Mannerly Mutts Certified #1157 CEC NADOI Dog Trainer in York Maine
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37 Paul Street York Beach, Maine 03910
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The Reliable Stay Command Is a Tool for Safety and Impulse Control (Part 2 of The Command Series)

9/20/2023

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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.


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

6/22/2023

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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.


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How Do You Use Play Training for Impulse Control?   What is Impulse Control? (Part 3 of 4 Series)

6/7/2023

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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.


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Play Training Mistakes to Avoid With Food or Toys (Part 2 of Play Training Series)

5/29/2023

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Play training focuses on the reward of play for engagement, enthusiasm, and motivation of the tasks, obedience, behavioral change, and relationship being formed.  It sounds easy, right?   The dog does this, and then we go and do that.   The knowledge of the impending reward of continuing the game increases the likely hood of the behavior and/or performance that you want.  In theory, it is easy.  In practice, you can make mistakes that I would rather others avoid if possible.


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Shana's Boston Training Week 2 Ended (Part 2 of Series)

5/28/2023

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Have I spoiled Shana?  In some ways, I have definitely spoiled Shana.   Shana is a hard worker and a good dog, but some of that spoiling is what holds her back now from being relaxed in a city like Boston.  I had really never thought we would take a Boston trip in Shana's lifetime.  The fall vacation is far enough away, that all I need to do is prepare her.

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Play Training:  How To Start (Part 1 of Series of Play Training Series)

5/22/2023

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In 2011 I came across a YouTube video of a trainer, Mike Ellis, who is a well known sports dog trainer.  I hadn't heard of him, as he wasn't a fixture in pet dog training or AKC obedience.   What he was doing absolutely blew me away, and he was having a seminar in RI the next week.   I paid the very reasonable price to attend with a non working or audit spot (means you don't bring a dog to work and be coached), as all the working spots were filled.   The seminar was called "Focus and Drive".  This was the beginning of my play training journey.   I am going to do a series on play training on this blog for the next few weeks (or more).


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Shana's Family Boston Vacation and Training Plan (Part 1 of Series)

5/19/2023

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On Sundays, I am going to try to blog and post (on our Facebook page) Shana's training progress.  Normally I am training Shana because:
  • Shana comes from working lines, and her personality is that of a dog that wants to be busy.
  • Because it is fun.
  • To have Shana feel as comfortable as possible when there are strange dogs in the house.   If you click on "training journal" in the blog categories on the right, you can see some history about Shana, who is now 10 years old and acts like a 5 year old!​​

This fall though, we are taking a trip to Boston, and staying in a very fun dog friendly hotel across from Fenway Park.   Shana has only been to a city a few times in her life.   City distractions are very different than the distractions she sees in a small town (and some of those still can scare her or put her on defense drive).  So now I have a specific goal that I am training for.   

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Patterns and Structure, How Do They Help with Dog Training and Behavior?

10/19/2020

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Patterns, as I define them in dog training and behavior modification, are manufactured predictable events.  That is they are a sequence of steps  that become predictable with repetition and consistency.  Remember, canines do not share our human language.  We can not tell them what is coming up, but our actions to create patterns and structure can place them on more predictable ground.

​As humans we take this for granted for ourselves, but if you think about it, our every day patterns and structure lend to the feeling of safety and security for human children and adults alike.   Of course we can talk to each other should an unanticipated event comes up.   Can you imagine how scary some events are to dogs who do not have that sort of heads up?  We can make everything smooth sailing (or smoother sailing anyway) by adding a little pattern and structure to certain parts of our canine's day. 


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What is your dog's bliss?  How can finding their bliss help?

10/13/2020

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Leon loved fetching as a wee young thing. We both learned about this skill together, and had a lot of fun doing it.
What do I mean by your dog's "bliss"?

  • The activity or item that eventually or immediately drives your dog to do it more or want to engage with you more.​
  • This is something the dog is going to eventually be clear about. You can experiment with to find it and start the process, but ultimately you need to pay attention to whether it is truly motivating your dog OR do you just expect it would motivate your dog.

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Engagement and Motivation

10/5/2020

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Engagement in dog training is the ability to create a relationship with your dog where you are the reward. Engagement done well will have your dog insisting on continuing the activity with their owner. In other methods of training, there are some elements of this as well, but the engagement that I am talking about is much more. Engagement in dog training is more about play with their owner or handler to create that very strong bond and work ethic. As with anything, it can have it's pluses and minuses. I really enjoy this method, because I get to play with my dog and train. The thing that motivates me in this method, is seeing my dog have fun while we are doing it. Why do I also use other methods other than Engagement and Motivational methods? One reason is this is a bit slower process than some other methods in the shorter term.   Sometimes if you really need to stop your dog from jumping on your elderly relatives, while including them in your family activities, you might want to take a faster course of action.  Of course there are ways to control what you dog does by confining them more, but I like my dogs to have certain freedoms during the day, where this perhaps might not happen if I was only using this method. It takes longer not in time per day, but the progress to build to a goal in general will take more time. There are reasons to want to spend a longer period if time in training your dog. I will go over that at a later date.


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    Author, Robin Rubin

    ​Owner and Head Dog Trainer in Maine, Robin Katherine Rubin, started her Maine dog training business in September 2004.  Our dog training facility is located in Southern Maine in York Beach and we help families enjoy their dogs more, making sure they listen reliably and resolving unwanted behaviors.

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