Workshops / Classes

• Dee Teaches Classes at Woodlawn Saturdays
  Visit www.woodlawnkennels.com or contact dee@deesdogs.com
  

• Half day workshops with Dee Ganley
  Register with Dee at 735-5543 - dee@deesdogs.com
  Sign up early for $10 discount on any workshop (must be 30 days before the event)
  
  Designated Sundays at different locations :
  Woodlawn Kennels -Warner NH,
  Breeze Thru -Brattleboro VT
  THE Ranch- Lebanon NH
  It's a dogs World - York Maine
  Dee Ganley's Home East Andover NH
  Descriptions of workshops : Click here
  
  
• How to Teach Impulse Control and Manners
  (please, no reactive dogs) 1-4 $100 3hr
  Dee’s Home July 19th and Aug 9th - 2 hours -$50
  Good Mojo Dog Center July 26 12-3 $75
  
• Scent Games - The Nose Knows
  $100 3 hours 1-4pm
  Dees House Aug 23rd second level tracking - turns and articles
• Fun and Games for You and Your Dog
  $100 1-4pm
  Dee’s Home Aug 16th
• Working with "Reactive" Dogs - must be pre-approved by Dee
  Breeze Thru June 28th 12-4 FULL $130
  It’s a dogs World Aug 2nd 1-4 -3 hours - $100
  
• Recall Games (and a reliable stay and loose lead walking)
  1-4 pm $75
  Woodlawn Kennels June 21st
  Dee Ganley’s Home July 12th
  
• Clicker Competency Assessment Program
  For more skills using the clicker certification through
  Learning About Dogs or the UK –Dee will evaluate your skills on the last get together fee is $150 total of 6hours
  Woodlawn - Three 2-hour workshops for preparation for CAP 1 or 2 call or e-mail for date
  
• Descriptions of workshops : Click here

• Workshop with Dee - Sunday, August 2, 2009 -
  It’s a Dog’s World, York, Me.      
  
  WORKING WITH "REACTIVE" DOG– 1 pm - 4 pm - Click for flyer
  Does your dog have “outbursts” of barking, growling, and spinning when he catches sight of other dogs or people? If your dog just can’t watch without reacting, then this is the workshop for you.
  All dogs must be pre-approved by Dee
  Fee: $100 per person w/ dog
  Contact Dee to register today!
• Clicker Competency Assessment Program –
  MHS Keene NH 4-6pm July 25 -Aug 8th and Aug 22nd
  For more skills using the clicker certification through Learning About Dogs or the UK
  Fee is $150 total of 6 hours (total 3-2 hour workshops) for preparation for CAP 1 or 2
  Call 603-735-5543 or e-mail dee@deesdogs.com to register please
• New! Foundation Clicker trainers course        
  3 - 2 hour sessions
   Level 1 Clicker Trainers Course
  This course is held over  four days, covering the basic skills of reward management, timing of the click, adding a cue, shaping and targeting; includes assessment for CAP 1 on the fourth day. The three workshops are approx 3-4 weeks apart and must be attended in order. You will be expected to complete training at home between workshops. Includes assessment for CAP 1.
  Location and Date TBD. Contact Dee today!
  
  
• What's does your dog want? Finding the Inside Track on Reinforcement with your Four Footed Friend - $200
  A 12 week course with Dee Ganley covering a range of aspects of reinforcement: walking on a loose lead, returning with the toy, learning self control, managing arousal. This course will look at several different applications of reinforcement principles, from clicker training to toy training, including everyday applications in our interaction with dogs. Scent games with your dog for self control. Check Woodlawn Kennels to start in January 2009 and/or The Ranch starting in
  March 2009
  

Click here to view Seminars

Private Consultations

Contact Dee directly to find out her availability for a Private Consultations

Get started today! Fill out Dee's online Canine Aggression Research Interview.
Simply tab through the form to enter your information. Once complete, Submit the form online or print and mail to Dee!

Phone Consultations -- $60.00/hour or $45.00/half hour

Sometimes it’s not possible for people to get to a dog behaviorist or trainer. When a person is in that situation, what options are available? A book or a video? It’s Dee Ganley Training Services! We now offer another option -- Order phone consult now!

Fees for Training Services

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NEW! Join a list where students in Dee's dog classes. or who have worked with Dee individually, may stay in touch with each other and discuss reading/training assignments.

If you have a dodgy dog you might also want to join– dodgydogs-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

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STUDY SUGGESTS POSITIVE METHODS MORE EFFECTIVE

A recent study [1] published by the Universities Federation for Animal Welfare found that reward-based methods were significantly more successful for training certain tasks, and for no task was punishment-based training most effective. Dogs trained using only reward-based methods were reported significantly more obedient than those trained by other means, identifying reward-based methods to be the most effective overall training method.

