Dog training nova scotia

Reactive Goldendoodle

September 21, 2022 By Duke Ferguson Leave a Comment

Meet Mickey the 5-year-old reactive Goldendoodle!

Mickey’s family was at a loss on what to do regarding his reactiveness to people. After booking a consult with us to discuss their frustrations and overall goals with Mickey, they decided to enroll in our Board and Train program!

After several weeks of living and training with Coach Duke, Mickey has now completed boarding and is living his best fearless life with his family who are now having so much more fun with him!

Here is what his owner had to say:

“We were really at a loss before Mickey went to PEI to stay with Duke. We didn’t know what we were going to do.

Mickey was showing signs of aggression towards some people and even growling at my daughters. We could not take him anywhere off leash as he had no recall at all. We were limited on being able to go away because we had no one that could watch him. We couldn’t trust him.

We did try another trainer before UPK9 but had little success. Mickey had also had obedience classes from the time he was a puppy. He had the basic, sit, stay, down, but that was it.

Mickey spent 6 weeks with Duke on Prince Edward Island. We were so excited when he came home and certain people he didn’t like, prior to training, could now feed him from their hands. We knew we were on the road to success! (*Check out this quick video on one of Mickey’s amazing socialization outings: click here to watch)

We love how much Mickey loved Duke and how well he responded to him. We love that all the things he learned while he was there we can continue to build on at home. His recall is amazing and we love seeing how Mickey responds to us now at home!

If we had not enrolled in the Board & Train program, we would still be frustrated and really at a loss on what to do with Mickey.

If you too are interested in the dog training at Unleashed Potential – especially the Boarding program – we would tell you it was the best thing we ever did. The support we have received is amazing and we would encourage you to come to see Mickey and see how far he has come. We have friends that can’t believe the difference in him!”

– Owner Ruth Ann

Lawrencetown, NS

Thank you for the kind words and awesome job keeping up with Mickey’s training! He was a fun dog to have around and we miss him lots – reactive Goldendoodle no more!

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You’re A Dog Whisperer

June 25, 2019 By Guy Lapierre 1 Comment

Why does my dog behave so differently with you?

This is a question I get asked with every dog that comes in to my day train or board and train program. In these programs I train the dog and then coach their owners how to take over the process. My answer is always the same. I don’t have any baggage with the dog and I immediately set the rules and boundaries the minute the dog comes in.

I define baggage as all the unwanted behaviors that were let to develop into habits over time with a dog’s owners. I’m not pointing the finger at the owner and putting the blame on them, necessarily. In many cases they were told to do what they have tried up until that time. Add to that the simple fact that you don’t know what you don’t know. It’s too easy to point the finger and lay blame. So I don’t.

When a dog is dropped off and left with me to be trained, I’m very fortunate and it gives me a very distinct advantage. The dog doesn’t know me, is in an unfamiliar place, and immediately we implement the routines, rules, and boundaries that will shape the dog into the dog they have the potential to be. I immediately develop a relationship with the dog that is based on leadership and very quickly the dog will start to look to me to help them deal with their struggles differently.

I don’t possess the anxieties or frustrations the owner does when the dog struggles and my even keel energy quickly sets the dog at ease. It allows us to develop a relationship based on trust and leadership from day one – without the baggage. If you take into account the fact that I’m a dog trainer and should know how to deal with the issues brought before me, it allows me to gain that trust quickly. Whereas, an owner is trying to figure it out through too much trial and error that leads to confusion and distrust from the dog. The dog learns they need to figure it out for themselves because they don’t believe their owner has the solutions. Again, you don’t know what you don’t know and it is easy to give up on something when it doesn’t work immediately.

So dog trainers are not dog whisperers. Sure, if you want to turn your dog around as quickly as possible then get a dog trainer to train them for you in a board and train type program. The fact that they do this for a living professionally is the reason they will achieve results more quickly and to a higher level. Just like any trade; getting a skilled trade person to do a job versus doing it yourself will typically yield a better, faster result. But, that doesn’t mean you can’t do the job yourself. You just have to learn how to the best of your ability.

