Payton the Mini Aussie

Payton is a two year old miniature Australian Shepherd. His owners contacted me because over the course of the past year he has bitten three people. When I first arrived Payton seemed unsure of me, but once we applied a leash to him he quickly warmed up to me and just wanted to be patted. Payton's owners described his previous incidents of aggression in much detail, so it was fairly easy to assimilate them. We did so but with leash control. Payton immediately reacted with aggression. I immediately got his mind on me by walking him around on lead and rewarding him every chance I got when he ignored his "triggers"of door knocking and strangers with hats. Payton's behavior is predictable and he is fairly easy to redirect. With practice and over the course of several weeks we will be able to change his behavior into something acceptable to his owners. I firmly believe as most trainers do that punishment only temporarily stops unwanted behavior. By training Payton to respond in a different manner to the things that overstimulate and frighten him we will be able change his behavior into something acceptable and rewardable.

Mia the pet store dog

Mia is a seven month old Border Collie mix. She was adopted as an eight week old puppy by her family from a local shelter. Mia is already a very sweet dog, but has the tendency to jump on people and doesn't always come when her owners call her. Mia's owner is a manager in a pet store. Many of the customers that come into the pet store look forward to seeing her when they come in. Mia occasionally has jumped on the staff and customers so her owners decided it was time to start training her before someone accidentally got hurt.

Mia is an excellent dog to work with. She is very bright and seems to enjoy learning. We are teaching her all the basic obedience commands, and at the same time we are working on her jumping issues. Mia is beginning to understand that when she jumps on people she won't receive any reinforcement, but when she sits politely she will be praised and patted which she values much more than food rewards. This week I brought Freedom (one of my Service Dogs in training) for a distraction. They proved to be very useful distractions for one another, as Freedom himself needs some improvement in certain aspects as well. Mia is now well on her way. She is advancing quickly into the good citizen her owners want her to be!

Cooper's Training Moving Forward

 Cooper's separation anxiety has greatly improved in the past several weeks. Him and I have had sufficient time to bond and now we can begin the process of working on his protective streak. Ive decided that the usage of a Gentle Leader will give his owners and myself the confidence to begin the process of teaching him to tolerate strangers in their home and yard. Cooper is an excellent student. I don't think he really wants to be dominant over strangers, but without guidance gave himself the responsibility of being over protective. I am suspicious that this is the reason he was probably abandoned in the first place. This behavior was most likely present and rehearsed well before he was ever adopted by his new family. Cooper adjusts well to new people provided you are firm with him and work on obedience for the first few minutes of a strangers arrival. I look forward to working with him and his family more in the next several weeks. Myself and his owners are extremely encouraged by his advancement!  

Juno's Improvements

Juno is doing extremely well now. He is completely housebroken, has learned to tolerent being in the car and can walk past people on the street without cowering away. The biggest improvement I've seen is that he really trusts is owner now, and has even allowed a few people to pat him! Interestingly Bruno more easily adjusts to men rather than women. In my long career working with dogs I'm accustomed to mishandled or neglected dogs initially responding quicker and more positively to woman. 

Juno is now capable of learning a few basic commands now. We are starting with commands to come and sit for now. I want to be certain that we aren't pushing him too quickly as to avoid any setbacks in his confidence. I am quite impressed and surprised by his quick progress. His new owner clearly is taking his rehabilitation very seriously.

Bruno's Progress

Bruno and his owners have made tremendous strides. Bruno is now housebroken enough to be given free rein of the kitchen and family room! Bruno acts nothing like he did on our first meeting. He now follows his owners from room to room and is content to just chew on a rawhide bone or nap. He hasn't once tried to escape his fenced yard either. Bruno has also been learning how to come when he's called  and to sit and stay. (These are not easy tasks for a beagle in many cases) but he is doing outstanding, even with distractions! Bruno is still practicing using a 30 foot lead and it will be two more weeks before we attempt to move to the next level. I am very impressed with how his owners have turned themselves and Bruno around.  

Cooper

Cooper is a 4-5 year old doberman mix. His owners found him wandering in the woods while they were hiking. He followed them all day and eventually right to their car. These people tried to no avail to find his owners for weeks thinking he might have been lost. No one ever came forward so they decided to adopt him.  In the beginning (The honeymoon period I call it) Cooper was a perfect gentleman and easy to love. A month later his owners problems began to surface. Cooper  developed a horrible case of separation anxiety, and has become extremely over protective of them and their backyard. They have grown to love him but, realized after he had chewed through a wall, broke several windows and bit their next door neighbor that they wouldn't be able to keep him unless his behavior could be corrected.

I met Cooper and my first impression of him was that he is a real people dog and actually very sensitive. He loves verbal praise and looks up at you with looks like a smile when you speak to him. When I took him for a walk he completely ignored every dog we saw and watched me intently as we walked. I believe Cooper has been over socialized with humans and is highly dependent on them. He treats his home as his den and his family as pack members he needs to protect. I think that since he so easily connected with me that I won't have much trouble figuring out what makes him tick. I will use my normal procedure for rehabilitating him for his separation anxiety for now. His family and I will manage his territorial behavior for a few weeks until I get to know Cooper better. Then I will carefully stage people coming into the the backyard and start the process of teaching him that it isn't his job to protect, but to follow his owners direction. He is very lucky to have new owners that will bear this out until it is resolved!!!

