Prairie K9

Scratch horse, replace with dog.

Same.

One of the common things I see when a horse is having a problem is people immediately trying to guess what happened to that horse in the past.

Maybe he was abused. Maybe someone kicked on him too much. Maybe he was never turned out. Maybe he was ridden too hard. Maybe he was never handled correctly. Maybe somebody scared him. Maybe, maybe, maybe.

Most of the time, those thoughts come from a good place. People are trying to understand the horse. They are trying to explain what they are seeing. They are trying to be fair to the horse. I understand that part of it.

The problem is that those guesses usually do not help you evaluate the horse standing in front of you.

The first reason is simple. You will probably never know if your guess is right or wrong. If you decide a horse acts a certain way because he was abused in the past, how are you going to prove that? How are you going to know if that is actually what happened? How are you going to get accurate feedback on whether your interpretation was correct?

Most of the time, you cannot.

That means you are building your decisions on something you cannot confirm.

The second problem is even bigger. When you start working from what you think happened in the past, you stop working from what the horse is actually telling you right now. You start explaining behavior instead of evaluating behavior. You start making excuses instead of making decisions. You start treating your suspicion like it is a fact.

That is dangerous.

The horse in front of you is giving you hard truths. His feet, his body, his expression, his response to pressure, his willingness, his resistance, his timing, his softness, his brace, his focus, his lack of focus — those are things you can see. Those are things you can test. Those are things you can work with. Those are things that give you feedback.

What you think happened five years ago is a guess.

Guesses have no place in decisionmaking.

The horse may have had a rough past. He may not have. He may have been mishandled. He may have simply never been trained. He may have learned to avoid work. He may be scared. He may be spoiled. He may be confused. He may be disrespectful. He may be physically limited. He may be several of those things at once.

My job is not to write a story about his past.

My job is to correctly read what he is showing me today.

That does not mean I am unsympathetic. It does not mean I do not care what a horse has been through. It means I care enough about the horse to deal with the truth in front of me instead of getting lost in a story I may never be able to prove.

A horse does not need me to feel sorry for the version of his past I invented. He needs me to be accurate. He needs me to be fair. He needs me to make good decisions based on what he is actually doing.

If the horse is scared, I need to recognize fear and help him through it. If the horse is confused, I need to make the answer clearer. If the horse is evading, I need to recognize that too. If the horse is ignoring me, crowding me, bracing against me, or taking over the situation, I need to deal with that horse honestly.

The past may explain how a horse got here, but it does not change what is standing in front of me.

Training has to be based on what the horse is telling me now.

Not what I suspect.

Not what I imagine.

Not what would make the story more emotional.

The proof is in the pattern. If I watch the horse closely enough, the horse will tell me what I need to know. My job is to believe the horse in front of me more than I believe the story in my head.

For those who like to plan ahead....
A month from now (and the week following the July 4th holiday) we're set to offer some weekday morning classes.

A long-ago mentor used to recommend getting out to work the dogs first thing in the morning. Then it's done, and something we're less likely to procrastinate into not-doing later in the day.

If you agree, come out and join us.

Daytime classes

Wednesdays July 7th - July 28th

Puppy and Beginner Dogs 9:00 - 9:45 a.m.

Intermediate 9:45 a.m. - 10:30 a.m.

Email me for specfics, and we'll get you registered.

If you're part of our Boot Camp this summer, you heard a version of this shared with the group just last night.

Training is everything.

Your Dog Almost Ruined Someone’s Day. It Could Happen Again Tomorrow.🐾

I train my dog — first, for their safety. 🦺Second, for my peace of mind. ☮️ Third, because I respect the people around me. ✊
If you’re reading this, I probably respect you more than you respect me — because when I’m in public, I think about how my dog’s behavior affects you, your dog, and your experience. Every time I pass someone with a dog lunging, pulling, and dragging them down the sidewalk, I think about how entitled that person is — caring only about what they feel, never about what everyone else has to absorb.

