Bolt and Company Animal Behavior

08/11/2022

More tackroom trash to treasure! I have so much "aversive" stuff I haven't used for horses in ages that turns out to be very useful for positively training dogs! (This is why I never throw anything out of my tackroom! 🤣)

she turned my lunge whip into a flirt pole, my crop into a target stick, wow I hope don't get flagged for this caption.

08/03/2022

I owe a significant portion of my deciding to become an animal trainer to THIS Harry Potter behind the scenes bit. It was on the special edition DVD I got for my birthday in 2007.
My favorite part is totally when Robbie Coltrane who plays Hagrid talks about how much he hates acting with animals. 😂😂😂
Enjoy, I just found it again and it's just as magical as it was 15 years ago!!!

Ben Shepherd takes us on a behind-the-scenes tour of the 'Harry Potter' set. He shows us inside Leavesden Studios where most of the production and filming ta...

07/27/2022

It's not often I post a longer video, especially one showing me learning (struggling) with my own animals, but just so my followers and clients know that it's not always perfect...
(And I will post more full length sessions when I have a phone that doesn't require me to to delete 85 pictures before the camera works again)
Here's a full unedited 4 minutes of me combining obstacles with Eve. She did absolutely everything I asked, but sometimes I asked for something different than what I thought I was asking! Especially at the weave pole entry. I mess up A LOT in this video, but she's foot perfect. She was willing to guess what I meant, not what I said, and we got there, thanks to her.
Animals are like computers - they don't always do what you wanted them to do, but they always do what you told them or programmed them to do.
She's only 8 months old and I'm a newbie at agility, and she still makes up for my lack of experience with her innate talent and intuition, and I think that's a pretty good testament to our relationship.
(Also her just being the smartest animal I've ever had the pleasure to interact with, let alone call mine.)
❤❤❤❤❤

07/23/2022

Best dog ever doin best dog ever stuff! Her FIRST session with the 10' tunnel! If I can catch up in agility handling knowledge a fraction of what she's got in talent, we'll be going places!

06/14/2022

My arm is very sore.

my wrist is very sore from this.

06/11/2022

I'm the actual worst. 🤣 Do not watch horse movies OR historical fictions with me unless you're prepared for a dissertation!

with never watch horse movies with me, I'm the actual worst.

06/05/2022

Get to vs. Got to is really important. For human and animals.

05/26/2022

The curse of knowledge hurts a lot of trainers. This video explains why I'm pretty good at getting through to newbies.

for trainers and pet parents alike, I see you, and I feel you

05/22/2022

Can't describe how proud of and impressed I am with this puppy! She's only 7 months now, and she knows so much! This is us working on some things she already knew with food rewards, switching to toy rewards. As you can see, she was very enthusiastic about it!

playing with toy drive! so proud of her!

05/15/2022

Google is a hell of a thing!
Do ya feckin resarch.

do your research

05/11/2022

It's very cute, because I have good taste. But it's not JUST cute. It's life saving and necessary. Why not be cute if you can!

05/11/2022

For those days when you don't feel like "training," but the dog is in need of some kitchen etiquette. You can also use my "get out" training video if you don't want them in the kitchen at all! But if you'd like them to be able to hang out while you cook and just don't want them getting your dinner before you do, this is a useful skill to have!