Hunter has come to dog training camp because she has a hard time focusing and her moms find it very difficult to get any training done with her. She is one of those dogs that is FULL of energy. I mean to tell you, her energy is level is WAY up there! As an owner of a young Weimaraner, Belgian Malinois, and a Yellow Lab that is quite a statement!

The key for Hunter is exercise. Enough of it and the nervous energy edge gets taken off and she’s very good at focusing. She is a very natural pointer and when she sees a bird she’s on it, at point like a good working dog. Since that isn’t really her job in her current living situation she needs other things to focus on. The idea of come and sit, to be able to “leave things” when she’s asked, and going on a walk without pulling on the leash and at your side are all jobs for her to focus on. Keeping her on task and getting her to do those thing perfectly burns up some of that energy.

Her speed is fast! Because of that she needs to run and run and run. That’s not always possible in people’s given living situations, fitness levels, and time commitments, and space available. Hunter is one of those dogs that needs a minimum of two extensive exercise sessions a day preferably with one being at a run level. For this reason she is a dog I would seriously consider getting a treadmill to supplement her exercise needs.
Getting out with your dog is important to do on a daily basis for several reasons, the first being to establish yourself as the leader, to get much needed exercise, and as a way to bond with your dog as well as get yourself out of the house and exercised along with your dog. It’s good for your dog, it’s good for you. Hunter needs soooo much exercise that adding a treadmill to her regime would be highly recommended. Working breed dogs such as the German Short Haired Pointers were made to get out and run hard daily. A treadmill may be the best way to replicate it when a dog like Hunter comes along! She’s beautiful, she wants to work, and she needs it to focus.

Jt Clough is the a professional dog trainer who practices naturopathic dog health in San Diego. Finding alternatives to taking care of your dogs needs is a passion and helping people to connect that energy with their dogs is something to be shared with every dog owner who wants a happy, healthy relationship with the family member named Dog.

Tiki is a rescue dog who has come to the K9 Coach Dog Training Boot Camp for help in living in her new home. She’s a very cool dog and like the other dogs who come to dog camp, find themselves really enjoying life with a clear understanding of where their energy should be directed rather than the wild child of no clear guidance.

It’s hard to say what breed Tiki is, however, it’s easy to describe Tiki. She’s sweet, a good dog in many ways. She’s playful, sometimes too playful but she makes up for this with her charm and tiny kisses, and is most likely the reason she’s gotten away with so much and ended up a rescue. She hasn’t learned quite how to play or what to think when new dogs or people are around so she barks, jumps up wanting to play non-stop, pulls on the leash, and basically goes dilly!

Even though Tiki wants to have good manners, she is easily distracted and doesn’t know what she’s supposed to do. She’s a lucky dog to have been adopted by people who cared enough to get her quality training and have enrolled her in the K9 Coach Dog Training Boot Camp. She’s only been here a couple of days and she’s beginning to learn the skills she’ll need to focus on the task at hand, in all kinds of distraction.

Welcome Tiki, she’ll soon be on the wall of dog fame for her tremendous new abilities while at camp and her new family will have a life time of joy, entertainment and endearment to look forward to.

Sonic comes to camp as a 16 month old male with a lot of spunk. He’s got personality and loves to go after a ball! He’s a flyball dog and enjoys sport very much. Lucky for him his owners provide the outlet for him to work and have purpose. He’s so full of vim and vigor, though the idea of “come here” on command is a little beyond him.

Dog training camp will fix that up for him and he’ll be the envy of all the other sport dog people. He’s very quick to learn and after just a few days is walking on a leash nicely and shows real recollection of what it means to come to you when he’s called!

Not all dogs have the energy of Sonic…. he’s a “go” dog and it’s so great to be able to train a smooth coated fox terrier like Sonic to enjoy more exercise, more purpose, and much more freedom.

Daisy is a very active dog, she loves to run and play. Walking on the leash without pulling is a big part of her training. She is on the road with her people all of the time; for work and for play, she is a great traveler and never had an accident when riding or waiting in the truck or RV. However, once she was home, marking her territory inside the house was the reason she came to K9 Coach Dog Boot Camp.

