Welcome to the "Excel your dogs training" program

Welcome to the "Excel your dog's training" program

We know life is busy! and stuff happens! We also know that even when we have the best intentions with our furry family members, that we can let training fall by the wayside. We also know that sometimes it's nice to have someone do the "dirty work" for us ;) 

We designed this program for those dogs who have been through The Ruff Life basic group classes, but need a little bit more one on one attention! 

These are just some of the many things we would love to help you achieve with your pooch:

• Alleviate issues with sensitivities, anxiety and nervousness 
• Improve and rebuild confidence
• Improve issues with aggression
• Restore basic manners
• Advance obedience and tricks
• Reliable recall
• and much more

This Package Includes:

**3 one on one sessions with Monique & your dog

**Mental & physical exercise

**Pick up & drop off of your dog

**Video Progress 

**Instructions on how to continue training 

**Mini Session with owner

Here is what some clients are saying about this program:

Thank you Monique (& the excel your dog training) for helping Gemma and myself start to gain back the confidence that we had lost over the previous few months when going to the dog park. I can't believe how far Gemma has come in only 3 sessions and I couldn't ask for a more genuine and caring person to work with my pup! Thanks you for being there when I need a reminder of how far we have come! I appreciate your continued support more than words can explain & I think Gem does too! 

♡ Hope & Gemma

Dear Ruff Life, many thanks to the humans and doggies that helped my  Teddy thru the Excel program! Teddy has definitely shown lots of improvement when meeting other dogs, his distance recalls and his overall confidence has grown. His nuisance barking has decreased and instead of being the annoying, barking dog-in-training at the dog park - he is super popular, made lots of friends (humans and dogs) and receives lots of compliments!! By the way, I LOVED the videos. I can't believe the stuff he does for you - evidence was INCREDIBLE!!!!! I am working hard at home in hopes that he will act that way for me. Shakin' muddy paws and slobbery kisses: 

Sincerely Sabrina, Teddy and Matthias.

Krash

MEET KRASH

Everyone meet Krash. This beauty is one of the oldest dogs that have been through our Excel program! Krash is a a New Zealand Heading Dog, and protects her farm/home/family from coyotes.  Krash is having a hard time differentiating the difference between friendly dogs that come to the property to visit and coyotes. We can totally see why this can be so confusing..... technically they look very similar... and Im sure some of them even act similar.

She is just doing her job? right?!

Teaching Krash that other dogs are positive things is going to be difficult, but we are totally up for the challenge. 

Krash's mommy and daddy would like to bring Krash on horse outings, outdoor adventures and have their friends bring their dogs over with out Krash getting protective and reactive. They would also like us to work on her recall as she can have selective hearing, and fine tune some of her obedience. 

We are super excited to work with this pretty girl, and see what we can come up with!!

Session 1 of 3

Tuesday, August. 26th, 2014

Today we went and picked up Krash from her mommy's office to chat with her about everything she wanted us to work on. When it was time to take her with us, she seemed a little uneasy, and very unsure as to what was going on. She was hesitant getting in the truck, but once we got moving...she seemed to settle in nicely. Until she noticed that Kona and Yoko were in the box of the truck. It was then that she decided to let us know there was danger!! The scary threatening border collies were in the back loving life in the breeze. Tongues hanging out and smiling faces... must be scary lol.

Once we got to the dog park,  you could tell that Krash was pretty overwhelmed. She walked in very slowly... just checking out the view... and all the dogs that were there to help her out with her training. Little did she know that this was going to be an awesome adventure. 

It didn't take long for Krash to relax and and ignore the pooches around her. We were able to give her half of her leash right off the bat. This allowed her to have a bit of freedom and check out the sights and sounds.

Once we got into the forest we started to do some confidence boosting drills.. which she LOVES!!! This girl LOVES having a job to do, and she is such a pleaser. We had so much fun getting her to walk across logs, jump over things and go under logs. Even her recalls where improving!! She is such a good girl!

By the end of class Miss Krash was walking amongst several dogs at the end of her 20 ft lead... not only was she behaving but she was also wagging her tail!!! What a cutie patootie! 

We can't wait until next week, so we can continue to teach Krash that dogs are positive fun things. 

Check out her video progress below!!!

