by The Crunchy Canine | Nov 25, 2015 | BLOG
One conversation I am consistently having with clients is on the topic of crating. For the record, I am PRO crating! All three of my dogs are crated during the day while we are not home. Not one of them is upset or stressed about being in their crate.
Why do I believe in crate training?
Safety – We are responsible for the safety of our dogs. When we leave a young dog or an active chewer uncrated and unattended, we are being irresponsible. Your dog could get into something that is poisonous to them. They could swallow something that will not pass easily (you may not even know they ate it). They could choke on something small. Regardless of what they get into, you run the risk of your dog falling ill, requiring surgery, or worse death.
Money – When your dog chews your belongings, it costs money to replace these items. Why run the risk of having to buy a new couch every couple of months? Or having to pay for surgery to have the slipper your dog ate removed? Life is expensive enough, why throw money down the toilet?
Mental health – If you leave the house every morning with the worry of what your dog will get into today, the stress of worrying is likely taking years off of your life. When you get home only to find the big mess you were worried about, stress levels increase. When your dog is safe in his crate there is no need to worry and you will come home to the house in the exact state you left it.
Having said this, does every dog NEED to be crated for the rest of their life? Not necessarily. If trained right though, they will likely want to be in their crate anyway. The crate can truly be a positive and safe place for your dog, you just have to create it for them. Often when a young dog transitions from being crated to not crated and they chew, they have been given too much freedom too soon. When a dog is bored with nothing to do they will find something to do (ie. chew your baseboards, eat your favourite shoe, or destroy your couch). All dogs are different and some may be able to handle being left out sooner than others.
If you need help with crate training, please contact us! It’s actually quite simple and can be done in a short amount of time!
If you are looking for Dog Training in Hamilton, contact us for a FREE evaluation – 905-869-1170
Happy Training!
Katherine
Canines In Balance
Hamilton, Ontario
by The Crunchy Canine | Nov 20, 2015 | BLOG
Easy Dog Training Tips
One of the first things I always tell my clients is that they don’t necessarily need to set aside a certain amount of time for training their dog each day. What they do need to do is start incorporating the exercises I teach them into their everyday life. This not only saves clients time, because lets face it, the main reason people fail at training their dog is because they “don’t have the time to train every day”, but it also establishes real world training rather than a set of tricks your dog does for a cookie.In my opinion there is an opportunity to train at any given time throughout the day. If you get rid of the “I have to train 30 minutes everyday” mentality and make it a lifestyle rather than a set of rules to follow, life will become easier for everyone in your house. Dogs are creatures of habit, so if you build behaviours into their daily routine it will naturally become habit to offer the behaviours you want.So how do you train your dog without training your dog? Simple…try a few of these exercises to get started!
Have your dog in a down stay outside of the kitchen while you prepare and eat dinner. This will result in no begging, and no tripping over your dog while trying to cook.
Incorporate some sits during your walk. This builds the automatic sit so anytime you stop your dog will sit.
Incorporate some sit/stays during your walk. This will start to incorporate real life distractions into the stay command while still on leash.
Ask your dog to wait to be released before going outside. This will minimize the risk of your dog running out the front door, as well as respecting you and your space.
Simple lifestyle changes like these can create big changes in your dog’s behaviour. Call us today to find out more! Easy dog training tips
Happy Training!
Katherine
Canines In Balance
Hamilton, Ontario
by The Crunchy Canine | Nov 20, 2015 | TESTIMONIALS
“Canines In Balance has transformed my dog. I’m thankful for the guidance and find the training to be very straight forward and easy for us to practice on our own between sessions. My dog is also much happier as he is getting a clear view of what we expect from him. Thank you for all of the help!”
Jenna with Heisenberg
Binbrook, Ontario
If you are looking for Dog Training in Binbrook, contact us for a FREE evaluation – 905-869-1170
Dog Training in Binbrook
by The Crunchy Canine | Nov 15, 2015 | BLOG
The flexi-lead is one tool I would not be sad to see die. Actually, I would be through the roof, singing, and dancing happy if the flexi-lead was never sold in another store again. Now, I will let you in on a deep dark secret of mine…I have used a flexi-lead in the past. I don’t often admit this but now you know! So I can understand why the average dog owner would think the flexi-lead is an awesome tool. What’s NOT awesome about it though? Everything! The people who buy flexi-leads often fall into one of two categories. The first being dog owners whose dogs pull incessantly and they think the fix is giving the dog more leash so they don’t no longer pull. The second type is the dog owner who thinks their dog needs more freedom and gets more exercise using the flexi-lead. Unfortunately neither of these reasons are reasons to use a flexi-lead. Very rarely does a flexi-lead fix pulling…the dog will usually still end up pulling but 15ft in front instead of 4 or 6ft ahead. As for more exercise, having your dog walk nicely by your side will burn more physical and mental energy than letting him wander all over the place. There are actually a few more reasons I despise the flexi-lead:
They have been known to break (personal experience with this one)
They constantly put pressure on your dogs neck even if they aren’t pulling because the leash is always in retract mode (unless you lock it – but then that defeats the purpose of a flexi right?)
With your dog 15-20ft ahead of you, you have no control over their actions. Dogs are getting hit by cars while on a flexi-lead because they darted on to the road to try to get to something they wanted (such as another dog, squirrel, kids etc.). Also, if your dog turns the corner 15-20ft before you, not only do you not know what is around that corner putting your dog in potential danger, but it is not fair to others who might be approaching that corner. There may be a dog who is not great with other dogs around that corner, there may be someone who is scared of dogs, or kids playing. Not only do you need to keep your dog safe but you need to offer some common courtesy to those in your neighbourhood and not let your dog rush them on a flexi-lead.
I will not allow a client to have their dog on a flexi-lead during our sessions. I only use 4 or 6ft leads unless I am training the recall (coming when called) when I use a flat nylon 20ft training leash. If you need help transitioning from a flexi-lead to a regular leash please give me a call!
Happy Training!
Katherine
Canines In Balance
Hamilton, Ontario
by The Crunchy Canine | Nov 10, 2015 | BLOG
When training your dog there are three important components that you need to keep in mind when practicing to ensure your dog can still perform the task regardless of it’s surroundings. Those components are called the 3 D’s of training.
So what are the 3 D’s?
1. Duration dog training tips
2. Distance dog training tips
3. Distraction dog training tips
Duration – We always start with duration as the first of the D’s to practice. For example, this means that your dog should be able to hold a sit with you right beside him for a good amount of time before you add distance or distractions. A good test to gage whether your dog is ready to move on to the next D is asking for a sit or down, and he needs to be able to hold the sit or down for 2 minutes without needing to be corrected while you stand right beside him. If he can handle that, then you can move on to the next D!
Distance – Once duration has been established, you can move on to practicing distance. This is where you would ask your dog to sit or down, and then walk away from him. Start slow with only a few feet between you and your dog, while working your way back up to 2 minutes like you did with duration. You will gradually increase the distance and duration as you practice more.
Distraction – Having a dog who sits when you ask him to in your house with little to no distractions is great, but what happens when you go outside and there are sights and smells that interest him? This is where you want to continue to practice the above two D’s while gradually increasing the distractions. Start with low level distractions, so as not to set the bar too high and out of reach. As your dog begins to be able to handle low level distractions you can increase the level of distraction to something that would normally really excite him.
If you practice all of your commands keeping the 3 D’s in mind, you will have a dog who listens no matter where he is and not matter what is going on around him! Remember to be patient and if he makes a mistake fix it and learn from it.
Happy training!
Dog training tips
