Purple Dog

08/29/2024

Congratulations to Winston, and his people Alecia & Cameron! They completed the Purple Puppy Program! What a great start for a team with lots of talent! The only question now is, 'what should we do next?!' Well done!

08/29/2024

❤️❤️

FACING THE FEAR
There is a common disbelief that comforting a dog that is feeling scared, anxious or stressed will only reinforce, encourage the feeling and make it worse.

This belief is incorrect. Fear is an emotional response and one that a dog does not choose or decides to feel.

An emotion is an involuntary, uncontrolled response that cannot be reinforced.

Punishing fear-based behaviour is even worse than not providing comfort as it creates even more negative associations with whatever the “scary thing" is.

Behaviour and emotions are intrinsically linked in important ways, but they are still not the same thing and require different approaches when they become a problem.

Imagine an intruder broke into your home, tied you up and took off with your belongings. After being freed and getting help, a friend arrives to see how you are.

Your friend tells you that she can see that you’re really anxious and scared but she’s just going to completely ignore you, is not going to attempt to comfort you, sit with you or support you because by doing so she will make you even more afraid and upset. Does that reaction make any sense?

Why should it be any different for dogs that also experience a range of emotions? Why then is it still believed that we should ignore our dogs?

Probably because there is confusion and misunderstanding about the difference between an emotional response - which is an involuntary response and a learned response - which has varying degrees of conscious control.

If we acknowledge that providing comfort and support to a dog that is experiencing these emotions will not reinforce them, do we know if providing comfort will reduce these emotions?

Research on this subject is showing evidence that providing comfort and support in stressful situations decreases a dog’s heart rate, salivary cortisol levels, reduces stress responses and increases calm behaviour.

Ignoring a dog’s emotions because of misinformed advice in the belief that this will change the behaviour is more damaging than helpful.

We need to accept and acknowledge that our dogs are having an emotional response and not a behavioural problem.

We need to show compassion, understanding, be a secure base, a safe haven and provide the appropriate comfort when our dogs need it.

08/29/2024

Today is Thursday! August 29! The final 2024 Me & My Dog Drop In is tonight! 830pm -1000pm (start when you want, leave when you want)!

The gerbils will Not be here.

Safe for all sizes and all ages of dogs! Suitable for well supervised children who are handling a dog.
There will be Scent Detection set up, Agility equipment out, and Parkour stuff to do. You can also just go for a nice sniffing stroll or play disc.
$10/person for Purple Dogs
$20/person if you have not ever trained at Purple Dog (if you've never trained with us, please bring your dogs vaccination records).
Cash is preferred!
Dogs should have no history of aggression toward other dogs or people. Please do your best to keep your dogs from peeing on the equipment and buildings (there are a lot of 🌳).
This is not a class. This is a teach yourself, practise, have fun w your pooch time.
We are located at 713002B RR80.
That's the 2nd place along the driveway. It's on the right! Stay right and you'll be right! Turn right at The Big Purple chair!
Text Tammy at 780 933 1320 for info.
Did you know you can book Purple Dog for your own private dog walk? Email [email protected] to find out how!

08/24/2024

Dogs don't shrink in the rain!!

Fun trial day w Valleyview SNFF Club and GP Working K9's! Bug is a superstar as always! 💜🐾

08/24/2024

That went so fast! Lucy & Hazel wrapped up their private lesson package with a wonderful off-leash walk! Good girls! Well done Leslie & Clayton!!

08/24/2024

08/22/2024

Whoa!! Tammy and Bug are trialing all weekend in Valleyview!

There is NO Me & My Dog drop-in tonight (Thursday)!
There are no Purple Playgroups this weekend!
There are no lessons and no classes Friday or Saturday!

You CAN book an hour of private walk time to play on the equipment and walk your dogs! Friday, Saturday, and/or Sunday
Text me to come play on your own or with a friend! 7809331320

Have a great weekend! Wish us luck! ☘️

08/22/2024

08/22/2024

Baby puppy Luna is all (almost) grown up and moving on to learning big dog stuff! Luna and her family have completed the Purple Puppy Program! Congratulations Team Luna! Good puppy!!

08/22/2024

The Scent Detection class "Hunting Games" graduated recently! What a fun class and a great group of dogs and handlers! Congratulations to K9s Raina, Figgy, Wick, and Metro and their wonderful team mates!

08/21/2024

Louie!! You graduated! Way to go Naomi! What a great start for your extraordinary puppy!
The Purple Puppy Program is such a great place to start to your wonderful babes! Louie has a bright future ahead of him where all of these foundation skills will stead him well! Good boy puppy puppy. Well done Momma!

08/21/2024

They did it!! The Art of Off-Leash class graduated with much flair! Fancy recalls, lovely off-leash play, and great long line handling! Great trainers and good Good Dogs! Congratulations everyone! Well done!

08/19/2024

Congratulations to Purple Foundations graduates, Jen & Tony w Rio, Adrianne w ViVi and Michelle w Charlie!! You did it! Your pups are well started and ready for whatever adventures await!

08/19/2024

08/19/2024

Yay! Roxie and her family completed their Purple Puppy Program! Woohoo yay!! Way to get your baby puppy off to a great start!

08/16/2024

Purple Alumni Playgroup!! Saturday August 17 from 12-1!

