Freedom Dog Training Academy

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Freedom Dog Training Academy

We offer our unique Freedom Dog Training Academy, online courses, interactive classroom, group classes and private lessons.

We also have dogs stay in our home for training with us and our dogs on our beautiful 1.7 acre property.

04/12/2024

Getting your dogs weight at the vet shouldn’t be a stressful event. Does your dog willing get on the scale or are they stressed? Is it easy or a big ordeal?

Let’s us help!

freedomdta.com

03/12/2024

I’m not sure this video does it justice in just how calm yet intense Doc is right now. He loves his food.

30/11/2024

Watson and Tori have the right idea tonight.

28/11/2024

The dogs are enjoying a fun Thanksgiving. We hope you and your family are too!

27/11/2024

How to tell you’re a dog person without saying you’re a dog person. 😝

25/11/2024

We used to feed our dogs completely raw. And honestly we hope to again some day. But at that time we had less personal dogs and more free time. Currently all out dogs eat kibble but we like to add in fresh food when we can.

For Chris’ breakfast he’s getting Fromm with some raw hamburger and a raw egg. His kibble was soaked in water beforehand to add more moisture to his meal. He thought this was yummy!

24/11/2024

Molly and Sydney are back for boarding. These girls are all settled in. They love coming and staying in our home during boarding.

24/11/2024

Our dishwasher is hard at work keeping bowls clean. And today is Kong stuffing day. Each week we stuff around many kongs for the our dogs and dogs staying here.

What do you stuff your dogs Kong with?

20/11/2024

I’ve been running into a lot of people who think we need to institute a certification/ID program for service animals, and who insist this is not discriminatory. Let’s talk about why exactly this would be discriminatory.

First, let’s define discrimination. According to the Oxford dictionary, it is “the unjust or prejudicial treatment of different categories of people, especially on the grounds of ethnicity, age, s*x, or disability.” Simply put, it’s treating someone less favorably because of their disability, etc.

Requiring a disabled individual to produce ID for their medical equipment (the legal classification of a service animal) simply to enter a business, when everyone else can waltz right in without showing anything, is treating the disabled person less favorably.

“But Abrea, we require a driver’s license to drive, or an ID to buy alcohol or to***co. How is that any different?” It’s different because EVERYONE must have a driver’s license/ID for those things. Think of it this way- if we only required a driver’s license for redheads, that would be discrimination. But since everyone must have a license to drive, everyone is treated the same and there is therefore no discrimination.

“But you are getting a special privilege to bring your service animal into the business, so it’s okay.” Again, service animals are medical equipment. No one has to show ID for their wheelchair, cane, CGM, glasses, or other forms of medical equipment. Requiring it only of service animal handlers would be discrimination. Also, equal access is not a special privilege.

The only way that requiring service animal handlers to present ID to enter a business with their service animal (medical equipment) would be to require EVERYONE to present ID that indicated whether or not they have a service animal in order to enter a business. I’m pretty sure that the average abled person would not be willing to do this. Why, then, should we be okay with having to present ID? Why should we be okay with discriminatory treatment?

This is just one of the many issues with the idea of having an ID/certification for service animals. And, BTW, this isn’t just me saying it’s discriminatory. The DOJ ruled against instituting an ID/certification for service animals because they found it to be discriminatory.

[image: a grey mini horse, standing in a grassy field, facing the camera. She is wearing a black halter, black harness with rainbow trim, and a rainbow vest that is mostly obscured by the angle of the photo.]

11/11/2024

One of Rio’s tasks is deep pressure therapy. He has a few positions. This one is one he chose, I liked and he can volunteer this position or I can ask him to do it. His other two positions are ones I taught him.

We’re at the doctors office this morning to discuss my continuing back pain and other concerns. He is such a good boy!

01/11/2024

The Nothing Activity

The nothing activity is a training skill where we teach dogs how to do nothing when we’re doing nothing. This is very handy for several scenarios and can be taught before formal obedience. We also prefer to teach it first as it’s easy to teach to puppies or dogs who are new to training and helps with teaching obedience later on.

