Woofers Dog Training and Behaviour Consulting

Oh how I wish this was us LOL! Our dogs would adore this.

It had to happen. Arik begged me to let him make this video. I'm not sure it was wise but fair's fair.

I have copied and shared what this chap, Marcus has written about having pure bred dogs. Normally when anyone questions why I want pure bred dogs, in my case, Leonbergers, I do write them a lecture on why my having a pure bred dog has no bearing on the state of rescue dogs in Canada and that contrary to the belief of those that refuse to accept that there are such things as reputable and responsible breeders, those reputable breeders DO exist, however much they want them no...Continue reading

The words "little monster" are written all over that face!

Don't be a Yanker

Today's shenannigans in the garden. Yay! Seems we have had a breakthrough at last with the housetraining issue. Arik is actually going to the back door and pawing at it to go outside when he needs a pee. However, that doesn't mean that sometimes he won't decide just to do it on the kitchen floor, sadly but it's progress of a sorts. He also went 5 hours last night without needing to go out for a pee so if the same happens tonight, I am going to move the crate near to the bedroom door and go to bed so that I just have to get up to let him out. My poor old body can't take dozing on the sofa at night any more as I am dead on my feet today. https://www.facebook.com/621816983/videos/10157780200211984/

We are still doing short training sessions. Arik has gotten pretty good at the focus exercise. He's still learning the down and stand. Overnight he seems to have learned his name and has a fabulous recall. He comes running like a herd of elephants when I call him! This is great and obviously he always gets rewarded. I am using his kibble as a reward at the moment because he seems happy enough with that. Housetraining is not going according to plan. Juno was housetrai...ned within 48 hours and after that she didn't have any accidents in the house. I guess I was spoiled there, because despite all our efforts, Arik has other ideas. However, last night and again a few times this morning, he has actually gone to the back door and signalled he wants to go out when he's needed to poop or pee. That is an encouraging sign. He has not peed in his bedding for quite a few days now. At the moment I have him tethered to me by an 8ft line so that he can't go out of my sight in the kitchen and sneak in a pee while I am not looking. The back door is open though and so he could go out if he needs to. He learned very quickly how to go up and down the ramp on his own which saves my back by not having to lift him. He should not be climbing up and down stairs yet. I have to say that I really don't know how anyone does the housetraining thing if they live in a condo, especially with a large or giant breed puppy that you need to carry. I know that if I lived in a condo, I could not consider anything larger than a dog who was going to weigh about 10 pounds fully grown! We have discovered he definitely has a mind of his own and if he decides not to do something, then he won't. He is such a bright little guy with a lot of personality, some of which I am not appreciating in the early hours of the morning! I am hoping that in the next few days, he will start sleeping 5 hours or a bit longer (longest if 4 hours so far) so that I can actually go to bed and just get up for him when needed. He still doesn't like being in his crate if he is awake, and there is nobody else in the room. This is something we are going to have to work on.

Every dog is a Good Dog

This dog is a giant breed, and our own (our first Leonberger). Yes, he was big and heavy. He was reactive sometimes because he was afraid, as big as he was. He was an anxious dog and frightened of many things in the outside world, so sometimes his fears got the better of him and he would react to other dogs if he was having bad day. He learned in the end with positive training that other dogs weren't out to get him. However, he was trained without the need of a prong collar or a shock collar to "control him". Don't let anyone tell you that your dog needs a prong, choke or a shock collar. If a trainer tells you this, run very far and very fast. They haven't the education to be able to train your dog.

This morning Juno allowed the pup to actually be with her on the back step and they were there together for all of about 3 minutes. He has a soft stretchy harne...ss on him at the moment and a trailing leash so I can grab him if I need to. But he had just been out in the yard for a pee. I have found taking him out on a leash concentrates his mind more! See more

Well the little man is home! 9 weeks old and full of himself . He is called Arik and he has a rather magnificent kennel name which is "Little Mountain's Heart Of A Lion" he knows his own mind and he's very loud! We have started training already with sit and down. So very easy at this age. https://youtu.be/_2tQ97Vbn4o