Halloween Tips for your Dog!


Halloween can either be a great training experience, or it could be one of the more hectic days as a dog owner. Like everything else in life, it comes down to preparation and putting yourself and your dog in a position to succeed. Below are a few quick tips that could really help you tonight!

• If you have a timid dog or a young puppy, please do not startle or scare them with Halloween costumes as it can have a lasting effect.
• I highly recommend you take your dog for 30 minute walk prior to the activities tonight, as this helps create a calm state of mind.
• If you plan on walking your dog during the trick-or-treating event, do not allow young children or adults to run towards your dog with costumes on. This can trigger a fight or flight mentality in the dog, which results in either lunging and barking, or trying to run away. Tell everyone please ignore my dog they are in training.
• When taking your dog on a walk, one of the best activities that you could do is put them into a down and just have them watch the world go by. Teaching your dog to doing nothing is doing something, especially with the chaotic mess of Halloween and trick-or-treating, is HUGE!
• If you were keeping your dog at home with you while handing out candy, this is a great opportunity to teach your dog how to behave at guest coming to the front door, whether it's knocking or ringing the bell. I highly recommend keeping your dog on the leash inside the house if you're going to go through this training regiment. The obvious easiest solution would be to have one person train the dog and have another person focus on handing out candy. Depending on your dog skill level, you're going to use the place command to teach your dog to remain calm while guests are approaching. If your dog is good place, don't be afraid to bring the police bed onto the porch, near the front door, but if your dog is struggling let's put our place bed further away from the front door to make it easier for dog to stay.
• If you feel like your dog is not ready for the test that Halloween brings, put your dog in the basement, in a crate, give them a chew and let them hang out for the evening. No training is always better than bad training, but I would always go back to the second bullet point. Get your dog tired before giving them time to decompress and relax.
• Do you want to make sure that you're very aware of where your chocolate that you're handing out is located, as well as where all the goodies that your children bring back are located. Dogs cannot chocolate, don't forget! This is a good time to practice your leave it command!

If you have any questions, feel free to reach out! Thank you, and I hope you and your family have the best Halloween! Also, our new hoodies and IGNORE MY DOG winter beanies are now in stock!


Happy Halloween,
Vinnie
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Hey guys, Vinnie with Say It Once Dog Training here! I am pumped that you are going to be apart of this amazing event. With that being said, I want to lay out some ground rules to keep everyone and every dog safe, as well as set you both up for success to learn as much as possible for the days ahead.

Don’t pet dogs that are not yours. You’ve watched enough of my content, don’t make me yell at you please ;)

If you have a working dog spot, make sure your dog has a tight fitting collar on, no harnesses, and a short 4-6 foot leash. No Flexi leads, or anything with bungee. 

If you are bringing a dog have their vaccination records with you, some facilities require it for your dogs to enter. (Group class dogs do not have to bring this, only dogs entering the facilities)

BRING A CHAIR! This is extremely important. Please do not forget

Bring a notepad, or your phone to take notes. I will be going over a boatload of information, and you are going to want to take as many notes as possible.

Do not feed your dogs their breakfast, bring it with you for the day, as well as a higher value treats for the seminar. 

No Dogs should meet during this event, their will be enough space for everyone 

You will want to have your dog crate trained, and bring a crate with you for dogs in working spots. 

If your dog is a bite risk, please bring and have muzzle already on before entering the building. 

Most importantly, don’t be nervous. If you have a challenging dog, join the club. That’s why you are coming. I hope the day isn’t filled with 10 easy dogs, I want to work, I want to challenge, and show you how I handle these dogs. 

Lastly, don’t make it a secret that you are coming. Please share this with friends and family so that we can get as many people on the Properly Trained Human’s train as possible. Thank you, and I will see you soon!