Let them sniff! If allowing pulling in some contexts, make those contexts clear. A long line on a back connected harness means finding the end of the lead and some pressure is ok. This is effectively off lead time being managed with a long line because recall isn't reliable yet. If a shorter lead is connected to collar or front clip then it's a 'no pulling' context. Dogs learn what context means what rules. Pulling is within reason, I don't want to be pulled over, but finding the end of the lead and some pressure is ok but this is the dog's time. Only being on short leads and no sniffing and exploring is so frustrating for dogs and will only lead to more frustration related behaviour in other dogs like barking, pulling harder, lead biting, destruction etc.
Looks like I'm no longer needed đ€·ââïž
What's your dog really telling you? And it's not that they won't train for food.
'My dog doesn't like food', 'my dog won't take treats on walks', 'my dog won't come when there's something more fun around'. All dogs like food and will find it reinforcing. What impacts it is external and internal environments and learning history. Kody was way too overwhelmed by smells at a new park and just being somewhere so new and stimulating. I had roast chicken. Same setting, same food, nothing changed other than time to allow satiation of the new environment and her letting me know when she was ready. This was 20 mins between takes. She may have never taken food in here in that session and that's fine, I would let her tell me when and if she could do anything. Our dogs are always telling us, we just need to on listen instead of making assumptions that aren't true and can often lead to making things worse for them and setting them up to fail. It's certainly never a reason to use harm instead of positive training. Every dog has a right to have kind training.
Dog parks. They aren't evil, they have a useful place!
Happy Monday all and tips for safe pram loose lead walking.
Alaskan Klee Klai hearing dog in training. Such a ripper of a dog thatâs smashing training milestones at only 7 months of age. #kleekai #assistancedogintraining
So impressed with this young lad. In just a few mins he went from unsure of the open stairs and rushing up and down, to automatic halting after a few steps. Well on the way to helping his his young 9yo brother to balance on stairs.
Reactive dogs - get the foundations right first. We know that the dogs with more training history have the best outcomes. We canât add triggers if weâve got a dog with zero connection to us.
When you take your bike reactive dog for a walk and bump into the Cadel Evanâs road race. One way to test where youâre at with your training. So proud of my boy, heâs come such a long way.
Optimum arousal levels in training sessions is everything!
âRecalls, bungee, hands and lead associationsâ
A standard thing I do on most walks. Sniff, come backs, follows, hand targets, collar grabs, leash on leash off. So important to charge up that bungee with your dog in different contexts and keep that hand association positive.
Donât you just love it when dogâs seem to intuitively know when to be so gentle? Iâd never tell someone to hand a treat to a dog with their hand this way but Benny navigates getting that crust with such precision to avoid teeth contact on skin.
Yes my kid eats with such great etiquette, not that dissimilar to his mother.
** âImpulse controlâ
Games teaching our dogs how to keep their feet on the ground when exciting and more highly arousing events are happening around them is great training. This game is one that gets called âgo wild and freezeâ which I do a lot with families with kids and therapy dogs in training and many more situations. When kids run around, scream, have long flowy clothes on, are throwing balls etc, dogs naturally want to chase, jump, mouth, all totally normal dog behaviours. Itâs up to us to teach them that itâs more reinforcing to wait until we stop and then sit for a reward. This is so useful with therapy dogs too as often they may be working with kids or adults that display behaviours that could be erratic, loud and very novel or potentially intimidating to our dogs. Teaching them that having a small pat after sitting and while holding the sit will also end in a reward. Perfect for polite greeting behaviour. With Benny Iâm also presenting his ball and if he can stay calm and sit instead of jumping for it then it gets thrown. I always start building up the intensity of my behaviour and the duration of it at a level he can succeed at. Gradually desensitising him to lots of exciting stuff moving around him but also teaching him that those events predict good things and cue to him to offer behaviour I want for rewards he wants. Win, win, win!
Assistance dogs. Please leave them alone! Itâs not just touching them thatâs not ok. Today I heard so many defensive remarks such as âitâs ok because Iâm not touching them, I know the rulesâ. No level of engagement is ok.
A couple of loose lead walking hacks. Poor Benny is always quite pooped here, itâs hot and we had had a walk already. Stay cool and get your walks done early today and get home.
We donât support horse racing personally but Iâm going to declare it happy positive training day instead đ Thanks to all of you that train your dogs kindly!!!
The divine newly adopted Nugget, the goldie x Kelpie. Iâm so in love! Only in his home for 2 weeks, he is doing some jumping up as some security seeking behaviour. Totally understandable, the world is very different to the farm he came from. Responding incredibly to some clicker training we are purely doing some âclick to calmâ or marking and paying anything other than any unwanted behaviours in a new environment. Great for reinforcing behaviours like laying, sitting, focus, watching the world go by without reacting etc. Also creating lots of positive associations with his new big world he lives in. Canât wait to see this guy again, he is sooooo precious đ„°đ„°đ„°
Discussion about therapy dog suitability and assessment in my certification program. Owners may be worried about failing if their dog gets a bit excited at times and may go to want to jump up or may bark a bit if they get super frustrated because youâre busy talking but forgot you left a massive bowl of treats on the table. Thatâs ok (within reason). Thatâs got a potential to happen in real life settings anyway so Iâd rather it happen in training and I can help explain why and how to prevent it rather than it happening later and you not have the tools or understanding. Behaviour is communication, if itâs not a risk to anyone physically or emotionally then itâs information we can use and learn from. If itâs something I feel may have potential to cause any issues then Iâll just check in once youâve started working to see how itâs going with some training in place. No dog will be âperfectâ, neither will any humans. Itâs about understanding, empathy and having a lot of strategies in your arsenal to help and educate back when needed. They will never be a robot.
Especially important for my therapy and assistance dog teams. Can your dog still grasp what you might be asking of them if itâs asked by someone else, or pronounced differently, or yelled, or said softly? Consistency and clarity is important in training but for dogs living in households with kids or dogs that will be therapy or assistance dogs, they may need to problem solve some different ways that behaviours are being asked for.
Muzzle training is for everyone. Itâs not just for âdangerousâ or âaggressiveâ dogs.
