Rosie’s Tail Training

90% of dog bites could be prevented. The issue is that MOST people don’t have a clue on how to understand their dog’s body language. And I’m on a mission to change that.

So this week, I’m challenging you to engage in the Doggy Dictionary challenge. I want you to share photos of your pup with each prompt. By the end of the week, you’ll have a full encyclopedia of what your dog looks like when they’re stressed, when they’re happy, and what behaviors they might show when they want out of a situation.

When you know what the warning signs are, you (and your dog) can act accordingly.

Oh…and as a little incentive…the most active engagers (whether you share to your own page, comment on this page, or comment on this post shared in a group) will be entered to win prizes.

🥇Top Engager: a seat in our Connection over Control program. Details on that here:
🥈Runner-up: A lifetime membership in our Think Like A Dog Academy.
🥉Places 3-5: A month of membership in our Think Like A Dog Academy.

👇PROMPT BELOW 👇

Here’s prompt 7: Want: How do you know your dog wants something?

For each category, add a few photos of your dog in those states. Then, note the body language, specific to each area in the body.

How do you know your dog wants something? This is usually more of an indication given by nosing, staring, or pawing than a set stance, but it differs for every dog.
Ears:
Eyes:
Mouth:
Forehead tension:
Tailset:
Weight balanced:

Also- do they seek contact with you? How do they let you know what they’re interested in if it isn’t you?

NOTE: Is there a pattern to their requests? Can you fulfill their request?

90% of dog bites could be prevented. The issue is that MOST people don’t have a clue on how to understand their dog’s body language. And I’m on a mission to change that.

So this week, I’m challenging you to engage in the Doggy Dictionary challenge. I want you to share photos of your pup with each prompt. By the end of the week, you’ll have a full encyclopedia of what your dog looks like when they’re stressed, when they’re happy, and what behaviors they might show when they want out of a situation.

When you know what the warning signs are, you (and your dog) can act accordingly.

Oh…and as a little incentive…the most active engagers (whether you share to your own page, comment on this page, or comment on this post shared in a group) will be entered to win prizes.

🥇Top Engager: a seat in our Connection over Control program.
🥈Runner-up: A lifetime membership in our Think Like A Dog Academy.
🥉Places 3-5: A month of membership in our Think Like A Dog Academy.

👇PROMPT BELOW 👇

Here’s prompt 6: Anger: How do you know your dog is about to take matters into his own hands?

For each category, add a few photos of your dog in those states. Then, note the body language, specific to each area in the body.

Angry (not all dogs display this- but some dogs feel they need to take matters into their own hands if their body language is not well listened to- usually “angry” behavior is preceded by stiffness and staring. Frequently seen when dogs approach each other at fences or right before a bite)
Ears:
Eyes:
Mouth:
Forehead tension:
Tailset:
Weight balanced:

NOTE: Is it safe to move them? What might cause them to move towards you instead of continuing towards the trigger?

THIS IS THE NUMBER ONE KEY TO A SUCCESSFUL DOG: AGENCY

Dogs don’t control much of anything in their lives: they don’t choose where they sleep, what they eat, who they see, where they live, or where they can go on walks.

We know that in any species we’ve studied, agency is the top predictor in quality of life after traumatic experiences. It makes sense to me that given how little agency our dogs usually get, they need more of it.

Introducing agency creates so much room for connection. It makes every interaction you have with your dog so much more powerful. It moves your relationship from one of conflict and competition over resources to one of understanding and connection.

Comment CONNECTION for a deep dive on this approach, and more real-life tips for increasing agency.

90% of dog bites could be prevented. The issue is that MOST people don’t have a clue on how to understand their dog’s body language. And I’m on a mission to change that.

So this week, I’m challenging you to engage in the Doggy Dictionary challenge. I want you to share photos of your pup with each prompt. By the end of the week, you’ll have a full encyclopedia of what your dog looks like when they’re stressed, when they’re happy, and what behaviors they might show when they want out of a situation.

When you know what the warning signs are, you (and your dog) can act accordingly.

Oh…and as a little incentive…the most active engagers (whether you share to your own page, comment on this page, or comment on this post shared in a group) will be entered to win prizes.

