Life's Ruff Dog Training

04/26/2024

11/05/2023

https://www.facebook.com/676057120/videos/10153091087192121/

06/12/2023

Alfie is an adoptable Dog - Husky searching for a forever family near North York, ON. Use Petfinder to find adoptable pets in your area.

06/01/2023

05/01/2023

🐶 National Dog Bite Prevention Week 🐶

🐾 Make sure your pet is healthy. Not all illnesses and injuries are obvious, and dogs are more likely to bite if they are sick or in pain. If you haven't been to the veterinarian in a while, schedule an appointment for a checkup to discuss your dog's physical and behavioral health.

🐾 Take it slow. If your dog has only been interacting with your family this past year, don't rush out into crowded areas or dog parks. Try to expose your dogs to new situations slowly and for short periods of time, arrange for low-stress interactions, and give plenty of praise and rewards for good behavior.

🐾 Educate yourself in positive training techniques and devote time to interact with your dog.

🐾 Get outside for leash training and allow your dog to do more socializing.

🐾 Gradually start arranging play dates with other dogs and people as allowed, and carefully increase the amounts of time and freedom together. This will help your dog get used to being with other canine companions again.

🐾 Be responsible about approaching other people's pets. Ask permission from the owner before approaching a dog, and look for signs that the dog wants to interact with you. Sometimes dogs want to be left alone, and we need to recognize and respect that.

https://www.oshawa.ca/residents/pet-owner-responsibilities.asp

ASPCA

04/02/2023

What fun!

03/22/2023

I still feel confused at times as to why there is still such a pushback to using food to train your dog.
“When will I not have to use it anymore?”
“Will I always have to have food on me?”
“Won’t he then become obsessed with all food?”
“I want him to do it because he loves me, not because I have food”
“Using food is cheating”
“Using food means you’re bribing not training”
“Using food will make my dog fat”
“I never had to use food with my last dog.”

These are all just some of the insane things I’ve heard and still hear. And it makes me crazy because I can’t imagine saying these things to my employees.
“When will I not have to pay you anymore?”
“If I pay you are you going to just become obsessed with money?”
“I really want you to work for me because you love me, not because I pay you”

Food is a tool. It is a TOOL. And just like any tool it can be used well or used poorly, but it’s one of the only tools in dog training that I hear more myths about than any other. And that’s unfortunate because when used properly it does so many good things -

Food is a primary reinforcer and for most dogs it’s the most valuable thing they can get. This makes it enormously powerful when trying to teach them how to do something new and/or complicated. That doesn’t mean they don’t appreciate a pet on the head, but they’d rather have the food and there’s NOTHING wrong with that. Just like you’d rather be paid in dollars rather than chocolate bars.

Food is fast. It’s easy to deliver, portable, and also variable in value (kibble vs cheese) so it’s very flexible also depending on your level and stage of training.

Food can help create powerful positive associations for dogs as well as counter condition negative associations they already have because of its value to them. Using food in the presence of other dogs, people and environments helps your dog have a positive association with them and this in and of itself is incredibly powerful. That’s something I don’t think we consider nearly enough when training our dogs even when they’ve past the learning phase.

Food does not have to make your dog a beggar, fat, or totally dependent on it. The context in which you deliver it, the way you ration out the food - treats vs meals and healthy choices - and also the way you cue the dog when training all help alleviate these issues.

I pay my dogs regularly and have no shame in that. As they get better at skills I ask them to work harder or longer for the pay just like as adults we have to work a full week or two before we get our paychecks. I use higher value for harder things - just like you like to get paid time and a half when you work Christmas, and lower value for easy stuff. I watch to make sure my dogs hope for the reward but don’t expect it and don’t take it personally when they’d rather come back to me for cheese instead of a pet. I focus on the fact that they came back.

Getting paid at work is a big reinforcer for us but it’s also not the only reason we go is it? The relationships you have with your coworkers, the pride you have in your job etc are all intricate parts of your motivation, but that takes TIME to build, and at first it’s usually just for the pay. Same with training your dog. At first, yes, it’s for the food, but as you continue and do it right it becomes more about the teamwork, the fun and the relationship, not just the pay. And THAT’S what I wish more people understood. Over time your dog will work often without food for you because he truly enjoys it now, and he’s been reinforced by the relationship and countless reinforcements over time. But you have to put that time and patience in first to get there. And it’s worth it. I promise.
-Helen St. Pierre

02/28/2023

Training tip Tuesday is to respect others and their need for space:

02/17/2023

He’s sooo cute!

Oslo has been adopted 🥰

His adopter was camera shy, so one of our staff members jumped in to give this sweet floof a farewell. 🐕
💕Happy life Oslo! We wish you the best!

01/30/2023

Volunteer in Markham!

01/19/2023

Lots of worried parents call me to find out how to stop their dog from doing something unpleasant around their children.

But this is often a mindset issue. Instead of asking how to stop a behavior, such as growling, we need to ask ourselves why the dog is growling in the first place.

The BIG question is how we can help to make our dogs comfortable. The end result is usually happier dogs and safer kids.

