https://www.facebook.com/106579930677246/

Caitlin's Canine Training

Home
Canada
Kingston, ON
Caitlin's Canine Training

Build the life you want to enjoy with your dogs. Pets, Service Dogs, SDs in Training all welcome!

10/08/2026

Life's tough when you're trying to stay awake at work! 😆 It's ok, Toby, you can have a snooze and still be a very good boy! 😴

06/06/2025

Mila is conquering things that her family says used to be "impossible" for her! And having fun while doing it!
🐶❤️
Anything can be a training opportunity if you're willing to get creative and work with the dog in front of you. Every dog is an individual and deserves an individualized training plan.

02/10/2023

Good boy on a walk in Canadian Tire!

01/26/2020

Hello hello! Very busy year so far! What have your training wins been so far this year?
Set a goal.
Make a plan.
Do the work.
Build a better life. @ Kingston, Ontario

10/23/2019

We had a great experience at yesterday. Lots of good exposure training with and her human! They both did a great job 😀 A training environment like this one only comes around for a few months every year and is an excellent opportunity!
I know Halloween can be hard for some people. If you have a service dog, some time before Spirit Halloween closes for the year (a week and a half or so), and you would like some support/guidance/assistance, send a message my way and we can try to arrange a time to go together.
(The photo is unrelated because training > photos on that occasion. I think of this one as P looking out over his kingdom, Simba style.)

08/12/2019

How close is too close? How far is too far? How do we determine those things?
The physical distance between too close and too far can be described as one's SOCIAL BUBBLE. The size of the social bubble depends on an individual's sense of personal space preferences, the relationship between the involved parties, and the activity in which they are participating. The social bubbles of all parties must overlap or the situation will become uncomfortable quickly. A child walking too far ahead of an adult will likely make the adult uncomfortable but the child would not mind. A stranger choosing to sit directly next to you on an empty bus will likely make you uncomfortable but might not bother the stranger in the slightest.
This difference in social bubbles is often at the root of problems we encounter with our dogs and their leashes. When we put our dogs on leash, we are restricting them to a 3/6/10/15/30/etc foot radius. That may be a comfortable social bubble for us but it is often not so for our dogs. A dog's natural social bubble is much larger than that of a human. It would be completely natural for a dog to roam 100 feet ahead of their social group with no intention of leaving them behind. Similarly, it feels completely natural for a human to give a dog 10 feet of space and feel that it should be plenty of room based on our 3-6 foot social bubble. But the difference in those social bubbles is an order of magnitude and it often causes serious frustration in the dog. They view the leash as a holding them back in an unnatural way and it often leads to pulling on the leash and/or leash reactivity.
In order to help our dogs avoid this frustration, it is our responsibility to teach our dogs what is expected of them. Without prior, proper guidance and clearly defined expectations, it is unfair and unrealistic of us to expect our dogs to ignore their own natural social bubble and prioritize ours, which they do not know to be different from theirs. We must teach our dogs in a fair manner what we expect of them of them when they are on leash. If we do not teach them, we cannot expect them to know. It is our responsibility to teach them what their responsibilities are.

08/03/2019

If you and your best friend are out somewhere having a good time and you come across a situation that makes you uncomfortable or uneasy, is your relationship strong enough that you will allow your friend to guide you through that experience? Do you trust them and their judgment enough to allow them to lead you through that difficult situation?
It is your responsibility to ensure that your dog views you as someone who is trustworthy, who has good judgment, and who they are willing to follow through challenging situations.
Your dog needs to trust that you WOULD NOT ask them to do something if they COULD NOT do it. That is to say that they need to believe that they CAN do it even if it is for no other reason than BECAUSE you are asking them to do it.
Along those lines, you need to be measured in what you ask of them. Challenging your dog is appropriate as long as you can somehow ensure their success. This could be something like giving them a boost if you are asking them to jump up onto an object and it ends up being a little too high for them to reach on their own. If you ask your dog for too much or if you fail to support them through a challenging experiencing, they will lose faith in you and your ability to make sound decisions for yourself, for them, and for your partnership.
When your relationship suffers, every part of your life with your dog and your dog's life with you will suffer.
Put the time in with your dog. Forge a strong relationship. Build a better life.
@ Kingston, Ontario

07/27/2019

When TEACHING your dog something NEW or BUILDING their CONFIDENCE, it is important to set your dog up for SUCCESS! If you want your dog to do more of something, they need to find that thing to be rewarding. The best way to achieve this is to set up scenarios that you can control and manipulate in favour of your dog's success.
Once your dog KNOWS a behaviour, it's important to CHALLENGE them to do it under more challenging circumstances. This is called PROOFING and often looks or feels like setting the dog up to fail. More accurately, proofing puts the dog in a situation where they have a choice to make. They KNOW which behaviour choice they have been TAUGHT to make and then are presented with circumstances that TEMPT them to perform some behaviour which falls outside of those parameters but that better serves their purpose in that moment.
Each of these scenarios is BOTH a small test of the dog's understanding of the requested behaviour and a much larger test of the dog's IMPULSE CONTROL. Now, if the dog does FAIL and makes the wrong choice, it's up to the handler to let the dog know and to help them move into the correct behaviour choice. This can be done through an appropriate correction or through simply manipulating the dog's position or behaviour until it is correct.
It is VERY IMPORTANT that this be done in a way that is fair to the dog! In order for this process to be FAIR to the dog, the balance of the challenge must be such that the dog understands HOW TO SUCCEED but is still tempted by the surrounding stimuli. Challenges (changes in environment, added distractions, etc) MUST be increased at a rate that is appropriate for each dog and their progress. In that way, PROOFING does present the dog with an opportunity to fail but it also gives them a very FAIR opportunity to SUCCEED.
All in all, the answer to the original question is that it depends on the situation your dog is in and what your goals are for their progress and for your partnership. Both SUCCESS and FAILURE are valid and important parts of training your dog to be a calm, confident, and reliable member of society.
Learn new skills. Practise them. Proof them. Build a better life.

Address

Kingston, ON
K7K THROUGH K7P

Website

facebook.com

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Caitlin's Canine Training posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Business

Send a message to Caitlin's Canine Training:

Want your business to be the top-listed pet store/pet service in Kingston?