Help Ashlyn awesome young trainer fulfill her dream!

16 years old and already a compassionate and  awesome trainer!  Vote 5 stars!

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This Ventura Dog Trainer Takes Her Own Advice

For the past month or so this Ventura dog trainer has been spending more time training her own dog Poncho to "run" while on leash, versus sniffing/marking/shuffling along... I know he is a dog, and dogs enjoy doing those things. I would never ever want to deny Poncho his normal doggy-like behaviors, but I also want him to get some exercise - outside of the yard - that doesnt involve fetching his toys and going nuts when the mail-truck comes by...(yep, that behavior is a tough one, and another post...) 

My hubby (Ponchos rockin "Disneyland" dad) takes him out all the time here in Ventura, but he allows Poncho does whatever he wants...again, no real "training" involved. So how can I expect Poncho to know what to do when neither of us has ever taught him.... So I did, and I have to say, its been going great! Being a runner myself, its been very rewarding for me... were working up to a 5K to run together...if we can find a course that allows dogs... Santa Barbara is usually good for this...Ill have to check with the Santa Barbara Running Club. 

Anyway, I had realized that Poncho wasnt great at running on leash, because hes never been trained to do so! I always tell my students, "if your dog isnt performing a certain behavior, ask yourself Have I ever taught them? " Duh! Hello? No, I havent taught him! Maybe I should!!! Poncho loves when I listen to what I tell my own manners class students... And so I have, and were progressing quite nicely. 

This is how Ive done it:

• Reward what I want: in this case, its "running" next to me. 
• "Click and treat" for "running" motion. 
• Feed for position: provide the reward with him still next to me, not falling back behind me or crossing in front of me. 
• Use high value rewards: chicken, leftover grilled sirloin. Only when hes in running mode. 
• Use kibble for walking but moving forward...
• Allow sniff breaks here and there (so I can rest)... 

If you ever want to join me and Poncho, weve mostly been going to Kimball Park here in Ventura because there are very few interruptions and loose dogs. Ill be the one rewarding my dog for running - cheering him on and handing out goodies - sort of like the aid stations at races, but instead of Gatorade and energy gels, I hand out chicken... Geez, I hope they have meat at the races... muffin crumbs work too. 

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Reasons Why This Ventura Dog Trainer Loves Her Private Training Clients

I just had one of those awesome private dog training clients today! The kind that just makes me love my profession even more than I already do. The reason I love going to "work" (Really? This is "work"?), even on a Saturday afternoon. 

This very nice couple recently adopted an adult dog from a California Animal Shelter. Just like my own Poncho the Dog, this dog came with a few "issues" - but hey, come on, we ALL come with "issues" right? We all bring some sort of baggage into each and every one of our relationships. Anyway, this dog, who was very sweet, did have a few things these nice dog folks wanted to help "fix". How great is that? Not only do they adopt an adult dog, but they take one with "special needs", and then want to try and help this sweet pooch work through them. Talk about selfless. 

The other nice thing? The gentleman was concerned when he came to todays session. He had admitted that he was thinking that I, this certified pet dog trainer, was going to give him the same information that he had kept hearing elsewhere. Either by other trainers, or books, or other people. And that the training steps were going to be complicated, or not make much sense. 

Well, it seems he was pleasantly surprised! He told me that not only did the info I shared make sense to him but that the training steps were simple, and easy for him to use in his already busy daily life. He also confirmed what I was saying made perfect sense! Now theyre so excited about wanting to work with their dog, that theyre motivated enough so they can come to some of my upcoming dog training classes and workshops. 

Wow! How is that for positively reinforcing?! (I mean for me!) Quite a rewarding afternoon for yours truly. Cant wait to see them out in public practicing those newly acquired skills! 

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Splash! the Puppy Picasso flaunts her talents on the news

Splash! was on the news a couple of times.  She will be on Channel 6 tomorrow. 

This is my all time favorite news broadcast!  I love the story that they edited together, about a dog that paints, and an owner who paints dogs.  I love that they included Kiko in the piece!

Here is another cool newscast, on Channel 8. 

