Puppy Steps

11/04/2024

I realise that having worked as a trainer and behaviourist for around 25 years, my perspective on dogs, their behaviour and our relationships with them has radically changed since I first started training my own dog all those many years ago.

We have learned so much in the last two decades and we keep learning more. This knowledge has increased our understanding of what dogs need and how meeting those needs leads to contentment and actually prevents most serious behaviour issues.

Of course I do understand that those who have not spent their lives learning about all things dog may have a completely different perspective, so this post is not written in judgement, but to try and explain why it is that I don't seem to be particularly concerned about many of the issues that dog guardians complain about and why they really are not my main focus.

I realise that this may seem really odd coming from a "dog trainer", but I have simply learned over the years what is really important, both to me and I believe to dogs, and so that is what I want to focus on.

I hope that it makes a little sense on some level 🐾

11/02/2024

Isn’t this amazing to watch?

It’s a nice reminder that your working breed puppy will have genetics connected to what they were originally bred to do.

Giving your puppy appropriate ways to engage in those breed traits, such as stalking, chasing, and watching is healthy and can prevent unwanted behaviours from cropping up!

That is enrichment!

10/02/2024

🙌🙌🙌
Modern dog training looks like this.

The management, enrichment, and training model is a holistic approach to addressing and modifying pet dog behaviour using a combination of strategies that focus on controlling the environment , providing mental and physical stimulation , and teaching desired behaviours.

Management involves controlling the dog's environment to prevent or minimise the occurrence of unwanted behaviours. Using curtains, blinds, or baby gates to limit the dog's visual access to stimuli that trigger barking or aggressive behaviour. Providing appropriate toys and engaging activities to redirect the dog's attention away from undesirable behaviours. Ensuring the dog receives an adequate amount of physical activity to reduce excess energy and minimize the likelihood of destructive behaviour.

Enrichment focuses on providing mental and physical stimulation to keep the dog's mind active, alleviate boredom, and channel natural instincts in a positive way. Creating scent-based activities such as hiding treats around the house or using scent-dispensing toys to engage the dog's olfactory senses. Offering a variety of toys with different textures, shapes, and colours to stimulate the dog's visual and tactile senses. Introducing toys that dispense treats or challenge the dog to solve a puzzle, promoting problem-solving skills and reducing boredom.

Training involves teaching the dog specific behaviours through positive reinforcement, shaping, and conditioning. It focuses on reinforcing desired actions and creating a positive association with commands. Rewarding the dog with treats, praise, or play when it exhibits the desired behaviour, such as sitting instead of jumping up. Training the dog to perform behaviours that are incompatible with undesirable actions, such as teaching "sit" to prevent jumping. Gradually exposing the dog to feared stimuli while pairing it with positive experiences, creating positive associations and reducing fear-based reactions. Teaching specific commands or cues, such as "quiet" to stop barking.

09/02/2024

🙌💛

WAAT Dogs Trainers spend alot of time on the road. We frequent many areas some have been listed below. Let us know if you need any training for the purpose of Assistance or Therapy Dogs and we can let you know when we are around.

We do also offer telehealth for regional/remote teams.

09/02/2024

🙌 𝗠𝘆 𝗰𝗹𝗶𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝗮𝗹𝘄𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝗮𝘀𝗸 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗾𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 🙌

Curious clients are wonderful and I applaud anyone who likes to dig a bit deeper and gain clarity for themselves.

These are some of the great questions I’ve been asked in the past week and I wanted to share them with you.

👉 if one person is wondering about these things I’m sure other people are!

💬 if you have a great question I can answer on here for you & other curious puppy parents, leave me a comment or send me a DM!

Tyla x

26/01/2024

I know we can’t always do this but if you can meet as many of your prospective puppy’s ancestors as possible - do it! No, your pup won’t be a replica but geez it can be close 🌱

Sometimes the excitement of getting a puppy outweighs the reality of what breed you’re signing yourself up for - or, you may overlook the fact your puppy is coming from a huge acreage to live with you in your apartment 🌆

Many aspects go into the mix of who your puppy might grow into, nature AND nurture. A huge tip from me to you is thoroughly do your research, understand the breed traits, see where your puppy is spending the very beginnings of their life and meet the parents 🐶💛

Tyla x

24/01/2024

🐶📣 Barking is one of the more frustrating behaviours our puppies engage in, especially when it happens repetitively or when guests are arriving!

