Dog Training Los Angeles

We buy them treats, beds and sometimes clothing either for practical reasons or just because we enjoy it. We get them gifts at Christmas and include them in holidays. But there is one gift that you can give your dog that is better than any other.

The gift of training helps dogs not be a statistic of one of the over 90% given up due to training issues. The gift of training helps insure that if for whatever reason he needs a home he has a bigger chance of finding a good home than a poorly trained, unruly dog.

When we picture getting a dog it's with the thought of playing in the yard. We call him and he promptly comes running. He sits politely. These things are important but there are many other things in a dog's nature that are important to understand also. If we help him then he can be the wonderful pet we had thoughts of when we selected him.

This basic training understands that dogs are social animals – when we leave it can stress an insecure dog. When he gets destructive it's easy to blame the dog for misbehaving but we need to understand enough to help our dogs adapt to our world! We do strange things that dogs don’t do. We may leave several days per week then come back hours later and to our reality it's going to work. To a dog it's an exciting hunting trip he's missing and when we come home with food it confirms this!

Additionally learning to come, walk quietly on a leash, sit, down and behave appropriately is important. There are many situations that this basic obedience training can save your dog's life. Consider these examples:

-You and the dog are playing in an open area and the dog pulls away or the leash breaks. There is a busy street nearby - "Come!" could keep him from being hit by a car.

-We don't like to think of us leaving before our pets but deployments, accidents and other situations can mean leaving our pets. If there is family to take them it is preferred but if not it can mean relying on good training to find another home.

-Your dog sniffs a chocolate candy that someone left on the table. "NO! Leave it" results in the dog backing away rather than grabbing a treat that can make him sick.

Life happens. We can help train your dog to live with our imperfect lives. What's it worth? Look at the look in his eyes to just be with you or watch the greeting when you come home even after a short trip to the store. What is that worth?

A well trained dog is a joy. He's a part of the home and is welcome in many hotels when we travel. Give your dog the best gift - that of time to train him to navigate this sometimes crazy world we live in. Our world. It's a lifetime gift to your biggest fan.

How to Pick the Right Training Collar for Your Dog

There are so many different kinds of dog training collars that it can be confusing to select what is best for your individual dog. How do you select a dog training collar and what should you look out for?

How to Select a Good Training Collar?

A training collar or any other kind of training equipment is there is assist you with working with your dog. It should give the handler more control of the dog while allowing the dog to function normally and comfortably.

Each dog is an individual, and so what works for one dog might not for another. You cannot paint each dog with a broad brush stroke. Considerations for training equipment selection:

-Is your dog very large and powerful?
-Is your dog just a puppy beginning out?
-Does your dog have any behavioral issues like fear or aggression?
-Do you have a Houdini dog on your hands that is able to slip collars easily?
-Does your dog ignore you? Is generally stubborn and headstrong?

Thinking through various considerations about your dog’s personality, size, training level, handler’s ability, and lifestyle all helps determine what kind of collar is best suited to an individual dog.

What is the Best Dog Training Equipment: Collars and More

For the average dog, all basic level training should begin on basic equipment. Even for beginning heel, all that is necessary is a flat collar. Training should be fun and motivationally based with toys and praise. Working with your dog this way means that more rigorous training collars are not necessary.

The best type of ‘training’ collar is called a Martingale-style collar. It is also sometimes referred to as a limited slip collar. This kind of collar gives a little more control to the handler, and when it is sized correctly, it is very difficult to slip out of. This makes it perfect for both fearful dogs and Houdini dogs, in addition to the regular pet.

What makes it so wonderful to use as a training collar is that it cannot hurt the dog, and it will never choke the dog. Yet, it gives a handler more control and security.

Other very good types of training equipment are head halters and the Easy Walk harness. If you have a very strong dog or a stubborn one, sometimes the best way to begin is with a head halter or Easy Walk harness as they give a higher level of control. A head halter is the most controlled piece of dog training equipment available. It works to control the head of the dog, much in the way a horse is led by a bridle.

As a note, puppies should always work on a flat collar until about 4-5 months of age. After that point, they may switch to other training collars.

