Announcing Adora Belle

Meet Little Miss Adora "Belle" Chaos!

Belle joined our family last week at 8 wks old. She is a German Shepherd/Lab mix. So far she is super sweet with just a little bit of sassy and she's learning very quickly! At first I thought she was going to struggle with potty training because she was so cold outside and scared. But she's learned to go fast and run back to the door to get inside. 

Adora Belle will be useful as a Demo Dog at the Yooper Paws Training Center. She is working on puppy socialization experiences and basic skills now. Soon she will be working on Therapy Dog skills and volunteering at the library with Azul when she is ready. Then if she continues to show that she is well suited, Belle will be trained in some of Azul's Service Dog tasks, alternating who is "on duty" so that both dogs get plenty of time off to do doggy behaviors. If Belle decides she doesn't like going out and about, then she can still have the best of lives as a family dog.

Azul and Belle are learning how to share my time and be near each other right now. Belle is so small that I think Azul is worried about hurting her. And previous puppies he has played with have been obnoxious land sharks which Azul won't put up with. I'm sure it won't take long for them to find their way to becoming good puppy friends. Right now I'm just happy that they can be in the same room together.

Things Belle has learned in her first week.

Paws up on my legs is how she tells me to pick her up. This used to be her cue that she was done going potty and wanted to warm up. But now she's learned to run to the door when she's done. We have 2 small steps in the front door which she can now navigate. Then she sits by the door waiting for me to take shoes off and unclip her leash. (She waits about 15 seconds or less!) Then she races up 3 more stairs and into the living room to see what she's missing and wait for me to catch up.

Belle learned to sit right away! I lured the behavior about 3 times and she started offering it a lot. Now she sits as I refill her food & water, while I unlock her crate door, and while I unclip her leash. Each time she earns reinforcement so she keeps doing it. Sit has become a default behavior that she offers whenever she doesn't know what to do!

She can jump/climb out of the crate (2 inch bar), the playpen (4 inch bar), the steps coming in (again about 4 inches), the step station at the office, and her small cot/bed at home. I'm trying to keep this at under 6 inch objects but a few times with a running start she's made on the couch!

She knows the hand signal for down and is starting to learn the verbal cue. Although we are only doing this behavior in training sessions. I haven't applied it to any specific reasons for the behavior yet. Although I did start teaching Belle to go under my legs for a tuck position.

She's really good at squatting the moment I say the potty cue! In the small car crate she barks when she needs to go and is able to hold it until I pull over and take her out. In the office she runs to her potty station when she needs to go. I'm ok with this for now because if I'm with a client, I may not be able to stop immediately and take her out. Plus it's more windy there so some days she simply won't stay outside long enough to go. The artificial turf potty station is good practice in case she has to go at an airport relief station as a service dog. Many dogs find the artificial grass too odd and refuse to go, then need to go too bad to hold it for a whole flight. At home she's had 2 accidents that were not on a puppy pad in her crate while I slept. She likes the puppy pad the first few nights, but now that she's learned how to wake me up to go out, she's not using the pads anymore. That's a big win for me because I hate puppy pads!

Belle has also learned to do hand targets with and without a  food lure which is nice for getting her to move where I want her to be. She's tried to bop me nose to nose a few times, which I turned away and didn't reinforce and she hasn't tried it again the last few days. 

Belle is all about the reinforcement! Food, belly rubs, ear rubs...any kind of physical touch and happy voice. She's getting used to 3 different crates, 2 playpens (attached to crates) and a backpack. So far she's been in ACE hardware to get keys made and to the groomers to help with Maverick's bath. And yes, she's met and played with Azul's best friend Maverick. Plus she watched Blue, Cowboy, and Oy from a safe distance. Belle has also stayed with 3 puppy sitters this week!

Needless to say, it's been a busy week for Little Miss Adora Belle Chaos. If you're following any of our social media accounts you've probably seen lots of video and pictures already! If you're not following us, here is a video of Belle doing puppy push ups about mid-week: https://youtu.be/-mcP9AWx8gQ

Stay tuned for the amazing adventures of Azul: My Little Boy Blue & Little Miss Adora Belle Chaos.

Noticing Household Needs

When we bring a new dog into our house, this is by our choice not that of the dog!

It's easy to put all our focus on the new dog, but we must also look at the whole household and what every member needs!

For my final blog in Noticing Needs November 2023, I'm going to be taking a look at what we as dog owners need for our house.

As a Canine Coach & Behavior Consultant I try to take a step back and look at the whole picture of what is happening when an owner/caregiver comes to me for help. Of course this means looking at the dog's needs but it also means taking a look at what the human coming with the dog needs, what other household humans need, and what other household pets need.

When we open our doors to welcome a new dog in, we often have a mental picture of what family life is going to look like with our dogs. We have big dreams of a perfect world or perfect life, perhaps we've picked out the "perfect" dog for our family. But more often than not, things are far from perfect! It doesn't matter if you welcome a new puppy or an older dog into your house or even a new human, there is always a period of adjustment and learning about each other. Everyone that already resided in the house has to learn about the newcomer, just one new change. While the newcomer, has to learn about everyone else, typically multiple residents and where they fit in with everyone.

Those that have been following SDiT Rosalind already know that she was placed with a new handler, returned to me, and has now been placed with yet another new handler. We spent 4 days working with the new handler getting human and Roz to know each other, making sure the other dog in the house and Roz could be friends. And we all thought it was going to be a good match. Yet over the 2 months there, the new handler realized that caring for 2 dogs instead of 1 was really exhausting & costly! Roz at barely 2 yrs old has way more energy and stamina then the others in the house, illness happened with 2 of the 3 residents, planned vacation, and basically a whirlwind of activity in those 2 months. Unfortunately, things just were not working and continuing to try was having a negative impact on everyone involved. The decision to return Roz to me was not made easily, but was best for all involved.

Roz has now been transferred to a new home with a family she already knows and loves, that also loves & NEEDS her. This family has worked to understand the needs of everyone involved and is confident that Roz is exactly what they need.  They know Roz's energy level and needs for social, mental, and emotional stimulation every day. I'm confident this placement will work out and I'm excited what this means for Roz's new handler, Eddie! 

Young SDiT Rosalind, aka Roz, Rozzie, and Rozzie Bear, is a great example of a dog that needs to be with her people and have a job. Her goal in life is simply to be loved and please everyone around her!

Considering the Needs of the Handler

Some might say that this is more important for Service Dog Handlers that might have very specific needs. I believe this might be harder to understand or pinpoint the needs of Service Dog Handlers, but it's also true for every dog owner.

