See Spot Sit

12/11/2024

12/11/2024

The power of anticipation!

Equipped with a rodent version of a Cybertruck, these driving rats reveal that positive experiences may sculpt the brain just as powerfully as stressful ones

06/11/2024

Please sign and share…

Allow Dog Training Professionals to use Community Space for Community Education!

30/10/2024

Puppy Class commencing Wednesday 6th November @ 7pm for four weeks.
email: [email protected] or text 0402 063 664 for more information or to enrol.

24/10/2024

🆘🔔🆘🔔MISSING ELDERLY DOG ALERT ~ BOWRAL (NSW). Have you seen Abbie? Abbie escaped from her home on Centennial Rd, Bowral on 20/10/2024. Abbie was last seen by a witness and on CCTV on 21/10 on St Clair St, Bowral.☎️0406 834 001 with any information or potential sightings. If you have seen/do see a dog like Abbie, please report the sighting and the location as soon as you can. If you have found Abbie, please either contact us ASAP or take her to any vet in NSW. Abbie is microchipped, desexed, and was wearing a collar with her owners details and an AirTag that is not working unfortunately. Please note that Abbie is VERY friendly, elderly and deaf and she is NOT threat to you, your livestock or pets. Please share to help precious Abbie make it home safely 🙏

22/10/2024

17/10/2024

Dogs Disclosed offering excellent guidance for reactive dogs.

DISTANCE ASSISTANCE
It’s not easy having a reactive dog. As much as we may feel frustrated, restricted, angry or even ashamed or embarrassed, our reactive dogs are also experiencing a range of negative emotions when they react to something that triggers them.

This reaction is usually caused by anxiety, fear, feeling threatened, frustrated or related to pain.

These emotions cause high levels of stress and stress prevents both us and our dogs from being able to process information, think clearly or learn a different, more acceptable way of reacting to whatever triggers us.

This is why creating enough distance is so important. I’m really scared of snakes and even struggle to look at them. The only thing I want to do is run away and create as much distance as possible.

If someone was restraining me, forcing me to sit down and look at the snake while trying to feed me my favourite chocolate, telling me there was nothing to worry about or trying to educate me about the specific species, it would do nothing to alleviate my fear and would only increase my stress levels.

Doing this at a sufficient distance, where I felt safe would be far more effective and my stress levels would be much lower. In time, with patience and practice, I may even be able to get much closer to the snake without having a negative reaction.

The same principle applies to reactive dogs. Creating sufficient distance where they can see the trigger but still feel safe and don’t react is the best way of helping them to cope with their feelings.

Some dogs (and people) may never be able to decrease that distance and that’s also okay.

Accept your dog for the unique individual they are, keep working on the things you can change and accept the things you can’t.

09/10/2024

https://www.facebook.com/share/ThjNsAfHKYx3om4C/?mibextid=WC7FNe

08/10/2024

Puppy Class Commencing Wednesday 6th November 2024

Classes are held at Hazelbrook and run for four weeks from 7-8pm. Cost is $190 per puppy.

All training is based on Positive Reinforcement.

Contact me now at [email protected]
or text 0402 063 664

01/10/2024

This!

DON’T FORCE ME TO BE SOCIAL!
It may be really disappointing and frustrating when our dogs are not the social beings we expected them to be.

Many believe dogs should just naturally get along with other dogs, after all they’re the same species.

Some believe the “unsociable” dog has a behaviour problem that needs to be “fixed”.

Early, appropriately timed and correct socialisation is vitally important, but sometimes despite all of this, some dogs are just not that sociable.

Sometimes this can be improved, especially if the cause is from a negative experience, but genetics, breed tendencies, individual personalities, health and age all contribute to tolerance and sociability, which also change throughout life.

If we, as a human species, don’t get along with everyone we meet, how can we expect our dogs to?

Do we label every person that has an argument, doesn’t make friends with everyone they meet, doesn’t like every other person, prefers not to socialise - as having a problem that needs to be fixed?

Why is it so easy to accept that every individual person is different than to accept that every individual dog is different?

When we have done what we can to improve our dogs’ social skills, we need to accept and acknowledge our dogs for the individuals they are, allow and respect their choice of whether to be sociable or not and never force interactions that a dog is not comfortable with.

28/09/2024

Take the opportunity to be present when you are walking your dog. Bring your attention to the moment. Build your connection with your dog through this as well, they can tell as well as we can when your thoughts are elsewhere.

DISTRACTED DOG WALKERS

The distracted dog walker is commonly seen chatting on their cell phone, wearing headphones or socializing with other people while oblivious to what their dog is doing, how their dog is feeling or what is going on in the environment.

This may not sound like a problem to some, but it is something that many people have a problem with, even more so if you have a reactive dog.

I compare walking a dog to driving a car. It’s not so much about our driving skills, but having to constantly be aware of the driving skills of others – trying to predict what they will do, which rules of the road they will ignore and how distracted they are. This is especially true in the country I live in, where driving can be a stressful experience.

I understand that we often need to multi task – there simply doesn’t seem to be enough time in our day to accomplish everything we need to, but walking our dogs should not be one of these times.

Some people might say – “but my dog is really friendly, well socialized, gets on well with everyone, is well trained, knows this environment well etc. and I hear that.

But another dog might not be – maybe they need space, are reactive, are not sociable, are recovering from an illness, might be terrified of another dog racing straight towards them chasing a ball thrown from a ball launcher etc.

