I would like to get a quicker response to commands like you and fred get from your dogs. Should i increase the level on the remote? My dog works on level 1 & 2 right now.

Levels are all relative to the dog and to the situation. Increasing the intensity on your remote may result in a faster response, but it is a very one sided approach. There is also a good chance that the opposite of what you want could happen. The dog may slow down. My guess is the latter would be the most likely to occur.

The main reason you see our dogs performing commands so quickly is two-fold:

Firstly, our dogs have a clear understanding of the collar language and what it means in terms of performance. If your dog doesn’t have this understanding, then even if the collar is set to the highest level he won’t respond the way you want.

The second reason is the dogs have a high level of desire to perform a given task. Our dogs are not robotic creatures that work without reward. We always offer the dogs a release to break them out and encourage animation, speed and focus.

There are also genetic factors that come into play, and a slow dog genetically is never going to be a blazing-fast dog. The limitations of the dog are always a factor.

All in all, it comes down to understanding on both ends of the leash. The dog must understand what you want clearly, and the handler must understand how to motivate the dog properly. Pressure simply impels the dog and enhances clarity.

We have many great videos demonstrating the clarity and understanding that our dogs demonstrate, but the video below in particular is great for showing just an average day of training at the dog park with my two dogs.

In this clip you’ll see that in every sequence I have my dogs do, there is a toy involved of somewhere. This is their release. My dogs love toys, food, interaction, ANYTHING. They are high-drive dogs, and as such I tap into that drive in training. By linking commands with something of desire to them, they develop a strong desire to perform certain commands. Obviously I’m using a Sit Means Sit Dog Collar with my dogs in the park. This is my attention tool, which enhances anything I do in any other avenue.

This is a great action shot from a recent Las Vegas DockDogs practice.

‘Shep’ and ‘Tank’ both black labs are working on their water entry at the edge of the pool to get a consistently fast entry with no hesitation. The two of them are very capable jumpers, and Tank actually did incredibly well at his very first DockDogs competition in Denver this past year. You can watch a video of Tank doing Speed Retrieve and Big Air on the Las Vegas DockDogs website.

Anyone interested in trying out DockDogs Diving with your dog can contact your local DockDogs club. There is a listing of North American clubs here. If you happen to be located in Las Vegas, feel free to come check out one of our practices. No experience necessary! More info about joining the Las Vegas DockDogs club is available here.

See you at the pool!

This is a video of my recent rescue dog ‘Phaneuf’ from the Henderson Shelter. She is a great dog and is incredibly animated and prancy. A great example of Sit Means Sit’s incredible training.

This is a video shot of me with my rescue malinois ‘Trell’ doing a demonstration for a local rescue agency here in Las Vegas. This was done in a public park with some distraction evident. I mainly wanted to show off here for a bit and show people who may be wondering at home, will my dogs work without a Sit Means Sit Collar on? The answer, in short is “Yes!”.

I think this a a huge point that a lot of people assume that the dogs will work well with the Sit Means Sit Collar on, and yes if trained properly with work wonderfully with a collar on, but for me that’s not the end of it. I want my dogs to listen to me, not just to my remote dog collar. Realistically I’m not always going to have a collar on my dog, or a remote in my hand to press a button, and even if I did, there’s no guarantees that my dog will instantly respond. Dog have good and bad days, even highly trained obedience champions.

Ask any seasoned dog trainer who competes their dogs, and they will tell you that having food in your hand and a leash on your dog is no guarantee your dog will listen 100%. I see this as being true to remote dog collar training as well. There are no guranatees. What separates the Sit Means Sit approach from the rest of the pack, is that because the main goal of our training is to teach the Art of Attention, our dogs learn to filter out distraction which takes a lot of variables out of the picture for the dog. They learn to focus more of their attention and energy into the task that is desired instead of spending it on external stimuli.

The key is time and repetition. Knowing how to control your dog with a Sit Means Sit Collar is only half the equation. The final and most successful part is to have a dog that wants to listen and is motivated to do so. The above video is a great example of what can be accomplished with some dedicated follow-through.

There was a variety of dogs at the event, and some were young, some were old. I was actually quite impressed with the calibre of dogs that were at the seminar. Most of the dogs were absolutely incredible dogs if not all.

