Drakenstein K9

27/07/2023

What a healthy, fit & well conditioned dog looks like;

23/07/2023

Most dogs 👇🤣🤣🤣

https://www.facebook.com/reel/239882982162215?mibextid=9drbnH&s=yWDuG2&fs=e

19/07/2023

Phoebe's before & after. Really so proud of this girl's progress. She's so gentle & sweet I thought there is no way this dog will bite. But somewhere along the line she figured out that biting the bad guy makes her hooman happy, so she gives it all she's got, and it's plenty!

19/07/2023

Faye & Luna in town today. Both have successfully completed the obedience course and will now be joining the protection group.

09/07/2023

Aggression on command with Kai. 🤯

12/06/2023

Winter Group 1. This is Kai, Frans & Phoebe. ☃️ ❄️ ☔️ 🐕

29/05/2023

Throwing stuff at the dogs cause we're all a little frustrated 🤪

28/05/2023

Oh but prong collars are so inhumane! 😱

28/05/2023

🤣🤷‍♀️

28/05/2023

Now before anyone freaks (owners or trainers), remember, this is meant as a general observation, stemming from many, many conversations with many, many trainers. If you—owner or trainer—don’t fall into these categories or agree with these statements, cool your jets…there’s always exceptions, and they don’t disprove the veracity of these observations…they only prove there are exceptions.

So, “too soft”, means that trainers are often tiptoeing around what owners need to do in order to be successful with their dogs. Because owners are often driven more by emotion than reality, their goals and their emotions often diverge, causing dogs who could be successful to not be. The firmness needed of course is on a large spectrum which runs from mildly firmer (some simple rules and consequences), to considerably firmer (exhaustive rules, permission-based movement, heavily reduced affection, and very firm consequences.) Owners unable to escape the “softness” will often struggle with even the easiest dogs, regardless of how much training or how good it is. Forget about a truly difficult dog.

“Too selfish”, means that owners prioritize their desires, their comfort, their fulfillment, over their dogs. This creates dysfunctional relationships and dysfunctional dogs—by way of unending affection, spoiling, allowing, enabling, excuse making, zero rules, zero boundaries, and zero consequences. All of which is meant to make the owner feel better, rather than make the dog feel or behave better.

“Too lazy”, means that owners find the demands of the training requirements too…demanding. So they let little moments go, they let big moments go, they bend or ignore agreed upon rules, they find using the tools (just putting them on the dog) consistently too exhausting, they can’t be bothered to put the time in to master the use of said tools, they can’t be bothered to master the training protocols, they can’t be bothered to change the lifestyle issues which contribute to the problems, and of course, they can’t be bothered to change the parts of themselves which are encouraging and facilitating the problems.

I could dive into each of these in more depth, but I think you get the idea. I wrote this not to be nasty or harsh with owners, I wrote it simply as an observation that might hopefully help owners who ARE struggling to see what role they might be playing in maintaining that struggle. And to help them see it from the trainer’s standpoint. Because as trainers, we hear “things”, and many of them we hear, or experience over and over. So why not have an honest conversation, and see if we can’t get some better results…for those honestly interested? And who knows, we might just see fewer frustrated, annoyed, burnt out trainers…and maybe, just maybe, perhaps even more happy, successful, healthy owners and dogs!

P.S. Although I’ve already stated it, I can already envision all the protestations of the exceptions—or the items left out—or the unfairness—or the crappy training that was responsible…etc, etc. I know there are exceptions. I also know this isn’t a perfect or exhaustive list. And I also know that excuses and justifications make the world go around. So owners and trainers, take a deep breath, and perhaps get something positive out of this, rather than find the locations of disagreement or exception to be annoyed with.

28/05/2023

It’s just a stare, it’s just a growl, it’s just pulling on the leash, it’s just blowing through the threshold, it’s just happy jumping and nipping, it’s just exploding at another dog, it’s just wanting to protect his food, it's just her favorite toy, it’s just that he’s tired and grumpy…

So many small moments where your dog was trying to figure out the lay of the land; who you “are” and what was possible. And without knowing, you told your dog precisely who you were and precisely what was possible.

Inevitably those small moments got bigger and bigger. The “ask” larger and more serious.

Eventually, somehow, you ended up with a dog who redirects/bites you when things on walks get serious. Eventually, you somehow ended up with a dog who resource guards their food or their toys or the couch or their personal space. Eventually, somehow you ended up with a dog who bites guests or perhaps you or family members whenever anyone breaks one of the unwritten rules your dog has passed into law.

The laws can be many, and new ones can be created spontaneously. Inevitably, they always seem to expand and become less tolerant and forgiving as time goes on.

You unknowingly built and began to climb a compliance ladder. By letting small moments go, you encouraged bigger moments to follow. And like clockwork, they surely did. And somehow, over time, life with your dog became something unwieldy, “unpredictable”, and dangerous.

Because instead of dismantling the ladder and creating clarity about who would create the rules and enforce them, you, yourself built it, and created a tyrant—one who you placed in power, and one you now have to work exceptionally hard to please and remain on their good, safe side.

The good news, you can still dismantle the ladder. But as we all know, it’s far harder attempting to dismantle that which is already built and firmly established. Far better to ensure it’s never built in the first place.