Generally the main person who will care for, train, and enjoy the dog the most is the one who brings the dog home. (Unless the dog is given for a gift, but that's a BAD IDEA!) This is also the person who typically reaches out to me for help when something is not going as planned. Occasionally a family member that didn't plan to get a dog and ended up "stuck" with the dog reaches out to me.

Often the person reaching out feels stuck, embarrassed, annoyed or a whole slew of other emotions due to the problems they are having. It's my job as a Canine Coach to simply listen to their struggle, observe the dog, and look for the missing puzzle pieces that are causing the struggles. Thankfully, listening has always been one of my strong suits!

We also need to consider the handler/caregiver's needs as far as other commitments, energy level, physical ability to manage the dog (especially true in large/giant dogs), and their end goal dreams. Most caregivers have other jobs in or out of the house; going to work, raising the kids, taking care of the house, etc. Available time to work with the dog is a huge part of creating a solution to the struggles. Energy levels vary from person to person. Often a caretaker gets the dog because they want to walk a dog, but the dog they get either doesn't like walks because the world is too scary or the dog wants/needs to walk much faster and/or further then the human anticipated. Too much exercise can be a bad thing too! Just like children some dogs simply don't realize how much a dog needs sleep. I need to understand the caretaker's available time, energy, physical strength, mental strength, etc.

Another huge caregiver need is learning style. Some individuals need hands on demonstrations with their dog, while other's can copy a well made video or watching another team in action. Some people prefer audio learning and enjoy listening to a podcast or webinar. Others need to read text to really process what they are learning.  And some caregivers need all 3 forms of learning; watching, listening, reading! Some people learn more quickly than others, while some need lots of practice. As a Canine Coach I really try to take all of this in consideration when creating a training plan.

Considering the Needs of other Humans in the House

I always say it's best to make sure everyone is on board before bringing a dog into the home. Sometimes that easier said then done and none of us lives in a perfect world. Often for me, my spouse is the hardest sell when I'm trying to bring in a new dog. He totally loves dogs, but only if he doesn't have to do the work and simply do the fun stuff like daily belly rubs. My husband does do the occasional walk with one of my dogs, but I need to have realistic expectations that he won't do this unless he really needs to. Often when a dog is struggling with behaviors the caregiver or spouse doesn't like, that can cause stress in the relationship. Not only does the dog feel that stress, but that can also make the behavior worse becoming a vicious cycle.

If there are children in the home, their needs must be considered. Are they old enough to help with the dog? Do they know how to be safe around dogs? Do they even like dogs? My grandson has never really liked dogs even though he's only slightly older than Azul he really only tolerates Azul. Forrest also hates most other dogs and new people too. For some reason, Forrest really clicked with Roz and he broke our hearts when he wanted to buy Roz from the day I was scheduled to take her back to Michigan. Roz is a sweetheart for sure and for a time we considered her staying at my daughter's house, but that doesn't fit everyone else's needs and Roz would be under utilized. She was born to be a Service Dog! 

If the caregiver is also a caregiver to young children, a senior adult with a disability, or other caregiving responsibilities, that will impact how much time the caregiver has to work with the dog from day to day. 

Sometimes we even need to consider the needs of our neighbors. No one wants to be at constant war with the family next door. Nor do we want our dogs to be barking at the neighbors dog every time we let them out. Depending on how many neighbors you have, that may be something that needs to be considered too. Some dogs do well in busy urban environments and some do not. While Roz has spent most of her life in urban environments, the rural environments definitely make it easier to meet her needs for exercise and sniffing time. At my house Roz gets 10 min of off leash zooming in the morning and evening with a 30-45 min walk. In an urban environment where she must be on leash all the time, a 60 min walk each day is not enough. Some of this is age related for our dogs, but the environment and neighborhood that the family lives in has to be a part of the training plan too!

Don't forget to consider the other animals in the house! That's a whole different blog!

I hope this has given you some food for thought before you welcome your next dog into your home. I hope it also helps you to realize what YOU need for a good at trainer. As caregiver, or the one seeking help with your dog, you need a trainer or coach that can understand your needs, the needs of your dog and help you bridge the gaps between where your needs don't quite meet up. 

If you can't connect with your dog trainer in a way that makes you feel good about your sessions, you likely need to look for a new trainer. Please search for one that uses force free, games based dog training that can make learning fun for everyone!

Whispers, Screams, & Singing

Do dogs whisper, scream, & sing?

And if so, what does that look like?

Most dog owners would say that their dog has different barks or levels of bark to mean different things. They may use in "inside voice" or whisper on cue to get a treat, their alarm bark for an intruder that can be heard miles away, and sometimes a singing voice that often comes out when they are playing with good friends. Just like the audible voice dogs have, their behavior also reveals body signals that can be divided into these 3 categories. The emotions a dog is feeling in any given moment plus the level of arousal the dog is experiencing work together to create the behaviors we see. Humans then can observe these behaviors to take an educated guess at what our dogs might be feeling.

Screams

The loudest, most energetic, obnoxious, extreme behaviors are signs that our dog is extremely aroused and over-threshold or rapidly going off the deep end. This might be that audible alarm bark, lunging at a perceived threat, running away, or any one of the behaviors that we recognize as fight, flight, freeze, fawn, or fool around behaviors. New dog owners might struggle to recognize this body language, but most seasoned dog owners recognize when their dog is over-the-top reacting to a change in the environment.

Whispers

These are more like the subtle body language cues we can observe in our dog that suggest something has gotten their attention and their arousal level is starting to increase. Unlike screams, the whispers are very easy to miss! Whispers vary greatly from individual to individual, sometimes impacting the common places we watch for body language (eyes, ears, mouth, tail, etc) but creating such a minor change that it's easily missed. Often dog trainers will refer to these smaller actions as micro signals, meaning small or almost barely noticeable actions.

Azul's nose is his first thing to change when he notices a change in the environment. His biggest distractions are other dogs, deer, farm animals, and burrowing animals. When Azul smells things of interest, his nostrils flare a bit faster which is really hard to see since his nose is generally facing away from me or buried in the ground. Often the first thing I see is his nose point up towards the sky or down to the ground followed by the rest of the body freezing in place. How long that freeze position lasts will depend on how high Azul's arousal level is in that moment; the more excited he is the longer he freezes. Azul generally carries his tail high, often curled to the point of touching his back. However as his arousal starts to climb, his tail goes straight out like a pointer. If his tail drops below his back level, then whatever he is smelling is a bit scary going even lower for extreme scares. If Azul's tail points out then curls back up quickly, it's likely he's spotted something that he wants to chase. 

