Tag Archives: dog training facility

up north in Alaska!

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It’s workshop season! And what a great start. A trip up north to Anchorage and Wasilla for a variety of topics, freestyle, cross training, team success and treibball. Ask anyone who wants to book me, it takes a lot to get me to leave home. But in this process of prying me away from my comfort, I seem to almost always love every minute, and meet some of the nicest people, from literally all over the world.

I love giving workshops, I love teaching, and sharing, and learning from those I am teaching. It is truly a full circle experience. The bonus to working with such a group of talented folks is that the level at which you can teach is that much higher, and the conversations that much better. Working with talent is always a gift in my opinion.

The groups I worked with in Alaska were so deeply involved in the dog world in one way or another, or another, or another! Mushing, dock diving, obedience, tracking, agility, SAR, hunting. Talented and committed.

The Alyeska Canine Trainers club in Anchorage have an amazing facility. Karen gave me the early morning tour, lucky me! And we tried to use it all, but it is huge. I would be lying if I didn’t say I had facility envy on some level. Folks came from all over Alaska, even Juno. When I asked Martha how she got to Anchorage, she looked at me quizzically and said, “you either fly or swim really hard” and then she had a great laugh!

I was fortunate to get some time watching the Alaska Dogs Gone Wild Fly Ball Team, and to visit the Alaska K9 Aquatics center.

Dinners, driving up the Cooke Inlet to the Alyeska ski resort, which by the way was the only 1 hour of sun I saw while I was there, and then off to Wasilla for a Monday Treibball workshop!

The photos can do the rest of the talking. Awesome all the way around! Just click on the photo to enlarge and follow the arrows.

Thank you Karen and Claudia for arranging everything and taking such good care of me! Nancy

throw the handler a bone too!

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It’s always lovely to hear when someone appreciates your dog, thinks they’re cute, or is wowed by their talents. Their isn’t a dog person on the planet that doesn’t get gushy, even if it’s just a wee bit, when their dog gets attention. I know my Dad gets a nice smile on his face when you say sweet nothings about his dog, I am pretty sure it’s universal.

But sometimes we forget to acknowledge and appreciate the other half of the TEAM. It is a cool thing when you throw the handler a virtual bone too!

When Ocean was a tiny puppy I was head over heels for her. We were unknowingly creating a powerful team.

I was so proud of her, all the way around, and I did gush when people talked so nicely of her. She came to this planet talented and wanting to work, so that is what we did together! Her reward in life has always been motion, and in motion is when you can feel what she is all about.

When Story was a puppy I didn’t fall head over heels for him, it was more of a partner feeling, a hang out dude feeling. And I couldn’t stop smiling. He was so comfortable with himself, and so comfortable with whatever was going on, it all happened in stride. Yet there was some grit to him, and that is what made him perfect in my eyes.

When he started to power on the juice he was amazing, like running next to a steam train. He is fast, accurate, and a great team mate. Running next to him is like drinking five energy drinks, and then topping it off with espresso whipped cream! And he has that natural charisma that makes people watch and take notice.

And then came $eeker. A lot of puppy, a lot of things going on with him emotionally, and a lot of creative training.

He is a wicked smart dog, and one that is successful in certain environments. When $eeker and I are in sync and the planets are aligned just right, he is amazing, and to watch him takes your breath away. But that doesn’t happen every time we step out. Even in our failures I love working with $eeker, he requires me to see training a bit differently.

TEAM, or the acknowledging that we do this all together is something that I strive for. The ‘US’ is so important to me. When I look at my dogs I feel complete, whole, TEAM.

My dogs throw me a bone by wanting to work with me everyday, wanting to try new things, and wanting to share space and time. That is the handler bone that means everything to me, keeps me inspired, and keeps me moving forward!

For those teams that haven’t received that feedback yet from their dogs, well here is a shout out from me! Keep working towards team, stay inspired, and enjoy the ride! Here’s throwing you a virtual bone!

Nancy

a recent session at our Dog Gym

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It’s kind of a relationship thing.

I work with my dogs every day, and work holds many definitions in our household. It can be any variety and/or combination of dog sports, hiking, yard work, fetch games, play with a purpose, family room tricks, nose work, find its, etc. Always varied, always creative, always something that my dogs and I look forward too. And it’s everyday. My dogs deserve this from me at the very least. Besides work being exercise that we all need, it is also glue for our relationship, relationship in motion so to speak.

Our YouTube channel NANCYSPORE has a glimpse into some of the things I do with my dogs, I think I have over 180 public videos posted on there. Some are for my own reference, some to support our clients during their classes, a few are tutorials, and some were posted because of a request to see something in action. I’ve loved doing all of them.