I often work with puppy parents who have trouble knowing how to respond to their puppy barking successfully, without themselves getting frustrated also - fear not, I’m here to help you out with some quick pro tips! 👇

1️⃣ 𝗣𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗲 & 𝗣𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘁!
We can’t always do this, because people can turn up at any given time, but if you know guests are arriving, you can pop your dog in another room or outside with an activity to work on - this gives you some time to welcome your guest in calmly, and your pup is happy doing something other than barking!

2️⃣ 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴!
You can’t train your pup in the moment with this one - you have to train them separately to the occasion. This is where you link up with your puppy training specialist (𝙝𝙞𝙞𝙞𝙞) to help you with a carefully structured plan to help your pup work up to being able to handle a hearing a knock at the door without them losing their little puppy mind

3️⃣ 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗵𝘆 𝗗𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀!
Okay, you have a posty at the door and you haven’t done any proactive training… what do you do!? Grab the toy or treat your pup loves most in the world and interrupt their barking stream with that thing. Note, this isn’t going to reward your puppy for barking, it’s just your “𝘖𝘩 𝘤𝘳𝘢𝘱” go-to for now. Toss the treat or toy away from the door or whatever they’re barking at to help them make some distance until whatever they were barking at goes away

4️⃣ 𝗥𝗲𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗦𝗮𝗳𝗲𝘁𝘆!
If your pup is barking and you notice them tucking their tail, curled or lowered body language and attempts to move away, your dog is frightened! If you create a space - a “den” for you to direct them to so they can relax, this could be a great option for their wellbeing and help them stop barking

⭐ It’s important to note here - puppies bark! 𝙉𝙤 𝙢𝙤𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙣 𝙙𝙤𝙜 𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙧 𝙞𝙨 𝙜𝙤𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙪𝙜𝙜𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙡𝙤𝙤𝙠 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙬𝙖𝙮𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙥 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙥𝙪𝙥𝙥𝙮 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙗𝙖𝙧𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙥𝙡𝙚𝙩𝙚𝙡𝙮. The key is simply lessening the frequency and addressing the reason behind the barking - since there is always a reason.

I hope you find these little tid-bits helpful but if you want 𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗱𝘂𝗮𝗹 𝘀𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 for your own barking pup, send me a message and I can help! 🙋‍♀️

💬 What does your puppy bark at!?

16/01/2024

🎉 New name, who dis?

Today is the day!! I’m so excited to share this new chapter and new name with you!

Puppy Steps - because good dog training is broken down into small, achievable steps for the benefit of the learner; your puppy & you!

Welcome ✨🐶

16/01/2024

𝗣.𝗟.𝗔.𝗘 𝗶𝘀 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴🤩

✨ I’m moving from taking on any and all cases, to specialising in an area of my field

🐶 P U P P I E S (8weeks - 1year)

💛 Starting off on the right paw is an important step for a happy life together, so I’m here to guide puppy parents through that journey

𝙄’𝙫𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙 𝙢𝙮 𝙣𝙞𝙘𝙝𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙄’𝙢 𝙚𝙭𝙘𝙞𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙠 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙤 𝙞𝙩 𝙛𝙪𝙡𝙡𝙮!

My business name is soon to change, so although PLAE was who I needed to be for a moment, I’m ready to love and leave it.

🐶 I’m here to support puppy parents - that’s where my strengths shine

🐶 Puppies are tricky! I’m here to help clear the challenges

🐶 I can plan and prioritise, so there’s more time to enjoy the fleeting puppy days

Thanks for being here,
Tyla 🐾

08/01/2024

New qualification 💛

Attending the 3-dayer last September with Steve Mann in person was such a valuable experience!

I'm so grateful for the other dog pro's I met and of course, seeing all the gorgeous puppies!

This qual is much aligned with my business moving forward as I niche down into 𝗽𝘂𝗽𝗽𝘆 𝗱𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 and 𝘀𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁!

Great start to the day!

07/01/2024

𝗟𝗘𝗧 𝗧𝗛𝗘𝗠 𝗦𝗡𝗜𝗙𝗙

Dogs devote lots of brain power to interpreting smells.

🧠 In-fact, the area of the canine brain devoted to analyzing odours is about 40 times larger than the comparable part of the human brain.

🔬They have 300 million olfactory receptors in their nose, compared to our 5-6 million.. which means they have the ability to dectect scents at a level estimated to be 10,000 to 100,000 times more acute us humans.

✨ Dogs also have something called neophilia, which means they are attracted to new and interesting odours.

It’s hard to comprehend really.

💐 Sure, we can smell roses in bloom or fresh baking from a neighbouring kitchen window, but comparing that to what a dog is able to detect with their nose is unfathomable to us.