Sometimes whispers or micro-signals happen so fast that owners miss them entirely not recognizing a pattern for their dog. This is especially true for owners who ask their dogs to stay in heel most of the walk. If your dog is walking by our sides, yet our gaze tends to be out in front of us along the path, we simply can't see many of those signs. This is one the great advantages of getting comfortable with walking using a longline of 10-15ft as this places your dog out in front or off to the side far enough for you to easily watch their whole body as you walk.

Singing

You may have guessed that this is when you and your dog have spent countless hours walking, training, engaging with each other and now you seem to have hit your stride where you are just in tune with each other. This would be my comparison to an opera singer or someone with great talent. But there are also dog/owner moments where perhaps you're both singing the same song, but perhaps in different rhythms or at different volumes. This would be the case if you've been able to get to a routine walk that both you and your dog enjoy together, but perhaps there is still a hiccup or an unpredicted tempo change every now and them.

I've always considered this to be like dancing with your dog with some give & take, changing out who is leading for a nice back and forth silent conversation as go through your daily activities. Another trainer refers to this as tracking, or paying attention to movements and motions of another being. It doesn't really matter what you call this form of communication between you and your dog, but it should be every dog owner's goal; to spend more time in a singing or dancing mood state and as little time in the screaming state as possible. Recognizing the whispers helps us to sing in better harmony.

My job as a Canine Coach is to help you reach a point where you and your dog can meet each other's needs, communicate clearly, and enjoy moments in time together. I love helping dog owners turn the screams into whispers. And if we can spend enough time together, I love seeing you hit that magic point where you and your dog are singing together!

If you're not thrilled with your dog's behaviors, let me help you! 

1. The blogs in this website are easily searchable from a web browser, which leads to a whole bunch of free information.
2. Several specialty FB Groups are available to help you depending on what you need. You can always message me to see what group(s) might be best for you.
3. Virtual classes & workshops can help with learning to understand your dog, communicate better as a team, build confidence, increase focus around distractions and work on advanced training.
4. Monthly memberships are one of the cheapest ways to get help with your specific issue, mixing webinars, workshops, printed text, video demonstrations, and live group sessions.
5. Private session packages are a great way to save a bit a money when we need to build up skills as your puppy grows up or to work on a challenging behavior. I have several package formats available right now including in-person and virtual sessions, 1 hr sessions, 2 hr sessions, & 4 hour sessions.

Be sure to check out the Black Friday Sales that run through Nov 28th! 

Most of these allow you to mix & match a few services to get the most bang for your buck!

And be sure to check out the Yooper Paws Patreon Page where you can select memberships, including a free option that is going to have a Creating a Calm Christmas Collection available beginning Dec 1st!

Noticing Needs November

We all have needs! But do we know what WE need or what Our DOGS need?

All animals, including humans, have some basic needs; food, water, shelter, or other needs to survive physically. These basic needs get met or animals die, plain & simple. I'd like to focus on the needs that help us thrive or excel in life instead of merely surviving. These needs become more complicated because they are very individualized from animal to animal. We all need exercise, but the level of exercise I need is going to be different than a younger, healthier human. 

We all need places and connections with other animals where we feel safe. In a perfect world we can hope we would all feel safe at home, work, school or any place we need to be regularly. Yet we all know the world is not perfect and many humans and other animals lack the ability to feel safe in the environment they are in. Absolute safety simply isn't possible in a world where hazards are everywhere. That is where connection with other animals fits in. Hopefully we all have made at least a few connections with other people or animals that help us feel safe. I try really hard to make the Yooper Paws Training Center be a place of safety for everyone while they are there and this branches out to all the social media groups we run as well.

Getting back to the needs...some of us humans find other humans safe, while some of us might feel more safe with our dogs. Some might need lots of safe connections, while others might prefer a just a few safe connections. The need very quickly becomes individualized.

There are many other needs that animals have including a need to learn or better ourselves, whether that's increasing our health, feeling of safety, confidence of survival, etc.

Expressing needs

Switching gears a bit let's look at how we express our needs. Pretty much everyone here recognizes the basic behaviors that happen when we or other animals feel fear; fight, flight, fear, etc. We also probably recognize when another animal is feeling joy or happiness. It can be easier to recognize the needs of other humans because we have words to communicate most needs. But dogs don't have words, they only have behaviors. 

If you haven't noticed yet, all needs stem from a physical survival need or an emotional thriving need. The extreme emotional reactions are easily noticed, but also very hard to change, for both humans & dogs. We often recognize a base line in the middle where the animal spends most of their time, physically and emotionally. Yet we often fail to notice the behavior that happens as our dogs start to have elevated stress hormones caused by stronger emotional reactions.

If you want more to know more on Emotional States, check out this previous blog: Emotional States of Dogs and watch for the next blog that's going to be highlighting micro signals and how we can notice emotional changes in our dogs before they become extreme enough to encounter outbursts.

Understanding Canine Choice Workshop

 The concept of teaching our dogs to make choices or even encouraging our dogs make choices is uncommon for many dog owners. 

Like many of my clients, my experience with dogs was with the philosophy that you had to teach the dog who was in control. With this strong human history of punishing dogs into submission, it's understandable while we are not quite used to letting or dogs make choices much less encouraging our dogs to make choices. Unfortunately it is the human dominance model that as prevented many dogs from learning how to cope with environmental changes to learning how to make choices that may or may not impact their life. Most of the fearful, aggressive, and overly excitable dogs struggle with confidence which includes the ability to make choices.

Image from the Confident Canines Class

If you missed it be sure to check out my recent blog on Choices, Agency, and Boundaries! But here I shared the definition of Choice as the freedom to do different behaviors in the environment.

One of the common debates about Canine Choice is the arguments that if we give dogs choices, they will do things that are unsafe! My big mission is to help people create a foundation of rules that help them decide what choices the dog can/should make and when might a human have to step in with directions. 

Some people believe that once you give a dog options and choices, they will become the boss and rule the house. I don't know about you, but I've never seen a dog actually run for president or been elected the ruler of any country let along a household. Now you might think Azul rules our house, and often his needs dictate what I do and when but that's my choice to do the best I can to give him what he wants, when he wants it. But the choices I give him are still defined by my boundaries that I've set for my dogs. There is another webinar available in this series that was recorded a few months ago about Setting Boundaries.  If you missed it, it's now in my list of paid webinars and can be viewed for a one time fee of $20. Email me if you'd like to review this workshop at yooperpaws@gmail.com.

In the Confidence Canines Class we discuss the Confidence of One's Self or the Ability to Make Choices Successfully. In this class we look at how building in simple choices with games like the Pick One Game that is easy for our dog to make the "right" choice. The right choice being one that earns them a yummy food treat. One of the other key concepts taught in this class is to avoid offering choices that have an unacceptable solution. Don't ask your dog to choose between kibble and cheeseburger if the choice of taking the cheeseburger is unacceptable and you're not really going to let them have it.

