Kokopelli Journey

Puppy Checklist – 12 Steps to Prepare for Your New Arrival!

Photo by Kaboompics .com on Pexels.com

CONGRATULATIONS!  You’re acquiring a new puppy, and you want to be the best owner you can be.  If you’re 100% confident this is the right size, breed, energy level, and temperament for yourself and your family for the next 15+ years, read on!  If you’re not sure whether this puppy will be the right fit, please email me for a free assessment.

If you rescued,…

Reactivity: Leash tip – hold ’em close.

I’ll be the first to tell you: Do NOT put tension on the leash if you’re dog’s getting tense.  That will make it worse.

However, having owned the queen of reactive dogs, as any of my colleagues can tell you, I learned something fascinating.  If you simply keep the leash short, so they’re right next to you, and try your best to keep it loose — a miracle happens.  I don’t know why, but most of the…

Counter Conditioning: Easy as 1 2 3

Really simple counter conditioning exercise for dogs who react to people, other dogs, or certain things while out on a walk:

Dog sees the trigger at a safe distance.

Mark that the dog has seen the trigger with a “yes” and visibly drop treats in the grass at the dog’s feet.

Repeat until the trigger is out of sight.

So simple!  By staying away, you ensure your dog remains comfortable enough to…

Simple Solutions: How to stop any behavior problem in any dog!

Whenever you find yourself wishing you could get your dog to STOP THAT, try to think of what you want your dog to do.  You don’t want them to bark at the doorbell, you don’t want them to steal food off the counter, you wish they’d quit jumping at strangers, and you wish they’d stop playing keep away with their favorite toy.

The solution will come to you quite quickly if you think of what you want…

Reactive Dogs: Desensitization + Behavior Adjust Training (BAT) & Constructional Aggression Technique (CAT)

Last time, I wrote about the importance of discovering your dog’s motives, how to find someone who can help you address their behavior, and what the Look At That game can do for you in terms of counter conditioning a dog’s negative association with a trigger.  Today will go over the other side of a reactive dog’s training protocol, and that’s desensitization.  It is essential that the dog is…

Reactive Dogs: Counter Conditioning with Look At That (LAT)

When you have a reactive dog, more often than not, they are reactive because they associate something or someone with a negative experience and/or emotion.  It can quite commonly be some form of fear, such as concern for survival or insecurity about how to handle a situation; but it can also be frustration.  How do you know which it is?  How do you know whether your dog is truly aggressive and…