What to Avoid and Why

There are many other training collars available that you will want to steer clear of. Traditional dog training collars like choke chains and pinch or prong collars are widely available but often misunderstood and misused.

Both choke chains and pinch collars are ‘correction’ collars, meaning that they are used to tell the dog when it is wrong. In theory, there is a place for this, but it is so often misused by the average person that it makes them dangerous.

Both types of collars can inflict pain. Choke chains choke the dog immensely, and scar tissue buildup in the neck is common, and you can even cause nerve damage or collapsed tracheas. Both collars are often also used to purposefully inflict punishment to the dog out of anger and frustration, which is never an appropriate part of training.

The electric or shock collar is being used more widely. Unfortunately, it is being used as a ‘quick fix’ remedy for a whole range of behavioral issues. This type of training device does not address what the underlying problem is or work to correctly fix it.

Not Sure?

If you’re not sure where to begin, start out with your dog’s flat collar as the starting point. Work in a motivational training program with toys and reward your dog often. If you think you might need more assistance, take a look at the head halter or Easy Walk Harness. Keep in mind, any training collar or piece of training equipment has to be used in conjunction with a good dog training program in order to be effective.

Although vacuum cleaners and lawnmowers don’t seem very similar, they are in the way a dog responds when they are fearful. Sometimes, dogs will actually be afraid of both of these items.

There are two main reasons that dogs are afraid of vacuum cleaners and lawnmowers:

1. Sound: Both of these are quite loud, but the sound also changes with both of them. A vacuum cleaner has a subtle change between hand tools and the forward and backward movements. Lawnmowers sound different when just running and when actually mowing.

2. Movement: Vacuum cleaners have quick back and forth movements, and lawnmowers are constantly moving (and spitting stuff out too!). These movements, combined with the sound, can be stimulating and exciting or can be scary.

The Way That Vacuum Cleaners and Lawnmowers Affect Dogs

While there are really four stages within fear (fight, flight, freeze, or submit), with vacuum cleaners and lawnmowers it is usually presented by the majority of dogs with just two of the stages: fight and flight.

1. Fight: This is the most classic reaction for a lot of dogs. That thing that makes a lot of noise and moves around a lot is threatening, and the dog wishes to get the vacuum cleaner or lawnmower before it gets the dog. Classic symptoms include:

-Barking
-Growling
-Lunging
-Biting
-Circling and running in and out
-Piloerection (or raised hair on the back/hackles

2. Flight: The sounds as well as the objects are so nerve-racking that the dog looks for the closest escape route possible. These dogs might:

-Shake and tremble
-Pant heavily
-Sweat
-Have an increased heart rate
-Have dilated pupils
-Attempt to escape and/or hide
-Make vocalizations like whining or howling

While these two reactions to vacuum cleaners and lawnmowers seem diametrically opposed, they are actually on the same continuum. The behavior modification and training will have some similarities but also a few differences.

How to Help Lessen Your Dog’s Fear of Vacuum Cleaners

One way to initially help lessen the significance of vacuum cleaners is to leave your dog in one room of the house with things that he really likes such as favorite toys or a pre-stuffed Kong toy. Someone to play with would also be nice.

Music therapy can lessen some of the sounds, and you can even close the door to help. If vacuum cleaners bother your dog a lot, try giving him a PetAlive PetCalm 30 minutes prior to vacuuming to relax him. You can even sprinkle the scent of lavender throughout the room using essential oils.

This gives him a safe room to be in while you vacuum plus it is full of things he likes a lot to preoccupy his mind.

If your dog is a barker or shows signs of aggression towards the vacuum cleaner, a relaxer still helps the dog. This time, you would want the dog to be leashed so that he cannot approach and bite the machine. Another person needs to hold the dog and have plenty of tasty treats and toys on hand.

Stay a few rooms away from the vacuum cleaner if possible and practice redirecting the dog’s attention on to the handler by practicing his training skills. If he becomes overly interested in the vacuum cleaner and begins to bark, this is the perfect time to work on using your ‘Leave It’ command and redirect his focus using treats and toys.

If the dog has very strong reactions to the vacuum cleaner, you could begin the training process outside where the dog can watch through a window or open door instead but is physically further away to increase his comfort level.

