Dog Momma

11/21/2024

I’m excited to share Chase and Rosie’s “graduation” video for Susan Garrett's DogsThat’s foundational Home School The Dog program! 15 minutes short, it is a compilation of 12 individual videos I posted during the training program to get feedback from the virtual trainers. Any curious questions, ask… I love talking about this stuff.

I signed up for this online program because Rosie (new to our family when we started this) deserved the opportunity to learn, but there were no local dog trainers in the Florida Keys. I thrive having structure to follow, and a trusted old mentor recommended the quality of this program.

There is a lot to say about the benefits of training games. We mess around with a few each day just to fire up doggie brains which brings joy to otherwise boring parts of the day. For me, supporting doggie confidence is the bottom line of it all. Chase and Rosie obviously feel good about this work!

01: Treat diving (go sniff)—power of permission. Instant confidence boost. We end up using this a lot in subsequent lessons.
02: ItsYerChoice—power of agency. The dog learns he/she is welcome to make choices. I love this, a respectful way to think about working with your dog.
03: Hand targets—opens doors for teaching many skills, like in the video Rosie’s “stand” and Chase’s “leg weave”.
04: Collar Grab—emotional response to grabbing collar should be positive so your dog is happy to get your help. This was important for Rosie who came to us with a reflexive movement away when someone reached for her.
05: Hot Zone—a lifelong skill that helps the dog relax in any environment. Interestingly, Chase and Rosie got progressively stronger and ended up being able to wait patiently (in a hot zone) for each other to take his/her turn in a subsequent video.
06: Stair Masters—building safety on staircases which are unnatural to dogs.
07: Solo Recalls—my longtime top-ranking skill to practice!
08: Double Hot—an advancement of the prior Hot Zone game. Not only does this game strengthen the Hot Zone, a lot of skills can be woven in. The premise is a fun red-light/green-light game. Chase and Rosie both found the challenge exhilarating!
09: Muffin Tin—safe shoulder strengthening. Progression to teaching “dig”. (We use “dig” to file front nails on a doggie emery board.)
10: Place Your Face—teaching it’s okay to have stuff on your face. This will help a head halter or muzzle to feel normal.
11: Intentional Tugging—great exercise and a great reward in training. Chase is at the point where he’d work just as happily for a tug as a treat. Rosie was shy about tugging at first, and I was thrilled we got her excited!
12: All About The Leash—leashes are a reality of living in society, despite them being unnatural. We are wise to get graceful and be kind in our handling.

This experience has been beginner-level, foundational. Some of these skills are immediately applicable, and others are setting us up for future skills to be easy to add on.
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Thanks for enjoying this with us!

02/11/2022

So much of dog handling has to do with YOUR emotions. Put your head in a good space! Great things will follow.

01/25/2022

Thought-provoking post by Karen Barlow's Dog Training. I think people are WAY too quick to assume their dog doesn't like other dogs, when really their dog isn't easy on the first date yet would love a relationship.
This is just like most people... why would we expect a dog to make a friend instantly when we ourselves don't do that?
Give your pup a chance to make a few special friends❤️

01/17/2022

Great Dog Momma tip here.
The author explains it perfectly!

01/14/2022

Adopt T***k✨! She will melt into your lap.

01/11/2022

Adoptable T***k✨ met Freddie who is also adoptable and lives at the same shelter in Landenberg, PA! Check out T***k’s videos on Facebook and YouTube.

01/06/2022

Adoptable T***kle Toes teaches deer bones. Yes, deer bones are great for a dog! Any bone is safe as long as it is raw, not cooked. (Cooked bones splinter.) T***k loves the natural nutrients she gets from them, so she seeks them out! Plus, she doesn’t have hands so uses her mouth for enrichment! Dogs like to chew stuff. Adopt T***k at www.companimals.org

rescue

08/02/2021

Our teacher Greenwood Dog Training School encouraged our class to consider a local test coming up soon to get a title as an "American Kennel Club Trick Dog". This sounded like a fun thing to try, so we picked ten tricks (from the AKC list) we think we can do.
Susan Greenholt (and all y'all), please give us your constructive feedback!

03/03/2021

This is a beautiful example of a welcome viewpoint that is left of center, and very helpful and needed in the conversation!
The dogs always know the difference between a person who's just had a fantastic workout, releasing all of the human toxins, vs. a pent-up person holding all of their issues in their energy.
I love the obvious point: "if you're a trainer, train your *%! dog" (instead of ranting on social media about training)!
And notice training IS NOT choking the dog. Not. Not. Not.
The funny aspect is great--the dogs do better when we keep it upbeat!

01/31/2021

T***k Talk✨🎙 is a straight-talk series from an adoptable dog's point of view.
Here's the 3rd installment!

