Loose Leash Walking - stopping at intersections
My dog automatically stops at intersections and checks in with me before crossing the road (even on her 15’ leash).
How did I teach her that? It wasn’t by insisting she sits every time we reached an intersection! All I did was create a ritual of tossing treats on the ground when we got to an intersection. She very quickly learned it payed to wait for me before crossing the road. I don’t have to ask her to wait, she automatically does it because of the reinforcement history I built.
As we walk across the road, she falls into a very natural heel (also untaught) because she knows I’ll likely reward her for staying near me as we cross the street.
Lazy training is key 💁♀️
Buddy & Fenna
Watching two dogs snuffle for treats outside is a beautiful thing to me 🤩
Buddy (goldendoodle) has BIG feelings about seeing other dogs, so my dog, Fenna, is helping him feel more neutral in the presence of other dogs.
This is his third meeting with Fenna & he’s doing better each time. Buddy has been through a lot of trauma in his short life, so this will be a long road, but I’m soooo happy to see him eating!
Buddy - reactivity training
Join Buddy and I on a training session at the for park! No, we’re not inside the park, we’re quite a ways away just working on desensitization.
The goal is for Buddy to do normal dog things while in the presence of other dogs. Things I’m looking for:
💡 relaxed, neutral tail set and ear carriage
💡 no tension in the face
💡 sniffing
💡 trotting (no frenetic movement)
💡 peeing on things (for dogs who like to mark)
💡 taking food (a dog who can’t eat is likely stressed)
💡 checking in with me
💡 no reactions, of course!
We will gradually be getting closer and closer to the dog park, but we definitely won’t be rushing it!
We get a LOT of inquiries asking if we can train dogs not to pull on leash. Luckily, it’s one of our favorite topics 🤩
There are several approaches to teaching your dog to walk on a loose leash, but one of our secret ingredients is…a longer leash 🤭
You heard that right 😁 giving the dog *more* space to sniff and explore away from you, while still keeping them safely on leash, is one of the easiest ways to keep them from pulling.
In this short video Fenna is being walked on a 15’ leash. She never once hit the end of the leash. It’s well known that dogs walk faster than us slow-poke humans. This gives her the opportunity to do that without pulling me along for the ride.
There are several more steps to helping dogs learn not to pull on leash, but this is an easy piece of the puzzle that you can implement right away!
Please share with anyone who might find this useful 🐶
Fun tricks!
We don’t *only* work on manners during Board & Train, sometimes we learn fun tricks like “bow” and “spin”! Saint is crushing it 🤜
‼️ DOGS THAT JUMP ‼️
Saint is a 4-month-old Rodesian Ridgeback puppy 🐕 that’s currently in our Board & Train program. One of his mom’s biggest obstacles was his jumping, both on people and counters/tables.
The first thing I did with Saint was harness and leash him 100% of the time except for when he was crated or in his exercise pen 💯
When we’re out in public on socialization outings, he is leashed and I do not allow greetings with people. Instead, I reward 🍗 him for ANY calm behavior around those exciting things. When he shows me that he can keep all four paws on the ground around people, then we can start working on allowing greetings 🖖
As you can see in the video, I also only reward on the ground - I want to keep the dog’s focus off of me!
It is SO important to manage the jumping so that the dog doesn’t continue rehearsing the behavior. Saint finds jumping intrinsically reinforcing, and since reinforcement makes a behavior stronger, we definitely want to stop allowing him to continue doing it 👌
This is what healthy dog play looks like! Both dogs’ body language is loose, they’re play bowing at each other and no one is stressed or anxious 🤩
There were a few moments when the golden retriever 🐕 got a bit over-aroused and played a little too aggressively, so we just separated them and did some treat scatters on the ground to calm everyone down.
Overall this was a great, playful romp in the woods 🌳 🍂 ❄️
Someone wanted to help with Fenna’s manicure last night 🙂💅🏼
Standard Poodle, Z, and his amazing owner are working❗️very❗️hard on his reactivity towards large male dogs (specifically GSDs). This is BY FAR the calmest we’ve seen him with another dog visible 🥳
🐩 We’re working on very gradual exposures to the other dog, while doing something that’s decompressing: sniffing and eating chicken from the ground.
🐩 We built a ton of breaks into this session to allow both dogs time to relax.
🐩 We had to tweak things in the plan several times until we found the sweet spot, but every dog is an individual so that’s how it goes!
Huge thank you to Shannah at Canine to 5 for her time, and to our helper dog, Levi the GSD!!!
I’m super excited to be a part of this awesome project! Gentle Beast is a *really* cool app that offers workshops and classes with curriculums written by world renowned dog trainers and veterinarians 🤩
I couldn’t be more honored to be one of the trainers available for private consults within the app 📱!!
⭐️ Check out the short video below to see a little bit of what this app has to offer, and how to book me for consults!
The app offers a FREE two week trial, and after that it’s just $99/year - pretty great deal for a dog trainer in your pocket!
The illustrations are pretty stinking awesome, too 🥳
I’m just filling out paperwork on the dining room table and she chose to station on her mat! She’s been so heavily reinforced for stationing over there while we eat meals, that anytime we sit at this table she automatically goes to that spot.
Obviously she got a treat for it 😉
Working on our recall while out on a hike!
⚡️Recall ⚡️
Look at puppy Hank’s stellar recall!!! The key to a long-lasting, successful recall?
⭐️ Don’t overuse it
⭐️ Always reward it
⭐️ Give plenty of off-leash time
We practiced Hank’s recall indoors quite a bit before we brought it outside. Now we’re gradually laying on difficulty and distractions, first in the yard, and next out in the real world! Go Hank!
Our foster puppy, Roo, is learning to potty on cue! This is a skill I teach all puppies from the moment they get home!
Little Roo is catching on quickly! 🦘
Teach your dog to file their own nails! It’s not as hard as it might seem 😉
⭐️ ENRICHMENT ⭐️ this does not need to be complicated or expensive. Many dogs love figuring out puzzles (especially if they involve novel foods, like pizza cheese!) Anytime we get a pizza I give Fenna the empty box and she has to figure out how to get it open so she can lick up the leftover cheese! She LOVES this game ♥️
Fenna is learning that turkeys are not for chasing! She earning treats for choosing to lie in the grass and look at them, and for checking in with me 🔥 Good girl, Fenna!
🌲 RECALLS 🌲
Recalls, or coming when called, are one of the most important things you’ll ever teach gour dog. A solid recall can save lives!
We’ve been working on Fenna’s recall since the day she came home, and I’m happy to say that she can be trusted to hike off leash now!
The secret? A ⭐️ strong ⭐️ reinforcement history. Give me a call to learn more 🙂
