The UPK9 Blog

Creating a Positive Association to All Training Tools Including E collars and Pinch Collars

April 26, 2015 By Duke Ferguson 1 Comment

There is a saying in the dog training world ” Make training and rehabilitation fun”. In a perfect world this is very true. Training should be fun, but this is not a perfect world and many dogs develop issues from it and…… who has fun in rehab in the beginning anyway?

Take the beginning stages of working with a dog who has major fear issues from poor training or being abused in its past OR working with a spoiled rotten humanized dog who has ” spoiled rich kid “Syndrome that has developed undesired behaviours because of no rules, no leadership, Free food, sleeping in the owners bed ect…

Is training going to be fun in the beginning for them? Not likely.

Ive seen dogs get stressed out for a couple days initially by just having the owners spend more time with the dog teaching it to learn new things and work for its meals instead of it getting the food for free in the dish.

Training should be fun and yes, rehab can be stressful in the beginning, but not so much that the dog cant handle it.

Working the dog step by step through its issues to create an end result where the dog is happy and obedient I feel is very important. Its easy to get compliance and have a dog do something or stop a dog from doing something… but get them to enjoy it….. in my eyes this is equally important.

If you have a dog your working with that has issues with training tools then this video is for you

I give you some advice on how to fix the situation and better the rehab or training experience.

Do you have problems training your dog or dogs? Do you want help? No matter the size, sex, age or breed We Can Help!

Want FREE dog training advice? OR to just learn more about Duke’s philosophy on dog training? GET ACCESS to his Exclusive, FREE Mini video series Click Here!! This mini series is not found on Youtube… Get Access Now… You will love the mini series and its Free!! 🙂

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For more information on how you can purchase Dog Training Genesis and become a member CLICK HERE or on the photo of Duke and his dogs.

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Food Rewarding A Pushy Dog

April 24, 2015 By Duke Ferguson Leave a Comment

Feeding Rewards, Calm The Pushy Dog & Build Up The Weak Dog

I get a lot of questions like, “Duke, how do I get my dog to stop being so pushy when taking the reward and not hurt my fingers?” OR “Duke, how do I get my nervous or weak dog to be more confident and take food better?”

Here is a video I made for you with some tips on How to do one or the other. Its a simple concept really.

Do you have problems training your dog or dogs? Do you want help? No matter the size, sex, age or breed We Can Help!

To find a UPK9 Trainer near you or to Book your FREE Demonstration and Consult Click Here

For more information on how you can purchase Dog Training Genesis and become a member CLICK HERE or on the photo of Duke and his dogs.

Learn More About Dog Training Genesis CLICK HERE !

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Dogs with Babies:Unleashed Potential’s 10 Tips For Introducing A Baby To A Dog

April 21, 2015 By Duke Ferguson Leave a Comment

Dogs with Babies

Unleashed Potential’s 10 Tips For Introducing A Baby To A Dog And Getting Prepared:

So, Your expecting! Congratulations!! This is very exciting news! 🙂 Soooo……….Now what are you going to do with the dog? How will he/she take the baby coming?

Does your dog have any behavior problems that need to be addressed? Jumping? chewing or destructive behaviour? excessive barking? Running away or pulling on the leash? What about housebreaking or anxiety?

Does he dog growl around its food or toys? These are all issues and need to be addressed.

Even if you have good o’l faithful as a dog, you still should prepare for when baby comes home.

No worries!! you now have 9 months to prepare for success. 🙂 I suggest getting started now. With out to much detail I am going to list a number of tips and thing to take care of before baby comes.

1. LEADERSHIP. Make sure you have the right relationship with your dog. Leadership is important, just like a child with a parent, an employee with a boss, a team with a coach and so on…. If you have this bonded relationship then your dog is probably well behaved with little to no issues. The dog will look to you most often and work for things it wants instead of just demanding or taking what it wants. The dog will know its place in your family, trust you and most often be less anxious or fearful of things. Any training will be relatively easy and quick. If you don’t have the proper relationship and your dog is unruly, with behavior problems or shy and fearful then Implementing leadership skills or a nothing in life is free policy or doggy boot camp is important to start TODAY!

Lets put it this way. You work for a living right??? So why does your dog not? LOL! 🙂

2. OBEDIENCE TRAINING and Behavior Modification is most important while implementing the no free lunch policy. This teaches the dog how to work for you and will help build confidence, self control, and enhance your relationship. Seek out an educated, experienced, well balanced trainer to help you with this. Private training is much better to begin with than just a dog training group class. Educating you is the key. Do your research properly before hiring a trainer as they are a dime a dozen!! Talk is cheap, get several references, see their dog ,and assess the trainer and dog, meet with the trainer if possible don’t just talk on the phone to hire. Once you start training, work with your dog daily….even after baby comes. Work with any issues that still exist if any. Food bowl or resource guarding needs to be addressed asap.

