Training Blog & Videos

What's Lilah learning today?! How to have a sniffy walk and keep the leash loose! Leash walking is about team work, not obedience. Sniffing is how dog's experience the world AND regulate themselves. Fostering a puppy's sniffing instincts allows them to better regulate stimulation levels in dynamic environments. As an adult, this often prevents the development of serious behaviors AND grows a more resilient dog. Watch Lilah learn as she explores the park with professional dog trainer Arie Ebaugh (MS, CPDT-KA). In this clip, Lilah sniffs freely while maintaining a loose leash. Watch for tips on how she does it without getting overstimulated by dogs and people in the nearby dog park! Need personalized training help? Visit Arie's website to schedule a training session today: www.PupsUnleashed.com

What's Lilah learning today?! How to have a sniffy walk and keep the leash loose! Leash walking is about team work, not obedience. Sniffing is how dog's experience the world AND regulate themselves. Fostering a puppy's sniffing instincts allows them to better regulate stimulation levels in dynamic environments. As an adult, this often prevents the development of serious behaviors AND grows a more resilient dog. Watch Lilah learn as she explores the park with professional dog trainer Arie Ebaugh (MS, CPDT-KA). In this clip, Lilah displays overstimulation behaviors after a person attempts to greet her (even though we had declined, TWICE). The video begins just after Arie shoos along the pedestrian. Lilah offered a Down (default behavior) and was rewarded with kibble in the grass. Watch for examples of her obvious overstimulation at the beginning and the teamwork her and Arie use to regulate stimulation! Modulating stimulation in puppies with sniffing and calming sets them up for resiliency in adulthood. Need personalized training help? Visit Arie's website to schedule a training session today: www.PupsUnleashed.com

What's Lilah learning today?! How to have a sniffy walk and keep the leash loose! Leash walking is about team work, not obedience. Sniffing is how dog's experience the world AND regulate themselves. Fostering a puppy's sniffing instincts allows them to better regulate stimulation levels in dynamic environments. As an adult, this often prevents the development of serious behaviors AND grows a more resilient dog. Watch Lilah learn as she explores the park with professional dog trainer Arie Ebaugh (MS, CPDT-KA). In this clip, Lilah watches dogs and humans outside of a dog park. Lilah is VERY social, with humans and dogs alike. The answer is NOT to put her in social situations constantly (**cough cough** doggie daycare **cough cough**). It is the OPPOSITE. It is important to teach puppies, especially the hypersocial ones, that seeing a dog doesn't ALWAYS mean play. Avoid fostering overstimulation. Instead, teach puppies to be CALM around other dogs as well as disengage from other dogs' inappropriate interactions. Doing so prevents reactivity as adults and builds social resiliency. Watch for tips on how Lilah is learning to do this! IMPORTANT -- I generally do NOT recommend dog parks for puppies or adult dogs, for many, MANY reasons. However, they are useful for training outside of the park at a safe distance, IF the dog responds well to the environment. Need personalized training help? Visit Arie's website to schedule a training session today: www.PupsUnleashed.com

What's Lilah learning today?! How to be calm in novel public environments! Watch Lilah learn as she watches a pickleball game with professional dog trainer Arie Ebaugh (MS, CPDT-KA). Proper socialization to novel and dynamic environments as a puppy is an effective way to grow a resilient dog. This requires an understanding of a dog’s body language to ensure that the experience is enriching to the puppy without being overstimulating or fear-inducing. Teach a solid Down skill at home before taking it on the road as a BIG help in these situations. Watch how Lilah uses her Down to remain calm in this goofy environment. Rewarding Downs while a puppy watches public environments fosters people- and dog-watching as free visual enrichment in adulthood! More importantly, it allows puppies to better regulate their stimulation levels and emotions as adults in dynamic settings. Enjoy the game! Need personalized training help? Visit Arie's website to schedule a training session today: www.PupsUnleashed.com

