Verbal Cue Training session
Ive been a bit slack in our training sessions lately, so today we did a little training session focusing on our communication with only verbal cues. We added more distraction by being out the front, hence the lead on just in case.
It always helps to film training sessions so you can pick up on anything you may miss in the moment.
Enrichment Prep
Enrichment Prep Day ahead of a busy week 😊
I make these in advance and pop them in the freezer for quick, easy, grab and go enrichment activities that also form a portion of Bentley's daily food.
The food I use is rotated each prep to ensure variety and balance, but in this particular video it includes:
- @bigdogpetfoods Raw pouches (Kangaroo and Combo)
- @ziwipeakaustralia tinned Tripe and Lamb
- boiled egg and the shell
- apple, red capsicum, cucumber, Carrot, spinach and parsley
It's a great way of ensuring Bentley receives fresh food in his diet, with minimal effort for me to manage on a daily basis.
It is also an easy way to give him opportunities of gnawing, licking, foraging and prolonged feeding, all of which can help prevent a lot of problematic behaviours that would come about when he is idle/bored.
Don't forget to like, share and tag anyone who may benefit from this easy way to meal prep for your dogs! 💜
Ferret Home Visit
A little time-lapse of a home visit to look after 3 gorgeous ferrets and their palace 🥰
Types of reinforcement
Did you know that rewards/reinforcers are not only very individual to your dog but they change constantly depending on circumstances.
By learning what it is that your dog finds reinforcing, not only can you set yourself and your dog up for success with training, but you can ensure the preferred behaviours are offered before you give them what they find rewarding.
Here is an example of water being highly reinforcing during a walk or after some exercise and is used to reinforce loose lead walking.
When was the last time you tested or ranked your dogs reinforcers?
Rain is fun!
Do you have a dog who doesnt like the rain? It can be incredibly liberating to take that stress away from your dog by acclimatising them to it gradually.
Start by pairing fun, exciting things with the rain (inside or undercover first) then progress to maybe a ball throw out in the rain and retrieve back to you. Grow their confidence slowly and at their pace.
Before you know it you can do lots of fun things in the rain, like walks, fetch, tug, find it games etc...
Now that thing that was debilitating for your dog, is something they have overcome and that does wonders for their confidence 😊
Does your dog react to the vacuum cleaner?
Cleaning day is made much easier with a dog who doesnt want to chase the vacuum, bark at the upholstery cleaner or steal sheets off the line!
So often it's those little things that makes a huge difference to how your dog fits in and is involved with your day to day family life.
Sure I could lock him outside, hang sheets inside (taking forever to dry) or put up with constant barking... but that just adds more things for me to think about and less time he can just be part of our day!
There are many ways to tackle this reactivity which can help your dog to make better choices, making their life and yours much calmer and less stressful!
Does your dog react to things like this and you wonder why? Stay tuned for some helpful tips on how to change it 😊
• Let's talk Walks! •
So much emphasis is put on walking your dog, especially when we are talking about puppies.
I get it! Your puppy is super cute and you want to show them off to the world as soon as you can! But it's important to take your time with this and set you and your dog up for success for the long game!
Walking your dog is great, but it isn't the be all and end all and actually isn't something you NEED to do on a daily basis.. (providing that you still give them plenty of mental and physical stimulation within the home too)
Puppies in particular are still growing and developing, and depending on their breed, don't fully develop and mature until 12-18months!
Placing too much emphasis on distance walks, running or even prolonged use of stairs before this time, can impact their joints and hinder proper development.
Instead it is much better to use the early months as a means to develop great engagement, loose lead skills and practising obedience and other skills in distracting environments.
Remember to start small, begin in the house, then the backyard, then the front yard and maybe a little up the street etc, or at a new location...
At every point you want to still have great engagement from your dog, a loose lead, and break up the "walk" with games or obedience.
If your not getting that, back up a step and work at the lower level for a bit longer. It might take some time, it might be a bit frustrating for you, but if you put the effort in now, you will be rewarded in the long term! Remember when you practice something it gets better, so make sure your dog is perfecting the right things!
The best part for you? Instead of setting aside 30min + a day for a distance walk, dedicate 3 x 5-10 min sessions a day and watch how quickly you see progress!
In the meantime, games of tug, fetch, frisbee, hide and seek recall, scent games, enrichment and training are all ideas for stimulation within the home!
Happy training 💜
Bentley Recall away from Dog Play at 5.5months
What's the secret to the perfect recall?
Errorless Learning, coupled with mega reinforcers!
Basically that means setting your dog up to succeed by starting small and building slowly at your dogs pace and ability, and giving them high value rewards EVERY SINGLE TIME.
Remember the environment is never stingy when it comes to rewards, you have a lot to compete with, so make it count!
You want hundreds of practice sessions, in easy environments, so that when you really need it, your dog will almost have no choice but to return to you because the history has made it a reflex!
Did you know it can take over a year and a half to perfect a bomb proof recall? Please do not expect a puppy or a recently trained dog to come when called in either highly distracting, or long distance situations!
