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Final go-home session with Emma, the highly reactive and dog aggressive pittie. Her mom (Donna) is the one who's made us all the amazing garden bricks with our dog's names on them! (Thanks Donna!!) Donna had done a ton of work, both prong and e-collar with Emma, but was still struggling with reactivity on walks. Part of the problem was that Emma was incredibly high-drive, and also incredibly insensitive, so the Dogtra e-collar they were using was too soft for her to care about when things got intense. And that left Donna with virtually no options. Beyond changing our their collar (to a Boss 800), we also worked on specific dog aggression triggers (loud growling/playing/tug of was etc.), as well as slowing her commands and reactions down. Although it might look great to see a dog flying around like a rocket doing obedience, the reality is, she needed to learn how to slow down and manage her excitement. This clip shows Emma doing some great work on the walk around a dog she's never seen before. At this point she's not able to look at dogs comfortably without loading, so she's been taught to ignore them and look away. And this clip shows some stuff from both dog and owner!! :)

So many of you were blown away by Kaci, the pulling, lunging, super-excited, bratty pittie's amazing walk transformation in just one session. I went out with Anri on her first session and videoed much of the work she did to get Kaci to the great spot she was at. Laura put together a quick (and cool!) little video with some graphics detailing much of the training approach we used to create the e-collar heel, and get Kaci out of her crazy space! We hope this video helps some of you to see the process as it goes down. You'll that it's messy initially, and that it's definitely not a straight line of progress. The biggest challenge for us with Kayci (and for many reactive dogs) isn't the teaching process, it's addressing the arousal issues. An aroused dog doesn't focus, process, make smart decisions - and will typically work at much higher levels, blowing through the e-collar or prong. The e-collar 180's were what finally did the trick for Kaci. *A few arousal removal tips: do the crate exercise (shutting the crate door firmly on a bolting dog), thresholds exercise (correcting with a firm prong or e-collar correction for blowing through), prong 180's, e-collar 180's, and e-collar long line recall.

TGD Video Tip: Don't do this stuff!!! It's crazy that in this day and age we still understand so little about our dogs. We still do things every day that puts them or others in harm's way. Here's a short list of stuff I see come up over and over with clients, emails, PM's etc. P.S. If you have the dog or dogs that are the exception to these rules, awesome! So these guidelines aren't meant for you. But many others need to hear this. Thanks. :)

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'Recently Kevin Spacey shared a message that had been shared with him by his own mentor, the great actor Jack Lemmon. There's a longer version, but the upshot of Jack's personal beliefs, and what he passed on to Kevin was: If you've done well, you owe to those coming up to send the elevator back down.

What a wonderful concept. Kevin shared how Jack's belief in him as a struggling 13 year old had been the emotional and spiritual push he needed to go after his dreams. Jack's belief in Kevin, even when Kevin was unsure about his own gifts and abilities, sent the elevator down to help lift Kevin up.

Some call it paying it forward, some call it giving back. Whatever you call it, it's one of the greatest gifts we can give to others...and ourselves. The feeling of helping others, of lifting them up, of seeing their gifts even before they do is truly one of the greatest highs this life has to offer.

Knowing you've helped someone pull themselves out of a dark place, knowing your effort helped to change the course of someone's life...it's just silly good. :)

I call it throwing the rope down. I like to think of people who have something special, and are trying to find their way (reaching for the rope), but just need that encouragement, or that insight, or that reminder that they're special. They're trying to climb, but they may not know the right rope to grab. They may be surrounded by people trying to keep them where they are. They might be surrounded by messages of cynicism and doubt. They might have very little belief in who they are and what they're capable of.

They might see a bunch of ropes and be overwhelmed...and freeze.

One of my favorite concepts is that of the "trust bridge". A trust bridge is a person who, through their actions and behavior have created so much trust and belief in who they are that they actually imbue the rope (which could be advice, a book, a cd, a video etc.) with belief and trust. Which means the person grabbing the rope already has a mindset that is more open, trusting, ready to receive the information - without all the cynical and doubting stuff getting in the way.

That's why becoming someone of character, integrity, follow through, action...trust is essential if you're looking to send the elevator back down. And if you're looking for people to want to get in that elevator, or grab that rope, or take that hand.

My guess is that Jack was someone of such high character and integrity, that when he told Kevin how much he believed in him, Kevin believed Jack over his own doubts. That's the power of the trust bridge. It creates a bridge from doubt to belief...or at least the open mind that is ready to believe if the message is a good fit.

We all should be thinking about sending the elevator back down, because just about every one of us is in a position to help someone less fortunate. But if you really want to help, if you really want to be in a position of impact, and if you really want to lift others up - and have them take a chance on themselves, or life - becoming a person that creates that much trust (by way of how you live and who you are) is an essential component to creating that bridge.'