Phoenix is now just shy of 12 months age & one of her absolute favourite things this summer has been playing with the hose on hot 🥵 days, an activity we have put on cue from the first time she was introduced to the game.
Phoenix has endless play drive so resisting the temptation to chase the water unless cued (permitted) to play takes enormous impulse control on her end! 🧠
She will follow me around the garden while watering, watching the water the entire time in hope of the game. Occasionally we get a crocodile snap at the water that is quickly extinguished with a verbal correction, but leaky drive (whining/vocalisation/barking) is still a work in progress.
The short video is after having a big chase of the water no more than 10 minutes before but she is still up for more, more and more play! As I move the water stream her way I can see her mind ticking over potentially about to attempt one of her crocodile snaps so I verbally remind her she has not been permitted to play at that moment & not to tempt herself by attempting the snap. 🚿
Timing plays a pivotal role in effective human to dog communication, reminding the dog not to do something as they are thinking about doing it but before they actually perform the behaviour is a highly effective & necessary tool in preventing problem behaviours from forming or if working on behaviour modification, helping the dog understand what behaviours will no longer work for them. Preventing problem behaviours from developing, setting boundaries with clear communication & correct timing sets both human and dog up for success. 🌟
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Puppy Phoenix is now a smidge over 6 months and is progressively earning off leash privileges. So far her recalls have been faultless as I have ensured she only ever gets off leash time or we practice recalls in environments that I know she can succeed in.
We will now start incorporating more complexity by gradually working on recall and off leash in higher distraction environments in which we will start by taking a couple of steps backwards to ensure success ie. she will revert to having a long line attached, shorter distance, ultra high value for coming in (dehydrated goat tripe in Phoenix’s case 🤢). At the same time, we will continue working in low distraction environments to keep practicing and reinforcing what we want, to continue building distance, as well as removing the leash entirely. Reinforcement for checking in or coming in will always remain, as can be seen in the video I also jackpot my older dogs - Inka the blue girl is 5.5 years, Rocky the tri boy is over 9 years of age 🥺 but both are still always reinforced in some way (play with a toy, food or if I don’t have anything on me, high praise or playing with me normally bitey arm 😂).
If you need help with your puppy or adult dogs recalls, or any other training, flick me a message for in-home, one to one personalised training sessions servicing Blackwood, Belair, Aberfoyle Park, Happy Valley and all surrounding suburbs. 🚙 🏡 🐕
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Baby Phoenix is almost 16 weeks old and already learning the value of engagement and the human - good things come from HER human. 😉
We are already building a loose leash walk, currently reinforcement is frequent with short duration between each reinforcer but as she gets better at this skill and practices it more, reinforcement will become less frequent and the duration between reinforcement will increase.
Teaching young puppies how to walk politely on a leash is such a valuable skill, setting the pup up for a lifetime of polite loose leash walking. ⭐️
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Teaching puppies to share and not snatch…
Puppies are born not knowing how to share resources like toys, chews, etc which is why you will often see them trying to snatch items they want away from other puppies, dogs and humans.
In our human world pups don’t need to snatch resources we have plenty to go around for everyone. Teaching a puppy not to snatch resources away from other dogs and humans is a critical life skill.
Who has seen the unruly puppy who jumps up to steal food straight from toddlers, kids, even adults hands? As a rule of thumb puppies DO NOT outgrow these behaviours, especially the highly reinforcing behaviours that get them what they want, they grow INTO these behaviours.
Like everything in a puppies world, it’s up to us to teach them about our world and our human expectations.
In the video you can see my older girl and the puppy chewing on a goat horn. Phoenix being only 12.5 weeks old is naturally very curious and doesn’t understand that she cannot have Inka’s resource in that moment.
From day one I have been teaching Phoenix spatial pressure and yielding to it (will try to make a video on that, it’s such an effective form of communication between human and dog but something else we need to teach many dogs) as well as installing positive reinforcement markers “Yes” + reinforcement, but also negative markers of “Ah ah” and “No” + consequence, so she knows with a verbal marker that behaviour is not desired.