This video follows along with the training from day one to day three of a very aggressive dutch shepherd (I can relate). This dog was so equipment oriented that any time a muzzle was put on him, he would immediately go into fight mode and start clobbering anyone nearby. He was somewhat handler aggressive as well. The first step was to get him understanding the language of the collar, and focus his attention more. By day three you can see a dramatic improvement in his understanding, and we started building on his understanding and teaching him to focus where we wanted, not where he preferred to go.

At one point you can see some of his equipment fixation return when he tries to bite a sleeve lying on the ground. There’s still a lot of work to be done with him, but we only have three days to clean up years of garbage.

The above video is a great example of what can be accomplished through the Sit Means Sit Dog Training Career Program. Those of you that are interested in a dog training career but aren’t sure of how to make that happen, have probably started with searching the internet. Without a doubt, you’ve probably come across at least a dozen companies that claim to teach you how to become a professional dog trainer. I’m not disputing that will teach you to become a professional dog trainer, and also how to train dogs. What I am curious about is: To what level of professionalism do they teach you?

For me, I feel that when it comes to doing something in a professional aspect indicates that you provide the absolute best quality of product, and top-notch service to go along with your incredible product.

In relation to dog training, for me this means they should teach you how to be head and shoulders above your competition. You can’t just be another joe-dog-trainer, you need to stand out to be successful.

Lets start with the fact that as a professional you should have the best dog out there. Your dog should impress everyone, not just pet owners. Your personal dog is your biggest advertisement, and as such you should be able to bring that dog out in public to use as an advertisment. Control and attention in this situation is necessary to success. You’d be surprised at how many professional dog trainers can’t take their dog out in public or do so, but have to keep a leash on them. Is that a trained dog? In my opinion, no.

Secondly, you should be able to show positive results with any dog that is brought your way. How fair is it to claim you are a dog trainer, but you don’t train dogs that are aggressive? How can a professional (the supposed ‘Top of the field’) place limits on what they are able to do and expect to be successful? Being versatile and adaptable is key.

Professional. For me this means a lot of things. For some it means a lot less.

The Sit Means Sit dog training career program is geared towards running a successful and viable dog training business. Not just learning to be a dog trainer, but learning to market your dog training business and build it strong. The above video showcases what our trainers should expect. Public demonstrations of this calibre are standard among our Sit Means Sit dog trainers. I invite you to surf the web. Visit franchise trade shows. Check out the competing dog training schools. Learn about their marketing program. I guarantee that no other dog training school is producing the results that Sit Means Sit does. We’re happy to show it, and if you want a first hand picture feel free to contact us to arrange a visit to either of our dog training career schools in either Las Vegas, NV or Denver, CO.

The Proof is in the Portfolio.

In the clip below you can see how even at a public event, in the early summer (it was only 87 degrees that day, but plenty warm for April 12) we can keep our dogs comfortable while working hard. Having a dog that is comfortable getting into water and being wet is a wonderful way to keep them safe, even if it’s not a swimming pool. Water sprayers are wonderful for going to the dog park with as you can fill them with ice-water and spray your dog down frequently. We were using baby pools and sprayers at this event.

Lianne Hassen, a Las Vegas dog trainer found a wonderful product made by Outward Hound called a “Swamp Jacket”. This jacket can be soaked in water and wrung out before fitting to your dog. The special material holds the water, but allows it to evaporate creating a cooling effect for the dog. It is also a light colour which reflects the sun’s rays, and keeps darker dogs, like my Dutch Shepherd Pharaoh more comfortable in the summer heat. The jacket can be seen in this video clip as well.

For more information on teaching your dog to swim contact us, or you can purchase our instructional dog training video (DVD) on how to teach your dog to swim.

There always seems to be a large variety of dogs at the parks, and my personal favourite dog park in Las Vegas is about 10 minutes from my house at the corner of Buffalo Drive and Washington. Located just off the Summerlin Parkway exit at Buffalo, you enter off of Washington and there are three separate dog parks.

The dog parks are rotated seasonally to allow the grass to re-establish itself each year. There is a separate run for the larger dogs, and a special small dog park to keep the little ones safe from being accidentally trampled. There are water fountains at each entrance to the parks for both people and dogs, as well as ample poo-bag dispensers. There are also public restrooms with flush toilets, which is a nice amenity.