An open fence gate is a common temptation with which dogs struggle. This can create a safety hazard if your dog isn’t off-leash or recall trained, as well as be generally frustrating to the human(s) trying to enter or exit! Moreover, overstimulation around thresholds can cause barrier frustration, which can easily lead to issues between dogs. Luckily, there are MANY fun ways to teach dogs to stay inside a yard with an open gate. Professional dog trainer Arie Ebaugh (MS, CPDT-KA) demonstrates an easy group activity to strengthen impulse control and prevent gate bolting. This video features Fenton (Corgi), Corvus (Goldendoodle), Cooper (Frenchie), and Atlas (Frenchie) as they demonstrate several variations of this essential skill! In addition to the video, below are a few important tips to get you started: Before fully opening the gate, first condition the SOUND of the gate latch to create a positive association with NOT running through the gate. When your dog is within earshot of the gate, interact with the gate latch to make its typical noise. When your pup hears it, say “YES” and immediately feed a reward near the closed gate. Repeat several times. You will notice that your dog will start to look at YOU expectantly when they hear the gate sound, rather than trying to push through the gate. Adding this simple step tends to jumpstart progress and make subsequent steps easier! Start with EASY trials: with the gate closed, say “Wait” one time while facing your dog with your body blocking the gate. Open the gate by a few inches, then immediately close it again. When you hear the sound of the gate latching, say “YES” and then feed your dog(s) a few feet away from the gate (rather than right up against the gate). Repeat! Only feed once the gate is CLOSED again each time and do NOT reward for any trials that your dog tried to move through the open threshold. Your dog will learn that the food happens ONLY once the gate closes again. Increase the difficulty at the dog’s pace: Once your pup masters the easy trials, begin increasing the difficulty of trials. For example, start adding trials with the gate wider, the gate open longer, looking away from the dog, turning your back, walking through the gate, etc. Only change ONE variable at a time to ensure success. For example, when you begin looking away from your dog with the gate open, start with only a slightly opened gate at first rather than a wide open one. Increasing difficulty too fast is a common training mistake. Punctuate the challenges with EASY variations: As you add more difficult variations, be sure to still give your dog EASY trials between the harder ones. For example, if your pup successfully performed a Wait while your back was turned with an open gate, be sure to request a very easy trial next (e.g. only open the gate a few inches before you return to reward). Dogs are excellent pattern seekers and notice when training difficulty scales. Adding easy trails between hard ones prevents frustration responses and stalled progress as they notice difficulty increasing. Cancel attempted gate bolting: if the dog tries to push through the gate during training, immediately cancel by closing the gate and not giving any food. Reset and try again. If your pup does break through the gate, do not panic–remain calm and playfully hop back into the gated area. Get low to the ground and happily call them to you. Praise them for coming back, close the gate, and DO NOT give food. Reset again and be extra mindful to block the open gate with your body more effectively next time. Your body positioning alone **should** be able to effectively prevent a dog breaking through, so adjust your position if this happens. END ON A HIGH NOTE: dogs remember how difficult a training exercise was, particularly at the end. It may be tempting when a dog is doing well to keep pushing the difficulty to see how far they can get in one session. DON’T DO IT. If you push a dog too hard in a session, they will burn out and you will need to end the exercise on an exhausted note. You want to do the opposite: END ON A HIGH NOTE. While your pup is absolutely crushing it, END THE EXERCISE with a reward and enthusiasm. This will leave them wanting MORE, rather than remembering how tricky/frustrating the game became. The easiest way to end on a high note is to remember that training activity such as this should be short (less than 5 minutes), and end even before that if you notice they are struggling. Short sessions throughout the day are far more effective than one long session of drilling. For a motivated and consistent dog, keep things fun, light, and quick! Repetition and clear expectations around gates, doors, and other thresholds works wonders. Need personalized training help? Visit Arie's website to schedule a training session today: www.PupsUnleashed.com