A very big thank you to Raechel with Ty, Lydia with Chë and Kona and Yoko for their puppy support!!

Session 2 of 3

Thursday, September. 4th, 2014

Oh sweet smart Krash!!! Is that you?!??!?! WHAT A DIFFERENCE in this gal! Today when we got to the dog park, we were greeted by 8 or 9 dogs right off the bat. Krash seemed a little unsure, but it just took a simple recall for her to leave a situation when we read that she was uncomfortable. What a good girl!! By the end of the session she had greeted at least 40 dogs!

Quite honestly we are blown away by Krash's progress in 2 sessions! yay! Today Krash earned some well deserved off leash time, where she was allowed to run full tilt with Kona and Yoko.... and she did GREAT!!! ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ Each time she ran with them, she kept her manners, and "turned off" when the run was done or she was called back. This is such a great thing to see, especially with a herding breed. This can be a difficult task at the best of times..but she mastered it.

Krash LOVES LOVES LOVES doing a good job, and loves doing confidence boosting drills even more! That huge smile takes over her sweet face, and her ora completely changes. She seems free, and so so happy. It is such a humbling experience to watch this transformation.

We are also very very excited to announce that Krash has found her self a new (young) boyfriend. lol. As soon as she met Odus she was doing the play bow and bouncing around like a young pup. We think it was love at first sight. 💞 (We even caught some of it on video~please don't mind the bad quality on that section of her update;)

We absolutely can not wait to see Krash's smiling face next week!! and we also can't wait to show her mommy and daddy how wonderful and happy she is.

Check out her video progress below!!!

A very big thank you to Ashlea with Odus, Rio and his dad, and Kona and Yoko for their puppy support!!

Session 3 of 3

Friday, September. 12th, 2014

EEEEKKKK!!! This girl has us literally jumping for Joy! This is exactly why we do what we do. Today was a huge success, as Krash met several dogs ...all of which she greeted nicely or tried to play with them. Quite honestly we couldn't wipe the smile off our face. We are so so very proud of this girl and her success.

Today we picked Krash up from her home, instead of her mommy's office. We were wondering if she was going to be okay with a truck with dogs pulling up on 'her' property. Once she noticed the truck she came running over with a HUGE smile on her face. It was so wonderful to see!! We just opened the truck door and she jumped right in. We think she was pretty exciting for her outing. ;) We even got tons of kisses when we were driving. There is nothing like a wet sloppy kiss right in the ear. lol

Once we got to the dog park, you could see Krash's excitement. It was oozing out of her. We made sure she walked nicely into the dog park and did some recalls and commands before we let her completely off her leash. She was so proud of herself when she earned her 'freedom'. What a cutie!!!

About an hour into Krash's session we asked that her brother (Oberon), mom and dad came and met us so they could see her progress....and so we could see how she acted when they were around. We were concerned that she might feel the need to protect her family from the other dogs. But lo and behold, she kept her new found skills, composure and continued on like nothing had changed. She is such a good girl!!!

It's going to be very important that Krash's mommy and daddy give Krash some jobs to do. This girl glows, grows and her soul smiles through and through when she does a good job! She loves to use her brain. It will also be important to randomly introduce Krash to well behaved dogs. So she doesn't go back to associating coyotes and dogs together.

We really are so proud, of this girl and her immense progress! We can't wait to get updates on her.

A very big thank you to Greg with Stella, Hanna & Benjamin, and Kona and Yoko for their puppy support!!

Saol

MEET SAOL

Everyone meet Saol!!! This handsome fella is a 7 month old Australian Cattle Dog! ...and we just think he is the cutest thing ever, HYPER but a cutie patootie none the less.

Saol is the second youngest dog to come through our Excel program... and we are so excited to watch him grow, learn and be the best that he can be. ;)

Saol just finished the Ruff Life training not that long ago, but his momma thought that we could help fine tune a couple things. Saol comes across as cool and collected when walking on a leash, but when he gets a chance to play with other dogs... well... thats a whole other story. This handsome fella gets a little crazy, and looses his brain temporarily. lol. He has been known to 'dominate' other dogs, which can get him into trouble... so that is one of the first things that we are going to work on. We want to teach him that this behaviour is unacceptable, because we don't want him to get into trouble with a grumpy dog. 

