Looking for a dog? Don't let behavioral issues make you pass over untapped potential!

Looking for a dog? There are many great candidates at your local shelter, but don't let behavioral issues cause you to pass over what could be the "perfect dog" for you! Meet "Pokey" from the Humane Society of Sumner County. Pokey shows us that with just a little work, he has tremendous potential at being a superstar!

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Do you need help choosing just the right dog for your family, or need help bringing out the Ability of the one you already have?  Contact us today to learn how we can bring out the ABILITY in your dog!

 

Canine Ability's 10 Top Tips for a Happy, Well-behaved Dog

Canine Ability’s 10 top tips for a happy, well-behaved dog
  

Dogs want to be good and above all, please their owners.  Behavioral issues are usually merely a symptom that a dog is not getting everything he needs to be healthy--physically and mentally.  The following tips can help guide you to a happier, well-behaved dog!  


 1. Exercise, exercise, exercise!! Did you know that most dogs do not get the required amount of exercise they need to be healthy? Daily, structured exercise is as important as fresh food and water to your dog, (running around in the backyard doesn’t count).   Honor your dog by giving him/her fun games to play that exercise their breed traits for no less than 20 minutes twice a day, on a daily basis. You wouldn't even consider skipping feeding/watering him even for a day, right?  Exercise is just as important to your canine friend!

2.      Do you speak fluent Canine?  If you don’t, you’re missing out on the most effective way to train your dog, and may actually be created behavioral issues through mis-communication.  Effective communication is required for any successful relationship.  Your relationship with your dog is no different! Learn effective canine communication (Canine Ability can help you with this), in order to create a firm foundation for learning and behavior modification.

3. Remember that respect is earned.  Be sure to always be kind to your dog.  If you are in a bad mood, get angry or frustrated during a training session, it’s time to end it immediately and come back later with a positive attitude.  Training should be fun! Positive applications produce positive results! 

 4.  Ditch the “Can’t teach an old dog new tricks” wives-tale! It’s never too late to train your dog!  Dogs live in the moment and are environmental sponges…just waiting to soak up whatever you have to teach them! We’re always training our dogs—its up to us to determine whether we train good traits or bad ones.  Just as humans do, dogs require education throughout their lifetime in order to keep them well-balanced. Keep at it, even after formal training classes have ended. Training is for the lifetime of the dog—not just for a six-week course.

      

      5.      It is very important to get professional help from an experienced behaviorist, such as Canine Ability Dog Training for behavioral issues as soon as they arise.  It is much harder (and much more expensive) to treat a problem that has developed deep roots.  Better yet, learning how to build a foundation of leadership (as Canine Ability teaches), will prevent many issues from starting in the first place.    

      

      6.       Do NOT pet a dog without permission—and never pet it on or reach over its head!  Putting your hand out for the dog to sniff is an antiquated method; one which can induce a bite.  The head of the dog is the information center.  Having strangers near the head is very uncomfortable for most dogs.  Let the dog sniff you while you stand still at its side, then once the dog relaxes, stroke its back to make friends. 

      

      7.      When walking your dog on a leash, never let your dog say “hello” to another dog, or allow another dog to greet your dog.  This can induce a fight.  

      8.      Take up a new activity with your dog!  There are many wonderful dog clubs, activities, and events you can participate in together.  Things like agility, lure coursing, obedience, therapy, backpacking/hiking, dock diving, flying disc, canine drill teams, fly-ball and more!  These activities are beneficial to both you and your dog and will strengthen your relationship as well.  

      9.      Treat your dog like the dog he/she was created to be.  It is unfair to treat dogs like fur-children.  If we truly love and want to honor our dogs, we owe it to them to learn their ways and treat them in a way they innately understand.  Doing anything less is a huge disservice to our canine friends!  

     10.  A dog who has no pack structure, outlet for mental/physical energy, and rules often exhibits unwanted behavioral issues.  A trained and tired dog is always a happy a good dog! 

Want more tips for a well-behaved dog?  Contact us today to learn how we can bring out the ABILITY in your dog!  (Proudly serving middle TN for in-home training and group classes, and world-wide for email/phone consulation!)

How DARE you call my dog a...DOG!!??

There was a question posed recently by a dog lover's page on Facebook: "Do you treat your dog like a dog or a human?"  There were hundreds of answers; everyone said how much they loved their dog, but not one said they treated their dog like a dog.

While I find treating my dogs like the dogs they were created to be, (and not humanizing them) to be the kindest form of respect I can bestow on them, I'm often brought up short by clients who are absolutely abhorred when I point out that their furred-family member is, in fact, a dog.

