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Have you ever noticed that life’s inconveniences rarely happen at convenient times?
My schedule can get pretty tight and though I like to think I’m a flexible person, sometimes the curve balls that life throws at me can have me scrambling to rearrange my schedule. Let me tell you about one of those times this week. The other evening, I was about to head to bed after a long day when my son hobbled in the front door and collapsed on the sofa. His ankle was swelling rapidly. He had hurt himself playing basketball. The last thing I had time in my schedule for was a trip to urgent care, but as the night got later it was pretty obvious that an urgent care trip was necessary. The next day, I felt like I was moving pieces on a sliding puzzle when I was rearranging my schedule. Thankfully, my son only has a bad sprain, but he’s still on crutches and in a brace for the next couple of weeks. There are times in life that things are going to happen and there’s going to be nothing you can do about it. You will have to rearrange your schedule and make the best of the situation. It’s pretty much guaranteed that your life will have a lot of those moments if you have children and/ or dogs. But there are definitely things that you can do to lessen or prevent some of life’s inconveniences. Something we tell our clients often is that they should never wait to train something when they need it done. It’s always best to train a behavior when it doesn’t matter. Teach the dog, over and over, in places and times when you don’t need a behavior, so the dog knows the behavior when you do need it. Does your dog bolt out the door when you are ready to leave for work? Jump on company? Bark at other dogs? Refuse to come when called? Those aren’t the times to train your dog. The training needs to happen outside of those times. Don’t know how to do it? We can help! 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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I went to see Captain Marvel this week.
I loved it. The Marvel Universe has had me spellbound for a while. I love epic journeys, unlikely heroes, and fanciful stories of far off adventures. I always have. I can imagine myself in those places, traveling down unknown paths, overcoming insurmountable obstacles on my way to hidden treasures. But one way my imagination differs from those stories is that in my vision, I usually have a dog next to me. My adventures just seem more complete with a dog. Maybe that’s one of the reasons I’m a dog trainer. I’ve always believed that life is better with a dog. I also think that we owe our dogs a chance for a better life. I should clarify what I mean by a better life. By a better life, I don’t mean that I think dogs should get every fancy new toy that comes out on the market. That isn’t to say that buying toys for your dog is bad or wrong, but you just can’t buy love. I also don’t mean that you absolutely need to feed your dog the trendiest, most expensive food there is. That isn’t to say that proper nutrition is essential, and good dog food is too, but you don’t have to break your budget to feed your dog. What I do mean by giving your dog a better life is helping him to live a life in balance. It’s important for your dog to understand limits. Without proper limits, dogs can develop problems, and dogs that already have problems can develop serious issues like anxiety or aggression. A dog that lives a balanced life has more freedom to go on adventures with his owner because the dog isn’t held back by his own anxieties. A balanced dog can go more places because the owner can relax and trust that the dog will make good choices. Do you need help with your dog? Maybe stopping him from pulling you down the street when going for a walk or jumping on company every time someone comes to visit. Do you need help keeping your dog from getting into the trash all the time or stealing food off the counters or tables? Is his or her constant barking driving you crazy? Are you worried he is going to hurt someone or something? Let us show you how we can help you have a great dog. 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! Nothing good happens after midnight.
That’s what they say. I don’t know who "they" are, but "they" were wrong this week. Let me tell you the story. My son, Joe, is on spring break. Apparently, it is still called spring break even when there is no evidence of spring, on the calendar or otherwise, but that’s a topic for another time. Joe gets home the old-fashioned way. He rides the train. His train was due in at 9 pm, but because of a signal malfunction in Chicago, Joe’s train was running late. So late that the train got stuck on a siding just outside of a station 13 miles away until sometime after 2 am. That’s OK, it gave me plenty of time to drive to and find this train station I was unfamiliar with. And do you know what? Picking my Joe up to spend a week at home is a good thing, even after midnight! Do you know what else? Another nice thing about being out after midnight is that there is hardly any traffic. Half the lights are flashing yellow, so you can just get where you want to go. That was great. There you have it, two good things that happened after midnight. But as I was driving and enjoying having the roads to myself, I started thinking about my clients who walk their dogs in the cover of night so they can avoid everyone else. I thought about all the people I have talked with that purposely avoid walking their dogs around other people or other dogs, and it made me sad, mainly because I know we can help them. I enjoy having the ability to choose to be out after midnight. I would hate only to be able to be out after midnight because that was my only option. Do you need help with your dog? Maybe stopping him from pulling you down the street when going for a walk or jumping on company every time someone comes to visit. Do you need help keeping your dog from getting into the trash all the time or stealing food off the counters or tables? Is his or her constant barking driving you crazy? Are you worried he is going to hurt someone or something? Let us show you how we can help you have a great dog. 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! Oh, did I wake up to an interesting surprise this morning.