You can hear me start with the verbal negative marker, when puppy continues to nudge towards Inka, tempting herself into trying to steal Inka’s resource, all I had to do was get up and move towards pup and that was enough spatial pressure to interrupt her forward movement towards Inka, then I redirect Phoenix back onto her resource and praise so she knows that is the desired behaviour. Then she gets up because you know, puppy, busy puppy at that so we’ve got to stay on the move! 🤣
When you welcome a n
We have a baby puppy in the house after we had to say goodbye to our old fella which left a gaping big hole in our hearts, the timing of this litter and the quality of it (niece to my Inka and cousin to my Rocky, ethical ANKC breeder) just felt like the stars were aligning, the universe sending us a message.
Baby Phoenix (new life, rising from ashes, significant meaning after losing our old boy) has been with us for only one week and she is a little pocket rocket and wickedly smart!
Today she was introduced to a flat collar and leash, while we wait for the final vaccination, we are doing work in our front yard to get accustomed to walking on lead, and she is already learning what a wonderful thing it is to yield to leash pressure and comply with the human. I had run out of poached chicken which she LOVES so you will see I make a huge fuss over her for yielding, but ideally I would have liked to have backed the reinforcement up with a big piece of chicken so she really knew she was the bestest girl in the world for yielding and complying. 🌟
Remember puppies require a world of work, guidance and direction, but having a picture in your mind of what you want the end result to look like helps to set training and behaviour expectation goals. 🥇
Also, don’t forget the patience, patience, and even more patience as puppies have SO MUCH to learn about the world, and our job is to teach them about it. 🙂
Look at these little superstars! Only third session in, first time working on boundary thresholds when in free mode and free together, and both girls smashed it!
Ginja and Chilli are such fun little dogs, we have a number of things we are working on, not rushing doors, gates etc being just one of them, and the girls have come such a long way in a very short space of time thanks to the amazing dedication from their human, putting in the hard work and doing all her homework. 📚
The girls are complete opposites - Ginja is confident, outgoing, in your face; Chilli is a bit nervous around strange people but only third time seeing me today and not only did she quickly settle when I arrived but she was coming up to investigate me knowing I would respect her boundaries.
Absolutely loving watching Chilli come out of her shell around me, and seeing the huge progress this team have already made, very excited about what the future has install for them. 🌟
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Eddie the Labrador and his human did an intro to tracking session yesterday and both dog and human blitzed it! 😃
Eddie is bit of a local dog sports superstar successfully competing in a wide range of sports from retrieving to obedience to rally to scent work, just to name a few, and no doubt will one day be adding a tracking title to his very long and impressive pedigree name. 🌟
Tracking is a sport that any dog with a nose and keen sense of smell can do. 😉 It involves the dog following the odour trail of a specific person over 400m up to 1200m+ at the highest levels, finding “lost articles” (socks) that smell like the track layer along the way. 🧦
Tracking is a sport for any age dog, puppies through to active seniors can compete as long as their humans are fit enough to navigate the South Aussie bush terrain. If you ever thought about getting into dog sports, tracking or something else, if I’ve trained in it, I can help you get started by laying some solid foundations. 📲
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This video may not look like much but to Georgie’s person (the lighter Collie) and myself, it is incredibly rewarding and joyful to watch. 😃
When Georgie was growing up and going through critical development/fear periods she had some trauma occur in this area while playing with her sister that involved crashing into two wire crates that were setup under the windows. Unfortunately for Georgie, that incident triggered a series of noise and surface anxieties until she hit a low point at the start of this year when Georgie’s human, Karen, reached out to me for help. When I first visited Georgie, I was shocked at her behaviour, gone was the outgoing, bubbly, confident girl I had known since she was a young pup, replaced by one very stressed, very overwhelmed and in danger of shutting down completely girl. Georgie was stressed in her own home, she had fears surrounding tiles (which cover almost her whole house!), certain areas were bigger triggers than others, and on windy days like the one I first visited on, she had no chance of settling, living in a state of constant anxiety. In fact, Georgie had lost a significant amount of weight as she wasn’t even comfortable to eat in her own home anymore. 😔
But, instead of despairing, we put a plan in place and the progress Georgie has made in only a couple of short months is nothing short of brilliant thanks to the commitment and dedication of her humans!