Treating a dog like a person is unfair and sets them up to fail. Even more upsetting is when people get frustrated at their "babies" for not understanding what is required of them and punish them in human-like ways (time-outs, spanking, yelling) when they don't react in the human way that was expected.  Not surprisingly, these discipline methods don't work with dogs, and only frustrate our furred-family members to no end. This is the cause of nearly ALL the calls I am brought in to evaluate--people treating their dogs like humans, and getting frustrated when their human ways don't work to correct canine "errant" behavior. 

It is an indisputable fact that dogs operate with an entirely different communication/operating system than we do. So based upon that fact, it stands to reason that in order to have a good relationship with our canine friends and family members, we absolutely need to treat them differently! I feel that the best way to show that we truly love our dogs is to take the time to learn to communicate with them and understand their ways---never forcing them to learn ours.

Dogs are dogs.  They are amazingly, wonderful creatures---beautiful on the outside and inside; forever versatile and fun-loving. Their greatest gift in life is to be with their owners, upon whom they lavish an unmatchable, unconditional love that stems from an honest, compassionate place---never from ulterior motives.  They are self-proclaimed sitters for our children, and most would lay down their lives for us in a heartbeat. I believe dogs to have the best moral compasses and uphold the best qualities (such as loyalty, devotion, bravery---they are loving, insightful, joyful, funny, forgiving), the list could go on and on.  Dogs are not vindictive.  Dog's don't lie or steal. Dogs don't kill (without a darn good reason). Dogs don't pretend to be something they are not--only humans do these things.

"Dog" is not a derogatory word. So why is it so hard for some people to admit that their furred-family members are, in fact, dogs?

As for my own dogs, and the dogs I'm blessed to have as clients; I love and respect them for exactly who they are; not for who I would like, or need them to be.  I feel like its my job to become partly dog in order to effectively communicate, rehabilitate, and bond with them--not the other way around.

What are your thoughts on the subject??

Canine Ability tip of the day

 

 Canine Ability tip of the day-- You are never more a leader (or follower) than you are at the end of your dog's leash. Mastery of loose leash walking sends a clear signal to your dog who the leader in your relationship is. Taking control over your dog's most primal activity will enhance effective communication, improve your relationship, and help to build a firm foundation upon which further training can take place...and without which, the former cannot be achieved.

Want more information about how Canine Ability can bring out the ABILITY in your dog?  Check out the pages on the top right sidebar.  We look forward to hearing from you and welcome any questions you may have.

Welcome to the brand new Canine Ability blog! I'm on a misson to teach dog owners how to bring out the ABILITY in their dogs!

 

Hello!  Welcome to my brand new blog!  My name is Kimberly and I am the owner/trainer at Canine Ability Dog Training.  Canine Ability is dog training....and SO much more! I'm currently offering award-winning training, pack walks, and group training (in middle Tennessee); and seminars, workshops and motivational canine entertainment (nationwide) in order to help dog owners bridge the gap in communication and bring out their dog's true ABILITY! 

I'm in the business of saving and improving canine lives.  With canine homelessness/euthanasia on the rise, I strive to take the cases that other trainers have given up on because I know each of those dogs has innate talents just waiting to be tapped. I am very passionate about my dogs and my clients' dogs; and feel utterly blessed to be given the opportunity to work with each one of my canine clients.

Dogs bless us in so many ways!  They provide unconditional love, compassionate understanding, and never ending support.  On a primal level, they are highly social animals, adhering to an advanced system of hierarchy that is forever changing to fit the needs of the entire pack. Dogs communicate through a very complex system of inaudible, yet highly effective body language that enables the pack to remain stable, effective, and safe.. 

When we bring dogs into our home, we become their "pack."  Thousands of years of domesticating the dog has not eliminated the dog's primal instincts or innate behaviors.  Dogs always have been, and always will be dogs. No matter how much we pamper them, humanize them, or even dress them up---a dog will always remain a dog. 

Dogs act like dogs, think like dogs, and communicate like dogs--this is why the greatest gift we can provide for our canine friends is to learn and communicate with them using their own, innate language. 

Without full comprehension of  canine language, owners often project confusing, or even hostile messages to their dog---and often get upset when this conflict results in the dog's "shutting down" (ignoring commands), or even aggression. 

Bridging this gap in communication can bring out the ABILITY in any dog---setting the stage for a new and effective relationship that is built on trust and mutual understanding. Taking this principal a step farther, we challenge owners to take their relationship with their dog to a whole new level in order to get the most of of the canine/human bond.

This blog will address common dog behavioral issues, provide interesting case studies, helpful tips, and much more!  Have a doggie dilemma?  Email me at: CanineAbility@gmail.com and ask away!  Your question could be the subject of my next post! Take a moment to subscribe to our blog (with the links provided on the right sidebar), so you don't miss any doggone good times!