Buffalo Tails Training

Piper’s owner sent me this video update and we are so thrilled with her progress!!! We’ve been building on Piper’s enthusiasm, relationship, and drive with her family - and everyone has just been doing an excellent job. I’m so proud of this team!

V I D E O #3 Athena being able to relax on a walk.... before we were caught in a thunderstorm! This stuff doesn’t have to take months....years... to address. Each dog is different. But this was a less than 12 hour turnaround. And of course we are going to be practicing this in all kinds of new areas! She’s not cured, but dang, are we on the right path!

V I D E O #2 I’m working with Athena on Heel. I’m using the cracks in the sidewalk as my visual guide. And her job is to keep her paws behind the cracks! You’ll also see towards the end of the video, there’s two reactive dogs that are passing each other. Now, it could be that Athena is under her threshold. BUT, she still surprised me here and didn’t respond to all the ruckus!

V I D E O #1 I did a voiceover to point out a few key details. If you haven’t checked out my last post on Athena, check that out first! I’m addressing and correcting her dog reactivity. And I’m timing my marker and correction at the moment her paws move forward.

Hey guys! Meet Athena she’s our new foster dog, and I’ll be working to get her trained up so she can be set up for success in her new home! As you can see, she would really like to tell you how she feels about that dog on the corner thankyouverymuch. I have videos to come, where we addressed this!

The single best thing you can do when you bring your new dog home: start on a clean slate. . What does that mean? .... We learn to let go of our dog’s past. We don’t make excuses for their behavior because of our emotional attachment to what they may have been through. I think this is the hardest starting point for new dog owners who are interested in adopting. When we bring our new dog home, it is common to feel like the best thing for that dog is to unclip the leash as soon at the front door closes and say welcome home!, letting the dog make all of their own choices. Maybe we feel bad keeping the dog in a crate because they’ve been behind bars, or we want to leave their food out for them all day so they never need to feel hungry. . Much of this is human emotion. WE feel BAD for the dog, so we don’t create structure, rules, or boundaries from the first moment our dog walks through the door. The first few weeks, often the dog will be on their very best behavior. We think oh this dog is so sweet, well behaved, and calm! Soon enough, little behaviors start to pop up. He’s never done that before! She’s always been so good on her walkswhy is she barking at other dogs now!? . Here’s the answer. It’s also been put in practice with Frankie. . When you bring a new dog home show them to their crate/sectioned off area. Take them on a tour of your house while they are on leash. Keep them on leash for at least the first week, and always keep eyes so you can catch any bad behaviors and correct them. Give your new dog a few days to decompress by letting them rest. Feed them in the morning, and at night around the same time. Don’t try to be your new dog’s BFF. Don’t force interaction with your new dog, simply let them exist around you. Slowly begin to build your relationship with your dog. Don’t let your dog make their own choices, it is actually very stressful for them! Soon enough, you will start to see pretty quickly that your dog is looking to you for direction! And that’s what we want

Frankie would like to let you know: my history may be a mystery, but that doesn’t stop me from exploring new things around me! I love to learn, and gladly acce...pt payment in the form of food or praise! My foster brother and sister are teaching me how to be a dog by showing me how to play with them and with toys! I love to walk nice on my leash and go for walks.... could my new forever home be with you?! Frankie has a confident demeanor in new places and on walks. He can be a little shy around new people, but warms up quickly. While at his foster home, he has been working on: sit, come, down, heel, and place (go to a bed until released). He sleeps in a crate during the day and at night just fine, but does require some assistance/ further training going into the crate. Frankie is potty trained. He is friendly with other dogs, he hasn’t been tested with cats or children yet - but based on his demeanor his foster home thinks with proper introduction he would be fine. He’s also an active listener, he loves to wag his tail when you talk! Frankie would love to be your new best friend, fill out your application at www.petsalivewny.org

Meet Piper! This mama has been in her forever home for a week, after delivering a small litter of puppies unexpectedly! We don’t know her history, but know her understanding of any basic obedience is limited. So we are building all of her foundation to start! This clip was shot by her owner, working on her threshold with the crate door. This threshold practice will translate into all areas of Piper’s life; all entryways. ... Piper is their first dog. I want you to notice how proactive the owner is in closing the crate door when Piper tries to move through the threshold. This is what we worked on in our first lesson so far, and they are rocking this! The goal: boundary setting, and that calmness=release=reward. Hyperactivity and rushing the crate door are not acceptable! Piper is displaying signs of separation anxiety, which includes whining in the crate, and following her owners around the house. To tackle this, we will be slowly building her positive associations with the crate, and teaching the ‘place’ command. Nice work mama!

Meet Willow! She’s a 6mo chocolate lab/Aussie mix. - We will be working through several weeks of private lessons, guiding her owners on structure and leadership so this lady has better understanding of her boundaries! - We took the farthest walk in the neighborhood she’s ever been on, using a combination of food and prong collar conditioning to help guide her through situations that made her nervous. ... - I love using the prong collar and leash guidance combined with food for this reason. I was able to gently guide her, and also interrupt the cycle of anxiety that causes her to get fearful and nervous. She’s a smart lady, and I’m looking forward to seeing her progress! See more

Q: are there really that many bad dogs out there?? - a: There are good dogs who need training, leadership, and guidance to be at their best. And there are dogs who are struggling, that also need training, leadership, and guidance to get them to a better space to be their best. Don’t settle for an OK behaved dog. Set your expectations, and help your dog meet them!!

Dog training Question + Answer! Post your dog questions below, tag someone who may have a question, or private message me I’m going to answer all of your questions LIVE! Which gives me the option to chat with you, and also save the video so we can help other people! Remember: no question is too silly, and someone else likely is wondering the same thing! *I will update this post with the exact date/time of the FB live!

Before and After of Belle, the 3yo Golden! - Belle is a super sweet lady, but we are working to tune up her manners and awareness! She loves to jump and is quite mouthy. So we are teaching her how to keep all four paws on the ground when she says hello! -... In the before video of her walk, she’s super strong on a harness and could easily pull someone down! - I transitioned her to a prong collar. Her owner has some back problems that make walking Belle while she is pulling difficult! The great thing about introducing pressure and release on the collar, is that her handler is now able to walk her with ease! This is Belle’s second session, and I’m continuing to coach her owners on leash handling, because it’s not intuitive! You can see Belle is a bit distracted by me, and her handler is redirecting her attention. This is still the early stages of learning, but these distractions are important to the process! Stay tuned for more of miss Belle as we polish up her walk

Mira’s trip to Home Depot! Mira has a history of severe reactivity to experiences that make her unsure. Where I have failed her over the years, around 6 years, is not teaching her how to avoid conflict and turn away. In addition to teaching her that her handler can advocate for her space. -... Generally, when you see a dogs ears go from pinned back, to alert and forward - some naughty thoughts are happening! I didn’t get a chance to catch that on this video, but what I’m patterning with Mira, and reactive dogs I work with, is a concept called crittering. Where we get close to the thing that is causing stress, watch for those ears to go up, and make a 180 degree turn around. Mira is ecollar trained, so for her I’m giving a low-level tap on the collar (it’s as though I was extending a hand to tap on her shoulder). - I’m teaching her, that instead of moving forward and responding to the trigger by reacting and barking (because she and other reactive dogs have learned oh, I bark and the scaring thing goes away. This has positively reinforced the reactive behavior) she has the open of *turning away* from the trigger, while also conditioning that the world isn’t so scary, and we will help her navigate this crazy world

Training is soooo ruff :client dog, Daisy