The choices each dog owner is comfortable giving their dog ties really close to the boundaries or rules for their household which makes this topic very much an individualized process. This makes it a complicated topic and why we decided to host this as one of Challenging Behaviors Series Lunch & Learn Webinars. 

Understanding Canine Choice & Agency Workshop

November 16th at 12PM Central Time

Register here to get the Zoom link delivered to your email box before the workshop and/or to get the replay link sent to you as soon as it becomes available. (Within 48 hrs of the workshop)

It's not the exact choices that we give our dogs that impact their behavior. Agency, or the perception of how much freedom you have to make choices, is the key to choices effecting confidence and thus impact behavior. In this webinar we will be taking a look at the whole dog including! 

• How the dog's choices change the environment or the distractions in the environment.
• How the dog's choices impact their feeling of agency or perception of control over the environment.
• How the dog's choices impact their confidence to try to new things and their resiliency or ability to recover from triggers or other perceived threats in the environment.
• How the dog's choices can impact their health physically as much as emotionally.
• How the dog's choices can lead to the dog choosing to do the behaviors we love vs the behaviors that drive us crazy!

If you want to learn more, be sure to register for this webinar live or for the replay. As always, it will be available for 30 days for FREE, then it will be going into the vault not to be released again until the Challenging Behaviors Series is released. 

Here is a sneak peak for those who have read this far! The Challenging Behaviors Series Announcement will be coming on Black Friday with a special Holiday Weekend price for a very short period of time!

Canine Choice

 

Choice, Agency, & Boundaries all rolled into one!

What is Choice, Agency and Boundaries & How Does it Apply to Dog Training?

Basic Definitions

Choice: The freedom to do different behaviors in the environment the animal is in. 

Agency: The perception of how much freedom you (or an animal) has to make choices.

Boundaries: The rules, guidelines, or laws we all (humans, dogs, and all living beings) must live by.

Let's work backwards starting with boundaries!

As humans we understand that laws exist to keep humans (and animals) safe and that breaking those laws can result in a punishment. Animals on the other hand, don't have LAWS that are enforced on them by governing bodies. Instead, animals that live in people homes will have rules to abide by, but they primarily think in terms of what behaviors will earn them reinforcement of something they want. Animals can learn through punishment to avoid behaviors, but that can have harsh consequences to the emotional well being of the animal. 

Imagine, you drive without your seatbelt every day and don't get caught. So you continue to drive without using that safety device. Eventually something is going to happen to give you a negative consequence for that action. Hopefully it's something minor like a ticket from law enforcement, but occasionally the punishment is more severe such as injury (or worse) from an accident. Those seatbelt laws are designed to keep us safe!

Switching back to dogs, every dog owner has to decide what it's going to take to keep their dog safe. We love our dogs and most of us have a basic desire to keep them safe. 

If you have a little dog, you might worry that people will step on them, therefore you might not allow them to run around in a crowded place. This means you might take away their freedom to move around an environment by picking them up and carrying them. 

Most responsible owners use a leash to help keep their dogs safe by preventing them from running in the road, approaching an unknown dog, etc. Some owners may choose to train their dog to a level of obedience where they feel their dog is relatively safe without a leash. While other owners, especially husky owners, will never fully trust their dog off leash in uncontrolled environments because they know their dog loves to run too much.

That's the thing with boundaries when it comes to family pets. Each family has to set their own rules or boundaries based on their situation and the pet they own. My boundaries are pretty simple:

• I don't want my dogs to get injured in the road so we use longlines for sniffing in any area that is not fenced in or otherwise secured. Rule: My dogs do not run free!
• I don't want my dogs to hurt any humans! This means I have rules in place for mouthing/biting, jumping, or any other behavior that is going to lead to potentially hurting a human.

That's pretty much it!  Those are my rules!

There is a popular rule that comes from other dog trainers and that is one of forced obedience. If human says "sit" that dog better sit! While I do teach my dogs to sit, I never want to force them to sit because it might be uncomfortable them due to an injury, fear, or other distraction in the environment that I have not noticed yet. The only time I ever want to force a behavior on my dogs is if it's absolutely necessary to protect the other humans and animals in that environment. This could be as simple as placing a leash back on your dog when you see another dog coming or using distance away from a friendly stranger to prevent your dog from jumping on them.

My rules are not your rules and as a dog owner, you must decide what boundaries you need to set for your family including the pets you own.

Agency and Choice go together: We can't have agency if we are never given choices and we can't give choices without giving agency.

Remember, agency is the perception of how much freedom you have to make choices!

If your dog always eats their meals in a bowl, it's always the same kibble, at the same time, etc. There is no choices offered to them when it comes to meal time therefore they have no control over what they eat unless they are sneaky at stealing things they find. The need to eat is a basic need which makes it a great place to build in some choices.

The Pick One Game is a great way to build in choice of food!

(This is also a game we do in the Building a Better Bond Workshop!)

Some dogs may have very little choice in their day to day lives. Humans tell them what to eat, where to sleep, when they go potty, etc. These dogs would have very little agency! While other dogs are given choices on a daily basis. They might be trained to give a cue such as ring bells to go outside to potty which allows them the freedom to control the environment in a way to take care of this basic need. This can help a dog have more agency, or belief that their behaviors can impact their day to day life. 

Then there are some dogs like Azul who are given choices all day long and it can seem like these dogs take over the house! I go outside when Azul asks to go outside! I get his food when he asks! I give belly rubs on demand! 

Is he spoiled? Perhaps! But at least I'm sure that he realizes his behaviors can have an impact on his day to day life. Azul has lots of agency. But he still has rules and boundaries such as we use longlines a lot because he is a husky that's prone to wandering away.

Finding a middle ground between offering choices and being controlled by our dogs!

(Side note: This sub-heading is meant to be a joke of sorts! In no way are our dogs trying to take over the world and rule over us or try to be alpha over us humans!)

The key to helping your dog have agency without giving up your household safety rules is simple!

Always give choices where both answers are acceptable options. In the Pick One game above, I might offer one type of treat in my right hand and a different type of treat in my left. Both would be acceptable so Azul is free to choose which one he wants more in that moment. Azul would always choose to be off leash running as his normal speed is way faster than my normal speed. However that isn't safe. So I can provide Azul a choice of go inside the backyard fenced area and run free or wear his harness and longline and sniff in other areas of our property. Now some days, my health doesn't allow me to wander the property and Azul doesn't get a choice, but other days both are possible options. 

There are lots of different ways you can give your dog choices in life without compromising your boundaries! I'm happy to write another blog on this topic if you'd like more information about building choices into your dog's life. 

