Zentropha-Teaching People, Training Dogs

07/12/2021

I’m done-I’ve made the decision to close Zentropha dog training.

Unfortunately I believed that I could actually make this business into a great success. What a fool I was for believing this.

To those few clients I did have , thank you for trusting me to help you & your dog.

Annie

25/11/2021

And I might add, complete adorable idiot.

25/11/2021

16/11/2021

Nothing more needs to be said

13/11/2021

The epitome of complete trust in each other-stunning

03/11/2021

Can anyone else relate to this

Words to live by. 💯😆

30/10/2021

A guide to new puppy owners on how much your new puppy needs

30/10/2021

A dogs guide in how to walk your human-enjoy

24/10/2021

Heaven with German Shepherds, Labrador Retrievers & Tibetan Terriers-a beautiful story.
If you own any of these breeds-have a giggle or two.

23/09/2021

General Puppy Behavior & Training Guidelines.

I'm sure at times it feels like owning a puppy is equivalent to having a heavily caffeinated chimpanzee who is allergic to sleep.

However, when it does feel like that - here are some tips to help you get you through ....

1. Commitment - training and settling in a new puppy into your home takes time and you will need bucket loads of patience. Puppies have the attention span of a gnat, so remember when teaching them something new, your training should be in small bite sized amounts of time (eg, 2-4 minutes x2-3/day).

2. Compassion - it does take time for puppy to know and understand the rules and what you want them to do. They want to be loved and will try to do the right thing to please you (most of the time) however (see point 3) ....

3. Confidence - Your pup can sense if you are nervous or not confident and they will test those boundaries to see how far they can push things (trust me, they do ......)

4. Consistency - This is one of the most important key points; understand your pup can be very easily confused so it is imperative to make sure you are all on the same page with your boundaries, signals and commands etc.

5. Control - As in point 3, it is common for pups to test the boundaries so it is really important that you have control over your pup and not the other way around.

6. Children - You should teach children how to interact round puppies/dogs. Children can be loud, excitable, rough, often poking, prodding, pulling, running & screaming which can often send the dog into instinct mode which can lead to children being bitten - never under any circumstances leave young children/toddlers/babies unsupervised with dogs.

Contact a qualified & experienced dog behaviorist to assist if you require any help in these areas.

Your local qualified, experienced dog behaviorist/trainer (20+ yrs) + vet nurse (10+ yrs).

Further information, https://zentropha.com.au or 0418 709 238

17/09/2021

Separation Anxiety and how you can help your dog.

So what is separation anxiety?
Generally speaking, it is behaviors (learned) by your dog that being left alone is a really scary prospect - this can be an issue, particularly if you are now heading back to the office/other activities on a more regular basis.

What are the causes? It can be a change of pet parents and/or change in surroundings, lack of training, death of pet friend, boredom or premature adoption to name a few.

Signs can include (not limited to) barking, howling, trembling, pacing, scratching and/or destroying furniture, just to name a few ....

Here are some tips to help:-
1. Change your going away 'signals' - leave your keys/bag/shoes in a different location and/or use a different door if possible.
2. Change into your work clothes but don't leave for at least 15-30 minutes.
3. Downplay goodbyes and hello's - in other words, don't get too emotional with departures and coming home.
4. Train your dog at home that it's OK to be alone - put them in a separate area while you shower/get ready for work.
5. Leave comfort items such as a few treats or fav toys around/in their bed.
6. Hide a few treats around so they can learn to use their nose to 'hunt' for yummy treats.
7. Regular exercise - a tried dog is a calm dog.
8. Leave background music or TV on.

The main goal is to break your dog's association with your departure and not let them trigger anxiety behaviors associated with your going away.

Contact a qualified dog behaviorist to assist if you require further assistance in this area.

Your local qualified & experienced dog trainer & behaviorist (20+ yrs) and vet nurse (10+ yrs).
For further information, https://zentropha.com.au or
0418 709 238

08/09/2021

The mono image on the left is the last known Thylacine aka Tasmanian Tiger, who died in 1936 in a Tasmanian zoo.

The image on the right is a Dingo (Alpine).

Do they look similar???
Are they related???
How much difference between these two & your dog???

The dingo is Canis lupis dingo; your dog is Canis lupis familiaris.

Your dog & the dingo are very closely related. So much so that genetic scientist’s have traced the genetic pool of the domesticated dog & dingo back to SE Asian region approximately 15,000 years ago with dingos & dog having been interbreeding for at least 10,000 years.

Now for the now extinct Thylacine, Thylacinus cynocephalus is actually a carnivorous mammal with a pouch in which its young were born tiny & hairless & remain in the pouch from birth until approx. 4 months old.

01/09/2021

This is a really good read. It relates to not only German Shepherds but in fact all breeds.

Unfortunately I come across many people who’ve tried the quick fix or even worse, training organisations that teach the:-
1. No such thing as pack structure
2. Put your dog in time out corner & let them think about being naughty🤬🤬🤬
3. Correction is bad & negative
4. Dogs are humans with 4 legs
5. Ignore your dog when they’re naughty
6. When your dog growls or barks at someone or something, do absolutely nothing or worse-praise them for being a good dog
7. Treat your dog as a substitute partner, child or baby.

