Lakota's Legacy Dog Behavior & Life Skills Training

07/03/2025

Sometimes it’s just too dang 🥵 hot to train! But I love the commitment my clients make to show up and try anyway! 🐾 🐾 🥹😍
We still got some learning in but I know this dude would rather be playing in a sprinkler right about now.

When dogs struggle to do certain things, it’s not because they are being lazy or stubborn. There’s always reason why dogs aren’t able to do something. It’s our job to figure it out. We want training to be enjoyable for both human and dog 🐕, not anything painful or punishing.

Class dismissed! 💦 🤩 😎 💦

Need help with your dog? Check out www.Lakotaslegacy.com for more information and get in on my Summer deal while you still can!

07/03/2025

Tis that time of the year again. I never go to the Finals because I'm happy just to place. If you want to keep my winning streak happening, you need to vote Best Dog Trainer DAILY. 🤩🐾 🐾 Thanks so much for your support ♥

Nominate Your Favorite Business for Best of Clarksville in the month of July. You may nominate your favorite business 1x per day per valid email address. The top 5 nominees from each category will...

06/27/2025

This little dude needs a good home. Know anyone? Get in touch with 3 Friends Animal Rescue

06/27/2025

Compassionate Dog Training in Clarksville, TN – No Shock Collars, Ever

Struggling with a reactive, anxious, or fearful dog? Or starting fresh with a new puppy? At Lakota’s Legacy, we offer humane, science-based training that transforms behavior and builds lasting trust. Led by a Certified Dog Behavior Consultant, we specialize in puppy life skills and behavior modification for reactivity, fear, trauma, and aggression.

✨ Vet-recommended
✨ Virtual & in-person sessions
✨ Serving Clarksville, Fort Campbell & beyond

Learn more: www.lakotaslegacy.com

Positive reinforcement. Real results. A better life for you and your dog starts here.

The Beginning of a New Journey with Your Dog What if I told you that your dog’s not broken and they don’t need to be “fixed”? Click here for Services Provided Click here for the List of Services I want your dog to feel EMPOWERED! I want YOU to feel EMPOWERED TOO! Free from guilt, or your gut...

06/24/2025

Lakota's Legacy once a year 4th of July Summer Deal is happening right now‼️ 🥳
For a limited time only ⏳book any single session, behavior consult, rescue dog integration, or skills package and get 15% off! 🤯
Slots are limited and this offer will not last long. If you have been putting it off but you know you need to do it, now is the perfect time ⏰ to start tackling some of your dog's behavior struggles!

✅Puppy 🐶 life skills to help your pup learn how to be a cool, confident, happy problem-solver 🤓 🐾 🐾
✅Work on your dog's lead skills for more enjoyable walks! 😍
✅Integrate your new rescue into their new home with tips and strategies to help you both succeed.
✅ Ready to really commit to success with your new puppy, or crazy young dog, check out the fantastic options to choose from on my website! 😍
✅Help your dog to become the best version of themselves with my guidance and education customized for your dog. They don't have to live their entire life with anxiety, trauma, aggressive or over exuberant behaviors. Check out my Behavior Modification services.
✅ Want to geek out on dog behavior while you learn how to help your dog? My Behavior Consult might just be for you!

We do not have to go out in this heat 🔥 to train but can do it in the comfort of your own home.

Veterinarian recommended, I use only rewards-based training and science, with a holistic approach - never a prong or shock collar. Your dog learns as they have fun with you and deepen the bond between you.

I help thousands of people around the world! I am here to help you! Get this deal while you can, cause once it's gone, it's gone! 😬
Locally owned, licensed, certified and insured.

Share this deal with someone who could use some help with their dog! 🐶 🐾 🐾

Use Code: Hotdog 🌭

www.lakotaslegacy.com

06/24/2025

I received an email today from a woman who had a 2 yr old dog that had bitten a young child and a family friend. They said they needed help. This is what I do. I help people with their dogs. But I was on the road, so I left them a message that I would get in touch later on today.

When I finally settled and called them back, I asked what had been going on with the dog.

