Oreo thoroughly enjoyed his shopping trip today. He worked so hard....oh wait...not really. Lol
A happy Vics is working on public access skills. So many new sights and sounds to get used to. Pairing with treats and praise make it a lot more fun!
Rox posing on a rock while out on our training adventure. Say cheeeeese!!
Poppy is enjoying playing in the sunshine! Happy pup!
Ranger is doing such a great job practicing the leave it cue. He is a quick learner! Smart pup here!!
Our St. Patrick's Day litter have their eyes open!! They also have names now!! So exciting!! They are so cute and squishy!!
Happy Valentine"s Day!! Share the love!! Show us a pic of your canine love!!
Awesome Ellie. Love the strut in her happy step!
Scent training with Kids!
👶Having children assist with scent training can be a bit tricky. Young children often do not have the understanding to be secretive and do not understand the concept of cueing the dog's behavior. Children can still be of awesome assistance! Freddie has learned when the out of range is present, nudge to alert. In this video the child noticeably has something under her shirt, which of course is the out of range scent, so she alerts. Great job! That is what we want. The critical part here is to occasionally have the child do the same behavior and NOT have the scent present at all. If the dog nudges, no reward is given. This way the dog's cue is not the presence of the child with her hands in her shirt, rather it is the presence of the scent when the child appears. This is called proofing the skill or scent. So, not only is the dog getting training around and with a child, it is also a way to work on proofing the dog's skills. Obviously, this training is especially useful when the service dog is being trained for a child. A special thanks to this beautiful lil' child for her assistance! ❤️🐕🦺 (click the picture to view the video if it doesn't automatically play for you.)
Boarding dog Skipper is having fun fun fun while his mom and dad are away!
Training with Dale at Petco on the beginning stages of heel and "this way" as a cue to let him know we are changing direction. Such a cute pup!
Outside fun time for our 'Legends', Aretha Franklin, Elton John, Smokey Robinson, and Paul McCartney!
Training on a sidewalk by traffic with Lovee! ❤️ Cars flying by create a lot of noise, wind, and energy. It can be a bit scary for a dog, so we start slowly and gradually move up to busier areas. She is doing wonderful!
Our boy Samson! Such a happy boy!
Great video to show how a dog's body language tells you a lot!
In this very short video the dog's ears go back, his mouth closes, and he slowly begins to get up as he notices some women walking by with a dog. His handler quickly gets his attention to break the staring 'alert' behavior. As he reorients to his handler the reorienting behavior is marked with the 'yes' marker word and he is given a treat.
Without watching body language and addressing the behavior, in most cases a dog is left to build excitement or anxiety which can lead to an anxious or nervous bark and eventually to lunging reactive behavior. Many times people will say that the dog "all of a sudden became reactive to..." insert object: cat, dog, people, bird, etc.
It rarely comes on all of a sudden. The body language was there however the human missed it and therefore didn't address the behavior. At the stage in this video, it is an easy easy fix. Get the dog's attention and make positive associations every time he sees what ever object elicited the undesired behavior seen. In the case of this video it was either people or the other dog. Either way, my job is to make it a point to mark the non-reactive behavior, and praise/ treat every time he sees a person or a dog until when he sees the object he instinctively looks to me. Potential reactive behavior addressed before it ever begins.
Having a well behaved dog begins with learning and understanding your dog's body language. 🐕
Video blooper: When you are training and the dog just has to give you a smooch before he completes his cue! 💙 lol 😆 It is hard to just keep going and not acknowledge this adorable act of love. 😂
Gypsy has learned how to relax on a dog bed. Young dogs have no problem being excited and playful. Learning how to relax while the family watches TV is a little harder. Having a place for them to have as their spot to relax allows them to have consistency and to know what the expectation of them is. Everything has a time and place, dogs just need to know what time it is. Gypsy is doing great with relax time!!
Milo checked in! Good boy Milo! He wants to play, but is controlling his impulse!!
Ginger
Psychiatric service dog in training. This is Ginger. She is ready for an owner who she can assist. For info on her email or give us a call.
The video is easier to read in full screen.