Another noteworthy finding was the link between punishment-based techniques and problem behaviors, suggesting that punishment may result in the dog experiencing anxiety or conflict, a leading cause in behaviors such as aggression, separation anxiety and phobias.

[1] Hibey, E.F., Rooney, N.J. and Bradshaw, J.W.S. (2004), Dog training methods: their use, effectiveness and interaction with behaviour and welfare, Animal Welfare , 13:1, 63-69

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“I’ve always had labs and never had so much trouble before. . .this one is so unmanageable and keeps disobeying me.. running away.. jumping up and biting my arms. I’m so frustrated.. what can I do?”

“Any time I give my dog a rawhide to chew on, my dog growls and protects it.. is he going to bite me? . . .”

“I want to find a dog for my family situation, what type of dog would be best since I have small children under the age of 4? Please help us!”

What problems can a behavior consultant help you solve?

• Destructiveness
• Biting
• Failure to house train
• Separation anxiety
• Aggression (toward dogs or people)
• Fear
• Hyperactivity
• Leash pulling
• Unable to settle / over stimulation
• Introducing new children or animals into your household

What training skills will you learn how to teach your dog?

• Sit for greeting (not jumping up)
• Waiting at doors (not bolting out the door)
• Attention & focus on you (known as distraction training)
• Reliable Recalls (Being able to call your dog off any stimulus)
• Veterinary manners (husbandry exercises)
• Relax Down (self control, being able to lie quietly while things are happening around you both)
• Leave It (self control to see it, smell it, and not take it without your permission)

WHEN SHOULD YOU CALL A CERTIFIED DOG BEHAVIOR CONSULTANT?

The time to call is when you notice that your dog has a behavior problem. You may also call a Dog Behavior Consultant any time to learn how to prevent behavior problems. Identifying the causes of a behavior problem early on can make the difference between a happy, enjoyable relationship with your dog and a stressful, constant battle with your canine companion.

Dog Behavior Consultants provide help if your dog is showing:

• Aggression toward people
• Aggression toward dogs or other animals
• Household behavior problems, such as excessive barking or digging
• Destructive behaviors
• Undesirable behaviors, such as jumping or nipping
• Attachment or separation anxiety and related problems
• Shy or fearful behaviors
• Abnormal behaviors, such as excessive licking, air snapping or obsessive tail chasing
• Hyperactivity
• Appetite or house training problems

Competency Assessment Program -- complete information. The CAP really is pretty straightforward and is assessing your training *skills* (vs. accomplishments as in most competitive sports). Kay created this program to provide the direct feedback about their training skills that so many trainers need but don't necessarily receive at workshops, competitions, etc.

Note that some behaviors may have an underlying medical cause.for more info go to www.iadbc.org

Dee is doing private in-home consultations at your home or hers. Email her today at dee@deesdogs.com.

Dee is available for private consultations at the Ranch  on Fridays and Saturdays  View the class schedule at www.rompattheranch.com  or www.woodlawnkennels.com or at my home dee@deesdogs.com

What some professionals in the dog training community say about Dee:

“Dee is a skilled listener and a thoughtful person who takes in all that is around her but does not force her views. She has clear opinions and is secure about them but also open minded and appropriate about sharing with others….. I feel her assets include: a strong and varied background in all phases of dog care, ownership, behavior and training; established connections and acceptance as a leader in the sheltering and dog communities; …. her thirst for new knowledge and willingness to evolve professionally; her calm and clear leadership skills; and emotional stability. “ Dana Crevling, Instructors Training Course, Dogs Of Course

“Dee Ganley is an inspiration. During the week I was there, I got to observe Dee’s teaching, which was professional, organized, compassionate, creative, and fun.” Donna Duford, Director, The PET Project, San Francisco Animal Care and Control

For private consultations in the Andover area, email Dee at dee@deesdogs.com  

Success Stories

Marie-France Langlois to Dee Ganley match 17th 2009 thoughts from workshop I gave on teaching Self control skills for dogs.

Hi Dee

When I translated some of your material, things started to come together for me and when I saw you doors seem to open in my mind...
Because you show, but more than that you say why it works, what the purpose is, because it does not seem to be disconnected, let me see if I can express what I really mean:

First I think that YOU start with the absolutely most important thing for our dogs and all dogs, self-control. To me this is absolutely brilliant. It makes sense and you put words on what I had been looking for since the day I realized that Daisy the wheaten needed some kind of help and it was not about obedience. It was about being able to get her "equipped " with certain skills enabling her to cope, which is what your self-control exercises do as well, and more not only do they learn how to cope but they learn how to control themselves !