They told me he was two years old and their young child reached toward the dog to pet him and he bit the boy (5 yrs old). They thought neutering him would "fix" the issue. The dog then bit a family friend member who tried to take an item away the dog was chewing.

Between the time they sent me the email and the time I called them back, they decided they didn't want the dog anymore and he could not stay in his house due to his biting. They were looking to me for help on finding him a rescue that was willing to work with him, or they would take him to the shelter to put to sleep. I had to break the news to her that the shelters, rescues, fosters,... are full over capacity. There is no room for an "aggressive" dog.

I gave her some resources to contact to see if they knew of anyone who could help and offered a discount on my services to help anyone who took the young dog. I was angered knowing that this dog didn't need to lose his life over the wrong home. He needed a home where people understood him and where people were willing to take responsibility for the dog by managing him and teaching him how to make better choices for himself.

I tried to talk her into keeping the dog and working on the issue but it seems their minds were made up. This does not mean I am okay that the dog bit anyone, especially a young child, but there are things we can do to work on that aren't as drastic as sending this young dog off to God knows where, or for the shelter to euthanize. My goal is to try to prevent the dog from that fate.

The thing here is, all of this could have been avoided had the owner educated herself about proper dog - children interactions and how to respect the dog's space. This could have been prevented if they knew how to interact with the dog appropriately by not just taking something away from the dog.

Children can not read body language like adults can. It's just that simple. A dog tolerating a child harassing them is not a dog who is comfortable with the interaction. Stealing objects away from a dog reinforces the dog's idea that when people come near, bad things happen.

It is not up to the dog to make all the right calls. It is up to the human to take responsibility for the dog and not put him into a vulnerable position. Any dog can bite when provoked. They are an animal. It doesn't make them a bad dog. But now this young two year old dog who got the short end of the stick is now kicked out of his home with a possible euthanasia in his future, with a label of "aggressive" on him that is really not his fault.

When I visit the shelter, I always say to myself, "I wonder what this dog did that was so wrong to land him here." Was it really the dog?, or was it the human who set the dog up for failure?

All of this could have been prevented. Early life skills training and education is critical and necessary for long term happiness together.

www.lakotaslegacy.com

06/21/2025

Summer has come in like a blazing furnace! ☀ 🔥 It's way too hot out there for humans 🥵, never mind our dogs. Is your dog bored? You know that your dog needs exercise and stimulation but walks outside is just a hard no right now. 🛑

You can still make that happen, while:
✅ curing boredom from being in the house all day,
✅ANNNND having some fun with your dog
✅while you both learn new skills to take outside when you finally can go out.

I do private in home sessions (locally) to work with your dog and particular behavior struggle. I also do virtual sessions if you are too far away, that are just as good. You will come away thinking about your dog in a different way as I help you to understand them better. ☺

From my Rockin to Relaxed intensive 10 week course to help you and your dog get out there and enjoy life 🐾🐾 🤩, to behavior modification sessions for deeper behavioral issues and of course LIFE SKILLS Training to help your young dog deal with life in a human world. 🏡 🚲 🚙 🚶 😔 😨 🐶 🐿

I only used rewards-based methods 🤩 and will never surprise you with a prong or shock collar. ❌❌❌

Now is the perfect time to work on those skills! A few minutes here and there during your day can make a world of difference. 🤯Boost your relationship while having fun and learning at the same time. What are you waiting for? ⌚ Quit doom scrolling, flipping channels and have some fun with your dog!

For more info, click here: www.lakotaslegacy.com

06/20/2025

Mr. Beans update!

If you’ve been following him, this guy has had a pretty rough road. He was rescued at about a year old and has been highly reactive to everything. I don’t believe he was socialized appropriately as a youngster & has had to deal with some trauma. He has had a very explosive reaction to a lot of different normal things in life. Vehicles, bicycles, kids, people, other dogs, vet visits, car rides, demanding attention, not letting anyone touch him, excessive barking.

As a result of that, his new family didn’t just adopt a dog that would easily plug into their world. They adopted a dog who had some serious behavior struggles, which probably landed him in the shelter in the first place. No take backsies. They decided to try to help him.