You may wonder why I said walking on the leash by my side is such a big part of her training. Well, birds fly, fish swim and dogs walk. If you want to be the pack leader, you need to lead your dog, physically, while walking.

Once you establish yourself as the leader of your pack, all the rest will fall into place with less difficulty. Of course there is much else that goes along with the walk. We use place, sit, come and several other directions to provide mental stimulation and guidance. I am happy to report that Daisy is doing fabulous.

Wag, wag…

Carla C Weed

Daisy is an adorable 9 month old Maltese. She is full of spunk and loves to play. Daisy is definitely an alpha personality and has no problem taking part in big dog fun, and if no one else is around she will play with her toys nicely, but sometimes finds mischief wherever she can.

Daisy’s biggest problem is typical of this high-spirited breed: potty trianing. Even though Daisy loves to play and is especially companionable, she demonstrates her dominance over her people by marking her territory, barking, nipping, and not listening.

Daisy is so happy her people decided to send her to dog training camp. She snoozes happily in her den or on place, loves to sit, play fetch with a ball, and walk on a leash with my dogs. Best of all… exercise, controlled feeding and repeated practice/guidance have shown positive results for her potty training.

At K9 Coach Dog Training Boot Camp, Daisy is doing awesome! She loves “place”, as you can see in the slide show; Daisy’s favorite place is on the top of most pillows! Small dogs are the same as large dogs in a lot of ways and need a den of their own, fulfillment of there primal instincts through walking and clear leadership. The Maltese especially should not be over-pampered, or over-protected as they can become unbalanced and jealous of strangers.

Daisy is a smart girl and already knew how to sit and come without distraction most of the time. Now she is more consistent in responding to sit, lets go, and come on. Daisy sits at the door before we go outside and calmly departs the home by my side. She still needs plenty of guidance, however, she is doing a remarkable job with only 4 days of training. Daisy also understands off, quiet, out (drop it) and down!

While most people think their small dog can’t go to Dog Training Boot Camp, that is not so at K9 Coach San Diego and Temecula. If you don’t have the time to train your small, medium, or large dog we have specialized camp for them all!

Woof!

Carla C Weed

K9 Coach Temecula

The holidays are upon us, believe it or not.  It’s a time to spend with family and friends.  It’s a time to enjoy conversation, good food, and some sort of activity.

Getting out for a nice long walk after a big dinner is a good plan for you, your family, friends, and certainly for your dog.  Dogs also enjoy a little indulgence on the food just as we humans so some wholesome protein isn’t a bad choice to add in to their dinner as an extra special treat.  Dogs aren’t big on spices so just the plain turkey part would be best for them.  And by all means they do not do well at all with things like onion, so please refrain from giving  Spot some of that yummy stuffing!  It can be really bad for him or her.

Keeping it simple and protein based is the rule of thumb if you’d like to feed your dog in a special Thanksgiving feast of their own.  Getting out for a nice long walk after dinner is one of those things that can be cherished in memories forever and cannot be bought at any price.  Dogs more than ever are part of our families.  Help them watch their waistlines and yet enjoy the holidays together.

If you are planning on be out of town and would like your dog to have a fabulous holiday dinner, and more importantly, some training, outdoor activities, and on and off leash trail hikes during your time away for the holidays contact K9 Coach.  We train dogs to be a part of all the family activities and have dog training camps available in both San Diego and Temecula for big and small dogs.

Buddy has been quite busy with his training camp. Learning to come when called is so important in the dog training curriculum, so he’s been spending a lot of time working on that process.

Exercise is part of Buddy’s routine every day. After all, a tired dog is a good dog! My biggest tip for people who have a dog they’d like to be better behaved, a 45 minute walk! Simple hey!

Our dog training camps have openings for the upcoming holidays, but if you want your dog in so they can be as happy as Buddy is, book soon. Space is limited and demand for private dog training camps is high!

Everybody loves Gidget.

She was a rescue out of a shelter. She had her name on the list for you know….. to go to sleep. I rescued her. I was working with dog trainers at a program for professional dog trainers at a shelter in Arizona. I worked with Gidget for 7 weeks. I couldn’t leave her there. So, we loaded her up with my other two dogs and headed home with her.

