Kaleidoscope K9 Training and Life skills

18/08/2024

Lucy and I are back to doing therapy visits at Maddocks Gardens each week. We pop on her lovely purple bandanna and she is ready for work bringing some joy and love to the residents.

15/08/2024

Congratulations to Rosie and Drift on the completion of her Life Skills Program. Drift has learned to be calmer on walks and improve her recall. Well done team Drift.

14/08/2024

Beautiful Cricket has successfully completed her Life Skills program. Learning to walk nicely on the lead was one of her goals and she smashed it. Cricket knows lots of tricks and we developed a range of visual cues to help her learn. Congratulations Cricket, Mark and Kathy.

12/08/2024

Young Winnie has completed her Puppy Life Skills program. She is such a smart girl and very quick to pick up everything. Brayden and Dayna have done a great job and developed a suite of hand signals to help her understand what they want her to do. Her hearing impairment is not going to hold her back. Congratulations team Winnie.

11/08/2024

Click on the link to get a FREE course that explains the training methodology that Kaleidsoscope K9 Training & Life Skills employ. A really useful dog training resource. https://absolute-dogs.com/products/core-learning

Send a message to learn more

25/07/2024

Jasper has landed on all four paws as he starts his new life with Maz and Andy. We will be working on calmness, confidence and loose lead walking. For rehomed dogs it takes some time for them to fit in their new surroundings and we want to make sure Jasper has the best start to his second chance! Well done Jasper and Maz.

23/07/2024

I NEED TO FEEL SAFE!

Like all living creatures, including us, dogs just want to feel safe – it’s a basic survival need.

When we think about feeling safe it’s natural to just think about not being harmed or being in danger, but it’s not just about physical safety - feeling emotionally or psychologically safe is just as important.

While physical safety may be obvious and simpler to address, emotional safety is far more complex and not always easy to recognise or identify.

The same applies to our dogs – they are sentient beings whose behaviour is triggered and driven by emotions.

So many behaviour problems that we see in dogs stem from the brain saying– “this is not safe!”

A dog that lunges and barks or behaves aggressively with another dog or person is probably doing so because they feel unsafe. They are trying to make the scary thing go away.

A dog that is guarding resources is doing so because they are afraid that the resource will be taken away – they don’t feel safe when another animal or person approaches that resource.

A dog that is reacting to fireworks or thunderstorms or other noises is doing so because they don’t feel safe. The same can be said for separation distress – the feelings of panic when left alone – “I am not safe!”.

Some dogs may never get over a specific fear, but doing all we can to help dogs feel safe in our world is one of the most important gifts we can give them.

Our first responsibility should not be about training, obedience or trying to change behaviour, but to focus first and foremost on building trust, self-confidence, resilience, creating a safe and secure base and being the person that our dogs can rely on and trust.

In the words of Dr. Gabor Maté - "Feeling safe is the treatment and creating safety is the work".

In my words (as it pertains to dogs) – It is our responsibility to put in the work to enable our dogs to feel safe and when they feel safe, this will be part of the treatment or the solution to the problem.

22/07/2024

Congratulations Zen and Jo on completing the Advanced Life Skills program. Zen needed some extra help on recall and staying close. He did so well and loves playing the games. Well done Zen.

18/07/2024

A great article. Worth a read. Have a think about what makes your dog happy and make sure you meet their needs.

Instead of asking, “How do I get my dog to obey me?” we should ask, “Is my dog happy?” and “How can I make them happier?”

15/07/2024

Gorgeous little Winnie is doing her Puppy Life Skills program and she starred at going to her bed and staying there (Boundary Games). Winnie is deaf so we are working on lots of visual ways to communicate with her. Her people Brayden and Dayna are doing a great job and she will be helped by her fur family as well. Well done Team Winnie.

09/07/2024

DOG TRAINING HOLIDAY EDIT: Sorry now full. I will start an EOI list for 2025 so contact me if you are interested in the next one. October 18-20 at Best Friend Holiday Retreat in the Tarra Valley (near Yarram). Your dog(s) will love it!

02/07/2024

DOG TRAINING HOLIDAY no 6.
18 -20 October at Best Friend Holiday Retreat in the Tarra Valley (near Yarram). A great opportunity for a "training top up"; a special time with your dog in a safe environment designed for dogs and a chance to address any training struggles. We would love to see you there. Message us or comment below to get more information.

22/06/2024

We at Kaleidoscope K9 Training and Life Skills can help you overcome these barriers to learning and tailor your dog’s training to ensure they have the optimal opportunity to learn. Contact us to discuss your dog’s training needs.

BARRIERS TO LEARNING – WHY SOME DOGS STRUGGLE TO LEARN

“My dog is stubborn, doesn’t listen to me, a slow learner, not the smartest, tries to be in control, will only do it at home, will only behave sometimes, is uncontrollable……” – these are comments that are often heard.

Just like us, dogs need the right kind of conditions to either be able to learn something new or to bring about a change in behaviour.

Dogs are not robots that can be programmed by a set of specific inputs that guarantee consistent results. They are individual, sentient beings that need to be understood.

If we’re feeling stressed, anxious, tired, over excited, too distracted, not feeling well, have no motivation etc. we will find it really difficult, if not impossible to learn something new, change our behaviour or change a habit. The same applies to dogs.

