Have you ever wondered what sort of dogs benefit from training – ALL OF THEM!
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This week’s interview with Marilyn Aston, CPDT-KA, the owner of One Leg Up Canine Company in Guelph answers some key owner questions, and highlights how wonderful training can be for every type of dog.
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Find Marilyn and One Leg Up Canine Co. here –
Web: https://www.
Facebook: https://www.
Instagram: https://www.
Now, let’s get to the interview!
Transcription:
Laura Wombwell
Hi there, it’s Laura from Laura Wombwell Photography. And joining me today is Marilyn Aston of One Leg Up Canine Company. Hi, Marilyn, I’m so excited to have you here today.
Marilyn Aston
I’m excited to be here.
Laura Wombwell
So how did you get started in dog training?
Marilyn Aston
I got started. I mean, I think as most folks do years ago when I had my childhood dog, but really my education started when I went to share it in college in 2008. And, and then it was just a long, convoluted journey since then, of working in different parts of the industry as groomers, and clinics, and training and dog walking privately on the side. And then eventually, I joined forces with a wonderful trainer out of Milton named Mirkka and she had a business, Mindful Behaviors. So we started training together there in 2014. And then I started One Leg Up in Guelph in 2017. So that really gave me the opportunity to focus on the training and the daycare, what, which has always been my goal.
Laura Wombwell
Excellent. So I know, within your business, you cover a whole bunch of different areas. Can you tell me a little bit about what all One Leg Up does?
Marilyn Aston
Yeah, so outside of COVID times, I have puppy classes, I have puppy play groups, where puppies get dropped off to come play with other puppies. I have life skills classes for adolescent and adult dogs. And this is all in a group environment. And then of course, there is more what I call extracurricular classes, which is like rally obedience, circus class, we do scent detection work. And we do more advanced skills in those classes, and that they’re all really, really fun. And then I also have daycare, which is currently still running. And, and that is a four day a week program, which involves some training as well, and social skills and all sorts of fun things. And then I also do private training, which I’m doing a lot of these days. And private training is great for puppies, it’s great for adolescent dogs, it’s great for dogs of all ages. And it’s it’s really nice to have that one on one time with families and their dogs as they’re learning together.
Laura Wombwell
Wonderful. Would you say there’s anything that you as a trainer really specialize in?
Marilyn Aston
I would say that I probably specialize in group dynamics for dogs. So being really attentive to the needs of a group of dogs is a skill that comes with time. And it comes with experience. And it comes with being in all sorts of different environments with different types of dogs, and paying attention to the things they’re telling us. So their body language and understanding what it means, recognizing what dogs need in group environments. So paying attention to the fact that some dogs want to be there, but they want to be off on their own, paying attention to the dogs that are playing and whether that’s consensual play, healthy play. That’s something that I think I really enjoyed doing. And I think it has become a bit of a niche for me.
Laura Wombwell
I think in talking to a lot of trainers, it’s been interesting to hear that, you know, when we think about training our dogs, we think, Oh, my dog’s gonna be super friendly and well socialized and just want to play with all the dogs and learning that maybe that’s not the goal for every dog, maybe each different dog is gonna have their own different journey.
Marilyn Aston
Yes, absolutely. I mean, just like people, not everybody wants to be in crowded, busy spaces. And not that a social environment shouldn’t necessarily be crowded or busy. But just you know, being in more lively environments can sometimes feel overwhelming. And dogs are no different than that. And some dogs really enjoy spending one on one time with either just humans or one special friend. And I think that’s important to recognize and there is nothing wrong with that at all. It just takes knowing what each individual dog needs to thrive and giving them that or paying attention to that.
Laura Wombwell
So there are a ton of different schools of thought when it comes to training. How did you find your particular training philosophy?
Marilyn Aston
Yeah, um, the hard way. I made a lot of mistakes early on. I followed and mentored under some trainers that don’t currently fit the philosophy that I ended up subscribing to later on. And I think there was a lot of value in that journey that I took, because I learned from them what, for me, doesn’t work and seeing the consequences on the dogs and learning what else is out there in terms of what the dogs who aren’t my clients are experiencing when they go to another trainer, what they might be encountering, so that when they do come to me, we have a little bit more history and understanding of the approach that they’ve been familiar with. And so I, I’ve leaned more towards the positive side of things, certainly, there’s no doubt about that. But it wasn’t an easy path, I have my own dog as part of that journey. And he’s taught me a lot of lessons, which I’m very grateful for.
Laura Wombwell
So when owners are seeking out dog trainers, what should they be looking for?
Marilyn Aston
Um, that’s a really great question, I think that they should be looking for a trainer that they feel they feel comfortable with. So if you are really trusting that person with your dog, you should also really be comfortable with the approach that that trainer is taking. And if something doesn’t sit right with you, I think it’s important to listen to that. Because there also needs to be consistency in the training at home. So if you’re not feeling fully comfortable with the follow through on your side of it, then maybe that’s not the trainer for you. But there are so many out there. So I would say looking for a trainer, where you really mesh with them as an individual as well as on the mechanics side of things and paying attention to how they are working with your dog.
