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Training based on the science of how dogs learn, grounded in life's ups and downs and seasoned with
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22/11/2023

☺️

Be careful out there people

21/05/2023

We LOVE our dogs. Humans and dogs have a long shared history and are uniquely adapted to live together, but the latest craze for all things cute, the Aww factor as Eileen puts it, is endangering our dogs and us.

Please take the time to read this excellent and thoughtful article.

Humans love hugs, and we get particularly excited when it looks like dogs are hugging. But how often are dogs really expressing affection that way?

30/04/2023

YES! ❤️❤️❤️❤️

Why a ban on shock collars is good for dogs’ welfare.

22/11/2022

Free summit for all those interested in your dog’s health and wellbeing

19/11/2022

Watching the world on a rainy morning, dear Bonnie 🥰

02/11/2022

For lovers of Border Collies

Border Collies and Working Sheepdogs are now a permanent fixture of family life. While they’re among the most popular breeds, they often struggle to integrate into modern lifestyles..

On one hand, they represent the ideal dog-human bond – faithful, helpful, wise; on the other they are often described in owners’ guides as demanding and even manipulative. Who IS the real Border Collie? And how can we bring out the best for ourselves and them so that our partnership with them may flourish?

This Live Presentation and 7-day discussion will (re-)introduce you to the Border Collie, address some myths about the type, and offer some practical suggestions for more harmonious living.

https://www.learningaboutdogs.com/product/meet-the-real-border-collie/

29/10/2022

The word “microbiome” is all the rage among dog researchers and dog folks these days. In most instances when you hear this term, it refers to a dog’s gut microbiome. However, anot…

20/09/2022

Introducing ...
FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE DOG Courses
Centred around the dog and their natural enthusiasm and great skills for learning

The benefits are in:
~~ the CHOICE of what we ask them to learn
~~ the WAY that learning is engineered.
The purpose of learning is to gain more and better rewards and with our guidance what they learn will be filled with confidence, competence and understanding.

A movement that the dog will perform thousands of times in their lives can benefit from a development of our skills to appreciate good form and observe the nuances that can have a significant and lifelong difference in their fitness and mobility.

The courses suit all ages of dogs and anyone interested in learning the key skills that can benefit all that we ask them to learn. You can apply these skills across all their learning and develop a repertoire of cues and signals that can be practised with real enthusiasm.

A journey that will benefit your relationship as you explore the learning side by side, where you learn with the dog and both find deep satisfaction in the experience.

https://www.learningaboutdogs.com/learning/
All courses are £44, with a 20% discount for Setter Members.

09/09/2022

YES!

"Training is no longer something we do to animals but something we do with animals. It is a conversation. We want participation rather than compliance." - Chirag Patel

08/09/2022

PLAY 🐶❤️

Be goofy, engaged and touch your dog, and you'll have as much fun as your dog does :-)

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While Horowitz and Hecht observed that the dogs' response to the playtime was "overwhelmingly positive," they found that the dog owners' emotional reactions depended on how they played with their dogs.

"I was surprised to see that different types of play (and different levels of activity and contact between person and dog) were correlated with different emotional experience for the persons," Horowitz told CBS News in an email. "They had very positive affect in games like tug or wrestling play; much more neutral affect in fetch."

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/dog-playtime-study_n_57084b6fe4b0142232491acf?fbclid=IwAR2595qvapQQSUHdatmrdEBJWo1wHsn8b05xoOKmcQK7HJ3NrfqooizPaeI

Scientists watched 187 videos of humans playing with canines. Here's what they found.

03/08/2022

❤️

31/07/2022

🤣😊🥰

Dogs. ❤😍❤

01/07/2022

DO DOGS COMFORT EACH OTHER?

An Applied Veterinary Behaviourist told me that dogs don’t comfort each other, we’ll I beg to differ!

Time and time again I’ve seen Bonnie seek to soothe Merlin.

I’ve been reducing Merlin’s Fluoxetine and there have been some adjustments. On this day he was particularly whiny.

Bonnie climbed into his bed, something she never does, and proceeded to lie near him. It was the sweetest thing!

After a while he settled and she went back to her own bed.

We shouldn’t anthropomorphise, it doesn’t serve our dogs to do so, but neither does assuming that they’re lacking empathy.

11/06/2022

PUT YOUR TOYS AWAY - (please 😇)
💡Continuing the learning 💡

Merlin and I are learning how to "Put your toys away". Last week I shared a video showing that what I thought I was teaching, wasn't what he was learning!

My dear boy had learned to hold the toy while waving his head over the toy box 😆. (For the clicker trainers out there, you'll recognise that he was doing exactly what he was marked for!)

I added in his give cue (*ta*) as the last part of the chain, and we are humming along.

