DOGGY•U

As a 2nd birthday present to me, Denver earned his 4th and final pass for his Junior Hunter title!

It’s been quite the journey training for a sport I’d never done before, and I’m pretty proud of this one. Last year, we struggled with dropped ducks and Denver messing with them, so I gave him 9 months off to grow up and mature while I worked on rebuilding his retrieve specifically with ducks. (His general retrieve has always been pretty solid.)

I had to break the behavior down and approach it from a few different angles, but it all came together in his first—and last—run of the year: no dropped ducks and 4 beautiful retrieves to hand. I’m so proud of this guy for letting me puzzle it out and learn and grow together.

(The gift for me is that I can get the dead ducks out of my freezer - Denver is officially retired from hunt testing so we can focus on our other sports that take up less freezer space 😂)

CHSD Kickass Sunshine On My Shoulders *JH* CGCA CGCU RN TKP FTA
*Pending AKC approval*

Big thank you to the Southern Berkshire Golden Retriever Club for a wonderful event!

#duckdog #fieldlab #juniorhunter #yellowlab

Accessibility: yellow Labrador retriever sits with dokken (fake duck) in mouth with an orange ribbon on his collar.

3 weeks ago | [YT] | 919

DOGGY•U

Happy 2nd Birthday John “Denver”,
aka Denny
aka Sunshine,
aka Mongo,
aka Lord Dennison of Onion Mountain,
aka “okay I’m good on kisses, thank you”
aka CHSD Kickass Sunshine on My Shoulders CGCA CGCU RN TKP FTA

This dog has brought so much joy and love to our lives and our adventures together are just getting started. I'm so lucky to have him by my side, and grateful to get to share our journey with you all. <3

Big thank you to @whitneyrupp for trusting me with this special boy.

P.S. Just get the lab.

Baby pro photo by @geretyphoto
Adult pro photos by @francesmphoto

#labradorretriever #fieldlab #servicedog

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3 weeks ago | [YT] | 1,006

DOGGY•U

My baby girl turned 10 this week 😭

My princess, my baby dog, my queen b*tch. This silly, quirky, opinionated girl has taught me so much about patience, love, and dog training. You’ll never have to wonder what she’s thinking because her expression will always tell you everything you need to know.

Her and I are twin souls - and our best selves when we’re wild and free.

Love you my little lemur-hyena 💜

P.S. she’ll probably be the only girl dog I ever have 🤣

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4 weeks ago | [YT] | 1,151

DOGGY•U

Example of management from today’s livestream: using a platform to help hold position at obedience run-thrus when all those good scents are calling his name. This helps set the dog up to be successful!

Want more tips for adolescent dogs who are having a teenage moment?

Check out the replay here: youtube.com/live/To5r_NN75ak?feature=share

1 month ago | [YT] | 775

DOGGY•U

After several requests: *Training Leading Tasks with Guide Dog Foundations* is now available for purchase as a collection outside of Patreon membership tiers!

Those who purchase this collection (which is a series of structured training videos similar to purchasing a training course) will get access to each new post/video as they are released over the next few months. 3+ hours of instruction is already available!

Purchase now to follow along on Denver's training journey and start your own with your service dog!

Topics Covered:
- vetrinary clearances
- harness loading/handling technique
- developing straight line travel and curb stops
- left/right turns
- pace control
- guiding/leading around obstacles
- overheads and off-curbs
- suggestive turns
- stairs and stair refusal
- busses/public transit & finding a seat
- pedestrian clearance
- country travel/shore-lining
- finding common objectives (find a seat, inside/outside, stairs etc.)
- follow a family member/person
- and more!

Purchase the training video series here: www.patreon.com/collection/1766342

*Great News! If you're an Inner Circle member this full collection is already part of your membership with new installments most Mondays over the next few months 😉


ID: Yellow labrador in guide harness wearing homemade occluders sitting and facing camera.

