Speak Dog K9 Training

Speak Dog K9 Training Helping owners understand their dog’s language to improve their relationship.

To current clients, potential clients, and friends:I’ve spoken with most current clients in person already about my curr...
06/22/2025

To current clients, potential clients, and friends:

I’ve spoken with most current clients in person already about my current condition. I am only taking clients on a case by case basis. I am pregnant (with our first child!) and am only able to take clients on a case by case basis, due to the behavior of the dog(s) and/or weight and size(s) of the dog(s). I am still able to take on some large or XL breeds, but it is determined also on their behavior and issues. My availability and flexibility will also be more limited due to changing priorities, energy levels, and scheduling.

For any potential and new clients: I always do a complimentary evaluation before scheduling training and this will not change. I will let you know at the evaluation if I’m able to work with you and your dog based on my current state. I apologize for any inconvenience!

I always try to be upfront and direct with my clients and will always communicate with any current clients directly if their training needs to be altered or changed. If you have any questions or concerns, please reach out!

Thank you for understanding,
Vanessa
Speak Dog K9 Training

Out of town for the upcoming long weekend! I may be slow to respond.
06/16/2025

Out of town for the upcoming long weekend! I may be slow to respond.

Poisoning the cue happens when the cue or command you are using in dog training becomes meaningless to your dog or becom...
06/09/2025

Poisoning the cue happens when the cue or command you are using in dog training becomes meaningless to your dog or becomes associated with something inaccurate. This happens when you use a command without being clear or maybe you haven’t reinforced the command enough so that your dog becomes confused. You know when you are becoming at risk of poisoning the cue when you have to repeat the command multiple times or if your dog acts like they have no idea what you mean. To prevent poisoning the cue, you can change the command and associate it with a new cue/word or you can spend longer reinforcing and teaching the command to your dog. Make sure you are always giving the same results after the command and your cue is consistent.


1. Dedicated time for practicing calm and self settling 2. Provides your dog a safe space to decompress and rest 3. Emot...
06/02/2025

1. Dedicated time for practicing calm and self settling
2. Provides your dog a safe space to decompress and rest
3. Emotional regulation to slow down and think before acting
4. Prevents separation anxiety
5. Helps your dog regulate their physical energy
6. Teaches your dog the ability to do nothing and work for calm


I’m out of town so may be slow to respond. Have a good week! 🌿
05/19/2025

I’m out of town so may be slow to respond. Have a good week! 🌿

If you haven’t seen the previous post on what littermate syndrome is, please read last week’s post! Most dog experts (ve...
05/12/2025

If you haven’t seen the previous post on what littermate syndrome is, please read last week’s post!

Most dog experts (vets, behaviorists, dog trainers) highly discourage buying or adopting two puppies from the same litter due to the prevalence of littermate syndrome. However if you as the dog owner, find yourself in a situation where you have two or more puppies from the same litter, there are some ways to prevent littermate syndrome from occurring.

It basically all boils down to treating the puppies as individuals and doing everything separately for each puppy. Crate training, walks, play time, training, outings, etc should all be separate. This will help prevent psychological and behavioral issues that stem from littermate syndrome by not letting the puppies learn to be codependent on each other. Having a stable, balanced adult dog in the household can also help to diffuse the bond between the siblings and provide correction.

Littermate syndrome escalates around when the puppies reach adolescent. Behaviors that were tolerable when they’re young can rapidly escalate. It’s crucial if you’re in this situation to start treating them as individuals right away even if this does mean you will inevitably be doing double the work.


Littermate syndrome is something most dog owners don’t know about when deciding to bring new puppies into their home. L...
05/05/2025

Littermate syndrome is something most dog owners don’t know about when deciding to bring new puppies into their home. Littermate syndrome “refers to a specific set of unfavorable behaviors that two (or more) puppies might exhibit if raised together immediately after weaning from their mother, like anxiety or fear. This syndrome occurs when a pair (or more) of puppies raised together develop such a close bond with one another during important socialization stages that it hinders their ability to bond with their new owner.” Puppies with littermate syndrome tend to look to each other for how to respond to stimuli and the environment rather than looking towards their owner. This can lead to the puppies amplifying their fear and anxieties and feeding into each other’s negative behaviors.

Common signs of littermate syndrome include:
* Separation anxiety when away from the other puppy because of a co-dependence on each other
* Fear of new people, animals, objects, or experiences
* Fear aggression, which can occur when a puppy encounters a new experience, feels threatened or scared, and reacts by barking, biting or trying to escape
* Reactivity when on a leash
* Fighting habits when they reach sexual maturity around 6 months of age
* Aggression or nervousness in the more dominant puppy; timidity and withdrawal in the less dominant puppy

Source: Texas A&M


Have you been using appropriate management techniques to keep your dog and others safe? Managing AND training are both i...
04/28/2025

Have you been using appropriate management techniques to keep your dog and others safe?

Managing AND training are both important aspects for reactive dog owners to know.

- Have you been doing reactivity training under your dog’s threshold? Once your dog is over their threshold, learning cannot occur and it is down to management.
- Have you been creating and patterning positive associations with your dog and their triggers? It takes many, many repetitions to reprogram a reactive mind.
- Have you brought your dog to a vet or behaviorist for underlying health issues? Some reactivity cases are not due to lack of training. Vets and behaviorists can identify potential medical causes of abnormal behavior.