A couple of months ago, there is no way Georgie would have chosen to hang around this area of her home like she is in the video, let alone eating food from the floor at the source of her original trauma, but look at her today! At the start of the year, she would have been looking for an out, looking to get herself onto the lounge room rug or into the main (carpeted) bedroom. But now she is at the point of her training where she is again learning this spot is not scary, she doesn’t need to feel stressed walking through there, and most importantly for Georgie, i
Impulse control - a crucial life skill to teach all dogs to keep them and others safe in order to enable the dog to have freedom (off leash) privileges and to avoid unwanted and embarrassing behaviours such as pestering or harassing other people, their dogs and chasing birds or wildlife.
Rocky and Inka have been learning impulse control from the day they came home, earning their way up to off leash privileges over time. Now 7 and 3 years old respectively, they are experts at it but I still pay them for displaying impulse control skills to continue reinforcing it for life.
We built this skill on a foundation of engagement with me, building my value from their perspective and reliable, consistent obedience skills.
It’s never too late to start training impulse control! If you would like help learning how to build this valuable skill, get in touch to book a training session. Eva. 😊
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Teaching good leash manners and basic obedience should be the bare minimum every dog owner trains.
Not only does it save your arms being pulled out of their sockets 🤕 but it also helps to keep you and your dog safe around roads and other busy areas, and makes the walk much more relaxing and enjoyable for all as your dog instinctively offers polite behaviours. 😇
It also helps other people if they ever need to walk your dog for you. Three of the dogs in the video are mine; the tri Collie on the inside of my left side is a regular boarder who has been staying since he was a young pup.
Arlo is almost a year old, intact, boy hormones raging 😂 trying desperately to take control of his brain 🧠 but what an awesome job he is doing walking not only as part of a small pack, but having to walk right next to my intact girl, who he ABSOLUTELY LOVESSSSS!!! Arlo and Inka simply adore each other but by teaching context, manners, obedience and that compliance equals lots of good things from the human, they just get on with business and walk politely next to each other. Now let them out in the backyard alone together and they would be running and playing for hours if there wasn’t management in place. 😂
It’s never too late to teach your dog good manners, reliable obedience and polite leash manners. 😇
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Hope all the humans and dogs are staying warm, dry and safe inside with todays wild weather! This is how our household is handling the thunderstorms and crazy weather - four very relaxed dogs snoozing the storm away. 👌🏻
How are everyone else’s pups coping in the rough conditions? ⛈️
Recall - an essential life skill every dog should have a reliable version of in their toolbox!
Why is having a reliable recall so important?
🛑 Safety first and foremost - for you, your dog and other people & dogs who may be around
⚠️ Off leash dogs can get themselves into all sorts of trouble including finding themselves in a scuffle with another dog, eating things they shouldn’t or running in front of a car
🐈 Cats, birds and native wildlife can appear from anywhere and are a real temptation for our dogs to give chase to, something we DON’T want our dogs doing
🛣 Being off leash without a reliable recall also provides our dogs with opportunities to run away because they find something more interesting then us, like all the smells, sights and sounds of the world
What does a reliable recall look like?
Reliable recall means your dog comes in first time every time when you call.
If you need to call your dog multiple times to get them to come back, chances are recall training has moved too quickly and your dog is not yet ready for the privilege of being off leash.
Take Zoe the Collie (Rough) as an example, who has a real love affair with birds. Recall was okay unless birds were around then the ears fell off. Zoe’s owner Karen Mingham recognised there was an issue and by doing something as simple as going back to recall training basics involving high value rewards, Karen and Zoe have made amazing progress in a few short weeks to the point where on their recent beach holiday, Zoe earned off leash privileges with birds around and was recalling every time she was called! 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 Video is a little snippet of the hard work Zoe and Karen have been putting in, showing Zoe is now thinking about the choices she has - the wrong choice ⛔️ to not listen to her human & chase birds; or the right choice ✅ to listen to her human & earn big rewards for coming in.
If your dog could do with some polishing up on their recall skills,
