

CANINES & CO. SUMMARY PACKAGE
Thank you for trusting us for dog training and for all your hard work following up at home.
This is a Summary Package with objectives for your dog going forward.
We would love you to continue training with us ongoing or drop in basis for play, exercise and training days.
Summary Notes
*** please note that every dog, owner and situation vary so the following info doesn’t always apply exactly to every dog and situation, I have given you specifics on your dog to follow along with the generalisations below ***
Foundation
Your dog now has a strong foundation. This is solidified for their lifetime, when needed you go back to the foundation to refresh, sharpen up or troubleshoot any issues that arise. You now have the tools to approach everything in your dog’s future.
Success
Your dog is now set up for success, to be balanced and heathy for a lifetime. But it’s important to maintain this. Some dogs need a short amount of time to maintain strict standards and some need longer or a degree of maintenance their whole life depending on energy, breed, drive level etc.
Timeline
Your general rule is to maintain strict training and routine until 16 months, and if you are getting 10 out of 10 of what you want from your dog then you can start being flexible with boundaries and see how your dog responds and what they need to be successful. The goal is that your dog stays balanced, not neurotic or aggressive and they respond to their “non negotiable” commands no matter what the distraction.
Leash Work and Recall
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Usually the most difficult and ongoing skill you will have to maintain
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The benefit of social time at school is invaluable and allows the freedom of having a socially appropriate dog who loves to play, the trade off is that they are easily socially excited on leash
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To counteract this its important you follow through with leash training and don't allow your dog to become excitable when passing dogs
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Dogs easily differentiate between social time and leash time and the rules that accompany that
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If your dog is social or has higher drive they will have more difficulty passing and recalling from distractions
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Remember between 5 months and about a year, your dogs focus on walks need to be you, not greeting dogs, people or sniffing etc
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Your dog should be able to walk on a city sidewalk, loose leash on a wide path or open area and hike on a long line (eventually leading to off leash)
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If you don’t follow through with leash and recall you may lose traction
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Keep up the homework, it will pay off for the rest of your dogs life!
Obedience
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Your non-negotiable skills should be done on the first command with no lure, hand gestures, food or leash pressure
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You need to phase out food and still get non-negotiables
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Use food when needed for high distractions, new skills or as a surprise but not every time
like we did to set up the foundation
Play Skills
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Most people will engage in play more than other activities daily for the rest of their dogs lives
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That is why we focus on play early on in training so your dogs have all the skills to participate in every type of play for all the reasons that were explained to you early on in training
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Your play skills are not done until they easily:
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Exchange 2 toys
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Drop toys on command
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Jump and retrieve toys
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Play with one toy the same as 2Tug you at least 4 steps backward
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Do skill for a toy (spin, through, jump
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Play in any setting with any toy (in a park, at the lake)
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Focus on toy vs people and distractions
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Play until completely exercised
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Balanced Dog Checklist (in Introduction Package)
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Make sure you refer back to this until you can check off every box
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You can do obedience for years and still not have a balanced dog, so that guide will
ensure you have both!
Goals
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Always have a goal and work toward it, your dog is now capable of accomplishing anything you put time into
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Lifestyle goals: be able to settle on a patio, travel with ease, be calm around other dogs and people in public etc.
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Have fun goals: 20 ticks, be able to catch 15 frisbee’s in a row, paddle board, go to patio's in the summer etc.
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Formal goals: Canine Good Neighbor, Agility, Scent Work, Frisbee etc
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You’ve got this!​
Mya
