I was going to post something different this week; I wanted to post a blog I have written about what to expect from Fort St. James Dog Training. It covers everything from first contact to the consultation, session and follow up. However, since I missed posting the last two weeks that bumped us into the middle of the month faster than I expected and it’s time for another monthly update! The post I had planned for today will instead be bumped to next week.

So far, the month of March has been pretty quiet. My family have just been battling one cold after another. I think I spoke too soon when I said we got away with less sickness this winter than last and the germs are trying to show me to put my foot where my mouth is. It’s like we suddenly got hit with all of it in one month. Which is why I missed posting the last two weeks.

In February I had set the goal of doubling the amount of dogs I trained vs the month before, and I not only met that goal but surpassed it. I knew that setting a similar goal for March would be unrealistic as I just don’t have enough available hours for training to work with 20 dogs in one month. I’m fine with that, sometimes we need our goals to be realistic so that we don’t become overwhelmed in reaching them. I’ve trained a handful of dogs so far this month and each one is always so special to me. Even if I only trained one dog in the month I’d still consider it a success because I was able to help someone with their dog. After all, that is what I’m here for.

Favorite February Name: Tyrion

One of the many little delights I’ve found in dog training is learning what people name their dogs. My favorite dog name from February was a sweet little dog named Tyrion. As a Game of Thrones fan, this name is an absolute hoot (especially on a small dog).

Tyrion’s owners were also very enthusiastic about training; they are working hard to reach their training goals and I loved seeing them attend Pack in the Park and really put in the work. Way to go guys!

A close second was a corgi named Kevin.

Business License

Fort St. James Dog Training was supposed to start as an official licensed business March 1st. I was sick leading up to March so I didn’t get a chance to get to the District Office before March 1st but went in on the day of. It was my experience (from eons ago) that you could get a business license the same day. I even downloaded their form from the District website and filled it out beforehand to save time. When I brought it to the office I was met with a lot of confusion. I was told they couldn’t do it that day. When I expressed my surprise, I was told ” yeah, we have to do it the right way now.” I was a bit shocked at that answer. “You weren’t doing it the right way?” I asked and the answer I got back was “no” and then a mumble about high turnover. So I think maybe the people at the office just didn’t know how to do it? I was told they’d be in contact with me after looking it over. It’s been almost 2 weeks since I dropped it off, how long does it take to look over one sheet of paper? I phoned this morning and was told they e-mailed me, but I never got it. I don’t understand why they didn’t phone. I feel like people have lost the art of the phone call these days (does complaining about that make me old?). They needed my registration number and I don’t understand why that wasn’t an option to fill out on the application. At any rate, I am annoyed and I have to say, after that experience I’m really not left with a lot of confidence in our District workers.

animal welfare updates

Our little group has been working really hard to re-establish the Fort St. James Humane Society. We’ve dotted most of our i‘s and crossed most of our t‘s but there’s still a few little things to work out so we’re keeping our rescue missions on the down low until they are finished so that we don’t become overwhelmed. There are a LOT of animals needing help in our community and a lot of owners who need help with their animals. It’s going to take time to really start making an impactful difference.

Last week we executed our first big rescue mission since re-assembling an Animal Care Team. It was a drop in the bucket of a larger issue, but we changed the world of 17 puppies and that’s amazing. People from difference communities all came together to make this mission a success. In honor of an Animal Care Team member who passed away recently, we named this first rescue Mission Chantel. Chantel loved animals and really wanted to see our efforts in animal rescue be successful.

One Saturday, March 9th, 16 puppies (one ended up being adopted by one of our members) were loaded up and transported to Quesnel, where the Victoria Humane Society transport driver met our driver with their beautiful van and the 16 puppies were transferred from one vehicle to the other. VHS drove them back to Victoria where they were all quickly bathed, vetted and placed in foster homes.

As I said, a lot of people were involved in this rescue mission and it went quite smoothly and I would say was a total success! A huge thank you to the people who worked hard to orchestrate the whole thing and cared for these sweet little babies while they waited for transfer. This mission would not have been successful without everyone who played a part.

You can learn more about Mission Chantel on Facebook here and here.

If you would like to be a part of the solution get in touch with the Fort St. James Humane Support Group and see what you can help with! One thing we never seem to have enough of is foster homes. Since we don’t have a physical building to house animals, we need people to open their hearts and homes to house any animals we take in. If we don’t have a place for them to go, we can’t help them.

Novice Trick dog

One of my goals with Zelda is to get her a Novice Trick Dog (NTD) title. I love training tricks to dogs. I love the way they need to be broken down into different behaviors that you then shape together.

Trick dog titles can be obtained through Do More With Your Dog. For a NTD you need 15 tricks to be evaluated by an evaluator either online via video or in-person. Some basic obedience counts and advanced and expert tricks count as two towards the NTD. For more information, check out their website.

Zelda’s trick list currently consists of:

Trick of the Month: Center

Definition: Come from behind and stand between the handler’s legs (shoulder to knee)

Command Variations: “center”, “peekaboo”

Behavior: Break down into two parts: dog stands between your legs and dog moves from in front to behind you

Use: To position a dog where you want them

This trick doesn’t have a lot of practical use, but is a fun extra to train your dog. It can act as a party trick or can come in handy when participating in dog sports, such as dog agility, where you want to get your dog set up in a specific spot to start.

How To Train “Center”

Stand in front of your dog but facing away. Bend down and hold a treat in one hand and motion with your hands for your dog to come through your legs. As soon as the dog is in position reward them. Keep practicing until you feel like your dog understands to stand between your legs. Start connecting your command with the behavior.

Next you will need to teach them to go to that position from anywhere and facing you from any direction to start. Since you started teaching this trick with your dog behind you, gradually start to turn your body so that they’re approaching from the side. Practice many times until your dog is doing it smoothly. Try again after turning your body a bit more and continue to train this way until you have turned enough to be facing your dog when the command is given. The dog must go around and then get into position from behind you.

Add Distractions

It’s important to always gradually add distractions when training any new command. Once your dog is understanding without a lure in a quiet room move on to a less quiet room. Start throwing in distractions of other people, animals, and different places. You can test your dog by throwing a small box across the floor, have someone else blow a whistle, roll a ball past the dog, throw a treat etc. There are endless ways to test your dog out. Create the distraction and give the command, “center” and if your dog struggles to look at you despite the distraction then you need a bit more work in the quiet room or with a less challenging distraction. Slowly build those distractions inside your home and then try outside your home. Try in your yard and then move on to a local park, beach, down town etc. If your dog struggles with the new level of challenge then you need to take a step back and work a bit more at a lower challenge.