Laura Wombwell
You already touched on a little bit. But how then once owners have found a trainer that they like, and whose philosophy works for them, how can they get the best results?
Marilyn Aston
Really doing the homework at home. And there’s only so much you can cover in a training session and one hour class together with your trainer. And the important part is to take that information and keep it consistent with your dog and go home do the practice as your trainer has helped you to do. And if you have questions, ask your trainer in between sessions. So if you’re struggling, or you’re finding problems, and you want to make sure that that gets addressed before you know, a couple weeks go by, and you’re not finding the success that you were hoping for in between your training sessions. So doing the homework, making sure that you’re as consistent as possible. And asking questions is a really great way to find success with your training.
Laura Wombwell
It’s just like learning any other skill, right? You and your dog are learning together and to learn something you have to practice.
Marilyn Aston
Absolutely. And if you don’t understand something, ask because it is important that you feel comfortable and confident with what you’re doing. So your dog can also feel comfortable and confident with what they’re doing.
Laura Wombwell
Excellent. So what are some of the biggest challenges that you find in your business? Is it owners doing their homework?
Marilyn Aston
No, it’s surprisingly not. It’s I have some really wonderful clients, and they’re really good at doing their homework. Um, I think one of the biggest challenges would be, well, right now it’s COVID. It’s, I think it’s just reaching as many people as we need to reach. There’s a lot of households that recognize their dog needs training. And then there’s a lot of households that maybe don’t recognize what the symptoms of a dog needing training look like until it’s perhaps too far. And so we don’t, we would prefer to see a dog at the early signs of a behavior starting to build in the in not so great direction, I would prefer not to wait until the dog has maybe bitten somebody or started, you know, a year or two of patterning of “bad behavior” before we get them into training. I would much rather have that addressed earlier if we can. And that’s not always possible. But it’s really great when we can catch things as quickly as possible. And so one of the biggest hurdles in this industry is just reaching out to folks who don’t know that training is an option early on and getting those things fixed as quickly as we can.
Laura Wombwell
On the other side of the coin. What are some of your absolute favorite things to help people with inside your business?
Marilyn Aston
I love helping people understand their dog and what their dog is telling them. And dogs are always communicating with us. I have a dog sitting here right now staring at me saying I want a cookie. But they are always communicating with us. And it is our job as the humans in their lives to learn to listen to what they’re saying. And it does take time to recognize the subtle cues that dogs give us. But once we learn what those cues mean for the dog, then it opens up this whole other world of understanding with our pets, and one of my favorite things to do is to help humans to understand those little cues that their dogs have been telling them perhaps for a while. And it’s just a wonderful thing when the humans have those light bulb moments and can relate to their dog on a whole different level.
Laura Wombwell
I love that answer. That’s fantastic. Speaking of owner questions, I have a couple for you. So as you know, lots and lots of folks have brought new COVID puppies into their homes this year. And obviously, as things open back up, as we start interacting with people more going back to work, I know some owners are finding that their pups are feeling really needy, and maybe have had been really attached over the year. How can we best set these puppies up for success? When we’re leaving the house more?
Marilyn Aston
Yeah, the biggest thing you can do is start now and start small. So it’s not about shocking your dog into being left alone for you know, four hours straight. It’s about warming them up to that idea. And little things like leaving them in a room or in a bed or a safe space where they’re comfortable while you go upstairs or you go into the bathroom or you go into the bedroom for just a short short period of time. Maybe they’re busy with a project and they’re working on a kong or something to keep them occupied, because we don’t want to stress them out. But just warming them up to the idea that we’re not always side by side. And and then building on that. So you can bump that up to the next level of maybe you go for a walk to the mailbox without your dog or go out and do some yard work without your dog. And you can then move it past that and start building up to an hour or so away from your dog. And just making sure that that’s done regularly. And I think right now that’s one of the hardest things is it just you know, the days go by and we then we check the calendar and realize we haven’t left our dog alone for a good week. And it makes it a little bit harder when the dog isn’t familiar with that happening on a regular basis. So sometimes we do have to schedule it in and go out of our way to make sure our dog is getting getting experienced being left completely alone. But if they struggle with that, at any point, of course, we would always say consult a trainer because we don’t want to build any anxiety around being left alone for sure.
Laura Wombwell
So another challenge for animals that are new to households this year, is that we really haven’t had any visitors come to the door. We had one owner who is curious, their new pet is pretty protective of their humans. And they’re wondering, once guests are allowed to come how best to gently introduce that dog to “hey people are great, we want them to come to our house”.
