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4th of July Tips

The fourth of July can be a fun time of year for you and your dog. There are many events and dog friendly places to go. While out with your dog, please remember that new things and loud noises can be scary. Pets can run away, bark growl or bite due to fear. As our dogs’ advocate we need to take steps to keep them safe and happy. Below are some tips to help you navigate the summer season:

1-Dressing your dog up in hats and costume may not be the best idea. If they struggle to get away or seem unhappy, opt for a bandana instead.

2-Dogs love barbecue! However, some foods can be very dangerous. Make sure you keep your food in a safe location that your dog cannot get to. It is also a good idea to secure the garbage in a dog proof can

3- Know your dog. If you have a dog that is fearful, opt to celebrate at home. Events can be overwhelming. You may also have an older dog who has declining vision. Changes in eye function can change the appearance of things. What was once normal may now be frightening.

4-Be aware of any noisy festivities. Dogs have more sensitive hearing. Some noises, like fireworks, can cause dogs to run and hide and even run away. Keep your dog on a secure leash and collar. If noises are that frightening, set your pup up in a quiet space with white noise playing to dull the sounds from outside. If your dog has severe noise phobia and shakes violently or hides and will not come out for days after the noise, you may want to consult your veterinarian.

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Basic obedience allows owners to communicate with their dogs. In dog training, there are standardized words/cues we used to convey what we want our dog to do. These cues make up the basic obedience commands. They include:

Find it, focus, name recognition, sit, down, settle, stay, come, targeting, loose leash walking, heel, leave it, drop it, and place.

There are many different ways to teach basic obedience cues. We will focus on one common method of teaching each basic cue. We hope you find this to be a useful reference for training the dog in your care.

*Reliably means your dog is successful at something 90 percent of the times attempted.

Remember you want your dog to be successful. If he is not successful, he is not having fun and neither are you. If your dog is struggling to perform at one level, make it easier.

We will learn how to teach one cue every month beginning with focus. This month’s skill is polite greeting.

Polite Greeting

This exercise will teach your dog to sit politely when people approach him. You will need a second person to help you with this exercise. Start with your dog in a sitting position. You may have to step on his leash or tether him to keep him rooted. In the beginning, you can cue or lure him into a sit, but eventually you want him to automatically offer this behavior when people approach to greet him. As soon as your dog sits, the helper/guest can approach him. If he pops up from his sit, the helper immediately backs up and waits for him to sit again. When your dog sits, the helper moves forward again. As long as he remains siting, the helper can approach all the way and say hello to your dog. Any jumping up, makes the helper go away again. The helper can use treats in the beginning to make sitting more rewarding. The helper should approach calmly and not be too animated at first. Once your dog is offering the behavior reliably, the helper can start approaching with more excitement and gradually become more animated. This exercise should be practiced with multiple helper people in differing environments to generalize the behavior.

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Basic obedience allows owners to communicate with their dogs. In dog training, there are standardized words/cues we used to convey what we want our dog to do. These cues make up the basic obedience commands. They include:

Find it, focus, name recognition, sit, down, settle, stay, come, targeting, loose leash walking, heel, leave it, drop it, and place.

There are many different ways to teach basic obedience cues. We will focus on one common method of teaching each basic cue. We hope you find this to be a useful reference for training the dog in your care.

*Reliably means your dog is successful at something 90 percent of the times attempted.

Remember you want your dog to be successful. If he is not successful, he is not having fun and neither are you. If your dog is struggling to perform at one level, make it easier.

We will learn how to teach one cue every month beginning with focus. This month’s skill is leave it and drop it.

Leave it

Teaching your dog not to pick up an object can be very important. In order to teach leave it, you must first teach the dog to “take it.” To teach take it you should start with a handful of 6 treats and feed the first 5 treats to the dog one by one each time saying take it. When you get to the 6th treat hold it in your closed fist and the dog should try to get at it. When the dogs nose falls away say yes and reward with a different treat. Your dog should never get the treat that is in your hand. Once your dog reliably turns his head away from the hand with the treat add the cue “leave it.” When your dog reliably leaves the hand alone when you say leave it you can make the exercise harder by opening the closed hand to reveal the treat.

