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 usually respond better when you need them to.

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

Many people only practice dog training around the house. Dogs that are only trained when all is calm will usually not respond when under unaccustomed levels of stress. This is why it’s important to get in the habit of working your dog away from the house and enclosed yard.

You can start by working the canine student in the front yard where it's likely they will encounter distractions (environmental and social stressors).

Once your student is working well in the front yard with traffic and neighbors going by you can to move further into the neighborhood. Now it's time to work your canine kid up and down the street. When your dog is comfortable training away for the house 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 footed 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’s often beneficial for increasing a dog’s reliability. When taking your best friend to highly stressful places for training approach novelty with care. Some dogs find it a bit overwhelming with the smoke and fires, runners, bladers, bikes, yelling, horse playing teenagers, and campers. When at the beach for training expect 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.

 

I like to balance high, medium and low stress in my training practice. Keep you training balanced by training your canine students in areas quieter than crowded California beach cities. Orange County residents are lucky in that The OC has some wonderful semi-wild area 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. Dogs probably enjoy the experience of scent about the same as we enjoy beauty experienced by sight. 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 training and conditioning. When out adventuring in Orange county remember to enforce good training habit using your preferred style of training (food, leash, clicker, long line, head collar, ect).

One of my favorite areas for dog training has to be the horse trails in Fullerton. When ever working there you might encounter horses so you must be extra cautious. Along with horse awareness you need the ability to move away from the trail, so your dog does not spook any horses. This is easier if you have good control of your dog.

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 responds 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. Try doing this at a wide open place on the trail. You might want to use food to focus the dog'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 dog training systems use a correction to suppress undesirable behavior around horses. If you are going to implement correction based training 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 influence on how your dog responds when working under stress.

Having a trusting and grounded relationship really pays off when your dog needs to respond under stressful conditions. Your dogs stress tolerance can be increased 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
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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.
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