Halloween Safety Tips

It's that time of year and Halloween is rapidly approaching!

Whether you are training a service dog or a pet dog, you don't want them to be scared on Halloween night by all the spooky decorations. You can do some training now to help you have a more successful Halloween.  The first thing you need to determine is what are plans for Halloween as that will change your approach to training before the activities start.

Trick-or-Treating or Walking the Neighborhood

If you plan to take your dog out on the town on Halloween night doing some trick-or-treating with friends and family, be sure to some training sessions around decorations before the day of fun. Training before the need allows you to slow down and let the dog explore the decorations at their pace and comfort level. If you are going out with kids or attending a costume contest, you will want to desensitize the dog to costumes before the big event too.

Azul has been around these types of decorations since he was a pup so he's pretty comfortable but in this video he is mildly stressed. Can you see it in this video?

The whole idea of desensitizing & counterconditioning (DS/CC) is to start at a distance where your dog can be comfortable and follow your directions. You will slowly move closer based on how your dog acts. If they are calm you move more quickly. If they start showing mild signs of stress you might be able to stay at that distance a bit, then if they relax you move forward more and if not you move back and the end the session there for the day. You want to use a high value reinforcement, most often high value food, for these types of sessions as this conditioning will help to change your dog's emotions from one of fear to one of happy. The dog thinks "This ghost decoration shows up and out comes the chicken. Hey, I like this ghost decoration!" 

You also want to make sure your dog has the choice to move closer or move farther away.  If you're visiting neighborhood decorations you may not want your dog to actually touch the decorations or let them get close enough to nip or pee on the decorations. Your neighbors will thank you for staying back far enough to not allow for damage.

During the training you have to be careful not to push your dog too far too fast! If your dog barks, lunges or otherwise reacts to the decoration you moved too close too fast and you hinder the efforts of counterconditioning because now that decoration is even more scary. Some dogs will curiously go up and sniff or touch a decoration(when appropriate), then be totally fine with it. If your dog is willing to do so, they shouldn't have a problem ignoring them on Halloween.

Outside I suggest doing these sessions in your neighborhood during the day when there are few people around. Often these decorations are less scary in the day time. Then do a few evening walks after dark before Halloween so that your dog is used to walking past the decorations in the dark as well. 

Staying Home, Passing Out Candy, Avoiding People

If you're staying home on Halloween you may not focus as much on training sessions around outdoor decorations.  Instead you may need to desensitize to common sights, sounds, and smells.

Door Safety

If you will pass out candy to trick-or-treaters you need to consider safety first.  Is your dog friendly with strangers? What happens when someone knocks on the door?  Does your dog run out the door the moment it's opened?  First think of your dog's safety first!  

If they are not friendly or like to bolt out the door you will want to either use a crate or baby gate to prevent your dog from getting too close to the door.  If your dog is friendly and will participate in activities, you should consider having the dog drag a leash attached to a collar just incase you need some management to assist with overexcitement behaviors.

From this safe place you can work on creating calm behaviors before the big night.  Will you leave your front door open, using only a screen door that night?  If so, practice this by putting the dog in their safe space with a long lasting food reward such as a chew, stuffed kong, or lickmat.  Then open the door and relax nearby.  This will help your dog get used to the night sights, sounds, and smells in the neighborhood.  

Then add in someone walking up to the door.  You will probably want to practice having someone approach and knock plus approach and say Trick or Treat.  When this happens drop and extra high value reward into your dog's safe space before you approach the door.  If you have a family of kids nearby, invite them over to practice a few times during the day.  Set up your house and safe space before they come. Ask them to approach slowly stopping if they hear barking and just stay there a moment, Once the barking stops they can approach more, knock, or say trick-or-treat.  Once all is calm in the house, move out and give them a treat.  Have them walk back away from the door a few feet while you remain at the door and have them approach again.  If you have a neighborhood parent with a toddler, they will probably love the opportunity to practice!

By having a few dry runs or practice sessions during the day leading up to the big event, your dog can get used to the activity and you can look at your management resources to determine if you need to add another layer of safety or if your current set up will work for the big night.

If you are avoiding people that night, you may experience knocks on the door and shouts of trick-or-treat coming from the neighborhood so you may want to desensitize to those sounds before the event.  If you don't want to set up a practice session as described above, watch some Halloween movies on TV while cuddled with your dog and reward your dog every time you hear someone knock or shout in the movie.  It may seem like you are not even training but you are pairing good things with the sounds heard.  Use movies or sound effects apps you can control the volume starting slow and gradually turning the volume up to replicate what it would be at your front door.  With today's video tech, you can easily reply the same scene of someone knocking over and over again until your dog starts to realize that the sound will predict something awesome is coming.

Attending Trunk & Treats

It seems that there is less safety in going door to door so many people take their children (and dogs) to truck & treat outings at trusted locations; businesses, churches, police/fire depts, etc. These can be very challenging outings for dogs! With all the kids in costumes running & yelling, sometimes games, lots of adults laughing and moving around, our dogs can quickly be overcome. The amount of stressed out dogs that I see in this environment is outrageous! 

PLEASE! Only take your dog to these events if they are social and confident around distractions!

PLEASE Listen to your dog! If they are scared, take them out of the environment. And if you can't because you are there with your kids, leave your dog at home.

Last year Azul attended a few of these with me; some big and some small, some pet friendly & some not. One was much bigger than we expected with well over 1000+ people and lots of stressed dogs. I was hoping to walk with my grandkids, but my daughter was supervising them so Azul was my only responsibility. We got in the first very long line for an activity and Azul started to show signs of stress, not wanting to move closer to the event. Instead of staying with my grandkids, Azul and I took a walk in the neighborhood surrounding the event and walked the edge of the event before eventually just getting back in the car. When my grandkids were doing an activity close to the car, I was able to jump out leaving Azul in the car for a short time. 

I've heavily conditioned my vehicle to be a safe place for my dogs to hangout, with or without me! 

This year will be Belle's first year going to a Trunk & Treat! Here are the steps I'm taking to provide a safe space for both Azul and Belle.

• We are setting up a trunk so that my dogs can hang out in their safe space of the car. This way they get to see all the kids, but only interact with those that the dogs choose to.
• My SUV allows for me to set up multiple sections. If a dog does not want to interact with kids, they can hang out in the backseat.
• My dogs will allows be attacked to either the car or me if I take one out of the car for a bit. This prevents them from jumping out of the car when I'm busy with passing out candy. I use a seatbelt leash to secure both dogs.
• My dogs have a new bone that they can chew on during the event. Licking, chewing & sniffing help to reduce stress.
• I also have a treat container with both high and low value treats that will be passed out liberally.to reinforce calm.