Solutions

My advice to those doing it yourself is set yourself up for success and the first step for that is to remove the baggage. You need to flip the switch and reset your dog. That means you have to always be in a position to teach so you can communicate to your dog what is right or wrong to influence their choices to the ones you wish them to make in all the circumstances that demand it. You have to be consistent and the dog must understand the conversation. When you are not in a position to teach, the dog needs to be somewhere where they can’t exercise the decisions you don’t want them to make. I recommend crating them. This sets the rules and boundaries and removes the baggage.

The second step is to employ a training system. First you need to establish a communication system that the dog understands that distinguishes right from wrong. Then you need to teach the dog whatever you will employ in those circumstances outside of those circumstances first. The dog needs to understand everything about the conversation to be successful. If they do then the only variable is the choice the dog is making and that is what you are aiming to influence.

That’s the secret. It isn’t dog whispering at all. Where people often fail is a lack of consistency and failure to control the dog’s environment. People are often looking for a quick fix. They search YouTube and find a video on how to fix something and they try it. When it doesn’t work immediately they try something else. That just confuses and frustrates the dog. It isn’t that the YouTube video was necessarily wrong. There is just a lot more that goes into it then you see in a short video clip. So a lot of information is missing for a full solution. A large part of that is changing how you live with your dog – the baggage.

If a board and train program is not in the cards and you are struggling to achieve results on your own, I recommend you hire a professional for private sessions and follow what they are instructing you to do. You are still doing it on your own but with professional guidance and a plan. Another option is a quality video training system that teaches you how to train your dog. Again, you need to follow those instructions and be very consistent to have success.

Need Help?

Regardless of the path you choose to unleash your dog’s potential, I can help you. I offer day train, board and train, private lessons, and an online video series that can train any size, any breed, and any problem. Contact me to find out more or visit my Facebook page to see my training in action.

Guy Lapierre, Certified Professional Dog Trainer. Unleashed Potential Halifax.

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Bear and Gunner Together Successfully! UPK9 Dog Training Success Story!

June 14, 2019 By Camellia Saunderson 2 Comments

Bear and Gunner

Bear and Gunner trained with Unleashed Potential K9 because they would fight with each other in the same home, with no known trigger. Their owners were living a stressed out life with a baby on the way, managing two dogs that they were too afraid to have out together. Once we determined that their trigger was resources, we were able to start rehabbing their relationship. Apart from that, Gunner used to act extremely fearful when people would come to the house, refusing to socialize. After 4 private lessons and 3 weeks of Boarding and Training, here is what their owner, Jasmine, had to say.

“Major breakthrough, have to share.

We have people over for a regular poker night. Normally Bear would be downstairs with the guys and Gunner would be in the bedroom before anyone even showed up because he would lose it and bark out of major fear. That’s where he’d spend the night. I’d tried to bring him downstairs before but there was too many people, he’d bark and run away.

Tonight…..

I left Bear in the kennel and put Gunner on Place. Our first friend arrived and Gunner didn’t bark, he was happy. Eventually we broke him and he smelled our friend and didn’t seem too bothered. People arrived one by one which worked great, it gave Gunner time to see them and they all knew better than to try to approach him because that was the closest they’d ever gotten to him!

To make a long story short (sorry but I’m flabbergasted)… he didn’t bark once at anyone and didn’t run away. He even wagged his tail when a few people petted him carefully and gave him treats.

We got Bear out and placed them both. I went even a step further and brought him down to the poker room and this is where I was mind blown…He came in and walked around the table wagging his tail! Being normal. First time he ever went in the basement during a poker night, and he was comfortable and not sketched out. Some of these guys had never even seen Gunner because he was always hiding, and Bear did amazing too! He let Gunner do his thing and didn’t bother him, he was calm and obedient and respectful. Bear is getting some bed time with the guys and I’m with gunner upstairs on bed so they can each relax. ”

Ahhhhhh success!