1 month ago | [YT] | 551

DOGGY•U

I travel a lot during the year for a mix of work and play. But summer is for staying close to home and spending time with my dogs on the river 💜

ID: yellow Labrador swimming at camera with a ball in his mouth.

1 month ago | [YT] | 672

DOGGY•U

To be all alone, deep in the woods, with his face staring back at me, is the greatest of gifts. 💜

#yellowlab #servicedog #fieldlab

ID: Yellow Labrador stands on wooden bridge over a small stream in the woods.

1 month ago | [YT] | 882

DOGGY•U

My free training foundations mini-course is now live on Patreon! Want to check it out? Simply sign up for my newsletter at DOGGYU.com and I’ll send you the link!

This popular course, with thousands of students, has moved to a new home on Patreon so that it’s more accessible without any time limit on completing it, so you can revisit it at any time!

When you complete this course you will understand how and when to employ the following training techniques:

• Fundamentals of using Markers and Reinforcers
• Luring
• Modeling
• Capturing
• Shaping
• Target Training
• Back-chaining

For each of these training techniques I also show video examples so you can see what this technique looks like in practice. We round out the course by answering a viewer question about shaping, including a video demonstration of shaping a novel behavior.

Like I said, it’s totally free, so check it out now by signing up for my newsletter at DOGGYU.COM or joining as a free Patreon member at Patreon.com/DOGGYU


ID: woman walks with Labrador retriever in heel position. Text says: free training foundations mini-course

1 month ago | [YT] | 549

DOGGY•U

We had our first bear encounter on a trail! 🐻
There’s a lot of black bears where I live and I often see them a few times a week. I also hike almost daily with the dogs. But I’d never encountered a bear in my area on a hike, until today!

We were at our local reservoir when we heard someone shout and then a very large bear appeared on the trail in front of us walking at us. Unfortunately, the man was unknowingly pushing the bear at us from behind.

But fortunately the bear didn’t care too much about the man (it was legit one of the bigger bears I’ve seen here) and we were far enough away that we could just change direction and walk at a solid clip away from the bear and he eventually left the trail.

Living amongst bears has made me less fearful of them generally because they’re always around my house, but today was a good reminder to be vigilant in the woods, stay calm, and respect the wildlife.

Image of the dogs, post-bear encounter, up on a rock at the trailhead both wearing orange harnesses.

#bear #dogs #hiking #newengland

2 months ago | [YT] | 2,198

DOGGY•U

A picture is worth a thousand words, and the reason we NQed in this AKC Fetch trial is evident here in the first photo.

Last month, Denver and I competed in the AKC Fetch Retriever level, the highest level of the sport.

At this level, dogs complete three directed retrieves to bumpers hidden behind blinds approximately 80 feet away.

A helper calls out, “Hey, hey, hey!” and places bumpers behind two of the three blinds for the first two retrieves, then behind all three blinds for the final series.

Before sending the dog, the handler tells the judge the order in which the dog will retrieve the bumpers.

This photo was taken during Denver’s very first Retriever-level trial. The moment I sent him, I knew I had made a mistake.

Can you spot it?

I had lined Denver up to retrieve the bumper on the right. His head was pointed in the right direction—but his body wasn’t. His body was angled toward the left blind. So when I released him, that’s exactly where he went - to the left.

Because he picked up the wrong bumper first, we received an automatic NQ.

So what did I, as the handler, need to work on? Making sure Denver’s entire body—not just his head—was lined up with the correct bumper before I sent him. I also needed to help him settle enough at the line to find that alignment next to me despite the excitement of the trial. (He was a little sticky on the line during that first run, which made getting him lined up more difficult.)

Fortunately, we got another chance later that day. In our second trial, we were on the same page, got a clean lineup, and Denver put together a beautiful Retriever-level run.

I’m always encouraging people to film their training because video can reveal things you never noticed in the moment. But in this case, a single photo told us everything we needed to know about what to work on next.

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2 months ago | [YT] | 423