17/04/2023
INCOMING!! Only two more mornings with little Dottie before she goes home!
Meekies Dogs
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- Kingston, VIC
- Meekies Dogs
Epic Canine Adventures - Boarding School - Holiday Stays - Daycare - Recall and Obedience Training I believe in work-hard and play-hard. We play in all weather!
(3)
Understanding and communicating with animals has always been my passion. Studying dog behavioural patterns and training methods was a natural path for me. I treat dogs in my care like they are my children at primary school and so there is not only learning, but also a lot of fun! I do not believe you can expect a dog to do the things YOU want, unless you're also meeting their needs each day. So ou
r structure and obedience is slotted between lots of play time with zoomies, water, bubbles, balls and toys! We meet animals...we experience different textures and smells and have lots of socialisation too! I believe in truly nurturing the mind, body and soul of a dog. My science-based training methods focus on verbal praise and affection and follow the trust-technique to reduce anxiety, solve common behavioural problems and create a calm and connected "zen" dog. I am adamently against choker chains and shock collars. My experience has proven food-based training to be VERY limited (great for teaching tricks) but not always great for solving behavioural problems, or for safety purposes. If prior food-based training has failed you - I am not at all surprised. My work is almost all loose-leash based, or long drop-leash based...not relying on physical restraints but mutual trust and respect. I do a small amount of work with head-halters to build trust and listening skills but only if the dog tolerates one. So who am I outside of dog training?! Well two Groodles and an 11 year old Human Boy call me mum! My son and I have always been major animal lovers. I've always found dogs incredibly easy to communicate with and they love my positive energy...but my animal training started at the age of 7 with my first hamster and progressed to teaching pet rats to come on recall (among other things) and I've tamed birds, trained a cat to fetch and all sorts of bonkers things. I moved from Sussex in the UK to Melbourne in 2007 and go back there every year to spend a solid month with my family. My daily routine always utilises our 4 acres of enclosed parkland and recall training games occur as standard out there. But we also visit 50 acres most days as I love running across the fields, through the scrub and down the back paddock looking for the farm animals. I also love walking along the beach every week. Hot Days = Paddling Pool and sprinklers, Wet Days = Raincoats & Towels! Muddy? I'll get them clean! I'm British....so I'm used to carrying on as normal in inclement weather! If your pooch comes to stay, it's likely that they will have a better holiday than you do! And come home calm, well-mannered and happy. You'll also be spammed with more photos than you want, that's for sure! And for the boarding school stays, I'll also send videos so that you can continue the training at home.
08/03/2023
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06/03/2023
We saw lots of animals yesterday during our two park runs! The donkey, alpacas and sheep at 50 acres in the morningā¦ā¦then horses and ducks at Karkarook later in the day! It was pretty hot so the paddling pool came out for some fun ball and ring play too! š
21/11/2022
50 acres was pretty challenging for me this morningā¦but thatās Ok! š It was VERY WINDY, so everyone had to work a bit harder to stay focused on my vocal commands. Iām working with Hugo the Vizsla today, who can be dog aggressive (remember aggression is just FEAR) so heās been in a halti to ensure there are no accidents and heās been on a very short leash. Itās about teaching him that heās safe around dogs and building his confidence without taking risks. Hugo found Ivyās presence in the pack challenging today and they had an odd dynamic (I wasnāt sure whether it was a positive obsession or a negative one but either way it was NOT calm and it WAS obsessive.) I tried to nap with them this morningā¦but failed to fall asleep š Weāve had a lap of the park at lunch and played some controlled-release ball throws (they have to hold a sit and wait their turn) and Theo has helped with some āno jumpingā training! (Heās sick from school today)! And the heavens keep opening up intermittently on us between playtime! Iām very proud of Olaf who was exhibiting night-aggression (human directed) before coming on Friday and we havenāt had any aggressive energy or body language in 24 hours now (this is now Day 4 for him). š I have a last-minute booking who arrives at 3pm today instead of 7am tomorrow (Renaissance) so have to split the pack for our afternoon playtime. Never a dull day! No two days are the sameā¦I love my work š
15/11/2022
So at Karkarook Park this afternoon, Sunny the cheeky monkey escaped the leash and ran off! āHaha! Chase me!ā she said. But like a proā¦thatās NOT a game I play. I pretended I hadnāt noticed (concealing the mild panic within) and said in a super high energy tone āCome on everyoneā¦this way!ā and I walked in the OPPOSITE direction from Sunny, giving the pack lots of praise and high energy. I led them off the side of the path I asked them all to āsitā. And guess who appeared behind me and also did a sit? šš
If youāre on your own and your dog runs offā¦do NOT chase. I recommend sitting down calmly and pretending you havenāt noticed. Detach. Avoid eye contact. Look at your fingernails. Fiddle with something like a stick. Keep your energy calm and wait for THEM to also join your calm. Assuming your dog knows good things come from youā¦they will always come back for more!
