Snooter Brown - Greyhound Behaviour Re-Training

08/06/2024

This is a fantastic demonstration of digging a bit further to understand your dog's behaviour.

Bringing a new baby home is hugely emotional for many reasons and our dogs absolutely will have reactions to these changes. Sometimes we are quick to apply a 'human' reaction, such a jealousy to seemingly new behaviours, rather than sit with the context for a moment and think about the dogs perspective. Is it really the dog's behaviour that is new? Or yours? How often do you sit on the floor pre baby, unless you were interacting with them? So is it fair for the dog to assume that it's an invitation to play?

Preparing before baby's arrival will help your dog adjust and take some of the stress off you in those few weeks of bringing a newborn home.

Oh my this is SO important. We are lucky to know ahead of time what to expect with our baby’s new milestones and development, or at least have the resources to research and learn more. Our dogs, however do not have a book or app to guide them as our baby grows.

They count on US! Knowing what changes are ahead can help you prepare WITH your dog. Changes in management, parent-guided activities, and enrichment.

Great example: Sitting up on the floor is an exciting milestone but might be confusing or conflicting for your family dog! Prepare and practice with your dog ahead of this new stage. Here are a several of things to think about when approaching this milestone.

❓Does sitting on your floor = excitement or playfulness from your dog?
❓Do you currently play with your dog by getting on the floor?
❓Will your dog respond to your cues while you are sitting on the floor?
❓What would you like your dog to do while you engage with your baby on the floor?

Parents often complain that their dog is “jealous” and tries to “get in between” when they try to engage with their baby on the floor. This leads to frustration and concern by parents and confusion for your family dog. If you used to play on the floor with your dog, this may be very confusing for them as to why you don’t want to play with them now. If playtime with your dog, before the baby, involved sitting on the floor then you can help your dog by teaching them the new rules. Prepare and practice ahead of time where you want your dog to be when you engage with your baby on the floor. Set up a gate or play yard as a boundary.

07/06/2024

Rise and shine my houndie friends ☀️☀️

The sun is shining, the rain has stopped and school is IN!

Might be a good idea to wear gumboots or old shoes and pop a couple of old towels in!

See you soon! We are learning life skills today!

07/06/2024

Well it's a bit damp out there! Hopefully classes will be on in the morning, we will let you know around 9am if we are going ahead or not.

23/05/2024

We have one spot left in each How To Dog class!

This is a foundational obedience course specifically made for greyhounds. Classes kick off 1st of June and run for 6 weeks. They are held at the Diversity Hub in Kambah and there is a spot available in both classes, 10.30am and 11.30am.

To register visit:

www.snooterbrown.com/how-to-dog

22/05/2024

This came up in my memories on my personal Facebook, from 3 years ago. Julie Nainsmith coming in with the hard truths!

I shared this after 8 months of never leaving Charlee alone and we were starting to test how she would go on her own for, short (minute!) periods.

3 years on I wouldn't ever claim that she's 'cured'. She would still far prefer us around than not and sadly she's not a greyhound that is comforted by the presence of another grey. She is however much more comfortable with us leaving and we can come and go multiple times a day without it having an extreme adverse outcome for her emotional well being.

Separation anxiety is by far the toughest behavioural condition that I have ever worked with (give me a good ol' reactivity case any day!!). It's exhausting for everyone, humans, dogs, everyone.

If you're going through it with your greyhound, get a good vet behaviourist on board they will make all the difference! A quick note of appreciation for Dr Isabelle Resch from Canberra Animal Behaviour Solutions. Dr Is has been incredible to work with over the years and has been wonderful with the twists and turns of Charlee. Don't be afraid to work with various experts. Just like a GP will send you to specialists vets are just the same. Charlee has a wellness team who work collaboratively with their own specialist lenses to make sure she's getting the best care.

Working with any kind of behaviour is best as a team sport. Hang in there and get help ❤️

16/05/2024

On Wednesday Snooter Brown turned 1!! 🎉❤️☝️

It's been a massive massive massive year and thank you to each and everyone of you for your time and support!!

To celebrate I am giving away one place to each of the up coming How To Dog classes! To enter, simply comment on either the Facebook or Instagram post (or both!) winners will be drawn 7.30pm Wednesday 22nd May!

NB: if you have already enrolled for this H2D and paid but still want to join in the fun, please do! (Who doesn't love winning things?!) If you are the lucky person I will arrange store credit or similar :)

11/05/2024

Does your greyhound NEED to run? Join us on 18 May 24 as we unpack this question and others!