An open door is a common temptation with which dogs struggle. This can create a safety hazard if your dog isn’t off-leash or recall trained, as well as be generally frustrating to the human(s) trying to enter or exit! Moreover, overstimulation around thresholds can cause barrier frustration, which can easily lead to issues between dogs. Luckily, there are MANY fun ways to teach dogs to stay inside a house with an open door. Professional dog trainer Arie Ebaugh (MS, CPDT-KA) demonstrates an easy group activity to strengthen impulse control and prevent door bolting. This video features Fenton (Corgi), Corvus (Goldendoodle), Cooper (Frenchie), and Atlas (Frenchie) as they demonstrate several variations of this essential skill! In addition to the video, below are a few important tips to get you started: Before fully opening the door, first condition the SOUND of the door to create a positive association with NOT running through the door. When your dog is within earshot of the door, interact with the doorknob to make its typical noise. When your pup hears it, say “YES” and immediately feed a reward near the closed door. Repeat several times. You will notice that your dog will start to look at YOU expectantly when they hear the door’s sound, rather than trying to push through it. Adding this simple step tends to jumpstart progress and make subsequent steps easier! Start with EASY trials: with the door closed, say “Wait” one time while facing your dog with your body blocking the door. Open the door by a few inches, then immediately close it again. When you hear the sound of the door closing, say “YES” and then feed your dog(s) a few feet away from the door (rather than right up against it). Repeat! Only feed once the door is CLOSED again each time and do NOT reward for any trials that your dog tried to move through the open threshold. Your dog will learn that the food happens ONLY once the door closes again. Increase the difficulty at the dog’s pace: Once your pup masters the easy trials, begin increasing the difficulty of trials. For example, start adding trials with the door wider, the door open longer, looking away from the dog, turning your back, walking through the door, etc. Only change ONE variable at a time to ensure success. For example, when you begin looking away from your dog with the door open, start with only a slightly opened door at first rather than a wide open one. Increasing difficulty too fast is a common training mistake. Punctuate the challenges with EASY variations: As you add more difficult variations, be sure to still give your dog EASY trials between the harder ones. For example, if your pup successfully performed a Wait while your back was turned with an open door, be sure to request a very easy trial next (e.g. only open the door a few inches before you return to reward). Dogs are excellent pattern seekers and notice when training difficulty scales. Adding easy trails between hard ones prevents frustration responses and stalled progress as they notice difficulty increasing. Cancel attempted door bolting: if the dog tries to push through the door during training, immediately cancel by closing the door and not giving any food. Reset and try again. If your pup does break through the door, do not panic–remain calm and playfully hop back into the house. Get low to the ground and happily call them to you. Praise them for coming back, close the door, and DO NOT give food. Reset again and be extra mindful to block the open door with your body more effectively next time. Your body positioning alone **should** be able to effectively prevent a dog breaking through, so adjust your position if this happens. END ON A HIGH NOTE: dogs remember how difficult a training exercise was, particularly at the end. It may be tempting when a dog is doing well to keep pushing the difficulty to see how far they can get in one session. DON’T DO IT. If you push a dog too hard in a session, they will burn out and you will need to end the exercise on an exhausted note. You want to do the opposite: END ON A HIGH NOTE. While your pup is absolutely crushing it, END THE EXERCISE with a reward and enthusiasm. This will leave them wanting MORE, rather than remembering how tricky/frustrating the game became. The easiest way to end on a high note is to remember that training activity such as this should be short (less than 5 minutes), and end even before that if you notice they are struggling. Short sessions throughout the day are far more effective than one long session of drilling. For a motivated and consistent dog, keep things fun, light, and quick! Repetition and clear expectations around gates, doors, and other thresholds works wonders. Need personalized training help? Visit Arie's website to schedule a training session today: www.PupsUnleashed.com