Piper the Tiny Yellow Lab Puppy

Piper is the smallest eight week old lab puppy I've ever seen. She only weighs four pounds, but she certainly is full of herself! Her young engaged owners want to be certain that by the time they are married and start a family that Piper is a well mannered and emotionally flexible. They want her to be able to roll with the punches of their busy lifestyle and household. I am always impressed by people who call me and schedule an appointment for puppy obedience and socialization before they have even adopted a puppy! At our first meeting I was able to see some fearful reactions to traffic and of other dogs, which is very east to correct in such a young puppy.  A proactive owner is three times more likely to have their dog housebroken at an early age and have to have default behaviors that will be well ingrained  by early adulthood. When puppies learn with distractions and mild stress or excitement they tend to fall back on trained behaviors and commands taught in those exact situations. This makes for a pliable, agreeable relationship that will last many years to come.

Pepper and Jean

Pepper is a six month old Lab/Welsh Corgi that was adopted by an 80 year old woman named Jean. Pepper has been well socialized and just loves people and other dogs. Pepper easily learned obedience commands and is very bonded to Jean. The areas she would like to focus on are his nipping and jumping and teaching him the boundaries of his underground fencing system so he can get some much needed aerobic exercise. Pepper's owner lives on a beautiful lake but Pepper seems to prefer heading for the road instead of playing in her big backyard or in the lake.

Jean really loves Pepper but her large enthusiastic family is getting a little too involved with her relationship with him.This has been making things more difficult for Pepper to understand what is expected him. I plan on meeting with some of Jean's family to clean up any confusion on what is appropriate for Pepper and Jean. I put Jean on a strict schedule with very specific instructions for walking, training and bonding with him. She has her instructions, and being the long time nurse that she was, will follow them as if they were doctors orders. She is a lovely person. Pepper and her family are very lucky to have her and I'm looking forward to next weeks session.

Bruno The Beagle

Bruno is a two year old beagle. His owners contacted me realizing that they needed to change their relationship with him. As a couple they considered rehoming him, but decided that they really never put any effort into helping him become an excellent companion. Bruno's owners work all day. He isn't housebroken, barks constantly, paces in the house and escapes his fenced yard whenever possible.

My first instructions involved a strict schedule for walking and training, enrolling him in a dog daycare twice a week and to purchase a small pen for their kitchen. On the days Bruno is not at daycare he will be penned in their kitchen with plenty of chew toys and a Kong to keep him happy until he is completely housebroken. His owners needed to realize that on the days when he is home alone all day that his day only starts when they returned from work! With much better structure and in just a week Bruno is calmer, quieter and much more affectionate with his owners. I see that they are finally bonding with him and they can move forward to higher goals now that Bruno isn't in survival mode anymore.

Bruno will now be learning obedience commands. He is typical of his breed, smart but independent. Luckily he is very fond of physical praise and is food motivated. This will help tremendously. I'm very happy that his owners gave themselves and Bruno a chance to connect by incorporating him in their lives.

Dax Continued

Dax has advanced to his next level of training. He has mastered coming when called with at least 40 different distractions! He has been practicing in many different places with his owners and they are very excited about advancing him even more. Even though Dax is responding so well, I am diligently making his owners go through every level before trying his training without physical control. This way I can assure them of the highest reliability Dax is capable of performing.

Dax no longer jumps on guests when they visit. This was fairly easy to teach him by rewarding him with a Kong when guests arrive. By the time he has finished the peanut butter inside it he is relaxed enough to greet people without jumping on them. Dax's owners are somewhat surprised that many of their beliefs about dog training were actually the opposite of my teachings, but his outstanding progress was all the proof they needed to change their mindset.

Roxie

Roxie is a nine week old female Doberman puppy. She comes from show lines and her owner is hoping to compete with her when she is older. The most important thing Roxie needs to learn right now as a potential show dog is self confidence. She will be learning that being around other dogs in close quarters, traveling and being baited by her owners for commands is fun and really exciting. Unlike other family dogs she is learning how to stand and trot in a very specific manner. Sitting and a few other common and useful companion dog commands are on hold for now, until we condition her to potential show life first.

Roxie is lucky that her owner will also be her handler and she will be living in their home just like any other family dog. I have personally never been a fan of dogs living the majority of their lives in a kennel. This can cause a psychological condition called Kennel Syndrome. Dogs that have this condition are only comfortable living in a kennel and with other dogs nearby. It has similar attributes to an inmate in prison being institutionalized. Roxie will have the best of both worlds and I look forward to watching her grow and mature into a magnificent young adult.

Dax The Puppy Who Ran Away

Dax is a 5 month old black lab puppy. His owners have always had labs and wanted another when their last one past away at 16 years old. They loved their last dog dearly but realized they made some errors with him that lasted his lifetime. They didn't want another dog who would run away and not come back for hours or that jumped all over their guests. Several weeks ago  Dax decided to run off to go exploring. His owners were terrified he would be stolen or hit by a car. When he returned home they immediately called me for help.

Our first lesson was an anxious one for this couple and I needed to get them in the frame of mind that they needed to tell me what they wanted instead of what they didn't want. I spent my first hour with them explaining that controlling a dog offlead requires hours of on lead training and proofing first. Once they understood this we started teaching him the first level of recall (Come). Dax and his owners are proving to be excellent students. Dax doesn't have months or years of rehearsed unwanted behavior. This has made training him to come when called a lot easier. His owners are surprised by his quick learning, but they work really hard with him and are extremely diligent about only giving commands they can reinforce until we see he is ready. Dax is still four levels of training away before he will be ready.