High Country Dog Training LLC

Happy first day of summer!☀️
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Boone wanted to hop on and wish everyone a happy Tuesday
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Took some time off of social media, but we’re back! We hope everyone had a wonderful earth day🌎
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It’s another ! This time I wanted to talk about the #1 rule in dog training, always follow through! If you ask your dog something do not let them get away with not doing it. If you ask a command, they MUST complete it! This seems like something that wouldn’t matter, but this can mean the difference between a dog that listens to you and one who doesn’t respect you. Following through can look different in every command and it simply means that you won’t allow your dog call the shots, what you say goes. Your dog will quickly realize that you’re not someone who they can walk all over and they will test you a lot less.
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! Hope you’re all staying safe and warm!
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Took advantage of the “warmer” weather yesterday and went for a greenway walk! Living in a place where it snows can hinder our ability to do our normal walks. With the snow and ice, we’re not always able to get out to the greenway or any other hikes. Luckily for us our dogs have adjusted to our winter norms. We’ve found great ways of stimulating them from the comfort our our home through basic training sessions, play (both inside and outside in the snow!), and use of interactive toys inside the house. Our dogs absolutely love the snow, so we always make sure to give them time to enjoy it too!

I’m excited to kick off the new year with a post about these two! Everyone meet Shug and Jackson, some of you may recognize Shug from a previous post. His owners sought me out due to the pair having issues getting along. Although these boys have lived together nearly their entire lives, when Shug began to mature they began to have issues with his behavior. He bagan instigating fights with Jackson and because both are large boys, the owners had been hurt several times separating the pair. They had reached a point where the boys couldn’t even see each other without starting a fight. They had a rotation method to prevent them from ever going near, or seeing each other. We began training them individually and found that both boys had their individual issues that were aiding to the larger problem. Both are very strong, independent, and alpha males. We immediately introduced muzzles to both and slowly reintroduced them to each other. It’s has now been 3 months and the boys have made incredible progress! They now play together, sleep together, and live in harmony (most of the time). The relationship isn’t perfect yet, but both are learning to respect each other and their owners. I am so proud of them and their owners, they have really made some amazing progress in these last few months!
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Spent the morning walking one of our favorite trails, bass lake! Rikka and I love going on walks, it’s great mental stimulation for her, as she’s always encountering new smells and situations.
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Tell us your favorite hikes in the comments!
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Happy hump day! Hope everyone’s having a productive week! Little miss Frankie is, today she graduated from training!!
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Shugs face perfectly describes how I feel about Mondays! Hope everyone is have a productive Monday!
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Happy Friday! Hope your weekend is filled with lots of play, love, and treats!
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Little miss Frankie killed it during her first lesson yesterday! Can’t wait to see how far her and her owner will go!
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Everyone meet Arlo! Like most of the other dogs in training, Arlo came due to his dog reactivity. This photo was taken during his second session, this was his first time meeting rikka and within 1 session was able to fully ignore her and concentrate on his owner. Arlo’s reactivity stemmed from overexcitement, he couldn’t control himself when he was near other dogs and neither could his owner, so being able to take this picture was huge!After months of trying to deter the behavior with distance, treats, and redirection, the behavior still hadn’t improved, so she sought me out. We both quickly realized that his biggest issue was that he had never had a consequence for his actions, so we decided to implement a prong collar and it made all the difference. We were able to communicate to him that although seeing a dog can be exciting, the appropriate way to act is calmly! We also incorporated some conditioned relation, so that he could better understand that it feels good to be calm. His owner is absolutely amazed by the progress he’s made!
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Dog reactivity has slowly become one of my favorite things to work on. There are so many reasons behind why a dog is reactive, it can be fear, overexcitement/ stimulation, aggression, etc. and for me there’s something exciting about finding out the underlying cause and creating a plan from there. If you have reactive dog and need help, then please don’t hesitate contact me!
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Happy lazy Sunday! Don't forget to just spend some time with your dog today. Most people thinks that a bond is built solely through training, but one of the most important things you can do with your dog is just spend time with them. Go for a walk, cuddle on the couch, or play some fetch! Sometimes we get so caught up in training and having the best trained dog, that we forget to give our dogs a chance to just be dogs. It's important for me to give my dogs a normal life that isn't just all work and no play. This hasn't diminished their love of training or their eagerness to learn, if anything it has helped it improve! Humans don't work 24/7, so how could we expect a dog to?
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This is Max, he's roughly 6 months old and one of the smartest dogs I have had the chance to work with. He has picked up on all the training extremely fast and we are currently working on off leash training!
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Happy Sunday! Swipe to see how rikka feels about tomorrow being Monday. Hope everyone is resting and recharging for the new week ahead!
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Hey everyone! It's been a busy summer, but I still have limited availability for privates in August! Privates are a great way to tackle any behavioral issues you may be having with your dog, or to simply jumpstart your obedience training. Private lessons are tailored to you and your dog and can be done in home or at any other pet friendly location of your choosing. If you have any other questions please feel free to reach out!
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This is Scout and she just wants to wish everyone a happy Friday!! Does anyone have fun weekend plans?
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This is bubba!! She's roughly a year old and full of energy! She hopes everyone having an amazing Thursday!
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I'm sorry for being so MIA recently! I got married last week on Monday, April 12! I am now officially back from my honeymoon and taking on new clients, but space is limited as I've already taken on several new clients this week. This lovely picture was taken by
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To post! It's been so long! I don't have a wedding pic with Hemus in it yet, cause I'm waiting for her to send me the rest in a few weeks!! So here is Rikka with some of the groomsmen gang the day before the wedding! It's no secret she's not fond of men, but she did amazing this weekend and conquered her fear of david (top right) very very fast!

Bambi and Jasper during their 4th session! This was jaspers second time at the greenway and Bambi's first, both far exceeded are expectations! So proud of the progress these 2 have made in training.
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This is Bambi, she lives in the same home as Jasper! Unlike jasper she is very shy and weary of new experiences, so our training has mainly focused on helping her come out of her shell some. I'm just a few sessions we have gotten a handle on her obedience and seen a huge spike in confidence!
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This is Jasper! His parents came to me for training due to his excessive whining due to high anxiety, barking and lunging at people and dogs due to over excitement, and for his overall obedience. These clips are from his second session, where he was able to ignore children (one of which is riding a bike in a clip) and the father of one of them. He also showed a lot of improvement with his excessive whining! This was his first time working under so much distraction and I am proud to say he exceeded our expectations!
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Sunday Fun Day with Miss Rikka! It took a solid five minutes to get this shot, along with about a hundred treats but it was so worth it. She is actually on a log that is about 2 1/2 feet off the ground.
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Let’s talk prong collars!
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Prong collars are considered by some a cruel and aversive tool for training, but when used correctly, it can be extremely useful. The incorrect use of prong collars by someone who is not educated on this tool can be very dangerous, but this also applies to any tool that is used for dog training. For example, the improper use of a flat collar can also lead to tracheal colapse if the handler pulls too hard. Harnesses and collars that aren’t properly sized can cause rashes and burn. I think you get the point. While not every dog has the same response to a prong, they can learn to love and respect the collar with proper training. Not every dog needs a prong and you may not always have to rely on it, but it can be a great tool to establish clear communication between you and your dog. If you choose to use one and never have, please seek advice from a dog trainer before implementing it to your training!
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Happy Tongues Out Tuesday friends! We hope that everyone is having a wonderful day. 🥰😍

We went out with the girls and they did awesome!
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This adventure pup and I are going to take full advantage of my new lens and this great weather! Hope to see you guys out on the trails!
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What does your weekend look like?
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