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I just created a flier for the upcoming aggression and play seminar in Seattle. If you have a dog in your neighborhood that barks or lunges at you or your dog, put these fliers up near those houses or at nearby coffee shops – maybe your neighbors will attend and learn to help their dog! Or you could be less subtle and leave one on their doorstep.

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I’ve been having a hard time choosing which of the many great causes to support with our Grand Expansion party on Friday. I’ve decided to give 5% of all profits from the new training store, including class registrations, to the Deaf Dog Photo Project.
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Hi everybody,

* Party! Don’t forget that you are invited to our Grand Expansion Party next Friday.

Our party is next Friday, April 30th, 5-8 pm. All of our staff will be there to have fun! Come by any time throughout the party, with or without your dog – remember, not all dogs want to be at parties, even fun ones like ours. We will have free puppy play time during the whole party (20 minute limit if another dog is waiting to play), plus demos, games, door prizes, some displays by rescue groups, and more! This expansion just about coincides with our 7th anniversary. Wow!

Please forward this message on to your dog-loving friends! If you are part of a non-profit and want to display your group’s info, just let me know. Dog walkers, vets, stores, groomers, etc.: we do have a bulletin board now and can display your materials, too, if we feel confident referring to your business.

Want to stop by the new store with less hullabaloo? Our regular store hours are below:

Monday – 10 am – 9 pm
Tuesday – Thursday 5-9 pm
Saturday 9-7:30 pm
Sunday 9:30-7:30 pm
The store is at the same location as the training center, but on the south side of the building, on 9th itself. Thanks for all of the food suggestions. We have decided to not offer dog food or products that a lot of the great local stores already offer, but rather to concentrate on dog training supplies. That means we have training books, DVDs, harnesses, treats, food puzzles, life-sized stuffed dogs, and fun training gear like a remote control treat dispenser. We do sell some smaller bags of Evo to use as treats.

* Dog Aggression & Fear seminar May 28th, 6:30-8:30 pm

I just added this to the schedule yesterday, and 5 people have already registered! Sign up for this seminar if you are a trainer (or want to be), a dog walker, vet, a regular person that’s interested in dog behavior, or a student that attended Growly Dog class before we started doing BAT (Behavior Adjustment Training). This is a fairly high-level seminar, but it should be helpful for all who attend. BAT is a technique I developed to help dogs gain confidence and social skills. I will be showing video, discussing the technique, and demonstrating it live with a reactive dog. Sign up for this workshop or our other ones with Kathy Sdao and Patricia McConnell at http://doggiezen.com/workshop

* Backyard Sports & Games

This class is designed to be mostly for fun, but it also helps you and your dog become a team, using a combination of backyard agility, dog dancing, nose work/tracking, tricks, and games. This is a great way to see if your dog would enjoy one of these sports. It’s not meant for hard-core search and rescue folks or world-class agility & competitors. It’s meant as a way to expand your dog’s mind and a chance for you to have some more fun training.

Our Sunday classes are full, so we added Wednesday nights at 8 and we will probably add a daytime class start in mid-May, most likely Mondays at 1 pm. The schedule/info is at http://doggiezen.com/dreamdog/sports.php or if you’re already signed up for Dream Dog, you can log in to swap in for some of those sessions. The fun and games classes are pretty popular, so dropping in can be difficult.

* Take a fun break – watch us training puppies on King 5

If you haven’t seen us train puppies on TV yet, watch it on the home page at http://doggiezen.com In the video, I demonstrate how to teach Touch, use touch as a recall cue (come), and how to start work on heeling.

p.s. Puppy folks – I just added some more Puppy Jr. High classes, at http://ahimsadogtraining.com/class/puppy-junior-high.php Just a warning – these are popular classes and they fill quickly, so sign up when you get a chance.

Only good things,
Grisha

Ballard dogs have been enjoying our training services since 2003. Our classes have become so popular, that we’re expanding to a second training room and a dog training store for gear and the essentials for creating a calm, happy dog. We’re so excited!
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Ahimsa is going to be a Silver Sponsor of the Furry 5K this year. The Furry 5K is a benefit for the Seattle Animal Shelter. More news later, but I wanted to let you know about the event so that you could mark your calendars!

