Team K9 Training

I rarely see dog trainers talking about all of these categories all at once and instead we tend to over emphasize or only focus on one category.

Some choose to focus on agency because it has the largest impact on welfare long term

While others focus on building resilience through challenge and increase the tolerance for stress.

And many speak in obedience in the sense of control alone.

And all of them are correct!!

They’re all a part of a bigger puzzle and some dogs need more of a focus on certain aspects over others.

While these categories have overlaps (maybe I should have made a Venn diagram graphic) , they have specific questions to ask to determine exactly at what part of the hierarchy you are in when training your dog.

What do you think?

Do you already think about these categories working together or have you typically thought about them as separate ideas?

I started seriously training dogs 2018/2019 (I got my start in 2016) and let me tell you…

2021/2022 was a BIGGGGGGGG learning curve for a lot of dog trainers.

The amount of money I spent on seminars, books, webinars, etc was extreme during that time.

The research topic?

Anxiety and reactivity.

You see something happened during the shutdown

1) people got dogs (some shelters were EMPTIED)
2) people didn’t leave their home

Combine those two things together and suddenly a year to two years later you have adult dogs with some serious behavioral issues.

And many of those dogs passed on some very unstable genes

But also some very skewed ideas of what puppy raising looks like moving forward.

While the advice “don’t take puppies out until all shots are complete” has been around for a long time - people used to take their dogs with them when they want out and about more often.

The issue of waiting until all vaccinations are complete is the missing of the Critical Development Period.

I understand from a vets perspective - they deal with the aftermath of bad things happening and so they blanket statement.

I totally get it (the equivalent is dog owners saying “all dog parks are bad”)

However, proactive research to parvo outbreaks, not allowing your puppy to touch the ground in high traffic areas and no-contact exposure can go a longggggg way to avoid dog reactivity and anxiety.

What about you?

Do you do any “no-contact” exposure training with puppies?

“Sweetie stick your hand out for the doggie to smell it”😬😵‍💫

Some dogs are more tolerant than others
Some dogs learned to ignore this weird behavior early on

And some dogs will bite the hand that’s presented to them.

A dogs nose is incredible and one of the most powerful.

You presenting your hand can do more harm than good for many dogs.

And yes, this includes trying to feed/coax dogs with outstretched appendages.

Many dogs get extremely close to smells because they want more granular data.

When a dog gets close to something, they can take 5-10 quick sniffs within two seconds.

They can also have higher saturation to gain a more clear picture.

But your hand…?

wtf is on your hand that says “I’m friendly”…?

The dog likely knows what you just had to eat and where you were today.

So please, don’t stick your hand in front of an animal with really sharp teeth

And don’t tell children that don’t know any better to do this either 🙏