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I am a bit distracted today.
I guess that’s not all that unusual. But today, my firstborn son is home visiting from college. Honestly, it’s hard to think of anything else. It’s apparent by the smile on my face and the distracted responses I’m giving to the simplest questions, that my mind is somewhere else. Suffice it to say, I am not going to be making any life-altering decisions today. I am not going to put myself in a situation that requires a ton of concentration because I know that a few seconds into whatever I’m doing, my mind will drift off again to thinking about spending time with my precious son. I think most of you can relate to my situation, even if it doesn’t involve a son going off to college. Most people can think of a time that they were so distracted that they were unable to perform tasks that require the slightest amount of concentration. More than that, if you’ve ever spent time praying or meditating, you know that it’s much easier said than done. It takes an effort to build the stamina to keep at it for any length of time. Our minds wander, we get distracted, we lose focus. Now to dog training. Often as trainers, we see owners who get frustrated when their dog doesn't listen to a common command in class or out in the community even though the dog knows the command well. We hear comments like, "He knows this! He just won’t do it!" Well, here’s the thing, performing a command at home is much easier for your dog than performing a command out around new distractions. It takes a tremendous amount of stamina for a dog to focus around distractions. Not much different than you or I. That’s why we recommend training in quiet, familiar locations first and then building the training to incorporate distractions slowly. Help your dog succeed by building distractions slowly into his training routines. If you find that your dog is really struggling with getting it right, then step back in training. Reduce the distractions. Dogs do want to succeed. It’s our job to help them. Do you get frustrated when your dog doesn't listen? We can help you. Let us show you how. The first step is to schedule your free, no obligation evaluation. Click here to schedule your evaluation online now. You pick a day and time that works best for you. A trainer will meet with you and your dog (and anyone else that you would like involved in training) and go over some history, find out your training goals, and discuss training options. We can usually provide you with some free tips to help you start seeing immediate results. You can find out more about all our training options and get any questions you have answered. There is no pressure or obligation to buy anything. Here is the link to schedule your free evaluation: https://www.cleverk9mi.com/schedule-evaluation-session.html Happy Training!
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Let me tell you about what happened to one of my clients last weekend.
I was helping a client teach their dog proper manners in a community setting. We were enjoying the day and the beautiful weather. The morning had been a success. The dog was doing well. She had been focused on her owners, ignoring temptations and distractions. There were adults, children, and dogs all around. We were about to wrap up. That’s when she came by. She was a little girl around seven or eight years old, as cute as can be. But she was not nice. You wouldn’t have known to look at her. She was well-dressed, and her hair was done up. She looked so innocent and sweet- until she thought no one was looking. As the little girl walked by, she crouched down, snarled, and growled at my client’s dog. When the dog didn’t respond the first time, the little girl hid behind another person and then jumped out at the dog and again snarled and growled. This time, the dog barked at the little girl. Of course, the girl jumped back and acted innocent. Everyone looked at the “aggressive” dog. Thankfully, I had seen the whole thing, and I was not about to let it go. The mother did not look impressed when I lectured her daughter on dog safety and manners. I didn’t mind the dirty looks she was giving me. If my lecture stops the child from repeating that performance and saves her from getting bit, then it’s worth the mother’s anger. If my words help someone think before scaring a dog, that well could be the saving of a dog’s life and someone’s face. What concerns me most is that this is the third time something like this has happened to my clients’ dogs in the past month. I’m sending this out as an important reminder: be vigilant when you have your dog out in the community. Be watchful and advocate for your dog. We expect our dogs to have good manners. We need to be mindful of the situations we put them in. It’s ok to ask people not to pet your dog. It’s ok to ask people to keep their dog away from yours. It’s ok to ask children to stay back. It’s ok to speak up. It may save a life. If your dog needs help with his manners If you cannot take him out and enjoy a beautiful day because you are worried what he will do around others We can help you. Let us show you how. The first step is to schedule your free, no obligation evaluation. Click here to schedule your evaluation online now. You pick a day and time that works best for you. A trainer will meet with you and your dog (and anyone else that you would like involved in training) and go over some history, find out your training goals, and discuss training options. We can usually provide you with some free tips to help you start seeing immediate results. You can find out more about all our training options and get any questions you have answered. There is no pressure or obligation to buy anything. Here is the link to schedule your free evaluation: https://www.cleverk9mi.com/schedule-evaluation-session.html Happy Training! These last couple of weeks have been an exercise in self control for those of us here at Clever Canine. That goes for the humans and the dogs. For these past weeks, we have had a nest of baby bunnies by our back door. They are so stinkin’ cute! The problem is, every one of us here, human and dog alike, wants to get to those bunnies. We all have our own reasons. Most of us just want to watch the little ones grow, though I have a suspicion that some of the dogs have other ideas. And I’m fairly certain there are a few staff members here that would LOVE to sneak in a baby bunny cuddle, against their better judgment. What can I say, we are huge animal lovers here. Many of us even have certifications to prove it. To keep the babies safe, we set up cones around the nest site. That way we wouldn’t accidentally let any of the dogs get too close.  We also worked on the "Leave It" command whenever we had dogs (or overly-interested people) that were close to the cones.
"Leave It" is one of the most important commands to teach a dog. It is the command we use whenever we want our dog to completely ignore something: whether it’s another dog, a person, a treat, a toy, or a baby bunny. The thing is, we don’t always have the luxury of having bright orange cones around the forbidden object we don’t want our dogs to have. It’s so very important to have the command instilled in our dogs when it doesn’t matter so they will follow the command when it does matter. Getting that level of obedience takes proper instruction and practice. It certainly doesn’t happen overnight. But, with consistency and practice, it does happen. We can help you. Let us show you how. The first step is to schedule your free, no obligation evaluation. Click here to schedule your evaluation online now. You pick a day and time that works best for you. A trainer will meet with you and your dog (and anyone else that you would like involved in training) and go over some history, find out your training goals, and discuss training options. We can usually provide you with some free tips to help you start seeing immediate results. You can find out more about all our training options and get any questions you have answered. There is no pressure or obligation to buy anything. Here is the link to schedule your free evaluation: https://www.cleverk9mi.com/schedule-evaluation-session.html Happy Training!  It’s that time of year again.
Time to send our eager students off to their first week of school. As for me, I just sent one of mine off to college and another one off to Kindergarten. Plus, I have several staggered in between. I have always loved the start of the school year. It’s full of so many new and exciting possibilities. It’s full of promises to learn new things and become better than what we were. Many years ago, one of my friends told me that she saw me as a lifelong learner. I always want to know more, to learn new things, to see improvement from where I was. The exciting thing is, you’re never too old to learn something new. "You can’t teach old dogs new tricks" is definitely not a true statement. We teach dogs and people of all ages! Maybe that’s why I love training dogs. There’s always more to learn. Always more that can be done. It’s so rewarding to watch dogs and owners grasp new concepts, to see them master a new technique, to watch the progression as they grow. I get to share my passion for learning with my clients and their dogs. I get to see them enjoy learning too! How great is that? We can help your dog overcome the problems you are experiencing. You too can have a great dog! Let us show you how. The first step is to schedule your free, no obligation evaluation. Click here to schedule your evaluation online now. You pick a day and time that works best for you. A trainer will meet with you and your dog (and anyone else that you would like involved in training) and go over some history, find out your training goals, and discuss training options. We can usually provide you with some free tips to help you start seeing immediate results. You can find out more about all our training options and get any questions you have answered. There is no pressure or obligation to buy anything. Here is the link to schedule your free evaluation: https://www.cleverk9mi.com/schedule-evaluation-session.html Happy Training! |
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