Link in bio

05/05/2024

Are you missing out on a full night's sleep? Sometimes revisiting the basics can help a BUNCH!

29/04/2024

Biological fulfillment is a fascinating subject!!! There is so much cool stuff we can do that doesn't take much effort on our behalf but makes a huge difference to your dog's life!

Join Jess from and me on Saturday 18 May as we explore how we can help greyhounds live their very best pet lives.

www.snooterbrown.com/give-more-to-your-grey

27/04/2024

Have you registered for the Give More to Your Grey workshop? Keep an eye out for a confirmation and invoice in your email! If you haven't received it by Monday, please drop me a line!

Interested? There are still human spots! Check out:

www.snooterbrown.com/give-more-to-your-grey

20/04/2024

You snooze you lose! All of the working spots for Give More to Your Grey have been snaffled up by some excellent keen beans! There are still lots of human spots available though and all of the skills you learn you can take back with you to your greyhound

18/04/2024

This one has been in the works for a while and I am really excited about it!! Jess from The Zen Den Dog Training and I have been developed a workshop to help greyhound parents figure out how to Give More to Their Grey.

This workshop is all about helping your dog live their very best pet life by understanding more about greyhounds, their genetics, their biological needs and how we can meet those needs in today's society.

Working spots are available but are strictly limited. To register please visit the website, link in bio.

30/03/2024

Happy Easter y'all (or non denominational chocolate and bread day, whichever you opt to celebrate)! Photo shamelessly stolen from one of the AGSN's fabulous foster carers, Lilly Cantle with her gorgeous (and gentle) Basil! I probably wouldn't try this one at home!

24/03/2024

I am sometimes asked, do you just see greyhounds? To which I respond yes*.

The * it turns out, is this guy. Because look at that good boy's face? I couldn't say no to that guy!

Jax has recently been rescued from the Canberra pound and is settling in like an absolute gem. His family want to help him to live the very best life and looking at him, I know he has got this in the bag. The family is going to focus on helping him settle, building his confidence and helping him become reliable with his engagement while he's out and about.

Good boy Jax! I can't wait to see what you get up to in a few months!

23/03/2024

Greyhounds never fail to make me laugh with their forlorn faces when they want something but can't figure out how to get it 🥹🥲

They're known for their goofiness but there is actually some reasoning behind why they are like this. If a greyhound was born today to a quality dog breeder that breeder would focus on preparing that dog for pet life. This would include LOTS of high quality socialisation where the puppy would be introduced to all manner of new things in safe and controlled environments always ensuring that experiences were predominantly positive and never pushing the puppies past the point of comfort. This provides a really great foundation for problem solving both as puppies but also later on down the track.

Sadly for our greyhounds, this is not the case when they're bred for racing. The racing governing bodies' best breeding standards do not detail quality socialisation activities (noting in fairness, that GWIC does recommend this however the industry fedback at a NSW Senate inquiry that this was an untenable requirement for a breeder). This means that when we first start working with our greyhounds we need to start building their confidence and problem solving abilities as it's unlikely that they have had much opportunity to do this before.

Are you interested in learning more about why our hounds are the way they are? Snooter Brown's Model Hounds is coming soon to answer just that question. This is a fully online self paced course to help answer the big questions you may have about your greyhound and help us humans to understand and manage our greyt expectations.

22/03/2024

The power of a good sniffing!!

It’s Review Time! Why take your dog on a Sniffari?

Sniffing is a dog’s primary means of collecting information about the world around them. Detecting and processing smells is enriching and energy-intensive. The ability to sniff freely and investigate the environment has been correlated with increased optimism and lowered pulse rates. We have discovered that dogs’ nostrils can wiggle independently, and that specific nostrils are used to investigate specific smells. Dogs have retained the ability to identify the scents of large predators even when they never have contact with those predators.

We have used sniff-related research to determine that dogs can identify the scent of a familiar person in their absence, and that the dog-human bond is strongly reinforced in dogs’ brains. Dogs can detect drugs, explosives, changes in emotions, and changes in human cell metabolism during illness like cancer and diabetes, and are currently being trained to see if they can identify Covid-19.