We still have "learning moments" where I need to adjust 🤪, but what learning is without error? (see the end of the video)

Merlin is SUCH a good boy, he always makes me smile ❤️

08/06/2022

Pleasure instead of motivation? Sounds good to me!

Being an active learner and seeking opportunities for more rewards…

05/06/2022

WHAT IS THE DOG LEARNING?

My teacher Kay Laurence, prompts us to ask "What is the dog learning?" instead of what are you teaching. This seems subtle, but actually the shift in viewpoint can help to see things we may not look for.

It's a useful question to ask if you ever say "but he should know that" - umm perhaps it's what you think you taught not what he learned.

In a recent training session the distinction was very clear! My idea was to teach a chin target to a box so he would move to the toy box and then combine that with fetch a toy. The mark would release the toy. This is after a few sessions where I marked for hitting the toy box with the toy.

In case it’s not obvious Merlin has learned to swipe the toy over the box, not drop it in!

Clever Merlin!! 😄

Take a look!

25/05/2022

In any relationship there are times of growth, regression and change - it’s no different with dogs. Teenage times with pups can be particularly challenging and it’s no one’s fault, we need to understand and have some skills on board to help them (and us!) through it.

A selection of wonderful resources from Kay on teenage dogs.

Running off. Pulling like a train. Jumping up. Eating everything that’s left unattended. Forgetting their name.

Being a teen is hard, but they will come through it, and all the better with your support. And one day you will love them again.

https://www.learningaboutdogs.com/teenage-tearaway/

16/05/2022

Bravery and compassion!

14/05/2022

SOCIALISATION MEANS: helping your dog feel safe in our strange human world, be a polite canine citizen and comfortable with what we need to do to keep them happy and healthy.

Don’t Over Socialise Your Dog…

We often have this perception of Socialising as letting our dog, play with as many dogs as possible at a young age so it’s friendly.

This is actually probably the biggest (unspoken) mistake we make as pet owners.

Play is just a very small part and probably the least important part of socialising.

First we must teach dogs to ignore dogs, using leads, rewarding them for breaks in focus from other dogs, teaching them, YOU are way more fun then other dogs.

Creating breed fulfilment is a great relationship builder and great to use whilst dogs are in the background.

For example: fetch with a retriever, scent games with a spaniel, tug of war with a terrier or flirt pole etc… you be the one who starts and stops it.

Next part of socialising with dogs is to teach them to be calm and well mannered. Find a club, pack walk or a friend and go for a walk, make sure these are on lead and calm.

If the dogs are compatible let them meet for a brief second, face to ass, not face to face and keep it to a 3 second rule.

Remember Quality is far more important then quantity when it comes to socialising with dogs.

Remember dogs need to first be exposed to well mannered and calm dogs, this is often why (unless run properly) we don’t advise puppy classes.

Remember if your dog is knocked over, jumped on, bullied at a young age, because you think they just need to learn and get on with it or you can’t read play, this will leave a very negative, long lasting imprint on them and usually around the 6-12month mark, reactivity is born and/or extreme fear as a result.

As a rule I never let my dogs play with strange dogs, especially if they come running across the feild as the owner screams “it’s ok he is friendly” this means they have no control, they haven’t taught a basic recall, don’t understand that not all dogs are compatible and therefore you can bet your bottom dollar, they won’t be able to read body language or stop a dog fight if it happens, so why would I ever expose my dog to that, it’s asking for trouble.

Let your dogs play with dogs you know are trained, responsive and compatible with your dogs.

Author unknown

07/05/2022

And old treats!

15/04/2022

Keep your dogs safe this Easter 🍫💝

With Easter and the long weekend fast approaching, we've put together a few tips to help you keep your furry companions safe and out of trouble.
🐇🐣🥕🍫

06/04/2022

Barb uses positive reinforcement to train her sheepdogs. Well worth a watch to see how it's done!

Join Ken Ramirez, KPCT’s Chief Training Officer, for a free virtual event on Thursday, April 7, at 12:00 pm (PT). The episode will feature special guests Kamal Fernandez and Barb Buchmayer and include real-time training demos, audience Q & A, and so much more! Ken and Kamal will discuss high-level competition and how positive reinforcement works at that elite level. Ken and Barb will discuss positive reinforcement sheep herding and she will demonstrate some of the necessary early training..

Visit our website for the link to join: https://bit.ly/2V9pGg7

04/04/2022

Love this so much!

There's soooo much more to walking WITH your dog than keeping the lead loose.

31/03/2022

NEW BLOG POST - 8 TIPS TO HELP YOUR DOG WITH CHANGE 🐶🏠

We're happily settled in our new home. It was harder than I thought, even good change takes time to adjust to.

There are some principles that can help with any change, so here they are in the second part of the blog:

"8 Tips to help your dog with change"

Hope you enjoy it 🥰

https://www.delightindogs.com/help-your-dog-with-change/

Change is messy, difficult and can be fun. It's often challenging for our dogs. Learn 8 tips to help your dog deal with change.