Our goal is to find specific things that grasp Saol's mind, to keep him focused... calm... and wondering what is next. We also want to teach him the types of behaviours that we LOVE, and the ones that we could do with out.... tighten up his obedience and teach him that recalls are the best things ever.

Session 1 of 3

Thursday, August. 7th 2014

Today we went to Saol's mommy and daddy's office to pick him up for his exciting adventure, and to have a quick chat with his mom about some specific things we would like to work on.

Saol was VERY excitable, and jumped up and barked to let us know he was pleased to see us!! One behaviour that Saol's mom wants us to help with is how pushy/demanding he can be with people... so this will be something we will have to work on each time we come to pick him up. Excitement is good... demanding can be less then desirable... 

When we got to the dog park Saol was über excited to be there, and to see DOGS!!! It took us a little bit, but we got Saol to walk calmly into the dog park before we gave him his entire leash for some running around time. 

We tried to do a couple recalls right off the bat, but Saol acted as though he lost ALL of his hearing... crazy when that happens. I guess this handsome fella is going to make us work for our money lol but we are up for the challenge. We are just going to make sure that he has some good drive for food next time ;) 

By the end of the session Saol was starting to get the hang of being a respectable gentleman, he was starting to relax and have fun doing his confidence boosting drills, his recalls were getting better, and his obedience was great!!!

We can't wait until the next time we get to work with this cutie!!!

Check out his video progress below.

(A very BIG thank you to Tammy with Hank and Nelly, and Kona and Yoko for their puppy support)

Session 2 of 3

Thursday, August. 14th 2014

Oh Handsome Saol! You are such a character! 

Today we picked Saol up and he got to ride in the back of the truck. It was like he had already done it in a past life... he hopped right up, got clipped in, and sat down with a HUGE smile on his face for the entire ride. 

Today was a BUSY day at the dog park, and there was LOTS of distractions and situations that we were able to use and learn from! At the beginning of the session it was hard to get Saol's attention, even if we had treats (Yummy hot dogs), and were jumping up and down like crazy people. lol. The world's an exciting place you know!! ;) So we stepped up our game, and not only were we über exciting!!! But we did tons of obstacles WITH Saol to grasp his mind. Our little trick worked ;) and it didn't take long until Saol was wondering what we were going to do next. Wheew!!! I think we are going to need a nap after all of this agility stuff! 

We noticed right from the beginning of the class that Saol's manners had improved immensely with other dogs. It just took a calm "leave it" to get him to stop being to 'forward' with other pooches. We think he finally get's it ;) yay! He was even sweet as pie with the small ones.

This handsome man is so smart! He reminds us of an old soul. Saol is quite particular about what makes him tick.. but we think he really really likes this stuff that 'grasps his mind'. Once he get's it, it seems to work even better then treats, toys or sticks... although those are good things to mix it up. 

We can't wait until next week!! For more adventures of Saol!

Check out his video progress below.

(A very BIG thank you to Greg with Stella, Carmin with Cabella and Bandit and Jasper for their puppy support)

Session 3 of 3

Thursday, August. 21st 2014

Oh what a character sweet Saol is... so calm, cool and collected... it's been fun figuring out what makes this man tick!! At first we tried food, then toys, then sticks, then obstacles (we know he loves those...but that wasn't quite it).. and FINALLY we figured out all it takes is a good old fashion bum scratch and a few kisses. Saol is a ladies' man for sure ;) Just look at that face below. lol 

Today was a fun day at the park with lots of distractions (ie. people, dogs and thousands of grasshoppers), which gave us tons of opportunities to work on manners with other dogs ....which I must say... has come ten fold in 3 short weeks (no more humping or excessive licking), recalls out of exciting situations, leaving awesome smells behind when called, and learning to stay in commands even though there is fun stuff going on around him. We are so proud of this progress thus far.

It's going to be really important that Saol's mommy keeps this man's mind challenged, so he doesn't find ways himself. Saol is a methodical man.. you can literally watch him thinking. He may be to smart for his own good. he he. He knows when we can get away with things, and will push the boundaries... just like all those loving teenagers out there. ;)

We know Saol's mommy will do a great job, as they are a wonderful team!!! We can't wait to watch them grow together.