🥇Top Engager: a seat in our Connection over Control program.
🥈Runner-up: A lifetime membership in our Think Like A Dog Academy.
🥉Places 3-5: A month of membership in our Think Like A Dog Academy.

👇PROMPT BELOW 👇

Here’s prompt 5: Dislike/disinterest: How do you know your dog isn’t into something?

Under each category, insert a few photos of your dog in those states. Then, note the body language, specific to each area in the body.

Dislike/Disinterest (someone they don’t love approaching them, being pet when they’re more focused on food)
Ears:
Eyes:
Mouth:
Forehead tension:
Tailset:
Weight balanced:

NOTE: Are they happy where they are? If not, where might they want to go? If it’s safe, can they freely move to that area?

90% of dog bites could be prevented. The issue is that MOST people don’t have a clue on how to understand their dog’s body language. And I’m on a mission to change that.

So this week, I’m challenging you to engage in the Doggy Dictionary challenge. I want you to share photos of your pup with each prompt. By the end of the week, you’ll have a full encyclopedia of what your dog looks like when they’re stressed, when they’re happy, and what behaviors they might show when they want out of a situation.

When you know what the warning signs are, you (and your dog) can act accordingly.

Oh…and as a little incentive…the most active engagers (whether you share to your own page, comment on this page, or comment on this post shared in a group) will be entered to win prizes.

🥇Top Engager: a seat in our Connection over Control program.

🥈Runner-up: A lifetime membership in our Think Like A Dog Academy.

🥉Places 3-5: A month of membership in our Think Like A Dog Academy.

Here’s prompt 4: Shy/fearful: How does your dog show trepidation?

For each category, add a few photos of your dog in those states. Then, note the body language, specific to each area in the body.

Shy/fearful (fireworks, raised voices clattering noises)
Ears:
Eyes:
Mouth:
Forehead tension:
Tailset:
Weight balanced:
NOTE: Are they happy where they are? If not, where might they want to go? If it’s safe, can they freely move to that area?

🐾

90% of dog bites could be prevented. The issue is that MOST people don’t have a clue on how to understand their dog’s body language. And I’m on a mission to change that.

So this week, I’m challenging you to engage in the Doggy Dictionary challenge. I want you to share photos of your pup with each prompt. By the end of the week, you’ll have a full encyclopedia of what your dog looks like when they’re stressed, when they’re happy, and what behaviors they might show when they want out of a situation.

When you know what the warning signs are, you (and your dog) can act accordingly.

Oh…and as a little incentive…the most active engagers (whether you share to your own page, comment on this page, or comment on this post shared in a group) will be entered to win prizes.

🥇Top Engager: a seat in our Connection over Control program.
🥈Runner-up: A years’ worth of membership in our Think Like A Dog Academy.
🥉Places 3-5: A month of membership in our Think Like A Dog Academy.

👇PROMPT BELOW 👇

Here’s prompt 3: Alert: how do you know when your dog is onto something?

For each category, add a few photos of your dog in those states. Then, note the body language, specific to each area in the body.

Alert (the doorbell has rung, or there are squirrels outside):
Ears:
Eyes:
Mouth:
Forehead tension:
Tailset:
Weight balanced:

NOTE: Are they happy where they are? Do they want to create distance from the alert, or go closer to it?

90% of dog bites could be prevented. The issue is that MOST people don’t have a clue on how to understand their dog’s body language. And I’m on a mission to change that.

So this week, I’m challenging you to engage in the Doggy Dictionary challenge. I want you to share photos of your pup with each prompt. By the end of the week, you’ll have a full encyclopedia of what your dog looks like when they’re stressed, when they’re happy, and what behaviors they might show when they want out of a situation.

When you know what the warning signs are, you (and your dog) can act accordingly.

Oh…and as a little incentive…the most active engagers (whether you share to your own page, comment on this page, or comment on this post shared in a group) will be entered to win prizes.

🥇Top Engager: a seat in our Connection over Control program.
🥈Runner-up: A lifetime membership in our Think Like A Dog Academy.
🥉Places 3-5: A month of membership in our Think Like A Dog Academy.