The dogs will be set up in this same fashion for Bark & Treat, the event at the Yooper Paws Training Center. The big difference is Azul may spend more time out of the car at the children's event because he loves kids & might spend more time in the car at the dog event because he doesn't love new dogs in his face. Belle on the other hand, might spend more time in the car at the kids event because sometimes kids can be overwhelming, and more time out of the car at the dog event because she loves to greet new dogs. 

It's important that you listen to your dogs! You can help them overcome a fear or two, but of they are just totally overwhelmed and afraid of lots of things, please be kind and take them to a safe space; the car, home, anywhere away from the event. Our goal is to set up for success, but if our pre-planning doesn't work we should always have an exit plan.

And please, don't dress your dog up if they don't like wearing clothing!  

Azul is shy when it comes to new gear. His Halloween costume involves his Service Dog Harness that he knows and is comfortable in with a hi-vis cape that he is also comfortable with. He is my Service Worker!

Belle hasn't had much exposure to costumes, so her she-devil costume also involves her Service Dog harness and cape with a set of devil horns that she can wear for cute pictures then take off for calm settle time.

If your dog loves getting dressed, then by all means have fun with a big costume. But if your dog doesn't love it, they shouldn't have to wear it.

Be Safe Everyone

A Fresh Start Workshop

 

Are you ready to get back to some foundation skills?

Do you want to build better teamwork?

Do you want a Winter Training Plan that is all set up for you?

Join our new winter workshop!

A Fresh Start to Dog Training!

This new winter workshop will be combining 3 Yooper Paws & Crazy2Calm projects into one great resource designed to help all dog owners no matter what their previous level of training, style of training, or relationship status is when they start the workshop.

A Fresh Start Workshop is designed to showcase how positive reinforcement based training has been used to create a teamwork based approach to dog training. Each week there will be a topic of the week with 3 levels of games you can play with your dog. Every Monday, Workshop Members will receive a lesson with basic info and training tips for the topic including a game to play. Mid-week you will receive another lesson that will help you expand the skills you began practicing at the beginning of the week. 

A Fresh Start Workshop has been created for clients who have adopted a new dog or are starting over with positive reinforcement based training with an emphasis on teamwork to enhance the canine behaviors. Teams with advanced training, including the Service Dog Teams working with Crazy2Calm Canine Coaches will benefit from practicing these foundation skills to enhance communication and partnership in day to day life. The workshop is designed to provide you with a simple to use training plan, making it easy for you to stay active in training all winter.

There will be 3 levels of games in each topic. The basic level will be designed for people who have never trained the skill in that topic. The intermediate level will be perfect for adolescents with some experience in the topic but need to build up to the next level. The advanced level is awesome for teams like Azul and I who just want to have some fun building engagement to keep our relationship strong. You get all 3 levels, so it's up to you to choose which level is perfect for your team every week. 

A Fresh Start Works is perfect for owner/dog teams aiming for a stronger relationship with their dog, creating skills that are helpful for all family pets to live a safe, calm, and happy lifestyle.

Sign Up Available on Patreon

Patreon is a membership based platform that allows you to pay a low monthly fee to participate. All you need to do is sign up for a Patreon account the join the Fresh Start Membership.

A Fresh Start Workshop is designed to take place over a 5 month time period so plan on being a member for at least 5 months. Still that is over $300 worth of resources for just $50!

Let us help you make that Fresh Start with your dog!

Sign up for your FREE Yooper Paws Membership now to get great updates about this workshop and some early learning resources.

Then beginning Nov 1st you can upgrade to the Fresh Start Membership to participate in the paid workshop for $10 per month. The workshop will officially begin on November 18th! 

FAQ Section

How long do I have access to the materials?

The Workshop will be released mid-November 2023 through March 2024. After that you can stay in the membership as long as you want for continued support.

Is there a trial period where a refund is available?

The membership based system allows you to pay $10 per month, cancelling at any time. If you don't enjoy the content you can simply cancel your membership. Therefore no refunds will be available for this membership. Your risk is only $10 to try it for a month!

What date will the membership be billed each month?

Patreon will automatically charge your card on the same day of the month you upgrade to a paid member. This means you can set your payment date based on something that will work for your budget. I have no control over this.

Please direct all other questions to yooperpaws@gmail.com.

Bark & Treat

 Join us for some fall fun at the Yooper Paws Training Center!

Bark & Treat

611 N Hooper St, Kingsford, MI  49802

October 29th from 5-7:30 PM

$10 To Enter the Trunk Design Contest!

Businesses, Families, & Groups are encouraged to decorate their vehicle trunk in Halloween flare, then pass out treats to owners and their dogs.

Set up begins at 5PM 

Judging at 5:45PM 

(Prizes will be awarded immediately following judging.)

Any fall flare decorations are allowed with bonus points earned for displays that are dog themed. Please do not include anything that is designed to pop out causing a startle response. Lights and scents encouraged!

Bark & Treat Owners

Owners are encouraged to bring out their dogs for the fun Bark & Treat Activities.

Social dogs are encouraged to attend from 6-7PM.

Dogs that may need a bit more space from other dogs are encouraged to attend from 7-7:30PM.

Please do not bring any dogs that are fearful of people in general for everyone's safety! 

At Yooper Paws of Love we have a soft spot in our hearts for dogs that are fearfully reactive and do our best to include them in all activities. But safety for everyone including your fearful dog is our first priority! If your dog is on the fearful side, please contact Yooper Paws to schedule a time to pick up a treat bag and play the games privately. 

In addition to the Bark & Treat Fun we will have additional games and activities set up inside and around the Yooper Paws Training Center. 

Photo Contest will be held indoors with a winner announced the following day via Social Media and an email to the winners. You must register and have your photo taken by the Yooper Paws representative to enter the photo contest. All entries may be shared on any Yooper Paws social media sites and/or contest sponsor sites.

We are requesting a small donation of $2 per dog to participate in activities that will be used to help some of our local Service Dog in Training Teams.

Contact Yooper Paws of Love to reserve your Bark & Treat spot and enter the Trunk Decorating Contest.

Text us or leave us a voicemail at 906-399-0548 with the Name and phone number you would like to register under and let us know if you are interested in sponsoring one of our games or contests. You can also reach out to us via email at yooperpaws@gmail.com.

Special Thanks to Pawsitively Pups Training & Metal Roof Grooming for helping us plan this event!

Changing Needs

 Finding Balance with Changing Needs

With Fall weather changes and winter rapidly approaching, it's a perfect time to look at our dog's needs and our abilities to meet those needs as best we can. In a perfect world, our dogs would be totally content to simply be with us and do what we were doing when we wanted to do that. Yet everyone knows we do not live in a perfect world. 