🙄 You might find your dog stopping to sniff during walks so frequently rather frustrating after a while? “Surely they don’t need to spend so long on one patch of grass!?”

🖼️ Imagine being hurried past exhibits at a museum or being scolded for taking too long to read a letter or a comment on social media?

🐶 Scent is how our dogs take in the most information about their world, so let them sniff.
𝙎𝙞𝙢𝙥𝙡𝙮 𝙗𝙚𝙘𝙖𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙬𝙚 𝙘𝙖𝙣𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙚𝙭𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙧𝙞𝙘𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙡𝙙 𝙤𝙛 𝙨𝙘𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙨 𝙖𝙨 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙛𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙡𝙮 𝙖𝙨 𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙙𝙤𝙜𝙨, 𝙙𝙤𝙚𝙨 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙣𝙚𝙜𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙞𝙩𝙨 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙮 𝙤𝙧 𝙞𝙢𝙥𝙤𝙧𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚.

03/01/2024

🙌 I wanted to dive deeper into the ways we can level up our dog walking experience since a short FB post can't do it justice.

✨ Over the years of helping folks with this tricky skill and watching dog owners in action, I've figured out 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗲𝗲 main tweaks to really transform the experience for both ends of the leash!

💛 I hope this helps you on your next walk together

Taking your dog for a stroll should be a delightful bonding experience, but we all know it's not always a walk in the park! 😅

02/01/2024

3 Simple Ways To Level Up Your Dog Walking Routine:

✅𝗖𝗵𝗼𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗶𝗽𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 - 𝗰𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗮𝗿𝘀/𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗳𝗶𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗳𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗹𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗱𝗼 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗲𝗱𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁

✅𝗛𝗼𝗹𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗵 𝗶𝗻 𝗮 𝘄𝗮𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝘃𝗼𝗶𝗱𝘀 𝗷𝗲𝗿𝗸𝘆 𝘀𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗱𝗼𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝗹, 𝗼𝗿 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝗼𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀

✅𝗦𝗲𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗱𝗼𝗴 𝘂𝗽 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗮 𝘀𝘂𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗳𝘂𝗹 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲, 𝗯𝘆 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗱𝗼𝗴 𝗿𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗹/𝗽𝗵𝘆𝘀𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗴𝘆 𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝗹𝗸

No one really teaches us how to best walk our dogs. We generally just grab the leash, hook our dog up and go for it.

For some magical dogs out there, that's fine. For most though, we need to be a little more thoughtful.

It's a dance, it's a learned skill and a journey to improve going for walks with your dog, but it's one of the best things ever to experience!

01/01/2024

🙌 𝗡𝗲𝘄 𝗬𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗢𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿 🙌

Start the year off right - by achieving your dog training goals!

All 𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝗰𝗹𝗶𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 enjoy 10% off my full 90min consultations throughout January!

From 𝗽𝘂𝗽𝗽𝘆 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 to 𝗹𝗼𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗵 𝘄𝗮𝗹𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴, I'm here to help your dog be the best they can be in 2024!

Message me to learn more or book your spot today! 🐶✨

📨 [email protected]
🌐 www.plaedogtraining.com

31/12/2023

Great read for anyone with dogs who are sensitive to sound! 🎇

Dogs who are scared of thunder and noise can benefit from masking, "canceling," with fans, noise machines, or certain types of music.

21/12/2023

🐾💛 Merry Christmas from Jedi & I 💛🐾

2023 has been a turbulent one for me personally - so I’ve been very lucky to have such a phenomenal dog by my side, supportive partner, friends & family and some of the loveliest clients I could ever have the pleasure of working with.

Lots of love and treats to your dogs from me and I’ll see you in the New Year 🤗

Tyla xx

09/12/2023

Look at my handsome baby!
Thank you Pixel Pets Photographer 📸🐶

03/12/2023

This is a hill I will die on.

🌱 Big emotions shouldn’t be squashed or suppressed with obedience. Big emotions require therapy to work through. The being with those feelings requires tools and assistance to learn strategies to manage and heal those emotions and reactions.

💥 Too often I see dogs who react, be asked to face their fears or else. I see dogs asked to walk in a very strict manner and not put a paw out of place.

🙅🏼‍♀️ I don’t see how this is healing the dog.
Sure you might see less of the behaviour but that doesn’t equal genuine resolve. We should hold higher standards for our dogs and suppression is not the answer.

💛 Reactive dogs require a trainer who helps them heal, not forces them to heel.

