With approval from your vet, medication, either natural or traditional can aid your dog with feeling a bit more relaxed.
If you know your dog gets a little overwhelmed or over excited in large groups, support them by taking the edge of a little.
Just like humans, sometimes dogs need a bit of extra support to get through hard situations without a melt down 😆
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Avoid your dog getting under your feet at dinner! 🍗
Having a solid “mat” cue in your tool box can be SO helpful for times when you need your dog to be out of the way.
I’d suggest using this just before everybody is going to fill their plates so your dog is away from the kitchen area.
🍗 This keeps your dog from picking up anything that may be dropped during serving
🍗This also keeps anyone from tripping on your dog and losing their entire dinner 🍽️
So how do we teach this?
To make it easy, use something simple to transport like a towel.
1️⃣Place the towel down on the floor and invite your dog onto the towel by dropping a few cookies directly on the towel - throw a cookie off the towel and repeat step 3-4 times.
2️⃣Wait for your dog to walk back to the towel, as soon as your dog steps even one foot onto the towel, mark and reward with 3-5 cookies onto the towel - throw a cookie off the towel to reset and repeat a few times.
3️⃣ This time wait for your dog to place all four feet onto the towel, if that seems easy, ask for a sit. Mark and reward with 3-5 cookies. Repeat.
4️⃣ Once you can bet your dog is going to walk back to the mat after they reset, name the behaviour “mat” or “on your mat” mark and reward once they get there. 🔁
Note ⭐️ Putting the cookies into the mat itself is making the mat rewarding and is encouraging your dog to lay down.
Once your dog is reliably going to their mat when cued, start increasing the duration of Tim they are on the mat by rewarding randomly, resetting often and gradually increasing duration.
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This is SO important!
If I’m doing something with both dogs, I typically say “insert dog name here ‘s turn” and the named dog then gets the attention, reward etc.
Shortly after, it will then be the opposing dogs turn. The key here is to mix it up so that both dogs are waiting patiently for their turn.
There shouldn’t be a reason to guard if our dogs get their turn, just sometimes they need to be patient.
Addressing the dog by name also reduces the chances of both dogs rushing towards something at the same time.
This avoids tension and situations where guarding is more likely.
Does your dog guard from family members (fluffy or human)?
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When should you intervene?
⚠️ Well, I tell most clients to intervene any time you feel that things might be going south.
But if you see all of the above characteristics you probably don’t need to.
Although the last characteristic of healthy dog play that I like to see is the ability to default.
By this, I mean that each dog can read the body language of the other and act accordingly.
In this video, Chessi (champagne dog) got still a few times which indicates to Lyla (the black dog) that she needs to back off a little. 🐕
Lyla was able to default to what Chessi was communicating and they were able to continue playing together.
Dogs that can’t default or are missing another dog’s communication signals will likely overwhelm their play mate and it could lead to an argument.
It is important to understand how dogs communicate to one another and to people so you can advocate for your dog when needed.
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Day #12 of the 12 Days of Enrichment: DOG SPORTS!
I absolutely love playing the sport of Agility with Lyla. We have so much fun together. Chessi is a nut and can’t get enough of dock diving. Both are challenging sports in their own ways but we mostly do it to enjoy each other!
Dog sports are just another great way to provide some fun and excitement for your dog! I’ve shown you so many ways to keep your dog’s mind and body working. So go out and find something you and your dog love!
Lastly, related to meeting our dog’s needs, that’s individual for each dog. Meeting Lyla’s needs looks different to meeting Chessi’s needs. Find out what your dog needs from you and they will return the favour.
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Day #9 of the 12 Days of Enrichment: FLIRT POLE. Does your dog chase bunnies? Squirrels? Birds? Against contrary belief, engaging in behaviours that tap into your dogs prey drive doesn’t actually make the animal chasing worse- it actually reduces it! Prey drive is something that is driven innately, a need that comes from within your dog. If they don’t satisfy that need, it often comes out in ways that we consider to be undesirable. If we provide our dogs with outlets to stalk, eye and chase something that moves in a way we like, it’s less likely that they will feel the need to run after the neighbourhood friends.
If you pair a fulfilled pretty drive with predation substitute training. You’ll be passing those bunnies with a breeze.
Check out my video
Check out my pinned post of my girls calmly watching a new friend!
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Day 6 of the 12 Days of Enrichment! CHEWING!
Did you know chewing isn’t just for puppies? Chewing is a really great stress reliever for adult dogs and often a need for them too.
We have non edible chew toys like Kongs and wood root chews. We also have edible long lasting chews like Bully sticks, yak chews and raw bones.
As well as being a natural calming aid, engaging in daily chewing helps keep our dog’s teeth clean too!
Lyla is enjoying a 6 inch Thick Braided Bulky stick from @bullybunches
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