Intelligent K9 Dog Training San Diego

Della & LB at it again with great strides in progress! Both dogs, starting out anxious and insecure, are learning to tune out distraction and just simply not worry about what goes on around them both near and far. Previously, Della used to get freaked out and jumpy (skittish) when a door would swing open. LB would look like she saw a ghost when on a walk. ... At this point, both dogs are a dream to walk and hang out with. Of course, that is, given that they both have the right leadership and structure. These two will always be great with the right guidance!

Dell & LB have made great strides in progress. Both started out really freaked out, nervous, and insecure. While still far from perfect, it goes to show that with a little leadership and the right help, both can walk decently and not worry too too much about whats going on around them. We have to give them credit because the Gauntlet (the stretch with anywhere from 15 to 20 dogs barking from both sides of street) is usually never easy for dogs who are known to be reactive on walks.

Chase - 6 month Springer Spaniel

Odin’s walking cleaned up quick! This Odin after just a few minutes of practice.

Odin - 8 month GSD.

Now it’s time to get Tiko & Jasper’s owner on board!

Walking The Gauntlet with Tiko & Jasper. This is the stretch with lots barking dogs on both sides of us.

Quick break from training...a local ride is in order!

Chase is a 7 month old Springer Spaniel. In this video Chase is practicing his ecollar heel. Prior to this, Chase already became proficient in leashwork, tuning-in to his owner, and consistently following her lead. Now, with the correctly-timed prompts from his ecollar, his owner works to develop the skill needed to help him continue to stay by her side with as little use of the leash as possible. ... This takes a lot of practice. While there are a few guidelines to follow, the ecollar heel is kind of an art, where the handler learns to use good judgement in making the right adjustments with the correct timing to maintain the dog’s focus. This practice can be done with or without food. Of course, if the dog is motivated for food then that can help out a great deal as long we understand that its a best practice to phase phase out the food later on. Chase is doing really well for such a young dog. Now if we can only get him over the excitement of seeing his owners mom!

Della’s first walk through the gauntlet! This is an area with lots of barking dogs on both sides of the street. A few days ago, walking in this area was not possible with Della. Della, starting out as an insecure, jumpy, skittish-acting dog needing to learn to better cope with simple everyday distractions. ... Before we ever practice around any distraction, it’s important to teach the dog the mechanics of movement. Della needed to first learn to walk beside us in a straight line. Then we had to help her not be so jumpy with little things, like the leash dragging, or someone closing their car door. We also helped her learn how to negotiate simple obstacles. Teaching place - How to climb onto and off of items and gain some confidence in her ability to do it. This is a work in progress. The walk through the gauntlet, while not perfect, gives us feedback on where we are with progress. Della & LB are getting better but we still have work to do. Stay tuned!

Odin’s first day!

Today is Odin‘s first day of training. He came to us already on a prong collar, however, the owner was not getting the results that she wanted with it. While walks may have been a little easier for Odin’s owner, the right application of the training tool is crucial for really getting through to the dog with understanding communication. We were able to get Odin walking much better with a prong collar alone, but it wasn’t until we added the remote collar when we started gettin...g him to walk really really nicely. We want dogs to walk beside us and follow our lead without any pulling or getting distracted. Now that we’ve got Odin understanding an intro to prong as well as an intro to E collar, we will be dialing in his walking every day from this point before we begin to expose him to the distractions that cause his owner the most stress, other dogs! We don’t address main problems head on. That would be treating the symptom and not the cause. It can also result in a lot more conflict than necessary. The cause of a dog’s leash reactivity is the fact that they are checked out from the owner, paying attention to other sources of excitement, and giving into impulse and reacting to those distractions. This typically manifests itself in barking, lunging, pulling, whining - all the things that make a walk difficult and embarrassing. The key is to help our dog learn how to consistently respond to our communication, pay more attention to us by being more tuned into us, walk nicely without worrying about everything else, and then we start working on the main distractions that he needs the most work with. Structuring it in this way allows for the dog to learn with less conflict and empowers the dog to show us their best self. Stay tuned!