Check out his video progress below.

Good Vs. Evil = Prim and Proper Vs. Goofy and Fun

(A very BIG thank you to Chloe and Erik with Toby and Juniper, and Kona and Yoko for their puppy support) 

Lexie

MEET LEXIE

Everyone meet sweet Lexie! This beautiful girl is a Bullmastiff x Bouvier. She is also a Calgarian now ;) but is back visiting some family in the Okanagan. Lexie came through training a few years ago, and is back for a little one on one attention with Monique.

Lexie is a sweet, sensitive and well behaved girl that has a few issues that her mommy would like us to help her with. This beauty has some issues with separation anxiety, most likely due to her lack of confidence. She likes to pull on the leash, and needs a wee-bit of fine tuning on her obedience. Lexie's mommy also wanted us to make sure that she was okay around bicycle tires, as she had a little chase one day when out with the dog walker. (Who wouldn't want to chase a bicycle... they are fun and exciting... right?!?!) ;D

We will be really focusing on bringing Lexie's confidence up enough that she is well on her way to being "bomb proof", and teaching her the command "place" where she will learn to be calm and relaxed. 

Session 1 of 3

(Thursday, July.17th 2014)

Today we met up with Lexie's Dad/Grand-dad in town. He had specifically brought her in for training today, to see what kind of fun new behaviours that we could teach her/work on. We noticed right off the bat that Lexie looked a little nervous, but she is such a love... and came right over for attention. It had been a while since we had seen this pretty girl... but she recognized us right away. What a cutie! because there were some specific behaviours that we wanted to work on with Lexie today, we decided that it would just be some one on one time... with no other dogs. 

When it was time to load Lexie into the truck, she jumped in with little to no concern. Which was a great start to our session. We decided to take her to a very mellow part of town where we could work where there was little to no distractions to start. At first we just got her walking nicely on leash, and got to a point where we could drop the leash on the ground and still have her pay close attention to us! This girl is such a smart cookie ;) 

Next we decided we would teach her a "Place" command. This command will teach Lexie to go to her bed/blanket...etc. and either stand, sit or down. (That part is up to her). We expect that she stays in this place and is calm and collected. We made sure that we varied the command to ensure that it does not matter if it's 2 seconds or 2 minutes. Either way.... she should still remain in a calm state. Miss. Lexie picked this up so quickly, but was not "diggin'" the treats... so we started to reward her with a stick... we think she enjoyed that ;) Her ears perked up, and she ran multiple times for the stick when she was released. She was having a good time... which is so important! We even got a ton of distance from this pretty girl, while she stayed calm as a cucumber!

Last but not least we wanted to work on teaching Lexie that bicycle tires should be respected not eaten... as that can be more then dangerous for both rider and dog. She started teaching her to give the bike space while in motion, and then we started to incorporate weaves and circles... and taught her how to get out of the way. She did fantastic... and she even looked like she LOVED running beside the bike. This might be a new hobby for Lexie's mommy to pick up ;)

We can't wait to watch this beautiful girl become a calm comfortable secure pooch ;)

Check out her video progress below ;) 

See you all next week for the adventures of Lexie!

Session 2 of 3

(Tuesday, July. 29th 2014)

Oh Sweet Lexie. We really watched you  come out of your shell today!!!

Today Lexie's dad/grandpa dropped her off at the dog park. She was quite unsure about the situation and it took a few minutes to get her focus instead of looking back to see where he went. She had no idea what she was in for today... but we had some pretty fun plans for her. We had six doggies and their owners at the park to help with her training. ❤️

We noticed that Lexie's Sits/Downs are amazing, but her recall is defiantly on her terms. We want to teach this pretty girl, that recalls are fun and it's important to come back when called.

It took about half of the class, but FINALLY Lexie started to get what we were teaching her. It was almost like a light bulb went on. Her demeanour totally changed, and she started to play with the other dogs, swim and have fun. It was so great to see!! You can defiantly see it in her video below!! 

We can't wait to see this pretty girl on Thursday!! 

A VERY big Thank you to Laurie & Mar with Jasper & Bandit, Laura with Ruger, Sabrina with Matthias, Sarah with Ripley and Kona for their puppy support!

See you all soon, for the adventures of Lexie.

