Innovative K9 Academy

I have been getting Annihilator back in shape from his TPLO surgery he had recently. He is coming along nicely getting back into training after 1.5 years off. One of the exercises in the sport that I compete in is "Change of positions" where the handler goes 18 meters away from the dog and gives 6 position change commands(Two of each position) and then calls the dog to come. If the dog doesn't take any of the positions they lose points. They also lose points if they move in any direction more than a half meter. I teach my dogs to not move their front feet and change positions.

We absolutely love seeing our clients succeed with there dogs! If you have been through our board and train program, we highly recommend attending our Saturday group classes!

E collar - Do's and Don'ts

3... 2... 1... Bang

💪Dislocated Arm❓Want to stop your dog from pulling and teach them how to walk with a loose leash. Here is part 3. Teaching your dog to move with the leash. Have a question? Drop it in the comments!

Dislocated Arm💪? Want to stop your dog from pulling? Being reactive and aggressive? Here is Part 2 of the Dislocated Arm series. 🔑Key Points from this video 🙌 🔵 Start with getting your dog comfortable with being up against a wall. This could be a wall in your hallway, your garage door, a fence etc. 🔵 Use food and teach your dog to walk backwards against the wall. 🛑 Don't let them sit, it is very difficult to teach a dog to back up from a sit position. Keep them in the stand. 🔵 Always reward in front of your dog. Keep their head oriented forward. 🛑 Don't ask for too much too soon. Just one little step with the back leg is all we want in the beginning. After you get one consistently, wait for two steps. 🔵 Ask questions if you get stuck. Just comment below! ✅✅

Does your dog pull on the leash? Want to 🛑 reactivity? Aggression? Comment "Stop Pulling" below and we’ll send you the link for the equipment you’ll need to stop these behaviors. We'll also send you a promo code for a discount. 🛑If you’re going to use training tools with your dog, make sure you know how to use them correctly. We see dogs regularly that have been started with an e collar or a pinch collar and the tool wasn’t introduced 🚫correctly🚫. Sadly, it is usually by a trainer that wanted quick results. Nothing in dog training is done in one session or even a handful of sessions. Dogs learn through repetition and consistency. The most common mistakes we see are with frustrated dog owners who have been hurt by their dog pulling on the leash🤬. Who doesn’t hate that? So, you buy a pinch collar and they look like midevil torture devices so that will surely stop my dog from pulling... Right?❓❓ ❌❌Wrong! It may help for a day, week, or month. However, the problem wasn’t addressed. Your dog still doesn’t know what you want from them. So over time they will start pulling harder and harder even into the pinch collar. Then the next step people try is the “⚡SHOCK Collar⚡”. Just the name should scare your dog into not pulling... So we buy the bigger stick and put the shock collar on and start zapping⚡ away! 🛑NO🛑 Over the next few days, we will show how to teach your dog to walk perfectly on the leash. Any dog, any size, and around any distraction. We will also show how we condition dogs to the tools. Even if your dog has had a bad experience.😍

🎓Dave continues coaching DJ and Scooby on how to teach the sit. 🎯Here are a few key points from the video and this stage of the sit 🔵 Always start with engagement! 🏫Imagine being in school and staring out of the window at the kids playing 🏀🏈🎾... How much are you learning from the teacher? That is the same with our dogs. Get their attention and hold it! 🔵 Say "Sit" before the lure. In this video you'll see Scooby going into the sit almost every time before DJ tries to lure him. Dogs learn quickly, give them the opportunity to sit before you lure by saying sit and then luring... 🔵 Verbal always comes before physical. Say the command and then help with the lure... 🔵 This also goes for the "YES" and "Good" markers as well. In this video you'll see DJ says yes while moving a lot. It's not that big of a deal but it will help when teaching the stay. 🔵 Be consistent with one command. You'll notice we're not trying to teach 5 different commands at once. Take it one at a time. 🔵 Don't name it until you love it! Don't start saying the sit command until your dog is doing it consistently and easily. This will help them learn the command much quicker and also stop you from saying "Sit" multiple times which is a big big No ❌ NO. If you enjoy these clips and tips of DJ, leave me a comment below. What have you learned from DJ and Scooby?

❓❔FAQ's!❔❓ What is our favorite leash? We have used almost every type of leash out there. There are a number of great leashes but our absolute favorite, hands down, is the Biothane Leash. It is very easy to clean, lasts a long time(I have a leash that is over 10 years old) doesn't attract stickers, and is very strong. They come in a variety of colors, lengths and widths. ⌨️Comment "Leash" below and we'll DM you the link to our favorite leash and a discount code!

❓Struggling teaching the sit❓In this video David works with DJ and Scooby to learn the sit. You will see the issues that come up when a 7 year old tries to get a puppy to sit. These are the same issues we regularly come across when teaching our clients. Here are some extra tips to help ✅Have a hungry pup/dog and use their meal for training . Use high value food like the food we use ❌not kibble ✅Make sure your puppy is engaged with you. Don't try to teach this when your pup is distracted. ✅Cover the food with your thumb (like shown in our "how to deliver the food" video. Comment below if you'd like me to DM you the link) and don't let them take it until they sit and you mark "YES". ✅Feed in front of your body. Most people let their arm migrate out to the side. ❌Don't name the sit until your dog is doing it consistently and correct. We always say "Don't name it until you love it". ❌Try not to say "No". Refrain from saying no until your dog knows the command and is doing it well. Don't correct for something they don't know yet. ✅Do comment if you have any questions✅

😂If you're going to make mistakes when training your dog, you better be cute doing it 😂 No, in all seriousness, dogs are extremely forgiving. Everyone makes mistakes. Learn from the mistake and move on. Your dog isn't going to hold it against you. I have people tell me all the time "I didn't follow up with the training because I was worried I'd make a mistake and do it wrong". We all make mistakes. But the biggest is not doing anything.