Some examples of where the nothing activity can be handy are:
⭐if you’re on a walk and stop to talk with a friend, your dog lays down and chills versus pulling on the leash, whining, barking, jumping on you or your friend…
⭐you visit a pet friendly store and go to check out. You can easily check out cause your dog chills versus causing a ruckus
⭐you take your dog to a dog training class and while you and your dog are waiting for your turn to practice or listening to directions, your dog is chilling.

In the video below, you can see a 5 month old GSD learning about doing nothing. This is a very important skill to learn and can be taught to puppies as young as 8-10 weeks old.

Looking for dog training? You can contact us by

🐕Filling out our contact form (https://pocketsuite.io/lead/freedomdta?)
🐶Texting us at 815-369-0895 or
🐾You can schedule a Meet & Greet today online at https://pocketsuite.io/book/freedomdta/items/meet-and-greets

31/10/2024

What is a Meet & Greet?

A Meet & Greet is the first step toward training. We encourage any client who wants to meet with us first before starting training to schedule a meet and greet. Meet & Greets are required before clients sign up for ether a private lesson program or a board & train program. All other training Meet & Greets are optional. Meet & Greets can be done virtually, at our location in Minooka, or in your home.

A Meet & Greet is a time for you to get to know us, about our training and talk about training options. We also get to know about yourself and your dog so we can best help with training recommendations. A Meet & Greet appointment lasts 60 minutes.

If you have any questions about Meet & Greets, please let us know below!

Looking for dog training? You can contact us by

🐕Filling out our contact form (https://pocketsuite.io/lead/freedomdta?)
🐶Texting us at 815-369-0895 or
🐾You can schedule a Meet & Greet today online at https://pocketsuite.io/book/freedomdta/items/meet-and-greets

31/10/2024

How you hold your leash is important when training with your dog. Some ways of holding your leash are not safe. For example, wrapping the leash around your hand. If your dog takes off or pulls very hard, you could injure your hand with the leash wrapped around it. Another example is around the wrist.

A safer way to hold the leash is to put it around your thumb and then close your hand on the leash as demonstrated in the video below. This is an example of the numerous videos that are available in our online Google Classroom.

Looking for dog training? You can contact us by

🐕Filling out our contact form (https://pocketsuite.io/lead/freedomdta?)
🐶Texting us at 815-369-0895 or
🐾You can schedule a Meet & Greet today online at https://pocketsuite.io/book/freedomdta/items/meet-and-greets

30/10/2024

Reward versus Bribery

In our training, food is an important component. However, although we use food in our training we do not bribe dogs with food. We use food to help dogs and as the help the dog needs fades so does the food over time. When using food to bribe the dog, the dependency on the food remains long term.
Check out our video that gives more detail on rewarding your dog versus bribing your dog with food.

Looking for dog training? You can contact us by

🐕Filling out our contact form (https://pocketsuite.io/lead/freedomdta?)
🐶Texting us at 815-369-0895 or
🐾You can schedule a Meet & Greet today online at https://pocketsuite.io/book/freedomdta/items/meet-and-greets

30/10/2024

Meet our Dogs!

We have four dogs that we currently own. First up is Chris. He is our oldest dog right now at 10 years old. We got Chris as a foster dog in November 2014 when he was around 1 year old. And several months later, we foster failed. Originally we said he was a perfect foster dog because he was a male (at that time we had only ever owned females), he was a short coat border mix (our original border collie was a rough coat) and he snored at night.

But Chris has been a great dog. When we first got him, Nicole was training him to be her service dog but unfortunately that was not the life for Chris. Although he LOVED to do his tasks, he developed sound sensitivity in public. He has lived with us as a beloved pet and helping so many owners and their dogs in private lessons and board and train. He is just the bestest boy!