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This Dog Trainer Needs to Refine Her Skills

Okay, before you start saying "What? Huh? What do you mean?" Im talking specifically about refining my mini-golf skills, not my skills as a dog trainer - I already do that everyday.

Whatever your "skill" is, whether it be dog training, wood carving, snow-boarding, or miniature golf, if you want to do well at something, or achieve the goals youve set for yourself, then you need to practice, practice, and practice again. Remember the old adage, "If you dont use it, you lose it." Well I was living proof of that today...dog training every day, mini-golf, uh, not so much. 

I cant recall the last time I played miniature golf - its been years, I know that. Well, my good friends, (Wild-Web-Women Lorrie Thomas, Emilia Doerr, Nicki Gauthier, and Pamela Sherman) came south from Santa Barbara today to celebrate Emilias BIG 3-0 B-Day at Golf n Stuff here in Ventura. It was a great time! I think I shot about 100 over par...but hey, it was about having fun, not scoring...good thing because Lorrie even mentioned how it had been so long since she used a pencil and paper (versus computer) that she wasnt sure how the scoring was done, so we decided not to...thank goodness. I think she and I both tried to cheat at some point, and couldnt even pull that off! Duh! 

Anyway, having the club in my hand just reminded me how not keeping up with any skill can make you forget... however, the good thing is that it started to come back towards the back nine. So I know that if I stuck with it, Id probably do better each time. 

Mini-golf isnt as important to me as some of the skills I teach my dog training clients. I explain that taking one class is great to get started, but it certainly doesnt stop there. Of course they dont have to continue taking classes forever, I dont like to add that type of pressure in. But lets face it, "life is training". We humans go through 12+ years just to graduate high school, then onto college or some type of training to get a job... then as we get older we might go back to school for some reason or another - career change or just for fun...Regardless, obtaining skills takes practice! 

So, if youve already taken your dog to a dog training class, go practice those behaviors. If you havent, think about signing up at the inquisitive canine... Or, teach them how to golf! Poncho would have been able to retrieve our golfballs today when we accidentally hit them into the brush - good think Lorrie enjoyed the rock-climbing. 

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This Dog Trainer Can Trust Her Own Dog and the Dog Training

We had a little incident at our home this evening. Yep, I admit, this dog trainer isnt perfect and neither are the rest of the humans in the household. However, Poncho, my inquisitive canine and trusty dog behavior advice column sidekick seemed to be spot on tonight, (although I admit my fast twitch muscle fibers were working well).

What was the issue? We had a cookie malfunction: my darling husband was carrying a cookie and half of it fell out of his hand and flew across the slippery hardwood floor like a hockey puck on the way to the goal. Needless to say, Poncho McQuikie pants was right on its tail!

I was in the other room, watching the whole thing go down, envisioning Poncho consume his entire caloric intake for the week in one bite, but before his soft warm fuzzy lips wrapped themselves around the delectable molasses chew from Trader Joes, I yelled out "Leave it!" as I was flying out of the chair and across the room, while reaching in and grabbing the mouthwatering morsel up off the floor...AND BY GOLLY PONCHO THE DOG DID IT! Poncho actually backed away from it even BEFORE my hand was near it! I was so shocked I did the happy dance, said he was a good boy, then broke off a tiny, Poncho-sized piece for his reward of leaving it alone!

The "Leave it!" behavior is one of the basic cues I teach in many of my dog training classes here in Ventura. And I guess all the practice with him as my demo dog has paid off! During this more emotional time, I allowed all the training practice to kick in and lo and behold it worked! One of my dog training class mantras is "Train it before you need it!" or "Dont wait to need a behavior to train a behavior!" I always hope I never have to use this type of cue (usually indicates danger), but its nice to know I have it in my arsenal just in case there is a cookie incident.

Another point I make in my dog training classes is the concept of "trust". The use of food in dog training helps dogs develop trust between themselves and whomever is working with them, or with other humans. For owners, they need to trust that their dogs are actually going to perform the behaviors they are being taught. I guess Im the prime example of that!

