Prescott K9 Academy

Dog training for transformation and trust.

The Princess and the Pom

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Grizzle the little black Pomeranian came to us for a Board & Train program in 2016. After years away from Arizona, his people moved to Phoenix and called with the joyful news that they are happily married and the new parents of another Pomeranian! (Little sister Poppy completed her puppy and adult Board & Train programs in 2020.) Here are Lilith and Kyle’s amazing wedding photos, starring the inimitable Grizzle. 

 

 

Hey Deb,

Here he is! He definitely could NOT have done this before training. He was able to walk the aisle with little to no pulling, and he stayed totally quiet through the whole ceremony and didn’t try to go to anyone. He just stayed with my friends who walked him down and sat quietly even though he had never met them before! After the ceremony he posed for pictures and was still a champ. He actually flew to Vegas from Dallas, stayed in a new boarding facility for 4 days, did our wedding, and flew home to Dallas with no major problems!

It was so amazing, and it’s all thanks to you and Michael!

— Lilith & Kyle

 

Who’s a good dog? Client emails make us smile!

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When we send dogs home from Board & Train, we often feel a bit of loss. Each dog becomes a part of our family for the three to five weeks they live with us. Emails and texts like this one absolutely make our day. They remind us why we pour our hearts and hard work into each dog and their people — and gives us a little glimpse of our ripple effect out in the world. 
Michael,
We rarely eat out, but I couldn’t resist seeing how Molly would do, so I tried it today. Two parked horses, people walking by, a dog that came up and snooted our girl from behind, more people walking by, two loud excavating trucks rumbled past… We encountered a little bit of everything!
Molly was wonderful. Yes, she stood up a few times, but I put her right back on a ‘Down’. For most of our time there, she was facing the horses. And when the horses’ humans were ready to leave, I stood up and Molly and I faced the curb to watch them together. They took quite a bit of time turning their horses around parallel to the curb, then getting on, then waiting for car traffic to pass. That was fun. But now Molly wants a horse.
When the horses were gone, we walked up one side of Old Town and down the other.  She was right beside me, neither ahead, nor lagging.
Who’s a good dog?
We’ll meet after Thanksgiving and we’ll look forward to learning more from the maestro.
— Joy

 

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Coaching for You, Training for Your Dog

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Puppy training, training eye contact, training settle, kids and dogs, coaching the person to train the dog.

You are a big part of your dog’s training success. Many (most) of our clients will quietly mention sometime in their first or second lesson, “I know this is really for me. I need way more help than my dog does.”

It’s true. In every training program other than Board & Train, YOU will be the go-between taking what you learn from us and then teaching it your dog. That means 1.) you’re learning at the same time as your dog and 2.) you’ve got to be an effective trainer from the get-go.

Wait. How can I learn and teach at the same time? Isn’t that a recipe for disaster? Don’t I need to practice so I don’t make a mistake with my dog?

If you’re like most people, you haven’t had a ton of dog training experience. You might guess you need to memorize a list of commands and learn how to reinforce behavior – you might think you need to be more consistent. You’ll be concentrating too hard on the specifics of the training technique and you’ll miss the magic of the training moment happening right in front of you. You’ll draw too sharp a line between ‘training’ and ‘life’. You’ll also have your own personal set of ticks and emotional hang-ups and pace to your learning curve.

That’s why you need coaching.

Here at Prescott K9 Academy, we know this. We like this. We’re ready for you! Not to make you uncomfortable, but we’re evaluating you at the same time we evaluate your dog. We’re sensitive to your limitations and we see your strengths. Training is a personal journey. That sounds pretty cheese-ball, but really: growth and change are intrinsic to the process. That’s why we include human training curriculum in your dog training program. It’s just part of the package. It’s the way we work.

When your dog is 100% reliable AND you’re feeling completely yourself, then your training is truly complete.

Dynamic Balance

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How are those New Year resolutions going so far? You’ve set up your goals, you’ve started a new routine.  If you’re anything like me, you’ve also slipped and swerved and gotten back on track again… probably more than once.

Adjustment is the real key here, isn’t it? Not staying perfectly in line every moment, but correcting and balancing.  It’s about deciding where to aim your compass and making the changes necessary to go where you want to go.Continue Reading

Emotion > Behavior

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We’re led to believe — by some trainers, by popular media, often by our own common sense — that training is about sitting on command and jumping through hoops (literally and metaphorically) for a reward.  And what follows is the assumption that the sitting or the jumping are the point.  But they’re not.  What’s important is how your dog feels when you ask him to do something.  The point is how your dog responds in the training moment — and his response comes directly from his emotions.Continue Reading

The Training Moment

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Dog training happens moment by moment.  The desire to rehearse is so tempting… You want to practice your technique before using it with your dog — but training changes so quickly.  Your dog has different needs from one moment to the next.  And we as trainers have to adapt to meet the dog where he is in that particular moment.Continue Reading

Prescott K9 Academy