You can also sign up for the Building a Better Bond Workshop or the Confident Canines Class where you can learn more about the topic of Canine Choice!

Service Dog Picnic

Service Dog Picnic!

October 17th from 11am to 1pm

You must RSVP to get the location.

All teams are welcome no matter if you're just starting your Service Dog journey or if your a full working SD Team. 

We will start out with a short walk and/or training exercise. Then stop for calm, settles at picnic tables while we eat. Everyone brings their own lunch or snacks. And don't forget the dog treats for your puppers!

One of the biggest challenges we face is running into undertrained dogs in public places. When Azul was younger, we didn't have other teams to practice with. Now there are multiple teams in this area! So let's get together and help each other out!

There is a suggested $5 donation to attend to cover the costs of training supplies and such. 

Please RSVP via text at 906-399-0548 or email to yooperpaws@gmail.com.

Having Cake with Clients

As a Canine Coach I get asked what tools I use to train dogs.

People are often shocked by my answer. Simply put, I want a nice fitting harness with both front & back clips and the longest leash that is safe for the environment we are in.

Azul is wearing a Y-front that has padded front and back pieces as well as front and back clips.

The Pet safe 3-in-1 is my preferred harness for adolescents who always struggle with impulse control. However they are pricey so not always best for rapidly growing puppies. A solid Y-front harness with a back clip that sits behind the shoulders is almost always acceptable. More crowded places require shorter leashes and less crowded places allow for nice longlines for safety.

Any tool designed to cause pain, restrict body movement or remove breathing is a HARD NO in my book.

Why I walked a dog on a slip lead a few nights ago.

Clients come into their first session with dogs wearing all sorts of unsafe gear. It's NOT their fault for believing advertising on the package or following the advice of same trainer they saw on TV or somewhere online. There are so many available options that it's nearly impossible to navigate the choices without help.

The dog a few nights ago came in a slip collar, which was designed to cut off a dog's oxygen if they pulled in an attempt to force a dog to walk with their human. I always try to switch unsafe gear out for safe gear at the beginning of the session. This dog was gear shy and already afraid of the harness previously used on the dog with previous owners. We help most of the session off leash as most first sessions are anyway. But the dog needed to go potty. So the choice became take the dog out on the gear they were used to or ignore his attempts at telling us he needed to go. We chose to take the dog out to potty in nearby grass.

Here is the dilemma!

My clients know I don't use these tools so seeing me use them can create controversy. Especially if this is discussed on social media sites that are often quick to condeem or point fingers.

In a perfect world, I would never in a million years choose to use any tool on a dog that was designed to cause pain. No dog deserves to be trained that way. 

We don't live in a perfect world! Sometimes we need to choose between two bad choices because a 3rd more acceptable choice isn't an option.

Had I told this client that their dog couldn't go out to potty because of a bad tool, that client may have felt like I was unfairly judging them and/or their dog. That client may have left that first session and never came back feeling too ashamed. Instead I shared kindness, awareness, knowledge, and empathy (CAKE) with the client. We created a plan to help desensitize the dog to a different style harness as well as a plan to work on the issues the client came in to address.

Compassion: letting the client know I'm there to support both human and dog family members.

Awareness: letting the client know that their concerns are valid and important to me.

Knowledge: info about what science tells us about the situation the human and dog are in. In this case, information about gear.

Empathy: letting the client know that I've experienced challenges in the past as well and I will help them as much as possible.

CAKE!

Everyone deserves CAKE!

Thanks Andrew Hale for teaching this dog trainers, behavior consultants and dog owners around the world through Dog Centered Care!

Dog Centered Care on YouTube 

Dog Centered Care on FB

My Chat with Andrew Hale on Understanding the Emotional Experience.

Scheduling

 ATTENTION

Azul will be having his neuter surgery on Oct 5th so I've disabled my automatic scheduling system for 10 days.

He may heal quickly or heal slowly so I'll be making all appointments in person instead of automatically.

I will still be holding classes and group activities such as the Monday Night FAD Family Pets Class &  the Wednesday Morning Group Walk that week as scheduled as long as there are not unexpected complications.

Any private sessions that are already scheduled such as my weekly and bi-weekly clients will still keep their regular appointment times. Anyone who is not already scheduled should reach out to me via text to schedule so that I can base it on how quickly Azul is healing and how busy that day is already.

At this time I'm not taking on any more new clients that have not already scheduled and/or attended their Behavior Evaluation until the last week of October.

This does impact the Paws & Play Members only to the point of the automatic scheduler is turned off, so place email or text to schedule your session and we will make sure you have access as needed.

Please feel free to reach out to me via email at yooperpaws@gmail.com or text at 906-399-0548 to discuss any problems you are having and to schedule your session.

Reinforcement Workshop

NOTE THE DATE CHANGE

The Understanding Reinforcement Lunch & Learn Workshop has been changed from Sept 27th to October 18th at 1pm Central!

Food is considered a primary reinforcer because all animals need to eat to survive. Delivering food as reinforcement is often the easiest way for an owner to develop strong mechanics and fast delivery speeds to help the dog learn. 

What do you do if your dog doesn't like food or has to follow a specific diet? 

What your dog will take food inside in low distraction environments but not outside in high distraction environments?

There are many reasons to train with and without food! Without food as a motivator, how can you teach the dog new skills?

These are among the many things we will be discussing in this Lunch & Learn Workshop. The Understanding Reinforcement Workshop will be free to attend and the replay available for 30 days for all who register. After that, it goes into the vault and only available through the Challenging Behaviors Series which will not be free!

Join us live via zoom to learn more about reinforcement and how to use it effectively by registering here!

Getting Help for Your Crazy Canine Adolescent!

Reasons Why You Should Get Help Training Your Adolescent Dog!

Understand how nature plays a role in the developing brain during adolescence.

If we look how human adolescents behave or think about the things we did as a teenager, it's often easier to understand why our dogs are doing the crazy things they are doing. Yet adolescence is often the time when most dogs end up in shelters or being rehomed. Dogs enter adolescence around 6-8 months and most mature somewhere between 18-24 months, while XL breeds and high drive sporting breeds tend to mature closer to 3 yrs old. People simply don't understand why their dog is doing these things either for the first time or repeating behaviors that had been worked on but are not getting better. This is the #1 reason to get help from a trainer during this time! 

Beware of the trainer that tells you they can stop a behavior quickly with tools. Seek a trainer that can help you understand why your dog is doing those behaviors and teach you how you can support your dog during this challenging stage.

Here are some common adolescent challenges and how a skilled trainer can help you work through them.