So this weekend I felt such a great relief because I have finally found what I had been looking for and you were able to put words on it that made sense to me and to us all. A person next to me said AH ! I will introduce this in my class ...I was looking for a way to do that to get the results of that without any constraint...now I have found it...( go to your mat exercise )( safe place and how to get the dog there...) in just a few minutes with you.

The other part that I really think is making sense to me is that you are able to say why you want your dogs to do this or that, a lot of trainers don't get to where I need to go to find myself "engaged" as well, my way of learning is not global ( I recognized parts of myself when I read Temple Grandin Animals in translation.) Once I got it alI I have no problem with the global picture, and can be miles ahead of some people although it took me longer to get there, when I am learning I need the tiny dots connected and to that level.

That is what you were able to do for me. With your walking on leash exercise now I have all the dots connected and I will be able to remember and do it well because I understand why first, and how second...and you do break the behaviour into small increments...this too helps. The get behind exercise, the one where we rub our dog, how good this would have been to know and to do years ago with the wheaten...I followed TTouch workshop ( a few weeks and they came to my house to work with my dogs) I am a certified Massage Practitioner for dogs and cats, I did obedience training, r+ type of training, all kinds of things where there always were something missing for me, I could not get the whole picture. Because of all these tiny parts missing. And while watching you I was thinking: "my ...this would be someone I would really love to learn from and work with for my own advancement.( I don't teach classes , I did while working professionally in management and human resources so you see this is quite different) Just for my own learning. But I did do volunteer work with shelters and this would be sooooooo useful...

I was awed and my neighbour was as well to see the dogs in the middle of the room all quietly lying on their mat, after just five minutes at the most and quite happy to be there, without any constraint and working in a way that builds the relationship between dogs and persons...

I was awed and to me you are the most talented educator in canine things that I have ever encountered ...and let me tell you that I have seen many..but your way connected with my mind! My way of learning. And I suspect with the minds of most people there.

What else to say : If you ever come back around here to teach a seminar I will be there, for sure, for the sake of my future dogs and my present dogs, (they are getting on with age the lab mix is aging rapidly 9 years old and he is a stressed dog, and the wheaten will be 11 this year. Quite a few friends have told me that with someone else Daisy would be dead. Maybe, with certain types of people she would not have made it. But maybe she would have been happier also and this breaks my heart. And I saw that possibility this weekend when I saw you, when I translated your material also. I saw the possibility that the exercises you demonstrated would have helped her so tremendously. She is a very reactive dog, very stressed, with not a high degree of capacity to adapt to new things or environment, I love her to pieces but she might have been so much happier with someone else.

Daisy was my "dream dog" my very first dog and nothing will ever happen to her as long as I live, but she would not be an easy dog to put in a family. And I don't want this for my dogs. I want them to be happy and to be easily adopted if something happened to me.

You probably are tired of reading all this but I had such a huge feeling of "THIS IS IT! I FINALLY FOUND WHAT I HAD BEEN LOOKING FOR, for so long...
I am passionate about animals not just dogs, I had birds, I have two cats and another one who died years ago and they were perfect, but dogs I wished to live with some for so long...and the relationships with them I want to be joyful, based on patience and respect, which they grant us so much more than we do at times as a species...

If you have read until this point I want to thank you. I will study your book (I do a lot of that watch videos and read on animal behaviour, and if I have questions I will ask. And I will check in case you come to offer a seminar as I will not miss that.

Thanks a lot again. Thank you, Thank you.
Marie-France Langlois

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Meet Sky and Tiko.(german shep)..Sky,,(Border collie) WAS ONCE where training was concerned, Completely Shut Down,,and where other dogs were concerned Full of Fear and very reactive. Tiko, had 5 homes before Emelda found him. He is a teddybear with people including children, but when it came to dogs, even the clinking of a dog tag would send him into frenzied barking..He was unable to be off lead near other dogs even ones he knew, because he is unable to play without downing the dog, his idea of play is to force the other dog down with his huge head. As you can see from the photos, Sky and Tiko are able to be off lead, in very close proximity, Tiko seems infatuated with Sky and she seems to enjoy flirting and manipulating him. We took the two dogs to a popular Country Park and walked them both past dogs and their people, with wonderful results and no incidents from either of them...What a result!

Thought you would like to see this photo (above), two dogs who were once so miserable to be near other dogs...I think we can safely say that these two dogs are extremely happy to be close to each other...in fact, Tiko appears to adore Sky and Sky manipulates Tiko just as she has always tried to manipulate me..(G) her latest game is to drop her ball, and wait for Tiko to run back,,pick her ball up to what appears to be him showing her your ball is here..then he stands to the side and allows her to collect the ball..he won't move until she has gone back and collected it..

