Rapid K9 Solutions

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Rapid K9 Solutions Certified, professional dog training 🐶
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Personalized training packages
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Servicing most of the Black Hills🌲
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Obedience, behavioral cases, and more

09/30/2026

Fixing car chasing/reactivity with Albus, the Portuguese Water Dog

Albus had his first Day Train, and for the first 3.5+ hours of it we walked, played tug, and started learning place. But a huge reason for Albus’s owner calling me was his incessant and committed car chasing.

I don’t think I need to explain why chasing cars, jumping in front of them, trying to bite tires, etc, is a very dangerous and possibly deadly thing.

While we strolled around the park we encountered a few slow-going cars, and Albus couldn’t care less. So we got up closer to the main road, and as soon as he committed and went for it, I corrected him. Car chasing is a matter of prey drive, not fear. If Albus was scared of cars (he does get sick sometimes during car rides, but that’s a different issue), the approach would be different. But he’s not.

I wanted to show the aftermath of the corrections, so I didn’t edit the video after the corrections. Albus clearly understood exactly what I was trying to say, and we can tell because he simply stopped going after the cars. He didn’t try to take off. He didn’t shy away from me. He just became generally less interested in chasing cars.

Yes, sometimes it really is that easy. Keep it simple.

Got to see my boy Nemo today for a follow up lesson. Scroll to the end to see me pointing out the police to Nemo and tel...
09/25/2026

Got to see my boy Nemo today for a follow up lesson. Scroll to the end to see me pointing out the police to Nemo and telling him that they were coming for him because he pee’d on his own legs at the park.

Nemo is a 1 year old Borzoi and we’ve trained together for over half his life. With all the love in my heart I have to say that he is one of the funniest looking dogs I’ve ever seen. He looks like an apparition. I love him.

Bodie is with me till Sunday. We’ve done some training prior to today but we have lots to work on over the next few days...
09/25/2026

Bodie is with me till Sunday. We’ve done some training prior to today but we have lots to work on over the next few days. Very happy to have him.

09/24/2026

Rocco Part 2

Yesterday I visited Rocco for our second lesson. We ended up doing a second evaluation of sorts. Because in order to pinpoint what Rocco’s primary motivators were, I needed to see him behave organically in different contexts. The context here is that both him AND the other dog in the home, Timber, were let outside together.

The bite suit is a game changer when it comes to figuring out the dog and their intent. Because without the protective gear there is no way for me to actually see what Rocco wants to do. We’d have to dance around him & the issue without ever really seeing the “real Rocco”.

After this lesson, we will no longer be letting Rocco rehearse these behaviors. With any kind of aggression, step one can be just that: stop the rehearsal. To some degree, we did interrupt the rehearsal the two times that Rocco has went after me. In the sense that part of that rehearsal is that the person Rocco charges will pull away/flinch.

Nonetheless, while I might not be reinforcing Rocco when he bites, I think the act of biting was reinforcing enough for him. At this point, my theory is that these aggressive behaviors sprouted from a place of fear/insecurity, but at some point morphed into something that Rocco enjoys. Which isn’t illogical.

I can imagine that at some point he lunged/growled/snapped, got the response he was looking for, and eventually found some joy in the fact that he was able to control his environment. It likely made him feel powerful.

The plan for our next lesson is to begin some work with the muzzle, start correcting Rocco (and generally asking for more out of him), as well as continue on with the obedience we are doing with Timber.

09/22/2026

Why pacing is the hardest part of working with fearful dogs

This video is roughly 1.5 hours into my first session with Winston, the ~1.5yr old fearful Bernedoodle. You’ll have to take my word for it when I say that prior to me starting to record, it looked A LOT worse than this. The only thing I did prior to what you see on video is introduce Winston to leash pressure. That is one of many ways to show the dog that they are capable of overcoming.

Now for the bigger topic. I believe that pacing can be the most difficult part of working with a fearful dog. It’s so easy to fall into one extreme or the other.

More often than the not, I think people find themselves moving at too slow of a pace when it comes to asking for more out of the dog. To the point of reinforcing the fear and confirming the dog’s suspicion that the world is a threatening place. Many people spend years sheltering their dogs from the trigger. Whether it’s other humans, dogs, or car rides, at some point we have to face the music so to speak.

Now occasionally we find ourselves on the other end of the spectrum, where we end up effectively “flooding” the dog. If we do too much too quickly, the dog can find themselves in such a panicked state that their ability to learn and retain information can drop down to nearly zero.

So how do we decide when it’s time to push the dog, and therefore the training, along?

The best place to start is with learning how to accurately read your dog. Become aware of calming signals (shaking as if drying off, yawning), and when you notice them during stressful moments, confidently and calmly reinforce them. When the frequency of the calming signals goes down, and you notice other signs that the dog is feeling more comfortable (untucking a tail, less stiffness in their posture), end the session and consider going further the next time.

That could mean adding/removing distance from the trigger, or increasing the intensity of the trigger. If humans are the trigger, this might mean you ask your dog to move closer to the person or you ask the person to be more active near your dog.

Hello everybody. My good friend Yuliia is going through a difficult time regarding some serious medical issues with her ...
09/21/2026

Hello everybody.

My good friend Yuliia is going through a difficult time regarding some serious medical issues with her dog Banjo. As we all know, veterinary bills can stack quickly, and Yuliia is working every day to try and make a dent in the total.

Please, if you are able to spare anything, consider donating to the GoFundMe me that will go towards Banjo’s medical care.

Link will be in my bio as well as in this caption
https://gofund.me/48e13ce42

Some words from Yuliia:

In early May, while we were trail running, Banjo had his first seizure. What began as an occasional mild episode quickly escalated into a daily occurrence. Over the next four months we saw seven different veterinarians and made multiple emergency visits. Everyone told me the same thing: wait for the seizure medication to build up in his system and start working.
The neurologists at CSU were hesitant to diagnose him with idiopathic epilepsy, so I started doing my own research. I’m not a professional, but through close observation and sheer desperation to help my friend, I decided one evening—while he was in the middle of a seizure—to check his blood sugar. I was shocked by what I found: his glucose was 21, when the normal range is 80–120. I immediately shared the results with my veterinarian, and Banjo was diagnosed with insulinoma—a rare pancreatic tumor that produces excess insulin and causes dangerously low blood sugar.
He has gained a significant amount of weight, become fearful of loud noises (he used to sleep soundly through thunderstorms in a tent), and can no longer go on walks or play with his favorite toys. Any kind of excitement is now dangerous for him.
Banjo’s diagnosis is heartbreaking, yet I remain full of hope. His tumor measures only 2.7 mm, and given his age, he has a very good chance of living a happy, healthy life. But we have to move quickly. The doctors at CSU are already reviewing his test results and developing a treatment plan.

This kind of stuff means so much to me. This post on Reddit asking about trainer recommendations for anxious and aggress...
09/20/2026

This kind of stuff means so much to me.

This post on Reddit asking about trainer recommendations for anxious and aggressive dogs was sent to me earlier today. Coincidentally, I had a brand new client start today, and they mentioned that they had seen the post a few days ago.

My name was mentioned more than anybody else in the responses to the post. I am always very motivated by this stuff. If you are one of the anonymous people in the comments, please let me know so that I can personally say thank you.

09/19/2026

Bailey the German Shepard started this morning.

While we have some manners and obedience issues to address, the primary concern is her dog reactivity (she’s reacting to an off-screen dog in the video) that comes with a nice sample of some redirection. Looking forward to getting to work with her.

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57701, 57702, 57703, 57704, 57709

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