This video showcases my two rescue dogs, Trell a rescue Belgian Malinois that was given up to a rescue group for an unknown reason. It also showcases Pharaoh, my rescue Dutch Shepherd who had several homes before I found him. He was considered a very difficult dog to control and when I first started with him had to deal with fixing his old training first.

I personally feel that any dog is capable of doing amazing things, including rescue dogs. I happened to get really lucky with the dog I have, but I am a firm believer that a good dog can only be great if given the chance. With the right approach and right understanding of the dog, you can achieve incredible things. Having my dog-aggressive rescue malinois in a dog park heeling attentively with me is a great example. Enjoy the rescue dog training video!

Come out to our Las Vegas Dog Training School to see her in action or watch for her at one of our many dog training events.

Many small dog owners keep their dogs indoors. Dog training for an indoor dog has it’s merits for a couple of reasons. Firstly, many little dogs, puppies in particular have issues with peeing or eliminating in the house. Potty training is probably the number one dog problem that our clients with small dogs have. Potty training is not a complicated process, but because of the freedom given to the small dog with sense of leadership or structure, the dog will easily sneak out of sight and potty in the house without the owners realizing. Having basic control over a small dog enables the dog owner to provide guidance and structure which in turn enables the owner to teach the dog to eliminate in a desired area, whether it’s on a potty pad or outside in a designated area.

Another VERY common problem for the indoor small dog as well as small dogs who travel with their owners outdoors is that of excessive barking. Small dogs were originally bred as companion dogs and for pest control and to this day they still fulfill the role of companion dog. What many people don’t realize is that the companion dogs in antiquity were selected based on their loyalty and territorial nature. In essence the dogs that were most willing to alert when someone or something trespassed were often the ones chosen to be bred. This means that over the centuries little dogs have been selectively bred to be good guard dogs. Regardless of whether a small dog owner wants a guard dog or not, they very often get an exceptional one. More often than not, these dogs take it upon themselves to bark at everything that is new to them and often without stopping. More often than not this barking is considered nuisance barking.

Small dogs are often welcome in apartment and condominium units because physically they are unobtrusive, however their nature to be territorial guard dogs gets in the way of peaceful living. Excessive barking is actually a very easy to control problem, and the key to teaching your dog to quiet on command is a two step process.

The first step is teaching the dog to pay attention to you by teaching them to do a specific task. The task or obedience command that I teach my clients who own small dogs is how to “place” on command. This basically requires the dog to go to a mat or dog bed on command and stay there. The more challenging the object is to place on, the more effective it will be to teach the dog how to stop barking. The principle here is channelling the small dog’s energy and attention he is putting into barking into another task. Keeping him busy takes his attention off of what is causing him to bark.

When the dog will reliably go to “Place” on command around distractions, then the dog will stop barking. This is where step two comes into play. Teaching the dog to be “Quiet” on command involves using the “Place” command to create the understanding in the dog’s mind between the word “Quiet” and the action of stopping barking. When the dog begins to bark the pattern to use involves telling the dog “Quiet” once or twice, and if he continues to bark, sending him to his “Place” and then repeating the command “Quiet” when the dog is on his place. In time the dog will realize that the word “Quiet” equates to going to his “Place” and stopping barking.

Below is a video we shot with a small dog named “Brodie”. Brodie is a Shih-Tzu, and his owner was looking to learn to calm Brodie down when people would come over. In only two lessons Brodie was a completely different dog. He learned how to kennel on command as well as come back when called. We also taught Brodie to sit on a stool around some very tough distraction. He did amazing! Don’t take my word for it, have a look for yourself. Brodie’s owner wants him to be a companion and a lap dog. Brodie is allowed to jump on people as well Brodie is allowed on the couch and sleeps with his owner in her bed. Even though Brodie is allowed to jump and say hello to visitors, not every person we meet likes dog jumping on them, so Brodie’s owner taught him to stay in his kennel on command.

For small dogs that love to bark a lot and are persistent about it, then I typically teach the dog to sit on a very tiny “Place”. Usually small portable step-stool works perfectly and the slippery nature of the plastic requires the dog to concentrate even harder to avoid breaking their command.

Remember that even an obstinate small dog still has the desire to please their owner, the owner just needs to know how to tap into the dog’s desire to please and attention.