Alissa Short, the owner and dog trainer at Mountain Dog Spa, provides supplemental media materials to help every dog training client succeed and accomplish training goals. These media resources range from a weekly podcast called Cashiers Canine Connection to YouTube videos on the Mountain Dog NC channel that demonstrate dog training techniques.
Holistic, Balanced Training
Mountain Dog Spa’s training program uses holistic, balanced dog training techniques to help clients improve their relationships with their dogs.
The holistic, balanced training approach combines structured daily life, positive reinforcement, attention to dog behavior and consistent correction of unwanted behaviors to achieve training goals.
Clients who choose to train their dogs with Mountain Dog Spa must comply with lifestyle restructuring for a minimum of 90 days to create boundaries and establish a leadership relationship for the dog.
Alissa explains Balanced Dog Training in the following YouTube video.
The Four Foundations
This is where dog training with Mountain Dog Spa begins. Every training program starts with foundation work to build a strong leadership relationship between client and dog.
Complying with each of the Four Foundations at home for a minimum of 90 days is a requirement for dog training with Mountain Dog Spa. These Four Foundations work together to create structure and boundaries for the dog.
Alissa explains the importance of the Four Foundations in the third episode of Cashiers Canine Connection: “Overview of the Four Foundations.”
Foundation #1: Crate Training
Alissa teaches training clients a specific procedure for permission-based crate training. The dog waits for a command before entering and exiting the crate. This crate training technique is shown and explained by Alissa in the following YouTube video.
For a minimum of 90 days at the beginning of the training program, use of the crate is non-negotiable for participation in Mountain Dog Spa’s dog training. Crate training is an important way to establish a leadership relationship and boundaries with the dog. Crate training is also a valuable cure for separation anxiety.
The importance of crate training is explained in episode four of the podcast Cashiers Canine Connection.
Foundation #2: Feeding Protocol
Food is an important opportunity to build a leadership relationship with a dog. At each meal time, the feeding protocol is performed.
The feeding protocol is that the dog waits for permission to eat. The bowl is placed on the ground, but the dog wait for a verbal release word before beginning to eat.
For a detailed explanation, listen to the Cashiers Canine Connection “Episode 3: Feeding Protocol.”
Foundation #3: Threshold Training
Threshold training is a leadership exercise to do at each doorway. When a door opens, a dog’s natural impulse may be to run right out. Threshold training is when the dog owner uses leash pressure to teach the dog to pause and wait for permission before walking through the doorway.
The following YouTube video demonstrates what threshold training looks like.
Waiting for your permission to jump in and out of the car is another great opportunity to instill threshold training.
Foundation #4: Structured Leash Walk
A structured leash walk means that the dog is walking in the heel position. The heel position is located directly beside/behind the leash-holder’s hip.
In the following video, Tinkerbell the Mastiff is practicing a structured walk during a one-on-one training session with Alissa.
Obedience Commands
The Four Foundations are a prerequisite to teaching obedience commands. Once the Four Foundations have established a leadership relationship and instilled a calm state of mind, the dog will be receptive to obedience training.
In dog training terms, obedience is any action that a dog does when issued a particular command.
Examples of obedience commands include:
- Sit
- Down
- Place
- Recall (Come)
Notice that stay is not listed among the obedience commands. Stay is built into the commands. To build stay into commands, use a leash during training to give the dog guidance. Instead of asking a dog to stay, the dog is expected to stay in a sit or a down until a release word is issued.
Release words include:
- Break
- Free
- O.K.
- Let’s go
Dog owners communicate with their dogs in many ways, both intentionally and unintentionally rewarding certain behaviors and states of mind. In episode two of the podcast Cashiers Canine Connection, Alissa explains how to properly reward and positively reinforce the behaviors we want our dogs to perform.
100% Accountability
The goal of obedience training is to know that a dog not only understands what the commands mean, but to trust that the dog will listen and obey 100% of the time.
The most common obedience command that clients want their dogs to learn is reliable recall – a dog that always comes when he or she is called. That way, the dog owner has peace of mind, because no matter what distractions or dangerous obstacles are nearby the owner can call the dog back to safety.
In order to achieve the goal of 100% reliability with any obedience command, the leadership relationship between the dog and dog owner is the first step. The leadership relationship is built upon the Four Foundations: crate training, feeding protocol, threshold training and structured leash walk.
Steps to Training Obedience Commands
- Introduce the Motion with Positive Reinforcement
- Add the Command Word and Use Positive Reinforcement
- 300-500 Repetitions
- Add Distractions
- Once the dog has been trained to understand the command, hold the dog accountable. Use Balanced Training techniques to correct the dog if the command is not obeyed.
The following YouTube video goes through the Steps to Training Obedience Commands using the place command as an example.
Tools of the Trade
There are many tools, some optional some non-optional, to use in Mountain Dog Spa’s training program.
Non-optional tools include a crate, bonker, Herm Sprenger prong, and use of a leash. These are tools that would be used if the dog is enrolled in our formal training program.
An optional recommended tool (on a case-by-case basis) may include a remote collar by E-Collar Technologies.
These tools would be slowly introduced to your dog. Our training process would begin using a regular flat collar or slip lead. Dogs would be gradually introduced to a Herm Sprenger prong collar once we are confident they are ready to progress in their training. Dogs can have different reactions to different tools. This may alter the tools that would be most beneficial in their training. Every dog is evaluated on a case-by-case basis to ensure optimal results for each dog. A Herm Sprenger prong may not be successful alone in a dog’s training. In this case, utilizing a remote collar by E-collar Technologies could be beneficial during the training process.
Herm Sprenger
A Herm Sprenger prong collar is recommended for many dogs in training. The Herm Sprenger prong collar features rounded-off metal prongs that create pressure when contracted. The pressure communicates with the dog, providing directional instructions while preventing leash-pulling and other unwanted behaviors.
In the following video, Alissa explains the Herm Sprenger collar in greater detail. The Herm Sprenger collar is the fastest, safest way to teach most dogs how to do a structured walk in the heel position.
Herm Sprenger is the top-of-the-line, authentic prong collar, designed to be safe for working dogs and pets alike. They are hand-crafted and imported from Germany. There are many mass-produced, machine-cut, knock-off prong collars on the market that do not work the same as the official Herm Sprenger does. Mountain Dog Spa only sells and promotes the use of official Herm Sprenger collars.
Bonker
A bonker is a rolled-up bath towel. The bonker is an effective tool to stop whining or barking in the crate. The bonker may also be used to de-escalate a overly adrenalized or aroused dog.
The following video shows how to make a bonker using a rolled-up bath towel and two rubber bands.
Remote Collar
Many clients seek training with a remote collar, because they want to pursue off-leash adventures with their dogs. Clients may also seek remote collar training to quickly, safely and effectively stop unwanted dog behaviors.
Mountain Dog Spa’s training program includes teaching clients how to confidently pursue proper remote collar training with their dogs.
The remote collar is typically layered over the Herm Sprenger collar in later stages of the training program. In some cases, the remote collar may be introduced early in the training program.
The following video is an unboxing of the E-Collar Technologies remote collar. This is the brand of remote collars that Mountain Dog Spa’s training program recommends to clients seeking remote collar dog training.
If You Want to Enroll Your Dog in Mountain Dog Spa’s Training Program
Please, fill out the training registration form to begin the application process.
Also, please be sure to click on this link to login to your client portal using the email or telephone number on file for existing clients OR create a customer portal if you are a new client.
We wish you all happiness and success with your dog training goals!