This past weekend, during our pack walk, one of my student’s dogs charged a woman walking her dog. My first thought wasn’t about the dog or the owner — it was about that woman and how terrified she felt. That’s the whole point of these walks: to show my students exactly how they need to respond in moments like that. Looking back, no apology was issued to her — and while there was no contact and the dog was 15 to 20 feet away, that apology should have happened immediately.

Here’s something most people get completely backwards: a dog on a leash isn’t automatically safer than a dog off leash. It’s actually scarier when an on-leash dog lunges at you from 6 feet away than when a trained off-leash dog holds its position. In that moment on our pack walk, I had more control over my two off-leash dogs than most people have over their leashed dogs on any given Tuesday. Think about that.

This is why you must have an on/off switch. An emergency recall. A sit-stay or a down-stay — whatever you want to call it. Because real life doesn’t give you a warning. The owner likely missed one small alert, one signal a second before — and that second is everything. This is where ultimate control matters.

And about the apology? Honestly — I’ve been charged by multiple dogs in my life. An apology after the fact serves no real purpose. My thoughts? Don’t let it happen again. The owner is a student of mine, and I know she understands this. She’s been charged by dogs too. Always come back to this: how did that feel? Now make a commitment to yourself that you will never make another person feel that way.

One more thing I need you to sit with: you’ve seen this person — maybe you are this person. Their dog runs free, totally carefree, until another dog appears in the distance. Suddenly the leash clips on, wraps tight around their hand, their body goes rigid. You know what that signals to the dog? Danger is coming. Tension rises the moment another dog and person enter their visual field. As my mentor says — that leash becomes a precursor to an unpleasant event. The freedom is gone. The calm is gone. Everything safe and comfortable disappears the second that leash goes on. And the dog remembers.

A loose, relaxed leash pass? That’s a completely different experience. But that’s not what’s happening out there.

The time to fix this is not after the next incident. It’s right now.

Drop a comment below — have you been on either side of this situation? I want to hear your thoughts. And if you’re ready to stop white-knuckling that leash and start building real, reliable control, reach out to me directly about lessons. This is exactly what I do, and I would love to help you and your dog get there.

Starting this next week.

Introduction to Tracking
Teach your dog to follow human scent and find dropped items along the way.
6:30 - 7:30 p.m.

June 3 - 24 and meeting in various locations around the city.

For info: [email protected]

Coming up next week.

Tuesdays:
Puppy and Beginner Dog classes. 6:30 p.m.
New puppy? An adult dog who is new to your household? A dog who just needs a refresh on the basics and you need accountability partners? We'll get you started -- or keep you rolling -- on sit, down, come, stay, and loose leash walking. Learn some leadership skills, too.
June 2 - 23 THIS SESSION IS FULL
July 7 - 28 enrolling
August 3 - 24

Intermediate class: 7:45 - 8:45 p.m.
You've got the foundations and you're ready to level up?, This class will prepare you for the AKC Canine Good Citizen test, and/or the AKC Beginner Novice obedience title.
June 2 - June 23
(and we'll do it again July 7 - July 28)
email for information and to register: [email protected]

From Canine Good Citizen to Obedience Trial Champion and everything in between, we’re here to help, teach, train, coach, and support you as you chase dreams and goals.

Tuesdays:
Puppy and Beginner Dog classes. 6:30 p.m.
New puppy? An adult dog who is new to your household? A dog who just needs a refresh on the basics and you need accountability partners? We'll get you started -- or keep you rolling -- on sit, down, come, stay, and loose leash walking. Learn some leadership skills, too.
June 2 - 23
July 7 - 28
August 3 - 24

Intermediate class: 7:45 - 8:45 p.m.
You've got the foundations and you're ready to level up?, This class will prepare you for the AKC Canine Good Citizen test, and/or the AKC Beginner Novice obedience title.
June 2 - June 23
(and we'll do it again July 7 - July 28)

email for information and to register: [email protected]