profile

Positive Dog

A well-trained dog is a way of life ๐Ÿ˜Š

Published about 7 hours agoย โ€ขย 1 min read
โ€‹

A well trained dog is a way of life, not just a training game ๐Ÿ˜Š

Does your dog pull like mad when you head to the lake, or to the dog park, or where the bunnies live?

Does your dog loose their cool when they know you are driving to one of their favourite places?

You probably learned self-control games in one of your training classes, yet your dog still struggles to keep it together.

Games are a great way to learn, but the real benefit comes when you use those skills in everyday life.

Here's an example with Runa. She's starting to LOVE swimming and gets really excited about fetching a stick, so I've started adding a self-control game:

  • Can she eat a treat?
  • Can she sit?

If she can, I throw the stick and she gets to swim!

Runa is learning how to regulate her arousal - a critical skill for many parts of her future life.

But I didn't start it here with the exciting swimming opportunity. This game was built as a part of daily life.

  • We worked really hard on just eating treats in the presence of a toy. MANY high drive dogs won't eat when there is an opportunity to play - this is a skill we teach them.
  • Sit to earn a treat or a toy is something she practices many times a day.

Because she practices these foundation skills every day, she can stay calm and think, even during an exciting game of fetch at the lake.

I can't wait to see what we get up to next!

Don't forget to sign up for my free training on Oct 21st

โ€‹๐ŸŽฏ Sign up now to save your spotโ€‹

Talk soon,

โ€“ Christina

P.S. At the end of the workshop, I will be opening the doors to Dream Dog, my intensive 6 month program!

2738 Holden Corso Rd, Nanaimo, BC v9x 1n5
โ€‹Unsubscribe ยท Preferencesโ€‹

Positive Dog

Christina Young, BSc, CDBC, PCBC-A

Subscribe if you'd like to receive my somewhat regular emails including training tips and concepts as well as info about my upcoming freebies and programs!

Read more from Positive Dog

I'm a lazy trainer. Runa wanted to visit a person on the beach. I wanted her to stay with me. Recall training is pretty important right now. I also would like to build enthusiastic heeling foundations. As always, we are practicing the skill increasing and lowering arousal. I can do all of this at once! When we understand how and when arousal helps or hinders, and we have the skills to increase or decrease arousal, a single training session can work on many things at once. In the above...

2 days agoย โ€ขย 1 min read

Every week I hear from someone who feels crushed because their dog had a reaction. Maybe they barked at a neighbour, lost their cool at a dog on the street, or had a really hard time with a visitor. โ€œDid we undo all our training? Are we back at square one?โ€ It's OK. Reactions are not the end of the world. Occasional failures are a part of growth. The trap many of us fall into is playing it too safe. When we stay too deep in the comfort zone, progress slows. When we don't push boundaries, you...

5 days agoย โ€ขย 1 min read

Does your dog stiffen over a bone, growl from the couch, or guard a stolen sock? You're not alone. Resource guarding is normal dog communication. It's how dogs evolved to survive, sometimes it is what we bred them for. But sometimes resource guarding strays away from what's just normal, healthy communication and becomes something that's dangerous and problematic for the dog and for the people or the other animals that the dog lives with In this week's episode of Dogs with Big Feelings, I...

6 days agoย โ€ขย 1 min read