Impulse Control

As nature walks your dog through various developmental stages, their brain basically becomes scrambled. Often dogs make bad decisions here, generally leading to self reinforcing behavior such as grabbing that food off the counter while no one is looking. You may have started training them not to jump on counters as soon as they were tall enough to reach, but suddenly it's become a recurring problem. Adolescents often lack the ability to make good choices when something is tempting. That guilty look they give you when you use a scolding tone of voice or physical punishment is not really guilt, but more of an appeasement behavior a dog would give another dog if they felt threatened. Punishment works to stop behaviors but never teaches a dog what the right behaviors or good choices are. A good trainer can give you multiple games to play to help teach your dog to control their impulses and make better choices. 

Fearfulness

Puppies are basically hardwired to stay close to their mom and littermates, per the whole safety in numbers philosophy. Yet adolescents are going through changes that encourage them to spread out, meet new friends (or make new enemies), find their own food, and explore the environment. This doesn't happen over night! Nature has laid out this plan to slowly develop as the dog learns how to survive in their growing and changing world. This process can cause a dog to go through heightened periods of fear while the brain is literally adding new neural pathways. A dog might suddenly become fearful of anything "new" in their environment. Your pup might have seemed totally confident walking around Halloween decorations but suddenly they are afraid of the Christmas decorations because they are new during a time of heightened fear. 

One of the biggest misconceptions out there is that if you reward a dog for barking at something then turning back to you, then you're teaching them to bark. Yet most commonly adolescents bark because they are afraid of something. You can't reinforce fear! But you CAN support that fear by being a person your dog feels safe coming back to when something scary happens. You CAN teach your dog to follow you away from extra scary things that surprise both of you. You CAN help your dog learn to process scary things when it is safe to do so. A good trainer can teach you how to support your dog through these stages of heightened fear responses.

Boldness or Bravery

Along with periods of increased fear, your adolescent will also have stages where they feel stronger than their are. This is similar to human teenagers who feel invincible and ready to take on the world. For dogs this can lead to increasing intensity during play which can easily escalate to a fight between friends. This bravery can also lead to extra barking, lunging, and pulling on the leash to try to reach distractions such as people, other dogs, wildlife, etc.

A good trainer can help you determine if your dog's behavior is naturally developing according to their age or if it seems to be extreme or something to worry about. Plus a good trainer will teach you the skills to better handle these situations to prevent injury to yourself, your dog, and/or other animals.

Environmental Processing

Just like human teenagers seek freedom to explore the world around them, adolescent dogs need to explore their world too. As dog owners, we control how large that world really is. A working farm with lots of land might teach a dog the farm boundaries are the edge of their world where dogs never leave the farm except maybe a trip to the vet. Owners who live in more urban settings often walk their dogs more starting with their neighborhood and branching room to other places often  including visits to other locations such as camping, friend's houses, hiking trails, etc. Service Dog owners have the largest worlds of all dog owners, needing their dog to be resilient in a wide variety of environments.

It's during adolescence when our dogs are learning how to do risk assessments for their world. What in their world causes potential danger? A farm dog might have to learn to avoid the tractor or horses. A city dog might have to learn to avoid traffic. Service Dogs are often taught to avoid specific things based on their person's needs. 

Along with learning what needs to be avoided, adolescents learn what is simply so normal that they can ignore it and what is going to bring them pleasure or enjoyment like going to visit Grandma and Grandpa who always have yummy snacks.

With all the things that dogs learn by processing the environment, this is the most common mistake dog owners make by not letting their dog have enough time to process things in the environment. A good trainer can teach you how to do this safely to help your dog learn these lessons without repeating or practicing undesired behaviors.

Preventing Undesired Behaviors 

We all know adolescents, both human and canine, lack the ability to make good choices all the time and are prone to choosing things with instant gratification instead of options with delayed reinforcement. Human parents set limits for their adolescents, perhaps adult supervised parties only. In the dog world that might be playdates with friends instead of free-for-alls at the dog park. A huge adolescent challenge I deal with regularly is pulling on the leash which can be totally prevented when we change the way we go on walks. 

The more practice our dogs have doing undesired behaviors, the harder it becomes to change their minds by encouraging acceptable behaviors. If you got away with stealing and eating your favorite food (chocolate in my case) and your parents tried to keep you from stealing by offering you vegetables, no matter how much you loved vegetables that simply wouldn't work. With a human picky eater, adults would simply stop having the junk food available hoping to encourage the teen to make better choices. This is similar to the dog who steals food off the counter. The more self reinforcement they receive from this thievery, the harder it will be to teach them to avoid that counter. As dog owners, we can keep those counters clean until we can teach the dog that more rewarding things happen on other surfaces, teach the dog impulse control, and manage their access to the kitchen counters until they are better able to make good choices.

Whatever challenge your having with your adolescent dog, a good trainer can teach you how to set up for success, avoiding chances to practice undesired behaviors while you teach the dog to do the behaviors you desire.

Moral of this post:

If you're struggling with behaviors your adolescent dog is doing, seek help from a skilled trainer as soon as possible. Don't walk! Run to you closest force free trainer for help before the problem becomes out of control, you become frustrated with your dog, and your dog fails to learn how to navigate their world the way nature intended!

September Plans

September Struggles & Strategies Plans at the Yooper Paws Training Center

This month we will looking at many common struggles faced by dog owners and people working to train their own service dogs. And with all common struggles, there are some common strategies. We posted quite a few last year during the September Theme of the Month, and we are going to continue to expand that list of common struggles. 

• We will be adding blogposts about Self Regulation in our dogs and hopefully highlight some new ways to help our dogs learn to control their impulses a bit better. This includes one of the most common struggles for dog owners...barking!
• We hope to put the final touches on our Challenging Behaviors Series of Webinars with a Lunch & Learn Zoom Session on Understanding Functional Reinforcement September 27th beginning at 12:00PM Central. This will be a free webinar for 30 days before we move it into the paid webinar files. Register Here!
• We will starting new projects with our Wednesday Group Walks!
  • The Morning Group will be adding in new environments with more people distractions such as parks, neighborhoods, and public spaces. This takes distractions to another level!
  • The Evening Group will be moving from Wednesday to Tuesday and begin learning about and practicing skills involved in walking multiple dogs from the same house at the same time. This takes leash management skills to another level!
• We have some great strategies planned for our Service Dog Teams!
  • Donna Hill will be joining the Service Dog Handler Chat on Sept 19th at 1:00 PM Central to discuss Ethics in the SD Community.
  • We have the Sight Based Medical Alerts Class beginning on Sept 19th with the Scent Based Medical Alerts Class beginning on Oct 2nd. Teaching Medical Alerts is often one of the biggest struggles for SD Teams!
• We have our group of Super Sniffers in the Yooper Paws Nosework Club that will be focusing on searching in outdoor spaces which includes struggles with changes due to wind, surface type, competing smells, etc. Plus we will be adding some Simple Sniffers for teams that are just starting out with Nosework.
• Back to School Classes are starting back up!
  • Positively Puppy Paws Class will be on Thursdays at 6:00 PM beginning on September 21st.
  • FAD Family Pets for previous Puppy Paws Clients will be on Mondays at 7:00 PM beginning on September 18th. I'm thinking about scheduling a FAD Family Pets Beginner Class, so please let me know if your interested!
• Last but not least, we hope to dive into the topic of determining our dog's individual strengths and how we can alter training to make it easier for our dogs to learn while having fun.

