Mannerly Mutts Certified NADOI Dog Trainer in York Maine - Mannerly Mutts Dog Training Blog

Bad weather dog games and toys

9/27/2023

Fall is a beautiful season, and winter weather follows in the not too distant future. Many people do not know what to do to keep their dogs active when conditions are not great to do outdoor activities. Luckily, there are things we can do with our dog when stuck inside.

The Reliable Stay Command Is a Tool for Safety and Impulse Control (Part 2 of The Command Series)

9/20/2023

In the last blog, we discussed the place command. The stay command, specifically, is a command that you can is part of a sit, down, or stand command. This is where you want your dog to stay in a certain position anywhere that you are.

The Place Command is Excellent Obedience and Behavioral Exercise (Part 1 of The Command Series)

9/13/2023

Puppy Duke learning the place command.

The place command is one of the first things I start to teach with many dogs. This command combines a send away, a stay, a stay within a barrier, impulse control and calming exercise all in one. Additionally, this can be the very start on walking on leash with a puppy or dog. Some dog owners and trainers may only utilize the stay portion, but I feel the send away portion is very valuable as time goes on. Let me explain a little bit about this very useful exercise.

Shana Training for Boston Update (part 4 of series)

9/11/2023

The activity this last Sunday was mildly busy. We just want her to see a dog here and there walking past and not overwhelm her.

This Fall 2023, we are bringing our Shana with us to Boston for our vacation. I have been working on readying her since May 2023. Unfortunately, at Shana's follow up veterinarian appoint, we found out she is in congestive heart failure. The medication are working well, and Shana is at a good energy and activity level. That may have held us up a month or more, and we had to restart it a little after that. So here is a little taste of what we have been doing:

Mini Case Study of Fearful Adult Canine, Olive

8/28/2023

The Transitional Leash or Sidekick (Part 3 of the Leash Series)

8/23/2023

Poppy the puppy posing in all her beautiful shagginess on a training walk.

A trainer named, Heather Beck, came up with this design after becoming frustrated with another product's changes, the Gentle Leader. I have to admit that I have never been a fan of that product myself. In my opinion, Heather Beck made a better product which I prefer to call the Transitional Leash, but it is also sold as the Sidekick.

This is a great tool for both training and for behavioral modification or change, in my opinion. Remember though, the tool never trains the dog. The dog owner, trainer or handler trains the dog with the use of the tool. We will go over how this tool can help and how it works.

Why is leash training necessary for pet dogs (Part 2 of The Leash Series)

6/24/2023

Poppy showing off the transitional leash (now called the side kick) which was invented by Heather Beck.

There is a quote passed around by many professional dog trainers "What your dog can't do on leash, they can't do off leash". Leashes are very important pieces of dog training equipment, but they aren't talked about that much in pet dog training circles. They really deserve our respect, because leashes are a life line to a dog in training, who will be enjoying some off leash freedom some day beyond confined areas (fences, walls of a building, and so on).

Shana Weeks 3 to 5 Training for Boston Vacation (Part 3 of Series)

6/22/2023

As I write this, the new training dogs coming in have been frequent now, and our business is heating back up for the summer. This is a really stressful time for Shana at home as always. Being a dog trainer's dog is not fun for all dogs. At the same time, we have been working regularly on Shana's impulse control and reactivity around other dogs. She has been doing really well, but today she has clearly had enough of this. We are currently in the Middle of Week 6 on a Thursday. I haven't taken many videos, so I am going to go over what we have been doing to date.

What is it that "play training" can add to your partner and canine team (Part 4 of Play Training Series)

6/15/2023

Our Shana with her "treasure" after a flirt pole training session of send to two places. After this, she fell into a deep sleep.

Why should someone consider adding play training to their dog training routine? I say add, because I am never just play training. For instance, if I am on a busy city street and we have some training to do, I probably am not going to use my flirt pole, frisbee, or ball to start a training session. I may use food as play or just as a standard reward. I may also use to do a subtle form of traditional training or management. So for those reasons, I don't believe you can get away with just play training your dog, although I would not have a problem with it if I could figure out how!

So then the question is, why add play training in?

How Do You Use Play Training for Impulse Control? What is Impulse Control? (Part 3 of Series)

6/7/2023

This is Shana demonstrating some impulse control while we play and food train. Sometimes I use just food reward or just toy reward. In this instance, I am using both food and toy. Shana's impulse is to rip the toy apart right before my eyes OR not give it up at all. Impulse control is when the dog is not doing something that they would like to do in the moment. When you are using play, they are controlling their impulse because they want the game to go on, instead of being corrected in more traditional training methods.

Note: Our next blog will go over what play training provides for you that is different than traditional dog training, and why you might want to use it.