Handling and keeping your pet dog while pregnant usually does not impact your pregnancy or affect your ability to give b...
04/21/2025

Handling and keeping your pet dog while pregnant usually does not impact your pregnancy or affect your ability to give birth to a healthy baby (I am only focusing on dogs as a dog trainer! I am not delving into the impacts of other types of pets or species of pets).

If you are concerned with allergies or infections from scratches, per the University of Michigan, there are some things you can do to prepare: “The best way to avoid infection is a pre-pregnancy checkup. A TORCH examination—fortoxoplasmosis, other (HIV, hepatitis viruses, varicella, parvovirus), rubella, herpes simplex, and syphilis—is a good place to start.
If the TORCH test shows a past infection with any of these, then the mother has already produced antibodies—and there is no need to worry. If no antibody is detected, which means no immunity, then it is necessary to pay special attention throughout the pregnancy.”

Otherwise, just follow general good hygiene with your pet dog while you’re pregnant such as:
- Washing your hands frequently especially after you feed your dog, handle their bodily fluids or f***s, or pet them
- Washing your dog(s) frequently
- Keeping your dog(s) up to date on vaccines and flea/tick/heartworm prevention
- Feeding nutritious pet food to enhance your dog’s immune system
- Eliminating pests that could spread diseases, such as fleas, cockroaches, and mosquitoes
- Doing regular physical examinations of your dog(s)

Follow your doctor/OB’s guidelines on any physical restrictions while pregnant based on your individual pregnancy and health (they can advise if you should be lifting 40lb bags of dog food, if you’re able to fly to dog shows, etc). Generally if you have been exercising and walking your dog before you were pregnant, you can continue to do so while pregnant as long as your heart rate isn’t too elevated (you should be able to maintain a conversation while walking or exercising). If you haven’t been exercising or walking your dogs before pregnancy, you should not start while pregnant. I am not a health professional so please consult with your doctor or OB for their advice before doing anything.

Source: University of Michigan


Here are some common scenarios where you may be touching or petting your dog that actually reinforces their negative sta...
04/14/2025

Here are some common scenarios where you may be touching or petting your dog that actually reinforces their negative state of mind and poor behavior instead of what you intended. This isn’t me saying to withhold all affection from your dog at all. You should give your dog all the pets, loving, and praise when they are behaving well or neutrally. But there are specific situations where your affection can add fuel to the fire or accidentally teach your dog the wrong lesson.

- If your dog gets into a scuffle with another dog, especially if they are the aggressor, and you put your dog in a hug to stop them or pick them up to hold them as they’re still barking, growling, or acting aggressively, this actually rewards your dog for the behavior
- If your dog barks, lunges, growls at, or otherwise negatively reacts to another dog, person, or object (whatever their trigger is), and you pet your dog to console it or pick them up and hold them while saying “shhh” or “it’s okay”, you are actually rewarding your dog for their behavior
- If your dog jumps on you, your visitors, or even places like the kitchen counter, and you continue to greet and pet your dog while they don’t have all 4 paws on the ground, you are actually rewarding your dog for their behavior
- If your dog is being protective over their food, toy, or any resource and you pet them while they’re giving side eye, whale eye, growling, baring their teeth, or otherwise exhibiting signs they are guarding that resource, you are actually rewarding your dog for their behavior
- If your dog is overly excited, stimulated, hyper, unfocused, spastic, riled up or unruly in any way, and you pet them when they’re in this state of mind, you are actually rewarding your dog for their behavior


What I mean by this is dog training continues after you send your dog to a board and train facility, after your dog trai...
04/07/2025

What I mean by this is dog training continues after you send your dog to a board and train facility, after your dog training sessions with your trainer, after you buy the treats, leashes, and equipment, and after you come home from work…
Dog training is not just your dog’s ability to learn a command. If it’s not maintained, practiced, or reinforced by you, like anything it will become rusty, less effective, or they will simply forget or choose not to do it. Dog training is a lifestyle becomes it is constant. It is in the moments you have in between sessions, after or before school or work, when you’re multi tasking, when you have guests and visitors over, during the weekday and weekend. It is you choosing a few minutes to work with your dog on formal commands, your daily interactions with your dog, what you allow or don’t allow your dog to do in and out of the house, the structure and routine you give them.


Hi clients and friends, I’m excited to let you all in on a secret I’ve been keeping. My husband and I are expecting our ...
04/01/2025

Hi clients and friends, I’m excited to let you all in on a secret I’ve been keeping. My husband and I are expecting our first child! You will likely see an increase in posts like this or topics relating to dogs and kids, babies and pregnancy as it is in the forefront of my mind as I grow our baby. Current and new clients: If anything changes with training due to health reasons or doctors orders, I will communicate with you individually.
Feel free to reach out if you have any questions or concerns. ❤️
—

Although dogs have a keener sense of smell than we do and have scent receptors that allow them to differentiate 30,000 to 100,000 aromas, there is little evidence to show that while they are likely able to detect a change in scent due to pregnancy hormones, they are unable to correlate the scent to mean pregnancy. “What dogs do understand is that something is different, both on a physical and behavioral level. It’s only natural for them to take notice and show an interest” and that may cause them to be more affectionate or protective, says Dr. Rachel Barrack, DVM, owner of Animal Acupuncture in New York City. Dr. Barrack says “Your dog is smart enough to pick up on these changes during pregnancy, both in a physical way — which is how your body will be changing, your stomach, your smell — and in an emotional way, such as your feelings and your mood,” even though they may not comprehend the reason for the change.

Source: AKC


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