Today she lives in a home not far from me…. in a very world class way. Gidget’s at sporting events, the beach, friends homes, anywhere and everywhere. She comes and coaches at the San Diego Dog Training Camp monthly.

Gidget’s awesome.

Buddy is in his second half of his San Diego Dog Training Camp and he is doing fabulously. When Buddy started he didn’t come in the house because he had no house manners, he jumped on people and things, as well as he didn’t come when he was called. Same problem he had at the beach, just in tighter quarters. Very typical of a 1 year old labradoodle with a lot of energy.

Being the combination of 2 working dog breeds, Buddy’s potential to “get it” is high given the right factors. One of the utmost important ingredients in the training regime is exercise. For Buddy, the exercise has helped him focus greatly on what he’s supposed to be doing. Of course learning to walk on a leash was an important element in that equation. He has seemingly got that one down already. In fact today he was able to walk to a trail we go to with 3 other dogs on a leash and he stayed within the pack… no pulling ahead, no trying to play with the other dogs…. just a focused walk. It was great to see him with his tail high in the air in an almost prance, as he cruised down the sidewalk, already knowing he was heading for a trail that he could have some freedom on. He would be able to run and play with the other dogs, yet come when called, and stay on the trail without deterring off into the interesting tundra looking for small varmints to chase…. or a piece of poop to smell. (one of my rants, please people, pick up your dog’s poop when you are out on urban trails and neighborhoods, we want to have the right to be out there, don’t ruin it by leaving a mess as well as an environmental problem behind you)

On any account, back to Buddy…. he’s half way through dog training camp and the house manners are now coming along as well as his on leash and off leash outdoors skills. He’s working on getting on a “spot” and staying there, even in the midst of other dogs around him, food being cooked, and other various household distractions. He’s doing great so far. His family will be so happy they’ll get to spend more time with him because he can be in the house without jumping on the furniture, the kids, or eating the food off their plates!

A well trained dog is the best friend you can imagine. If you’ve got a less than well mannered dog, consider getting some education for him or her. If you’d like to get a dog, do some research on breed so it fits your family and your lifestyle, and plan to get some professional training. It’s good for you, it’s good for your dog!

Go out and play!

Skimping on sleep may make you more vulnerable to obesity, according to a new study.

The finding is based on data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey I (NHANES I).

People who reported getting less than seven hours of sleep a night were more likely to be obese on initial evaluation. The study also showed that they were also more likely to develop obesity during follow-up.

Participants who slept five hours per night were 73% more likely to become obese than those getting seven to nine nightly hours of sleep, say Columbia University professor of medicine Steven Heymsfield, and James Gangwisch, PhD.

Even one hour of sleep can make a difference.

People getting six hours of sleep per night were 27% more likely to become obese than those getting seven to nine hours.

So how does this tie into weight loss and your dog?

Two ways, the first being think about how many hours your dog sleeps. Lots. Think about how much your dog eats. Dogs tend to not put on the amounts of weight people do simply because they get more sleep, and they usually only get fed twice a day.  When a dog is overweight, it’s usually because of waaay too much food in the bowl, and little to no exercise.

The second is exercise. A well exercised dog, who gets enough sleep, and isn’t over fed has a stellar physique! The kind you want. Your dog can help you get where you want to be on the scale.

Make a commitment to a 30 minute walk with your dog in the morning and a 30 minute walk with your dog in the evening. Make a commitment to think about how much food your eating and how many times a day you eat. Your dog is quite happy getting fed only twice a day…. you really don’t need all those snacks in between (and neither does your dog)! Dogs are happiest when they get exercise so do yourself a favor as well as your dog…. do that walk every single day!

As for the sleep part, go to bed a half hour before you normally would. Cut out that extra sitcom, or time wasted doing nothing and get the extra sleep. Give it some time, just like training a dog… 21 days of doing something consistently… it becomes a habit…. and then you actually start looking forward to it.

Sleep more, eat less, exercise more… it’s good for you. It’s good for your dog.