Perhaps we have to work at a job where our dog can't go with us and must stay home...

Perhaps we have a dog that is fearful and doesn't enjoy going out to new places or around strangers...

Perhaps we have a medical issue that is preventing us for doing our regular exercise routine with our dogs...

Perhaps we live in an area that really harsh winters making walking or other outdoor activities harder...

When we do not live in a perfect world and perhaps can't do the things we want to do with our dogs, we need to look at what do our dogs really need vs what can we really provide them to find a balance that helps everyone to stay as happy and healthy as possible.

What does your dog need?

I think we can all agree that dogs have physical, social, mental, and emotional needs. Dogs are unique individuals and their needs are just as individualized. I discussed this in another blog specifically on Understanding Your Dog's Needs. And you can learn about the Hierarchy of Canine Needs if you want to know more! For this post I want to focus on how needs may change with age, health, weather, environment, and other factors then take a look at how we can change our plan to better meet the needs of our individual dog.

Age, Health, & Physical Needs

As many of you know, Azul recently went through his neuter surgery at 3.5 yrs old. Generally Azul is a pretty laid back, calmer dog who is happy if he gets 30-60 minutes of sniff-a-bout time and 4-10 minutes of zoomies or play time in a day. Post surgery requirements called for 10 days of slow leash walks up to 20 minute walks. As with many dog owners, this was tough because Azul did not want to take things this slow and let his body heel! Plus we had a few additional hurdles of Azul's a Service Dog, used to going with me when I leave the house and we had to avoid stairs and jumps such as getting in/out of the car.

Finding Balance is all about meeting the dog where they are and adjusting the plan based on their individual needs. This means that I basically cleared my schedule so that I could stay home and sit on the couch with Azul as long as he needed that down time. Sure I could leave him home with dad, but Azul would have wanted to move a whole lot more without me home, so I made the commitment to stay home as long as Azul needed. (Thankfully I can do that since I work for myself!) 

Day 1 Azul was still impacted by anesthesia and struggled to walk up right. This means if he stood up, so did I and I pretty much followed him to get a drink, to go outside, etc. We spent most of the time resting on his bed near the couch, but he also wanted to spend time outside so I put a bed on the porch for him too where we could sit and soak in fresh air. The walk down into the backyard was exhausting so once he went potty, he laid down to take a nap in the backyard which had me sitting in the grass beside him while he snoozed, then we went back inside when Azul was ready.

After Day 1 was when it really started to get tough to meet Azul's needs. Day 2 he wanted to live in the backyard although he still wasn't moving real fast. However, with his stitches, I really didn't want him laying on the ground, which means we had to find ways to meet Azul's needs indoors. Thankful his appetite was returning so we fed all his means in fun enrichment ways; his topples, find it games, lickmats, etc. By Day 3, Azul wanted to run and a certain chipmunk enemy was trying to hangout in the backyard. Instead we took multiple longline walks up around the barn, in the front yard, around the apple orchard, all places on our property or neighboring properties where Azul likes to go slow and sniff every blade of grass. We did 20 min sniff-a-bouts and rest for about 2-3 hrs on repeat all day. 

On Day 4 I let Azul have about 10 min to run in the backyard to check for his chippy enemy along with some short sniff-a-bouts. At this point Azul was pulling more on the leash and so I had to weigh the risk of what would potentially hurt his stitches more, a leash walk with pulling or a few minutes of free run in his quiet backyard. Sure Azul has great leash manners most of the time, but if his other needs are not being met or if his environment is too distracting, those manners struggle a bit. I knew by Azul's pulling that he needed a bit more movement in his day.

Don't get me wrong! I'm not telling you to go against your Veterinarian's advice when it comes to health related issues! I'm saying you have to find a balance between the general advice given to all dogs based on a health issue with your dog's specific needs based on their breed, age, and speed of recovery. Different ailments might require you to stick to the bed rest, leash walks only plan and also require additional Veterinary monitoring. But in Azul's case I was able to slowly increase his exercise needs based on the improvement he was showing me, the environment we had to work with, and my ability to add in distractions slowly. By day 7 Azul was back to his normal routines for exercise with just some mile adjustments to prevent jumping, pulling, and over-excitement.

Depending on where you live, climate often plays a role in being able to meet your dog's physical needs. For my clients in the south, they really struggle in the summer with intense heat so often find it most challenging to meet their dog's physical needs in the summer without risk of heatstroke. For those in north, like Azul and I, winter becomes much more challenging. Snow sometimes prevents us from getting in/out of the driveway, icy sidewalks and parking lots can reduce our ability to go on walks and many of our sniff-a-bout spots are inaccessible in the winter. This can make it really challenging to meet Azul's physical needs. To help, we change up where we walk! Sometimes it's easier to walk in town where we can walk down the center of slower roads. We also have access to snowmobile trails and frozen lakes that can make for nice sniff-a-bouts. With walks being more challenging and dangerous for people with balance issues, like me, we search out lots of fenced in areas for off leash time. Our backyard is great for off leash time, but it tends to get boring for Azul because the scents simply don't change enough therefore we try to find a few extra fenced in areas that can be off leash sniff zones.

Emotional & Social Needs

This is something that varies so much based your individual dog!  Some dogs need to play with friends or desire to make new friends more often, while some dogs would prefer to avoid making new friends or being in areas with unknown dogs. Most dogs need some social time with their owners and some emotional support from their owners every day. If your changing environments for your physical exercise based on weather related challenges, your dog might need a bit more emotional support to adapt. If your exercise abilities are decreasing due to weather, your dog might have an increase in social needs during this time.

Azul has pretty low emotional and social needs for a dog. I believe this is due to his husky traits of independence and contentment with watching the world go by.  Azul's emotional needs are met with lots of praise, belly rubs, and silly games. And Azul's social needs are met mostly by changing scenery; some time spent at home, some time at the office, with occasional trips to a store or other business. Azul doesn't need to directly interact with lots of people or dogs, but he needs to observe them from a distance or enough that he can "watch the world go by!" We throw in an occasional playdate with one of his doggie friends and Azul is a pretty happy boy. However, if I'm extra busy with other dogs or spending extra time with one dog, Azul has a bit of a low emotionally and may need some extra cuddle time to make up for absence. Thankfully, with the Training Center, Azul can hang out in the office while I work with other dogs and I can sneak in and cuddle him a bit throughout the day so his social needs can be more regulated without going super low. 

