Sniff K9

02/08/2024

♥️Some of my amazing teams this week♥️
Training sit and down stay at Intro and Intermediate levels.

02/08/2024

A new environment for Odin today. Lots of great stuff to sniff.

29/07/2024

The family.

27/07/2024

Rest.

27/07/2024

A mini training session on our morning walk.

23/07/2024

One of my early puppy show training sessions with Odin. I am reinforcing him for mirroring my movement to get him standing square. As this is an early session there are ample opportunities for reinforcement and lots of breaks along the way. It doesn't have to be perfect, he just has to try. I thought he did a brilliantly. He is one clever boy!

23/07/2024

I love doing different sports with my dogs. Nimbus had a great time at CPAT Trick Trial on the weekend. She loves trick training and enjoy our training journey. ♥️

16/07/2024

Great team work.

16/07/2024

Beach sniffing walk

15/07/2024

Odin puppy training before our class at the show on Saturday morning.

14/07/2024

10/07/2024

09/07/2024

Odin chose to sleep in the crate. My dogs have a choice when we are hanging out in the living room. They can choose the couch, floor, or crate. Every night is different, and my dogs are happy and relaxed.

09/07/2024

Puppy socialisation. Novel vehicles in new environments.

07/07/2024

Does feeding treats cause horses to bite or become aggressive? Written by Claire from Wonder Pets Training https://buff.ly/45pH1W5
I have sometimes heard from people that if horses are fed treats they will bite, nip or become aggressive. In fact, it is not treats that cause this type of behaviour, it is unpredictable, erratic training and handling.
Nipping, biting etc can occur in horses that aren't fed treats at all when they are subjected to stressful, punitive and unpredictable environments or handling.
Not having their needs met, insufficient forage, not enough room to move or no suitable companions can also manifest as unwanted behaviour. Pain is another factor that is also often overlooked. Much like ourselves, our animals can be much quicker to snap if they are in pain, stressed out or frightened.
As my main interest is training with treats, this will be the focus of this post.
When we use treats to train animals we are setting up a contract with the animal that they will receive treats under predictable conditions. Changes in these conditions need to be small enough that the animal will still be able to figure out how to access the treats. For example: I want a pony to stand still while I walk away instead of following me, first I will give her treats while I am standing next to her, then I will give her a treat and immediately take a step back while she is chewing then I can mark her and step back before she has a chance to move. As she realises the game is just to stand still and wait to be given treats, the length of time I wait until I mark and give her a treat increases gradually, and the distance I move away can be increased also. If I suddenly walk off and expect my horse to stay without building up in little steps she would have no idea what to do, which may result in the incorrect behaviour, which would not result in a treat. My pony would be confused as she has no idea whatsoever of how she can get that treat, which leads to frustration which is generally expressed in the form of unwanted behaviour.
Markers are very important and take some practise to use effectively. A marker or bridge is a signal given to the animal that the treat is about to appear. With horses, we generally want them to stop and wait for the treat to come to them when they are given their marker. Often these markers are a sound, like a clicker or a certain word. It is super important with horses that the marker is used before the trainer reaches for the treat or the horse quickly learns the hand movement is the predictor of the treat. The horse starts to focus more on hands and begins to get frustrated because the hands aren't a reliable predictor of the treats. This can result in unwanted behaviour.
Alternating between treats and punishment, especially in an unpredictable manner, can also result in confusion and frustration which, you guessed it, can lead to unwanted behaviour!
Living conditions are essential for ensuring successful training, if the horse does not have adequate forage, freedom and friends this needs to be addressed as does any pain.
Because eating is comforting for horses, and something they they do for the majority of the day, using treats correctly can help them overcome fear, frustration and the unwanted behaviours that can come with it.

07/07/2024

I was so pleased with Nimbus and my team work in this Excellent Exterior(1st plc)search last Saturday at the Ulverstone SW trial. I had my search plan and stuck to it,(a big take away from Rob Hewimgs and Karen Caton-Hewings Tassie Workshop) while still allowing Nimbus to follow edges of odour. You can see she does need to check outside of the search area to pinpoint target odour. But I also direct her at moments to make sure nothing is missed.

05/07/2024

You got it Odin! 💖

25/06/2024

Nimbus worked hard but loved every minute, as did I. It was a fantastic weekend of learning at Rob Hewings & Karen Caton-Hewings Tassie Workshop. It was such a privilege to have coaching from Rob and Karen.

20/06/2024

Odin Portrait. 💕

17/06/2024

And the cat is under there somewhere.

17/06/2024

Best puppy in group.

03/06/2024

Odin's first sniff at the beach. Luna has been amazing with him.

19/05/2024

Nimbus has such beautiful eyes. Her intelligence is as sharp as her stare.

17/05/2024

Odin 💕

16/05/2024

Sleeping Royal

16/05/2024

Afternoon enrichment sniffing walk and short run in the dam paddock.It was a bit windy Sniff K9

16/05/2024

A short lead training session for Odin while we were out and about. I have done a few sessions at home and he has been conditioned to understand a marker. Either the word 'Yes' and a clicker. Here I am using 'yes' and am marking any behaviours that I like. Some in this clip are, following my hand which will have the lead in it when we show, responding to his name when a little distracted and looking at a dog passing by and not pulling toward it. I try and keep it fun and short, using high value reinforcement, which is cooked chicken.

16/05/2024

Some morning enrichment for Odin. I am helping him learn how to use a Kong TM.

11/05/2024

Luna, Nimbus and Odin. ❤️