Dog training in Orange County

Dog training can be made more effective if done in new and challenging locations.

Orange County provides many interesting places for improving your pets social skills. Dogs trained in many different locations will usually respond to you better when you need them to.

This is because being in and adjusting to a new place requires your dog to adapt to the stress associated with the novelty and social uncertainty of being in a new area.

Many people only work their dogs around their house and then expect their dogs to respond under levels of stress that the pet is unaccustomed to. This is why it is so important to get in the habit of working your dog away from the house and enclosed yard.

You can start by working the the canine student in the front yard, where they are likely to encounter distractions (environmental and social stressors).

Once your student is working well in the front yard with traffic and neighbors going by it's time to move further into the neighborhood. Now it's time to work your canine kid up and down the street. When your pet student is comfortable with this start going around the block.

Try to go to a new area at least every 3 days.

As a general rule it's good if puppies can have actual interaction and contact with a 100 people a month. This is also good for adult dogs if they do not have aggression problems.

I like to work my canine students in areas of high distraction and moderately high stress levels, such as on Main street in Seal Beach or Huntington Beach . The beach areas can give you a challenging environment to practice in while at the same time providing a good opportunity for your four legged student to participate in social interactions with many people.

In the summer Bolsa Chica Beach can be very chaotic and exciting. This can create a high stress environment that can be beneficial for increasing a dogs reliability. Approach taking your best friend to highly stressful places with care. Some dogs find it a bit overwhelming with the smoke and fires, runners, bladers, bikes, yelling, horse playing teenagers, and campers, plus the unexpected.

Dog walk and training at Sunset Beach and Bolsa Chica State Beach.

At Bolsa Chica you must keep your dog on the paved pathway, if they go onto the beach you could get into trouble with the law.

This photo is me and a German Shepherd puppy I was training close to Orange Park Acres, at Santiago Oaks Regional Park.

 

As usual I like to have balance my practice, so it's no wonder I also advocate working canine students in areas that are not quite as crowded as California beach cities. Lucky for all of us Orange County provides some wonderful semi-wild area for us to enjoy with our best friends. The open spaces or semi-wilderness areas have their own challenges and stress factors. For most dogs it's just plain fun to get out where they can use their noses to experience the incredible beauty that we see. But some budding Einsteins get so busy having fun they have a hard time controlling themselves or listening to their owners. This gives you a chance to do a little conditioning, using your preferred style of training (food, leash, clicker, long line, head collar, ect).

One of my favorite semi-wild areas to train dogs at, are the horse trails in Fullerton. When ever working were you might encounter horses you must be extra cautious.

Basically figure the horse has the right of way and don't let your little genius get aggressive or scare the horses.

If your not sure how your dog will respond to horses here's something to try. As soon as you know a horse is coming down the trail just calmly take the dog as far off the trail as you can, and observe how junior reacts. You might want to use food to focus fido's attention while the horse passes by. If your dog will not take the food there is more of a chance it could have a problem with horses.

If your dog does take the food, you will have just showed it that when he/she sees a horse something good happens. Ideally you got your canine prodigy to do a little something for the food, such as sit.

Some dogs require some kind of correction to suppress undesirable behavior around horses. If this is the case look for a professional trainer or behaviorist you feel comfortable working with.

Training one of my own German Shepherds Dogs on the horse trails in Fullerton

How you handle your dog can have a big impact on how your dog responds when working under stress.

This is where having an optimum relationship with your best friend can really pay off. You can increase your dogs stress tolerance by how you handle the dog during practice sessions. It also helps if you have conditioned yourself to handle the dog in a consistent manner when you, yourself are under stress.

If you need help with your puppy or dog’s behavior
please give our office a call today
to make an appointment with a
professional trainer at ...
Adaptive Dog Training™ 714-229-0888

Our Training System gives you the essential tools and the practical knowledge you need to realize your dogs full potential. Each trainer / consultants in our network is personally selected and trained by me, Andrew Ledford. This lengthy and involved process is to assure you the highest quality dog training experience from an exceptional team of skilled and caring professionals.
Andrew Ledford