Genius Dogs

Just finished a great training session with Gemma at Schiller Park in Columbus. She has such a strong prey drive, and the squirrels and geese there make it pretty challenging for her to stay focused. We worked hard on helping her stay calm and confident while keeping her attention on me instead of everything that moves. Today we had a lot of success and she really found some clarity and focus. It was a big win for us. She’s a really smart dog and I’m proud of how much progress she made in trusting her owner during those distractions.

Worked with Arlo at BrewDog today on public access skills.

One of the biggest things we worked on was neutrality around distractions. At one point our waitress walked right up to the table carrying food and Arlo didn’t break position, didn’t panic, didn’t try to investigate it, and didn’t lose his mind over the environment around him. He just stayed calm and engaged.

That kind of stuff matters. A lot.

Dogs need to learn how to function in the real world around real distractions, real people, real smells, and real movement. Public access work helps build confidence, impulse control, and the ability to settle in unfamiliar environments instead of constantly reacting to everything around them.

Arlo did a really nice job today.

Arlo is in the middle of a four week board and train with me. He’s out here doing good boy stuff.

When I first met Chippy, he stood on a street corner in Columbus screaming at me for 45 straight minutes while hiding behind his owner. If a person was across the street, he panicked. If the world moved too fast around him, he panicked. When his owner first brought him home, it took almost 3 weeks before he would even let them touch him.

Dogs like Chippy break my heart a little bit because you can tell somewhere along the way, life taught them that people aren’t safe.

Two weeks ago, if we saw someone on the other side of the block, he would hide behind me and scream like the world was ending. Today we walked past people with loose body language and a wagging tail.

That may not sound like a big deal to some people, but for this little dog, it’s huge.

He’s still got work to do and we’re only halfway through his board and train, but seeing him start to feel safe enough to exist in the world without panic is the kind of progress that matters.

Arlo is making great progress!

Training should feel like play! Arlin is finishing up his first week with us. Stay tuned to see his progress

This is the reality of so many dogs we see...

Fun
Energetic
Friendly

But they have ZERO manners lol

No recall
No leash obedience
No understanding of commands

Luckily, they're easily changed

And that's what we'll be working on with Chase over these coming weeks 🐾