If distracted dog walkers have no regard for other dogs or other people, they should at least have regard for their own dogs. Walking your dog should be a time of bonding, of relationship, of seeing the environment through the eyes of your dog, of reinforcing and teaching wanted behaviours, of keeping them safe and protected from the unknown.

Our dogs need us to be focused, to pay attention, to be aware and attentive.

Our dogs depend on us to advocate for them.

21/09/2024

He has, unfortunately, been very influential. What is it about machismo that draws us in, convinces us?

BEYOND CESAR MILLAN

20 YEARS LATER.....The following review was submitted to National Geographic by Dr. Andrew Luescher, DVM, Ph.D, DACVB (board-certified veterinary behaviorist).

Dr. Luescher, former director of the Purdue University Veterinary Behavior Clinic was asked to provide feedback on "Dog Whisperer" tapes prior to the show's airing.

In this letter to National Geographic (date unknown), Dr. Luescher writes,

"I think this series, if aired, would be a major embarrassment for National Geographic. It is not stimulating or thought-provoking, since none of the presented techniques are new. They are outdated and have long been abandoned by most responsible trainers, let alone behaviorists, as inappropriate and cruel. I very much hope National Geographic will pull the plug on this program."

Please read the entire letter (It's not long.) and share: http://beyondcesarmillan.weebly.com/andrew-luescher.html

This program and trainers who have mimicked the behavior seen in this program have done so much damage to the dog training industry, dogs, and the human-animal bond.

I have met and spoken to Dr. Luescher personally, and I share his sentiments, as do all other trainers in the evidence-based, best practice camp. Meanwhile, much of the unsuspecting public still looks to National Geographic as an authority and has no idea it has thrown science to the wind, at least in terms of dog behavior and training.

Cindy Ludwig, MA, BS, RN, KPA-CTP, CPDT-KA
Canine Connection LLC
Willard, MO

Image copyright Valder Beebe Show, CC BY 3.0 , via Wikimedia Commons https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/06/Cesar_Millan_Mar_2018.png

11/09/2024

THE INVOLUNTARY MOHAWK

Technically called Piloerection – when the fur on a dog’s back area stands on end.

Piloerection in dogs is an involuntary response – not within conscious control. It’s usually linked to feeling a strong emotion and could be compared to a person getting goosebumps.

It’s far easier to see in short haired dogs than those with a longer coat.

A breed like the Rhodesian Ridgeback has a clear distinctive ridge of fur on their back. This is formed by a selected gene mutation which causes that particular fur to grow in the opposite direction from the rest. This ridge is standard for this breed and is not related to an emotional state.

Piloerection is commonly thought only to be seen in reactive or aggressive dogs, but that’s not always the case.

Dogs that are feeling aroused, excited, fearful, startled, stimulated, conflicted or insecure in some way, also exhibit this.

As with all behaviour, it’s important to look at the context, in conjunction with other body language, the environment and specific situation in order to establish the cause and decide on the best way to intervene if necessary.

Dr Karen London - an ethologist and highly qualified behaviourist, trained in observing animals and behaviour, has made some very interesting observations about different patterns of raised fur being linked to different emotional states.

In Dr London’s professional opinion -
A thin patch of fur all along the back to the base of the tail is associated with a high level of confidence. These dogs are more likely to be on the offensive and react more aggressively.

A thick patch across shoulders to around ¼ way down the back is associated with a low level of confidence and is seen in dogs that are more fearful.

A patch of fur raised at the shoulders and another patch at the base of the tail – the fur in between is not raised, is associated with dogs that are conflicted and unsure of how to react. These dogs may be unpredictable and more likely to be reactive.

Dr London states that there are many exceptions, but in general, this applies to the majority of dogs that she observes.

30/08/2024

You cannot make fear stronger by offering comfort.

FACING THE FEAR
There is a common disbelief that comforting a dog that is feeling scared, anxious or stressed will only reinforce, encourage the feeling and make it worse.

This belief is incorrect. Fear is an emotional response and one that a dog does not choose or decides to feel.

An emotion is an involuntary, uncontrolled response that cannot be reinforced.

Punishing fear-based behaviour is even worse than not providing comfort as it creates even more negative associations with whatever the “scary thing" is.

Behaviour and emotions are intrinsically linked in important ways, but they are still not the same thing and require different approaches when they become a problem.

Imagine an intruder broke into your home, tied you up and took off with your belongings. After being freed and getting help, a friend arrives to see how you are.

Your friend tells you that she can see that you’re really anxious and scared but she’s just going to completely ignore you, is not going to attempt to comfort you, sit with you or support you because by doing so she will make you even more afraid and upset. Does that reaction make any sense?

Why should it be any different for dogs that also experience a range of emotions? Why then is it still believed that we should ignore our dogs?

Probably because there is confusion and misunderstanding about the difference between an emotional response - which is an involuntary response and a learned response - which has varying degrees of conscious control.

If we acknowledge that providing comfort and support to a dog that is experiencing these emotions will not reinforce them, do we know if providing comfort will reduce these emotions?

Research on this subject is showing evidence that providing comfort and support in stressful situations decreases a dog’s heart rate, salivary cortisol levels, reduces stress responses and increases calm behaviour.

Ignoring a dog’s emotions because of misinformed advice in the belief that this will change the behaviour is more damaging than helpful.

We need to accept and acknowledge that our dogs are having an emotional response and not a behavioural problem.

We need to show compassion, understanding, be a secure base, a safe haven and provide the appropriate comfort when our dogs need it.