Dogs that spend a lot of time home alone, would more likely have greater social needs in the evening or when family is home because they've spent so much time alone. I was lucky enough to have Oy, one of my GSD clients for a whole day and since he is typically used to being alone while his parents work and then being the star of the show when his parents are home, he struggles a bit when full attention is not him. This is when you see behaviors such as counter surfing, raiding the trash, dumping the water bowl, and other challenging behaviors begin. When dog's social needs are not being met, they will take negative attention vs no attention in an attempt to get the interaction they so greatly desire. This is where we need to find a balance of giving the dog as much positive attention when we can and teaching the dog to calmly settle when we can't be giving them attention.

Mental Needs

To me this is one of the most important, yet often last to consider needs for dogs! When we think about our dog's mental needs, we have to remember that dogs are basically hardwired to explore, learn about things in their environment, learn how to get the things they want and need. This can include a need to explore new scents, scavenge for food, build on skills, and perhaps even become better at their job.

There is a new philosophy going around in the dog trainer communities about "not training" your dog. The basic premise is teaching your dog how to exist in their world, learning the rules of social etiquette for your family, but not teaching them to follow human cues/commands or do silly tricks. While I'm all about teaching the dog how to exist in their world and the rules of co-existence with human families, I also think spending time in training sessions is imperative to meeting the dog's needs. I don't really care what cues a human wants to teach their dog, but the act of developing the skills of teamwork that happen with training using positive reinforcement methods is a top priority for me. 

Perhaps clients want to focus on competitive sports such as agility, scentwork, flyball, barn hunts. 

Perhaps clients want to focus on having fun with confidence building skills like canine parkour, performing silly parlor tricks, or doing some freestyle movements together. 

Perhaps clients that want to train for a specific job such as service dog or therapy dog training. 

Of course some dogs find certain activities more enjoyable than others making it important to look at the individual dog's desire to participate in training. But my philosophy is any training based on teamwork that encourages the dog and owner to work together to accomplish a goal should be a priority in meeting that dog's mental needs.

Here is a fun training session I had with Oy!

Then there are other ways to meet additional mental needs. For dogs that really struggle with needing attention all the time when owners are present, adding in some mental challenges or doggie puzzles can really help meet their mental needs of that day while giving owners a few minutes to focus on something else while their dog is enjoying the challenge. It's my experience though, that I tend to sit back and watch my dog enjoying the puzzle I've game them because that is filling my emotional and social needs to see my dog be happy. I do have a ton of information in this blog about enrichment and puzzles if you want to learn how to build some puzzles at home.

Fall Special!

Since many owners are facing a change in routine due to weather I'm holding a Fall Special based on helping owners Find Balance in Meeting Your Dog's Needs. This special package includes one 60 minute planning session where we will look at your individual needs and your dog's individual needs to create a plan to help you restore balance in home where everyone's needs are being met. Then 2-4 weeks after your planning session we will do 30 min follow up session to look for areas where your plan may need to be adjusted. 

This package is open to virtual clients! Sessions will take place via Zoom.

This special package will be available through Oct. 31st at a cost of $150 which covers both sessions. Additional review sessions can be purchased for $45 if needed. 

Click here to schedule your first session!

If you are not sure whether virtual dog training will work for you or not, check out this blog post from last October that covers some of the benefits of virtual training via zoom and online classes.

  Changing Plans in October. 

Click here to find more posts about Finding Balance in October!

September Schedule

This month we are tackling common struggles for family pets and service dog teams. I'll be expanding on previous blogs written over the last few Septembers.

Check out the list of available blogs here!

September Schedule 

All of these classes will be $150 for 4 sessions. (A discount is available for those who are already on a private session package or currently in the SD Support Package!) All classes will be tweaked to provide specific strategies for the dogs who sign up. Email or text us to sign up for any of these classes.

Service Dog Classes

Advanced Final Eval Prep Class

Monday’s at 4pm

This class is for clients that are in the final stages of training and putting the finishing touches to achieve their goals. We will be giving the C2C SD Evaluation & the Alliance of Therapy Dog Test in this class.

Intermediate Positive to PA Experiences Class

Monday's at 6pm.

This class is a mid-level class for Service Dogs & Therapy Dogs. We will be traveling to multiple environments, mostly outside, to practice basic teamwork skills around distractions. We will be doing lots of walking to practiceleash manners and settle.

Beginners SD Foundations Class

Saturday’s at 4pm

This is for teams that are just starting their Service Dog journey. We will be working on basic skills including tuck, settle, stay, wait, leash manners and basic task foundations.

FAD Family Pets Classes

Advanced Environments 

Wednesday’s at 11am

This class is for current clients who want to do more with their dogs in challenging environments including pet friendly public places and events. Being an advanced class, this is only open to those who have done extensive training with me and have dogs that are ready to work around strangers and other dogs.

Group Games & Walks

Wednesday’s at 7pm

In this group we will be mixing walks with games designed to help teams be successful in real life situations. This class is perfect for anyone wanting to work on leash manners with fearful, fizzy & adolescent dogs. All teams must have attended at least 3 sessions prior to participating & at least 1 longline management session.

Small Dogs Group

Thursday’s at 5pm

This class is perfect for small dogs (under 40 lbs.) needing to practice basic skills in distracting environments. The skills we practice will be determined by the needs of those who sign up.

Helping Fearful Dogs Walk

Thursday's at 6pm

This class is perfect for large dogs needing to practice basic skills in distracting environments. We will be focusing on skills needed to figure out safe distancing from other teams, utilizing exit strategies, and lots of LATTE (Look At That, Then Enrichment!) to help dogs & owners learn to cope better when distractions enter the environment.

YP Nosework Club 

Nosework Club is going to resume next Tuesday, Sept 10th from 6-8pm. Beginners beginning at 6pm and searches will become more challenging as the night goes on.

The cost to new clients is $125 for 4 sessions. Club members pay just $10 per session! Members with fearful dogs can schedule a private practice session from 4-6pm.

Please RSVP with Tammy or Penny!

Distracted Dog Days

Announcing the Distracted Dog Days Sessions

August Special:

Distracted Dog Days Sale!

This is a special package designed to give you and your dog all the support you need to become a successful team.

The highlight of this package, starts with one 4 hour session that allows us to evaluate needs, train needed skills and create individualized training exercises to practice skills in a safe environment then transfer those skills to a real life environment. 

New clients will attend with their dog for all sessions.

Returning clients can choose to drop their dog off for most of the session and come back at the end to see what we learned and how to do the training at home.

That sounds like A LOT and it might be overwhelming, doesn't it? 

But don't worry! This is achieved by moving back and forth between calm restful periods and higher energy periods specifically geared towards your easily distractible dog. 