13/11/2022
What does EFFECTIVE CONTROL actually mean?! And why is it important in our parks?
In a nutshell āeffective controlā means YOUR dog maintains PROXIMITY to YOU and is able to LISTEN and RESPOND to your instructions with distractions around. It means you have to pay attention to where their attention is, what their body language is saying and you should talk to and connect with your dogā¦redirecting them if they disconnect from you. We should all be teaching our dogs to choose US over other dogs. Why? Because otherwise we are actually teaching our dogs to defend and protect us from OTHER dogsā¦.if something is off. We just donāt realise thatās what we are telling them their job is. If a dog races off at top speed towards other dogs, it is NOT calm and connected, nor actually āfriendlyā. Friendly is loose and slow and floppy and looking at the receiving dog for acceptance / invitation. Aggressive is fast and rigid - and yes the tail can be wagging fast. Anxious is closer to the aggressive in terms of speed but often a submissive ending (ie a back roll or bowing and face licking.)
Acknowledging that many dogs are fearful, we need to understand that if your āitās-ok-theyāre-friendlyā dog runs at top speed at THEM, they can snap, or just go on the defensive with their body language. It can be a real setback and trust destroyer for their owner to have a dog hurtle into their space without warning. Your āitās-ok-theyāre-friendlyā dog shouldnāt take someone elseās choice to AVOID interaction away. This is important in our parks so that everyone can have a good time and to ensure that negative interactions are kept to an absolute minimum. Teach your dog that THEIR job is to STAY with YOU and YOU will protect THEM š PS Balls are also great for giving dogs a job that keeps their focus on us!
29/10/2022
Wowā¦I never saw this side to Cesar Milan before and Iām absolutely horrified! Aggression in dogs is generally based on fearā¦so being aggressive towards the dog and forcing them into fearful situations (rather than trust building and empathising and communicating with the dog and making experiences positive) is completely backwards. Just wow!
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26/10/2022
When you like someone just a little bit more than THEY like YOU šš
24/10/2022
Today I worked on what I call the āHIT Listā which is the āHierarchy of Important Thingsā in a dogs world. The top four are Other Dogs, Balls, Food and Strangers. Will your dog follow your command with other dogs in the vicinity, food on the floor, balls rolling around or strangers nearby? You just have to set a situation up (ensuring your dog is safe) and practice! š Today was ball practice - excuse the awful videography š And after the big āFree!ā we PLAYED!! š
22/10/2022
Iām over capacity today due to helping out a sick clientā¦.but whilst they are sleeping I wanted to reinforce that the most important thing you can teach your dog is that they are SAFE around other dogs. Dog parks do NOT teach dogs this. They erode your relationship. A dog needs to know they are safe from being sniffed, dominated, pawed at or jumped on by an unknown dog. Your dog needs to know you have their back if another dog has poor manners. If a meeting occurs, it should be respectfulā¦each dog needs to be slow, calm and connectedā¦.not acting and reacting without thinking or listening. Sniff butts and noses only and mirror a retreat if the dog backs off scared. No hackles up, growling, lips curled, rolling on backsā¦ go easy on the face licking. Can you read dog body language to know when a dog is being rude?
