Year in Review: Best Treats of 2023
What a year it was! Back in January 2023 when it was cold, dark, and gloomy, I didn’t think the year would turn out to be such an incredible ride. The past 12 months have given us all plenty of chances to grow, and so much to celebrate. So, now that we have counted down to this brand New Year, it seems like it’s a good time to reflect on what we’ve experienced together in the past 12 months, so we can look ahead together, too!
TWo words to describe an incredible year
Here at Dogs Behaving Better, if I had to give the year 2023 one word, I’d probably choose Puppies. Sooo many puppies! Just a few of my youngest 5-star students were Yair, Clark, Angus, Sammie, Mila, Sadie, Sheba, Ruby, Wembley, Miles, Quincy, and Remi.
I really love working with baby dogs when they are curious and eager to learn, to get them off to a great start in life.
I also love showing their people how to focus on redirecting the nipping plus getting and reinforcing all the calm, nice behaviors—and being diligent about management, to prevent natural behaviors like jumping up from becoming bad habits.
Adolescents (older than puppies but still immature) are definitely more challenging but also very rewarding because they are learning to overcome some behaviors that became bad habits. Let’s give those adolescents a big hand for their accomplishments! Being a teenager, or a parent of one (canine or human), is not easy!
Another word I’d pick for the year is Gratitude. I am so grateful for my wonderful clients and their commitment to to the triad of positive training, enrichment, and management—and they are seeing the benefits every day in their dogs’ well-being and behavior—-and in their partnership, their connection.
being Grateful for continued learning
I’m also truly grateful for having so many opportunities to keep on learning (online, mostly) from the real experts in my community—about dogs, behavior, training, and ways to enrich their lives (and therefore ours). When we get smarter and better at providing more safe ways to meet their needs as dogs, as their breed(s), and as individuals, their behavior gets better too!
A major highlight of my year was learning that we actually can teach dogs not to chase cats, squirrels, deer, bikes, etc. Like many people, I assumed that chasing was simply inevitable – a natural behavior for many breeds. Since I don’t ever recommend aversives like “training collars,” I thought pretty much all we could do was focus on management (prevention). I was wrong!
I learned two ways of training dogs not to chase: one based on predation substitution (with Simone Mueller) and the other, based on teaching calmness and alternative behaviors. And in November, I became a licensed UnChase!® trainer, ready to offer positive solutions for another common but unwanted behavior.
If you’ve been struggling with chasing and want a humane yet effective way to resolve it, let me hear from you. And if you need help with any other behavior issue, I’d love to see you again and give you ways to manage it or teach alternative behaviors. (Sometimes, this calls for changing emotional responses, so that can be a longer process.)
A New Year’s discount for you!
To celebrate the arrival of 2024, to thank you all for being such great clients in the past, and to promote more positive training, I’d like to offer you a single lesson for $75 (discount of $20), if booked by the end of this month, January 2024.
If we haven’t met yet, I’d like to encourage you to find relief and learn how positive training can turn things around, with a $75 discount on any package you choose: UnChase!, Loose-leash walking, Adolescents, or Fear/Anxiety/Aggression (behavior consult is separate), if booked and paid by the end of January 2024.
Sending holiday cheer and best wishes for 2024 to you and your family, especially the 4-legged members!
