Real World K9

05/31/2026

Grace Day 319 & 320 Friday & Saturday 5/29 & 5/30

The Dog Father. ❤️🐾🐾

05/30/2026

PAWtrait time. Sieger n friends. I have trained all these beautiful canines. I am so proud of them all. They are a joy to be with and to train.

05/29/2026

Grace Day 317 & 318 Wed & Thurs 5/27 & 5/28.

This was 2018 about 7 and Sieger 3. Time goes by way too fast, especially for our dogs. ❤️😞

05/26/2026

What you reward gets repeated.

Look for those moments when your dog is doing exactly what you want or like and reward it.

It may be subtle things but be aware and let them know you like it.👍

So I ignore?
No, but you’re ignoring exactly what you DO want.

Excitement gets a lot of attention sometimes.
Insistent behaviour gets responses from us.
Barking?
That usually gets an immediate response because it’s louder.

Over time, some dogs start learning “Bigger behaviour works better.”
Because to them, it can.

This is where ignoring comes into it.

Have you been ignoring the best bits your dog shows you?

We focus so much on what we well and truly know we don’t want, and yet when they show us what we want?
We ignore it.
We don’t even notice it.
We don’t mean to but it’s a habit we are now cycling around in.

We’re focused SO much on stopping the behaviour we don’t want, that we let those tiny slivers of stillness, position, or engagement just slip away.

They are THE moments.

We need to open our eyes more.
They will be showing you what you actually want more of.

It may not be in the context we need it to be in yet, but it will be there.

Mark it.

Reward it.

But above all else, don’t ignore those precious wee moments when they DO show you exactly what you want.

05/26/2026

Grace Day 315 & 316. Mon-Tues 5/25, 5/26.

Nothing like having a best friend to share your life with. ❤️🐾

05/26/2026

I believe our dogs can truly feel our nervous system. If we are anxious, fearful, sick, worried, relaxed. It carries through to them so be your best self with them and see the changes.

05/25/2026

Little Peanut up for adoption with Rhode Home Rescue. ❤️🐾

05/24/2026

Memorial Day weekend stroll through Wickford with Rufus, Vic and our dog Sieger.

05/24/2026

Training with Zak and my dog Sieger in Wilcox Park and along the Saugatucket river in Wakefield, Riverside cemetery this week.

05/24/2026

Can't share this one enough! So many lost dogs nowadays. Keep your dogs on leash unless trained to an extremely high level of recall. Dogs are getting lost and worse killed due to off leash UNRELIABILITY.

Dogs are...

1. Rushing up to other dogs, triggering fights.

2. Running out into roads getting hit by cars, hurt or killed.

3. Getting Lost, missing.

This effects everyone. Please if you want them to feel more freedom put them on a longline, 15ft or longer or take the time and train a super solid recall around all distractions.

Fit them with a martingale collar so they can't slip out of their collars. 👍

It’s panic. They’re running away.

You were out and about. The leash was taken off and for a few seconds it feels perfect.
Freedom.
Running.
Joy and some super fast circle zoomies

Then suddenly your dog is “gone”. Not physically.
Yet.
But it’s about to happen and your stomach down by your boots knows it.

Their ears stopped hearing you.
Their body changes.
Those eyes lock onto everything else.
You call once. Twice. Ten times.
And that awful feeling starts rising from your ankles to your chest.

You panic.
You’re now kicking yourself for letting them off that lead.
You’re frustrated, angry at yourself for that tiny decision you made.

People blame THAT moment.

But most off lead problems started way before the dog actually ran off.
They started in the much smaller moments, even on that lead.

A dog who rarely checked in.
Maybe recall only worked when nothing interesting was happening.
Or they were already prepared for the “recall game” in your backyard again.

More off lead freedom can feel like the answer.
But it’s not.
Yet.

Because sometimes, every "uncontrolled" off lead session is simply rehearsing disconnection from you.

That is why this can feel so upsetting for people.
Because they want to feel connected to their dog again.
And in that very moment, when they’re high tailing it out of there?
There's none.

But the good news is, connection can absolutely be built. Even out there in the real world.

Quiet check ins.
Tiny successes.
Long lines.
Rewarding engagement before things fall apart.
Building distraction levels slowly instead of hoping for the best.

Because truly reliable off lead freedom is not built on hope.
It is well and truly built on connection.