if you start when they are young or start with calm play with less distractions, then work up. this is crucial to be able to recall your dog from situations with other dogs. if you ever feel you NEED to recall because of a potential, not-great situation, you will be very glad you have this on cue! talk with the other owners at play places you frequent and ask if they can practice this with you. ALSO when you are ready to leave with your dog and go home, your dog will not anticipate this and avoid coming to you, because they know what is next (end of play, go home).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vicUUIMdd8Y

whenever your dog is playing, practice; recall, treat, "go play." they don't need to sit or do anything else, give them a treat and send them right back to p...

21/03/2021

here is owen and phobos doing a great job with "sit," "stay," and return to dog. working with kids to respect and communicate with their dogs, so they can teach them in positive ways, is amazing!!!!
https://youtu.be/HVRv8vUTRMY

owen does such a great job training training his 10 week old chocolate lab puppy "phobos" that his parent have him take the lead on her training. owen is ver...

21/03/2021

here is owen, 7, training his 10-week-old chocolate lab puppy, phobos: "stay," "come," "touch." perfect job!
https://youtu.be/d5evD_9qr6Q

kids are amazing dog trainers. owen is 7 years old and does an absolutely perfect job training his 10 week old chocolate lab puppy "phobos." plus you all had...