How to Help Lessen Your Dog’s Fear of Lawnmowers

In order to properly desensitize your dog to the scary sound of a lawnmower, you can try Fearless Dog which is a CD with recordings of the most common sounds that dogs fear. You will play the CD on extremely low volume as background noise and gradually increase the volume until you’re able to work with your dog outside.

Lawnmowers are a little different in that we are better able to work within a dog’s comfort zone. Determine how far away your dog appears to become fearful of the lawnmower. This will be a threshold, and it’s important to know.

Ideally, you will stay just outside the threshold so that he is able to see lawnmowers but is not overtaken by his emotions and fears.

For example, if you determine your dog can handle seeing a lawnmower 15 feet away, but any closer and he gets very fearful, you will work with your dog at least 15 feet away.

Begin taking your dog out into the neighborhood or around parks where they are mowing, often in the evenings or on weekends. Have lots of tasty treats like hot dog bits or his favorite toys.

Position yourself so that he can see the lawnmower but he is not full-blown afraid. Work on focus exercises like ‘Watch Me’ as well as practice ‘Come.’ Any training skills your dog knows can be used, so that he is focusing on you for these skills, but at the same time he is able to detect what he fears.

Overtime, you will be able to get closer to the lawnmowers and eventually walk right by one, but it does take time to get there. In the meantime, patiently lessen his threshold using this focusing training.

Do not allow him to fixate on his fears. It is okay and desirable for him to be able to see the lawnmowers, but if he begins to watch it too long, you need to interrupt it with a ‘Come’ or a ‘Watch Me,’ so that his prolonged stare doesn’t take him into advanced fears.

Using these techniques teach your dog to focus on you even in the face of vacuum cleaners and lawnmowers while at the same time beginning to re-associate the scary things with good things like training time, toys, and treats. With patience, effort, and consistency, you will soon begin to notice a change in your dog’s overall reactions to vacuum cleaners and lawnmowers.

During the past 3 years we have been distributing Flint River Ranch dog food and to be honest, at the beginning, we didn't think our clients would be interested on switching their dog's diets to a more natural dog food, however, the brand is becoming very popular and in high demand. As of today, nobody has complained about the quality so we can be proud of offering something dog owners appreciate. Flint River Ranch offers several options for your pet:

-Kibble Puppy and Adult Dog Food
-Nugget - Bite Size Dog Food
-Trout and Sweet Potatoes
-Lamb/ Millet/ Rice Food for Food- Sensitive Dogs
-DryWater Dog Food
-Senior LITE Dog Food
-Senior PLUS Dog Food

If you need more information about Flint River Ranch dog food, feel free to contact us.

We would also like to let you know that you can now use our secure SSL online ordering section and shopping cart to pay for our Los Angeles Animal Reiki services and Distant Reiki services. Feel free to visit our online store for more details.

We have a solution for all your Beverly Hills dog training needs...There are several apartment buildings in the south part of Beverly Hills and house soiling is one of the most common behavior problems reported by dog owners.

House training an adult dog is not an easy task, specially if the dog lives in an apartment or condo and the owner is gone for several hours. To successfully potty train a dog of any age, we recommend creating a schedule for the dog and being consistent, this is something that is very difficult to accomplish by dog owners who work during the week and have no financial capacity to hire a pet sitter or dog walker. Using a crate is not an option for an adult dog left alone several hours because it can increase stress levels and the dog can develop major fears and even separation anxiety. Unless the owner has the time to properly train the dog to get used to being inside a crate, crate training is not recommendable.

One option we offer to dog owners is buying the patio park which is a small patch of grass with a built in drainage system, designed to contain pet waste in a designated area. We can teach the dog to learn to go to "the park" in just one lesson.

We have a variety of natural dog remedies to take care of your dog's skin. Loui had allergies for almost a year until we took him to visit a dermatologist in Marina del Rey. She recommended a change in diet, new shampoo and new flea medication. He was doing great for almost 7 years but then his food was discontinued by the manufacturer and we had to change to Science Diet, what a mistake! His allergies were back and I felt hopeless...That is when I discovered Flint River Ranch food and some great organic and homeopathic dog allergy remedies.

Today he is feeling much better, his skin is clear and smooth and no more itchy moments.