Let me tell you the story. But first, I’ll give you some back story. We have a lot of dogs in my family. I’m not going to say how many, but trust me, it’s a lot. My husband’s Golden Retriever is just a good dog. So much so that it’s kind of obnoxious. This dog just turned a year old and walks beautifully on a leash, knows to sit nicely to greet people, and is friendly with everyone he meets. This Golden boy likes to rest next to my husband while he works on the computer and during family meals. He obeys commands well even though my husband has not worked with him as often as he should. None of our other dogs are as easy as my husband’s dog. The rest of our dogs actually took work to train and keep trained. So last night, my husband and I were sitting at our table talking while the dogs rested on the floor all around us. We didn’t notice anything unusual. When it was bedtime, my husband went upstairs first with his dog. My husband turned out the light, and the dog jumped on the bed and waited there until I came up. That’s the routine. A short while later, I went to bed but didn’t turn on the lights, so I didn’t disturb my husband. When I woke this morning, the daylight revealed that my comforter had blue splotches all over it. I was so confused, the spots certainly weren’t there when I made the bed yesterday. Then I went downstairs, and what did I find? Blue pawprints! Everywhere. I followed the trail. The tracks covered one side of the house to the other. Apparently, once we dimmed the lights last evening, my husband’s sweet Golden boy chewed up a blue pen while he was laying at my husband’s feet. The pup was so quiet, we never noticed he was chewing something he wasn't supposed to have. It was dark, so we didn’t see the damage until this morning. We knew we had the culprit because the evidence was all over his paws. It's just one more reason we can't have nice things. The moral of this story is that different dogs need different things. Some dogs are easy to train, like my husband’s dog. Some dogs need a bit more training, like the rest of our dogs. But it’s always important to remember, dogs are dogs, and even the best dog will get into mischief now and then. Do you need help with your dog? Maybe stopping him from pulling so much on the leash when going for a walk or jumping on company every time someone comes to visit. Do you need help keeping your dog from getting into the trash all the time or stealing food off the counters or tables? Is his or her constant barking driving you crazy? Are you worried he is going to hurt someone or something? Let us show you how we can help you have a great dog. 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! This week past week, our house and business were bustling with Valentine activities.
There was love in the air. I have young children, and that means helping them prepare Valentine cards for all their classmates. That wasn’t enough for my boys. They made handmade cards for family members regularly during the days leading up to Valentine’s Day. I loved it. Candy, chocolate, cupcakes, and other fun treats showed up in unexpected places all week. It’s a good thing everyone, both at my house and at Clever Canine, has a sweet tooth. One of our creative clients brought in a Valentine craft for us to do with our dogs during one of our classes. Then we did the craft with our daycare dogs and sent the little gifts home with the daycare dogs’ parents. One of my favorite moments was when I walked into my office to find a sweet Valentine gift from my dogs left on my desk. I smiled and thought about how much I love my dogs. It’s probably a little crazy, really. These dogs are family. I let my dogs have quite a few privileges that I think some people would be surprised by. I love my dogs, and I want them near me. I enjoy sharing my space with my dogs. But I’m careful to keep things balanced. I make sure my dogs understand the rules of the house and have structure. With that structure comes the freedom for them to live life along with my family and me. Often, we have people come in to talk to us about what’s going on with their dog, and they seem nervous to tell us that they allow their dog on the furniture, or that their dog sleeps in bed with them, or that they share human food with their dog. A lot of people are worried that we will tell them that they will never be able to have fun with their dog again. Actually, it’s the opposite! If you know how to teach your dogs the rules. If you know how to instill structure, then freedom and fun come with it. Freedom and fun are just some of the rewards of dog training if you are willing to put in the effort. Let us show you how we can help you have a great dog. 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 the Super Bowl.