Here’s their info, from http://www.furry5k.com:

The Seattle Animal Shelter is pleased to present the 11th Annual Furry 5K Fun Run and Walk! The race, which will take place in Seattle’s Seward Park on Sunday, June 20th, 2010, raises money for the Help the Animals Fund.

Join the fun as thousands of people run and walk, with their friends, families, kids and of course their dogs, in order to raise money for injured and abused orphaned animals.

We will definitely have a booth and we *might* have a walking team. Let me know if you are interested in walking as an Ahimsa team!

We’ve got some fabulous talks coming up for dog trainers and people who simply have gotten addicted to dog training. It’s even better than a basket-full of chocolate kisses. Seriously.

• Kathy Sdao is a behaviorist and a scientist with decades of experience, but you wouldn’t know it by the energy she puts into all of her talks.  She has a great way of explaining difficult concepts so that we all understand.  Kathy is doing a relatively new kind of workshop in Seattle this summer, which we’re calling “Kathy Sdao Unplugged” – it’s a place for trainers and advanced folks to bring their dogs, get practice, and solve those tricky challenges with your own dogs. We have working and auditing spots.  You can get more info or register now for the July 15-16 workshop.
• In September, we have a whole weekend devoted to fear, aggression, and play in dogs. I’ll be starting out the weekend with a 1-day presentation on Behavior Adjustment Training, or BAT.  It’s a technique I developed that has had some really fabulous results with client dogs and my own dogs, too.  People around the world are trying it and giving great feedback on their dog’s new-found ability to function like a regular dog!  On the second day, Patricia McConnell will fly into Seattle and rock our world with her great info on dog play and aggression. I’m absolutely thrilled to have Dr. McConnell, author of countless dog books, come to Seattle. She’s one of my all-time favorite dog behavior heroes. Can you tell?  You can get more info or register now for the September 11-12 workshop.

Happy spring! The construction on our second training room is almost complete. It looks like we will be good to go on April 1st. It’s adjacent to our main training room in Seattle (Ballard) and I’m hoping we’ll occasionally be able to open it up and use both rooms for bigger classes.

I’ve been busy adding more classes for you to our schedule this week. We have new Puppy Jr. High, Growly Dog classes, Puppy Kindergarten, play times, and Advanced Manners classes. Because of the 2nd training room, you can take classes at even more convenient times, including weekend mornings. Those have been reserved for puppies for the last several years, because we want the room to be pristine. Now the adult dogs can use their own room in the morning. Yay!

We also added 5 new weekly Puppy Kindergarten classes, for a total of 15, including a third class for baby puppies (under 12 weeks). Puppy class sizes will now be limited to 8 instead of 10.
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There has been such great feedback on Behavior Adjustment Training from other trainers and advanced students that I have decided to make a discussion group for us all.

Click here to join FunctionalRewards, a discussion group and creative space for people interested in BAT and related methods for aggression, fear, and other dog issues.

I (Grisha) have decided to join the modern age and try Twitter!

@doggiezen is the more official one with tips and updates about Ahimsa.

@peanutseattle is life from my dog’s perspective.

Experienced folks, can you follow and and let me know if I make any technical or etiquette mistakes?

If you are thinking of getting a dog, but can’t make a full committment yet, or want to test out the waters, fostering is a great way to help a dog in need without committing 10-20 years of your life.

Most area shelters and rescue organizations have a foster program.  One such program is Ginger’s Pet Rescue.  Ginger’s “specializes in Death Row Dogs” and is about to have 80 dogs from a puppy mill bust in the next few weeks.  It seems like every time I hear about Ginger, she’s getting another huge batch of dogs. She needs to mobilize all the foster homes that she can get!

Find out more about Ginger’s a www.GingersPetRescue.org.

A group called Families Against Breed Bans that works to block Breed Specific Legislation (BSL) in the Seattle area and elsewhere. There has been talk of creating a breed ban in Seattle for pit bulls or “fighting breeds” and I know that this is *not* the answer.
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I’m very happy to announce that the details have finally been hammered out and Ahimsa is going to host a dog trainer workshop by Kathy Sdao in Seattle this summer. The I-Cue seminar is open to professional dog trainers and regular dog owners who have interest in taking their training a big step further. Click for seminar info & registration.