Understanding Canine Needs

I think we all know that puppy needs are different then adult dog needs, smaller breed needs are different then larger dog needs, and different breeds sometimes have different needs. I can roll off a list of dog needs a mile long but they all come down to these 3 categories; physical needs, emotional needs, and mental needs.

Physical needs include things such as food, water, shelter/safe space to rest, place to go potty, exercise needs, vet care, etc.

Emotional needs include things such as feeling safe, calm, and happy, social experiences, freedom from shame, freedom from threats, etc.

Mental needs include things such as participating in training sessions, playing games with friends, doing enrichment puzzles, sniffing the environment, etc.

Understanding your dog's needs is the first step!

Getting Help!

People seek training help to change at least one behavior, such as pulling on the leash. There really is no need to contact a trainer if your dog is perfect. Owning a dog almost always has challenges of some sorts. Even dog trainers have other dog trainers that they go to for help.

Gone are the days, at least for most of us, where we simply punish the behaviors we don't like. Thankfully dog owners don't come to Yooper Paws because they want to learn how to punish their dog more effectively! If that's their goal, owners quickly learn they are in the wrong place because that's not what I teach. I help dog owners look at the big picture of the behavior that is bothering them.

A dog who barks is trying to accomplish something. They may bark because they see something scary/exciting, or to tell a perceived intruder to get back or give them space, or alert their owners to a potential threat. They may bark simply because it makes them feel good. I'm going to help you determine what the dog is trying to accomplish with that barking behavior.

Most of the time that leads us back to a need that isn't currently being met. Perhaps the dog feels unsafe in the environment, an emotional need. Perhaps the dog is bored from being home all day, needs physical activity or mental stimulation. There are basically endless possibilities as to what your dog needs in any given situation.

When I say that there is a need that is unmet, that is not intended to blame the owner for not taking proper care of their dog! On the contrary, if an owner walks into Yooper Paws seeking my help, I know you are doing your best to provide everything your dog needs. I'm searching through your dog's needs based on breed, age, physical health, daily routine, other family members that may help provide needs, and other information so that I can find the best way to help you. When we find needs that are unmet and brainstorm solutions, we can often change challenging behavior.

Canine Needs Are Different For Every Dog!

Azul and Roz are very different dogs! Both are very confident, resilient and easy to please, but they both have very different needs. They both need food, but Azul is more likely to eat a bigger breakfast while Roz prefers a bigger supper. They both need exercise, but Roz prefers a much faster pace while Azul likes to take it slow. They both need to go potty, but Azul will go anywhere and Roz is more selective. You see, some basic needs are the same for every dog, but still need some individualization.

Azul can be found spending his morning watching the world go by; at the office on his tie out, at home in the backyard, or laying in bed looking out the window. Before or after lunch Azul wants an adventure. He prefers a sniff-a-bout where he can smell p-mail, but he also enjoys a service dog adventure too. He takes a nice afternoon nap, and enjoys some type of play before dinner. His evening is spent exploring or relaxing in the backyard. Azul is pretty laid back and easy going with lots of relaxation time in different environments with just a bit of fun and adventure thrown into his day.

Azul likes to nap and watch the world go by from his favorite places that are in sight of me but not really close to me.

Roz is a bit different! She likes to wake up and hit the ground running! She has a very active morning. That activity can change as long as she can move; zooming in the backyard, playing with a friend, training with me, going on a walk...physical and mental needs. After lunch she can take a good long nap, perhaps with a few interruptions but then more napping. Roz also has a huge social need; playing with friends, touching her people as much as possible, making new friends, etc. Evening is when her needs kick in, especially if her needs for movement were not met earlier in the day. She is going to need 10-15 min of backyard zoomies or wrestling with a friend to end her evening and she is going to need some help settling down to fully relax for the evening.

Roz likes to be touching me as much as possible!

If you're reading this, I know you love your dog and want to help them enjoy life! But sometimes our schedules, other commitments, the day to day stresses in life, and so much more get in the way. Let Yooper Paws help you to understand your dog's needs and create a plan to ensure you can meet their physical, mental, and emotional needs without stressing out your day even more. This may include adding some enrichment puzzles, challenges, training, play, and/or exploration time. But I can guarantee it will be fun for both you and your dog! 

If you are new to Yooper Paws, check out this page for information about your first session.

If you're a current client, reach out to me to find out about current specials & packages that can help determine what you and your dog need.

  

 

Slow is Fast, Fast is Slow in Dog Training

 Quick fixes often provide a temporary fix to any problem! But if you want real results, you'll work toward making slow steady progress based your dog's needs!

I attend a ton of dog training webinars and workshops, therefore I quite often here the quote, "Slow is Fast!" yet so few times is that quote every really explained. I've been thinking about this quite intensively lately as we are holding a chat for Service Dog Handlers next week on this very topic. That chat will focus on why it's so important for Service Dog success. But I also wanted to take a moment to let my pet parents know why we need to slow down too.

Slow in Adding Cues

In traditional training, you take a 6 week puppy class the focuses on teaching basic skills such as sit, down, heel, stay, and come on command. Those are the only objectives, to learn to teach those common cues. However in our 6 week puppy class we focus on training foundations and concepts that will help your puppy succeed in life. This includes training the human how to use food as a lure and as a reinforcement, plus the difference between the two. 

Most puppies will do just about anything if you wave food in front of their nose. I can get a pup to heel perfectly in just 2-3 minutes with the right food. But that doesn't mean the puppy learns to heel. They simply learn to follow the food. This is luring, using food to get the behavior you want. We quickly switch over to a type of shaping as we teach the pup to respond to hand targets and teach the owner how to remove the food lure and transition into using the food as a reward, aka positive reinforcement. Then we build in delayed reinforcement and longer duration behaviors. This whole time, we are working on the same basic behaviors listed above; sit, down, heel, stay, come. But instead of simply getting the behavior everyone is learning how to apply that to real life situations. 