Positions! This is my favorite obedience exercise to watch when taught well. It is also one of the most difficult dog training exercises to maintain for competition. At the highest level( level 3) you are given a "starting position" for your dog. In this competition it was a stand. You walk up and your dog must sit, you look to the judge and they authorize you to give the starting position to your dog. After your dog takes that position, you walk out 15 meters and are given 6 more positions. Your dog has to take each position or the exercise is finished and you recall your dog. If your dog moves in any direction they are penalized one point per meter. I think Idole should have lost at least a half a point here for moving forward but she ended up getting full points. In Mondio the judge can add difficulty in countless ways. You may have to lay down, you might be behind a mirror, maybe you have to move after each position, you might be facing away from your dog etc. In this competition we were sitting at the top of the stairs. The variables in dog training are endless. Go out and train your dog something new. Dogs are extremely smart and most love to learn new things. Challenge them daily and I promise they will love you more for it. Drop those questions below. Don't be shy!

Scent discrimination! This is probably my favorite obedience exercise to teach. The exercise starts at the beginning of the competition by selecting a wooden dowel from the judge and rubbing your hands on the dowel for a few seconds. After that the dowel goes in your pocket and cannot be touched until you place the dowel on the ground during that exercise(which might be 1 minute later or 10 minutes later) When the exercise starts you leave your dog and walk out 30 meters to a designated spot and place your wooden dowel on the ground. You return to your dog and there are 4 other dowels placed on the ground near yours that are identical. After you get to your dog the judge authorizes you by horn to command your dog to retrieve your dowel. You dog has to go out and find the spot with the wooden dowel and then use their nose to retrieve the correct dowel. They then have to bring the correct dowel back to their handler in under 1 minute for full points. In this competition the exercise was made even more difficult by placing the wooden dowels around the wood on the field. The retrieve in Mondioring is another fun exercise. Each trial will have a different retrieve item based on the theme. This retrieve item was soaked in a bucket of water and had a fun squeaky toy inside to get the dogs to either play with it and not return to their handler or chew on it. Have questions? Drop them in the comments. I'd love to answer them! Enjoy

The Jumps! One of my favorite dog training exercises to teach. Dogs absolutely love to jump because it is self rewarding. There are 3 jumps in Mondioring. The long jump - this is a 3-4 meter long obstacle that the dogs have to jump from end to end without touching. Idole is jumping this at 4 meters here which is full points at Level 3. The palisade - this is a 1.8-2.3 meter high wall with a ramp on the back side. The dogs jump and run up the side of the wall and then hook their from legs to pull themselves over. Idole is jumping this at 2.3 meters which is full points for level 3. The hurdle - this is a 1-1.2 meter hurdle obstacle that the dog jumps both directions. They need to jump one direction and then wait for authorization from the judge to jump back the other side and then return to their handler. Idole is jumpi this at 1.2 meters for full points. This video was from the World Championship David and Idole competed at in 2016 in Battice Belgium.

The Object Guard! The most difficult exercise in Protection Sports. In this exercise the club chooses an object for the competition to use as an object. The object is something that fits the theme of that trial and this object was a sword stuck in the “ground”. The handler take the object to the center of a circle and tells their dog to guard the object. The handler leaves the dog there and goes off behind a wall so their dog can’t see them. The decoys(bad guys) try to come in and steal that object. In Mondioring to earn full points the dog has to wait until the decoy is with 2 meters to bite. They can bite for 2 seconds but then must return to the object on their own and then guard it again for 3 attempts total. All of this is without any communication from their handler or the decoy. If they bite for too long and get pulled away from the object they loose points. If they don’t bite they loose all the points. If the bite before 2 meters they loose points. Dogs can be trained to do amazing things. We just need to be willing to take the time to teach them.

In 2016 Idole competed at the Mondioring World Championship in Belgium. She ended up taking 2nd Place with a score of 363/400. On top of that, team USA placed 1st overall. Here are the long attacks of her protection work from the competition.

Idole's first Mondioring 1 attempt. She scored 198/200 for first place. This was in California and she was just under 2(today she is 12😭)Her obedience is first then the jump and then her protection work. Then at the very end is the cutest picture of Idole and baby baby DJ. For those that don't know Ring sport. This is level 1, the entry level. There are 3 levels in the sport of Mondioring. Your dog has to pass twice at each level to progress to the next. As you go up in the levels, there are more exercises in all 3 phases of the sport(obedience, jumps and protection). Each trial there is a theme that the props, helpers and judge work around to make the trial different and fun. That also makes it very challenging for the dog. You never know what your dog will need to retrieve for the competition, etc. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask. I love talking about Ring! @michael_ellis_school @ruffswag

One of our most ❓FAQ's❓ is about what we use for training "treats". We don't use treats but we use a high quality and high value food for training. In the video it shows the purple "turkey" protein but we prefer to use the chicken(it stays together better and is less messy). This is our favorite training food that we have found. ❓❔❓What is your goto training food? What does your dog like the most? ❓❔❓ #dogtraining #ruffswag #innovativek9 #positivereinforcement

Anni loving the first snow here 😍😍 Two months post TPLO surgery. He's getting back to enjoying his life. Getting to run around a bit, play with his pack a little, getting beat up by the cat, it's great to see.

✂️✂️Our favorite Nail Clippers for dogs🐶🐶 We get asked all the time what equipment we use. We have tested and seen almost everything made for dogs and are happy to share what we have found to be the best. Comment below and we'll send you the link for these clippers as well as a discount code to buy them! Save, Share, Comment. Thank you 🙌