Gimme Five!

We are all busy. Jobs, kids, school, dogs, yard work, and the list goes on and on. But if you don't take the time to train your dog, he'll be a wild Hellion the rest of his life. And that's no good.

Here's a solution I read in my emails today that makes SO much sense. Five minutes a day. Surely we can carve out that much for our canine companion. Of course you can do more. But just gimme five. A day.

Start with a couple minutes of play-whatever your dog loves. Then five minutes of training, follow that with a couple minutes more of play. And there you go. By starting and ending with play, you are making it fun for both of you and less of a chore. And the time will zip by. I predict that your sessions will get longer or more frequent as you two have the time of your lives training.  

Gimme five minutes! Try it for a week. Try at different times of the day, before your dog eats, before bed, on a walk, while watching TV (put the movie on pause and take a break). I'll do it with you and tell me what success you have. I can't wait to hear!

Tough love? I dont get it.....

I was reading a post about someone using "tough love" on a fearful foster. Seriously? Made him take a bath, do his nails and used a blow dryer. "Boy was he mad!" It read. Maybe he was scared to death. Ya think?  It also reads that more tough love and he'll be just fine. Wow.

First of all folks-you can't reinforce fear. Fear is a feeling not a behavior. How do you think that dog will feel in the future about baths, nail trimming and blow drying? Not good. I can assure you.

Second of all-you can't explain "tough love" to a dog like you can to a person. But if you pair up wonderful things (treats, play, affection) with the scary thing or event, they will have a better feeling, maybe even a happy feeling about it.

I have used this technique many times, especially with my Help for Reactive Dogs Class. Most recently with my Pyrenees Tulip. She was very afraid of baths and nail trims. I used a clicker and hot dogs to help her move up to the bathroom, move into the bathroom, close the door, step into the tub and finally take a bath. When she would hesitate, we went slower.

Today, my daughter rubbed Tulip's tummy while I did nails. No fear. So the point is-you can't reinforce fear. But you can teach new behaviors to overcome fear using positive force free methods. Just do it!

Let 'em Sniff

The noses lead. Dogs love to sniff. They can tell so much about what's going on by smelling the ground, plants, trees, posts, just about everything. It makes them feel more secure if they can check things out on a walk. Kinda like us and our cell phones. What do we grab first thing in the morning, last thing at night, after a meeting or a meal-our phone. We need to know what's going on. So do our dogs. So let them sniff and smell.

But how do we move the walk on? They'd sniff and smell all day! I have a cue for mine. It goes like this: when the sniff time is over (determined by you) I say their name then "1,2,3 Let's go!" On the 3 Let's go! My feet start moving and we move along.

Give your dog some sniff time, they need to check out THEIR social media too!

Pics

You guys need some pics. I can't add them from my phone. :( But here's some from a computer. Enjoy!

View from my backdoor.

Last day of Back to School Special Deal Deal.

Leave it! Can you see it spelled out in pretzels?  

Twins in Puppy class! Squeeeeee!!!

Goodbye to Summer

Our last week of park classes. Except for my Help for Reactive Dogs Class. We'll be out there working through October. But this is the last week for Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. Booooo. I LOVE the park classes! Love working outside, having lots and lots of room. Interacting with passerbys and their dog's, bikes, skateboards, bikes and more. Lots of folks petting our dogs who are tryingto sit politely for petting. This summer was a little squirrelly though. Some rain, some flooding, some extreme heat. Wow. But lots and lots of great dogs and awesome owners. Lots of fun and learning going on. Wonderful teams being formed and strengthened. Great "Stays", "Come when Called" and "Loose Leash Walking". Dogs learning Attention and Focus with all kinds of distractions.

I'm going to miss you Summer. I'll be counting the days till I see you again. Autumn is okay, Winter is so so. I love the cold weather for about a week, then I'm done with it. Spring is awesome but fickle. But Summer. Love. It.

I'll be sending out a newsmail soon as one of my nights is changing locations. I'm very excited for this new location and grateful to have it. I'll give you the details then. Till then soak up every minute of what's left of Summer. Enjoy the Labor Day weekend. I'll still have classes Saturday but none on Labor Day Monday. Goodbye Summer. It was fun!

Back to School Deal Deal and a Contest

Have I got a Deal Deal for you! Starting today I'm having a Back to School Deal Deal. If you have taken Puppy Classes or Adults Levels 1 and 2, and would like to continue your dog's education, here's your chance. Today 8-8 till 8-31 level 3 cclasses on sale for 20% off. That's $88 for 8 classes! Buy them now, use them now. Buy them now, use them later (expiration date 8-31-2016). Buy them now, give as gifts(early Christmas shopping, Yay!) and here's the contest-post a selfieof you and your dog on my FB page this weekend (contest ends midnight Sunday)and the best one wins a set of Level 3 Classes. (Value $110). Hurry do it now!

Summer.....where'd you go?

It seems like we're just getting done with fireworks and the Fourth and then the evenings start getting darker sooner and kids are going back to school. "Sigh"....summer's just not long enough. We wait all winter, plow through snow and ice for month, endure sooooo many grey days. Summer's finally here-then gone in a blink of an eye.
I had planned on some Flash classes this summer but between all the rain, extreme heat, flooding and a 2 week moving adventure, it's already August. I've had to cancel more classes this summer because of weather than any since I've had park classes. But there's still time so watch for some Flash classes soon. Same thing for Tulip's Training time. Thought we had time but------there goes summer.
I am cooking up a special price deal for those wanting to continue their training. Watch your inbox and Facebook. You will love it!