Session 3 of 3

(Thursday, July. 31st 2014)

Oh Miss Lexie! You have sure come out of your shell!!! It's so nice to see this girl finally relax and have fun PLAYING!!!!! and leaping and bounding with excitement. She is SUCH a cutie!!!! We are going to miss this girl dearly!!

Today we had Lexie's dad/grandpa come to the class and teach him all the new stuff that Missy Miss learned during her sessions with us. They BOTH did so great! It was really neat to see this team work together. Lexie was super excited to do her confidence boosting drills, recalls, and swim and play with the other dogs. We think she LOVES her new found niche... and she will do so great when she goes back home to Alberta.

Lexie's mom is going to have to do lots of confidence boosting drills to keep this girl smiling and happy!! Lexie very much needs jobs to do to keep her feeling good about her self. She just LOVES to please!!! Learning how to keep recalls fun will also be an asset!! (So lots of love and yummy treats), and last but not least... lots of play time with other pooches!!!

We will miss this girl so much!!! But we know she is going to excel with her new training!!! 

Keep up the great work pretty girl!!

A VERY big Thank you to Tammy and the girls with Hank and Nelly, and Carmin with Cabella for their puppy support!

Check out how great Lexie and her Dad/Grandpa work together in her final video below!!!

Jenny

MEET JENNY

Everyone Miss. Jenny! This beautiful girl is a 4.5 year old Bullmastiff X. She may come across as a confident, secure girl...but really she is sensitive, sweet and not sure in a lot of different situations.

Miss Jenny feels the need to protect her mommy, especially when there are other dogs around. She seems to be much better with other people, but her mom is the one that she feels she needs to safeguard....We think it's because she thinks her mom is pretty special to her!! and not to mention there are some crazy dogs out there ;) Who wouldn't want to protect the one they love the most?!? We just want to teach Jenny that protecting people is not necessary... and crazy as it seems... the people she wants to protect... might be better at controlling the situation then she is.

Jenny came through The Ruff Life training years ago, but now it's time to fine tune some of these behaviours so she can spend more quality time with the ones that she loves.

Session 1 of 3

(Monday, July.7th 2014)

Today we met up with Jenny's mom and the kids to see what they wanted us to work on with this sweet girl. Jenny reacts when she see's other dogs, it doesn't matter if she is in the house or out on the town. This creates a lot of anxiety and avoidance for her mom, as Jenny is strong and persistent and avoidance feels like the best option so far while they are out and about. So this is the number one thing we want to work on. 

You could tell that Jenny was unsure about why Monique was at her house, especially when it was time to leave... and she realized that her family wasn't tagging along. 

When we got to the dog park, Jenny got to meet and greet with Kona and Yoko, and several other dogs (We think 14 in total). We could tell that she was nervous and a little uncomfortable... but with a little re-assuring she did really well. This is VERY exciting!!! as it is evidence to support what Monique thought all along... Jenny isn't truly "aggressive"... she is just insecure, and not sure how to behave in new situations. Unfortunately as humans, sometimes our reactions teach our dogs un-desirable behaviours, especially when we are fearful. (unknowingly of course)

Our goal is to put Jenny into a pack situation with stable temperamented dogs, so she will feel confident and comfortable when approaching new dogs. This is our way of showing Jenny that not all situations are as scary as they seem. Kona, Yoko, Jasper, Bandit, Dozer and Ripley all showed her that meeting new dogs was a cake walk.

During our session Jenny did pretty good at her obedience and recalls... but we will need to tighten up a few things in the next couple weeks. It seems when she is distracted she may have a tad bit of selective hearing ;) 

We can't wait to see Jenny's progress and her growth with both her and her mom in the next few weeks. We are looking forward to watching her come out of her shell and be a cool and collective love bug that we know she really is. 

Below is a video of her progress. (unfortunately we had our camera on the wrong setting...so some of it is blurry)

See you all next week for the adventures of Jenny ;)

A VERY big thanks to Laurie & Mar with Bandit and Jasper, and Sarah with Ripley, and Kona & Yoko for their puppy support)

Session 2 of 3

(Monday, July.21st 2014)

Oh Miss Jenny... we so very proud of you and your progress so far.

