Happy New Brunswick Day!
I hope everyone's Summer has been as amazing as we are having here!
Here is a little video of a rottweiler that can switch from loving to very pushy, very quickly. His family is working with an amazing trainer as well as a Veterinary Behaviourist. He is progressing very well, and here is how I am using his food drive to create more space between us so he isn't constantly pushing the treat button...aka, me. Lol
He really loves this game, and in under 10 minutes you can see him go from hyper to focused. So simple! I love the moments when he disengages from me and goes to search on his own without prompting. Perfect!
This is what a force free approach looks like. I don't need zappy collars, or choke leashes to work with dogs. I meet them where they are, create an environment that promotes success, use their own motivations to encourage them, and shape the interactions into a win win situation. He is happy and fulfilled, and I am no longer being jumped on.
I love these Misfits!
This video is a bit of a long one, and it may not even post because of my rural internet, but if it does...
Watch this if you are interested in adopting Lolo, the young Cockapoo.
Watch this if you are unsure when to stop chasing from turning into predatory drift.
Watch this if you are curious about lopsided dog play at dog parks.
In this video, I made sure to call the dogs back to me to give a halt to the hectic play. Those breaks let me know if a dog does or does not want to engage again. (In the beginning I give verbal interrupters, and as much as I am trying to get away from the "Ah-Ah!" because of the negative connotation, it's a hard habit to break and is never followed up with a punishment as it was popularized so many years ago. That's just for my FF friends who may raise an eyebrow there).
Lolo has been a very exuberant player with most dogs she has met, but she is often the target of chase. My ideal home for her will be with a dog that will take turns being the one chased and wrestled with, and with a family who is understanding of a Plenty In Life Is Free mindset so she always sees her human as safe and a provider, not a threat.
If any of my current clients is considering a second dog.... maybe Lolo is for you. Shoot me a PM!
If I don't get a current client interested, she will be announced available in early July.
Do you take your dog to the dog park?
Do you put your puppies and dogs in daycares?
Do you know what to look for?
Does your daycare provider know what to look for and prevent to ensure your puppy is learning appropriate social skills?
I hope you find this video informative!
Owen is available for adoption!
He is here with me this weekend to meet a potential forever home. If that doesn't work out and you might be interested, shoot me a message!
P.A.W- Private Adoption Works Helping Families and Pets in Crisis
SUCH a beautiful day!!!
(Minus the blackflies. 😬🪰)
Aww yeah! The weekend is here!
This is an unregulated industry, and sometimes, someone needs to call out the bull$hit when they see it, so I do.
This video is why we need regulations and it should be mandatory that pet care providers, especially medium to large scale like this have to prove competency. The New Brunswick SPCA Animal Protection Pet Establishment License does NOT cover any sort of educational requirements. It just covers the building and basics like food, water, vaccines. Literally ANYBODY can hang a sign and open a boarding kennel, or even call themselves a dog trainer.
This right here is sheer uneducated ignorance, and absolute NEGLIGENCE to leave that many dogs alone outside. And to have the gall to actually be proud of it and post this video as some way of justifying it.....is mind blowing.
Be careful where you send your pets. You might not get them back in the same condition, or at all.
Batman has some issues with fence reactivity and frustrated/impolite greetings. His trainer Dream Team Canine Coaching & Consulting reached out to see if they could borrow the magnificent Baloo, and he told me he was up for the job. 😉
Here is a snippet of the first time they met, and then today. What a difference!
Great job, Batman!
Shout out to Baloo and my regular daycare gal Quinn for helping to show Batman that not everyone is looking for a fight, and it's okay to be chill!
It's not often I have a safe group of small dogs!
Little One comes out far too overwhelmed, and when meeting 3 terriers that is bound to create a bit of chaos. It didn't take long for them to settle down and turn that chaos into consensual social time.
Great job small fries! 🍟
Ever see a cattle dog with a herding ball? Great high octane exercise if they love it!
Little One, Day 7.
I haven't posted any videos in the past couple days, because it was my birthday yesterday, the eclipse with the kids before that, and I am also in the middle of writing a final exam, so L.O. has been on the same boarding schedule as the rest of my guests.