One of the key struggles with easily distracted dogs is their inability to self regulate their arousal level. Once they get excited or amped up, they simply can't come back down to a calm level on their own. Your dog is not alone in this struggle!  The good news is that we can help them learn how to settle back down!

After your half day session (4hrs), we will do 2 follow up sessions (up to 2 hours each) spread out over the next 60 days. That's up to 8 hours of Day Session Training for your dog!

You'll also receive up to 4 Hrs of pre-recorded webinar that you can view on your own time OR access to 1 online class. During your 60 Dog Days Package, you'll basically have a Trainer in your back pocket with unlimited text/message support to get rapid answers to your questions.

You won't find a more complete package out there! Message us for more details and to schedule your 4 Hr Dog Day Session!

Creating Patterns

How do you create patterns to speed up your dog training?

Before reading this post about patterns & pattern games, be sure to review the post on Understanding Routines that I wrote a few months ago. Routines & Patterns are very similar yet have different applications so I want to start with defining what I mean for both of those words.

Routines - Ongoing behaviors that often apply to daily activities such as meals, going out to potty, bedtime, etc. In a routine the dog may perform multiple behaviors in response to changes happening in the environment that are practiced every day or every time that event happens.

Patterns - Short repetitive behaviors that are used in the training phase of a new behavior that will often be modified to increase the difficulty of the behavior or phased out once the dog actually learns the behavior.

Think of this way, we use routines to teach our dog what is expected in specific situations in order to receive the reinforcement they are seeking and we use patterns to teach our dogs a specific behavior that will earn reinforcement which later will be put on a cue once the dog has learned the specific behavior.

The first example of a pattern game that I teach in all my classes is the Up/Down Game.  Check out this video of Henney playing the game for the first time.

The directions for teaching the game can be found in the description of this video!

When playing a pattern game, I like to start with 10-12 small, easy to swallow treats in my hand so I can rapidly reinforce the desired behavior. Typically the game will last less than a minute. All my clients are taught how to use a pattern game to teach hand targets, then told to add that activity into something they do every day such as going to the coffee pot. I suggest they put a treat container at the place of their daily activity and pull out the 10-12 treats doing a 30-60 second hand target game before they fill their coffee cup, or whatever activity they are about to do.

Clients are instructed to play the Pattern Game exactly as we did in the session for 1 week. Then we tweak the game to make the behavior slightly more challenging. Week 1 they practice simple hand targets, Week 2 they play the Moving Target game, & Week 3 they play the Hand Target Heelzone Game. By doing this they are heavily reinforceing the hand target but slowly using that hand target to teach the behaviors they want the dog to do such as stand up, switch sides, heel, wait, etc.

When to use patterns and when to avoid patterns!

Those who continue training learn how to use Pattern Games to encourage behavior such as eye contact, heel, and recall. Since teaching heel is a struggle for many dog owners I'm going to use that as an example with 2 of my favorite games. Starting with the Finding Heel Game that I play.

Puppy Level

Adolescent Level

When you play lots of pattern games with your dog, at some point they typically start predicting what your next move is, often trying to get there before you even ask for it. At this point they know the behavior and if we repeat the patterns much longer without increasing difficulty or adding in new distractions, the dog will get board and decide to do their own game. Ideally we want to recognize this before it actually happens and make changes to keep the dog involved and learning.

To explain this a little better, I'm going to continue with the "heel" example and move on to the Bucket Game. By design the Bucket Game is geared to breaking patterns and routine habits, instead encouraging the dog to focus more on the handler for direction. If Belle sees my red buckets set up in pretty much any environment she easily jumps in heel ready to play the game because she loves it so much. 

See the video description for details!

In real life, I'm not about to carry my red buckets everywhere! As a Service Dog in Training, I need Belle to learn to heel in very distracting environments which requires a great deal of focus. To teach that level of focus, I need to keep changing the games and patterns in a way that makes her focus on me even without specific resources that I use for pattern games. To phase out the props and move more into real life situations, I need a game that makes it easy to always change the criteria. Sometimes this means blending different pattern games together to make a new pattern. Other times this means creating a brand new game with lots of direction changes such as working in a wide open space like a yard, field or parking lot and frequently changing directions.

There is a lot more games when it comes to teaching a solid heel and a many more things you need to consider about leash manners in general before you can figure out what will work best for you and your dog. The Leash Manners E-Book that will soon be released is designed to walk you through some of the challenges with leash manners and provide you with helpful resources to teach the behaviors you love using reinforcement the dog loves by playing games vs using corrections and telling your dog what not to do. Watch this blog for more info about the Leash Manners E-book!

July Party Schedule

Announcing our Summer Session Special!

We are starting with an altered scheduled for July 1st -3rd

Monday, July 1st, all of our Group Walkers are invited to attend a special group walk at 7PM, starting at the Yooper Paws Training Center. This is good for Fearful & Fizzy Dogs that need to stay 20+ feet away from other dogs in order to remain calm.

Tuesday, July 2nd, we have private sessions during the day and 2 evening activities. Our young Service Dogs in Training (SDiT's) that are working on SD Foundations are invited to attend a group session at 6PM at the Training Center with the possibility of a road trip to TSC.

Then also on July 2nd at 7PM the YP Nosework Club will be hosting a Searching For Scents practice session. All members are invited to join in the fun. If you're not a member yet, reach out to Penny or Tammy to find out how you can join.

Wednesday, July 3rd, the Group Trail Walkers will be adding a picnic to our adventures. This is designed for dogs who can greet other dogs after walking together and are able to settle down at a table with other dogs nearby. We will have a few private sessions after the walk before closing our doors at 2PM. 

From July 3rd @ 2PM to July 8th at 10AM, Yooper Paws of Love will officially be closed and Emergency Pricing will be in effect. Emergency Pricing includes:

• Phone calls for current clients of 30 minutes or less will be $50.
• In-person sessions for current of 60 minutes or less will be $75
• New clients in need of an emergency session during this time will be expected to pay for a package including the Behavior Evaluation and 6 Session package for $450 + $50 emergency session fee.

On July 8th we open back up for our July Summer Sessions Specials

Instead of having classes that require a 6 week commitment during summer vacation session we are going to be hosting a series of low cost private party sessions! Who doesn't love a good summer party? Each party will be a bit different allowing you and your dog to pick what's best for you. All parties will take place on the air conditioned Training Center allowing you and your puppy to be at the heat! 

The Private Session Special for these Summer Parties is $30 for a 30 min Session.

Monday Movement Puzzles

Our favorite movement puzzles will be set up for you to enjoy! These typically include a combination of basic skills that can be linked together to do more challenging behavior chains in a fun pattern that uses movement as the main reinforcement. Movement puzzles are great to build teamwork while using mental and physical energy at the same time. Plus you can do this in our air conditioned building on days where walking might be a bit challenging.