3. ENERGY BURN OFF!!! A Tired dog is a good dog. 🙂 Most often a lot of behaviors go away when you start obedience training, running, swimming or other activities. The dog will be working both body and brain daily and this will satisfy its needs. Fetching and searching for toys is a life saver. Keep this up even after baby comes.

4. SPAY or NEUTER. If possible spay or neuter your dog. This is not a must but I highly suggest it unless you are a breeder.

5.CRATE TRAINING. With many dogs you might consider crate training in early stages of the no free lunch policy. This gives the dog a place to go, like a safe haven if they feel like getting some personal space. Like a baby needing a play pen when you cant supervise. ( PREVENTION).

6. SOCIALIZATION Get your dog socialized or desensitized to other baby’s and children as much as you can and make it positive. Depending on your dogs personality and issues you can even buy a baby doll and have the dog get used to you holding it and doing things you will soon be doing when baby comes. Teach the dog to be calm and obedient and attentive to you around the baby doll then around the real baby when it comes. Get the dog used to baby noises in the house if possible. After your baby is born and prior to baby coming home from the hospital dress the baby doll at home with the real baby’s clothing or blanket so the dog will get used to the scent. This makes for a smooth transition. Also desensitize the dog to being grabbed, poked,hugged and pinched, this is bound to happen when little one is around.

7. BOUNDARIES. no matter how good your dog is, boundary train the dog to stay out of the baby’s room. This should be off limits. Safety and prevention.

8. INTRODUCE. There are several ways to do this I will explain one basic way. When you do come home from the hospital make sure that you have the dogs energy burnt off prior to. Have the dog in another room or in its kennel resting. Bring baby in to the home and then when the environment is settled take the dog out to meet baby. Having the dog on a leash might need to be required depending on your dog and how much work you put in to preparing. Don’t make a big issue of the baby to prevent exciting the dog. Stay calm and relaxed. Don’t let the dog jump up or bump the baby or be pushy and invade the baby’s space. Make sure you are holding the baby to prevent this and maintain a personal space boundary. Continue teaching the dog to be calm around the baby by laying down or sitting quietly near you and the baby. As Baby gets older ….2..3..4 years old have him/her involved in training with you and the dog. I will post a video of a toddler training a german shepherd. Keep an eye out for this on my next blog post. 🙂

9. SPEND THE TIME. You have a big change in your life but don’t let this be an excuse to not spend the same amount of attention to your dog. Every day keep up working and playing with your dog. Burn off the energy and keep the obedience fresh. If you don’t think you have the time, make it!! No matter how much time the baby takes. It does not have to be long periods of time a day….frequent 10- 15 minute intervals here and there at random are effective. One on one time every day with the dog is important.

10. NEVER LEAVE THE DOG UNSUPERVISED WITH THE BABY!! Not for 1 second and it does not matter the size of your dog or how good your dog is. Do not leave the dog unsupervised with the baby.

Need Help? Find a trainer in your area. See Below

Duke Ferguson, ABDT, MT

Do you have problems training your dog or dogs? Do you want help? No matter the size, sex, age or breed We Can Help!

To find a Unleashed Potential Trainer near you or to Book your FREE Demonstration and Consult Click Here

For more information on how you can purchase Dog Training Genesis and become a member CLICK HERE or on the photo of Duke and his dogs.

Learn More About Dog Training Genesis CLICK HERE !

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Mastering the Art of Attention

April 21, 2015 By Duke Ferguson Leave a Comment

No matter what age or breed of dog we can help you too MASTER the art of attention with your dog! Below is a video shot with a young pup just 17wks of age. In one week we mastered attention! So that being said….

I HAVE TWO QUESTIONS FOR YOU:

Have you been told you can’t train a dog until 6 months of age? Do you have trouble getting your dog to pay attention to you? If you answer YES, then watch this video. You will get to know the truth and see a mini dog training session and learn some quick tips. If you like this and want to see more educational and/or entertaining videos, subscribe today!!

Do you have problems training your dog or dogs? Do you want help? No matter the size, sex, age or breed We Can Help!

To find a UPK9 Trainer near you or to Book your FREE Demonstration and Consult Click Here

For more information on how you can purchase Dog Training Genesis and become a member CLICK HERE or on the photo of Duke and his dogs.

Learn More About Dog Training Genesis CLICK HERE !

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It’s OK, He’s Friendly

April 21, 2015 By Guy Lapierre Leave a Comment

“It’s okay….he’s friendly!!”

