Team K9 Training

Team K9 Training Professional Dog Training and Education for dog owners and dog trainers.

Positive reinforcement has risk.I wish it was something I was aware of before I started training my dogs.As a new dog ow...
05/27/2026

Positive reinforcement has risk.

I wish it was something I was aware of before I started training my dogs.

As a new dog owner, when you get a dog (regardless of age), what do you do?

You break open those treat bags!!

As you should!đŸ™ŒđŸœ

But you should also take the time to be aware of HOW food should be used.

And let me be totally honest with you - the majority of dogs are resilient and will grasp the larger picture of what you are trying to teach them.

This isn’t some scary post where if you accidentally do this once your dog is ruined behaviorally for forever.

Nah, most dogs will be fine.

It’s those very sensitive dogs with low resilience and very little stress and frustration tolerance that struggle emotionally in really big ways that you should be MINDFUL of this.

The key is when you know better you can do better!

I share information and education like this so you can simply keep it in the back of your mind when you reach for your food rewards.

Did you know this?

Time and time again it’s always missing the small stuff.The owners that succeed and succeed fast, somehow are usually:-N...
05/14/2026

Time and time again it’s always missing the small stuff.

The owners that succeed and succeed fast, somehow are usually:
-Neurodivergent
-Previous or current athlete
-Both

Something about these categories of people are SOOOOOO FREAKING GOOD at pattern recognition and spotting small details and spotting them quickly!

So when it comes to reactivity, over excitement, etc and they need to have good timing, redirection, and have a game plan - they succeed fast!

If it doesn’t feel intuitive to you, I’d strongly recommend just observing your dog and spot the small facial feature changes, body language and movement patterns.

Then from there devise plans and teaching protocols to help your dog in situations they struggle.

Have you ever played “imaginary friends” with a young child?Being pregnant with my first has a lot of parenting content ...
05/13/2026

Have you ever played “imaginary friends” with a young child?

Being pregnant with my first has a lot of parenting content pop up on my social media feeds recently.

I watched a video of a mom who was invited to “tea with a princess and her friends” (spoiler: the princess was her daughter and the friends were the unicorn, dragon and other stuffies who are alive)

Anyway

The mom started playing along and acting the role and she was doing and saying things as a guest in this make believe world.

The daughter gets upset.

“No mom!! You’re supposed to _____”

And again a few minutes later “no mom! Not like that you’re supposed to _____”


you see the thing is, the mom thought she was her own person that was supposed to make her own choices and bring her own dialog.

But that wasn’t the game to the daughter.

The “game” was that SHE was the orchestrator of the tea party and the guests. Mom was just another prop.

When mom understood and instead didn’t offer anything except enjoy the imagination of her daughter and ask QUESTIONS about what she should be doing instead.

They both had fun.
——————
The same things happen when we play with our dogs.

If your idea of a game and fun is fetch but your dogs idea is only chase or maybe only possess.

Yeah, you’re not gonna have a good time!

It’s important to not only identify what kind of game your dog enjoys but to then teach them the rules and boundaries of that game.

Like any game we you play.

What about you?

Do you find play frustrating with your dog? Have you ever considered you haven’t taught them a game or are trying to play the wrong kind of game?

I rarely see dog trainers talking about all of these categories all at once and instead we tend to over emphasize or onl...
05/07/2026

I rarely see dog trainers talking about all of these categories all at once and instead we tend to over emphasize or only focus on one category.

Some choose to focus on agency because it has the largest impact on welfare long term

While others focus on building resilience through challenge and increase the tolerance for stress.

And many speak in obedience in the sense of control alone.

And all of them are correct!!

They’re all a part of a bigger puzzle and some dogs need more of a focus on certain aspects over others.

While these categories have overlaps (maybe I should have made a Venn diagram graphic) , they have specific questions to ask to determine exactly at what part of the hierarchy you are in when training your dog.

What do you think?

Do you already think about these categories working together or have you typically thought about them as separate ideas?

I started seriously training dogs 2018/2019 (I got my start in 2016) and let me tell you
2021/2022 was a BIGGGGGGGG lear...
04/24/2026

I started seriously training dogs 2018/2019 (I got my start in 2016) and let me tell you


2021/2022 was a BIGGGGGGGG learning curve for a lot of dog trainers.

The amount of money I spent on seminars, books, webinars, etc was extreme during that time.

The research topic?

Anxiety and reactivity.

You see something happened during the shutdown

1) people got dogs (some shelters were EMPTIED)
2) people didn’t leave their home

Combine those two things together and suddenly a year to two years later you have adult dogs with some serious behavioral issues.

And many of those dogs passed on some very unstable genes

But also some very skewed ideas of what puppy raising looks like moving forward.

While the advice “don’t take puppies out until all shots are complete” has been around for a long time - people used to take their dogs with them when they want out and about more often.

The issue of waiting until all vaccinations are complete is the missing of the Critical Development Period.

I understand from a vets perspective - they deal with the aftermath of bad things happening and so they blanket statement.