Rather than marching your dog along at a brisk pace on every walk, try some walks (or portions of walks) where you let your dog sniff freely. It can be enriching not only to them, but to you as well. Watch how your dog catches a scent in the air or on the ground, and the zany path they take following the scent. Watch to see what catches your dog’s attention enough to sniff deeply and intensely. See if you can notice your dog switching nostrils to sniff a specific smell, and if you can see their nostrils wiggle. Take a moment to ponder and appreciate the similarities and differences between the way we vision-focused humans perceive our world and the way smell-focused dogs do. At the end of the day, for both man and man’s best friend, a big breath in and a big exhale makes us all feel better.

22/03/2024

Haaaaaaave you met Bella? Perhaps you should! 🤔

Lady Bella is living it up in the penthouse suite at the RSPCA at the moment but she's very much ready for her forever home. The fab RSPCA ACT staff have been working with her on how to live her best pet life and she's doing spectacularly well!

I had the very good fortune to meet this little lady today and she is so much fun. She's bright, confident and shows a lot of promise if you wanted to do some fun training or activities with her. She's predominantly lived as an outside dog which makes it tricky for shelter staff to definitively say how she would go house training but she vacated as soon as she left her kennel and like all greys transitioning from kennels to pet life if you expect an accident you'll either be prepared or pleasantly surprised.

Bella is quite dog social and has been graciously offering her services as a tester dog while she hangs at the shelter. She also will quickly tell her handlers how she feels about the dogs she meets (a play bow for "yes", a walk away for "I'd prefer not"). To begin she will likely need humans who are around a fair bit so they can settle her into their home. Perhaps another (Bella approved) dog and because she can be a bit boisterous, a dog closer to her size is recommended. She also has never had to share toys before so if you have another dog it is recommended to keep toys separate from the dogs, especially as they get used to one another. Coming from kennels she hasn't had much exposure to children (if any) and she can be a little standoffish to new humans, she soon figured out I had treats though and she was extremely gentle taking treats from me. If you have older, dog savvy kids, it is definitely worth a conversation with the shelter if you think she's otherwise a fit. She definitely enjoys having a spin around the yards so having a bit of a backyard is a definite plus.

If you think the Bella sounds like your new family member, contact the Shelter, they're open tomorrow morning.

10/03/2024

For my fellow Canberrans (and Melbournites!) it's a public holiday! Usually, I tell people to go do something fun with their dog. But today, I'm going to remind you all to do something your dog loves.

For Charlee, it's when I sit down with my laptop to do some work. She knows I'm unlikely to move anywhere soon, and generally, it's a work day or I do it during nap time so she also knows the toddler isn't going to come an bother us. Which means for her, it's uninterrupted sleep time.

Bliss.

Total bliss.

What's your dog's favourite activity?

09/03/2024

The title of this video (which to be fair doesn't have much to do with the content of the video for my title readers 😂) makes a really great point - i.e. when my dog "makes a mistake" think instead "I made a mistake".

Now that language is steeped in a little too much negativity for my liking, but i think the take away is important. I often see on greyhound rehoming group pages and training pages about people "being at their wits end" with their dog and my immediate thought is, well imagine how your dog feels!

This flip is important, because there is no point getting frustrated about what your dog is or isn't doing. To change their behaviour you have to think about what is in your sphere of control. At the very best, you can influence your dog's behaviour, you can reinforce what you want to see, you can set up their environment to manage their behaviour but you cannot take control of their behaviour and this is true of everyone. And if you live with a significant other, you will know how true it is. You can ask, you can set the environment up for success but you cannot motivate them to take their tissues out of their pockets before putting the clothes in the basket (or whatever the flavour of domestic bliss you're dealing with right now 😂 - sorry Brendon)

So the next time your dog does something that you would prefer they didn't do, stop and think, what can you do to minimise the likelihood of the dog being able to do that again.

08/03/2024

I had the very good fortune to meet this gorgeous girl, Beverley this week! Her new mum wanted to make sure they were doing all the right things to settle Bev into pet life. The new family are doing very well and I can't wait to hear about their exciting adventures ❤️

17/02/2024

I am super excited to share that I have completed my Cert IV in Animal Behaviour and Training with the . It was really important to me to get a relevant qualification because dog training is an unregulated industry and qualifications are a great way to ensure your trainer has covered basic knowledge, not just the fun stuff.

So does this mean I am done with learning?! Of course not! We as a society are learning more and more about our awesome canine companions and I often attend conferences and training opportunities to hone my skills. It is likely to be my last formal qualification for a while though, as I have just racked up almost 11 years of study post high school, I think it's time for a gap year 🤓😂

For now, I am going to go do something excellent with my dog 💞

11/02/2024

✨ NEW COURSE COMING SOON ✨

Have you ever felt this way with your greyhound? I definitely have!

