#dogtrainertips

Do you advocate for your dog???

You wouldn't allow a stranger to approach your child, reach into the pram and pull them out for a cuddle. You'd intercede! Do your dog the same courtesy, and advocate for them.

Is your dog anxious about or scared of strangers? If so, when people ask to pat your dog say NO! You don't need to worry about offending that person, and you don't need to give a reason unless you want to. Be polite, but be firm, and your dog will learn that you are willing to step up on their behalf. 

Which means they don’t need to react.

Is your dog worried about other dogs? Make sure you react to the approach of other dogs and owners before they can allow their "friendly" dog to get in your dog’s face or in their space. It is not the right of that person who "just wants to socialise their dog" to override what you believe is best for your dog. Again, your dog needs to see that they have a strong leader who will step up on their behalf and not allow the other dog into their comfort zone. 

Which means they don’t need to react

A New Leash on Life Dog Training Head Trainer Profile:

Hi I'm Keryn, and I'm the head of A New Leash on Life and the rest of the team (the dogs are the heart of course lol) have insisted that I have to introduce myself, if I'm going to introduce them, so here goes:

Name: Keryn

Alternative name: Aunty K (to two gorgeous nephews)

Role: Head Trainer

Other roles: admin, social media and finance boss

Favourite role: Mum of dogs

Favourite Colour: blue

Favourite Food: chocolate

Favourite Day of the Week: any day with a sleep-in

Hobbies: My favourite (non-dog) activity is iPhone photography. The dogs are totally supporting of this because I used to take nothing but dog photos, now they feature in heaps less photos, and they often get to run, sniff and explore whilst I'm taking photos.

As a kid I wanted to be: a ballerina or an accountant. Thankfully I got over that as I'm not that good at maths and I definitely cannot dance.

Favourite place you have travelled to? Japan. I lived there for a few years after I finished school and got to see quite a bit of the country. I'd highly recommend it to anyone wanting to travel.

What dog breed would you like to have, but will never have & why? I'd super love to have a Great Dane, they are so regal and elegant. They come with their own unique set of living and training challenges, but all part of the fun. However, I'll never have one because they just take up too much space for my small home, it wouldn't be fair. And let's face it, cleaning up after their poos would be like living with an elephant lol.

How do you choose your dog training?

Increasingly as I speak to more and more potential clients I see that people are trying their hardest to train their dogs (which is awesome), but often they are training them with the wrong training method. Now, I'm not saying mine is the only right method, in fact mine is not the right method for many people, and that's ok, but what criteria should you use to choose the training that you want to do with your dog?

🏠 Should you choose something that is close by? Just around the corner from your house? Or at the local reserve?

⏰ Should you choose something that is on at a convenient time, or on a convenient day?

💲Should you choose an inexpensive option, something that falls within your budget?

👩‍🦱 Should you choose the same trainer as your friend or neighbour?

These are all important points to consider but if they are your primary motivation for selecting a dog trainer, business, or school then you may find yourself in a situation where you end up learning something that doesn't sit well with what you believe in, and therefore you end up not following through. It's amazing how many people are doing things differently at home to what their trainer is teaching them to do.

So, here's what I would advise you to do: 

Investigate the methodology that the trainer, training school or business is using and make sure you believe wholeheartedly in what they do, because if you don't you are not likely to practice, reinforce or follow through. And if you believe in it, you are more likely to get the results that you are after. After that then come back to the other points we considered above.

How to get a great pic of your doggo's!

Whilst I'm far from being a professional photographer, I do use some deliberate tactics to get the pics of my boys that I use on my pages.

🐕 Teach a super solid sit step away or drop step away so you know they will absolutely hold position for you whilst you walk away

🌳 If you are out in public and can't take them off lead, get your shot anyway as you can always edit out the lead, or hide the lead behind their body

📲 Angle matters - get down on their level (or raise them to yours on something interesting)

📷 The best camera is the one in your pocket, so even your smart phone can do a great job, but don't let your smart phone control the shot, set the focal point and exposure yourself if you know how (I didn't know how until I did my photography course)

🥎 Have some means of getting their attention but don't overuse it - I use squeaky noises or certain words that get their attention, but you could use a squeaky toy or treat held right next to the camera lens

✅ Take lots of shots - I keep clicking as I know that getting them to pay attention can be fleeting, and now that I'm trying to get three to pay attention all at once it's super tricky