Freedom Dog Training & Behaviour

Consent is more than Yes or No. And it applies to all sentient species. Consent most simply is permission for something to happen. Consent tests in dog behaviour most commonly discussed are;... When petting a dog stop after a few seconds and test if they are still consenting to the interactions. Or Interupting dog play to ensure both dogs are still consenting to ongoing interaction. Why? Because yes or no isn't enough. Consent is reversible. So just because the dog approached for pets does not mean continued interaction is implied. They should be given opportunities to re consider. Consent should be informed. So they may have gotten more than they bargained for with a playmate, now that they see the other dog play style they may have reconsidered. Consent should be enthusiastic! Just tolerating interactions isn't a yes. They should be seeking affection. And even for dogs consent should be freely given. If there is a bribe or a required behaviour in order to meet their needs this is not free consent. It can be hard to navigate this with a species who does not speak our language so periodically testing to make sure they are still enthusiastically engaged is one of our best tools. Remember, let your dog seek affection. If you are petting/handling them after approx 3 seconds, pause, watch for them to request you continue. If 2 new dogs are playing and one seems to always be chased or on the bottom interupt they play and let the dog being chased have other options and see if they choose to reinstate wrestle time or if they would rather sniff out treats a few feet away. If you aren't sure, ask a professional for some help.

Nothing educational here. Just some happy doggo butts running off to play.. Steve met Louie and Piper today and the 3 are now thick as theives Daycare with extreme low numbers and all the room for activities.

4 months since this guy first came for daycare and his comfort here has soared! We are so happy to have Griffin visit us every week. His first few visits were slow going. Partially getting used to the girls and partially being away from his people.... We went slow with some half days, he came to play in the yard with just his people to get comfy, and for the first months only met a couple other dogs besides Jord and Kit. He understood I had food but much preferred Ryan to me.... definitely not ready to go for walks with me. Now he is happy to see me when he gets here, loves to play and bounce around, has shared daycare days with puppies, include some big ones!, multiple new friends at a time, and loves some of the people who stop by with treats. And he LOVES long line walks with me, exploring the field. He is still working on translating this confidence to on leash and meeting new dogs other places but I love seeing him arrive happy and optimistic about a new friend he may make. It means a lot to me to be able to provide him a place to feel safe and have some fun.

Look at Murphy's gorgeous colouring! Another new friend made this weekend whose guardians are doing their best to ensure their dog gets the most out of life I often talk about the lack of overlap between having a trained dog and behaviour issues. You can do your best to ensure your dog knows different cues and practices training and that may become tools to help with a behaviour modification plan but behaviour is 100% about associations. ... Building optimism, managing the environment to create opportunities to learn errorlessly, conditioning healthy emotional responses to triggers and working through this with consent and cooperation. Murphy's people knew they needed to add this into the picture for her to see success and gave me the opportunity to coach them. I am excited to be part of their journey and watch Murphy grow.

Ever wonder what your dog is saying? There is a new book for that!! I ordered a few copies of @lilita_yaya new book @doggielanguagebook because I knew it would be fantastic and I was not disappointed! ... I have always had some Lili Chin body language handouts in my materials but this is next level and I think it will be permanently added to my puppy package. I highly recommend you grab a copy if you can find it in stock and I may have a couple for gifts

What??????!!!! Ya, that is right. They get treats when they are wrong. Tldr; correct yourself, reinforce your dog... My priority in training my dogs, or yours, is and will always be the dogs emotional connection which means I will always prioritize classical conditioning over operant. It will always be my focus that the dog is engaged, enjoying themselves and building strong positive associations. We want to avoid building any frustration, triggering any concern or worry and keeping the training as errorless as possible. Operant conditioning, which is focused on specific behaviours, can always be fixed later. Emotional responses are sensitive and affect the foundation of your relationship with your dog. If I cue a new behaviour and my dog doesn't respond correctly I will analyze the environment. Did they not get it because our training went too fast and we should reset, are they just processing and we need to reduce latency or is something more happening.... did a scent of a new dog blow by, did their ankle hurt from that sprain last month, did I gesture incorrectly and confuse them. If it is any of the latter, THEY GET THE TREAT and we reassess what we are doing. If I am not sure why they did not respond I err to reinforcing the participation. If the error was in my training, they get a treat and I readjust my training plan to work at their level. Basically, they get the treat, and I correct my training or the environment in the set up. Tldr; correct yourself, reinforce your dog (Image description. A darkened photo of a happy dog with text "Confessions of a dog trainer. I give my dogs treats when they are wrong")

Confessions of a Dog Trainer My dogs don't know 'stay'....atleast, not in the "obedience" sense. 1. Dogs knowing verbal cues has next to nothing to do with being well behaved. A dog could live its whole life never responding to an obedience cue and that is ok. Dog obedience was designed as a way to display 'intelligence' when breeding poodles, not how to measure a wonderful family member.... 2. There isn't a list we all have to follow. I had another trainer once tell me I was wrong for cueing "off" for my dog to drop an item because 'off' should only be used to tell the to get off of furniture. Nope. The words only have value to dogs if we teach them so my dogs and I are the only ones who decide for us. Also, I never have to tell her to get off furniture so that would be useless for us. 3. We define expectations. One person's stay could be practiced up to 'don't move a muscle while I leave this room for 20 minutes and reinforcement will then become available', your stay could be 'don't leave that mat while I cook dinner and then I will share', mine is 'you will not be accompaning me across this threshold'. There isn't a rule book, it depends what you want and how motivated you are to build the behaviour. Stay. Could I train it, ya. Do I feel motivated to, not at all. Is it necessary for my life, it hasn't proven to be. Our crew has other options that work well in situations it may be needed for safety.

Does your dog have cabin fever ? This cold weather in #yeg is never ending! Teaching your dog a trick or 2 can be a great way to give them an enrichment activity and some physical exercise while staying warm. Here are some things to consider before you start!... - is this a trick my dog will like? My dogs, for example, do not like roll over! Some dogs don't like turning their backs to a person. - does my dog have any medical conditions that may make this hard? If they have a leg injury low impact tricks are better. - are they fit enough to tackle this? Tricks like handstands, sit pretty, jumps, require developed muscles and proper form to reduce the risk of injury. - am I setting them up to succeed? Start small. - keep it FUN. Even if they don't learn the trick you want, you should still both enjoy yourselves! If you are wondering what to teach them, where to start, drop any questions below

Freedom Dog / Mountain Dog - Winnie! Hiring a trainer is only one step, doing homework, asking questions, being your dogs advocate are also key parts to having success. I have been working with Winnie's people since she first joined their family and all the hurdles they have worked to overcome to make sure Winnie could live her best life are awesome! ... From chasing the cat, biting in play, anxiety of car rides, nervous on walks, recall, some resource guarding and leash reactivity, they took it all in stride and helped Winnie build up her confidence as we tackled each one. She has been empowered to make better choices and just successfully enjoyed her first family vacation! A long car ride, strange hotel, wildlife, there was some nervous alertness at first but they have the skills to guide her through and she is officially now a mountain dog. With her first birthday still coming up their updates always make me so proud. Especially when she was relaxed for a stranger coming to the door and waited in her place until she was invited to say hi! Good girl, Winnie!