A good read - thank you Kym Glenny.

These days many people want a quick fix when it comes to dog behaviour/training.

There are NO quick fixes.

Owners think doing a few training sessions with their pups in a class is all they need. They take their dogs for long walks and/or play and think that's enough. They buy their dogs lots of toys to keep them occupied and think that's enough. It's not enough. They don't think they need actual Obedience training. Obedience training is not all about competition style training. Training your dog entails teaching it how to behave in a calm neutral manner regardless of being in the home, outside environment/stimuli, doing as it's told etc. It also not about training in class once a week but should be ongoing on a daily basis at home, outside, in public etc.

Often due to a lack of enforcement of correct behaviour, by the time the pup is 6-12mths old they have often become hard to handle in public, over excited and / or reactive to other dogs they see. They pull their owners everywhere. The pulling actually started when the pup was little but was never corrected. The over excitedness started young too and wasn't corrected but instead rewarded by allowing the pup to play with another dog or being excitedly spoken to and patted by a person so now every time it sees another dog/person it becomes more excited and as it gets bigger and stronger it becomes harder to handle. The owners become frustrated, upset and often give up. The owners in some cases have also not developed a bond with their dog and the dog doesn't respond properly to them. No Rules, Boundaries and Discipline have been put in place from the time they brought the dog home or at least not consistently enforced.

What a lot of people fail to understand is that dogs, especially German Shepherds, are highly intelligent animals with quite a high drive and need their minds worked. Exercising is not working their minds (much). You need to teach and train your dog to be the dog you want. This does not happen over night or with a few training sessions, it's an ongoing process and we often recommend continual & consistent training for at least 2yrs.

You don't send your child to school for a term or two and say that's enough so why do people think doing a few training sessions in a class is enough for a dog?

There are many different training ventures you can do with your dog like Obedience, Rally Obedience, Tracking, Agility, Herding, Scent Work, Dancing with Dogs, Tricks etc.

Your dog has the ability to learn many many different things but you have to TEACH it.

24/08/2021

The Elephant in the room - Dog training methods.

So why do some dog training organisations/training schools teach the positive/no such thing as pack structure/correction is punishment/ignore when bad behavior happens/time out corner etc theory to new dog owners and why is it causing so many issues, confusion & frustration?

I think what is happening is that we are missing an important point here - we have failed to consider that the dog is a totally separate species to us; it is a canine. It does not think, walk, talk like us - it is not a human & never will be.

This same 'human concept thinking' is then applied to the understanding of how a dog's social behaviors/communication works.

The human belief is that 'dogs don't form pecking orders/social dominance- they do and documented research papers world wide support this evidence.

Is it perhaps that the word 'dominance' is seen from the the human perspective and seen as aggressive, threatening or domineering??

When in fact dogs display of 'dominance' is very subtle (eg; a look & a slight curl of lips etc) rather than combative & aggressive approach.

The dog communicates by using their 5 senses & non-verbal communication aka body language.

Your local qualified & experienced dog trainer & behaviorist (20+ years) & vet nurse (10+ years).

For further information & help https://zentropha.com.au or 0418 709 238.

23/08/2021

TOXIC PLANT THAT IS EXTREMELY DANGEROUS TO YOUR DOGS-SAGO PALM.

For your information-an article in yesterday's Sunday Mail (page 8) highlighted that this plant as highly toxic if your dog ingests this particular plant - commonly known as the the Cycas Sago Palm.

This article highlighted that a family was recently hit with a vet bill of $10,000.00 when both their dogs ingested this plant, which is common in many households - the dogs came dangerously close to death.

It is highly toxic plant and if you suspect your dog has ingested this plant, seek veterinary treatment urgently.

Please be aware of this plant and remove immediately from your garden.

14/08/2021

Pretty much self explanatory

06/08/2021

Love this-a timely reminder to us all.

05/08/2021

Yeah, well, ummmm, errrr I think you’ll find it was where humans interfered a teny tiny bit a while back……

05/08/2021

Trainer Annie is a licensed ANKC obedience judge.
At this level, the handler & dog work off lead for the entire 6x individual & 1x group exercises.

Can you leave your dog, walk away for up to at least 20+ meters, about turn & halt; on the judges’ command, call your dog & then on command to drop/down, then call to come & sit in front of you???

Or put your dog in a drop/down in a line of other dogs, approximately 2.5 meters apart, on command, leave your dog, walk out of the ring & hide for 5 minutes & the dog is not allowed to move until you return???

05/08/2021

So what does trainer Annie do when she’s not working with you & your dog?

Well she is the Media & PR coordinator for the GSD Club of Qld & works with the national governing body on specific PR projects-such as recently awarded PD Kaos for outstanding bravery & service in the Qld Police Dog Squad-seen here with the national patron, Dawn Fraser AC, MBE. This story went to air recently on Ch 10 Brisbane news.

She also is a licensed ANKC obedience judge & recently judged the obedience at the GSD Show & Obedience trial.

05/08/2021

Priceless

31/07/2021

Brilliant