Anyhoo… here is one that I posted last night. A friend that I met on line a few years ago wanted to see what’s up with my training these days ... Happy to oblige, we had some fun!

Nancy, who is grateful for great partners!

 

 

a family affair, with friends and furry loved ones!

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Our facility is fully open now! Well it has been for about a month really, but we were working out some kinks and finishing up the office. We had our official Open House yesterday! While I have attended open houses over the years, my favorites being hardware store openings, I have never had the pleasure to host my own.

It is simply the coolest feeling ever to open your doors, invite people to come on over, and step aside to allow them to enjoy it. We put a lot of thought and heart into our new space, and while it’s personal to me,  and a space I love, it’s totally different when you open the doors and let everyone make it their own, for their own reasons. Every single person that walked through our doors had a smile, and kindness to share. It was awesome, and as one person said, refreshing!

And this is what I hoped for. A place where people and their dogs can come and enjoy their time working together. A place that feels good from the moment you walk in the door. And as I have always said, and I hope our new space is a direct translation of these words, “learn as much as possible, have fun, and do more!”

Thank you to Bridger Feeds, Petcurean, FitPAWS, Eagle Ridge Ranch, and our Scent Project! It is so fun to give things away!

I was visiting with people all morning and tried to get to my camera but never made it. So here are the final photos and the final touches … Nancy

if your new to following the story on our new facility, click here to read, and see the photos of where we started, the progress, and what we now have!

open letter – for a more responsible dog community

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A couple of weeks ago I sent an open letter to four agencies in town, including the City Commission and the Bozeman Ranger District. It’s been passed on to other agencies already so I consider it open. If you need a template to write to your city agencies, please feel free to use this.

I generally send out a yearly letter, and I keep hoping for a more responsible dog community, where ALL dogs and their people can have access to town and the trails undisturbed by out of control dogs and owners that don’t care. City’s don’t know there are problems unless they are given information on what is really going on.

I will continue to be an advocate for responsible dog families who are trying to do the right thing. And I will forever be an advocate for dogs that need to get out and about and can’t because of unmanaged environments.

Cheers and happy reading! Nancy

To:

My past letters to the City Commission have been in regards to dogs, specifically, management in town, and on the nearby front country trails. I would like to expand that this year.

While Bozeman continues to make magazine headlines as one of the Top 10 Most Dog Friendly Places, many people that live here see it a bit differently. It is definitely a dog town that boasts almost 200 acres of official off leash open space, trails that go through town that allow dogs on leash, and two mountain ranges with unlimited trails for hiking with your dog. On paper this is amazing.

But the reality is, dogs are off leash almost every place in town, not just in designated areas, they are off leash on ‘dogs must be leashed trails’, and even running around in areas where dogs aren’t even allowed, Gallatin Recreation Area/Ponds for example. There is not one single place you can go in Bozeman and be guaranteed a safe leash walk with your own dog, without an off leash dog coming into your space. This applies from Main street to the mountains.

Is it a war zone? No. Is there a big problem that is causing conflict on a daily basis? Yes.

Because there is a lack of enforcement, the culture in Bozeman is ‘off leash and deal with it’. Bozeman is in fact growing an irresponsible dog owner population. The dog park mentality of “take a dog off leash and let them run whether they are under voice control or not”, has seeped out into town, City Parks, GVLT trails, Forest Service trails, and beyond.

It is common for off leash dogs to run up to strangers, baby strollers, other dogs, dogs on leash with elderly handlers, children, service dogs that are working, picnickers, wild life, etc. And there is rarely an apology, explanation, or even acknowledgment from the off leash dog’s owner. Why? Because ‘rules for off leash dogs’ in Bozeman has never been clearly defined, and the lack of enforcement allows this ‘owner behavior’ to not only continue but to flourish.

This summer I have purposefully gotten out more often. There is always a pulse to a community, I wanted to really get the pulse for the dog community, more so than just through my training business. I work with on average, 400+ clients a year, but there are many more dog owners in Bozeman, and I have a sense of curiosity.

I have been walking the various GVLT trails everyday all summer, they are great trails and because they are supposed to build a better community, what better place to walk, right? I have either walked with one of my dogs or a client’s dog. I have been the only one on leash. The only other dogs on leash are my clients walking with me. I have had numerous dogs run into my space uninvited with unapologetic owners, two dogs that have stalked me, and too many dogs to count that showed up without owners nearby at all, they were from a house or neighborhood nearby and just cruising apparently. These trails are treated as an extension of the dog parks in town.

I have been in the Gallatin National Forest almost two to three times per week. I have never seen a dog on leash. In the FS information I picked up at their office, it states in very tiny print, dogs must be leashed to prevent chasing of wild life. Because this would be an almost impossible task to enforce, you would think that at the very least, managed and under voice control? I have passed dogs under really good owner voice control, but have passed many more that were either busy running around chasing wild life, or having a dog park experience in the back country.

