Professional K9 Handler Blog

10 Dog Walking Tips Everyone Should Know

Walking your dog is extremely important if you want your furry buddy to be healthy. It's a vital part of your pup's general well-being, as it allows them to stay healthy physically and mentally. Although we all know you're supposed to take your dog out several times a day, many owners struggle with the daily walks for various reasons. Sometimes the dog doesn't walk calmly while on a leash and the walk turns into frustration. Other times, the pup runs off and the owner spends the following days trying to find him.

There are many reasons why a simple walk may turn into an unpleasant experience. We've prepared a list of 10 tips for walking your dog and enjoying every minute of it:

Choose the Perfect Leash

The kind of leash you choose can make or break t

If you are seeking a quality agitation collar, or an all-around “anything and everything” collar that works as hard as your dog, Ray Allen Manufacturing has specially designed the RAM leather/nylon Collar with Cobra buckle.

Ray Allen knows our customers are seeking quality products for working dogs. The RAM Collar couples enduring support and strength from the leather and adjustability from the nylon.

Made wide enough to distribute pressure away from sensitive areas around your dog’s neck, this collar is optimized for handler control and dog’s comfort, and can spare your d

Are you and your dog going stir-crazy during the Coronavirus quarantine? Get you and your dog moving and strengthen the human-K9 bond with these creative ways to work and play at home.

If you’ve ever wanted to learn clicker training, now is the perfect time to start. Mark and reward your dog with positive reinforcement and teach new behaviors quickly. Indoors or out, for work or play, dogs crave the instant gratification and satisfying communication with their owners afforded by the clicker.

For those handlers who do trial work or proofing, Ray Allen’s INCOG Pouches are a great way to teach your dog some new commands while keeping your dog’s focus on you. The treat pouch easily fits in a hoodie or pants pocket to prevent greasy residue or crumbs on your clothes, so you can spend less time doing laundry and

In bite dog training, it is absolutely necessary to teach your dog to bite the decoy and not the suit. In an actual apprehension scenario, you want your dog trained for a confident bite: a hard grip that exerts pressure on the contact point of the suspect. An engaged grip guarantees suspect compliance, where a weak bite, or a mouthful of bulky material from a suspect’s clothing or decoy suit, guarantees a less grip and an unsatisfied dog and trainer.

A dedicated decoy knows he is going to get bruised up and yanked around in the process of working a satisfied dog. Mike Jones from Primal Canine wanted decoys to be protected for deeper bites and longer training sessions. He aimed to create a low-prof

By Tasha Williams

As a veteran, you may be facing a number of physical, mental, and psychological issues as a result of your service. One of the options that you help you cope with such a problem is a service dog. If this is something that you are considering, you may be a little confused about how to get about the process.

Well, there’s no need to be. While the procedure can seem a bit complex, this isn’t necessarily the case. To ensure that you understand just what this entails, here is what you need to know about getting a service dog:

For the longest time, Veterans Affairs (VA) only provided service dogs to individuals with physical disabilities. In short, only people with certain mobility issues could qualify for this kind of support. Fortunately, though, the rules are starting to cha

Along the way, both of them, with help from CU Boulder, pave the way for greater accessibility.

Canine support companions help people with disabilities succeed in many environments, and at the University of Colorado Boulder, a service dog is enabling a wounded military veteran to pursue his dream of hands-on research in neuroscience.

Xenna is a service dog for Navy veteran Jon Coulson. The 1 ½-year-old dog with a sable-colored coat helps Coulson manage his severe pain and anxiety. She will soon be allowed in neuroscience labs at CU Boulder, paving the way for service dogs in the future.

Coulson is a senior with a double major in neuroscience and molecular, cellular and developmental biology who works in the neuroscience lab of Distinguished Professor Linda Watkins.

“People with service animals have typically shied away from a STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) degree because of potentially dangerous lab environments,” Coul

We are proud to introduce the worlds first Interchangeable Harness System (I.H.S.). The NOMAD IHS will allow near limitless functionality and design combinations by allowing the user to choose a variety of harness frame and body options and combine them together to create a single functioning unit. You can purchase the frame and body combos, with the choice of a GT Cobra Buckle or Metal Cobra Buckle, or purchase just the frame and bodies and create your own combinations.

The combinations and separate body and frames come in Black, Coyote, Gray and Ranger Green, and in sizes Small and Medium/Large. You can find the NOMAD products here, including a video on why the NOMAD was created and how to swap out the bodies.

Amherst, NH April 19, 2019 - Actor Trevor Donovan is known on screen for his TV role on 90210, off screen he is known as a champion for canine mobility, sharing the mobility struggles of his beloved German Shepherd, Dogbert with his 30 million social media followers. Walkin’ Pets partnered with Trevor to share Dogbert’s journey with Degenerative Myelopathy and to bring continued awareness to the mobility disease that effects so many.

With Dogbert’s passing, Trevor and Walkin’ Pets wanted to ensure his memory lived on. Choosing to spread mobility awareness by helping a dog in need.

Thor, an 8 ½ year old retired Philadelphia Police K-9 was forced into early retirement due to his IVDD diagnosis. His weakened rear legs began dragging, and Thor became completely Immobil

This article is reprinted with permission from ConsumersAdvocate.org. You can find the original Consumers Advocate article at this link.

By Scott Smith, Sept 14, 2018

 

Soldier, take me from this shelter’s cage.
Give me back my life. In return, I’ll cover your back.
I’ll be your canine warrior, your sixth sense.
I’ll stand guard into the night and chase the demons away,
the uninvited, cloaked in night sweats and darkness.

Canine Liability 360: REASONS WE GET IN TROUBLE

by Bill Lewis II

A K9 handler’s leash should ideally be wrapped around the handler’s waist and secured when not being used so it can easily ride above the gun belt, not interfere with access to the handgun and other equipment on the gun belt, and be readily accessible when needed.

If not wrapped around the waist, the leash should be stored in a pant pocket where it can be quickly retrieved by the handler.