It is imperative that while you are training it, you only use your recall word in situations when it is highly probable your dog will listen... in all other times rely on management to prevent the need of it :)
For example, I wouldn't take Bentley to a beach, park, or playground, especially when with other dogs, and expect him him come when called, first time..
Instead I implement the use of long lines or contained areas and choose a different way to call him back 💜
Reach out if you need some tips to progress your dogs recall, aren't sure how to begin or even to share your photos and videos of your dogs current recall level! 🥰
Be proactive instead of reactive!
When your puppy or dog is going to be exposed to a new stimuli, especially a sudden, loud or potentially scary one, it's important to be Proactive instead of reactive.
Rather than waiting to see how your dog responds, we want to set them up to succeed and prevent them from ever seeing a potential problem with it.
This is Bentley, locked outside (behind all closed windows and glass doors to help muffle the sounds.
He has a kong wobbler, a scatter of delicious food all through the grass and his goat horn.
This meant he was already focused on some calming behaviours (sniffing and chewing) BEFORE the drilling began. When it began he lifted his head, did one bark, realised it wasn't anything to worry about and went straight back to his enrichment.
Had I have waited to see his reaction, he likely would have barked continuously and tried to get inside by jumping at the doors/windows.
In order to stop him, I would have had to interact with him, which means giving him attention and reinforces his behaviour. Plus he probably would have then become sensitive to the noise and likely to continue reacting.
Life is busy and unplanned and things happen, but if you can take just 5 minutes to stop and think about how you can set your puppy/dog up to succeed it will be better for all involved!
Alert but not alarmed
How many of you know what your dog is up to when your not home?
On most of my walks I am serenaded by the sound of territorial dogs barking as we go past, and I always wonder how many owners know this is occurring.
This little beauty however is the perfect example of how a dog should be when another dog is walking past.. alert but not alarmed.
The problem with allowing your dog to practice territorial barking is that it is self rewarding and will only get worse with practice.
Every person, animal or object that moves past your house almost always has an intention of passing, so your dog begins barking and eventually that thing moves away.
In the dogs mind, his barking resulted in it "retreating", when really they were just continuing along.
So if you have a dog that barks at passers by, restrict their access. Close doors, install a baby gate, newspaper the lower windows etc.. Whatever you need to do to remove their ability to watch and wait for the opportunity to practice this.
If you prevent this occurring when your not home, you have won half the battle of reducing the problem behaviour entirely!
A great tool to see if your dog does this is using a sleep talk recorder app, it will record noises when your gone and show you what your dog really gets up to!
Miss Molly on a Sniffari
Do you always walk your dog on the side of the road with the path? 🦮
Most dog owners fall into this habit! While it is good for maintaining your dogs nails, it is not very helpful for dogs who excessively pull!
Since the majority of dogs (and even people) are walking in these areas, there is an endless supply of new smells for your dog to explore!
New exciting smells = one over excited dog who wants to smell them all! Hence the excessive pulling 🙄
So switch it up on your next walk, walk only on the unpathed areas where possible and give your dog a new area to explore with less excitement, which hopefully = less pulling!
Don't forget to tag me in your photos/videos and let me know how it works for your dog! 💜
Desensitisation to loud noises
Do you have a dog that is nervous of loud noises like the storms we have been experiencing? Or a puppy you'd like to not be nervous of loud noises?
By pairing the noise/event with something your dog finds enjoyable, like food or a game, rather than pats and excessive attention and using calm positive voices you can help your dog to associate the noises with something positive.
Its important to start small and from a safe distance and progress only at your dogs pace, especially if you have a dog already fearful of the noise.
I recently had some work done by Mitchell's Pool & Paving Services that provided a great opportunity to expose Bentley to the noise of a grinder. Notice my solid doors are closed, to muffle the noise and I'm at a distance that he can tolerate. I don't make a big fuss about it so he doesn't feel the need to either. If he wants to retreat he can.
So give your dog a positive outlet that takes their focus off the noises and gets them thinking more positively about the situation instead 😊
Feel free to reach out if you have any questions!
One of the most common mistakes with a new puppy is to expose them to too much, too soon.
This can be overwhelming for your new addition and can actually lead to anxious behaviour and make them sensitive to certain stimuli.
During the first few weeks of welcoming your puppy home, they aren't fully vaccinated and many people fall in to the trap of thinking you can't really do much with them during this time.
In fact, this is the PERFECT and most crucial time to slowly introduce your puppy to new things.
Today Bentley and I sat on our front lawn (away from the curb where the risk of Parvovirus is greatest) and simply watched the world go by.
The street was quiet - a random car, motorbike and person would walk past and I was armed with treats.
Its a great way to gradually expose your pup to suburban noises in a calm and controlled manner and pair it with positive things like food and pats 😊
Feeling overwhelmed? Not sure what you can do with your pup to set them up for success?
Send us a message, we will be happy to help you out! 💜
