Here’s a short working session that we did with Babe to work on his commands. He already has a solid understanding of come, sit, down, and heel, so in this session we’re stringing them all together and challenging him by adding distractions.

This is a really crucial step in getting him ready to go on walks and be calm around distractions. Why? If he can’t sit or down inside with minimal distractions, there’s no chance that he’ll be able to do so around other dogs, people, or noises that he’s fearful of. This is a much less exciting piece of the puzzle, but essential to his success.

Independence Day is just a month away! It may seem early, but now is the best time to start preparing your dog for the holiday and all of its festivities, including fireworks.

The long day filled with lots of people, food, yard games, and fireworks is a lot of commotion to expect our dogs to behave through. Help prepare your dog for success by practicing kennel time and place time now so that they are ready when the day comes.

Also, start playing fireworks sounds in a low-stress setting so that your dog can become familiar with the sounds. Even if you leave your dog at home, you may be close enough to still hear fireworks going off. The early and repetitive exposure to the sounds will help your dog feel comfortable during the actual celebration.

Think your dog really knows its commands? Test them with the 3 D’s!

Distance: How far can you get from your dog while it stays in command?

Duration: How long can your dog stay in command without being reminded?

Distraction: What can you add to the environment to test your dog’s self control? Think toys, food, running kids, etc.

If your dog can hold its commands with the 3 D’s, you will be that much more prepared for the real world. Does your dog struggle with one of these? That will tell you exactly what your dog needs help with!

We see it all the time: dogs running crazy through the house, owners trying their best to keep their sanity in the midst of the chaos. What if we could teach your dog one command that could eliminate the crazy energy when you need to?

The place command gives your dog a very clear boundary that they must remain calm on. This skill translate so well into the real world, which is why we teach it to every dog that comes through our programs. Watch the video to learn the benefits of this one command and how it can create sanity in your lives.

Are you struggling to teach your dog the down command? If so, check out this unique method that we use to help dogs understand exactly where we want their body to be.

Today we are working with Hershey on some attention skills. She is easily distracted on leash, and when you mix that in with being an anxious dog, it’s easy for her to get overwhelmed on walks and stop paying attention to the other end of the leash.

In this video, we’ll show you how we start building some engagement with her in a fun and rewarding way: every time she gets distracted, we turn and walk the other way, call her name, and praise her when she gives us her attention again. We repeat this over and over to let her know that giving us her attention is a great choice. As we continue, she’ll start to offer that attention on her own, and then we can slowly start adding in distractions as she’s ready.

There is a lot of information floating around regarding the best method to train your dog, the best and worst tools, the best x, y, z… We are here to tell you that if you are feeling overwhelmed with the mountains of information being thrown at you to take a deep breath, exhale all of the worry away, and just do something. Pick anything that you want to teach your dog, and you will be ahead of where you were yesterday.

It’s as simple as that. Start small, pick one thing to teach your dog, and just start doing it. It doesn’t matter if it looks sloppy or clumsy, it just matters that you try.