Thank you my darling inquisitive canine Poncho! I hope I wont need to use that cue again, but its nice to know youre paying attention and that I can trust you know youre stuff - and the cues! What a good boy you are!

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And her name is

......... drum roll please..........................Zola! I tried coming up with a good J name to go along with Jack and Jenny but none of them sounded right. She just seemed like a Zola to me. I know a human Zola who is simply fabulous. I think she will find my choice amusing. Now I need to get her a tag with her name on it.

It turns out she is sicker than the shelter realized. She is now on a couple of medications to help push the toxins out of her body and support her liver function. Based on her bile acid test she has a serious shunt. The good news is that the medications arent expensive. They should help her feel better and want to play more. It should also help her coordination so she stops bumping into things. She has moments where she seems very normal and others where you think, wow she isnt right! Her eye is also not healing as well as it should. We are going to try something new tomorrow involving serum that sounds interesting. Hopefully it works. She has to hold off on breakfast until after we can get some blood drawn for tests. She isnt going to be happy with me in the morning I am sure! But we gotta do what we gotta do to make her feel better. Tonight I learned that if you wake her for her pill she will yawn which makes the task easier. Has anyone ever tried to pry open a pugs mouth that didnt cooperate? Its not easy!
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I am so grateful that Jenny and Jack seem to be doing ok with her. Jenny is interested yet respectful. Tho she did have to school the puppy in "stay the hell away from me with my kong!". Thankfully puppy backed off. Jack is also keeping his distance for the most part. They did have a short game of tug the other day that was cute. She got pushy over the toy so he walked away. He was raised by a fiesty frenchie so he knows when it is prudent to end a game.
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The day I picked her up we also started 2 new dogs at the prison. The first is Erica. She is listed as a pit mix but honestly I dont see it. I see hound and maybe mountain cur. I have a friend with a cur and one of the traits I noticed was that they both have the same hairy belly. (I have photos of this on my camera but you can see my previous post here: http://k-9solutionsdogtraininginc.blogspot.com/2008/11/has-anyone-ever-seen-this-before.html Birdie was identified as a mountain cur when she was traveling through West Virginia on a road trip after this post was written.)

 The other is Blue. You can see why he got his name. He is a husky lab mix though in person his muzzle looks very shepherd to me.

So with the puppy and new dogs AND two new handlers, on top of my regular work and clients, you can see I have had a very busy week. Puppies dont sleep in very late you know.
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Because I have been a "blogging slacker" todays post will be long since Im not finished yet. Since Christmas is coming I am keeping my eye out for interesting dog items that might fit the "perfect gift" bill.  My co-worker is drooling over this snazzy new product. It is called the release and run collar. http://www.myraddog.com/rnr.html It is a collar with a retractable leash included. She regularly runs with her dogs and has to loop her leash over her while she runs. (with the dog off leash) With this product instead of having to carry the leash the dog does it for you! It coils up inside the dogs own collar. I think it is pretty brilliant.
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I personally am lusting over this jacket: http://www.letsgodesign.net/ Its a little pricey but look how perfect it is for someone like me! It would be even better with my new logo embroidered on the back and left breast. I wonder if I could write it off as a training expense? Hmmm
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Want something not as practical but beautiful? Well slide on over here: http://www.chrisrobindesigns.com/ I have a pawprint ring from him that I love. I used to be very into jewelry in my younger days and I can tell you that their stuff is amazing.
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Looking for something for your dog? Or maybe a different kind of jewelry piece? Try this site: http://www.fetchingtags.net/ I LOVE their tags! I just get hung up trying to think of the perfect word or saying for my own dogs. And check out their blog for their awesome bracelets. http://www.fetchingtags.net/blog/
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Those are just a few things Ive seen lately that look interesting. Ill try to post more potential treasures as I find them.

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And her name is Jenny too

Check out our newest addition to the K-9 Corrections program. She is a redbone coonhound mix about 5 months old. Dont forget you can also follow the dogs (and handlers) progress on facebook. Special thanks to The Loyal Biscuit Co. for the donation of some great martingale collars for the dogs on the program. We appreciate the support!!

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