Tuesday YP Nosework Club

The YP Nosework Club will continue to meet at 7PM on Tuesdays, but you can also schedule your 30 Min Private Session to practice on your own (or with Belle & Azul). This is great for those super sniffers that are not quite ready to be indoors with the large group. Fearful & Fizzy dogs do really well with nosework! Once they learn to love the game, nosework often helps to build their confidence enough to play the games around other people and dogs. 

If you've been wanting to give Nosework a try, this is the perfect opportunity.

Wednesday Group Sessions

With the heat that typically hits in July and August, we will be suspending most of our Group Walks unless weather is fantastic. Instead we will be doing small group indoor sessions. Each group will be designed specifically for the dogs that will be attending.

The current Wednesday AM Trail Walking Group will be meeting at 10AM and will either go for a walk if weather allows or work in the classroom.

Additional Groups will be formed based on interested participants. If you know you have a few friends that have been training with Yooper Paws, this is the perfect opportunity for you to work together with the supervision of a trainer!

Thursday Playdates

This will be similar to Wednesday's small group, with the exception that the focus will be on play more than training. Of course play includes training and all our training sessions include play. You can schedule a playdate with Belle or schedule a playdate for a few friends.

The Positively Puppy Class will continue to meet for class from 1-2PM with the option of a 15 min playdate before or after for puppies.

Obstacle Course Fridays

Each Friday the Yooper Paws Training Center will be set up with a different obstacle course. You'll recieve guided direction from a Canine Coach to show you how to do work through the obstacles, then the remainder of your session to play on your own. You'll have 30 minutes on the main obstacle course, then a Get Moving Puzzle/Activity will be set up in the Paws & Relax Room for you to enjoy. 

Private Sessions

We are still scheduling Private Training Sessions this Summer! Private Sessions are 1-on-1 sessions with a Canine Coach  that last 1 hour designed to work on your training plan. These cost $75 per session or a package of 6 sessions for $300. Schedule Your Next Private Session Here!

Speaking Like A Dog!

Are you tired of feeling like your dog is ignoring you?

As dog owners , most of us think in verbal cues. Think of "sit" for example. This is one of the first things we teach a puppy. But do we just say the verbal cue and hope our puppy responds? 

No way, not at first! We use body language to lure the puppy into a sitting position & reward. Now most of us probably say the verbal cue as the pup sits and rewards when the action is complete. Thus teaching the pup to do the action. It doesn't take long to teach a hand signal and verbal cue to this action because puppies are sponges soaking it all up quickly. 

 

But what varies from that point is what does your pup learn first, the verbal cue or the hand signal, AND which is more important for that particular action?

In one of my classes, students are asked to make a list of all their cues used to communicate with their dog including verbal and body language cues, then do a simple test. Holding perfectly still, hands at their sides and give the verbal cues watching to see how many their dog gets right without any body language for context. Then they do another test where they are to get their dog to do as many behaviors as possible without speaking a single word.

The results are always the same! Dogs often seem confused when we take human movement out of the equation and simply use words. Then when not using words, and only using movements we almost always see that the dog is more engaged and responding better.

There's a lot hype in the world about "animal communicators" or people who "speak dog!" I often get asked if I "speak dog!" And a way, I sort of do, but not in the way psychics claim to. 

  

I often know what your dog is saying or feelings because I'm trained to read canine body language and I understand canine behavior. I also have 30 yrs of learning to think about my movements and what might work to encourage a dog to do the behavior I want.

Have you ever taken your dog to a training session and see that your dog does better with the trainer than they do with you?

Why?  Clear communication! 

I work hard to understand your dog, using what I know about their individual personality, their needs, and their desires and then I use that ask them for behaviors that are easy for the dog to understand. Then the best thing about training with me, is that I teach dog owners how to do that too! We start with building clear communication using body language first, then adding in verbal cues after the behavior becomes easy for both owner & dog. It doesn't matter what behavior(s) you're struggling with, I can help you find the clear communication that will help you and your dog both be successful!

Adding More Enrichment

As dog owners, we use reinforcement to reward our dogs for the behaviors we like. Enrichment is often confused as being an extra great or jackpot style reward for dogs, but it's way more than feeding something special to your dog!

By definition, Enrichment should provide of a way to meet our dog's natural instinct needs in a way that adds value to their day to day life. Behavior Consultants from around the world have pretty much agreed that enrichment activities should into these criteria.

Enrichment should...

--be an activity that has interaction between the participants.  (Dog & Human for us)

--effect the response a dog has to a particular action.  

--lead to evidence based, behavior changes.  

--be changing constantly.

--differ from animal to animal based on their needs.

--reliant on the evolution of learning experiences of the dog and human together.

Let's break each one of those down individually.

Enrichment is an activity that brings 2 or more participants together.

This is often the most forgotten part of enrichment! We think tossing our dog a bone or toy puzzle on our way out the door is enriching, but instead that's more of a pacifier to help our dogs be calm. If you do this, please keep doing it! But realize it's not having an enriching effect on your dog unless you condition this habit in a way that includes you. I often scatter kibble in a snuffle box before I leave the dogs in my office at work. This is meant to distract my dogs while I get out the door, but it doesn't really add much value to their lives. It's more of a pacifier.

Occasionally I'll toss some kibble in a snuffle box and sit with my dog encouraging them to enjoy it. Not that they need much encouragement, but by being their with them and letting them feel my joy for watching them enjoy the treasures they are hunting can make this a group activity.

I very much see a difference in Azul when we are out on a sniff-a-bout between when I'm enjoying nature with him or getting distracted by my phone. He enjoys it more when we can enjoy it together. 

Enrichment should effect the response a dog has.

You could argue that my scatterfeeding before I leave the dogs in my office meets this criteria for Belle as it reduces barking, but it doesn't change anything for Azul. Does that mean it isn't enriching for Azul? At one time Azul struggled with being in the office away from me. Prior to opening the Training Center, Azul was almost always at my side or home with Dad if I was working with another dog team. But at the Training Center he had to learn to be behind a gate or shut in the office for safety. I used this feeding technique to help him get used to me being on the other side of a barrier. So this method already changed his behavior and now to works to keep him in an happy emotional state so I would argue that this is still enrichment.

Enrichment should always be changing.