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Videos

I made this video 🎥 for my good friends Jan and Sue who are teaching their Border Collie Bella to put her toys away. She's great at collecting them from the toy box, but not so great at cleaning up! The best shaping scaffolds the teaching process, progressing from what the dog can do and building in increasingly harder steps as the dog masters the one before. She should never be left hanging, wondering what to do next, never have insufficient information to take the next step. She needs time to think, but be guided so her behaviour and learning is empowering and enjoyable. My initial idea of what I can do to teach Bonnie to look in the box doesn't work, so I find a way of scaffolding this new behaviour with one she already knows-and we have success! Sometimes, in fact often, we need to adapt our ideas to better suit our dogs 🥰

Learning to "Put Your Toys Away"

PUT YOUR TOYS AWAY - (please 😇) 💡Continuing the learning 💡 Merlin and I are learning how to "Put your toys away". Last week I shared a video showing that what I thought I was teaching, wasn't what he was learning! My dear boy had learned to hold the toy while waving his head over the toy box 😆. (For the clicker trainers out there, you'll recognise that he was doing exactly what he was marked for!) I added in his give cue (*ta*) as the last part of the chain, and we are humming along. We still have "learning moments" where I need to adjust 🤪, but what learning is without error? (see the end of the video) Merlin is SUCH a good boy, he always makes me smile ❤️

WHAT IS THE DOG LEARNING? My teacher Kay Laurence, prompts us to ask "What is the dog learning?" instead of what are you teaching. This seems subtle, but actually the shift in viewpoint can help to see things we may not look for. It's a useful question to ask if you ever say "but he should know that" - umm perhaps it's what you think you taught not what he learned. In a recent training session the distinction was very clear! My idea was to teach a chin target to a box so he would move to the toy box and then combine that with fetch a toy. The mark would release the toy. This is after a few sessions where I marked for hitting the toy box with the toy. In case it’s not obvious Merlin has learned to swipe the toy over the box, not drop it in! Clever Merlin!! 😄 Take a look!

Having fun at puppy class! Little Barney is giving me a reminder that if a puppy sits in front of you, remember to reward! Pay attention naughty Julie 😉 Such a cutie! @topdeck_retrievers . . . . . #goldenretriever #goldenretrieverpuppy #puppyclass

Teach a dog to lie on the side - Adding a hand cue (part 2)

Teach a dog to lie on the side - add a hand cue In this second video, Merlin and I demonstrate how to change the food lure into a hand cue. We show you from two directions: from behind the dog and from in front so if you want to see both make sure you watch through to the end. If you like the video, consider liking my page and visit our YouTube channel and blog for more videos and training ideas. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCl7u87EpxBNS73rHAyu_krA/featured https://delightindogs.com/

Blooper reel!

"Don't be afraid to make mistakes and be able to laugh at yourself." Brendan Rodgers Bloopers! It's tough out there, I hope this brightens your day just a little! Next video on lying on the side coming soon.

Teaching a chin rest for husbandry procedures

What is "duration"? Or why do we teach "Stay"? If you think of a dog doing a stay, most often it is the dog glued in place while we walk away. I have come to think differently about what "stay" really is, or more correctly what holding a position for a length of time really is. The use of duration in a behaviour is many and varied and I find it more useful to ask "Can you hold that position while I...." fill in the blank. Teaching a behaviour for husbandry is a good example: can you remain on your side while I clip your nails or can you remain standing still while I brush your hair? Of course the dog ALWAYS has the right of reply if you are actually asking a question. If they say "No I can't" then find a level where they can say "Yes!" and work back up. If you are interested in seeing the questions I asked before deciding to teach this behaviour, check out my last blog post, (scroll down this page)

Bark on cue is fun to teach! Rumble starred in a Game Boys video with my son Lachlan, here is a cute snippet! He has an old man squeaky bark nowadays :-)

Delight in Dogs would like to thank my wonderful clients and their dogs for a great year! MERRY CHRISTMAS!! 🎄🎉🎁🐕🐾💖

My banner photo is a picture of a cute behaviour that I taught Rumble, to kiss my nose on cue! A slideshow shows it better :-)

Portrait of Resource Guarding as a slideshow. (Just worked out that I could do this!)

Just because I love him!

Using a food puzzle to stop a dog chasing the vaccum cleaner

Changing a dog's behaviour does not always have to be difficult. In this video I use a Kong food puzzle to keep Merlin busy and happy while I vacuum the floor.

Bella teaches Merlin how to say hello politely

Bella is an 11 year old female Border Collie and Merlin is a 2 year old male Rough Collie. They have very different play and greeting styles. In this video, Bella very clearly and patiently shows Merlin that it is not okay for him to run up to her so directly.