Let’s discuss the importance of Off-Leash Recall. How many times have you heard an owner yelling that out to you from afar as his off leash dog runs towards you full tilt while ignoring all his owners attempts to call him back? Often the dogs name is repeated over and over and over, the word “treat” is thrown in for good measure and there’s a hint of desperation in the tone as their dog gets closer and closer.

If you are walking a dog with on leash reactivity or on leash aggression, you already know what is horribly wrong with this picture. You also probably know full well that at this point, it really doesn’t matter if the dog is friendly or not.

If you are “that guy yelling at your dog as he charges towards me and my on leash dog”, let me explain why this is totally unacceptable. Sure, accidents happen, dogs get out and go for a runabout around the neighbourhood…this isn’t the type of scenario I’m referring to. This isn’t a loose dog that someone is trying to catch,…I’m referring to the person who purposely un-clips that leash and allows their dog off leash when they don’t have reliable recall. I’m sure you’ve seen them at the park, I know I have run into my fair share walking through Point Pleasant. This post also isn’t about where you can legally let your dog off leash,…you are responsible for your dog whether the area is designated off leash or not. This is about being in control of your dog if you allow them off leash. Even in designated off leash areas you must be in control of your dog at all times. It is the law. The off leash areas are not “anything goes” areas (although judging by what I’ve witnessed on different occasions you’d think they were). You should be able to call your dog back to you, and leash them, if necessary. If you can’t, your dog should not be off leash and the reason being is that the on leash dog that your dog is running towards may not react well to an unleashed dog coming into their space.

Dogs have 3 options when approached by another dog…

they can submit (accept the dog in their space and sometimes put up with socially awkward or forced greetings). Not all dogs know how to properly meet other dogs.
they can fight. If a dog feels threatened, they are likely to choose this option. (for dogs that have already had a bad on leash experience with another dog, they may have already developed on-leash reactivity or even on-leash aggression)
or then can flee (i.e. avoidance, run away from the dog that is making them uncomfortable) This is not an option for an on leash dog.

If the dog that your off leash dog is running up to is on leash, they now only have 2 choices on how to handle the situation because the leash prevents the flight option. They can either fight or they can submit. Chances are good that you’ve seen a totally submissive dog before….they’re the dog that drops to the ground and rolls over the second a new dog approaches it. In this situation I really hope that the “friendly dog” really is friendly, because a bad experience can change that submissive dog into a reactive dog in a heartbeat.

For dogs that have already had a bad on leash experience with another dog (i.e. leash reactive/on leash aggressive dogs), this scenario can go terribly wrong. A dog that feels threatened while on leash may not wait to see if the approaching dog is going to hurt them, they may defend themselves right away and lash out. This is when fights happen…. totally unavoidable fights between two dogs that should have never met.
This is why it is so important to establish reliable recall before un-clipping that leash and allowing your dog to run.

We’ll assume for the purpose of this post that only “friendly dogs” are being let off lead (although I know for a fact that it is not always the case).

You should be able to call your dog away from an on leash dog that is walking with it’s owner. If you can’t, your dog shouldn’t be off leash.
If you cannot keep your dog in sight and under control, they should not be off leash. (We’ve encountered many “ownerless” dogs in the park).
If you cannot keep track of your dog because you are deep in conversation, (either on or off the phone), your dog shouldn’t be off leash.

This all applies to dogs running up to people without dogs as well. A lot of people enjoy walking in public parks, but that doesn’t mean that they have to put up with being accosted by off leash dogs jumping all over them. This may be common place in actual dog parks, but parks with off leash areas are not “dog parks”, they are for everyone’s enjoyment. It boils down to being respectful of other people and other dogs and doing your part to ensure that your dog and the other dogs you may encounter can be safely exercised whether they are on leash or off leash.

Please….be a responsible dog owner, because even a “friendly dog” can get himself into trouble.

If you want complete off leash control with your dog, including reliable recall, contact me today to discuss your training options.

Guy Lapierre

Unleashed Potential Halifax

Do you have problems training your dog or dogs? Do you want help? No matter the size, sex, age or breed We Can Help!

To find a Unleashed Potential Trainer near you or to Book your FREE Demonstration and Consult Click Here

For more information on how you can purchase Dog Training Genesis and become a member CLICK HERE or on the photo of Duke and his dogs.

Learn More About Dog Training Genesis CLICK HERE !

Follow us on FACEBOOK and subscribe to us on YouTube

The UPK9 Blog

Feeding Rewards, Calm The Pushy Dog & Build Up The Weak Dog

Dogs with Babies

Unleashed Potential’s 10 Tips For Introducing A Baby To A Dog And Getting Prepared:

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