T***k Talk #3✨🎙: “Don't be a pleaser. Be a handler.”
The moment this picture was taken (4 days ago) was a great example. I waved my phone and asked the cashier if she would take this picture of us. The cashier enthusiastically agreed, and my eyes popped out when she darted around the counter to grab my phone. Uh-oh, a stranger was racing toward our little bubble! I simply held my hand up like a stop sign and said WAIT! with a big smile (yes, a smile under a mask). “I’ll lay my phone on the counter for you to pick up. Thank you so much!” I did not mumble this; I made this loud and clear. Picture was taken, no problem. But then the cashier started towards us again in her excitement to hand me back the phone, curious how the photos turned out. (Oh, crap!) This time I pivoted about 90 degrees so I was somewhat body-blocking T***k and again with a smile. “NO THANK YOU! I can look at the photos later; I’m sure there’s a good one. Please leave the phone on the counter. Thank you so much!” And the cashier did, and all was well.
T***k is used to seeing me handle interactions. I didn’t sense any anxiety from T***k. I was not a “pleaser” to the cashier; I was a “handler” with 100% commitment to keeping T***k’s bubble intact. T***k is loud and clear about my commitment; the energy is strong and dogs sense energy easily.
A: I could have blurted out something derogatory about T***k to scare the person off, but I personally don’t gravitate to that line of communication. I don’t feel that’s fair to T***k; she was acting perfectly. The issue was a person was crossing a line. I needed to draw the line MUCH more clearly (and quickly) and require the person to honor it. The person was happy to oblige! All was well.
B: Combine body language and verbal. Body language is paramount; in your mind’s eye, be aware of how you look. You can see in this photo I have my knee bent slightly, a subtle protective stance.
C: Hesitation is your worst enemy. Make a decision and act on it. Don’t get stuck in indecision.
D: Stay under threshold. This means make decisions before the dog gets uncomfortable, so she never becomes uncomfortable. Did I overdo it in this story, i.e. unnecessary to stop the cashier's approach? Yeah, probably! T***k and I have met lots of people nicely and I’ve literally never had any issue introducing her. But who really cares if I was too cautious; we still got the task done and all enjoyed. Frankly, I was the one in the story that was feeing a bit over threshold. A huge part of handling is asking yourself if YOU are under threshold. The dogs know the difference between a confident person and a scared person. This was the topic of T***k Talk #2. If you feel anxiety setting in, get yourself out of the situation.
E: This next one is a new ah-ha moment for me. I can’t believe how long it’s taken me to recognize this as “a thing”… BEING TOLERANT IS NOT BEING A HANDLER. Turns out, this is a pretty huge issue! I see this all the time in my neighborhood and in various person-dog relationships. Accepting a dog’s reactions is NOT being a handler! Triple underline! I introduced a friend to walk T***k. Later, my friend walked T***k independently without me there. I was shocked to hear T***k barked at strange people once or twice while they were out. My friend said “no problem, I don’t mind, I’ve got a hold of her.” WHOA. We need to talk. I explained that the goal is for T***k never to feel she has to bark. I offered easy adjustments she could make, e.g. add more distance, change direction, step aside, etc. My friend has walked T***k again with no problem. It hit me later… this same person has complained of her dogs barking too much at home! One of them is very aggressive! She loves her dogs and wishes she could help them. I would bet money on the solution: grow past being tolerant and be a handler.
F: I’ve GOT YOUR BACK. Stop for a second; ask yourself who in your life has your back. This is a simple yes or no question. If it is not simply a yes, then it’s a no. I don’t expect a dozen people, I expect maybe one or a few. After all, you need to feel pretty close to a person to say this about them. The dogs see this with perfect clarity. It’s energy. It’s trust. They know when you have their back.
G: Open yourself; be connected. I video T***k frequently for social media. You know what I see when I play back the videos? She checks in with me A LOT! She’ll check in 6 times when I may notice 1 time. And that is me, a highly-tuned handler. If the dog senses you don’t understand when they check in with you, when they ask you questions, when they tell you they’re uncomfortable, they will not—cannot—believe you’ve got their back.
H: The more you handle, the easier it is to handle. Not only will you get quicker on your feet, but also the dog will start to assume things are going to be handled! She will form the natural conclusion there will be no trouble. If you have a bad history, you’re both going to need time to establish a new pattern.
I: I will now share my favorite GEICO commercial: https://youtu.be/R8Olyg6Pg3g
The moral here is you need to REALLY handle a situation, not just make shallow overtures of handling a situation. The dogs know the difference.

01/23/2021

While my "A game" is teaching loose leash on a harness, I support the Canny Collar as:
- a smart alternative to use while you're working on that loose leash behavior but don't quite have it yet.
- safer and more enjoyable than other options if you are just not realistically going to train the loose leash.

12/29/2020

T***k Talk #2
Lessons from a dog who's been returned.
✨🐾🎤✌