Puppy socialisation! Where do you like to take your puppy for socialisation? For me it’s Bunnings here in Palmerston. Share down below to help other puppy owners out
Retractable/Flexi leads 🧐
Do they have a place in dog training?
Vote below:
👍🏼 = Yes
😡 = No
When I first started my career in dog training, I was 100% against these tools. Believed they were the most dangerous option out there.
I own TWO now 🤗
Just like all tools, they have their place in training.
❌ Not for any dog/owner
❌ The cheap ones from Kmart are asking for issues
❌ Cord/rope style are no good
❌ Not to be used without any form of training
Wanting to use a flexi lead:
✔️ You are actively & continually training your dog
✔️ Your dog has rules when walking
✔️ You are using trustworthy equipment
✔️ There’s a time & place to use them - busy times around the suburbia are not the best time
Here’s when I use the Flexi lead:
• Solo walks off peak times
• When teaching recall
• Bushwalks when it unable to let my dog off lead
• Once rules have been taught on a normal lead. My dog will sit, my dog understands leash pressure, my dog has some kind of recall.
Share your thoughts about Flexi/retractable leads in the comments.
Throwback to when he was the naughtiest puppy on the street 🤦🏻♀️ What’s the most important thing you want (or made sure) to teach your puppy? Let me know in the comments ⬇️
Reinforce the behaviour you want to see from your dog. Like when your dog walks beside you? REINFORCE Like when your dog pulls you to the tree? REINFORCE 😂 Like when your dog comes back to you? REINFORCE Like when your dog runs away from you? REINFORCE 😂 Like when your dog sits in front of you? REINFORCE Like when your dog jumps on you? REINFORCE 😂Am I right? Or am I right 😉? Need help REINFORCING the correct behaviours, DM, and let’s get your training journey started.
PUPPY SCHOOL Did you go to one? What did you learn? Where was it held? Who was the trainer? Most people welcome a new puppy in to their lives with good intentions. Sign up to the local puppy school, usually held at a vet and taken by one of the vet nurses. But that’s all they do. ✅ Training has been done. Tick the box kind of thing. Puppy School can be a great start to training. It’s simply that, a start. Your dog is going to go through numerous developmental stages and keeping up with training to help them through is required. Stop thinking puppy school is all that’s needed….❓Do your kids only attend ELC/Kinder/Preschool and know everything? No, they don’t. Stop thinking it’s enough for your dog and continue guiding your dog through life…. Just like you do with the furless 2 legged varieties 😜 ➡️ Want to do better for your puppy? Comment PUPPY below and I’ll send you a link to our online puppy program.💵 Same cost as a puppy school, but I’m sure you’ll learn more and end up with a more confident puppy at the end.
BOUNDARIES Such a useful skill to teach your dog, and perhaps one of the most beneficial skills to keep your dog safe. Front gate? Kitchen? Front door? Side gate? Garage door? Car? ➡️ Where else have you taught your dog a boundary?Every new dog that comes in to my house (mine or foster dogs) quickly learns about the back door boundary. There’s no rushing inside, they wait until they are invited in either as a group or individually. I was asked to go over Cheetos front gate boundary today. He’s sneaking out whilst the car is moving and running around behind the car. A big safety concern for Cheetos Mum. Need help teaching your dog a boundary threshold… DM to see how I can help.
Chip: I got you 😉 Who else has a ‘Chip’ in their life?