Recently at the Gallatin Rec./Ponds we had two off leash dogs run right through our picnic space while they were manically chasing gophers. Their owners? Casually walking on the trail and never once offered an apology, or made a motion to get their dogs. This is common, not uncommon.

Not all dogs appreciate a dog park experience, in fact the majority of dogs do not. Yet our City is making a statement, simply by omission, that all dogs must be able to ‘deal’. We have responsible owners in town with lovely dogs, they pay taxes, their license fees, take excellent care of their dogs, but will never be able to use all of these great amenities because their dogs don’t want an off leash dog in their space. There is not a single place to walk where all dogs are in fact on leash except Lowe’s Hardware store. This is a sad statement.

I have received calls from some City Commissioners over the years, sat one two committees that include an Animal Control Officer, offered examples of programs that have become successful in other City’s similar to Bozeman. Not much has changed.

I would be open to talking and discussing possibilities and opportunities for a more responsible dog owner population. Our town should be dog friendly to everyone, not just off leash dog owners. If this is of interest, please let me know.

Thank you,

Nancy Tanner, CPDT-KSA

Sunday Morning Walk & Train

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Along with our new training Dog Gym, we are introducing new programs. One of the programs I am really excited about is our Sunday Morning Walk & Train. Exercise for both the handler and dog!

An hour long walk on the lovely trails just out our front door at the Gym, and then an hour in the Gym working on the skills of your choice. This is a guided, very casual program to improve the relationship, skills, and health of both handler and dog. Questions and conversations are always a fun part of morning programs, but there is no formal instruction.

I am also seriously contemplating buying a coffee maker, with Sunday Mornings in mind ;-)

Leaving the Gym for the ‘Story Spur Trail Loop’, 2.5 miles of brisk trail and dirt road walking – It crosses the Rocky Creek where there is a great swimming hole.

Gathering gear for work in the gym. Gates, ladders and more.

Not sure what you want to work on? I have made cards to help inspire! Choose which ever one sounds interesting and have fun!

Warming up for tricks!

My beautiful Story was the inspiration behind our new Walk & Train program. This is how he starts most of his days, and it just adds such great balance to the rest of our day!

Nancy

Thursday night demo – handling the reactive rover, building a positive conditoned emotional response

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For three years I partnered with our local library and offered free Thursday Night Community Lectures, about once a month. It was an awesome way to share information beyond my classes, meet new people, and talk about varying topics that were really interesting to me.

The topics varied from food, to behavior, to traveling with a dog, and sometimes I had guest speakers with me. The size of the crowd was totally unpredictable, from 2-65, it was a bit like gambling!

Now that we have the Dog Gym, I am reviving this program a bit, but letting it come full circle with Live Demo’s. I know for me, I learn best if I can see something in action.

Last night we had a demo on Handling the Reactive Rover. Franny was my demo dog, if you read her series, Living with a Dog Outside of Neutral, you know she was the perfect choice!

We had such an awesome group of folks last night. All responsible handlers, all involved in the dog world to some extent, and all with great questions! It was so inspiring that we accidentally went on for two hours!

Some of what we touched on -

  • What type of reactive do you have? happy, cranky, fearful, etc.
  • What are the triggers?
  • Was the reactivity event caused, on going environment, temperament, combination?
  • Management in the home with a reactive dog.
  • Management when out and about. Making choices for where, when and how.
  • Reading your dog’s body language better.
  • Why is taking a deep breath important and so under rated?
  • Crate training, and crate use. Voluntary safe place that elicits calm.
  • Basic exercises to encourage a more relaxed dog, relaxed handler. A two-way street.
  • Default behaviors of sit, come to me, between, relax when we stop. All should be voluntary.
  • Building trust so your dog feels safe with you.
  • Using your voice as the first leash, and webbing for insurance
  • Why harnesses?
  • Having a support system so you feel good about your dog, your choices, and your work. Feeling empowered by the good work you are doing instead of beaten down.
  • Small micro steps, not leaps and bounds.
  • Rocking your dogs world in the biggest kindest kind of way when they make a healthier decision when faced with choices. Meatballs growing out of the floor!
  • and on and on … again, a great night!

Nancy, here is to many more great Thursdays!

ps. my daughter took these photos as part of her summer project. She mentioned after reviewing them that I might not be able to talk if I had my hands tied behind my back… hahaha Very funny Piper!

our Dog Gym – the final stages!

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An awesome Sunday to be sure!

