Honey I'm Home

Training Tip: When you get home and your dog is all excited IGNORE them until they settle down. If you need to let them out to potty do so but do not lavish praise on them for you arriving home. I know we like the feeling of our dog being excited to see us when we arrive home, but when we feed into that spastic energy we make the dog more stressed every time we leave. Wait until your dog calms down then go play with your dog. PREVENT separation anxiety instead of fixing it later.

Boarding your dog

What to look for when you look for a place to board your dog

When you look for a place to board your dogs it is not about how fancy or big their runs are it is about how calm your dog is while they are there. I have worked with dogs that had hit some major milestones in training and then get boarded at the vet for a weekend or a week and take giant steps backwards from all the stress and reactive barking happening at kennels.
We don't allow ANY barking. We aren't able to have a boarding facility at this time. On occasion we can take in a dog or two for a weekend but its not approved in the future we do hope to find a house to buy within the next year and to have a similar setup as here. Where we can offer full boarding that includes daily walks, play/socialization and training. A kennel should just be for rest and calm. Dogs need to learn how to be calm when left alone. If your dog can't be calm in a kennel how do you expect them to be calm in your house when left alone. Dogs don't have to love each other but they can coexist in close proximity. Someday... house hunting continues... 

Dogs should also get out at least 4 times a day for walks without charging extra.

If dogs are let out to play find out WHO is watching them and what qualifies them to watch and manage the dog interactions. How many dogs per person watching them? If there is only one person what happens if a dog gets hurt how do they deal with that if they are the only one on staff?

Ask to see the kennels and where the dogs are kept. Does it look and SMELL clean? Do the dogs look stressed? Are they ALL barking? If they are barking does the kennel staff do anything to tone them down or tune them out?

Is there someone on staff at night while the dogs are sleeping? 

What is their nearest vet? Which vet do they use? 

Personally we prefer a place that doesn't have an indoor and outdoor run, because if the dog is in an indoor run / kennel or crate and they are getting out enough they shouldn't need the outdoor run to potty in the way many kennels have them set up. 

How many times a day are kennels cleaned? 

How many times a day are water bowls cleaned?

The list goes on and on... But these are all things I would look at and ask. 

I am VERY picky if I leave my dog anywhere! You should be too!

And of course check YELP reviews. 

We personally prefer to have a petsitter come into our home to care for our pets. 

Locally we love Granite Bay Pet Sitting. 

Here is a short video of a fellow trainers kennel and it is quiet, calm and what your ideal kennel environment should look like: 

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=773344226023454

Set Structure in your Home

Adding Structure and Rules to your dogs daily life can help make the world of difference.
If you teach obedience but let them get away with ALL of the following things this is probably why you are still having trouble.
Remember dogs are pack animals and in their world someone has to be in charge. They would always much prefer it is us but they do things to test us to make sure we are still in charge. In their world we can't just be buddy buddy with no one in charge. If we show we are in charge through little things in their life they feel more comfortable and are better behaved around new people, they are more confident overal knowing if there were a problem we would take care of it. I see dogs every day that have nervous energy from lack of structure.

Furniture
- By invitation only.
I have no problem with my dog cuddling on the couch with me or sleeping in bed but I want it to be by invitation only. Your dog should not feel it is their right to be on the furniture.
I let them up on my terms not because they are sitting begging to come up.

Attention
- On my terms.
Invite your dog over for attention. Don't give in to the nose bumping your arm while you are sitting down. Just ignore it... after your dog gives up you can then invite your dog over for attention.
Remember that negative attention is still attention to most dogs. If your dog jumps up and you push them down that often becomes a game. Turning away from them, standing up or using a leash to correct the behavior is far better than talking to them or just pushing them down.
If your dog jumps on the couch do not pick them up to set them down a little tug on the collar towards the grown will work.

Food
- Feed Set Meals
Instead of free feeding your dog feed set meals at morning and night. Give your dog 10-20min to eat anything they don't eat should be taken up and not returned until dinner.

Crate
- Crate training is huge and helps to give them more structure and it helps to manage behavior to create new habits instead of allowing your dog to continue practicing bad behavior.
Crating the dog even when your home for short periods of time helps.

Doorway manners
Having your dog wait at doorways before they go through. I am not worried about every doorway in your home but the major ones like
Front Door
Back Door
Side Gates
Garage Door
Car Door

Place
Teaching your dog to go to a dog bed and wait there until released. Place is nice to create calm in a house with multiple dogs. I use place for front door manners. When someone comes to the door I have the dogs go to place and I decide if or when they get to say hi to guests.