Introducing something new to your dog? Your dog is scared/unsure?Break it down so your dog understands what’s required. Make it fun and reinforce your dog for giving it a go. It’s all about building confidence in your dog to try things. If you’ve been following Cheetos 🧡 journey over the last 12 months you would know he’s a scaredy cat, he use to run away from me and trying new things just wasn’t something he’d consider. I’ve helped him build his confidence through fun and guiding him a long the way. By the end of today’s session he was convinced he could get reinforcement by opting to go through the tunnel when he wanted to. In his mind, he was controlling me. When I go through this, she throws food on the ground.Win Win for both of us. 👉🏼 Need help training your dog, DM me, and let’s get the journey started. #darwindogtraining #dogtrainingdarwin #darwin #trainyourdog #mindyourpaws #intraining
PUPPY SOCIALISATION (sound on). Recently got a puppy and looking for novel places to socialise your puppy to the world, in particular sounds? Back of Darwin Airport. Across the bushes in Marrara is home to a rifle range. Great distance away to introduce your puppy to the sound. As your pup gets more comfortable with the sound head around closer to the range. Oh and don’t forget there’s potential for more sounds around the area too. Tonight there was a helicopter and dogs barking at the kennel near by. Not in Darwin…. Check out your local community and see what’s happening around the places. Puppy socialisation isn’t about playing with other pups/dogs, it’s all about creating opportunities for your puppy to experience the world and build their confidence up.🔊 Can you hear Chips whimpers? The gun shots aren’t causing that, he wants to keep searching for people deliberately getting lost at our practise mantrailing session. He just loves the sport. ❓Where are some other cool spots for puppy socialisation?
Aghhhh ‘furbaby’. That word grinds my gears and has the same feeling as someone dragging their nails down a blackboard 💅WHY? To me ‘furbaby’ means the dog is being treated like a human, spoken to in baby voices all the time, allowed to do whatever it wants and the ‘I’ll do anything for my furbaby’ mentality. If that’s the case…. Why is your dog growling at you when you try to get them off the couch? Why can’t your dog be left outside by itself? Why is your dog baring its teeth whilst someone comes over to you? The next time you tell me your dog is your ‘furbaby’ and I roll my eyes at you, this is why 🙄If you’ll do anything for them, you won’t allow these behaviours, seeking help from a trainer and treating your dog like a dog.👇🏼 Do you have a furbaby, or do you have a dog? Let me know in the comments.Me…. I have 3 dogs whom I adore and will do anything for. They have rules to follow, they need to listen, and they live an amazing life.
THERAPY DOG CERTIFICATION
I’ve been a certified therapy dog handler for about 15 years and working full time as one for 6 years and in that time have certified 5 dogs, all very different personalities.
Let me tell you, it’s not all sunshine ☀️ and rainbows 🌈 doing this work. It’s a lot, it takes a lot out of you and……
It’s a huge ask for your dog!!!
You’ve decided it’s something you want to pursue….. FANTASTIC!!!
But what course should you do? There’s plenty out there to choose from but here’s the problem I have with most of them.
Most of the courses are 4 days, some 5 days long. It’s impossible to teach a general pet owner how to train a dog effectively in this time, let alone train the dog to do the required skills and also undo the negative behaviours you don’t want. Oh and deal with potentially some new behaviours that will come up, because, well, dogs.
If this is something you honestly want to do with your dog, GREAT!!! But get started tonight with training your dog. Contact a local trainer or someone online to get the ball 🎾 rolling.
𝘾𝙊𝙈𝙈𝙄𝙏 𝙏𝙊 𝙏𝙍𝘼𝙄𝙉𝙄𝙉𝙂 𝙔𝙊𝙐𝙍 𝘿𝙊𝙂 𝙁𝙊𝙍 𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝙍𝙀𝙎𝙏 𝙊𝙁 𝙏𝙃𝙀𝙄𝙍 𝙇𝙄𝙁𝙀
BECAUSE THEY NEED YOU MORE THAN EVER WHEN THEY ARE WORKING!!!
If this is what you want to do!
There’s so much more to say on this topic, but this is a start.
Let me know your thoughts below 👇🏼
Have an open conversation 👇🏼
Is 4/5 days long enough for a TD course? 👇🏼
And with that, the 2️⃣0️⃣2️⃣4️⃣ season comes to an end! Thank you to everyone who has supported Mind Your Paws this year and allowed us to create a safe space filled with happiness, love, learning and plenty of smiles.
