We spend so much time talking about our pups 🐶 … now let's get to know more about the two legged partner too! 👉 What’s one thing you really enjoy that has nothing to do with dogs? Something you do regularly or wish you could do more often. It could be a hobby, guilty pleasure, favourite food, adventure, or just something that makes you smile. 🎬 Drop a GIF in the comments that shows it off! I’ll go first…

Harlan definitely has no trace of a retrieving instinct at all, and this has been one of the most challenging behaviours to shape with him, but also the most fun! I had purchased a costume for the dogs to wear which came with a magic wand, and I wanted to get some cute photos of the dogs for Halloween so I taught them both “hold it” using different methods. With Telka I would just offer the wand and she would take it. The holding part needed to be shaped but at least she had sense enough to grab it with her mouth! Harlan needed a different strategy. I sat on the floor with him with my big bag of treats and the clicker.. Harlan knows this means he has an opportunity to earn a premium wage so he immediately gets in the zone. I place the wand on the floor beside him and let him think…. He looks around the room.. eventually glancing in the direction of the wand *click and treat*. He wonders what he did to trigger the reward. He looks back in the direction of the wand. *click and treat* After a couple more times he realizes the wand and makes the connection.. he walks toward the wand *click and treat*. Bingo. he leans down to sniff the wand *click and treat*. He watches me as he nudges the wand with his nose. Is this what you want? No? What if I put my mouth around it? *click and treat* And quickly Harlan realizes what I am asking. It’s unnatural for him (he isn’t a toy motivated dog and doesn’t have a lot of interest in using his mouth to interact with things other than the voracious consumption of food) and it’s taken a lot of practice to get to the point where he will actually hold the item in his mouth and not just flail it around and launch it across the room. Practice, consistency and timing of our reinforcement is essential.

I was thinking about Harlan and appreciating what an awesome dog he has been to work with, and I have always just remembered Harlan has being such an easy puppy. And then I remembered that Harlan has separation anxiety that I have been working through for years with him. It’s been a total challenge and, while there is a lot of improvement, it’s a touchy subject that hasn’t had the most straightforward path. Lots of accomplishments and also several setbacks. But then I remembered back even further to Harlan’s worst problem at all. His intensity in motivation for food. This brother is sneaky. One time I watched him through a small window from outside. My partner and I had just baked a ton of cookies and set them to cool. We stepped outside briefly and watched him get up from his bed, look around to see where we went, do a perimeter check and look in every room in the house before he went into the kitchen and jumped up to snatch the cookies. I had set him up because he had successfully done this the week prior and ate all of my cookies. Counter surfing is the worst and thankfully this is no longer something I worry about. He also used to attempt to steal food -from my mouth-, or my hand on its way to my mouth. Or from my plate. Once, he managed to snatch a Hagen daz ice cream bar from my hand, swallowed it WHOLE, and then pooped out the stick 5 days later (thankfully! And also thankful that he is now extremely polite around food haha) And all of that being said, I still look at that little pest and think “omg you are just the sweetest angel and the best most handsome dog man ever who could never do bad things and deserves all the best treats.”. Tell me about your dogs nuisance behaviour and share your stories!

Be honest… what food do you share with your dog? 👉 from the table? 👉 a sneaky bite on the couch? 👉 trail snacks out of the backpack? Or do you keep a firm rule: only from the bowl, no begging allowed? Ivy gets cheese (obviously 🧀😅)… your turn — what’s your dog’s favourite “human snack,” and what’s the rule in your house (or on the trail)? Drop your answers (and GIFs if you’ve got ’em) ⬇️

Dogs have to think really hard when they lead their bodies with their back end. Throw in some additional awareness of front end positioning and you have one challenging task! Pardon Harlan’s loudness.. he is actually unusually quiet for a hound. 😂