Tuesday Training Tips: 7 Steps to Introducing Dogs

1. Go to a neutral territory, at least away from your yard/driveway.

2. Go for a pack walk with human bodies between dogs.

3. Act casually and converse among yourselves, allowing the dogs to relax and pack up.

4. Once they have not been paying attention to each other for at least 15-30 minutes and and are just busy sniffing, walking, etc., turn around so human bodies are not between dogs.

5. Walk at a distance that does not bring out any aggression and close in as long as all is going well. Continue to act casually and keep walking!

6. If all is well, bring them into the backyard to connect.

7. Go back to any previous step if needed.

Sylvie Pleasant
Certified Dog Trainer and Behavior Consultant
K9 Solutions LLC
www.nck9solutions.com

Tuesday Training Tips: 7 Steps to Prevent Cat Chasing

1. Put your dog on the leash (supervised) so you have something to step on if your verbal correction fails.

2. Do early, early verbal corrections. As soon as the dog just looks at the cat, tell him firmly “No!” Don’t wait for the chase and then just participate yourself in the chase!

3. Practice 1-min Sits and/or Downs on a leash in the same room as the cat about 1-3 times per day at a distance that the dog can handle.

4. As the dog progresses, close in on the distance between dog and cat.

5. As the dog progresses, drop the leash.

6.  As the dog progresses, weane off the leash.

7. Practice Heels on a leash around the cat.

For most dogs, it’s just a question of allowing them to get used to the cat so the obedience training will help in making the cat not be such a “new” thing. You want the cat to become old hat and a part of the family pack.

And the rules in your house are “we just don’t chase the cat” so use your leadership skills.

Sylvie Pleasant
Certified Dog Trainer and Behavior Consultant
K9 Solutions LLC
www.nck9solutions.com

Friday Canine Friend: What do we give up when we give up our pet?

Micheal and Max

I adopted Max, a Golden Retriever, many years ago. Max was a sweet, beautiful Golden Retriever who turned out to be severely thunderphobic.

The first time I walked into the house after a thunderstorm, I found my dog still in his crate but with blood everywhere, in and out of the crate, and several wires bent. I worked a full time corporate job and I admit seriously considering returning this boy to the rescue. I just didn’t know what I was possibly going to do for him with my hours. After a couple of days of pondering, I committed to his rehabbing.

The next 3 years was honestly the most difficult 3 years of my life as anyone dealing with canine thunderphobia knows. The sleepless nights holding a Golden to keep him from hurting himself, the sick feeling in the stomach as you hear him coming up the stairs after that first thunder strike knowing your sleep is over, checking the TV every morning deciding whether to board your dog, drug him, supplement him, crate him in the dark bathroom with the vent on, have your neighbor run over at lunch time with supplements, etc. We even considered soundproofing one of the closets!

I early on decided against medication after seeing his reaction to them. So I embarked on the usual desentization to sound, association with yummy treats, herbals, and yes even animal communications.

What I discovered in the process was a whole new world of alternatives. Today, I am a healthier person physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually thanks to this Golden boy. I often wonder where I would be today if I had given up on him, and I know that I would have given up a precious part of myself.

P.S. If you are dealing with thunderphobia, see Tuesday’s Training Tips on thunderphobia tips.

Sylvie Pleasant
Building Lasting, Empowering Relationships
K9 Solutions LLC
www.nck9solutions.com

Friday Canine Friends: Bitsy’s Career

 

Bitsy with sister Amy Beth

Hi, my name is Bitsy Dog Walker but everybody just calls me Bitsy. I was born on Thanksgiving Day in 2007 and came to live with my human family when I was 7 weeks old. My Great Grandma was a Cocker Spaniel and my Great Grandpa was a Poodle and that makes me a Cockapoo.

The first time Dad took me to the doctor she said that I was so smart and confident that I needed a job. That was a polite way of saying I had waaaay too much energy. So Dad called Sylvie at K9 Solutions and started taking me to school and I loved it! When I graduated I heard people say I was the youngest dog that they ever known to graduate from dog school.

I didn’t know what I wanted to do when I grew up, but Dad knew I liked people so after a while he took me to back to school with Sylvie where I learned to be something they called a therapy dog. After I got out of that school we started going to places where people sit around and wait for me to come visit them. Boy, that’s cool! People talk real sweet to me and hold me and rub my fur and I show my appreciation by doing tricks for them.

A little later we got into a program called “See Spot Read” where children read to a dog named Spot. Spot must be real busy because he never has shown up so the children read to me! That’s like heaven because children are my favorite people! And that’s how I came to have my job!

My favorite pastimes when I’m not working are spending quite time with Mom while she reads, taking long walks with Mom & Dad, playing games and doing dog agility training with Dad.

Tuesday Training Tips: 7 Fencing Suggestions

As dog trainers, we run into many problems with inappropriate fencing so here are suggestions in case you are about to put up fencing or need to fix your current fencing.

1. Don’t allow your dog access to the entire yard where he can practice barking, lunging, etc. at passerbys. This behavior can eventually turn into territorial aggression. Fix your fencing so your dog is unable to practice the behavior, or only place fencing in the back where he can’t see passerbys, or cut off the sides of your house so you control both the front and the back of your property.

2. Use shrubbery to block off vision and prevent constant barking/lunging.

3. Allow your guests to be able to drive up and walk up to the front door without being greeted by an overexhuberant or problematic pooch. Some humans are terrified of any dog, even calm or small ones.

4. Don’t leave your dog unsupervised with underground fences. Anyone can walk up and steal your dog or tease your dog. And other dogs can access your yard.

