Dream Come True K9

You can always count on the online, keyboard professionals for a good laugh...

Most dogs find this world confusing (rightly so) and just need help understanding what’s expected of them behaviorally . I’ve found that the easiest way to achieve this is by making sure that we don’t deprive that dog of routine outlets that include you and has rules to the game that you help coach/referee (while playing w them) along with communicating things to them in a way that they would w one another . It’s not only easier for them to understand, you’ve also gone out of your way to help provide what the dog needs exercise/outlet wise before expecting x amount of behavior from them that is required in order to be included in the human world.

Control is the name of the game. When you can control, you can begin to allow responsibly where you know what the outcome will he instead of hoping for a good one. Overtime you do less and the dog does more on their own as behaviors that you have reinforced and nurtured become habitual . Anyone that doesn’t like the word control or the idea of it is thinking of control in a very different way. Control is crucial. It’s just a matter of utilizing that control responsibly.

Just because something can be accomplished a certain way doesn’t necessarily make it the best choice for the dog/client . It’s also important to note that just because you got it done or that it can be done faster, doesn’t always make it the beat choice either. It’s all about finding the right balance for the situation at hand . On a separate note it’s important to explain positive reinforcement for what it actually is and does... . The definition of Reinforcement is ANYTHING that we do that increases the likelihood of the dog repeating the behavior. Positive simply means that we are adding something. In the case of positive reinforcement we are adding something that the dog deems pleasant (food for example). So in short the things that we like and want to see MORE of you want to reinforce. You WOULD NOT want to positively reinforce bad or inappropriate behavior. You could however look to reinforce the alternative/more desirable behavior however that does not necessarily mean that the bad/inappropriate one will just magically go away . This is why it’s important to not only understand what punishment is but also how to utilize it just like reinforcement in order to motivate behavior and motivate a dogs choices/habits in the right direction . And while we are at it, punishment should not be associated with abuse...all that it means is ANYTHING that decreases the likelihood of the dog repeating the behavior. So in short the things that we don’t like and want to see less of we should be in the business of punishing. What type depends on the situation. See more

Action Jackson on the day that he arrived for his board and train program with us. This guy has come a long way . Soon it’ll be time to get to work with his humans to help ensure lasting success with his behavior. Such a big piece of the puzzle that doesn’t get spoken about often enough. Its perhaps the most important piece. The owners/humans

When working with nervous, fearful and/or insecure dogs it can sometimes be helpful to use food as a barometer or a gauge that informs us how comfortable the dog is . Most of the time we are looking to help the dog feel comfortable around us first before advancing to more challenging activities. If you have a dog that won’t even take food from your hand during meal time, that’s a good place to start. With these dogs we want them to be able to trust us and take our advice in ...real world situations that they might be scared or unsure about and it’s super unrealistic to expect that when a dog is still weary about taking or even receiving food from your hand . When challenging a dog we must make sure to look at what the dog deems as a challenge vs what we feel is challenging. Doing so will give us a better shot of helping the dog to experience success at the end of the challenge which is the most important piece of the puzzle in the early stages. See more

The fool is the one that blames the tool instead of the application of the tool.

The face you make when the training starts to make sense on a fundamental and real world level #relief

Don’t waste time, get out and train your dog. Don’t waste time, get out and play with your dog. Don’t waste time, get the training that is needed in order for you to learn what is needed to provide yourselves with the best life possible with your #caninecompanions. You both deserve it and their life is but, a fraction of ours . With that in mind make sure that you seek out a trainer that is considerate of this. One that seeks to find the balance between getting you the resul...ts that you need as quickly as possible while making sure not to rush and put any unnecessary excessive pressure throughout the process . One that isn’t going to force too much too soon on a dog that isn’t ready but, also isn’t going to let ego prevent them from expediting the process where they can with certain tools or approaches that are safe. One that understands that just because you as a professional can accomplish something one way doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s the best way for the client and dog for whatever those circumstances may be . We owe this to ourselves and our dogs...because we only have so much time with them in this See more

Ollie learning a new way of life. This means time and place for play, fun, using your nose, and time and place, for cool, calm, collected and less impulsive so that you can be included more in everyday life without being a hassle/nuisance

Due to the environment that the majority of us live in, the leash is something that we will be using regardless....why not take advantage and set yourself up to be as versatile as possible with it? Learning to be versatile with your leash use can help to make you a better communicator and help the everyday owner to teach and enforce behaviors in a much easier manner

For the record odds are that your poor dog needs more than just consistent walks.....but some of you aren’t even doing that consistently and are stumped as to why your dog is acting up. . Remember how stir crazy you started to get at the start of quarantine and strict restrictions? #considerthedog

Adding rules to play in a way where the dog gets to experience success/victory after following your direction is a sure way to reinforcing the habit of your dog listening to you more . Down the road once this is known and taught making sure not to deprive them of learning that negative consequences can occur if you don’t listen as well as be avoided when you do....well that’s just icing on the cake . Right now w Wally and Aria we are reinforcing the habit of listening and following direction through them benefitting from it immensely....essentially getting what they want during the game/play/food session.

There are obviously deeper levels to communicating with your #dog however if I was to break it down for the average #dogowner in a simple way it would be as such . In order to #communicate effectively to your dog you need to understand how to do/get 3 things . You need to know how to get more of something. I like that I want to see more of that (basically you’re reinforcement). The definition of #reinforcement is: ANYTHING that we do that increases the likelihood of the ...dog repeating the behavior. Reinforcement gets more of things NOT less of things. So you want to be in the business of reinforcing good stuff and not bad stuff . You need to know how to get less of something. I don’t like that I want to see less of that. Basically your punishment. The definition of #punishment is: ANYTHING that we do that decreases the likelihood of the dog repeating the behavior. Punishment gets less of behavior so we want to be in the business of punishing the things that we want to see less of (not to be associated or confused w abuse....that’s not what punishment means folks) . And you have to know how to #condition something aka give meaning to something. Understanding the order of sequence for this is crucial as we need to give meaning to so many things such as tools, our body language, markers, commands, etc . I cover all of these things in my step by step communication course available on @consider_the_dog and do it in a way where we also learn how to build food drive, teach verbal markers and utilize this to help us with teaching leash pressure communication. With these fundamentals we have the ability to teach, fix, address or get rid of anything that we encounter in life with our #k9companions . Dm me for the link to the course which is now on sale for just $99.99 See more