28/05/2023

So many view affection through the terribly simplistic lens of an owner simply sharing “love” with their dog. They have no idea what the affectionate interactions are sharing about themselves, and the impact these interactions are having on their dog’s behavior. And for many, if this topic is even broached, it’s met with immediate defensiveness and condemnation.

But let me dare to wade into these emotionally fraught waters.

Whether you like it or not, affection is sharing your softness, while often emboldening your dog’s firmness. On its own it’s a presentation and clarification of who you are and how you wish to be perceived by your dog. If you refuse to buy into this being a reality, there’s no sense in reading further.

But if you DO understand and accept this reality, then you can be smart and healthy in your applications of affection, and instead of creating unfortunate outcomes, you can create healthy, happy, and flourishing outcomes.

And how does one go about achieving this? By striking a strategic and healthy balance between the presentation of your affectionate, soft stuff, and your rules/structure/accountability presentation…or firm stuff.

Affection in and of itself isn’t an issue. I’m very affectionate with my own dogs. But I balance my affection with strong, believable leadership—which enables me and my dogs to have all the soft, affectionate, sweet interactions without losing our balance and creating any negative fallout.

You see, the affection isn’t the problem, it’s the absence of its balancing force—believable leadership—which is the problem. 99% of owners are amazing with sharing affection, and terrible when it comes to sharing anything resembling firm leadership. And so they end up with lopsided, dysfunctional, overwhelming, and even dangerous relationship dynamics simply because their presentation of themselves to their dogs is as a one-dimensional doormat…unintentionally.

I wrote about this in my first book Love Them By Leading Them, and it’s the piece that leads off the book: The 10/10 principle. This principle is a simple heuristic for owners to be able to better assess how they show up with their dogs, and what adjustments are likely needed if there’s issues. Put simply, if you’re a 10 in affection you better be a 10 in discipline. And if you’re a 3 in discipline you’d better be a 3 in affection.
I share this because I see almost all owners we work with grossly misunderstanding the impact of affection on their dogs, while simultaneously grossly misunderstanding (or ignoring) the beneficial aspects of discipline on them and how these two interactions, or conversations impact and cultivate what ultimately becomes their relationship dynamic as well as their life-dynamic together.
TL;DR: Every interaction with your dog is a conversation about who you are and what role you wish to play in your dog’s life. And if you want the best for both of you, be as believable and forthcoming in your discipline as you are in your affection and you’ll be great.

10/05/2023

Santino, Blitz & Max making good progress. 💪 These are dogs from show and pet lines; in other words, they don't really have the genetics for this type of work. But with some guidance, encouragement and proper training they can still learn the basics and become decent protectors for their families.

07/05/2023

Ain't this the truth 👇👇👇

06/05/2023

It takes 2 to tango 👇

Dog trainers don’t possess any magic. What they do possess, if they’re good at their craft, is a highly developed set of skills. But remember, at one point they knew very little, and likely got into this line of work because they were struggling with their own dogs.

So what’s the difference between a skilled and knowledgeable dog trainer and a struggling owner? Yep, you guessed it, skills and knowledge.

These people that you now hire for help were once struggling much like yourself. What did they do? They developed within themselves—likely with the help of another dog trainer—what was necessary to be able to solve their problems, and now, with all that ability, they help others with theirs’.

But, and this is a big but, all they can do is help. They can share information, teach skills, coach, and root you on—but only you can put in the work to take what is being shared and make it something personal, integrated, and useful.

You don’t have to become a dog trainer, but you do have to become a skilled, and knowledgeable owner—to whatever extent needed to match your goals.

Otherwise you’ll have to settle for watching your dog “magically” excel with your trainer, and “mysteriously” deteriorate with you.

18/04/2023

3 x Handsome. This is Max, Blitz & Santino

18/04/2023

🤣🤣🤣

💯

canineaesthete.etsy.com

13/04/2023

Off leash obedience in town with Kylo 🦮

10/04/2023

Civil drills with Kylo

24/03/2023

Kylo learning impulse control & the "leave it" command.

15/03/2023

🤣🤣

15/03/2023

This Rottie 😍

09/03/2023

New branding, same great training! I have been playing with the idea of rebranding for some time and finally decided to take the leap. CK9 will now become Drakenstein K9. Reasons being that their is another company called CK9 in Cape Town, and people keep confusing me with them. 😂 But also I felt like a change and something more representative of what we do.

Drakenstein is the area I am in but it also happens to be the Dutch word for Dragon Stone, the house of the dragon for those familiar with the popular tv series. The dragon is symbolic for power, strength, valiance and boldness, all character traits that we strive to cultivate, both in ourselves, but also in the K9's we share our lives with.

I decided on "forged by fire"as our slogan. Obviously dragons breath fire, lol - but it's also the process by which a raw product is hardened by going through a difficult process, much like how we build a protection dog. I asked a professional to design a logo for us based on the above idea, and here is what he came up with: 💪🏻😊

07/03/2023

🤣🤣 happens so often..

05/03/2023

Training March 2023 💪💪💪

05/03/2023

For sure

03/03/2023