5. If you have a fence jumper, you can place an underground fence a few feet before your actual fence,  install coyote rollers at the top http://www.coyoteroller.com/see_how_it_works, and/or get a professional trainer to help you prevent the behavior.

6. Place chicken wire fencing stapled into the fence and dug into the ground for dogs who dig out of fences.

7. Install springs on the gates so they close automatically to prevent lost dogs.

Sylvie Pleasant
Certified Dog Trainer and Behavior Consultant
K9 Solutions LLC
www.nck9solutions.com

Friday Canine Friend: Reliable Joy

Yesterday, I left my Japanese Chin Raven out of her crate when I left. So when I pulled up, I could see her through my glass door. She was literally spinning in the air for joy. Spin, run to glass door, spin, run to glass door, spin, run to glass door.

I felt so much joy just watching her in her bliss over my coming home and wondered at how we forget those simple moments of seeing one another–our own family members, friends, most coworkers , etc. She’s been with me 2 years now and it’s amazing that she can still exhibit so much happiness at seeing me. What a lesson in finding joy in simply meeting each other.

Sylvie Pleasant
Certified Dog Trainer and Behavior Consultant
K9 Solutions LLC
www.nck9solutions.com

Tuesday Dog Training Tips: 7 Steps to Preventing Separation Anxiety

Separation Anxiety is certainly one of the most challenging behaviors for owners to deal with. And it is most often misdiagnosed. Most cases we see are really that the dog is underexercised and bored, or leadership skills are not in place properly. One tale tell sign is your dog desperately trying to get out to you by chewing/pawing the door/windows that you are walking out of.

I had one Beagle who pawed at a window and door, but the owner did not go out that door. However, it was a wooded area. Beagle + squirrel = damaged door/window.

Here are some quick tips on hopefully preventing separation anxiety from rearing its ugly head in your household.

1. Don’t be dramatic when you leave. Tell your buddy to have a good day and walk out.

2. Don’t have a party for 5 min after you walk in. Take your dog out and allow him to sniff/potty, then have a party! And away from the front door or crate!

3. Leave a really yummy stuffed kong with your dog. You leaving = yummy kong. You want your dog to look foward to you leaving!

4. A tired dog is a good tired. Exercise, exercise, exercise. Period.

5. Provide mental stimulation throughout the day such as Sit for Everything, alternating with Down for Everything.

6. Provide mental stimulation with interactive toys that contain toys to pull out or treats to get out.

7. Hone in on your leadership skills in a way that dogs understand so your dog will have confidence in your decisions.

Sylvie Pleasant
Certified Dog Trainer and Behavior Consultant
K9 Solutions LLC
www.nck9solutions.com

Friday Canine Friends: Loving your Own Species

My beautiful Shepherd Coyote has never cared for dogs. I found Coyote years ago as a stray and took him to German Shepherd Rescue’s picnic to meet the president and get listed for adoption. Well, everyone sure knew we were there with his performance! So we started our training to walk politely past dogs.

During our early weeks of practice, as we were walking past a dog and he was having a difficult time keeping it together, I blurted out “this is your own species!”

As we continued walking, I thought about my own words and contemplated at how myself don’t always like my own species. When exposed to some of the neglect and abuse stories that we are, it is easy to get hard feelings toward humanity and sometimes even cynical.

I choose daily to focus on the good I see in others and I do always find it. The folks who drop everything to help a stray, the folks who foster, the ones who work tirelessly in shelters and rescue to find homes for their protegees, the ones who feed strays, spend hours talking to adopters, discount training and health services, build fencing for chained dogs. The goodness of humanity is indeed endless when you stay focused in the right places.

Sylvie Pleasant
Certified Dog Trainer and Behavior Consultant
K9 Solutions LLC
www.nck9solutions.com

Friday Canine Friends: Getting Off the Path

When dogs are tracking a lost person, they walk in and out of the scent cone to actually stay on track. It occurred to me the other day that maybe getting off our path isn’t such a bad thing as long as we recognize it and adjust back in much as our dogs too. Instead of panicking, feeling bad/depressed, we can recognize that our emotions are speaking to us that something doesn’t smell right and we work on getting back on track. We know we are there when we feel great again.

Of course, much as dogs do when they smell a deer, raccoon, or poop, we have to be careful to not get distracted and go further off the path .

Enjoy your journey!

Sylvie Pleasant
K9 Solutions LLC
Certified Dog Trainer and Behavior Consultant
www.nck9solutions.com

Friday Canine Friends: Pivotal Moments

My soul dog Kacey

We have many pivotal moments in life that direct our path. One of mine occurred at the SPCA where I volunteered for many years. I was at the front desk helping out when a mother walked in with her teenager and a mixed brown dog. The dog sat there quietly while the mother filled out the paperwork and the teenager sobbed on her shoulder. The dog had chewed one too many things. When they left, I asked the receptionist why she didn’t suggest a crate. She faced me so I could see straight into her tired eyes and before she could answer, I said “never mind, I get it.” That day, I resolved to do what shelters don’t have the resources to do. Educate owners to have well-mannered dogs before they end up at a shelter. I was already training dogs so I focused on educating myself more fervently in that field and eventually grew to a full time business. 

It is difficult to be grateful to have faced such circumstances but I am on path helping others thanks to that family. I hope that one dog at a time, I continue to make a difference so that families can enjoy a wonderful relationship with their dogs, be informed of resources, and enjoy the peace of commitment.

Sylvie Pleasant
K9 Solutions LLC
Certified Dog Trainer and Behavior Consultant
www.nck9solutions.com