They have had to employ a lot of management in his world and his world remained very small. We even restricted his walks for a while so we could build up his foundation skills.

When his family would go on vacation, I would come and dog sit for them because no way could he handle a trip to a new place. As I got to know him, learn about him, and work on him, I wished so much for him to be able to go out and enjoy the adventures with his family. “Not this time Mr. Beans, sorry fella”.

It’s been almost a year and my time with him is coming to a physical end because he is moving out of state. A year ago, camping with his family was something that was nowhere in his foreseeable future.

We guess that this is the first time that Mr. Beans ever saw a lake or went swimming. Look at that smile on his face. He is living his best life. Mr. Beans is with his family and on an adventure. This time he finally got to go with them. I can’t tell you how happy that makes me feel. 🐾 🐾 ❤️

Behavior modification isn’t meant to “fix” a dog-it is meant to improve the behavior struggles the dog faces. It’s far beyond the sit & downs. It takes a multi-faceted approach that includes humans understanding, training plans that empower and help the dog & human partner, sometimes with veterinary assistance. It takes someone educated with a deep understanding of canine behavior, the ability to read the dog, & the ability to instruct and educate the human partner. The end goal is to improve the dog’s quality of life and prepare them to go out into the world with a little less TNT 🧨 & the skill of the human to help them navigate when s**t gets real.

Life skills help prepare the dog for these wonderful experiences together!

If you need help with your dynamite dog, get in touch. www.lakotaslegacy.com

06/20/2025

Be mindful of the heat. I will keep posting these until people stop walking their dogs when it's so ridiculously hot out for them. Ever walk on hot sand barefoot? That's how it feels to our dogs and their paws; they just can't say anything about it.
Ever walk in hot sand barefoot with a fur coat on? You get where I'm going with this.
Make sure your dog is safe in this heat. Take them out early in the mornings for their walks, put protective shoes on them, be sure to give them ample breaks and water.
If your dog starts to pant excessively, or just stops, your dog may be suffering from heat stroke. Get them into cool water quickly or drape cold water towels on them, and call your vet.

www.lakotaslegacy.com

06/20/2025

These two have been best friends since they met. They’ve grown up together. They can only play together the way they do with each other. Any other dog would take high offense!

Play styles can vary from dog to dog. Some play rougher than others. Ana, being the Husky that she is, has a very rough, boisterous style of play. Stogie, being the Corgi that he is, likes to chase and punch with his nose (not very polite, but Ana is okay with it). Here he is communicating to Ana not to grab his stick. She softens her demeanor and acceptsts his request. She doesnt try to start conflict by stealing it. Others might have tried. Not good.

Some dogs are more mellow & these rougher play styles aren’t that enjoyable for the more mellow or perhaps older dog. For those dogs, that might be more of harassment.

Matching the right style of play for your dog can be the difference between fun & enjoyable or uncomfortable & irritating. How does your dog like to play?

www.lakotaslegacy.com

06/16/2025

Today Mr. Beans went to the park. Sounds simple, doesn’t it. Except sometimes these simple places can be super exciting, or super worrisome for certain dogs.

This guy has never been here before, so it’s new. New can be scary for dogs. That may look like a dog that is hyper vigilant, watching everything around them, or a dog that starts panting really fast, or gets tense, or starts pulling, whining, barking. Mr. Beans can be that dog.

Those behaviors can stress the human partner out too. A lot of times dogs wind up staying home and missing out on these kind of experiences. Mr. Beans used to be that guy. Not anymore!

We’ve been working to help him learn how to process environments on his own and make smart decisions about how to behave in them. He also got to practice some of his other skills in a new place. 🍖 His body was nice and loose, his face was relaxed & not tense 😎.

“Training” your dog doesn’t have to be difficult, hard or painful. Learning took place today and it appears Mr. Beans was very okay with it. 🏆 We could tell by his confident swagger & his kicked back attitude. 🐾 🐾 🐕 ❤️ His world is growing bigger every day! He’s even going camping with his family this week!

If your world is being centered around your dog’s behavior and you need help, get in touch!

www.lakotaslegacy.com

06/14/2025

“Alpha”, “dominance”, here’s the deal,…

DOGS DO NOT NEED A 'PACK LEADER!'