A dog’s emotional state, the surrounding environment, motivation, age (pups, adolescents, seniors) or any health issues all have a significant impact on their ability to learn.

If your dog is having a hard time learning something, look at these factors and see if there is a reason that may be preventing progress.

Maybe your dog is just having an “off” day, just like we do.

Try again tomorrow or next week and set your dog up for success by having realistic expectations.

Learning or changing behaviour takes time, patience, consistency, understanding and the right conditions.

27/05/2024

Lucy and Linda are having a break over June. See you all in July.

25/05/2024

How true this is!!! Take some time to reflect on what your dog rehearses and how you can minimise/eliminate the opportunity to get even better at the behaviours you don’t want.

🐾 Did you know that there’s a magic ingredient that will skyrocket your training and take you and your dog to new levels of success and transformation? ✨🐶

Intrigued? 🤔 It may not be what you think.

One of the very first questions to ask yourself when you’re facing any kind of behaviour struggle with your dog is: what are they practising every day? 📅❓

If they practise barking, they’re probably pretty good at it by now! 🐕🔊 It’s the same with chasing birds, reactivity towards other dogs, counter surfing, or hu***ng your leg when they get over-excited. 🐦🐩🛋️

Any time your dog practises a behaviour, good or bad, they are rehearsing (and perfecting) that behaviour. 🌟

Sometimes rehearsal doesn’t look like the same behaviour, and it can be easy to overlook the fact that your dog is honing that behaviour out of context. For example, barking out of the window may be the problem behaviour—a real pain point for you. 🪟🔊 However, barking at the washing machine in its spin cycle or barking during training—out of frustration or excitement—is still rehearsing the barking behaviour, and it all ties together, making your dog become the ultimate expert of that behaviour. 🔄🧺

Rehearsal is powerful, and dogs get really good at the things they do a lot of. 🏅 In order to shape and reshape your dog’s brain, and see progress in addressing your dog’s struggles, management - that secret ingredient - is absolutely vital alongside your training input. 🧠🔑

It’s hard to make the right choice when the one they’ve practised and perfected is so readily available. By simply removing the ability to practise and rehearse the behaviour, your dog will be able to make better choices. ✅🐾

Set your dog up for success by deploying management strategies that will guide them into the right choices with the utmost clarity. Dogs thrive on clarity. 🌈 When you remove the option to perform the behaviour and then focus on the training that directly communicates what you would prefer your dog to do, you are providing them with a very clear picture of expectations. 🖼️📋

What is your dog rehearsing? 🐕🤔

For more help and support with tackling any training or behaviour struggle, join us in Games Club - the home of fun, rewarding games-based training. 🎮🏡✨

https://absolutedogs.me/gamesclub

23/05/2024

Gorgeous Indi had a play date with Lucy yesterday. Indi is working on reducing her anxiety around dogs and she did a great job in coping with Lucy being close by. By managing slow and careful exposures to other dogs is helping Indi to see that other dogs are “none of her business” and nothing to worry about. Well done Indi and Karen.

21/05/2024

Dusty enjoyed the cardboard chaos game at his first session. He did so well and engaged with all the activities. Good job Dusty, Beck and Tom.

20/05/2024

Lovely Lulu graduated from her Puppy Life Skills Program. She is such a smart girl. Well done Lulu, Naomi and Tom. It was a pleasure to work with you all and see Lulu blossom.

11/05/2024

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY to all the dog mums. Have a great day.

09/05/2024

We worked on calmness and settling on her bed last week. Evie obviously took it all on board and here she is totally calm and settled while her mum Julia works from home. Love it! Well done Team Evie.

08/05/2024

Zen has come back for some top up training and we are working on recall. Good one Zen and Jo.

06/05/2024

Raffa was right at home with new English Springer friends. They all had a great time at the Dog Training Holiday.

04/05/2024

Beautiful Bella had a great time at the Dog Training Holiday and her mum (Julie) and dad (Mike) are doing a great job - well done Team Bella.

02/05/2024

Murphy and Ollie particularly wanted to do some of the scentwork training at the Dog Training Holiday and they really enjoyed it! So glad you could join us - well done Ollie, Murphy and Sue.

30/04/2024

Possum and Gracie were stars when practising being settled on a boundary, and even with lots of other dogs around they did a great job. So pleased you could come to the Dog Training Holiday. Well done Gracie, Possum, Larry and Linda.

29/04/2024

Indy had a great time at the Dog Training Holiday and made a new doggy friend. She loved the challenge of doing fun agility. Well done Indy, Karen and Peter.

25/04/2024

May we honour all those who served and remember also the animals who fought alongside.

24/04/2024

Louis had the best time at the Dog Training Holiday. He was a star at agility and had a go at scentwork too! Well done Louis, Heather and David - it was great to meet you.

23/04/2024

What a great weekend! Gorgeous dogs, fabulous company and sunny weather - lots of training, play, sharing ideas. Thank you to Best Friend Holiday Retreat for hosting our 5th Kaleidoscope Dog Training Holiday. Watch this space for news of the next one later in the year!

15/04/2024

Lulu is not just a pretty face - she is smart too and did so well at her first life skills session. Well done Lulu and Naomi. Anyone like to have a guess at Lulu’s breeds?