Today Jenny did so great that she got some well deserved time off leash! YAY! We started off the session by doing a few confidence boosting drills, we figure a lot of Jenny's reactivity is stemming from a lack of confidence. So we are going to tackle that beast ;) and teach her that the world isn't such a scary place. Easy job right??!?! It can be!! We just need to turn our imagination on, and see what we can come up with.

During our session Jenny got to meet and greet with several different dogs, some that she was comfortable with right off the start... and some that she was defiantly un-sure of. We focused on using lots of praise to help Jenny out in the situation, and if the situation got too tense... we were there to help her 'escape'. (Give her an exit plan). We are teaching Jenny that it is important to "un-zone" when she is uncomfortable... and to either look for an escape route or to look to us for guidance.

We are starting to notice that Jenny likes to do some of the obedience, recalls and confidence boosting  drills on 'her time'. So next session we will be focusing a little harder at building up some more drive, so she is attentive. We want to turn this pooch into a keen learner, who is confident, happy and content.

Can't wait till next week, for more adventures of Jenny ;)

Check out her video progress below. 

A VERY big thanks to Laurie & Mar with Bandit and Jasper, and Kona & Yoko for their puppy support)

Session 3 of 3

(Monday, July.28th 2014)

WOW! What an awesome session with Miss Jenny today!! 

She met sooo many dogs... and we even had tons of furry friends helping her learn that dogs aren't such scary, threatening animals. (Even if they do have sharp teeth and claws ;)

Today we were able to have the leash dropped or off the entire session. Quite honestly... we had to pick our jaw up off the ground... she was a totally different dog. ❤️ Even the other doggy owners were commenting on how well behaved she was. We just have to say... yet again... WE ARE SO PROUD OF YOU JENNY!!! Not to mention how relaxed she was around all the different types of stimuli. (Dog's running in groups, wrestling, dog's chasing sticks, dog's swimming, tons of people...etc.)

Jenny's mommy will have to really work on praising her when she is meeting and greeting other dogs, calling her out of stressful situations instead of pulling her out, keeping a loose leash, keeping her confidence up with confidence boosting drills and backing out of situations so she can give Jenny and "Escape Plan" if necessary. We know both Jenny and her mommy will do amazing!!! and we can't wait to work with them and see more progress. The more dogs/situations that they meet with positive outcomes... the more confidence they will both have. 

(And we also think that Miss Jenny found her soul mate Roman... they are so so adorable together.)

We can't wait to watch with duo grow. 

Keep up the great work!!! (Both of you)

Check out Jenny's final video below ;) It just makes us smile every time we watch it!!!

A VERY big thanks to Laurie & Mar with Bandit and Jasper, Grant with Jazzy, Sarah with Roman, Chris & Tammy with Hank and Nelly, Lydia with Chè and Sage and her mommy for their puppy support)

Che

MEET CHE

Everyone meet Che! This cutie patootie is a 5 month old Portuguese Water Dog...and we think he is just adorable! HYPER...but adorable. lol

Che is officially our youngest "Excel" dog! (at a whole whopping 5 months old)... so we are excited to watch him grow! Literally ;)

Che LOVES life and everything is SUPER exciting! Che is one of those puppies that NEEDS to be mentally and physically stimulated or he gets him self into trouble. It takes sooo much concentration to sit still ;D 

Che's mommy and daddy want to make sure that he is well behaved pooch, so they asked us for some extra help. Some things that we will be working on this little man are: NOT chasing cars (apparently its extremely exciting), NOT eating rocks and pebbles (we don't think he got the memo that there is no nutritional value to those hard things), manners with people and other pooches, fine tuning and advancing obedience, and the most desired thing every parent wants... a reliable recall.

Session 1 of 3

Thursday, February. 27th 2014

Today we went to Che's house to pick him up for his exciting outing! and to have a quick chat with his daddy! When we were talking about the things we would like to work on with Che, he was continually eating rocks/pebbles, lunging and barking at vehicles driving by and jumping up on us. Oh puppies! How we love the.. SO CUTE! (for now)

When we got to the dog park he was ...wait for it... SUPER EXCITED! (he he)

He wanted to run straight in to the park and play with every dog....but we want to teach this handsome young man that he needs to be polite and then he will be rewarded with play time.