👇PROMPT BELOW 👇

Here’s prompt 2: Anticipatory: how does your dog show interest or excitement?

For each category, add a few photos of your dog in those states. Then, note the body language, specific to each area in the body.

Anticipatory(usually when about to set food down, or in the middle of training):
Ears:
Eyes:
Mouth:
Forehead tension:
Tailset:
Weight balanced:

NOTE: Are they happy where they are? Are they seeking something?

FOOLPROOF METHOD TO STOP PULLING

Ready for the secret?

Pulling can’t work. Your dog needs to learn that doing the wrong behavior (in this case, pulling) will not work to get him what he wants (whatever he’s reaching for).

You should help the process along by rewarding for desirable behavior.

Above all, remain consistent. Leash pulling is not at all hard to train out…you just have to hold yourself to the standard you want your dog at.

Comment “leash” below and I’ll send you to the page for our super popular leash reactivity class

🐾

🚨NEW CHALLENGE ALERT 🚨

90% of dog bites could be prevented. The issue is that MOST people don’t have a clue on how to understand their dog’s body language. And I’m on a mission to change that.

So this week, I’m challenging you to engage in the Doggy Dictionary challenge. I want you to share photos of your pup with each prompt. By the end of the week, you’ll have a full encyclopedia of what your dog looks like when they’re stressed, when they’re happy, and what behaviors they might show when they want out of a situation.

When you know what the warning signs are, you (and your dog) can act accordingly.

Oh…and as a little incentive…the most active engagers (whether you share to your own page, comment on this page, or comment on this post shared in a group) will be entered to win prizes.

🥇Top Engager: a seat in our Connection over Control program.
🥈Runner-up: A years’ worth of membership in our Think Like A Dog Academy.
🥉4️⃣5️⃣Places 3-5: A month of membership in our Think Like A Dog Academy.

👇PROMPT #1 BELOW 👇

Here’s prompt 1: Neutral or relaxed. What is your dog’s baseline?

For each category, add a few photos of your dog in those states. Then, note the body language, specific to each area in the body.

Neutral (usually when content, sometimes when sleeping)

Ears:
Eyes:
Mouth:
Forehead tension:
Tailset:
Weight balanced:

NOTE: Are they happy where they are? Or might they want to physically move?

MEETING YOUR DOG’S NEEDS DOESN’T HAVE TO BE COMPLICATED

Enrichment is a big buzzword in the dog community right now. You see people making elaborate frozen meals (with duck head and organ meat) for their dogs, you see people going on hours long walks, and you see people doing things that most of us just don’t have the resources for.

You want to be a good dog owner, but why is it so complicated? It doesn’t have to be!

Check out this post for some tips on enrichment that is neither money or time consuming. Believe it or not, you can improve your dog’s quality of life in 5 minutes with things you already have laying around.

Comment NEEDS below to get access to a tool that will help you to recognize and support your dog’s needs while meeting your own for REVOLUTIONARY behavior change.

You are CHEATING yourself if you don’t learn this one simple trick:

You need to start where you are. I know. It sounds simple. Too simple.

Still, people come to me because either they didn’t know how to do this, or their trainer didn’t know how to.

Because this is the reality: you know what you want to do with your dog. If you’re lucky, you have some sort of outline on how to get there.

But let me ask you this:

Does your training plan take into account the resources you already have?

Is your training plan doable even on bad days?

Do you know how to handle the triggers that are inevitable going to appear?

No? Then you need to take a step back and evaluate where you’re starting from. You don’t live in a world where your dog is behaving perfectly- you still live in the world where he doesn’t. Instead of avoiding it, prepare for it- that’s where the real success comes from.

Comment SPREADSHEET below and I’ll send you a tool to help you recognize the resources you already have at your disposal so you can get training in a way that feels sustainable, effective, and avoids setbacks.

You are CHEATING yourself if you don’t learn this one simple trick:

You need to start where you are. I know. It sounds simple. Too simple.

Still, people come to me because either they didn’t know how to do this, or their trainer didn’t know how to.

Because this is the reality: you know what you want to do with your dog. If you’re lucky, you have some sort of outline on how to get there.

