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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Scent Games – January 2012
It’s here again; our next installment of K9 Scent Games begins on January 5th! The unique curriculum we have adopted in our classes promotes a positive, fun and motivationally-based methodology. By utilizing our dog’s search skills, we build confidence, burn off mental and physical energy, and a positive working relationship that develops between you and your dog when you both are out “hunting” together as a team. Come on out and get smelly with us!
This class is open to all ages and obedience levels! Please check out the K9 Scent Games page for a more detailed class description, schedule, and registration info, or you can click here if you’d like to skip all that and just register now!
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Santa Sacks are Here
It’s that time of year again and it’s very important not to forget your furry friend this Christmas! To make things easier on everyone, we have assembled gift bags for your dogs; all you have to do is click here and your shopping is done!
Each Santa Sack comes pre-wrapped and contain a huge 1lb box of Holiday Buddy Biscuits, a dog dish (it’s always great to have another one of those laying around), a limited-edition red Twiz toy and an unstuffed Ginger soft toy with squeaker (both toys are made by Westpaw Design).
If you are a local Austin Dog Training client and would like to pick up your Santa Sack at our North location (or check out other great gift options) feel free to do so. Everyone else can either contact us to arrange drop off or order directly from our website by clicking here. Regardless of what option you choose, act fast because we have a limited supply. Happy Holidays!
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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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Realistic Expectations in Dog Training
You might be reading our dog training blog because you are currently involved in a training program or you are researching different training options for your dog. Either way, it’s important to figure out what you would like your dog to start doing, what things you want your dog to stop doing, and what you hope to accomplish.
The beauty about some training issues is that they are pretty straight forward and when they are approached the right way, these things can be eliminated or improved rather quickly. Meanwhile, other more serious or complex behaviors and habits in dogs can sometimes take longer periods of time to get under control and to the point where progress can be seen. Longer periods of time without seeing the payoff of your efforts can be very frustrating; especially when we’re used to getting a lot of what we want RIGHT NOW!! It’s also extremely important to realize that not everything is “fixable”. There may be issues that are just always going to be present in your dog, but it doesn’t mean you can’t see great improvement and use your dog’s newly found skills to manage these behaviors.
Sure, a good training program can teach your dog some functional skills like coming when called, proper greetings for people, how to go to their bed and stay there, how to walk nicely on a leash, and much more. But, a good training program will not let you off the hook for any type of redirection, guidance, interaction, supervision, and other ownership skills. Like I mentioned above, a good dog training program can teach skills, but it’s then up to you to use those skills to properly manage your dog throughout daily life.
Here’s an example of what I mean: We can teach your dog to come when called in any situation (including real-world distractions) regardless of whether they’re on a leash or not. But, this does not mean you can let you dog in the front yard unattended and expect them not to roam off of your property. You can absolutely hang out in the front yard with your dog and call them back to you if they get too close to the street or if they start chasing a squirrel, but your supervision and interraction are still required.
Here’s another example: We can teach an un-socilaized, dog aggressive dog some self-control (no barking, lunging, or biting) when in the presence of other dogs. This does not necessarily mean that you should go to an off-leash dog park (check out some Austin area dog parks here) and expect your dog to get along with every dog at the park. The reality is that not all dogs belong at a dog park, especially those with limited or poor social skills. With that being said, it doesn’t mean you can’t take your dog for a nice walk around the neighborhood or on-leash trail and have them walk calmly at your side and not fire up when passing other dogs on your walk; you just have to be there to manage your dogs behavior through redirection.
Through consistent communication and management, dog training can make a huge improvement in the level of enjoyment you have together. Staying consistent over time will make your dog’s new behaviors permanent and almost automatic, but until then – keep your training expectations realistic!
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Upcoming Fall Classes
The weather here in Austin is finally starting to maybe think about cooling down for just a bit, and it’s a great time to do something new with your dog! In addition to our regular dog training classes in Austin, we are adding two more extra curricular classes to our fall schedule.
Things are going to get real smelly starting on October 15th! Check out K9 Scent Games which focuses on teaching you different games and scenarios that can be used to encourage your dog’s natural scenting abilities. By utilizing our dog’s search skills, we build confidence, burn off mental and physical energy, and a positive working relationship that develops between you and your dog when you both are out “hunting” together as a team.
If Scent Games isn’t your thing, check out our latest installment of Trick Training. Teaching your dog new tricks is a great opportunity to kick back and have some fun and by exposing your dog to new instruction, you’re actually making it easier for them to learn new things later down the road – and it’s a lot of FUN!! Tricks 2 (Tricks 1 is not a prerequisite for this class) begins on October 27th!!
Click on the following links to sign up or learn more about our Trick Training and K9 Scent Games classes. Hope to see you out there!!!
If you enjoyed this entry, don’t forget to subscribe to our dog training blog. You will be automatically notified as soon a new entry is made. Also be sure to check out our Facebook Fan Page and follow us on Twitter.
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