We were set to go hiking and swimming this weekend for our dogs birthday’s, but Franny was having a Grandma moment and didn’t really want to get out of her rocking chair. So on Saturday we had a Spa Day instead, baths, brushing, nails, massages, garden hang time, and raw Cornish game hens to crunch on for awhile.

Today she was feeling a bit more perky so we went to work at the gym after our morning Walk & Train group.

Believe it or not, it was the first time I really worked my dogs in there, fun, fun, fun! I think they thought so too!

tug tug tug, Ocean’s favorite game. She loved playing on the rubber flooring, no slipping and easy to run.

$eeker wasn’t sure about sequence work inside a building and on rubber flooring, but he was the one who didn’t’ want to stop in the end, he loved it!

Franny secured all entrances and exits, watched the flow of cars for a bit to get a feel for her new digs, and then settled into her favorite spot, on top of the puppy dog walk trainer, same place for the past 10 years!

gorgeous Bridger Mountains in the back ground, our indoor A-frame!

Our potty area and meet & greet area. Fenced with trees, water, pine cones and more. It’s a huge space measuring 90 X 40 feet. It has already been put to use this past week with classes and privates.

My eternally happy boy Story!

Our outdoor arena is fenced, and Spore is moving some of the arena sand around to make it a bit more even. 60 X 60 of outdoor agility and training fun! I love this space! Outdoor lighting will go up later this fall.

My flower pots are still growing, even with this heat and dry weather. Pineapple sage, lavender, tri sage, cream marigolds and petunia’s

My Soul Dogs. They were so happy to be working in the gym today, even Franny cracked a smile, this is rare! Or perhaps she was having a daffy moment?

Story’s favorite place at home, and apparently favorite place at the gym!

My beautiful Ocean, at 10 and still wanting to work on her tricky tricks, I love you Ocean! She was a happy girl today!

Moving forward. Our Gym is becoming more than I dreamed of!

Nancy

we made the newspaper, and a successful sale!

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Our new Dog Gym made the Sunday Bozeman Chronicle! I’m always a bit hesitant to give interviews, you just never know how it will be translated and rewritten.I do about two per year for newspapers and magazines, some come out great, and others make me cringe. This article was pretty accurate and to the point, yay! Thank you Amanda. And some beautiful photos by Adrian Sanchez Gonzalez.

Such a busy and exciting weekend!

As everything goes, it doesn’t happen without family and friends support and handwork. Early mornings and late nights, laughter and coffee. But we did it! And it was awesome to see friends from the dog world from years ago, that either stopped by to buy, or just to have some early morning coffee and chat.

Kenny Hess with Petcurean stopped by and dropped off sample dog food for our sale, it was awesome! They are going to be sponsoring our puppy and competition classes. Thank you!

Liz, Sharon, Piper, Spore and Renn helped through the whole Used Dog Gear Sale, thank you isn’t enough. It was our first, and because we had such amazing response we will most likely have them annually. People were able to sell gear, others picked up great deals, and we had a few other dog training facilities come and buy a bunch. We opened at 6am, and sold half of everything by 6:30am. It was awesome. Smart phones and Facebook actually put a new spin on things. We did sales even after we closed. What was left was posted, and we still have gear going out and being picked up this week!

I am proud to say I now have one shed free of stuff! woop!

Start saving your dog gear fro next year!

Nancy

leave it to a trainer to be a dog gear hoarder!

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So I thought it would be a fun thing for my clients to be able to sell some of their puppy gear and maybe buy something used/new at a Used Dog Gear Sale. It was kind of a last minute thing, but hey, it’s all about fun! It’s this Sunday the 12th by the way, from 6-11am at our new Dog Gym!

My friend Liz very generously offered to help. She’s a professional handler/trainer as well and has been accumulating dog stuff for years. She told me what a great idea, and a good opportunity to dump some of her stash. I gently giggled to myself, I haven’t been accumulating much gear, I’m not a gear head type of person. Minimalist me!

Then I went to my agility shed, and then to my training shed, and then into my garage, and I had the realization that I am a hoarder of dog gear. Oh dear god!

I currently have over 85 items pulled to sell, and I have yet to go through four boxes that are high on the shelves. Some used, some still in their original packaging, and some I don’t remember buying at all. All great stuff!

Pretty harnesses (17 harnesses to be exact, what was I thinking?!), gorgeous collars, nice puppy crates, shirts, books, bowls, toys, hats, and on and on! This doesn’t even include some of my agility equipment that I am selling that is currently at our gym.

I am on my way to start pricing everything, I should be done by late tomorrow. Then I will start helping my clients price their stuff!

This should be an awesome sale! Perhaps I will meet other fellow dog gear hoarders and we can exchange some fun gear… no no no… I mean sell our gear!

Nancy