But let me ask you this:

Does your training plan take into account the resources you already have?

Is your training plan doable even on bad days?

Do you know how to handle the triggers that are inevitable going to appear?

No? Then you need to take a step back and evaluate where you’re starting from. You don’t live in a world where your dog is behaving perfectly- you still live in the world where he doesn’t. Instead of avoiding it, prepare for it- that’s where the real success comes from.

Comment SPREADSHEET below and I’ll send you a tool to help you recognize the resources you already have at your disposal so you can get training in a way that feels sustainable, effective, and avoids setbacks.

Would you change anything about your dog? Tell us in the comments!

Woohoo!

I am so excited to be moving onto step 2 of this process. I don't want to jinx anything- but I have to say that I am in awe of being here. Thank you to Rene Smith and Amy L. Pike for being my references :)

I struggle a lot with imposter syndrome- I think most dog trainers do. I think it's probably worse when you're dealing with really tricky cases, and it's certainly compounded by my age and learning to run a business at the same time.

And truth be told, this year has kind of sucked. Navigating business ownership, especially having an employee for the first time, is not for the faint of heart. Even though that employee rocks (Jolie Reese you are a saint), having to run your own ads, be your own tech support, do your own outreach, and know that you are responsible for someone else's bills is scary. I never feel like I'm doing enough, or the right things, or that I can do any of it at once. I think that's just the nature of being a young professional.

So it feels scary to have one more thing to commit time to. One more obstacle, one more judgement. Maybe I just want to prove myself because of the imposter syndrome.

But...I also know how amazed little me would be that big me gets to work with (quoting from my kindergarten diary, albeit with improved spellings for readability) "really scary dogs that no one else wants."

I know how happy I am that I took this path. That I believed in myself, when after Rosie's death and my subsequent breakdown, I didn't have other professionals in my corner. I am so happy that I was able to turn that grief into something that transforms lives. Even in death, Rosie guides me. I try to be the person that she thought I was. I fail often. But I keep trying. I think that's all any of us can ask for.

Getting off my soapbox now :) Thanks for being here and being apart of this journey.

Our shout it from the rooftops opinion: dogs need to learn emotional regulation skills. If your behavior modification plan isn’t working, that’s (probably) the missing piece.

Emotional regulation isn’t as simple as counter conditioning.

Emotional regulation is learning to process novel information, learning to have an “off switch,” that comes out of true relaxation instead of shutdown, and teaching NATURAL alternative behaviors. No hate to people who choose eye contact as the alternative behavior to reacting- eye contact just isn’t natural. Sniffing is. Leaving the situation is. Playing is. Go for behaviors that are calm on a deeper level, behaviors that regulate the nervous system.

Emotional regulation work should be done outside of the trigger or other high-arousal states. The way that I teach it, I work on an off switch (usually using some form of relaxation protocol with stationing), then start introducing low-level excitement which is bookended by calm time. Gradually, I raise the level of excitement, and reduce my involvement in getting the dog to offer calm. If I’ve done my job right, the dog should be able to settle much faster. In this way, we’ve taught them emotional regulation.

Novel information can be introduced the same way. Usually, we only move onto this once the step above is solid. We’d start with something new, but not anything the dog has Big Feelings about, and then cue a natural behavior, like sniffing/playing/etc. If they need help settling, I could cue the calm behavior.

Once that’s all solid, we can move onto the real triggers. Anecdotally, I’ve found that this method of emotional regulation FIRST improves outcomes by a ton. It allows me to get through to dogs who people swore couldn’t be fixed, or who would never function “like a real dog.”

If you want more information, I created a whole course to help people learn how to do this, and how to do it SUSTAINABLY. This FREE webinar is a great introduction- dm me “EMOTION” and I’ll send you the link.

Hey, you! Calm down! Right now! Do you feel calm yet? No?

Does your dog feel calm when you yell at them to stop barking? Probably not.

So…how do you chill a dog out? Simple: focus on emotional regulation.

Comment HELP below and I’ll drop you my (free) training on emotional regulation strategies for dogs (and their humans) so that you can conquer any training challenge feeling confident and at ease.