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Basic obedience allows owners to communicate with their dogs. In dog training, there are standardized words/cues we used to convey what we want our dog to do. These cues make up the basic obedience commands. They include:

Find it, focus, name recognition, sit, down, settle, stay, come, targeting, loose leash walking, heel, leave it, drop it, and place.

There are many different ways to teach basic obedience cues. We will focus on one common method of teaching each basic cue. We hope you find this to be a useful reference for training the dog in your care.

*Reliably means your dog is successful at something 90 percent of the times attempted.

Remember you want your dog to be successful. If he is not successful, he is not having fun and neither are you. If your dog is struggling to perform at one level, make it easier.

We will learn how to teach one cue every month beginning with focus. This month’s skill is loose leash walking.

Loose Leash Walking

When you start out for a walk with your dog, clap your leg and keep a dialog going with him to keep him engaged and focused on you. Periodically give treats when he is at your side. If he goes out too far in front (right as the leash gets taut) of you say, “This way!” and turn around and walk in the other direction so he is now behind you. When he gets to your side start giving treats again. If you find you are changing directions too often, increase the rate at which you give the treats to keep your dog at your side for longer. Make sure you give treats with the hand that is on the side that Rex is. Often if we give treats from the other side, you may accidentally encourage your dog to cross over in front of you it’s best to be consistent about what side you want to your dog to walk on. Switching sides may be confusing to the dog. Be mindful not to use the leash as a crutch. It’s there to keep your dog safe, not force him into position. You can try practice in an indoor room where a leash is not necessary to ensure you can successfully keep him at your side without it.

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Basic obedience allows owners to communicate with their dogs. In dog training, there are standardized words/cues we used to convey what we want our dog to do. These cues make up the basic obedience commands. They include:

Find it, focus, name recognition, sit, down, settle, stay, come, targeting, loose leash walking, heel, leave it, drop it, and place.

There are many different ways to teach basic obedience cues. We will focus on one common method of teaching each basic cue. We hope you find this to be a useful reference for training the dog in your care.

*Reliably means your dog is successful at something 90 percent of the times attempted.

Remember you want your dog to be successful. If he is not successful, he is not having fun and neither are you. If your dog is struggling to perform at one level, make it easier.

We will learn how to teach one cue every month beginning with focus. This month’s cue is sit.

Sit

Start with a treat in your hand and lure the dog to sit by placing your hand, palm up, right above the dog’s nose. Then move your hand slowly back over his head. When he follows it back bringing his nose up, his butt will touch the ground and he will be in the sit position. Mark with a “yes” and give him the treat. When he does this 8 out of 10 times, then lure with your hand but without the treat. When his butt touches the ground, say “yes” and give the treat from your other hand. After he sits 10 out of 10 times with just the lure you can add the verbal cue “sit” before the lure.

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Basic obedience allows owners to communicate with their dogs. In dog training, there are standardized words/cues we used to convey what we want our dog to do. These cues make up the basic obedience commands. They include:

Find it, focus, name recognition, sit, down, settle, stay, come, targeting, loose leash walking, heel, leave it, drop it, and place.

There are many different ways to teach basic obedience cues. We will focus on one common method of teaching each basic cue. We hope you find this to be a useful reference for training the dog in your care.

*Reliably means your dog is successful at something 90 percent of the times attempted.

Remember you want your dog to be successful. If he is not successful, he is not having fun and neither are you. If your dog is struggling to perform at one level, make it easier.

We will learn how to teach one cue every month beginning with focus.

Focus

A focus cue is important for any dog. You are teaching the dog that he gets good things when he pays attention to you. You are also teaching him to focus on you instead of all the other stuff going on around him. Some people call this cue look, or watch. You will reward your dog when he makes eye contact with you. You can also lure the behavior by taking a treat in your hand, getting the dog’s attention with it, then bring it up by your eyes. When the dog makes eye contact say “yes” and reward. Then, you will add the focus cue when your dog looks at you reliably. A focus cue is a great way to get your dog’s attention and refocus them on to you.

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Welcome to our site! We are in the process of building our blog page and will have many interesting articles to share in the coming months. Please stay tuned to this page for information to come. And if you have any questions about our business or want to reach out to us, we would love for you to stop by our contact page.

Thank you!

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