March 13th, 2025

Doom's Day

Excuse me? Yes, you — excuse me!

Do I have your attention yet? No? Well, how about if I jump in your way and try to get your attention that way? Still nothing?

Okay, what if I yell your name, and then follow that up by telling you off for the thing you just did. Can you hear me now?

Wow.

Emma practicing disengagement treats in a client's driveway on March 4th, 2025

Let’s look at the big picture: Emma was barking her head off at the front door for no apparent reason. I corrected her from the back room, and she stopped, waited — and then continued.

I corrected her again, using different inflection and words. Same reaction as before. So I moved halfway between me and her and corrected again. She laid on the couch, stopped, looked at me — and then kept barking!

Obviously, she thought she was safe and that my correction wouldn’t go any further. But to her surprise, I came running at her, right up to her, asking if she had heard me.

We haven’t had a breakdown of our correction yet, so this was the first time Emma tested me to see if I meant it and would follow through. She also tried it on her sheep yesterday... but that’s a story for another blog.

Happy Training!

Addi and her dogs