It didn't take long before we had most of Che's attention. We just made sure we did lots of fun games, recalls and confidence boosting drills, so we could start to grasp his mind. Of course the yummy treats helped too!

By the end of the class Che was recalling from high distractions, listening to verbal cues when he was playing to rough, and jumping onto logs and stumps in hopes that he would get a treat and praise.

We can't wait to play and train with this little one next week... and he will even have a fresh new "do".

Check out his video progress below;)

(A very BIG thank you to Sabrina with Matthias, Greg with Stella, Sarah with Roman, and Kona and Yoko for their puppy support)

Session 2 of 3

Thursday, March. 13th 2014

Che... is that you????!?! It seems like you grew up over night, and you are growing up so fast! Or maybe its that snazzy new haircut!

WOW! What a big difference in this boys demeanour. It was SOO much easier to get Che's attention today! It seems our evil plan is working ;) he he he... We have been doing TONS of confidence boosting drills with Che to grasp his mind, to keep him out of that crazy puppy threshold of no return....kidding! There is almost always a return...but you get the idea. 

Che's recalls, 'leave it' commands for not putting every known rock in his mouth, not chasing vehicles, manners around people and dogs has come leaps and bounds. We still have a bit of cleaning up to do...but the progress is wonderful and motivating to see ;) YAY! CHE!!!

Check out Che's life in the fast lane video below ;)

(A VERY big thank you to Laurie & Mar with Jasper & Bandit, Ricki with Little, Greg with Stella, and Kona & Yoko for their puppy support.)

Session 3 of 3

Thursday, March. 27th 2014

Today Che was such a lucky boy! Not only did he have tons of fun! His mommy joined us for the entire session. 

Che was such a good boy today! His recalls are GREAT! no matter if he is playing, running or distracted smelling something. He did seem a little off though... at first he didn't want to jump up on anything...which seems kind of a little odd for a puppy. But with tons of motivation from his mom and I... and yummy treats.. we convinced him to have fun. lol.

Che has come along way from his rock eating days... it has been a constant thing that we have been working on... and it seems to be working. He isn't paying attention to the ground as much anymore...instead he is always watching...guessing what we are going to do next. ;)

It will be very important for Che's mommy and daddy to keep him not only physically but also mentally stimulated. (so that means challenging his mind, giving him jobs to do, and teaching him new and exciting things...even if its just a new obstacle  Our best advice to them is.. a tired dog is a happy owner ;)
Che is a water dog... and they are bred for this type of stuffs 8-) It will also be important to keep an eye out for bad situations (ie.. grumpy dogs that want nothing to do with young puppies) so they can call him away from a bad situation before it happens.

We are so excited...and quite frankly stoked for getting updates on this guy!!! We know he has so much potential!

Check out his video below!

(A VERY big thank you to Ricki with Little, Vince with Ripley, Greg with Stella and Kona and Yoko for their puppy support)

Jaida

Meet Jaida

Everyone meet Jaida! This smily girl has aged so gracefully! Jaida is a 7 year old Chocolate Lab! 

Jaida has been known to get her self in a little bit of trouble over the years. Especially if there is a stick or ball involved (she may be a "little" obsessed).  She also feels the need to protect her mommy when they go on walks together. 

Jaida seems like a fairly confident and stable girl, but we think she actually is secretly hiding that she can be insecure in some situations. She also has some bad manners with other dogs and feels the need to dominant and pounce them if they threaten her... which could just be a dog walking by when she has a ball in her mouth. So Jaida's mommy decided to get her a little more one on one attention to fix some of these issues.

We know this beautiful girl has a ton of potential, and we can't wait to help her discover it!

Session 1 of 3

(Friday, March. 7th, 2014)

This afternoon when we picked up Miss. Jaida, we got a chance to talk to her mommy... and go over everything that we wanted to work on with this pretty girl. Some main concerns and things we want to work on are: aggression towards dogs (this can be when she has a ball or stick, or even when she is going on a walk with her mommy), recalls, ball & stick obsession, obedience and manners and socialization. 

