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Stub-born: /ˈstəbərn/ adjetive having or showing dogged determination not to change one's attitude or position on something, especially in spite of good arguments or reasons to do so. Have you ever referred to your dog as stubborn or had another trainer say this about your dog? Is the dog actually stubborn or is the human? If we keep doing something that is not working and we know it isn't working then aren't we being the stubborn ones? Especially if we know there are other methods that may work better? First we need to find proper motivation. Just like we may be motivated by different things, so are dogs. Using my own dogs as an example I have one that is ball or toy motivated. She will do anything, absolutely anything, for a ball or squeaky toy. I have one that is very food motivated. Especially when it comes to cheese. Then I have one that will do anything to get a drink of water from a water bottle. Last, our newest arrival, changes what motivates him. Sometimes it's food and sometimes it's attention. Motivation can change, depending upon their mood (and if they are hungry). Learning what motivates them gives us a better relationship, mutual respect and a less frustration. What doesn't motivate? Punishment. Punishment suppresses, it does not build a relationship based on respect or trust. It also causes confusion and can lead to fall out behaviors of anxiety, fearfulness, and even aggression.    
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Does your dog have a behavior that is driving you nuts? Perhaps they are getting into the garbage, counter surfing or jumping on people. Every time Fido does this unwarned behavior he is rewarded. Either by your attention or his prize off the counter or garbage can. To resolve the unwanted behavior we have to first identify what we would like them to do instead. Then we put in a management plan to prevent the dog from doing the unwanted behavior while we work on the new skill. Management is the most important step because every time the dog does the unwanted behavior that bad habit is reinforced, sometimes unintentionally and sometimes the behavior is self rewarding. which makes it much more likely to continue. If you push a dog away while they jump they are excited and rewarded by the attention. Counter surfing or getting in the garbage are self rewarding in that they usually find a prize. After we make sure the behavior cannot continue we focus on teaching the new skill and getting it generalized to lots of different environments and situations. Station training for jumping, leave its for the garbage and counter surfing. We also want to add enrichment to keep their brains busy so they are less likely to get into trouble. If you need help we are here. Email ronda@29K9.net.   The angst of adolescence. That cute puppy is now an adolescent (think teenager) and has her own opinions and wants what she wants when she wants it. That marble in the brain is rattling around without a place to land How do we deal with adolescence without resorting to aversives which may cause dangerous fallout behaviors later? I'd like to say easy but it isn't. It takes patience, lots of micro training, enrichment and management.  Patience: Remember, this too shall pass. Be patient, you will see the change happening as your dog matures, usually by the age of two. Why 2? Because this is typically when the frontal cortex of the brain is fully developed and the frontal cortex is where self control originates. Micro training: What is micro training? It's small sessions that you can scatter through out the day so that it turns into real life training. Asking for and reinforcing those sits, waits, leave its and settles so that they become habit. Remember, reinforcement drives behavior. You work for cash, your dog works for treats, toys and/or attention. Teaching Fido the calm dog with good behaviors gets the rewards. Enrichment: This is a biggie. Dogs need to use their brains. Mental exercise can tire out a dog just as well as a long walk does. We include it in our day by scatter feeding breakfast, a kong (we have several different versions to keep it mixed up), tricks, putting a few treats in a box, paper towel tube, or a paper lunch bag or even a game of find it.  Management: As the old saying goes, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. The better you prevent an unwanted behavior from happening the easier it is to teach your dog what you want them to do. Prevent door darting by teaching wait at doorways. Prevent jumping on people by giving them a spot to hang out when your guests arrive. Gate off the kitchen to prevent your dog from counter surfing or getting into the trash. Once these types of behaviors start it is so much harder to stop because they are self rewarding.
We shall be grateful that adolescence in dogs is so much less than in humans. Be patient, do lots of small training sessions, engage his brain with enrichment and prevent his opportunity to get into trouble. Show them love and keep them safe.  Does your dog have a reliable recall? Many don't and most dogs only respond when they want to. When a puppy or rescue comes home they often will follow us around and recall doesn't seem necessary until they begin to get a little more interested in the environment. They will appear to develop selective hearing, at least part of the time anyway. There are some easy steps to developing a reliable recall. It also is a matter of safety that your dog will respond.
How do you build a solid and reliable recall in your dog? Easier and a lot more fun than you think. Here are some tips:
 Puppy Insanity. This is RuhRoh, our newest baby. Today she turns 13 weeks old. What have we been working on at home? She came from a great breeder who uses Puppy Culture to raise her puppies. Thanks to that RuhRoh arrived with an excellent sit already in her repertoire. We built on that sit to get some nice waits. Wait before eating, wait before coming out of her crate and after, before going outside, basically a wait anywhere that her puppy craziness might take over.
 
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