My house and family are ready. We are stocked up on all kinds of snack food and pop. There will be no healthy family meals today. Chips, dip, and pop is fine with me. My kids have been looking forward to this all week. My family has been discussing the teams, the players, the coaches, and the fans. We’ve been watching fun pre-game clips. We are excited about the halftime show. Will there be a tribute to SpongeBob creator, Stephen Hillenburg? Who’s going to have the best commercial this year? The excitement is building. Then there’s the game. I enjoy watching football. Maybe it’s because I relate to the referees. Atlanta won’t be the only place where the referees will be working tonight. My husband and I will be refereeing tonight too. Our house is bustling with seven of our kids, our son’s girlfriend, tons of food, and a whole lot of dogs. Someone needs to make sure they don’t burn down the house, and the dogs don’t eat all our food. We aren’t magicians but do make it work. Here’s the thing, both dog training and parenting are a whole lot like being a referee. We make sure the players follow the rules. We make sure things run as smoothly as we can. It’s not a perfect analogy, but it’s a good one. A big problem I see with people who come to us for help with dog training is that they aren’t consistent with the rules. Many people need help knowing how to communicate effectively with their dog. We can certainly help you with that. We can help you set up the rules. We can help you train. But you need to be like a referee to get good results. Be consistent, and you will be surprised at what your dog can do. Let us show you how we can help you have a great dog. 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! There is a show business saying; "Never work with kids or animals."
It’s certainly true if you’re worried about always performing well and never being embarrassed. Any seasoned parent will tell you that kids do and say the craziest things. I’ve lost track of how many times my kids have done or said something that made me look like an idiot. Just this morning, I was taking a video of a dog I am working with, so I could send his family an update on his progress. Right at the end, my little boys started arguing in the background-- over cereal. Why? Because they are brothers and they find ANY reason to argue. Guess what, I still sent the video. I just added an apology for the argument at the end. This is my life. I’m real about it. Do you know what else I’m real about? I’ll let you in on a secret. My dogs aren’t perfect. Yes, my dogs can do some really cool things. They better be able to - my daughter Lizzie and I are trainers. But they have bad days and so do we. Sometimes I think that our clients believe that we are magicians. But we are regular people who have very real dogs that have very real personality quirks. It’s those quirks, those difficulties that test us as trainers that make us better at helping our clients. I was talking with one of my trainers, Kaytie, about this the other day. We were talking about some of the training issues we have had with our own dogs and how that helps us to relate so closely with our clients. So often, people walk in with their dogs and feel like they have to apologize for their dog’s behavior. They are embarrassed. They are afraid we are going to judge them. Honestly, most of the time we are thinking about how we have been there. We weren’t always trainers. We understand what you’re going through. That’s why we do what we do. Is your dog not listening to you? Are you being dragged down the street when going for a walk? Does your dog jump on everyone that comes for a visit? Is your dog stealing food off the counter? Is your dog aggressive at times and you are worried he will hurt someone? Let us show you how we can help you have a great dog. 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! Do you have a special one?
I do! I have a few actually. Don’t get me wrong. They’re all special. But these are the ones that need just a bit more - a bit more help, a bit more encouragement, a bit more guidance, just a bit more. This week I have been reading over my youngest son’s MET (Multidisciplinary Evaluation Team) Report in preparation for his IEP (Individualized Education Plan) meeting. If you have no idea what I’m talking about, be grateful. I’m referring to the overwhelming world of special education. I’ve been swimming in a sea of words and acronyms I don’t quite understand, and I certainly can’t remember. What I do know is that my little boy needs help. He doesn’t learn the same way that most kids his age do. So, I’m preparing for the upcoming meeting with the school teachers, counselors, and therapists to come up with a better plan to meet my son’s needs. Thankfully, this isn’t my first time through the special education jungle. My husband and I have been parenting special needs kids for over 20 years. Even with my previous experience, this is going to be a tough one. That’s OK, life is about learning and growing, and my family and I are ready for the challenge. But how does this relate to dog training? Well, sometimes life gives you easy stuff and sometimes there’s more to the story. Some clients come in with perfect little puppies that seem to never do anything wrong. They love everyone and everything. They are not afraid of anything. They go through puppy class and then enjoy the rest of their life next to their owner’s side being perfect and sweet. I have kids that remind me of that. They are never really in trouble, get good grades, and make responsible decisions. Then there are those that are not as easy and need more help. The clients that come in with puppies or dogs that have tougher stories. Maybe they pull on the leash, bark at other dogs, are terrified of the neighbors, charge out the front door, run in the opposite direction when you call them, and try to bite the mailman. They need a bit more - a bit more help, a bit more encouragement, a bit more guidance. Our job is to help you come up with a plan for your dog no matter how much help you need and walk side by side with you, helping you and your dog. Are you ready to learn and grow? Are you ready for the challenge? Let us show you how we can help you have a great dog. 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, As I sit down to write this today, I am distracted by some of the random thoughts that have gone through my scattered brain lately.