This is me with a wolf in 2009. The photo was taken at Wolf Park in Indiana when I attended a dog behavior seminar presented by the late Dr. Ray Coppinger. I have also attended educational programs and volunteered at the International Wolf Center (IWC) in Ely, Minnesota.

The IWC was founded by wildlife biologist and wolf researcher, Dr. L. David Mech. I completed a graduate level course in wolf ethology at St. Thomas University in Minnesota with a practicum at the IWC, so have had experience with wolves as well as formal and information education about their behavior.

For the past 15 years, since being on Facebook, I have been trying to educate people about the difference between wolf and dog behavior. Finally, it seems the outdated idea that dogs are 'pack animals' that need an 'alpha' and a 'pack leader' is fading.

But, not entirely! Recently, I have heard several people refer to that old myth as if it were truth. So disappointing. We live in the Information Age, and yet there seems to be a problem with getting people updated.

I get weary of revisiting this, but here goes. Dogs are not 'pack animals.' They are scavengers, foragers, and opportunists. Although dogs and wolves share a common ancestor, dogs are ethologically different from their wolf cousins.

Only wolves can be described as true 'pack animals.' There is more that goes into the definition of 'pack' than simply hanging out in a group. For example, adult male wolves regurgitate for pups that are part of their pack, and the whole pack of wolves works as a team - in hunting and survival in general.

So, while it's true that wolves are pack animals, they do not have an 'alpha,' except in captive, unrelated groups of wolves. Non-captive wolves are comprised of a family unit with the parent wolves being what we call the breeding or mating pair. They are not 'alphas.'

In captive packs of wolves, which are usually comprised of unrelated wolves, a hierarchy needs to be worked out, so an alpha female and an alpha male will emerge.

The idea of dogs being pack animals originated with studies on captive wolves in a Swiss Zoo. Rudolph Schenkel studied wolves in a zoo in the 1930s and 1940s - almost 100 years ago, in an attempt to define the social behavior of wolves.

In 1947, he published a paper, “Expressions Studies on Wolves," in which he drew parallels between dogs and wolves, in discussions about how wolves vie for dominance within the pack.

The problem is, he was observing CAPTIVE wolves, an entirely different scenario than a non-captive pack.

I have seen this behavior firsthand, how captive wolves work out a pack structure, and how that structure can change any time there is a change in the pack membership or the health status of any one member.

The problem with parroting this old meme, that dogs are 'pack animals' who need a 'pack leader,' and to train a dog you need to be the 'alpha,' is that it is all based on bad science. The best we had at the time, but we know better now.

In the name of being the 'alpha' or 'pack leader,' horrendous methods and tools have been used to train and modify behavior in dogs. For example, the infamous, 'alpha roll.' People still do this! If I had a nickel for every dog with aggression someone has told me they alpha rolled to gain dominance, I could retire today!

When wolves and dogs roll on their back they are displaying deference to the animal in front of them or standing over them. The animal is not being actively rolled! We can get ourselves into a lot of trouble when we try to act like canines! Dogs are smarter than that, and all we do when trying to act like the 'alpha' is frighten and confuse the animal. Worse case scenario, the dog becomes more aggressive.

Let me be clear, I do not deny the existence of dominance in the animal world. Dominance exists. It can appropriately be used to describe the relationship between any two animals. The animal that maintains ownership of preferred resources is said to be dominant over the one who does not.

For example, my late dog Ginger, was definitely dominant over my larger dog, Opal.

It is improper to describe any dog as dominant because dominance is only correctly used to describe a relationship, not a personality. A dog who is dominant over another may not be dominant in another dog-dog relationship.

Dog training is based on science, and science is important because it requires that we continually re-evaluate our beliefs to see if what we think we know and understand, is still valid. Science asks questions, and as dog owners and trainers, we should do the same.

Please let go of the outdated idea that dogs are pack animals that need to be dominated. Training based in behavior science gets far better results without harming your dog or your relationship with your dog.

Cindy Ludwig, Canine Connection LLC
Voted Best Springfield Missouri Dog Trainer