We defiantly have our hands full! But we are SOOO up for the challenge! When we first got Jaida into the truck, she noticed that Kona & Yoko where in the back of the truck. She was so excited! She whined and bounced around the back seat... so this was the first thing that we worked on with her. She needed to learn that vehicle time, was quite time... because a bounding, whining and excitable dog is dangerous while driving. Jaida picked this up pretty fast! She is soooo smart. Once we  got close to the dog park, Jaida started to have a slight breakdown (with excitement of course)... so we worked on the vehicle manners once again. Once the truck was parked, we tried to get Jaida out of the truck...but she proceeded to try and bowl us over.... Little did she know... this was defiantly not happening. We worked on this as well ;) Apparently she gets SUPER excited in the vehicle... 💖

Once we made it into the park, Jaida was SUPER excited to see the other dogs. She tried pulling to see each and everyone...she learned very quickly that pulling would not get her what she wanted. She had to have manners to get to visit other pooches! It didn't take long! She is such a smart cookie! (and such a good girl at heart)

Today we worked on TONS of recalls, so she learned that they were fun and exciting! There is a bit of method to our madness... we taught her that they are exciting so she had NO idea that it was a "command". *muah hahahaha! Some other things we worked on were... teaching her an "off switch" so we could 'un-zone' her, confidence boosting drills! (we want to grasp her mind), leaving sticks and large trees alone ;) and obedience.

Jaida did really well today!! and we are pretty darn impressed with how much she learned in one session! We can't wait until next week!

Check out this beautiful girls progress below! (Via video)

(A VERY big thank you to Tanya with Izzy, Ricki with Little, Sarah with Roman, Greg with Stella, Randi with Callie, Vince with Ripley, Chris with Hank & Nelly and Kona and Yoko for their puppy support!)

Session 2 of 3

(Friday, March. 14th, 2014)

Oh Miss Jaida! You are such a love! We had a ton of fun with this girl today! She just LOVES doing her confidence boosting drills. Half the time we don't even need to tell her what to do, we just start walking towards the obstacle and she jumps up on it, over it or under it! Such a pleaser!!!!! 

We are also teaching this beauty that its not okay to pick up sticks at all. (She is a little obsessive...but shhhh! don't tell her that ;) If she had it her way she would take down a small forest every time she was out and about! 💜 She seems quite okay with the idea, as she is rewarded ten fold when she "leaves it". 

Today we really focused on her manners with other dogs...Which she did GREAT!... we even came across a couple of grumpy pooches and tried to dominate her and she did wonderful! We also wanted to focus on recalling her out of intense situations (like running beside/with other dogs and watching another dog chase after a ball)... it was like we were 'tapped' in with her today... she did beautifully! 

Check out Miss Jaida's video below;) We thought it was perfect for her!

(A VERY big thank you to Tammy with Hank & Nelly, and Greg with Stella for their puppy support!)

Session 3 of 3

(Friday, March. 21st, 2014)

Oh Missy Miss! You are so super smart... and we just LOVE LOVE LOVE your huge smile!

Today it was just us and Jaida & the big ol' park with tons of other pooches and people! We decided to make sure she got a little extra one on one attention today!

This beautiful chocolate girl was doing so well, that we started to advance her confidence boosting drills (doing obstacles from a distance), advance her obedience (doing recalls/sit's and downs with tons of distance) and play different games like "where is the stick" and then teaching her that "leave it" was a game instead of a punishment. It got to the point where Jaida would run over to a stick when we asked where one was and just wait for us to tell her to leave it... such a SMART cookie ;) This only worked for so long, and then she was ignoring the sticks all together. PERFECT!!!! This is the exact behaviour that we were looking for! Our evil plan worked...muah hahahahhah!!!!

We truly believe that Jaida is just one of those pooches that was displaying undesirable behaviours because she wanted us to step up and give her new/fun/exciting jobs and games to do. She needed the praise, love, challenge and reward to be 'whole'.

It will be important for Jaida's mommy to keep her mind working, praising for good/desirable behaviours (and not just standing in awe quietly ;) *winks, to read situations before they effect her (recalling her back when someone is throwing a ball, there is a sensitive or grumpy dog, she is b-lining it to chase a dog...etc) and REWARD her with love, food and praise... because thats all this pretty girl needs to be happy!

We can not wait to hear about how wonderful Jaida is doing on her adventures! (and we know she will!)

Keep up the great work beautiful!!!!

Check out her video below!