Who's Walking Who KC Dog Training

07/11/2025

Why are some dogs, scared, reactive, or aggressive? People try to figure out why the dog acts the way it does. Based on the people that I communicate with, it is common to assume that something bad happened to the puppy when it was little.

Something that I have figured out is dogs are resilient. They bounce back quickly, when something negative happens, even a soft dog. We try to apply a human emotion to a dog to explain the dogs behavior. Dogs clearly have emotions, but I don't believe the way they react is normally because of some traumatic experience they had, it is just the makeup of the dog.

Dogs can be compared to people, they are a social animal. I am more on the introverted side. I love communicating with people on a one on one basis, but put me in a group of people, I am not comfortable, and I shut down. Yet my wife is an extrovert, she loves being in groups of people. I thrive working under pressure, many people get stressed out when they are under pressure. Compare that to a dog, some dogs are very social, and love being around strangers, other dogs just shut down, but are great with people they know. Working dog breeds thrive on being challenged, others would rather just lay on the couch and do nothing. There is a spectrum that is similar to humans that might better explain why they act the way they do.

Based on my experience, nearly all issues come from poor socialization, lack of structure, unenforced rules, and genetics. They do not come from a traumatic experience. Don't feel you need to give your dog a free pass for bad behavior because they had some traumatic experience, they probably didn't, they are just being a jerk.

07/10/2025

What is the one thing that can make dog training smooth or a challenge? The answer is timing.

When it comes to teaching obedience, if the timing is perfect, the dog will very quickly understand what it is that you want him/her to do. By that I mean indicating to the dog when it did the right thing. If your timing is off, it will take more reps and more work to get there.

The same thing goes for correcting your dog for bad behaviors. If a dog has a stimulation scale of 0-100, the lower on that scale that we can correct the dog, the more successful we will be at putting an end to the behavior quickly. For example, if a dog likes to jump on people, right as the dog is thinking about jumping up on someone the dogs stimulation level might be a 20. However once the dog is actually up on the person it might be a level 60. If I apply the same correction while the dog is at a 20 or at a 60, the correction to the dog at a stimulation level 20 will have more of a lasting memory to the dog then when at the level 60 with the same correction. In fact the dog may not have really felt the correction when the dog is stimulated to that level.

It is because of this why we train dogs to ignore other dogs and other people. Why we correct a dog for staring at other dogs, or locking in on people. The moment the dog locks in, the stimulation level for the dog is escalating. We want to correct this before the dog is over a threshold where they are growling, barking, or lunging. An early intervention will go much further than waiting for the bad behavior and then correcting. The objective is to keep the dog calm. A well timed correction will keep the dog in a calmer state of mind with a better memory for consequences.

07/10/2025

07/10/2025

Getting an anxious dog out and about is very important to their training! It can scare owners because of the worry that your dog may be naughty but if you just have the confidence in your dogs training and your ability to handle it. It might just shock you how well it goes! Everything is a learning experience and can help really solidify what your dog has been learning.

07/07/2025

Meg, a sweet pitty, she decided that walking calmly on a leash was too much work, belly rubs were way more fun!

07/07/2025

Agetha, her DNA test said 1/2 Husky and 1/2 Pitbull 🤔 not sure about all that, but she is 100% sweet! Pulls mom all over town with my 2 favorite tools, harness and flexy leash 🫣

07/07/2025

You can't always go by what is on the bag, if I did that, Waldo would be overweight. That bag can't tell Edgar your dog's activity level is, it doesn't know your dog's metabolism, it doesn't know how many treats your dog gets. You should go by your dogs waistline. If your dog looks like a sausage when you are looking down over his/her back, cut back, if you can count your dogs ribs, add more. Dogs aren't emotional eaters, we are!

07/07/2025

Dog safety around children is a very important topic! Most dog bites that happen to children are from dogs they know so here are some tips to keep your kids and your pups happy, safe, and comfortable

🐾Teach Children to Respect a Dogs Space - even friendly dogs need their space. Dogs aren't fans of being laid on or having their ears pulled. So teach your kids the difference between nice touches and things that their puppy doesn't like.

🐾Avoid Approaching Strange Dogs - Even if a dog is out and about in public they might not always be friendly or comfortable with little kids. Always ask before petting someone else's dog. Not every dog is comfortable with the same things your own dog is so

🐾Learn to Recognize Signs of Discomfort in The Dog - Always look for signs that the dog is not liking the interaction, this can include lip licking, whale eyes (wide eyes), sniff body, and hackles up.

07/05/2025

Google is a great resource, but what actually works?

07/02/2025

If your dog gets spooked with the fireworks, put them on a leash, go outside and work obedience commands. Give your dog something to do, besides worry about the noise. Sit, Down, Heel, Sit, Down, Heel.

07/02/2025

Just out here chilling in this heat!