Door opening/closing training updates with professional dog trainer Arie Ebaugh (MS, CPDT-KA) and Fenton the Corgi (and Corvus the giant Goldendoodle for support)! This advanced skill has practical applications (e.g. close the door for a human with full hands or after one of the other dogs pushes open the door) AND gives a task-oriented herding dog a “job” to keep him busy. In this exercise, our training goal was to vary the location from which the human asks for Fenton to close the door. It is far easier for Fenton to close the door when cued if he and the human are right next to the door, but this isn’t super useful in a practical sense. Therefore, we are teaching Fenton to close the door on cue when both he and the human aren’t near the door at all. He needs to recognize the cue, move AWAY from the human to the door, and then target the human again for a reward once he successfully closes it. By mastering this, Fenton’s humans will be able to request that he closes the door from ANY room in the house, without the humans having to be anywhere near the open door. This has many practical applications, such as helping out a human with hands that are full or closing the door after another dog has pushed it open. Fenton started working on this skill in July. We have been documenting his progress throughout the stages of this complex task. If you haven’t seen the earlier stages, check out our clips below: Day 1, starting the skill: https://youtu.be/Zw1JKfkprA4 Warm-up Exercise: https://youtu.be/h2FU2QGO-78 First Trials with Frenchies: https://youtu.be/PLv-F9oXicA Advanced Trials with Frenchies and Food Distractions: https://youtu.be/kzq4ma4HkyM Need personalized help on training the cutest doggy butler, or anything else?! Visit Arie's website to schedule a training session today: www.PupsUnleashed.com

In this video, professional dog trainer Arie Ebaugh (MS, CPDT-KA) breaks down dog body language in real time. This video features Fenton the Corgi, showing off many important body language clues. A dog’s body language expresses their mood, feelings, and stimulation level. When a human is able to properly “read” a dog, it is much easier to determine what they need or how they feel. Even more important, a solid understanding of canine body language can keep humans safe in stressful or dynamic environments. Many parts of a dog’s body cue the human to their mood/feelings: ears, eyes, tail, mouth, body stiffness/looseness, and weight distribution being the most obvious aspects to check. It is important to consider EACH of these parts of the dog before making a decision about a dog’s mood or feelings. No SINGLE part of a dog’s body will tell the whole story. We must look at ALL the clues AND the context/scenario in which the dog is being observed before coming to ANY conclusions. For example, a wagging tail for a dog can be a sign of sociability and wanting petting, OR it can be a warning sign that a dog is high arousal and may be ready to react/bite. Looking at the REST of the dog, besides just the tail, will tell us which it is! Why do we care how a dog feels? A dog’s body language tells us if it is safe to approach, if a dog wants to be petted, or if a dog is warning us to stay away. Moreover, dogs are more receptive and consistent when they have a relationship with a human that can effectively read and communicate with them. Put simply, dogs are happier, healthier, and safer with humans that can read them. Dive in and see what you can learn about YOUR pup’s feelings. Need personalized training help? Visit Arie's website to schedule a training session today: www.PupsUnleashed.com

In this video, professional dog trainer Arie Ebaugh (MS, CPDT-KA) breaks down dog body language in real time. This video features Corvus the Goldendoodle, showing off many important body language clues. A dog’s body language expresses their mood, feelings, and stimulation level. When a human is able to properly “read” a dog, it is much easier to determine what they need or how they feel. Even more important, a solid understanding of canine body language can keep humans safe in stressful or dynamic environments. Many parts of a dog’s body cue the human to their mood/feelings: ears, eyes, tail, mouth, body stiffness/looseness, and weight distribution being the most obvious aspects to check. It is important to consider EACH of these parts of the dog before making a decision about a dog’s mood or feelings. No SINGLE part of a dog’s body will tell the whole story. We must look at ALL the clues AND the context/scenario in which the dog is being observed before coming to ANY conclusions. For example, a wagging tail for a dog can be a sign of sociability and wanting petting, OR it can be a warning sign that a dog is high arousal and may be ready to react/bite. Looking at the REST of the dog, besides just the tail, will tell us which it is! Why do we care how a dog feels? A dog’s body language tells us if it is safe to approach, if a dog wants to be petted, or if a dog is warning us to stay away. Moreover, dogs are more receptive and consistent when they have a relationship with a human that can effectively read and communicate with them. Put simply, dogs are happier, healthier, and safer with humans that can read them. Dive in and see what you can learn about YOUR pup’s feelings. Need personalized training help? Visit Arie's website to schedule a training session today: www.PupsUnleashed.com