All Purple Puppies are invited to every playgroup!

All former & current students whose dogs have no history of aggression toward other dogs or people, are invited! All ages. All sizes.
Dogs over 1 year of age should be neutered/spayed, to attend please.

I moved in September of 2023 to 713002B RR80! It's the 2nd place on the driveway! Turn right at the Big Purple Chair! Dogs should have some amount of recall as there are no fences yet! Long lines are welcome!
Text me if you need directions! 780 933 1320

08/16/2024

The Intro to Mantrailing is this Sunday August 18 from 1-4pm! Mantrailing runs from April 1 to November 1! Great for ALL dogs, all ages, all sizes! Safe for Dog reactive dogs!
If you want to bond more w your dog, try a fun and fast paced sport, want to try something new that you can do together- let's get started!!

To register with your dog, email or text [email protected]
780 933 1320
The Intro is 3 hours and $145. Adventures follow at $30 for 2 hours! You won't have more fun training, learning, and laughing!

We recently interviewed one of our Mantrailing dogs to ask for a real account of a trail from a dogs perspective. For confidentiality reasons (and to save handler embarrassment) we can't disclose who the handler of this dog is, but if you're reading this and know it's you, please get in touch with y...

08/15/2024

Today is Thursday!
Me & My Dog Drop In night! 830pm -1030pm (start when you want, leave when you want)!
THE GERBILS WILL BE HERE (big thank you! to GP Working K9's) Thursday August 15 so you can introduce your dogs to gerbil hunting sports (no gerbils are harmed)! Harness that drive, and have fun with your dog!!
Safe for all sizes and all ages of dogs! Suitable for well supervised children who are handling a dog.
There will Scent Detection set up, Agility equipment out, and Parkour stuff to do. You can also just go for a nice sniffing stroll or play disc.
$10/person for Purple Dogs
$20/person if you have not ever trained at Purple Dog (if you've never trained with us, please bring your dogs vaccination records).
Cash is preferred!
Dogs should have no history of aggression toward other dogs or people. Please do your best to keep your dogs from peeing on the equipment and buildings (there are a lot of 🌳).
This is not a class. This is a teach yourself, practise, have fun w your pooch time.
We are located at 713002B RR80.
That's the 2nd place along the driveway. It's on the right! Stay right and you'll be right! Turn right at The Big Purple chair!
Text Tammy at 780 933 1320 for info.
Did you know you can book Purple Dog for your own private dog walk? Email [email protected] to find out how!

08/13/2024

DON’T TOUCH MY STUFF!
Resource guarding – also called possessive aggression

We all guard our resources, it’s a natural reaction to a threat of something we value being taken away.

It’s essential for survival and dogs or other animals would not survive in the wild if they didn’t guard their resources.

We also don’t get to decide what’s valuable and what’s not – different things have different value to different dogs and at different times.

Food is usually the most common, but toys, furniture, different items, places, or even a certain person are all things that may be seen as a valuable resource.

A dog turning their head away, freezing, a hard stare, whale eye, moving away, growling or snapping may quickly escalate into a serious bite in an attempt to protect that valuable possession.

Punishing or forcing a dog to give something up is probably one of the worst things to do.

Resource guarding is rooted in the emotion of fear – the fear of that resource being taken away.

Punishment and force further increase that fear, which only increases and reinforces the need to protect that resource.

When a dog is guarding food or an object, we can change the negative emotion of that fear into a positive one by swopping or trading something that has a similar or higher value than what the dog has.

This is one of the most effective ways to address resource guarding of objects as it works at the root cause of the behaviour by changing the emotional response.

A dog resource guarding a person is more complicated to address. A full history of the individual dog, family dynamics, attachment styles, situation and environment all have to be assessed before planning and working on a solution.

Resource guarding can usually be prevented, managed and addressed and by starting early, understanding why dogs feel the need to resort to this behaviour and doing what we can to prevent it from happening in the first place.

08/12/2024

🚨EVACUEES🚨

FirstMate Pet Foods has graciously donated a pallet of cat and dog kibble for any evacuees in need!

Come down and we can see how we can help you and your furry friends!

08/12/2024

Hey everyone! I will be doing my best to get back to as many people as possible today! If you were trying to reach me at the end of last week, I'm getting to you!

08/12/2024

Go get some GOOD treats for training your dogs this week!! Hurry!

Davis from Tilted Barn Pet Company is here!!
He will be here until 1pm today handing out samples, answering any questions and giving you a spin on the spinning wheel!
Be sure to say hi on your way in and see what you win 😊

08/10/2024

Super fun at Purple Teens Playgroup today! Holy cow it's hot outside! Well done everyone!! Good good dogs!

08/10/2024

08/10/2024

Scent Detectives wrapped up with a lesson on shed hunting! Shed hunting is a super competitive sport and these 4 dogs loved it!!
Congratulations to Shelly & Dakota, Nathalie & Akie, Adrianne & Luna, and Jodie & Teddy! Well done!

08/09/2024

Porter and his people graduated from Purple Foundations! The rest of the class had other commitments so we had a special Porter lesson where he got to show off all of his giant skills! Congratulations team Porter!

08/09/2024

Congratulations to Vera & her baby puppy Mazie who just completed their Purple Puppy lessons! Woohoo! Great teamwork!