Are you at your wits end with your dog’s behavior and would like to have control, sanity, and above all else, safety? No matter the age or breed, please contact me now, I assure you, I can help!

Book your FREE consultation and demonstration today!
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The 3 Keys To Successfully Training Your Dog

November 26, 2018 By Guy Lapierre Leave a Comment

The 3 Keys To Successfully Training Your Dog

I meet with several people each week to discuss their dog’s problems and needs. Most of them are trying very hard to help their dogs and end up standing in front of me because they are frustrated that they can’t make any progress with their dog’s issue – whatever they may be. As I said, in most cases it isn’t for a lack of trying or effort on their part and many have invested in previous training, read many books, and watched countless videos on the internet seeking help. So as they stand in front of me, often desperate and beginning to believe their dog is not trainable, I see the common theme once again. Communication.

Off Leash Freedom — Off leash and social, with recall.

Communication is the foundation that needs to be in place before anything can really take place. If the dog doesn’t understand the conversation with you, you will have little to no success. If you signed up for a course and the course outline and classes were in a foreign language, how would you do? You may be able to figure out a little bit of what is going on by being there but you wouldn’t be able to truly understand in any depth and it would be a very confusing and frustrating process. That is what most dogs are experiencing that I see. They have no clear expectations, the course outline, and they don’t understand what is being said, the course content.

So how do dog’s communicate? They communicate through their senses. You can use a dog’s scent to get attention and engagement in the conversation – especially when using food in the training. Dog’s primarily use body language (sight) to communicate. Their tale, ears, body, paws, mouth, eyes, and even their fur are used to send a message to whoever is watching. They use tones (sound) by letting out a growl, bark, or whine to whoever is listening. Lastly, they are very physical animals so touch often comes into the conversation in the form of affection or physical warnings or corrections. Of course, we can communicate to them using these very same senses to have a conversation with our dog that they understand. They are a different species and how they communicate is not the same as a human. Dogs learn through association and repetition so we have to take the time to teach and give meaning to our communication. Without clear communication the dog will have limited understanding in the process.

So let’s discuss the three keys to successfully training a dog now that you know it must first start with clear communication. The three keys are timing, consistency, and motivation.

Timing: Dogs live in the moment and to effectively communicate with them you have to do so in that very moment. The window of opportunity is about one second long. That may sound like it would be difficult to achieve but it isn’t. With a little practice and a good communication system, you can learn to be timely with your dog and it will be make you more observant of your dog so that you can achieve this critical piece of the conversation. The analogy I always use to illustrate this is to get people to think about how movies used to be made up of a series of pictures. If each picture was one second apart then that is how your dog takes the world in – a snapshot one second at a time. You have to communicate inside the snapshot. If you get the snapshots before or after the appropriate one the time is off. When your timing is right, it is extremely effective.
Consistency: You have to be consistent. Dogs don’t do well with grey area. The process of learning needs to be black and white and consistent. You always have to be in a position to teach and if you can’t be, the dog needs to be in an environment where they are not able to make decisions without your guidance. This needs to be the case until your teaching has produced a dog that consistently makes the desired decisions. At that point, they will not need your influence to make the correct one anymore.
Motivation: A dog needs to be motivated to do or not do. You can motivate a dog to do more of something if there is something in it for them. That could be to acquire something they want or avoid something they don’t. You can motivate a dog to not do something by making it consequential. That could be an aversive consequence for a behaviour or the consequential removal of something they wish to have.

Pack Walk When you learn to effectively communicate with your dog in a clear, consistent manner and motivate them in the process you will have success. It never fails.

Contact me today to learn how and you will achieve your goals with your dog.

