Nosework for Beginners Workshop

Announcing the Nosework for Beginners Workshop!

This is a 2 Day Workshop that will give you a start down the fun path of teaching your dog to use his nose for sport. 

Day 1 is the Intro to Nosework Class

This is a people only class, no dogs!

In this class you will give lots of info about training for competition with AKC & UKC, then we will take a break and give you lots of info about training for family fun such as finding lost objects, mantrailing or locating missing people, and an overview of medical alerts.

Day 2 is Paws on Training

In this class you will bring your dog for some fun games and activities that you can practice to help you decide what type of training you want to continue. We will have AKC & UKC training set up inside and searching for objects and people outside. This will be done at various stations so each team, dog and handler(s), will get private one-on-one time with a Canine Coach helping you do the simple games. Teams will rotate through each station one at a time, making this a great opportunity for dogs who may be easily distracted by or fearful of other people and dogs.

After this workshop we will put a simple survey that asks if you want more info about any of the training we have reviewed and practiced. This will help us in scheduled upcoming classes based on team strengths and desires.

Both days will last roughly 60-90 minutes to make sure we can answer all your questions. The cost is $100 which can be paid via PayPal, Venmo or Cash before the date of the first class.

If you would like to attend please fill out the registration form below. 

Thank You for registering, you will receive an email within 48 hrs confirming your registration. 

If you have any questions, please email us at yooperpaws@gmail.com

Maybe: Should I Take My Dog?

Meet Alfy! He is one of my online Service Dog Clients. Here Alfy is the perfect picture of confidence although that wasn't the case not so long ago. While today's blog is not specifically about Alfy's situation or how he has overcome his fearfulness, I wanted to share this confident picture to demonstrate why we wait until our dog and our teamwork is stronger before going into challenging situations.

Making the Big Decision

Do I take my puppy/dog to ______?

In order to answer this question we have to consider a few puzzle pieces to help us build the bigger picture.

1. How will my pup feel in this environment? Scared, overwhelmed, excited, over-excited, calm & collected? We really need to be careful taking out dogs, especially adolescents into environments that will overwhelm or over-excite them. Large emotional reactions lead to developing behaviors we humans tend not to like; pulling, barking, lunging, etc.

2. Is the environment pet friendly? While this may vary from community to community, most generally outdoor events are pet friendly unless there is a specific reason not to be. Places selling food may be off limits to pets. Places with large numbers of people (1,000 or more) will often have a no pets policy for safety reasons. Places that will have other animals present often have restrictions for pets. It's important to know these restrictions before deciding to take your pet.

3. What is YOUR role at this activity? Do you have things you have to accomplish or are you able to simply leave if your dog is having a hard time. If you are going to a farmers market to get veggies and your ok with the thought of walking away empty handed, then perhaps it's ok to take your pup. But if you NEED to accomplish that task, perhaps it's not the best day to see how your dog does in that environment. If you're taking the kids to the lake, will you be able to help them while you manage the leash? If you're going to an outdoor concert to here your grandchild sing, will you enjoy that if your dog is scared, barking, or trying to greet every person there? We are used to multi-tasking, but we don't handle the disappointment of looking forward to something then being too busy to enjoy it. So don't set yourself up for that disappointment by deciding to take your pup to a place that your already busy.

Training Your Dog to Be Successful in Pet Friendly Places.

If you want to take your dog with you this summer camping, to the lake, to the farmers market or any other community spaces, you need to prepare them for that activity. There are a few training steps you can take no matter what the environment will be.

1. Develop good teamwork skills between you and your dog. This helps you let the dog know what you expect from them in that environment. The first skill you should develop is loose leash walking. The other possible skills are endless. 

2. Determine the skills you will need to use in the environment you will be going. If you're going camping, you may want to condition your dog to sleep in a new place (tent, camper, etc.), condition them to a longline or tie out as "off leash" probably will not be allowed, and teach your dog to stay away from dangerous things such as a grill or fire pit. If you'll be sitting and socializing a lot, you may want to train your dog to settle beside your chair while other people move around you. 