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The Saturday puppy classes are changing times somewhat. The good news is that we now have a play time for bigger dogs – under 30 pounds instead of just 20 and for tiny dogs under 15 pounds. (more…)

We’re excited to begin offering private behavior consultations with world-famous dog expert Kathy Sdao, MA, CAAB at Ahimsa. Sessions take place at our facility in Ballard. Topics include aggression, fear, separation anxiety, and most other dog behavior problems. For more information, visit the private training page.

* Workshops this week: Coming When Called, Fraidy Dog, Baby-Proofing Your Dog
* Online dog training forum is up and running!
* Featured product at the store.
* Free Training Practice class moving to Mondays.
* TIP: Teaching your dog to fetch.
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We have offered agility classes at Ahimsa for several years. Our core focus is to improve the relationship of dogs with their humans, and while agility does serve that goal, the training center is so busy these days that I had to decide between continuing to offer agilty classes and offering more manners classes, (more…)

We did it! The dog training forum is ready for people to visit. Complaints about off leash dogs in Seattle? Need help with coming when called? Or weaning off of treats? This is the place to post your questions, rants, and raves. Visit the forum at http://doggiezen.com/forum.

In this Newsletter:

• New class: Intermediate Puppy, a.k.a. Puppy Jr. High
• Baby-Proofing Your Dog workshop – this Saturday
• Rally Obedience starts on Oct 18.
• Wallflower Shy Dog class starts Nov 17.
• More Agility Classes on the Schedule
• CityDog’s TopDog votes are in!

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Once again, I have a boatload of news for you…

In this newsletter:

• CityDog TopDog voting ends today! (maybe tomorrow)
• Free Practice Class for past and current students
• Join the Humane Society’s fight to end Dog-Fighting!
• New Round of Dog Agility
• Wallflower Shy Dog class returns!
• Baby-Proofing Your Dog – workshop
• Burien classes: Terrier & Puppy

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We have new classes!

The Baby-Proofing Your Dog workshop for expecting parents is completely new, and the Wallflower Shy Dog Class is a returning favorite.

I’ve also added a ton of new classes to the schedule: Agility, Basic Manners, Terrier classes in Burien, and a new Saturday puppy class in Burien.

Click here to see the schedule.

COLLAR & HARNESS WARNINGS

I have some awful news. A dog that took puppy class with me this spring passed away last week. Her harness caught on the exercise pen that she was kept in when her owners were gone for a bit, and she strangled.

The family emailed me because they wanted to prevent other dogs from danger. They asked me to be sure to tell people that it was a Shih Tzu – not the kind of dog one might expect to leap acrobatically into the air and get stuck on something high up.

I had heard rumors of this problem, and put my dogs into breakaway collars, but having never actually known a dog that had this happen, I thought it was very rare and got rid of the collars.

Looking into it, it seems it’s common enough to warrant warning you: 91% of vets say they have had 1-5 dogs in their practice who have strangled in the last year. I have just ordered several KeepSafe breakaway collars, which bust open if the dogs tangle in something but can be clipped to work like a regular collar when on leash. You can get them at the training center starting next week, or you can order them on our online dog store.

If you do get a breakaway collar, or have your dog go collarless in the home, it’s *especially* important to microchip your dog.

Love them every day, and don’t sweat the small stuff. Life is too short for dogs, even if we do everything right.

FOXTAILS – Danger!

Foxtails are a plant seed that land on your dog’s fur and then keep burrowing in, given the chance. I’ve had clients whose dogs and cats have had them in eyeballs, paws, and skin. They are known to go deeper, too, into the animal’s body, winding up in hearts and lungs. The dog parks are full of them and they are traveling now due to the hot weather drying up the plants. I spent yesterday removing as many as I could from the front of the training center.
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I have quite a few new bits of info for everybody and finally decided to make an online version of the newsletter. Here we go….

• Please Give Feedback
  • We now have an online class evaluation form.  Please take a moment to give us feedback on the quality of your experience at Ahimsa.
• Advanced Puppy is a Success!
  • We’ve had several Advanced Puppy classes and I continue to be amazed at how well they go.  They’re almost entirely off leash.  Depending on the class and the time of day, we’ll either work indoors or fence off the nearby parking lot and use that as a training space.  At the end of my last class, we had the students all lined up in sit-stays about 4 feet apart, while another student dog weaved in and out of them in heel position.  That last part was on leash, but wow! Click here for more info on this off-leash adolescent manners class. I’ve justed switched the Monday night one starting next week to All Sizes, so there’s room available in this popular class.

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