I totally get it (the equivalent is dog owners saying “all dog parks are bad”)

However, proactive research to parvo outbreaks, not allowing your puppy to touch the ground in high traffic areas and no-contact exposure can go a longggggg way to avoid dog reactivity and anxiety.

What about you?

Do you do any “no-contact” exposure training with puppies?

“Sweetie stick your hand out for the doggie to smell itâ€đŸ˜ŹđŸ˜”â€đŸ’«Some dogs are more tolerant than othersSome dogs learned to ...
04/07/2026

“Sweetie stick your hand out for the doggie to smell itâ€đŸ˜ŹđŸ˜”â€đŸ’«

Some dogs are more tolerant than others
Some dogs learned to ignore this weird behavior early on

And some dogs will bite the hand that’s presented to them.

A dogs nose is incredible and one of the most powerful.

You presenting your hand can do more harm than good for many dogs.

And yes, this includes trying to feed/coax dogs with outstretched appendages.

Many dogs get extremely close to smells because they want more granular data.

When a dog gets close to something, they can take 5-10 quick sniffs within two seconds.

They can also have higher saturation to gain a more clear picture.

But your hand
?

wtf is on your hand that says “I’m friendly”
?

The dog likely knows what you just had to eat and where you were today.

So please, don’t stick your hand in front of an animal with really sharp teeth

And don’t tell children that don’t know any better to do this either 🙏

You know that saying “you are the average of the 5 people you spend the most time with”?Dogs are like that but with envi...
04/02/2026

You know that saying “you are the average of the 5 people you spend the most time with”?

Dogs are like that but with environment

(Honestly humans are like this as well. If your environment is cluttered and messy and disorganized - your mind is often cluttered, messy and disorganized)

However with dogs, the manifestations of “bad” behavior is further exacerbated when their environment is not set up for success.

Inherently I think many of you know this.

But you get bogged down in the treats, toys and commands.

Trying to figure out the ✹perfect✹ treats so your dog will pay attention and you can get them to do the sit/down/come/place/heel. #

But really, sometimes that stuff needs to come later on.

Many dog trainers will tell you (and if you’re a professional dog trainer reading this, comment if you see this too)
.but many times a lot of dog behavior will be improved by simply managing the environment better.

Structure. Boundaries. Protocols. Management.

Implement those things and get a grasp on the environment and then start to add in the treats and toys and obedience commands.

Do you set your dog up for success by setting up their environment?

Go watch the stories and video of your fav dog trainer accounts and dogs they train inside their home.Then look at some ...
03/30/2026

Go watch the stories and video of your fav dog trainer accounts and dogs they train inside their home.

Then look at some videos of dog owners or even your own pictures and videos of your own dog.

If you haven’t implemented this one thing - you’re probably going to notice the difference.

Dog trainers have leashes on the dog when they’re inside the home.

The dog is just dragging the leash or it’s tethered to something.

And THAT small little detail makes allllllll the difference sometimes, especially at the beginning of training.

If I am going to interact with a dog, I will not provide direction without a way to back it up.

This means being prepared with a leash, food, etc.

For you at home
.

How many times in the past week did you dog walk around your home with a drag leash on?

If the answer is: 0

But you can say “yes my dog did some behaviors I didn’t want them to do”

Then you have the first step in your training plan and can likely put it into place quickly and easily this week!

Vote below: do you or do you not use a leash in the home?

Incorrect socialization, no socialization and stopping socialization early are some of the BIGGEST reasons why dog train...
03/20/2026

Incorrect socialization, no socialization and stopping socialization early are some of the BIGGEST reasons why dog trainers see so many cases for reactivity.

I’m one of those cases.

I didn’t do any socialization or exposure training with my first GSD puppy until later in puppyhood.

Then when I did do “socialization” I went to dog parks đŸ«©đŸ€ŠđŸ»â€â™€ïž

But when you don’t know, how can you do better?

Luckily, becoming a dog trainer I was able to rehabilitate and do proper socialization when he was older.

But those issues? They stayed.

They became more manageable. They became not as intense. They became less frequent.

But they were always there.

If you have a dog, I want you to remember that socialization is more than just “playing with other dogs” and that it doesn’t end when they’re a puppy.

You can resocialize and help older dogs who struggle in social situations (not ALL of them as sometimes it’s also genetically driven)

Do you continue to expose and socialize your adult dog?

For whatever reason, some people view life rewards as almost like
.idk FORCING the dog to do mindless performances for o...
03/19/2026

For whatever reason, some people view life rewards as almost like
.idk FORCING the dog to do mindless performances for our amusement.

Like I have nothing better to do with my time than to wait an extra 30 seconds for my dogs brain cells to fire and realize I cued for a “sit” before we go on a walk.

And yeah, if you don’t understand the purpose behind doing something than I guess it is expecting performances from your dog.

The reason why shifting to life rewards is so impactful is
A) you won’t have food on you all the time
B) most dogs are excited surrounding these things so build impulse control around it
C) it helps develop cooperation between handler and dog
D) it’s already a motivator why not leverage it?

What real life motivators do you use with your dog?

03/13/2026

Our favorite Christmas gift last year đŸ„°â™„ïž

New member of Team K9 Training loading Fall 2026.

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