28/10/2024

Conditioned Relaxation is part of the TBTE Relaxation Triad that we teach dogs and owners. It can be great when you need to help a dog relax using physical touch or if the dog won't take food.

Wally had no issues with other stairs in his house or any of the stairs at our house during his training. Wally was nervous about going down these stairs to his owners basement. Some dogs will move forward well with some pressure/release work and food but even with that Wally was struggling so his owner did conditioned relaxation with him and as you'll see at the end of the video, he is a whole different dog regarding the stairs.

Looking for dog training? You can contact us by
🐕 filling out our contact form (https://pocketsuite.io/lead/freedomdta?)
🐶texting us at 815-369-0895 or
🐾 you can schedule a Meet & Greet today online at https://pocketsuite.io/book/freedomdta/items/meet-and-greets

Address

Opening Hours

Monday	08:00 - 20:00
Tuesday	08:00 - 20:00
Wednesday	08:00 - 20:00
Thursday	08:00 - 20:00
Friday	08:00 - 20:00
Saturday	08:00 - 20:00
Sunday	08:00 - 20:00

Telephone

+18159557527

Website

http://www.freedomdogtrainingacademy.com/

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Videos

I’m not sure this video does it justice in just how calm yet intense Doc is right now. He loves his food.

One of Rio’s tasks is deep pressure therapy. He has a few positions. This one is one he chose, I liked and he can volunteer this position or I can ask him to do it. His other two positions are ones I taught him. We’re at the doctors office this morning to discuss my continuing back pain and other concerns. He is such a good boy!

5 month old GSD doing the nothing activity

The Nothing Activity The nothing activity is a training skill where we teach dogs how to do nothing when we’re doing nothing. This is very handy for several scenarios and can be taught before formal obedience. We also prefer to teach it first as it’s easy to teach to puppies or dogs who are new to training and helps with teaching obedience later on. Some examples of where the nothing activity can be handy are: ⭐if you’re on a walk and stop to talk with a friend, your dog lays down and chills versus pulling on the leash, whining, barking, jumping on you or your friend… ⭐you visit a pet friendly store and go to check out. You can easily check out cause your dog chills versus causing a ruckus ⭐you take your dog to a dog training class and while you and your dog are waiting for your turn to practice or listening to directions, your dog is chilling. In the video below, you can see a 5 month old GSD learning about doing nothing. This is a very important skill to learn and can be taught to puppies as young as 8-10 weeks old. Looking for dog training? You can contact us by 🐕Filling out our contact form (https://pocketsuite.io/lead/freedomdta?) 🐶Texting us at 815-369-0895 or 🐾You can schedule a Meet & Greet today online at https://pocketsuite.io/book/freedomdta/items/meet-and-greets

Door Tricking 5 dogs!

What is a Meet & Greet? A Meet & Greet is the first step toward training. We encourage any client who wants to meet with us first before starting training to schedule a meet and greet. Meet & Greets are required before clients sign up for ether a private lesson program or a board & train program. All other training Meet & Greets are optional. Meet & Greets can be done virtually, at our location in Minooka, or in your home. A Meet & Greet is a time for you to get to know us, about our training and talk about training options. We also get to know about yourself and your dog so we can best help with training recommendations. A Meet & Greet appointment lasts 60 minutes. If you have any questions about Meet & Greets, please let us know below! Looking for dog training? You can contact us by 🐕Filling out our contact form (https://pocketsuite.io/lead/freedomdta?) 🐶Texting us at 815-369-0895 or 🐾You can schedule a Meet & Greet today online at https://pocketsuite.io/book/freedomdta/items/meet-and-greets

How to hold your leash

How you hold your leash is important when training with your dog. Some ways of holding your leash are not safe. For example, wrapping the leash around your hand. If your dog takes off or pulls very hard, you could injure your hand with the leash wrapped around it. Another example is around the wrist. A safer way to hold the leash is to put it around your thumb and then close your hand on the leash as demonstrated in the video below. This is an example of the numerous videos that are available in our online Google Classroom. Looking for dog training? You can contact us by 🐕Filling out our contact form (https://pocketsuite.io/lead/freedomdta?) 🐶Texting us at 815-369-0895 or 🐾You can schedule a Meet & Greet today online at https://pocketsuite.io/book/freedomdta/items/meet-and-greets

