Top Posts of 2011
It’s hard to believe that another year has come and gone already, and what a year it was! Not only did we move into our new training center in Leander, but we started some new training programs like K9 Scent Games, Dine with your Dog, and a Puppy Board and Train Program, we held a contest to redesign our t-shirts, and we worked with even more incredible dogs and their owners!
We have also expanded our dog training blog with a lot more informative, useful, and educational articles. Check out the 10 most popular posts of 2011.
10. Why is Crate Training So Important?
9. Do You Use an Emergency Recall Word?
8. New Dog Park Opens in Cedar Park
7. Indoor Summertime Training Ideas
6. What’s the Big Deal with Hand Signals?
5. A More Detailed Look at Black Dog Syndrome
3. 7 Steps to Improving Your Relationship
2. How to Introduce 2 Dogs on Leash
1. Denial Aint Just a River in Spain
Feel like taking a stroll further down memory lane? Be sure to check out the top 10 Posts of 2009 and 2010.
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Top Twitter Pics of 2011
We are constantly taking photos during our training sessions, private lessons, down time, and pretty much all times of the day, and we use our twitter account to post the photos on a daily basis. We accumulated a lot of photos during the year, in no particular order, here are some of our favorites.
The photo above was taken by a client who was observing class. I love this one, it’s just one of our favorites. Everyone seems to be paying attention.
No attempt at a witty or funny comment here, just a shot capturing a sweet moment between Jay Roy and his friend Walter.
Maybe with enough interest, synchronized sleeping will be included in the next Purina Incredible Dog Challenge!
Here’s a shot of Bruno showing his version of planking, which was very popular earlier this year.
I’m not sure if he got lost looking for his dog bed, but here’s Winston snuggling up in the dryer. It must have been cold that day.
Above is a pic of Pippi and her human. Check out the excitement in Pippi’s face!
I think this photo was taken a few days after Pippi’s hard core recall (in the photo above). Maybe she’s still trying to recover; Rudy is there for support.
We got a call to come and see if we would be able to work with a pig. Here’s Tracey working on sit with some cereal, the pig’s favorite treat!
Border Collies are known for their intense stare and incredible drive. Here’s Dakota focused on the ball; he does this a lot.
I know she’s a Labrador and she loves water, but drinking from the pool is discouraged. Anyway, here’s Cali drinking from the pool.
Great Dog Available for Adoption
UPDATE 12/20/11: Westin has been adopted!! Thank you everyone who shared this post for helping to get Westin into a great home!
For the past few weeks we have been fostering a 2 year old male Doberman Pinscher named Westin. During that time we have temperament tested him and spent a lot time watching how he interacts with other animals, people, and we must say – he is terrific!
Westin is part of the A Doberman Adoption Placement Team (ADAPT), which is based out of Houston, and would make a great pet for the right family (he’s a pretty nice dog for a first time dog owner as well). Socially Westin is fantastic with dogs and people; very playful and confident. He’s up to date on shots and is on a heartworm preventative, neutered and ready to find a great home. If you or anyone you know wh=ould be a good match for Westin, check out his profile on the ADAPT website.
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How Long Should Your Dog be Placed?
As most of you know, the place command is such an important skill to teach your dog. Not only is it extremely useful in a variety of situations like answering the doorbell, keeping your dog out of the kitchen during dinner, managing window barking, but it also teaches your dog to calm down!
Take a look at the video below, it was shot a few years ago and is a time lapse video of placeboard duration with some distractions.
While this is a good way to proof your dog’s ability to stay on a placeboard, it doesn’t necessarily help to teach the dog to calm down and settle. It’s also important to place your dog while you are eating dinner, working on the computer, or watching tv; this is where the real self-c0ntrol comes in.
All of us should be placing our dogs multiple times a day for long periods of time. We often get asked, “How long should I keep my dog on a place?” There is one simple answer to this question – until he/she falls asleep. This may take hours for some dogs, it may take shorter periods of time for others, but the bottom line is if your dog hasn’t fallen asleep while doing a duration drill on a placeboard, you’re not doing it long enough.
Try this tonight when you sit down and relax for the night, you’ll be amazed at how extending your placeboard duration drills will help in so many facets of your dog’s life!
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Highlights from Tricks 2
We just wrapped up another trick training class last week and it was a blast! Take a look at some of the video highlights taken during the last night of Tricks 2.
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Indoor Summertime Training Ideas
It has been a scorcher of a summer, especially here in Austin, Texas. With temps close to 110° and the safety of the dogs really coming into question, traditional dog training in Austin has been difficult and we have canceled our group classes for the week. So, with no classes this week and limited time outdoors, we thought we would provide a list of some ways to exercise your dog mentally. Feel free to add your own suggestions by submitting a comment below.
- Play some crate games with your dog.
- Teach your dog some new tricks, check out our trick training dvd for some ideas.
- Play some ‘find it” games using your dog’s favorite toy or treats.
- Break your dog’s current placeboard duration record.
- Teach them to go to their place automatically when they hear the doorbell (a cheap wireless doorbell is a great way for one person to ring the bell without having to go outside)
- Take your dog into the home improvement center (make sure dogs are welcome first) when you go to buy a wireless doorbell.
- Set up some temptations on your counters and finally work your dog through their counter surfing issues.
- Check out our blog archives for more ideas, past articles, and more training advice.
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Your Votes Have Been Counted
Last week we asked you to help us decide on a new design for our t-shirts. The votes have been counted (complete results can be found here) and we have a clear winner!!
The Austin design came in first place with over 40% of your votes! Your input was greatly appreciated and the new t-shirts will be hitting the shelves soon. Thanks again for participating.
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Help Us Decide on a Design
It’s time again to order some new t-shirts, and we’re having a tough time narrowing down our choices. The new t-shirts will not only be worn by the trainers, but they will also be available for sale and we will be giving some out as prizes during classes so make sure you pick a design your like because you will be seeing them everywhere! Your input is greatly appreciated; the poll closes on July 31st. (click on the image to see a larger view)
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Do You Use An Emergency Recall Word?
I was recently chatting with a potential client during a consultation and evaluation when he stated that his previous trainer had suggested using an emergency recall word. Not knowing exactly what he was referring to, I asked him to clarify. It turns out that the dog was not only taught a traditional recall using the word “come”, but also taught an additional word that meant something along the lines of “no matter what you are doing, I need you to me right now!”
Now I know there are tons of different approaches to dog training, and I not here to slam all training methodologies that differ from ours, and maybe I’m missing something, but I just can’t see the logic in this approach. This is how I see it…
If the emergency word means “come here right now no matter what”, then the regular old come command must mean something along the lines of “if you’re up for it, why don’t you swing by my way when you’re ready.” I know it’s just a training preference, but why even teach a regular recall at all? Why not just make your emergency word “come” and treat every recall with the same importance?
If someone can shed light on this logic, I’d love to hear it. Also, does anyone have a similar training practice (like using the word “stay”) that makes you wonder? If so, please open the discussion in the comments section below.
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