Every day though, she has been given one of these high value treats to enjoy in peace in her room, undisturbed.
In this video we can see her body language is a lot more loose, she 'understands the assignment' so to speak, lol, and she is bouncy and happy engaging with me.
At first, she does run off with her treat. I do NOT chase her. The goal with RG is not to have your dog "okay" with confrontation or cornering. That is a sure fire way to trigger a resource guarding episode in fact. Instead the goal is to DEVALUE what she has by increasing the value of our RELATIONSHIP. The goal is to draw her back into engagement with me. She's acing it!
I don't just offer her cheese. I am offering her peace, respect, engagement, and trust.
Is she 'cured'? Absolutely not! This is still just the beginning stages of this kind of rehab. We will still have to practice with "people food", and in varying contexts. The foundation is being laid though, and that foundation is the relationship.
As evident at the very end of the video when I can't even whisper without her taking that as a cue that something awesome is about to happen that she doesn't want to miss out on. 😉
#ffofo
Little One and a licky mat!
Now that she has a rough idea that that click sound means I have good things for her, now I want her to practice leaving one yummy thing to go get another yummy thing.
The important part of this exercise is that I am NOT taking her licky mat away. It is safe and sound right where she left it.
It is a MUCH safer behaviour to teach a dog to leave an item for something better than to force them to let me take something from them that they are enjoying.
Great job, Little One! She aced this on her first go!
Little One keeps me company while I do some sweeping and mopping. I take a break to "load the clicker".
Later, the clicker will be used to mark a desired behaviour and reinforce it with a treat, toy, or whatever she finds particularly motivating at the time. (Sometimes that can even be space or an exit route if she is showing discomfort in a situation).
For now, all she needs to learn is when she hears the sound of the click, treats are raining from the sky.
I did choose her making eye contact with me as the marked behaviour, but this isn't always necessary when loading or charging the clicker.
If some of these videos seem boring, good! The goal of any aggression rehab protocol should be to avoid the dog feeling the need to ever react. Some refer to this as 'staying under threshold'.
More on that in the coming days as the exercises become more challenging for her.
Scarcity vs Abundance
Common words associated with those who have a scarcity mindset:
Competition
Desperation
Mistrust
Hoarding
Common words associated with those who have an abundance mindset:
Confidence
Trust
Sharing
Peace
#plentyinlifeisfree
Oh she's getting bouncy now! Feeling much better, reading Baloo's signals well, carrying her tail higher too!
Near the end of the video you can see she is still conflicted with human+food, but she was not pushy to get Baloo's treat at all. This is good info going forward!
"Little One" is in foster care with me for an evaluation of her Resource Guarding habits.
Knowing ahead of meeting her that she has that history, gives me a paw up -so to speak- so I can work on making sure she develops new and safer CER's (conditioned emotional responses) around food.
Even in this short video, when broken down, her conflict around food is evident.
I love to collaborate and pick the brains of qualified dog pros, and a huge shout out goes to Zoë Hunter at Dream Team Canine Coaching & Consulting for lending her brilliant observation skills and technical support with editing this video for me.
While some of the classic RG body language that many might be more used to such as stiffening, lowering head, showing whale eye, and even snarling are not present in this video, the language shown here are those first rungs of the ladder before those signals are shown.
Little One feels no conflict directly from me here, but if she did stiffen and so on, then I would know she was pushed too far. It is now my job to create an environment and pattern of reinforcements where those rungs of the ladder have no reason to be reached.
Baloo gives an absolute MASTERCLASS in polite greetings and "calming signals".
This makes my heart swell, and if I were better at tech, I would slow down certain points of this video so you can see clearly how quick and deliberate his signals are.
The head turns, ground sniffing, walking in curves, tail carriage signals... gahhhh I am SO STINKIN PROUD of Baloo.
Truly, one in a billion.
Everytime the little one checks in with me, I use a reassuring voice, and I love how she is already seeing me as her safe person.
When a dog is allowed to say No, you'll be surprised at how quickly they will choose Yes next time. 😉
