Wise Mind Canine LLC

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"Hello, my name is Kathryn "Katie" Sipple IAABC-ADT owner and head trainer at Wise Mind Canine LLC. I'm on a mission to revolutionize the way dogs and people live in multi dog households. You don’t have to hope for the best when adding another dog to your home. You don’t have to live in stressful situations for years on end. Together, I can help you take control and build relationships between dogs that are beautiful, strong, and enduring throughout their lives. 

 

Let me help you move beyond parallel walks in a neutral location to a methodical system that takes you from before your new dog arrives to the rest of your dogs' years together. I’m not saying the old advice is bad advice. It's actually great advice, WHEN it is appropriate for the dogs in front of you. Even then, people are faced with a question. Now what? With my course, MDH 101: Dog-Dog Introductions and Relationship building I answer the question "Now What?" so you get to enjoy your dogs with none of the guesswork. 

 

 Don't worry, I didn't forget you folks who have genuine barriers to parallel walks. Some of you have or are rescuing dogs who might deeply struggle in a novel location, with a novel dog, while restricted with a leash. MDH 101 gives you a different starting point, that skips parallel walks until the dogs are more comfortable and ready. If they're never ready? No problem at all. We have SO many other ways to forge these early relationships. 

 

I am so thankful to partner with CHAAMP to take a proactive approach to dog-dog introductions and relationships in order to increase the success of placements in multi dog households. This partnership grants discounts to MDH 101 services to CHAAMP fosters and adopters. The working breeds are truly wonderful dogs whose intelligence, free spirits, and independence have served mankind well throughout history. We honor that legacy by attending to their unique needs, helping them fulfill what they were bred to do in the context of our modern world, and embracing the challenges they can present as we live life beside them. 

 

When we talk about Alaskan Malamutes in particular it would not be shocking to come across certain challenges: resource guarding, predatory aggression toward smaller animals, defensiveness to other dogs or people, same sex aggression, higher rates of agonistic behavior to other dogs in the home, and difficulty with confinement. None of these things would make your dog a bad dog. In fact, evolutionarily speaking, these features would make a very GOOD Malamute. One that produces offspring and has the wits, independence and instinct for self preservation that would promote survival. This is not to say that you WILL experience these things, but rather that these behaviors would make sense in an ethological context. These behaviors are often the consequence of introductions and dog relationships gone wrong and I see them every single day in every breed. This makes it even more critical to get this right in a breed who could have a tendency toward these difficult behaviors. 

 

So whether you bring me a happy go lucky, dog social Malamute, one who is struggling to fit into their new home, or one who is downright snarly, I've seen it before. I regularly use the framework of MDH 101, alongside behavior modification to handle cases of intrahousehold dog aggression. It's not just for prevention, we can use it to rehabilitate relationships gone wrong. Though our working breeds sometimes come with challenges, anyone who has lived with one can tell you that they're well worth the effort. It's a beautiful thing when you can team up with your Alaskan Malamute, foster a relationship of cooperation, and get that free spirit to WANT to do what you want. 

 

To help you be successful in your multi dog household adoption I have compiled some resources. Both from outside sources and from my work at Wise Mind Canine LLC. If you take nothing else from this page let it be this: The BEST dog-dog introductions start BEFORE your new dog comes home. There is so much work you can do to make life easier on yourself and your dogs. Start now, and give your new dog their very best chance of landing in the last home they'll ever have! Proactively preventing conflict through a slow and methodical introduction is the best way to achieve a harmonious multi dog household. 

 

I hope to see some of you take advantage of the discount available on my MDH 101 services for CHAAMP adopters so "Hike, Hike!" and come join me over at www.wisemindcanine.com. It would make me incredibly happy to fill my course rosters with some lovely Alaskan Malamutes!"

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RESOURCES

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Wise Mind Canine MDH 101: Dog-Dog Introductions and Relationship Building

 

• DIY Online Course

• Premium Online Course: 6 Week Group Instruction

• Intro Jumpstart Details:  7 Week Private Training Program

• Positively Powerful Introduction Details: 20 Week Private Training Program

• Schedule a FREE 20 Minute Consultation with Katie

• Register: https://wisemindcanine.com/register/ 

• https://wisemindcanine.com/about-mdh101-dog-dog-introductions-and-relationship-building-course/

 

10 Big Dog Introduction Mistakes Blog

This blog accompanies a Facebook Live done with Chelsea Murray of Pawsitive Futures. 

https://wisemindcanine.com/blog/the-dog-and-puppy-introduction-survival-guide/

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Dog Introduction Mistakes Facebook Live: https://fb.watch/bnkv1Wckm5/

 

Sample Lecture MDH 101: Preparing Your Home 

https://wisemindcanine.com/blog/preparing-your-home-sample-lecture-mdh101-dog-dog-introductions-and-relationship-building/

 

For more FREE multi dog household content as it is released, subscribe to the blog at wisemindcanine.com/blog

  

A Fear Free Approach to Introducing Your Dog to a New Dog

https://youtu.be/9kq-GAgkWNY

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YouTube

Pawsitive Futures: The Truth About Handling Multi-Dog Households

https://youtu.be/qUcOHHZrpno

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Dog Liaison: Fixing Aggression Between Dogs Living in the Same Home

https://youtu.be/8pvyou4kUtk

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Multi Dog Homes:

How Many Dogs - Using Positive Reinforcement Training To Manage A Multiple Dog Household by Debby McMullen CDBC

https://www.dogwise.com/how-many-dogs-using-positive-reinforcement-training-to-manage-a-multiple-dog-household/

 

Feeling Outnumbered? - How To Manage & Enjoy A Multi-Dog Household, 2nd Edition. by Patricia B. McConnell, Ph.D.& Karen B. London Ph.D. 

https://www.dogwise.com/feeling-outnumbered-how-to-manage-enjoy-a-multi-dog-household-2nd-edition/ 

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Keeping the Peace: A Guide to Solving Dog-Dog Aggression in the Home by Nicole Wilde

SHOP | Nicole Wilde dog behavior & training books, ebooks, seminar DVDs & more.

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Dog Body Language:

Dog Communication and Body Language Chicagoland Veterinary Behavior Consultants: 

https://chicagovetbehavior.com/canine-communication-and-body-language.pml 

 

That Dog Geeks Beacon's Body Language Breakdowns: 

https://www.facebook.com/watch/1866216766939114/858520094601670/ 

 

Dog Play: 

Canine Play Behavior - The Science Of Dogs At Play by Mechtild Kaufer

https://www.dogwise.com/canine-play-behavior-the-science-of-dogs-at-play/ 

We love this book because it demonstrates what play is and differentiates play from bullying or aggression more readily. 

 

He's Only Playing! Meeting, Greeting and Play Between Dogs. What's OK, What's Not. by Sarah Whitehead

https://www.dogwise.com/hes-only-playing-meeting-greeting-and-play-between-dogs-whats-ok-whats-not/

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Enrichment is a basic need for dogs:  

Ani Ed Ireland's 100 days of Enrichment

https://aniedireland.com/100daysofenrichment/ 

 

Canine Enrichment for the Real World By Allie Bender, CDBC and Emily Strong, CDBC

https://www.dogwise.com/canine-enrichment-for-the-real-world/ 

 

Dog Fights:

Dog Fight Resources from Chicagoland Veterinary Behavior Consultants

https://chicagovetbehavior.com/dog-fights.pml

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