Online dog training is for everyone
This week’s blog was inspired by my colleague Kate LaSala of Rescued by Training’s recent blog. Kate’s been doing all her training online since COVID, for all kinds of behavior issues.
What exactly is online training?
When we do online training I’m connecting with you in a live streaming session from my home, while you and your dog are at your home.
All your family members can participate or observe, even from far-flung locations! This can greatly help with creating consistency for your dog during training.
In online training sessions I demonstrate techniques with my dog Petey, then coach you as you work with your dog.
I typically meet with people via Google Meet (you don’t need a Google account to participate). Some people call it “remote” or “virtual” training, but I prefer the term online, which I think is clearer. We can also use FaceTime and other online meeting apps/software.
What kind of training is suitable for online sessions?
Many of you are already familiar with online training sessions from having a free 15-minute consultation with me, but sometimes folks are surprised to hear that we can work on everyday manners such as sitting politely for petting, loose-leash walking, going to a crate, leaving stuff alone, and more. We can also address dog/baby/child safety, Very Big Feelings such as fear of strangers and reactivity, resource guarding, and body handling issues. I’ve worked with folks across the country on these issues, online.
All my separation anxiety sessions, even for local folks I see down the road at the general store, are online. So we can meet online for every service that I offer!
Separation anxiety is ideally suited for online training
Working with dogs who panic when left alone has been successfully done online for many years, thanks to technology. It certainly wouldn’t be effective for you to leave the house and for me to then peep into the window to see how the dog was doing, would it? And impossible if you lived in an apartment, as many of my clients do.
Watching your dog online during absences has greatly enhanced the effectiveness of separation anxiety training and the ability to help dogs learn to feel comfortable when left alone.
So are fearful and aggressive behaviors, such as fear of strangers
A dog with fearful or aggressive behaviors especially benefits from online training, as a stranger in the home can unnecessarily stress an anxious dog. Your detailed answers on the intake form and our initial online consultation is all I need to help you get started addressing fearful, reactive, and aggressive behavior.
Everyday manners
I worked online with Loretta and her dog, Bosco, on everyday manners. Here’s what Loretta has to say about their experience:
We adopted a 3 year old rescue dog with a checkered past and learned that he had some quirks and a high level of reactivity toward other dogs. Training online with Janice helped us right away with some foundational skills like "touch", "find it", "go to mat", and "down".
Bosco made incredible progress in 3 short weeks with all of these things, we also now have a secret word for emergency recall needs that brings him running. By our 3rd lesson, my dog got excited to see the computer getting set up and hearing Janice on the screen because he knew we'd be playing some training games (with treats!).
Petey did a fine job of demonstrating proper dog behavior for us too!
Families with children and dogs
I had both in-person and online sessions with Twyla’s guardians on preparing her for life with a baby, which included a manners refresher (back in those days I used Zoom):
“We were initially worried the Zoom experience might feel limiting, but Janice has it set up incredibly well. ”
Over 6 weeks, we had 2 in-person sessions with others over Zoom. We worked on skills with our dogs in our respective living rooms, and it meant that we could really focus on how we were training our dog instead of the dog being distracted by the novelty of a trainer.
The online sessions meant we could fit training classes into our schedules really easily and have more ownership of learning how we train, not just watching demonstrations.
Resource guarding and fearful behavior
Sweet Baloo had some anxiety behaviors around his food bowl as well as around the family’s growing baby. His people report:
We worked with Janice regarding multiple issues with our Newfypoo. She was a tremendous help guiding us through the Family Paws plan to increase the safety measures around our house as well as what precautions to take with regards to the safety of our baby, and now toddler, around our dog.
Additionally, when issues arose that weren't Janice's expertise, she was an excellent resource in pointing us in the right direction for where to go and what to do next. Would highly recommend working with Janice for any family looking for guidance to create a safe home for their dogs and children.
Note: this is a stock photo of a Newfypoo, not sweet Baloo, who is camera-shy.
What you need for online training
Online training sessions do require a fairly fast (stream-able) Internet or data connection, a fully-charged device (Furbo, smartphone, tablet, laptop, or other computer/remote camera) with a microphone, and the ability to connect to an online meeting that I set up in Google Meet. You don’t need a Google account to participate, just an email address, but please download the app, if needed, ahead of time.
I can also log into a client’s Furbo, Wyze, or another video device for a live session. As long as we can see each other, it’ll work!
After we have our online session, I’ll email you some homework, like I do with in-person training plans. You can send me a short video of the homework if you wish, for me to check your form and training mechanics (a lot of dog training is for the people as well as the dog, so both can build muscle memory by doing repetitions of the exercises).
Clients who are working on Very Big Feelings outside often take me on video tours of their walking routes, where we look for places the dog can feel safe while outside. Then, they later send me short videos taken during their training walks (an assistant sometimes films while the guardian trains) to review. I respond with next steps to make an outdoor training session more effective by either making it easier for the dog or moving on to the next level of training.
I meet you where you are
My Academy for Dog Trainer colleagues and I often say: Our goal is to meet you and your dog wherever you are. Dog training should be as easy as we can make it so you can achieve your training goals and have a happy, harmonious life for you and your beloved puppo. So if you can’t find a credentialed, reward-based trainer near you, online training could be exactly what you need, right where you are.