Grab my free action plan for parents: The ABC's of Growling - what every parent needs to know https://poochparenting.net/abcs-of-growling/

01/10/2023

Let's get a forever home for this beauty! 💖

01/07/2023

Winter Walking Tips:

01/04/2023

PLEASE SHARE for a FOSTER HOME for a black lab mix puppy please 🙏❤️🐶

Hi Everyone, we are looking for a foster family for an 8 week old Lab mix puppy please. If you are interested in fostering her, please complete the foster application at: https://www.speakingofdogs.com/volunteer/fostering/
As an FYI, our foster parents have first option of becoming "foster-to-adopt" once approved by the rescue

01/04/2023

11/25/2022

This Giving Tuesday, we have an incredible goal: raise $150,000 before the day is over. That’s how much it will cost to transform three puppies into life-changing, barrier-breaking guide dogs for Canadians with sight loss.

11/07/2022

https://www.speakingofdogs.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/SOD_Newsletter_Nov2022.pdf

10/17/2022

My Great Dane "Batman" at the London Ontario CKC dog show. I can't remember what year it was.

09/30/2022

"Little" Tucker graduated from his level 1 training yesterday. Good boy Tucker!

09/27/2022

“Yesterday I adopted the oldest, sickest and most injured dog from a shelter.
I will never forget his eyes, when I entered the cages he didn't even bother to look at me, like he knew
that I wouldn't even see him, curled up in a corner, accepted his fate.
The volunteer told me several times... But are you sure about that? Are you sure about this?
Yes!!!
I want this dog, he opened the cage, I ran to him, suddenly he looked
me as if I saw an angel...
I took him in my arms and told him... Now you will be happy to
New. He fell asleep in my arms...
Probably the first peaceful sleep he'd had in a long time.
Give it a life. Kiss an old man.
They need us..."* 🥺🙏♥️🐾

09/26/2022

We talk so much about giving our dogs a good life; a life that is enriched, and safe and full of love, I feel sometimes we need to talk more about giving our dogs a good death.

Death, for all of us, is inevitable. We can tip toe around that fact, or we can face it and discuss it, which I prefer to do, especially when it comes to dogs. My own, or yours.

As much as dogs deserve a good life, they deserve a good death even more so. But what is a good death? Well, here are my thoughts and experiences.

A good death is humane, and soft. It is like slipping into a warm bath, or taking an afternoon nap. It is calm and welcoming.

A good death is with familiar people. Not alone, not worried or confused. It is beside someone trusted who is guiding the way.

A good death is not in fear or pain. It is not on the worst day, or the hardest one. It is as merciful as it can be to that.

A good death is when there is recognition. When the dog is not so far gone in fear, pain, distress or cognition that they do not know who is with them or how they got there.

These standards to me are what I uphold with all my dogs and I believe all dogs to be deserving of. The cause of death, whether age, illness, behavior, or a combination, are important of course, but their final moments on this earth are totally beyond their control, and I view it as one of the greatest things we can do for them to make them feel valued, cared for and loved in that time.

I say this because I often watch dogs suffer poor deaths, and this may be a trigger for some but it’s a trigger for me too, which is why I am writing this. I watch dogs who have severe behavior issues get rehomed and rehomed and returned, only to suffer an awful death with people they don’t know, wondering what they did wrong, scared and alone. I watch dogs with illnesses or age get left behind, only to die alone and in pain and of a broken heart. I see these deaths because the people couldn’t bring themselves to be beside their dog at the end, or kept thinking there was something or someone else who could do it instead, and the dog ends up maybe having had a great life, but a very poor end. That is not fair.

Behavioral euthanasia is talked about a lot more than it used to be nowadays. And it’s not incorrect when we say sometimes it is the most HUMANE thing you can do for your dog is to give them a good death, beside you, rather than hope someone else can take them on and then they suffer alone after their issues prove too much for anyone else.

All of my dogs are promised a good death. The moment they step into my home. I do not hold on to my dogs because I can’t let them go. I give them an amazing life, and also a good goodbye, and I support my clients when they have to make these decisions too, no matter what the reason is behind it. I have been present for more euthanasias and goodbyes than I ever care to discuss. My own, my clients, shelter dogs. I have performed them myself. For every reason you can imagine. And for that very reason I stand by that while we should talk always about giving a good life to our dogs, we should advocate and talk about good deaths. Safe, free of pain or fear, and so very very loved.

- Helen St. Pierre

09/22/2022

This is where it all started. Thank you little Duke Harvey!

09/22/2022

https://www.theiscp.com/post/interpret-your-dogs-body-language?fbclid=IwAR06ghx47bHQkcDiX7QU3LEBaUC4EtBc2RXW0gmANW6MmgRCR9wR706fZQg

Find out what your dog is trying to tell you with our informative article on interpreting dog body language. Learn how to read their facial expressions, what they do to indicate when they’re feeling relaxed, confident, happy, anxious or depressed, and spot the signs of anger before an incident ari...

09/02/2022

Snuffle Mats - a grand idea for a dog who eats too fast! https://www.rufflesnufflemats.com/

Ruffle Snuffle® are the bestselling makers of Snuffle Mats and Snuffle Cubes® for dogs, cats & small animals. Award winning enrichment toys designed by an Animal Behaviourist.

07/12/2022

Thank you Leslie Bullock for sharing this.......