Alpine Dogs Behavior and Training Solutions

Alonzo enjoyed a romp in the desert this evening. This is what a trusting relationship built on trust and positive reinforcement training can allow.

"My dog loves his/her shock/prong collar and does a happy dance when I put it on him/her!"

Oh my God so many people said this yesterday. FINE, let's get into this. I'll try to keep it simple for you because it seems like a lot of you (un)balanced trainers struggle with this.

NO your dog does not love the shock or prong collar any more than my dogs love their harnesses.

Why do they get excited?

Because they have learned that you holding the prong or shock collar means that they get to go outside and outside is a fun time for them. Outside is where all the smells are (unless you need to up your house cleaning game, which is another issue entirely 🤢).

Outside is where they can go to the bathroom. Outside is where they can see their dog and human friends (if they like other dogs and people). Outside is fun.

Some dogs get excited about what shoes you put on. Putting on your sneakers might be an indicator to them that they are about to go for a run. Putting on your hiking boots means that they are going into the woods with you and there is so much more to smell and see in there.

They don't care about your fashion sense.

If you hold your dog's food bowl and walk towards them, they will get excited. Do they love the bowl? Or do they know that when you hold the bowl and bring it to them they are about to eat something delicious? How excited would they be if you gave them an empty bowl?

They don't love the bowl, they don't love your shoes, they don't love their shock or prong collar.

If you were to put on a funny cowboy hat or lucha libre mask before you walk them, then eventually they would associate that hat or mask with walks and get excited when you put them on, despite what your neighbors would think seeing you walk around in those.

This should not be such a hard concept to grasp.

-Positive Force Free R+ Dog Training Library
-Ariel Lilsquirrel Baber

Renee Rhoades, MSc: Your Dog Behaviorist


You have probably been told that if you let your dog "get away with it," things will get worse.

That they need to know it's not acceptable. That you have to interrupt it. That you have to be firm, be consistent, be the one in charge.

And here is the part that gets missed entirely: the barking, the lunging, the growling, none of that is the problem. It is the communication about the problem.

Your dog is telling you they do not feel safe.

Punishment does not touch that feeling. It never has. What it does is teach your dog that showing you how they feel comes at a cost.

When the growl disappears, the warning disappears.

The dog look calmer.

But the fear is still sitting exactly where it was, with one fewer way to reach you.

We see this in the research, and we see it in practice every single week. Confrontational approaches are consistently associated with increased fear and aggressive responses, not fewer.

A dog who has stopped telling you is not a dog who has stopped feeling.

Safety is not something we can enforce. It gets built, slowly, through predictability, through choice, through recovery time, through a guardian who notices what their dog is asking for and answers.

That takes longer than a correction. It also actually works.

And if you have used those methods before, please hear this: you were following advice from people who sounded certain. That is not the same as being wrong-hearted. You are here now, and your dog gets the benefit of that.

We are hearing more stories about cruelty, loss, and even death when dogs are out of their owners' supervision and boarded for training. If you choose a board-and-train program for your dog, do your research; investigate .... As I mentioned in an earlier post, I am not a fan of board-and-train programs in general, for so many reasons.

Owner warns others after dog goes missing in trainers’ care A Collinsville woman is warning other pet owners after her dog went missing while in the care of trainers who are now facing animal cruelty charges.

This is so sad. I am not a fan of board and train (B&T) for several reasons. The first is I feel so strongly that nurturing the relationship between a dog and their person is a vital part of successful training. This does not happen with B&T. The second reason is that most, but not all, B&T uses adverse/punitive methofds via E-collars, Pinch Collars and/or Choke collars. This way the threat that keeps the dog "in line and behaveing" can easily be transferred to the dogs person apon pick up. The third reason is that you have no idea of what is really happening to your dog when away from you. This story says it all. Over my 35 + long carreer I have met with numerous people who's puppies or adult dogs displayed either or both physical injury and emotional/behavioral injury from B&&T programs. Get unvolved in your dogs education. Be a part of it. Build a relationship of trust and understanding, and mutual communication. Build the bond.

Jolie, my Black and Tan Coonhound is brilliantly demonstrating "Station Training" with the distractions of workiers cutting and setting stone for a garden path. The red square is her station. She has learned to, on cue, go to it, put her two front feet on it and then fold back into a down position. Station training is such a valuable lesson to teach. It creats comfort, security and calmness when taught correctly.

Want to learn more about Station Training for your pup or adult dog? Contact us today. 801-633-1492.

My dog, Alonzo has a motto he strictly lives by: “If you sit, I will make myself fit!” 🩷

A police K-9 attacked a little girl at her birthday party. The dad saved her life. And now, they're still on the hook for $300,000 in medical bills.

This happened August 11, 2024. A Belgian Malinois, next door, named Ragnar climbed the fence into Nick and Bethany Dean's backyard in Castle Rock during a birthday party for their 2-year-old twins. The dog attacked their daughter Lily. Nick Dean and several others jumped on the dog, saving her life.

Lily suffered a broken femur. Nick walked away with severe injuries that affect him to this day; he says he lives in pain every single day.
The dog belonged to a Jefferson County Sheriff's deputy who lived next door. That deputy faced two misdemeanor charges. A Douglas County jury found him not guilty, with his defense arguing he was immune from prosecution because he was performing his duties as a K-9 handler, even while at home.

The Deans say they are now facing nearly $300,000 in medical bills.
"We trusted the process," Nick Dean said. "We believed that a child could have lost their life, so surely someone was gonna step up to the plate to help." He said the acquittal changed everything. "That quickly turned to fear because we are on the hook for almost $300,000 in medical bills and still battling to find healing for my body that we haven't found a solution to yet."

Bethany Dean said the family skipped birthday parties altogether this year. "We had an incredible day, but it was just the four of us," she said. "We haven't celebrated a party with the kids since. It's too much for now but... one day."

The officer has since resigned. And Ragnar has not returned to service.

The twins just turned 4.

This is a tough story. But there has to be a way to help this family. Will post a link to their GoFundMe below later today.

Shout-out to Colton Chavez from our Denver 9News reporters for reporting this update to the story.