22/10/2022
Yes yes yes! Your dog should not be bounding to the door, jumping on the sofa and doing zoomies from room to room when youāre vacuuming. Teach your dog calm. Staying in your bed is an important job! Slow, calm, connect šš
21/10/2022
This! 100%! Your dog is actually rushing towards others out of ANXIETY - NOT to be friendly. Theyāre eliminating a perceived threat by getting there before you to suss it out. Teach your dogs that this ISNāT their job. Their job is to stay with you because you have THEIR back. They donāt need to protect you. YOU understand MORE about this world than they do.
"They're friendly!", is often the dreaded last words a hard working owner hears before their dog gets attacked, their training unravels and hours and hours of hard work are undone!
This concept really isn't rocket science! If your dog isn't under your complete control with a solid recall then keep them on a leash. Just because you think your dog is friendly doesn't mean it can now become a nuisance to everyone it encounters.
The reality is, if your dog is rushing people or other dogs it is actually an extremely anti social dog. If I ran up to complete strangers and started giving them massive bear hugs we'd all call my behavior anti social but when your dog does that I'm supposed to believe "he's just friendly"?
It's time to stop the bs with this stuff. If you choose not to train your dog, that's on you but don't make it everyone else's problem. Keep your dog with you regardless of how friendly you think they are. If you love dogs as you claim to then you'd recognize that many dogs don't want to be friends with yours and that many owners have spent days, months or even years just to get their dog to go for a walk and your selfishness can ruin all of that!
To my fellow responsible owners, remember that your dog comes first and regardless of how friendly the fur mommy claims her precious baby to be, it is absolutely the right thing for you to do whatever necessary to keep your dog safe. Your dog's safety, the relationship you've built with them and the hard work you put in is all you should be worried about in these situations. Put that above all else and advocate for your dog by any means necessary!
Oh and if they get pi**ed about your "rude attitude", tell em Russ said it's okay. š
18/10/2022
What an epic day we have had today! Starting with an amazing beach walk, then we invited Hugo the Briard into the pack for the first time! š WELCOME HUGO!
17/10/2022
After my personal facebook account was hacked in June, I've lost my original MeekiesDogs business page! So heres the new replacement!
17/10/2022
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1 Dianne Court
Kingston, VIC
3192
Opening Hours
| Monday | 7am - 8pm |
| Tuesday | 7am - 8pm |
| Wednesday | 7am - 8pm |
| Thursday | 7am - 8pm |
| Friday | 7am - 8pm |
| Saturday | 7am - 8pm |
| Sunday | 7am - 8pm |
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Today I worked on what I call the āHIT Listā which is the āHierarchy of Important Thingsā in a dogs world. The top four are Other Dogs, Balls, Food and Strangers. Will your dog follow your command with other dogs in the vicinity, food on the floor, balls rolling around or strangers nearby? You just have to set a situation up (ensuring your dog is safe) and practice! š Today was ball practice - excuse the awful videography š And after the big āFree!ā we PLAYED!! š
Iām over capacity today due to helping out a sick clientā¦.but whilst they are sleeping I wanted to reinforce that the most important thing you can teach your dog is that they are SAFE around other dogs. Dog parks do NOT teach dogs this. They erode your relationship. A dog needs to know they are safe from being sniffed, dominated, pawed at or jumped on by an unknown dog. Your dog needs to know you have their back if another dog has poor manners. If a meeting occurs, it should be respectfulā¦each dog needs to be slow, calm and connectedā¦.not acting and reacting without thinking or listening. Sniff butts and noses only and mirror a retreat if the dog backs off scared. No hackles up, growling, lips curled, rolling on backsā¦ go easy on the face licking. Can you read dog body language to know when a dog is being rude?