Reward versus Bribery

Reward versus Bribery In our training, food is an important component. However, although we use food in our training we do not bribe dogs with food. We use food to help dogs and as the help the dog needs fades so does the food over time. When using food to bribe the dog, the dependency on the food remains long term. Check out our video that gives more detail on rewarding your dog versus bribing your dog with food. Looking for dog training? You can contact us by 🐕Filling out our contact form (https://pocketsuite.io/lead/freedomdta?) 🐶Texting us at 815-369-0895 or 🐾You can schedule a Meet & Greet today online at https://pocketsuite.io/book/freedomdta/items/meet-and-greets

The Power of CR!

Conditioned Relaxation is part of the TBTE Relaxation Triad that we teach dogs and owners. It can be great when you need to help a dog relax using physical touch or if the dog won't take food. Wally had no issues with other stairs in his house or any of the stairs at our house during his training. Wally was nervous about going down these stairs to his owners basement. Some dogs will move forward well with some pressure/release work and food but even with that Wally was struggling so his owner did conditioned relaxation with him and as you'll see at the end of the video, he is a whole different dog regarding the stairs. Looking for dog training? You can contact us by 🐕 filling out our contact form (https://pocketsuite.io/lead/freedomdta?) 🐶texting us at 815-369-0895 or 🐾 you can schedule a Meet & Greet today online at https://pocketsuite.io/book/freedomdta/items/meet-and-greets

Vinny doing Stationing

Stationing helps teach dog patience and impulse control as well as learning what things will proceed them being rewarded. For example, these dogs learn that when another dog gets food, that proceeds them getting food if they wait patiently. This also helps with dog who are overly eagar for food or resource guarding issues. Stationing helps create less conflict between the dogs and less conflict means less behavior issues. Looking for dog training? You can contact us by 🐕 filling out our contact form (https://pocketsuite.io/lead/freedomdta?) 🐶texting us at 815-369-0895 or 🐾 you can schedule a Meet & Greet today online at https://pocketsuite.io/book/freedomdta/items/meet-and-greets

Pippa Chicago Trip

Reactivity can really impact owners having an enjoyable time with their dog. Imgaine going from a dog who's barking and pulling on the walk to one that is walking on a loose leash, quiet and you can have fun adventures with. Pippa was a deaf board & traing dog who suffered from reacticity. Barking at everything! Her owner lives in Chicago so it was important that she could walk her around other people and dogs and not have Pippa barking all the time. During her board and train time with us we took her to Chicago to test out her training. She did an awesome job! Looking for dog training? You can contact us by 🐕 filling out our contact form (https://pocketsuite.io/lead/freedomdta?) 🐶texting us at 815-369-0895 or 🐾 you can schedule a Meet & Greet today online at https://pocketsuite.io/book/freedomdta/items/meet-and-greets

Luna recalling in our 8 acre hayfield

Having a dog that will come back when called is so important. We love being able to have dogs off leash and let them be dogs. And when you think about it, your dog is off leash majority of the time such as in the house and the yard. Luna would run off or play catch me if you can, Her owner wanted to be able to go on hikes with her. Now they enjoy them weekly! This is her during training in our family's 8 acre hayfield. She did a great job! Looking for dog training? You can contact us by 🐕 filling out our contact form (https://pocketsuite.io/lead/freedomdta?) 🐶texting us at 815-369-0895 or 🐾 you can schedule a Meet & Greet today online at https://pocketsuite.io/book/freedomdta/items/meet-and-greets

Luna would run off or play catch me if you can. Her owner wanted to be able to go on hikes with her. This is her during her training in our family's 8 acre hayfield with other dogs. She did an awesome job!