Subject: A little update on Tiko and Sky
Thought I would let you know about Emelda and Tiko and myself and Sky's visit last week to an extremely busy Clumber Park. Clumber Park is a huge country estate, with a Cafe, with an outdoor area where all the dogs take their people to give them a rest and a refreshemnt break. The forest is all around (part of Sherwood Forest) Everyone goes there for a day out, and its a great place to go to see other dogs (but you have to know what you are doing if you have reactive dogs). We had a brilliant day there last week. We began our day with a half hour run off lead through the forest, then a little break and then we went for it..Tiko was brilliant and Sky was good as well... but I did let her down..we walked past one lovely little dog sitting outside the toilets,,(Sky was behind me) then walked past a lovely quiet Red Setter sitting in the middle of the pathway,,no reaction from Sky, none from Tiko..I took two paces past..and said..oh Good Girl,,at which point,,Sky Whipped round and snarked at the Red Setter...another lesson learnt..no need to praise her Shirley (even if you were pleased and excited by how great she had been) it should be an absolutely, no problem, normal thing to just pass quietly past a dog...but apart from this one slip up on my part..both dogs were brilliant..and our reward to them both was a lovely rest..in the forest clearing,,a cup of coffee for us and time for us to discuss how well they had both done, and what a distasterous mistake I had made in praising Sky..and then off into the forest again for some sniffing, What a lovely day..

Shirley

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Hi Dee,

Thank you SO much. Our lives are different already.  I knew I was “creating a monster”……..and I love having these tools. Our long morning walk this morning was so pleasurable –  I am loving her being responsive to me, and she seems to be enjoying it too. We are both calmer and happier!

Thank you again for your clear and calm understanding and teaching,

Robin

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Dee Help!

Sarah had called me and was concerned about her dog Fig who had lost his ability to settle and was just constantly up and moving around. They had brought a new puppy into his life and now believed he needed keep entertain and watch over his extended family. Life was getting unsettled for the humans now too.

SO the simple solution of separating the dogs when getting out OF control and simply limiting their options since neither dog was crate trained tethering them was the best solution.

Three days after the phone consult Sarah writes ...(below)

Customer Response:

Hey dee

Thanks so much for the phone consultation the other night. let me say how much BETTER life is with my little Fig dog! i simply did not recognized that he was slowly getting the upper hand by having too much freedom - in fact i was doing the opposite of what needed to get done. now i keep a leash handy in each room and if he and Leon (the little guy) get out of hand at all I leash the two of them, tie them to the coffee table (or just step on the lead) and wait until both have settled and relaxed before praising and letting them loose again! WOW - it has taken only two days for Fig to get the idea. as a matter of fact, i think he likes it when i take control of the situation and help him settle down. THANK YOU!

Also, i took your advice on the 50 foot tag line when we go walking. this is basically fixing his "leave it" (which was quite good to start but became a bit lax when i could not reinforce it) and he is getting the idea of "not to far" to mean slow down you are reaching the end of your lead and need to stay close to me. (i had to chose a different word because i have been using "easy" to mean - don't bite too hard when we play, don't chew on the cat too hard, etc) I have also started using the long line when ever we are out in the yard for bathroom time. Fig has a terrible habit of eating his own feces??? but this way i can say leave it and reinforce when he cooperates and leave it alone.

OK - thanks again Dee - you know in several months i may have to call for kid training advice!!!

Take care,
Sarah

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Shirley has been emailing back and forth to me for about 6 months with sever issues with her BC Sky lunging and barking and twirling at cars passing by. Shirley has had dog for a while and Sky is her second BC . She recently emailed me with this happy greeting

Have just walked Sky 800 yds down high street, there and back with oncoming traffic NO SPINS, NO LUNGES THANK YOU DEE, What would I have done without your patience.

I won't get too cocky, and will definitely not push it too far, don't want to go back in that boring car park.

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Shirley Writes:

“Although my Collie was really well socialized and habituated right from puppy hood. She had always chased cars and was very reactive to dogs. I had consulted several behaviorists but nothing seemed to work. After a major operation her reaction to other dogs worsened and she was still "chasing cars".

Then I was fortunate enough to meet Dee. She gave me easy to understand advice; I began to understand what my collie was telling me. I stopped giving her worrying body language and stopped reinforcing her fear related behavior and we started to really communicate with each other. Dee simply said to start looking closely at Sky’s body too see what she was telling me.

Then to start reinforcing for quiet calm behavior.

Working at a distance where she could give me these behaviors.

We have some way to go but she no longer spins like a top when she sees traffic and I never put her into a position that is too scary for her to cope with. We trust each other and I will always be grateful to Dee for showing me how to understand and work WITH my lovely intelligent collie.

Shirley”