I am very excited to share that I am in the final stage of developing some new course content which will be launched very soon!!

04/02/2024

SEEKING!! WILLING GREYHOUND MODELS!!

🌟 Does your greyhound have star quality?
📱Do you have the ability to take good quality videos? (Smart phone videos are totally fine but I do need relatively good quality videos so you will need a second person to record, a tripod or an ability to prop your camera up)
🔝 Do you know the difference between landscape and portrait? (Or be willing to learn)

Then we want you! 🫵

I am creating new course content and need videos of different greyhounds trying different activities. No experience or training needed, in fact if your dog is new to pet life even better! Participants don't need to be in Canberra to participate.

All participants who complete the videos (in usable format) will get a $50 voucher to use for Snooter Brown classes or consults or at the Shop for hounds.

Videos won't be hard to achieve and you don't need any special gear for them. It shouldn't take longer than an hour in total. The videos will be quite simple, think engaging with enrichment and capturing the body language from the dog on how they engage with the challenge. All instructions and guidelines will be provided to the participants.

Are you keen? Get in touch! Flick me a message, drop me a comment below or email [email protected]

28/01/2024

Apparently everyone is "helping" mum with work today! Watch this space! New course content coming soon 👀

28/01/2024

Finishing the last of the snuffle mats to go to with my trusty "helper". Honestly though, given her penchant for laying on my felt whilst I am cutting it up I far prefer this help! 😂

Did you know foraging can be a hugely enriching activity for your dog? Snuffle mats are an inexpensive way to help your dog fulfil their natural tendency to forage. These will be for sale down at the Companion Dog Club in Symonston.

03/01/2024

Warning, this article goes DEEP but I really like it.

"...behaviour is communicating emotional need rather than something in itself to be changed".

We often think about the what and not the why. My dog jumps on people, that's the what, but the more pertinent question is why are they jumping? Are they worried about new people and it's a space making behaviour or are they over aroused and excited? We can teach an incompatible behaviour, such as lay on the mat when the door bell rings but are we helping the dog sort through their emotional state? And there is nothing to say both activities can't be undertaken in parallel.

Emotions will find a way out. We need to understand why they're doing the behaviour rather than focusing on labelling the behaviour as good or bad and applying consequences based solely on this.

Beware the quick fix trainers. As anyone who's ever set out to change a habit should know, these things take time.

As a species, humans tend to be judgemental of behaviour, often labelling behaviour on a continuum of good to bad. We have notions of right ...

30/12/2023

Tomorrow is NYE! Do you have a fireworks plan? Many greyhounds realllllly don't like them so make sure you have a plan in place!

The good news is there is still time!! Tomorrow:

🪪 Get an ID tag! Grab a keytag thing, the plastic key tags that you can lift the flap and put your number on it, so if your dog panic and runs they can make their way back to you asap.

🧥 Get a compression jacket, most of the major pet stores will stock a thunder jacket but also check with your local buy nothing group, you never know what you might find!

🛌 Create a safe space, ideally where the noise can be muffled. Some dogs love crates (leave the door open) but creating a little hidey hole can work too (Charlee's long suffering hoodad hasn't been able to put shoes in his cupboard for three years...)

🍦 Get your licki mats etc ready (I have a bunch for sale but it will need to be pick up from Q Breezy), the simpler the better, if your dog is really stressed they may not engage with it but have it available when they start to calm down as it can help bring down the stress levels.

🎼 Have some soothing, tunes at the ready, classical music is definitely a good option and there are a HEAP on YouTube.

If you have any questions flick them on thru! Some photos of my little stressy princess (and a cameo with our first foster, Billy and our first make shift crate).

28/12/2023

The exciting part of working right up until the last weekend before Christmas means that the graduation celebration just keeps on going!

Big congratulations to our 10am How to Dog graduates! You have all made such spectacular leaps forward in confidence and communication with your humans! I can't wait to see what you all get up to next! 🎓🎉

28/12/2023

The exciting part of working right up until the last weekend before Christmas means that the graduation celebration just keeps on going!

Big congratulations to our 9am How to Dog graduates! You have all made such spectacular leaps forward in confidence and communication with your humans! I can't wait to see what you all get up to next! 🎓🎉

24/12/2023

We made it y'all! We'll see you back after we have slept enough to be pretty again 💅

Happy holidays! I hope it's safe and restful and you get good treats 💖😊