CrewK9

03/23/2025

I had the pleasure of working with Daisy and her humans today. Best part was….it wasn’t raining out!

Daisy’s mom was having difficulty going for walks around the neighborhood because Daisy had really started to pull hard on her leash.

A change of equipment and some simple exercises to practice, and mom and dad looked like pro trainers by the end of our 1 hour session.

Daisy was a total star and showed off how capable she is, and how fun training can be!
I am excited to hear about their progress in the following weeks!

Call/text Kate at 778-899-5681 if you would like to discuss private training for you and your canine companion.

01/20/2025

01/18/2025

Do you live with small, yappy dogs like I do? Is your schedule hectic and you feel like you don’t have a lot of extra time to train?

Try this!! 👇
•Grab yourself a few containers of treats and place one at each door.
(I came accross this spice rack at the Cloverdale RAPS Thrift Store! I mounted it to my wall right by the door, and filled it with a variety of small treats).

•Whenever you enter the house (or guests come to the door), grab the treats. Interrupt your dogs barking by shaking the container. Say “Shush” or “Quiet” and the very moment there is a pause in the barking, reward your dog with a jackpot of treats on the floor.

•Have everyone else in the house start to do the same thing. Consistency is key!

•Plan ahead. Know when people are coming to the door so you can have treats ready to go. (I try to put my dogs outside in the back first. Allow company to come in, and then I shake the container of treats right infront of the dogs as I let them back inside. That way they intensely focus on me and the treats which prevents any barking. I sprinkle treats on the floor and bring the jar along with me to where my company is and say “go say hi!”)

Welcome to functional training baby!
No extra time is needed for this. Start training during your everyday routine.

You can spice things up further by only giving your dog treats in their crate or on a mat/bed etc. Put a cue word like “Place” together with it all.

Let me know if you have tried this, or if you plan on it. Let me know how it goes!

12/29/2024

😆

12/09/2024

The elves were busy training lastnight 😆 The mini Kong was my favourite!

11/28/2024

11/27/2024

You would never guess that I adopted this little girl a year ago, or that she is around 11-12 years old.

From watching this interaction with her, what kind of past do you think she had?

Winnie will usually scream or urinate when anyone tries to pick her up, including me, and I’m her person! She will not come to me when prompted, unless treats or squeaky toys are involved, and given the opportunity she will then she will run to her bed, usually cowering and sometimes peeing along the way.

Up until now she has always followed me around, and jumps right onto my lap (in a chair) when she wants attention. I’m starting to have everyone in the family only approach with food for now to see if we can desensitize her to being picked up, and eventually fade out food/toys entirely.
I’ll post our progress along the way!

11/22/2024

Happy Friday!

11/19/2024

Reactivity happens when a dog becomes overly aroused by stimuli around them. Often times, dogs that become reactive have gone through a pretty stressful event in their life, and more than not, it happens at a dog park.

Reactive dogs come in all shapes and sizes, but they usually act the same. They are very aware of their surroundings, become fixated on the trigger, stiffen up, make themselves look bigger, bark and sometimes even jump/lunge.

Having a reactive dog can be so challenging. It can be mentally and physically exhausting and can make going for walks absolutely daunting.

Here are 5 tips to help your reactive dog on walks:

1) Choose the timing of your walks. Don’t go when your dogs triggers will be out in full force. (Dogs, Cars, People, Kids etc.)

2) Keep a watch out for triggers before your dog sees them. This will give you the ability to maintain your distance and change directions if needed.

3) Do not let your dog fixate on what they are likely to bark at. Your dog can not look away when their trigger is too close (they have tunnel vision).
Use your dog’s leash as a steering wheel to guide them into a 180 degree U-turn away.

4) DO NOT punish your dog for barking. Your dog is having a major emotional reaction to something in their environment that is too difficult to handle. Often times reactivity stems from fear.

5. Consider hiring some help. Be sure to do your research on dog trainers in your area. Training has come a long way over the last few decades, but there are many trainers still using old and outdated methods that cause pain or discomfort to obtain quick results. Our dogs are our family members and deserve to be treated with kindness and compassion.

Looking to start some training? Or perhaps you know someone who could use some help with their reactive dog? CrewK9 has gift certificates just in time for Christmas!

Email me (Kate) at [email protected] or text 778-899-5681 anytime!

Ps.The decoy dog is not real (obviously) as this was a class I did a while back working with student trainers. Most dogs will still react the same way to a fake dog, and when doing a session where bite history is unknown or the owner is learning, it’s safer to start this way.

10/23/2024

You never know when you might need this lifesaving technique!
I used “A” on my 5 year old dog Minnie a couple weeks ago.

10/15/2024

Hi everyone!

I know it’s been a minute since I’ve been active on my page.
To be honest, it’s because I suffered multiple injuries, one after the other, from very strong and reactive dogs. I was contemplating whether or not I was built for dog training.
Currently I’m still having issues with one arm, but starting to accept the fact that this may be a chronic issue now 😔

I really miss training though. Being able to bring understanding and hope to humans and their canines is definitely joy of mine.

I hope to start booking sessions again for Saturdays or Weekday evenings.

Send me a message or email ([email protected]) and let me know what I can help you with!
Zoom sessions are also an option.

04/19/2024

Be kind. Pay your dog when they make good choices 😊

04/14/2024

Found this while scrolling today....

How the Kong ball was invented.

The Kong toy was invented by accident more than 40 years ago when Joe Markham needed a way to prevent his German Shepherd Fritz from biting on rocks and sticks. Fritz, who Markham adopted as a shelter dog, had worn down his teeth to one-third of the size they should have been.

He was working on his vehicle and tossed an axle stop with an attached bracket on the ground. His dog got hold of it and loved it. He was playing with it joyously, much to Markham’s amusement.

He said to his friend, “What do you think of my new dog toy?”

His friend replied, “Actually, it’s not too pretty. It looks like an earplug from King Kong.”

And the Kong toy was born☝😉