REAL K9 Training LLC

10/22/2026

Reactivity doesn’t have to define every walk, every window, or every encounter. 🐾

Changing an established response takes more than practicing around triggers. It means understanding the individual dog, what’s driving the behavior, setting them up to feel safe enough to learn, and building new skills at a pace they can handle.

The training is tailored to each dog.

If reactivity has become part of your everyday life with your dog, you don’t have to figure it out alone. I can help you build a plan that fits your dog and your real life.

10/21/2026

10/21/2026

Join us on Thursday, October 22nd 2026 from 1pm to 2pm EST for a discussion on our white paper:

"Raising the Bar: Building Standards, Education, and Accountability in the Dog Training and Behavior Industry."

As conversations about legislation and regulation of dog training continue to grow, we took a closer look at what professionalization could look like for our industry. While the paper focuses on the U.S., many of the questions it raises are relevant to the profession internationally. The paper outlines the foundations we believe should come first: clear standards of practice, accessible and rigorous education pathways, and defined career paths.

To read the white paper, visit: https://iaabc.org/en/about-the-iaabc

To register for the event, visit: www.IAABC.org/events

10/20/2026

🐾 It’s Not Just What You Say… It’s How You Say It

Our voice is a big part of how we communicate with our dogs.

Think about someone saying:

“That was great.”

Now imagine it said with genuine excitement, completely flat, or dripping with sarcasm. 😂

Same words. Very different message.

Our dogs notice those differences, too. They pay attention to our tone, volume, inflection, body language, and all the little pieces that come along with our words.

A simple “Sit?” sounds very different from a pleasant, confident “Sit.” — and neither confidence nor clarity requires yelling.

Our emotional tone matters, too.

If your dog suddenly seems unsure about a bike, a worried “Ohhh… it’s okay, don’t worry…” can communicate something very different from a relaxed, encouraging “You got this. It’s just a bike.”

If we sound worried, our dog can pick up on that uncertainty. Of course, our voice alone won’t fix established fear or anxiety, but how we respond in those everyday moments still matters.

The same goes for praise.

An enthusiastic “YES! GOOD JOB!” may be wonderful for one dog and way too much for another. A quiet, warm “good” may mean far more.

Because how our voice is received by the dog matters just as much as what we intended.

Our voice can communicate confidence, uncertainty, encouragement, excitement, frustration, or calm — sometimes without us even realizing it.

What we say matters.
How we say it matters.
And how our dog hears it matters, too. 🐾

10/17/2026

😂 Funny, but there’s a lot of truth to it! A vest doesn’t make a dog a service dog. Training and behavior matter far more than what the dog is wearing. 🐾

10/15/2026

Your dog can notice the world without needing to interact with everything in it. 🐾

Dogs, people, movement, sounds — noticing them is normal. What we can help our dogs learn is that they can observe what’s happening and then check back in with us.

Building neutrality is valuable for puppies, adolescents, adult dogs, and service dogs alike.

Want help building these skills with your dog? Let’s work on it together.

10/13/2026

🐾 Same Dog. Different Human. Apparently Different Rules. 😂

Your dog happily responds when your spouse asks for something.

Then you ask.

Your dog: “Hmm… I’m going to need more information.” 😂

It can feel like your dog has decided who is worth listening to, but there’s usually more going on.

Dogs aren’t great at generalizing what they learn. And training isn’t just about knowing a word or hand signal.

It’s also about relationship, trust, reinforcement history, and communication.

When one person regularly trains, reinforces behaviors, plays with the dog, meets their needs, and builds that relationship, the dog develops a whole history with that person. They learn how that person communicates, what to expect, and that working together is worthwhile.

That doesn’t automatically transfer to someone else just because they use the same word.

Think about getting a new boss. You already know how to do your job, but you still need to learn how this person communicates and what working together looks like.

Our dogs aren’t all that different.

And the same applies when someone else does a large portion of the training for you.

A trainer can teach your dog wonderful skills, but they can’t hand you their relationship with your dog along with the leash.

There still needs to be time and work together to transfer what your dog has learned to you.

So if it seems like your dog suddenly “forgot” everything, chances are they didn’t.

Training builds skills. Working together builds the relationship that helps those skills work as a team. 🐾

10/11/2026

This was just another of the amazing 🤩 presentations I enjoyed last week.

"The goal is not to build a slower car. If you have a Ferrari, work with that Ferrari." - Crystal Wing

In her Optimal Learning State working session, FDSA instructor Crystal Wing made the case for celebrating our high-octane dogs instead of trying to turn them into something they are not.

Her approach? Find your dog's "great eight," the level of arousal where they are fired up AND still able to think. That eight looks different for every dog and every job.

Tracking might be 25 miles an hour through a neighborhood. Protection might be 80 down a clear highway. Both are an eight.

It is not about making dogs calmer. It is about helping them think at speed, and teaching their humans how to drive.

Tag someone who lives with a Ferrari.

10/09/2026

Having a fabulous time International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants and Atlas Assistance Dogs

https://www.facebook.com/share/1F3BXBjVb2/?mibextid=wwXIfr