Dogs seem to get bored if they do the same puzzle over and over every day. Once they've solved it, the fun goes away and it becomes a chore to get the food out. But if we can change what we do to slowly increase the difficulty level or add new things to the puzzle, our dogs continue to enjoy the activity. That's why I'm a huge fun of low budget do it yourself puzzles that you make at home. I have a "kitchen puzzle box" that cost me less than $3 to make at the store and the first time Roz ate dinner that way it took her 12+ minutes to eat instead of the 5 seconds it would in a bowl. 

You can see that video here: https://youtu.be/4iSNGuZqHOg

Find It Games are another great way to start simple and continue to make it harder! 

Check out this blog for instructions!

The store bought puzzles can be fun if you don't use them every day and pull them out once in awhile on that rainy day or something when you need just a bit of extra enrichment. We also offer a puzzle exchange box at the Training Center where you can bring in a puzzle your dogs are bored with and exchange it for one that is here.

Enrichment is going to differ from dog to dog!

While Azul and Belle both love chewing on sticks and digging in their dig spots, they also have very different needs. Azul loves to explore any area that has wildlife scents making a slow sniff-a-bout one of his favorite enrichment activities. Belle on the other hand likes to go fast on walks sniffing as she runs. Some of this is due to age, but it shows their current needs. Azul has explored most of the environments around our area and recognizes where there and what is there, so he would rather keep his nose to the ground sniffing everything. Belle is mostly walking in new environments and doesn't have any of the memorized except perhaps the road by our house and the field we train in near the Training Center. Belle spends her walk looking and listening to everything in the environment. Her brain is trying to process so much that sniffing the ground isn't even on her radar unless she sees Azul sniffing a specific spot for a longer time. She loves to push her nose under his nose, but I'm not sure she is really thinking much about what she is smelling yet. At 8 months old, Belle is really in tune to all sounds and sounds hold more value, therefore the faster she goes and the farther she goes, the more she gets to hear! 

Watch your dog and find out what they love to do the most and do what you can to add more of that in their day to day life! Sometimes this might be breed specific and go towards behaviors your dog's breed was designed for such as swimming, hunting, guarding livestock, etc. Sometimes dogs don't really care for those breed specific activities and they like something else. Let them tell you what they enjoy.

Enrichment should include elements of previous learning experiences and engagement with their human.

This is the enrichment rule that doesn't always get followed as owners tend to get stuck in a pattern of always doing the same thing.  It's easy to drop a stuffed kong or a ball in our dog's safe space and walk away to do something else while they enjoy the food toy. This idea is often promoted by sellers of such toys. And if that's all you can do to add some enrichment to your dog's day, then please KEEP doing it! But there are also simple ways that don't take up much more time! 

If I'm preparing a food toy that I'm going to give my dogs, I'll try to build in some engagement while I prepare it.  I could ask my dogs to stay on a mat and keep them out of my way while I prepare it. Instead I like to engage my dogs in the act of preparing the treat. Since they are trained to retrieve, we can go together the box that food toys are stored in and I can ask each of my dogs to pick an empty toy and hand it to me.  Building some choice into the activity helps to build that engagement while also relying on their previous experience. Some dogs will just grab the toy on top because it's easy, while other dogs will dig to find a specific one. This is based on previous learning history and what they have enjoyed most in the past. If I have multiple dogs and I want them all to have the same type of toy, I might not give them a choice of toys and offer a choice of treats to add instead. Adding choice to fun activities helps dogs by increasing their feeling of agency. 

Blog: Choice, Agency, & Boundaries

Understanding Choice Workshop Available

By building in choices and other forms of interaction as we prepare enrichment activities or during activities, we make the activity far more enriching for our dogs. My husband sets up a puzzle challenge every night for Belle and each night it gets harder and hard. Sometimes it involves something that is slightly impossible such as the treat might be inside a locked container that Belle can't open. However Belle knows that when she finds any part of the challenge too hard she can ask for help by taking the object to a human in the room or going to get a human and leading them to the challenge. This might frustrate some dogs, but Belle loves to interact with humans so it's a great thing for her. Azul on the other hand, prefers to eat his treats and treasures in private and he prefers to bury them and same the for later, even if later is a minute later. His evening enrichment happens in the bedroom where he has to search his bed, Belle's bed and our bed to see where the goodies are tonight. He typically determines this in the first 2 seconds in the room! Then his treat might be hidden under a blanket or wrapped in a towel, or scattered in multiple places in the room. He always rushes in the room and comes trotting out all proud when he is done.

How do you add all this enrichment into you day?

This is easier that it sounds. Watch your dog and see what they love! 

If it's sniffing, find lots of good places or items to sniff. In the fall when there are leaves all over the ground, I'll pick up a small back full and when I'm making new snuffle boxes, occasionally I through some leaves in. This brings some outside smells inside on the days that I use a nature snuffle box.

If your dog loves digging, you can prepare a specific dig spot area in your yard. I have a natural spot for my dogs since we live in the country, but I know several others who have created a dig spot using a kiddy pool, sand or dirt, and buried some fun things inside. My dogs love when I drop something in their holes and lightly cover it up with dirt.  Sometimes it's food, toys, a stick, pine cones...pretty much anything in the yard works for my pups.

You get the idea! Give your dog what they love in a way that impacts their behavior, either reducing behaviors you want to go away or increasing the behaviors your love. 

If you want to learn more about fitting enrichment into your day, check out this blog.

Check out the FREE Paws & Relax Enrichment Mini-E-Book here!

Purchase the Enrichment For Behaviors Workshop on Patreon!

Hard Realistic Expectations

 Last year I wrote on blog on how to set you and your dog up for success creating a plan that had realistic expectations.  Jump over here to read it, before reading this post! This post will continue on from there.

Having Realistic Expectations is HARD

If you read the post linked above, you'll know just how important it is to set realistic expectations based on what your starting point is now. You'll also know that there is no exact timeline that works for every dog so it's impossible to say that a 6 month old dog should be able to do XYZ behaviors in all environments with unlimited distractions. 

If you've followed any of my posts either in this blog or on social media, you know I always talk about Crazy Canine Adolescents and how unpredictable this age is for the dog and their owners. That 6 month old dog, is just entering adolescence and about to start developing rapidly physically, emotionally, and socially. Plus that adolescent dog is going to go through several periods where impulse control and self regulation seem to fly out the window.

This is where it becomes really challenging to have realistic expectations! 

Belle is currently 7 months old when I write this. In many ways she is excelling in my plans for training, often seeming to be way ahead of the game and smashing goal, after goal, after goal. In most ways she is doing so well that when she begins to struggle it throws me for a loop!

Last week was a particularly barky week. I'm not sure if there was something going on brain development wise, or my work schedule didn't fit her needs schedule, or I was simply expecting too much of her in certain situations. Needless to say she barked often and for long periods at some points and I was increasingly frustrated. Barking is one of those behaviors that triggers me emotionally. I'm fine with the bark when it happens due to a distraction entering the environment. 

