spike-thedogtrainer - Tumblr blog

[spike-thedogtrainer]

What is socialization?

Socialization is our dogs experiencing new sights, new sounds, new smells, new everything. and learning that those things are ok. This is an important thing for ALL dogs, and especially for our working 4-legged friends.

We want our dogs to 1. not automatically fear new things, and 2. trust us and the fact that we will not ask them to do something that isn't safe.

My boy has not experienced motorized carts this closely before, but when I asked him to heel, he fell in place like it was nothing. When we came to a tight spot, and I asked him to get on so we could maneuver safely, he sat right down between my feet and waited for the cue to get off. He was comfortable, confident, and full of trust ❤️

That's the power of proper socialization.

[spike-thedogtrainer]

I hear from people all the time when I ask what training goals they have "I want my dog off leash". But if you want good, attentive leash free behaviour you have to work on everything else first.

Put in the work and you'll see the results.

[This here is my personal dog and teammate. As you can see he can effectively be off leash, I work (currently) at the pet store, and this was taken after close. My dog does not work off leash despite the fact that he has the ability to. Why? Other than the obvious leash laws, it's because we treat leashes like seatbelts. You may not really need one until something unexpectedly goes wrong, but by then it's too late if you don't have it. I'll talk more on leashes later!]

[spike-thedogtrainer]

Ask, submissions, and anon turned on. I'll edit blog appearance when I can

[spike-thedogtrainer]

Hello tumblr! Creating this side-blog for my training business to see how this social media goes

Quick introduction: my name is Spike and I use science based positive reinforcement training methods to train a variety of animals. I currently have 1 Service dog (whom I trained), 3 cats (2 have been trained the 3rd is a kitten just starting training) and 1 young California King Snake.

I have been training officially for about 6.5 years with a history of training family animals since I was young.

Feel free to message with questions/comments/concerns you may have about your furry family. I will be posting some tips and tricks as well as blurbs of training sessions with my dog Annus (yes, like Unus Annus, for those of you fellow nerds out there).

As I get things set up with re-starting my freelance (was on hiatus because of work) I'll have info about classes and whatnot here for you as well.