Back to SK9OOL

It's that time of year! Everyone is getting ready for back to school, and so should your dog! Enrol your pup for their continuing education or for fun! You can check out our foundation classes including puppy social and levels 1-3 or some of our NEW and exciting courses including:

Trick Training - Teach your dog tricks for fun, bonding, and showing off to your friends! You can even earn titles! So much fun for your dog and great for building confidence!

Agility - Off to the races! Teach your dog to navigate the agility equipment, while you learn handling skills and get a little activity in!

Rally Obedience - Navigate obedience skills and build focus and loose leash walking while working on learning stations and navigating the course!

Real Life Class - Class held at Maffeo-Sutton Park where we expand on your foundation obedience skills, and practice some parkour in a real-life class.

Scent Detection - Teach your dog to identify the target odours and indicate them to you. Great for brain games, confidence building, calming and competition! Put that SUPER POWERED SNIFFER to good use!

Intro to Dog Sports - A little bit of everything! Rally, Agility, Disc and Puller, Tricks and Musical Freestyle and Treibbal! Come and check out a new sport each week and see where it takes you!

Recall Rescue - Does your dog come when called? We can help build a better recall and better control of your off-leash dog.

Rowdy Rover - Does your dog bark or react poorly towards people or dogs? Whether it be excitement or reactivity this class offers you the skills to help your dog respond more appropriately when seeing or meeting people and dogs. *Dogs must be preapproved to join class*

Fearful Fido - Is your dog fearful? Does your dog hide or shy away? This class helps build confidence and teach dogs how to safely and calmly approach new situations and build the skills to transfer into new places.

Level 1 - Basic manners skills for pups and dogs of all ages needing a place to start their training.

Level 2 - Advanced manners and skill building for loose leash walking and recall focus.

Level 3- Focuses on building up core skills to prep for the Canine Good Neighbour test and introduces rally obedience.

Puppy Social - A great way to introduce young pups to some new doggie friends while learning about dog body language and building confidence.

Play & Learn for dogs of all ages - For dogs that would like to meet more doggy friends and learn how to interact with them appropriately!

We look forward to seeing you and your dog back in SK9OOL this fall!

Don't know where to start? Drop us an email and we can get you sorted! bestpawdogtraining@gmail.com

Oh So Fetching Part 2

Okay so now you have some foundation fetching skills and it is time for some rules to help you succeed in playing with your dog. These rules are life savers.

1. When the toy is tucked in tight against my body, it is MINE. If the dog attempts to grab it use your arms to cover it. Do not acknowledge your dog AT ALL. Cover and ignore, stand still. Jumping into me and grabbing is NEVER ok.

2. When the toy is held out and animated, "GET IT" In fact, on top of how I present it, it also comes with those words as a verbal cue so the dog knows they are good to go!

3. I will NEVER toss a toy directly after poor choices of behaviour. These include (but are not limited to): Barking/vocalizing, Overarousal, Pulling on the leash to get there faster, Jumping up, Nipping, Demanding behaviours, or any other behaviour you don't want to reinforce. Instead, I will choose a time that my dog is calm, performing a behaviour I like (sit, down, loose leash walking etc) and reward that with play and fun.

4. I will only play fetch in a safe space, where there are no competing interests and the footing is safe. It's not always about BIG LONG RUNS at full speed to chase down the toy. Instead, play a game of tug, a short toss just 5 feet away, or roll your toy along the ground for a quick pounce and reward! Play fetch with multiple dogs is NEVER SAFE. They may run into each other and get hurt.

5. Use SAFE DOG TOYS. Not every toy is safe, balls are super dangerous on many fronts. Dogs can choke on them very easily if they are too small (and most are). They also tend to bounce all over the place and cause the dog the have to change direction very suddenly, this can result in injury. We also hear about dogs running into a fence or wall causing neck injuries, so be careful!

6. Play only for a couple of minutes. We are not looking to tire the dog out physically, mental exhaustion is better. This is why fetch should never be a mindless game, but instead a collaborative effort! If you condition your dog physically to want more they can become ADRENALINE JUNKIES. These dogs NEVER STOP and will pester you 24/7 to get what they want.

7. DON'T JUST THROW THE VALUE AWAY! That's right, if your dog LOVES TO FETCH and you toss those toys without asking for behaviours that you like, you are throwing away some of the best value in dog training that is available!

8. And as always, if you and your dog are not having fun, you are not doing it right! Ask for help from your trainer!

Oh So Fetching Part 1

I love playing with my dogs, I play all sorts of games, including fetch. But! I have some rules when we play that help us have fun, play safe, and help us reinforce behaviours that I want!

Fetching has several components:

1. Chasing

2. Grabbing

3. Returning

4. Releasing

If any of these components are not working as desired it becomes a very one-sided game! For example, if your dog doesn't "chase" then the rest of the game is never going to happen! So first you have to build a desire for the item you are asking your dog to fetch. If your dog doesn't grab it, the item isn't going to return and you end up throwing and chasing the item with your dog and generally feeling a little foolish. If your dog doesn't return after grabbing you may well end up playing the dog's favourite game of "Keep Away" while they run around showing off their treasure and you chase after them. If your dog doesn't "release" the game can't continue either because even though they have completed 3 of the 4 steps you can't toss the item again if they are holding on to it.

So how do we build the desire to chase & grab?

1. If your dog does like toys, tie them to a rope or play with them attached to a flirt pole or lunge whip to build up your dog's desire.

2. Remember that PREY RUNS AWAY this means don't stuff it in their face, but instead place it out and wiggle it AWAY from the dog so they can FOLLOW and CHASE.

3. If your dog is NOT THAT INTO IT, start by teaching your dog to play with food! Roll some treats around, then stuff treats in an empty plastic bottle with some big holes for it to roll out of as they move it. Increase the difficulty over time. Tie to bottle to a string and let them chase that etc. Try some other food-holding items like an old sock etc. Be creative! Food also really helps with dogs that don't know how to grab!

What about the return?

If you truly want to have it easy, start in a small room or hallway that only has one exit (close other doors). Toss the toy into the dead end. When your dog turns around they will AUTOMATICALLY be bringing it to you. This means you have a prime opportunity to mark and reward the correct behaviour! Once this skill is doing well, move to a larger area. If you are worried about failure your can also put a long line on the toy that you can reel in.

My dog doesn't want to let go!

I hear you, they finally got the treasure and don't want to give it up. But what if you have another toy exactly the same or better than the first one? Will they trade? Animate the toy you want the dog to play with, and focus all your attention on it. Make the dog a little jealous that YOUR TOY IS BETTER. It may take a little convincing at first but try really hard to make yours more fun. If your dog lets go of the other toys praise and play with the new one. Once they have the new one, time to swap back. Trade trade trade!!!

If your dog is truly stuck, sprinkle a few treats on the floor to encourage them to go eat in exchange for their toy. It is totally ok to trade for food and this is how I end pretty much every session so my dog doesn't feel like they have "lost the game".

Remember this game should be FUN and COOPERATIVE if one of those elements is missing, chat with your trainer for some extra pointers!