Marilyn Aston
Yeah, yeah. What a great question. Um, and I think it’s a very similar thing, and that we can warm them up to the idea with that now, you know, if you have multiple family members in the home, then you can practice the routine of somebody coming to the door knocking really loudly. And of course, the person coming through the door is someone they’re familiar with. So it’s not quite as challenging, but at least the whole process can become familiar of a sudden knock at the door, and then somebody coming in and you can have your dog on leash, you can show them what it is you want them to do as if it was a visitor they weren’t expecting coming through that door. So using lots of treats, lots of reinforcement for the behavior you want them to offer. Eventually when it is grandma coming through the door and they’re really excited to see your puppy. And so you know, rewarding concepts at a distance down the hall. Well the visitor comes in, and then when your puppy seems nice and calm and settled, you can release them into go say hi, but you have them on leash, so if they start to get a little excited, you can walk them away and settle them down again. And just practicing that routine as much as possible before it’s a new person where we’re excited and distracted and the dog is also very excited and very distracted, and things kind of start to fall apart. So it’s good to build the habit in advance before we need it to be something that they know how to do. And then if that works out well for you, then you can practice having your dogs say hello to people on the street. So maybe they don’t come in and engage with the person. But you can set it up very similarly, where they’re on leash, they’re practicing polite sits at a distance from people, and that can carry through into the home environment, if you’re practicing that consistently as well.
Laura Wombwell
I love that idea. Having dogs who don’t love people coming to the door, it’s certainly something that that you have to keep working on all the time.
Marilyn Aston
And distance is really helpful for those dogs because they need to know you’re not forced to interact with everybody, there can be space, and if they need a safety zone where they walk away, and they go into another room, then they can they can have that available to them. But that’s where the leash becomes really helpful, because they don’t always know how to make those choices, unless we give them a helping hand with it.
Laura Wombwell
So the last owner question that I had actually touches on this a little bit too. We had someone wondering, in addition to your basics, like sit or stay or down, what are some simple cues that an even an adult dog could learn that that might be helpful?
Marilyn Aston
Yeah, um, one of my favorites is and if any of my clients are watching, they’ll know that one of my favorites is touch. And that’s really because it rewards a dog for coming to us coming into our space. And it builds into a recall it can be used as a focus tool. And all touch is teaching your dog to come and bump their nose against your palm. So of course, if their nose is on your palm, they’re not looking at anybody but you and they’re also within reaching distance. So if they were off leash, you can now collect them from grabbing them. And you can use it as a way to get them off furniture, but making it something they want to do instead of us coercing them off the furniture, you can use it as a way to get them in from the backyard. I think a lot of folks right now are struggling with dogs who want to just be outside. So you can use it to call them in and put your hand out for them to come touch your hand. And it’s one of my favorites. I probably use it more than sit in a lot of in a lot of cases.
Laura Wombwell
Awesome. So we’ve, we’ve talked a lot about other people’s pets, I would love to talk about your pet. So who currently lives with you?
Marilyn Aston
I live with Goose. Goose is um, he’s not quite 13 and a half years old. Yeah, he’s a an Australian Shepherd, a little red tri Australian shepherd. And he’s just the best little dog and I know everybody says that and he’s one of those where he’s just such a really good boy. And we’re, him and I, are very connected.
Laura Wombwell
What are some of your favorite things to do with Goose here in southwestern Ontario?
Marilyn Aston
Well, Goose just had surgery. So we’re not doing too much right now. But he really loves to swim. So we go places where there’s rivers, when he’s able to swim, we go places where he can sniff and explore trails. He loves to do that. And pretty much anything where we’re near water, he gets really excited about that. So we are when he’s able to move around, we’re often on the lookout for nice quiet trails outside of the city to go explore together.
Laura Wombwell
Wonderful. So before we end off, I have some quickfire questions for you.
Marilyn Aston
Okay.
Laura Wombwell
All right. So, cat or dog?
Marilyn Aston
Dog.
Laura Wombwell
Favorite breed?
Marilyn Aston
Australian shepherd.
Laura Wombwell
What is gooses favorite treat?
Marilyn Aston
Bacon, everything, all the time?
Laura Wombwell
Is Goose full of beans, full of dreams, or full of something entirely different?
Marilyn Aston
He is full of beans, even at his age.
Laura Wombwell
And I love it. If goose were to be played by a human Actor in a movie, who would play goose would like goose us.
Marilyn Aston
Somebody very handsome and very charming and very clever. I don’t know who that would be.
Laura Wombwell
Like George Clooney?
Marilyn Aston
Oh, yeah. Yeah, okay, George Clooney.
Laura Wombwell
Goose is very charming and handsome I can attest. Finally if money were no object What’s one incredible thing that you would do to spoil Goose?
Marilyn Aston
Oh, I would buy him his very own piece of property in the middle of nowhere that had a river and fields and sheep.
Laura Wombwell
Thank you so much, Marilyn, for sharing some of your time with us today. Before we end off, what is the best way that folks in this community can help to support you?
Marilyn Aston
I think one of the best ways that you can support me is just like supporting any small business is just talk about the services that are available if you know somebody that could benefit from them and share that information. You know, if you see a neighbor struggling with their dog, let them know that there’s options locally and it doesn’t have to be me, just any small business dog trainer would be good.
Laura Wombwell
Excellent. Well, again, thank you so much. It’s been a blast talking to you. And I hope that you and Goose to have a wonderful rest of your week. This is Laura from Laura Wombwell Photography. I am here with Marilyn Aston from One Leg Up Canine Company and we both hope that you and your pets have an awesome day. Bye.
Marilyn Aston
Bye. Thanks, Laura.
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