Belle likes to bark as soon as she sees a person outside, then I she rushes to my side and watch calmly together. That's a 1-2 bark and done situation and I can handle that. But if that distraction is a friend of hers, or a dog she wants to make into a friend that barking doesn't stop. This is more of a high arousal barking that is begging for play time. This barking drives me insane!

Belle sometimes helps with clients in the training room and sometimes she hangs out in the office. And if she's in the office she was getting really good at barking a moment when a client first came in the door, then quieting down and relaxing in the office. But last week she couldn't do that! Every time a client came in she barked non-stop. It didn't matter if I let her out to see the client or kept her in the office, Belle just kept barking. I couldn't talk or even hear myself think. One time another client that lives nearby and has a dog that Belle loves stopped by while I was with a client and I begged him to take Belle to his house for a bit just to stop the barking. Thankfully he did!

So at some point I need to determine is the barking due to me having unrealistic expectations or is there something we need to add to our training plan to modify the behavior or do I need to do a better job of making sure Belle's needs are met before a client appointment.

This is where realistic expectations become hard!

Depending on the trainer you talk to and their ethical philosophy, some trainers will say that most dogs grow out of "IT" (name the crazy adolescent behavior) while many others will state that dogs will not grow out of IT! That is the kind of black and white thinking that I try really hard to avoid. No one can say for sure if a challenging behavior is going to be a lifelong issue or something that is temporary due to the ever changing adolescent brain.

I know that barking is Belle's default behavior. She does this behavior whenever she doesn't know what else to do. It doesn't matter if she's nervous, excited, frustrated, in high arousal, etc.  Whenever she escalates emotionally, barking happens. I'm pretty sure that's not something she is going to grow out of. 

That is where it's important to set up of for success with training plans that help Belle learn about her ever changing world through environmental processing and help her learn to control her arousal with self regulation. And that is exactly where it is important for me as Belle's human to set up training to support her, management to prevent rehearsal of the behavior I want to go away, avoid putting her in situations she can't yet handle, and making sure her needs are met before we do any type of separation activity as that is where the barking is happening most frequently.

Taking a look at what has changed recently that could be causing the more frequent behavior.

Sometimes we forget that there might be underlining causes related to the challenging behavior we are struggling with. Often there is more to the behavior that just what is happening in that moment. A few weeks ago Belle could easily stay in the office while I ran an errand or worked with a client with some but not alot of barking. And now she can't!  So what has happened during that time?

Well, to start, Azul hasn't been feeling well so I've been working a bit harder to meet his needs by taking solo walks, ATV rides, and other fun outings. Belle has stayed in the office a more than normal, stayed home with Dad (a whole different challenge) a bit more than normal. And we've been working to get Belle comfortable staying with my friend and his dogs so that she can stay with them during an upcoming medical appt for Azul. Before this she would stay in the office fine, but adding in staying home with Daddy and staying at my friend's house with and without me has increased the amount of time she is away from me.

Also during this time, Belle has been learning to pay attention to the medical needs that I often ignore. She is doing both morning and evening medicine reminders now and has even done 3 migraine alerts despite the fact that I haven't started training that scent yet. This increased attention to my medical needs is likely impacting her desire to be with me more and dislike separation more. This is something that many Service Dogs and Service Dogs in Training Struggle with as they often spend so much time with their person and so little time away from their person. This is something that I help other people train around, but it's not something in Belle's current training plan because I didn't expect it to be a probably. We worked on as a puppy, but I didn't expect it to come back. That's a huge oversight on my part!

Figuring out what is causing the change in behavior or the increase in the frequency of the behavior is the first step in coming up with successful solutions to the problem. Often the process of figuring out the cause helps us to become more understanding of the emotional struggles of our dog. And that often leads to our understanding of what is a realistic expectation for our dog in this point in life.

Penelope V. Yorke — 'Knowledge is the key to understanding, understanding is the key to achieving, and achieving is the key to becoming.'

This quote also applies to challenging behaviors that we are struggling with. When we know the cause of the behavior, we understand the dog's needs that are being missed, and when we focus on taking care of that need we can see the behavior changing more rapidly.

BUT! When is the behavior setting in and becoming a challenge that is going to be an ongoing struggle?

At some point if the behavior is ignored too long, the management is not being used, the dog is able to rehearse the behavior often, and the training that leads to change is not being done...the behavior becomes a habit or a way of getting something accomplished.

Dogs don't do any behavior simply because they know we like it or hate it. Dogs do what works! Every behavior has a purpose behind the behavior. In animal science terms behaviors are described in an ABC pattern. Antecedent is the thing that happens before the behavior. Behavior is what the animal does. And Consequence is what happens after the animal does the behavior. 

Many force free trainers are unhappy with the wording of "consequence" because to many people that implies something negative. But in this situation, it could be negative or positive.

For example, a scared dog barks at the human or dog approaching them. That human or dog then backs off, not wanting to experience conflict with the dog. The scared dog then learns that barking and acting like a jerk keeps threats away so they repeat it whenever that scared emotion hits them. Barking in this situation becomes a learned survival mechanism.

Belle's barking is communication begging me to come be closer to her. Often she barks and I go to her...she learns that persistent barking gets my attention.

Is that what I want her to learn? NO But at the same time, I don't want her to be practicing the behavior of barking and I don't want her to live in that heighten state of emotional chaos for long either. So what is the solution?

Look at my management and how I can set up Belle for success to prevent her from feeling the need to be near me non-stop. Responding to Belle sooner vs later at least prevents the rehearsal of repetitive barking, which also lowers her emotional state much faster as well. I'm not going to let her just cry it out and learn that I won't respond to her needs. So I'm going to keep going to her or reassuring her through the door if and when the barking is occurring. But I'm also going to do my best to prevent that barking in the first place with better management.

Step 1: Make sure Belle's physical, emotional, and social needs are met before she needs to stay alone in the office or with another person.

Step 2: Make sure I have enrichment she loves set up in the area she will need to stay without me. And make sure I have a calming sound playing during this time as that seems to help her as well. She loves listening to Andy Hale videos on YouTube while I'm with a client! I think it sounds much like a Zoom meeting that I often do and she lays calmly at my side. And Andy Hale has the calmest of voices while talking!

Step 3: Schedule more playdates with friends right before I have clients or visits to friends houses during my client sessions so that Belle spends less time in the office during this challenging time in her life.

And most importantly! I need to remind myself to have realistic expectations for a 7 month old Crazy Canine Adolescent who is doing their very best to be successful in the world that I place them in.