Guy Lapierre UPK9 Halifax

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Chino and Java’s Rehabilitation

December 17, 2015 By Duke Ferguson Leave a Comment

Java and Chino came to train with Camellia at Unleashed Potential- The Valley because they were getting into fights with each other in their home. Java, who’s issues were insecurity with dogs and pushy controlling behavior, stayed for 4 weeks, while Chino, who’s issues of dog aggression and generalized anxiety were much more extensive, stayed for 9 weeks before he was ready to go home. Today, both dogs live together without issue, something their owner wasn’t sure could be possible. The day Chino returned home, she was so overwhelmingly happy, that she decided to write a letter explaining her experiences;

“I have two bully breed dogs that are absolutely amazing in my eyes and they are my life. Java (brindle) is turning three this December and Chino (black) is a year and a half. When Chino turned one, his personality was quite different from when he was in puppy stages. When he was young, he would follow Java around like crazy; you could sense the loyalty he had towards her. I had a sense that Chino had some issues even during puppy hood. He would whine profusely and for long durations to the point where the only thing that APPEARED to work was cuddling him and keeping him close to me. I thought I had it figured it out; he needed more “mommy time.”

This only made matters worse. Chinos behaviour continued to deteriorate, even when I starting simple obedience training from home. He appeared to be anxious 99.99 percent of the time, which affected Java in major ways and before I knew it, I had two dogs that were now acting aggressively in all situations they were well subjected to in past (dog parks, playing with other dogs, being together outside and inside the house). There had been multiple major fights between the dog dogs that resulted in me taking them to get medical attention. For those who have never experience a dog fight, I can not describe all the emotions that are attached to seeing it, but it’s probably on my top things I never want to witness again. It broke my heart because I thought I have failed both my dogs.

I contacted Camellia from Unleashed Potential because I could not handle the aggression between the two dogs or trust that something serious wouldn’t result from trying to break them up. Camellia came to meet the dogs and hear about what had been going on with the two of them. She gave me hope, as other organizations told me even before meeting me that Chino and Java would most likely not be able to Co exist in the same household. Camellia explained personal experiences with the same behaviours my dogs were displaying and made me feel a connection. I made the decision to board and train both dogs as I felt that both had major issues that needed to be addressed quickly.

I had huge issues with leaving my dogs in another’s care, but Camellia made this experience easier for me and I received updates and pictures of both dogs on a regular basis. When Java returned home, she was a completely different dog and I was blown away with her progress. Java was finally calm in her mind, and was very obedient, making me feel proud of all her accomplishments. Camellia took the time to help me understand Java’s needs and guided me through our now very different, healthy relationship. I went for a walk with Java the other day and two new moms were pushing strollers on the same path as us. As they approached I tested Java’s ability and put her into a “down” until both moms passed us. Java was successful and she never broke her command. One of the mothers turned around and expressed how impressed she was and that Java was an extremely obedient dog. I can’t even begin to tell you how happy this made me feel.

Today was Chino’s first day home. Chino had been a very difficult case, as his anxiety slowed the training process a little. Camellia never gave up on Chino or my goal to have both dogs Co exist in a safe environment. He is a completely different dog now. Chino’s body language and demeanor are totally different to the point where I sat here in tears while he was on “place ” and I was reflecting on the dog Chino used to be, versus the dog Chino is now. These results are all due to the work and dedication Camellia had while training my dogs and supporting me through the process. Camellia has made my dream come true of living in harmony with both my dogs under the same roof. Thank you for your ongoing support and dedication with us.” – Amanda Wile

Are you at your wits end with your dog’s behavior and would like to have control, sanity, and above all else, safety? No matter the age or breed, please contact me, because I promise you, I can help you!

Book your FREE consultation and demonstration with me today! Send me an email at camellias@upk9.ca Like me on Facebook! Not in The Valley, NS? Find a trainer near you ! Be sure to sign up for Duke’s Free mini video series HERE