3. Build up slowly! Whatever training you do, needs to start at home and slowly build up in different environments. Perhaps practicing skills in the neighborhood on your walk will help or at the local park? If you will be teaching your dog to chill while you eat, go on a few picnics starting in low distraction environments. If you're going to a community concert, you may want to condition your dog to lots of clapping, so you can do that at home, at sporting events and other outdoor places where groups gather. Building up to the environment you want to take your dog can help you both enjoy the experience together.

If you rush it and take your dog with you into environments your not prepared for, you set yourself and your dog up for frustration and struggles that could have been avoided. We can help you set up for success so you both have a great summer! Contact us at yooperpaws@gmail.com to get your summer training plan started.

May Myths and Maybe's

 The May calendar is filling up quickly! You want to schedule now before there isn't room!

Positively Puppy begins this Saturday, May 6th at 2pm with a few slots remaining for puppies under 6 months old.

FAD (Focus Around Distractions)Class begins on Tuesday, May 9th at 6pm with just 2 slots remaining.

The Distracted and Fearful Walks start on May 17th and will run each Wednesday at 11am and 7pm. These walks will continue for 5-6 weeks weather permitting and cost just $25 to participate or $100 for 5 walks. You don't need to attend each one and will RSVP for the time slots you want each week. All walks are limited to the first 4 teams that RSVP. You must be a current Yooper Paws client with basic longline skills and distraction training before signing up for walks. If you need to schedule a session to learn these skills, please do so asap. To RSVP contact Penny via email or message: yooperpaws@gmail.com

I'm currently finishing up the 6 session packages with all my fearful dog clients which means I have room later this month to take on a few new cases. If your dog struggles with fear and/or is easily distracted by other dogs or people, please schedule your Behavior Evaluations and Training Plan session before those slots are gone. I will be scheduling Behavior Evaluations from May 16th through May 30th.

May Workshops include:
There will be 2 SD Handler Chats (via Zoom) with Special Guest Pine Irwing.
May 9th at 8pm on the Topic: Myths in the +R/Force Free Training Community.
May 23rd at 1pm on the Topic: Myths in the Service Dog Community.

The Setting Boundaries Workshop will be on May 11th (via Zoom) at 12pm. This will be going over the important myth that Force Free Dog Training is Permissive and explaining why boundaries are so important, how they can be trained without force, and how you decide as the dog owner what boundaries to set for your household.

The Working Paws Training Group will meet on Friday, May 26th from 4-6pm. This month we will be looking at Public Access challenges, what we can do as a SD Handler to prepare, and what we can do to advocate for ourselves and our dog.

Setting Boundaries Workshop

Thursday, May 11⋅12:00 – 1:00pm

The Setting Boundaries Workshop will be a 1 hour presentation via Zoom followed by a Q&A Session. We will be taking a look at one of the common myths in dog training, Force Free Training is Permissive! Many people try to mix a balance of positive reinforcement training with punishment based techniques which very easily leads to confusion on the dog's part. 

 This workshop will help you learn how to use force free methods including using clear communication, managing the environment, removing unwanted reinforcement, and adding well timed reinforcement for the behaviors you love. We will also be going over some reasons why it is important that our dogs learn some boundaries and how we as the owners go about deciding what boundaries to set. 

Do you let your dog on the furniture or not? 

Do you share human food or not? 

Do you allow your dog to greet other dogs? 

These are common boundaries that many dog owners set. But owning a dog is not a one-size-fits-all situation, therefore neither can every owner set the same boundaries. But what's most important to you as a dog owner? How do you decide the rules for your house? Then how do you train those rules. This is what we will be discussing in this free Setting Boundaries Workshop.

Register Here

Thank you for registering! Here is the Zoom Information.

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/85027387651?pwd=WVRBenVIbXZ3bW1WbTE5ZmNoTEhFUT09

Meeting ID: 850 2738 7651

Passcode: 025176