I keep returning to a moment last week during a training session when one of my trainers told a client that this is the first job that he's had that he loves. He actually enjoys coming to work every day. That made my day. That isn’t to say that my trainer doesn’t have bad days here. I’ve witnessed some of his bad days myself. But it sets my mind at ease to know that my trainers like their jobs. There’s more than that though. A big part of success in anything is your mindset. Where is the focus? That’s why life coaches recommend that you start your day writing down 3 things that you are grateful for. It’s a great way to set a positive tone for the day. If you’ve been reading my e-mails for a while, you’ve probably already guessed that I’m all keeping a Grateful Log. If you read about my bullet journal a couple of weeks ago, you might have even guessed where I write it. So, the question I always write here is: what does this have to do with dog training? A few things, actually: 1. One of the first things we work on when training a dog is focus. Just like our focus makes a difference in our success, a dog’s focus makes a difference in theirs. We need their attention to be on the right thing to make progress. 2. An important key to every training session is to end it on a positive note. Even if everything else about the day has gone wrong, training needs to be a good thing to your dog. It’s their job. Always make the end of the training session enjoyable, so the dog wants to work next time. 3. This one has to do with service dogs. We get a lot of questions from people worried that the dogs in service work don’t get to enjoy life being a dog. That’s not the case at all. A properly trained dog loves its job. A service dog would rather be working than doing anything else. It’s not that service dogs don’t get downtime- time to relax or play. It’s just that a service dog that loves his job is not happy doing anything else. The concept is the same whether you are trying to have a better mindset yourself or you have a dog that you need to train. It’s about having the right focus. Is your dog not listening to you? Are you being dragged down the street when going for a walk? Does your dog jump on everyone that comes for a visit? Is your dog stealing food off the counter? Is your dog aggressive at times and you are worried he will hurt someone? Let us show you how we can help you have a great dog. 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!  We celebrated a big birthday last week.
Zack, my husky/ lab mix turned 13. I’m going to let you in on a secret. Zack is a feisty old fella, and he’s starting to drive me a little bit crazy. Zack has always been a pretty good dog. He has never been pushy or needy. He was always happy just to be with his family. He has never been one to jump up on people, chew our stuff, bolt outdoors, or cause any trouble. He is good with kids, cats, and other dogs. Zack learned at a young age that he wasn’t allowed on the furniture, so he never tried. Even when we changed the rules a few years later and started allowing our dogs up on the couch with us, Zack would not climb up. Zack was off leash trained at a young age, even ignoring people walking past with dogs on a leash or random children running through our yard. All around, Zack has been an easy dog. But in these last couple of months, I’ve noticed some changes in my easy-going, old guy. It's as if he has decided that he doesn't have to follow the rules anymore because he's old. Lately, Zack has been barking a lot. He barks at random noises. Noises that never would have bothered him before. Often, he barks and runs to the door as if he heard someone knock, but no one is there. Zack also barks to get my attention to go out - a lot. He needs to go more often than he used to and he is not as patient about holding it. Apparently, increased urgency isn't just common in older people. Who knew? When Zack is out in the yard, I have to call him several times and often I have to walk toward him before he responds. It’s as if he is completely ignoring me - or he doesn't hear me until the treat bag opens. He’s never done that before. And my personal favorite, the other day I walked into the living room to find Zack curled up comfortably in the armchair. He looked up at me as if he was almost interested in whether or not I cared if he were on the furniture. I smiled at him, and he went back to relaxing where he was. So, here’s the thing, I can train Zack, so his new behaviors are better - less bothersome. The old saying, "You can’t teach an old dog new tricks," is not true at all. But one of the first rules in dog training is to rule out medical issues first. And with Zack, being that his behaviors are new and consistent with old age, it makes more sense to use training with accommodations. As dogs get older, their hearing changes so sounds are perceived differently. Zack can still hear, but things don’t sound the same as they used to. It is essential to be patient with him when reminding him not to bark at strange noises and to come when called. An important key to dog training is that it should never be cookie cutter. There are a lot of techniques that work with most dogs, but a trainer should look at each dog as an individual and find a plan that works for him. I’m going to let you in on another secret. I act like Zack is driving me crazy, but I love that old guy. In fact, I have a huge soft spot for old dogs in general. Zack’s geriatric ways bring me a lot of joy. Do you need a personalized approach to training your dog? Let us show you how we can help you. 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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