01/12/2023

Something I’m very proud of 💛

Becoming nationally certified and recognised as a well educated dog professional is one way I can maintain a high level of accountability and standards for my business and my lovely clients.

Although the dog training industry is unregulated, I will do everything in my power to continue to adhere to ethical, modern training practices and protocols.

I’ll never stop learning and that’s what I love about dog training 💛

14/11/2023

It’s more than a stuffed Kong. Or seeing how long you can extend the duration of meal-time..

It’s about seeing who you have as a pet, understanding their species or breed and then creating a legal, appropriate opportunity for them to engage in and perform behaviours uniquely special to them.

This is how we achieve fulfilment.

08/11/2023

𝗜𝗳 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘀𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝘀 𝘀𝘂𝗽𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗯𝘃𝗶𝗼𝘂𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂, 𝗜'𝗺 𝘀𝗼 𝗴𝗹𝗮𝗱!

I thought I would make this post because something I've noticed through my time working with dogs, is that many unwanted behaviours that crop up can be avoided and resolved by 𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗱𝗼𝗴𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗱𝗼 𝗱𝗼𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀...

Now there are of course many variables that come into play because dogs are wonderfully complex creatures (𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺, 𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘴, 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘵𝘩 𝘦𝘵𝘤) but if we as dog guardians are at least making sure our dogs have 𝘀𝗮𝗳𝗲, 𝗹𝗲𝗴𝗮𝗹 𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗹𝗲𝘁𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗻𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗲𝘀-𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗰 𝗯𝗲𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗶𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀 as listed in the slides, we can negate a lot of unwanted behaviours quite simply.

I will be talking about 𝗯𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗱-𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗰 behaviour ideas in the coming posts!
💛

08/11/2023

As a dog professional I’m really not impressed by obedience as much as I am the relationship between a person and their dog. To be really honest, the word obedience makes my stomach all tight (unless we’re talking about the sport). That’s just me.

Most of us bring a dog into our life for companionship, so make that the focus. Skills are important but there’s a balance. Don’t forget your dog is your friend, not a little minion.
💛

05/11/2023

Very good read and something to be aware of! Not all dog trainers carry the same ethics for your pet.

Whole Dog Journal‘s mission is to provide dog guardians with in-depth information on dog food, training, behavior, health, and more.

05/11/2023

Most people reach out to dog trainers with a similar request: “I want to stop my dog from jumping/barking/chasing the cat”.

The thing is, we can’t write a training plan for 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗽𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗴 behaviour. But we can write a training plan for teaching an 𝗮𝗹𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 behaviour in replacement.

Think about something you would like to stop doing.

For me, “𝙄’𝙙 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙥 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙘𝙧𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜”. What does that look like? How do I take steps towards that?

What if I reframed it. “𝙄’𝙙 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙗𝙚 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙚𝙛𝙛𝙞𝙘𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙖𝙩 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙟𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙨”. Now we know we need to focus on ways to make starting projects easier to steer away from the behaviour we are trying to change, which is procrastination.

Something to remember is that our dogs behave to serve some sort of 𝗳𝘂𝗻𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻. There’s a reason they do things. If we tried to s***f out behaviour without providing an 𝗮𝗹𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲, you’ll see more 𝘂𝗻𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝗲𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗶𝗼𝘂𝗿 crop up elsewhere. It’s kind of like whac-a-mole which is not a fun game to play long term.

31/10/2023

Walking with your dog in nature is so healing.

It’s great for dogs - the opportunity to move organically and sniff is massively beneficial to their mental and physical health.

It’s great for us too!
Being around trees and water helps us recharge.

💛

29/10/2023

𝗗𝗼𝗴 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝘀 𝗮 𝘄𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱𝘀 𝗮𝗻 𝘂𝗽𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗲!

Here are some of my personal dog training tips that can level up your perspective, experience and relationship with your dog. 💛

23/10/2023

This was such a great event I had the pleasure of attending!

I’m always interested in learning how to be the best for my clients, and part of that includes knowing how to call on the assistance of specialists in other fields. I’m not a vet, or a certified behaviourist, so it’s important to reach out when a dog requires different eyes on them.

💛

20/10/2023

I spent the last 4 days completing my Cert IV in Animal Behaviour & Training via Applied Vocational Training with a very cool group!

There’s nothing better than learning and laughing with people who share the same passion for dogs and nerdy animal behaviour & training stuff! I’ve made some lovely friends along the way.
.the cherry on top was meeting someone very cool who I completely fan-girl’d over… Carrie-Anne Selwyn 🥰 If you don’t know about Canine hoopers world do yourself a favour!!

💛 Here’s to continuing education! 💛