During my puppy classes, many are surprised that I don't use any cues when we use food lures. If you need a lure, the cue is meaningless to the dog and they haven't learned what words have meaning and what doesn't. You can lure a puppy to sit with a treat above their nose, but that doesn't mean they can sit on cue without a treat to follow. When you're training with a Slow is Fast mindset, instead of rushing to teach the word, we teach the behavior first. Then we have the behavior we want and repeat it again and again, we can begin to add the cue word for the behavior.

Slow in Building Duration & Delayed Reinforcement

For many of us, we get stuck with our eyes on the prize or the end goal. We set or goals or see a list of things we want to accomplish and we jump straight there or move rapidly toward the goal. The faster we move in dog training, the greater the chances we have for struggles to set in. When we struggle is when we tend to look for ways to correct or punish the dog. Those harsher corrections based training can be totally avoided if we just slow down and move at the dog's speed.  Each dog processes things a bit differently, so one dog might learn a basic concept more easily and progress rapidly while another dog needs a bit more practice and smaller baby steps in training.

If you follow my FB page, you've seen picts and reference to the Husky Boys, which are 3 brothers that I've been working with since they were quite young. While the genetics of these pups came from the same place as littermates that live in the same household, they are all very individualized. Sammy moves at slower pace, thinking before he does anything but catches on very quickly. Eli needs a bit more time to look around and see what others are doing which means he kinda just goes with the flow wherever he can and is more easily distractable. Eli doesn't like to make mistakes, so he likes to make sure he knows what your asking for before he attempts to do it. Then there's Charlee! LOL Charlee learns new behaviors real quick, but he also forgets new behaviors real quick. He's typically first to respond, but that means he will keep throwing out random behaviors that you've asked for in the past hoping that something will eventually earn him the cookie. When it comes to navigating the environment, Charlee is the type to rush in guns a blazing or ready to handle anything. But when it comes to strangers, Charlee is more likely to sit back and see what his brothers or Roz do. Sammy the slower paced one is more eager to make friends with everyone, both human and dog.

You may be wondering what an evaluation of the Husky Brothers has to do with training cues. This is a unique situation where all 3 dogs have the same genetics and live in the same house so they get the same amount of exposure to the world, the same amount of training time and exercise, and have the same daily household routine. Yet when they are learning new skills they need a bit of a different approach. Slower paced Sammy, even though he wants to always be right in the behavior he offers, can actually learn more quickly with some delayed reinforcement. When we teach heel we start with reinforcing getting in position, then one step, then two steps, 3 steps, 5 steps, 10 steps, etc. Sammy moves through those steps more rapidly being successful at 10 steps rather quickly. Eli on the other hand needs a bit more reinforcement along the way to keep him focused meaning he spent a ton more time practicing at 5 steps then Sammy needed. Eli needed that reinforcement more rapidly or he lost focus. Charlee learned the cue much more rapidly for heel, yet he's still the one the struggles with it the most because if the rate of reinforcement is spread out too far, Charlee will start throwing out other behaviors like jumping, barking, or switching sides in an attempt to earn faster reinforcement.

This individualized difference is why we don't add cues until the dog is doing well with the behavior. Otherwise we run the risk of giving the cue and the dog not being able to do the behavior because they are distracted, bored, frustrated, or simply don't know what that cue means yet. There is another common saying, "Name it when you love it!" which basically means, don't add the cue until the behavior is exactly what you want your dog to be doing. This might only take 1-3 training sessions for some dogs while it takes 4-6 for others. Our puppy class is designed to help the owner and puppy make as much progress as possible without rushing them to hit a deadline or achieve a hard and fast standard by the end of the 6 sessions. The beauty of that is, most puppies that complete the class can easily exceed the national standards that are widely accepted for those basic behaviors plus the owners then know how to continue to increase those skills in a wide variety of environments and around distractions.

Slow in Adding New Distractions & New Environments

Let's fast forward past puppy class, into working with an adolescent dog. In adolescence, the dog's brain is changing from what is there to help keep a puppy alive to what an adult dog needs. Puppies need to stay close to their family, safety in numbers and rely on mom for direction. Adults need to seek food, water, shelter, or whatever their assigned family job is which means means they need strength, confidence, and skills to do the assigned job. The needs of a puppy are vastly different than the needs of an adult, which sticks us dog owners in the middle trying to help our adolescent learn the skills they need to fit into their role in the family and world around them. With the brain basically doing change after change as our adolescent dogs grow up, they tend to forget or struggle with doing things they did really well just last week. This means we need often need to slow down our training during adolescence.

Dog owners tend to forget how challenging this time is. The dog, especially for large breeds, is becoming quite big and strong therefore we tend to put higher expectations on their skills then we should. Azul was almost 70 lbs by his first birthday and as a husky, he's built to pull. While I started teaching Azul to heel at about 4 months old, at 12 months old this was near impossible outside because everything smelled so wonderful to Azul. He quickly would become over stimulated and unable to focus on anything. Those reading this with 1 year old large breed dogs, know exactly what I mean! This is when frustration sets in for dog owners as we feel like our problems are getting worse rather than better. 

As owners pull their hair out in frustration, this is when we really need to slow down are training and take a look at the distractions that are in the environment. Often it's the distractions that make our young teenagers forget what they were supposed to be doing. This means it's up to us, the human to chose environments that have a reduced chance of distractions. Perhaps instead of walking on the most popular dog walking trail in town, we choose to walk in areas that are not so popular. Less foot traffic means less things we are going to see on our walk and less smells that are going to be left behind from other dogs, people, and wildlife.

Adolescence is where we really need to think about, "Is my dog ready for X environment!" Perhaps your dog has had great leash manners at the park, he greets strangers nicely and loves everything in life so you start thinking maybe he'd like to go with to watch a parade. His first parade, how exciting! But a busy parade is filled with distractions so if you make the leap from a quiet park to a loud crazy parade, bad things often happen; the dog starts pulling on the leash, jumping on people, perhaps barking, etc. We need to build up to exciting environments, perhaps moving from the quiet park to a bigger or more active park, perhaps watching a school playground from a safe distance, perhaps sitting in the car with your dog in a busy parking lot and watching people walk passed, etc. 

The goal should be look around your area and slowly build up. A farmer's market in my area may only have 50 people including vendors and shoppers so that might be a great environment for some manners around strangers. But in some towns a farmers market might have over a 1,000 people therefore it might not be the next step up from a quiet playground. This is where having a network of Canine Coaches or other dog owners who have dogs at this same age can help you figure out what might be next for your and your dog.  Check out the Crazy Canine Adolescents FB Group if you want to connect with others struggling through this craziness too!

We will have additional Slow is Fast resources coming in the near future!