Canine Capers Dog Training

01/26/2025

Upcoming workshop
Sat 8th 1-4
Gas City Dog Club

Shy Dog

Often our attempts to help these precious dogs are actually causing more stress and shutdown. Learn how to help the dog and be it's advocate

We will also explore some confidence games

01/20/2025

Lauren the Physio who specializes In Canine Rehab
She visits us every month for appts and has helped so many dogs
She will also be doing a strength building workshop in March
We are very fortunate to have this service available to us

01/19/2025

In my Good Boy class we learn with fun games

Good Boy Games

Whiplash
Scatter
Hi
There You Are
2 Step
1.2.3.
Open Bar/Close Bar
Teapot
Lily Pads
Look At That
2 Cookie
Give Me A Break
Need to Move or Need To Stop
Take A Breath
I've Got This
Get It
Let’s Go

Getting a leave it or stay before we can name it. (NO yelling a cue to “teach” it)
These games give us Calmness entering a building
exiting the vehicle
exiting the house
walking on leash
stranger approaching
seeing dogs bikes people etc
a happy recall
an engaged owner and dog

01/18/2025

Let’s go one by one.

1/ On leash meetings with other dogs. By now most have seen video clips of owners attempting to create a positive social interaction with their dogs, only to watch it all go terribly wrong. Why? Leashes create restraint and cause unnatural interactions, fraught with tense, friction-filled, possibly guarding, possibly overwhelmed, possibly bullying behavior. It’s the perfect setup for pushy dogs to push softer dogs and for softer dogs to become overwhelmed and defensive… and middle of the road dogs to leave the middle of the road.

2/ Poorly supervised doggy daycare. Once again the hopes are that healthy, comfortable, and “happy” social interactions occur. The reality in many daycares? Just like with on leash meetings, pushy, bratty, dominant dogs apply unwanted and unhealthy pressure to soft, timid, and even fearful dogs. And without proper human supervision, these dynamics play out over and over — and do so in environments which the overwhelmed dog cannot escape, and the pushy dog can push over and over.

3/ Dog parks. I’m sure we’ve also seen and heard countless horror stories of dogs bullied, attacked, and even killed in dog parks. Once again we have the restricted, “I’m stuck with you, you’re stuck with me” environment. And once again the overly aroused, pushy, bullying dogs clash with the soft, timid, fearful dogs — which encourages the bullies and traumatizes the soft ones.

All 3 of these share certain dynamics. 1/ forcing incompatible dogs to interact. 2/ the dogs have no way to escape the pressure. 3/ the pushy, bratty, bullies are encouraged (by allowance and payoff) to become even more problematic, and the timid are repeatedly overwhelmed and freaked out. 4/ this translates to the pushy ones being even more pushy/bratty and thus when on walks they become reactive because it feels good to do so and they’re used to doing what they want — and the timid ones become even more fearful and defensive, and thus reactive on walks because they’re so scared, and are used to not being able to keep themselves safe.

The upshot? These environments encourage the bullies to become bigger bullies, and the fearful to become more fearful. So you create a vicious cycle where one kind of dog learns to enjoy bullying and the other loses their trust in other dogs. And just to be clear, you can have less pushy dogs who will become more so simply by experiencing the thrill of doing so. And you can have dogs who aren’t timid but are more sensitive who become fearful simply because they’ve experienced nasty, traumatic interactions repeatedly.

It doesn’t take a genius to see how if we encourage and allow these negative interactions repeatedly, building bullies and creating defensive softer dogs, that this behavior is inevitably going to surface on walks.

4/ You. You can have a dog who’s never had any on leash meetings, never been to daycare, and never been to a dog park, and absolutely still have serious reactivity issues. How? Through a permissive, unaccountable, leadership-free overall lifestyle and walk. Just by allowing dogs to behave in a fashion which is chaotic, pushy, bratty, disrespectful — or chaotic, nervous, worried, fearful — this leadership gap we create invites all manner of poor choices. Without the proper guidance, many dogs will slide into serious reactivity problems simply because no one has taught them how to properly respond to seeing other dogs. And a proper response, regardless of your dog’s personality (pushy and confident, or soft and insecure) should be a neutral one. But that only comes when owners step up, take the lead, and show their dog’s how to properly respond.

PS, even if you’ve done 1-3 and have unwittingly created reactivity issues, you absolutely can reverse these problems by tackling number 4 properly — by properly leading your dog. We do it all the time. But it’s far easier if you skip 1-3 and just do number 4 correctly.

01/14/2025

For all those owners who allow their dogs to meet people and other dogs when they’re out and about and don’t know why their dogs go bananas when they see a person or dog, I hope this helps.

Dogs are amazing pattern readers, and easily become conditioned that something occurring predicts another thing occurring if it happens often enough. It’s why picking up your car keys, or walking towards the cupboard where their food is, or picking up their leash, or packing your suitcase, or answering the door after the doorbell goes off — causes an intense reaction.

It could be excitement, it could be anxiety, it could be sadness, it could be anything depending on what the “signal” predicts, and how your dog feels about it.

Same goes for your dog who is allowed to meet random people and dogs — and who takes great pleasure in it. If this sequence occurs often enough, it will begin to condition your dog to view people as a visual signal that predicts a party/arousal/intense emotional escalation.

You end up turning people and dogs into “doorbells”.

This is why you’ll hear almost all experienced trainers not engaging in this activity. (Of course there’s other considerations like creating negative outcomes from these interactions, but that’s a post for another day.) Most trainers, and astute owners are keenly aware that if this meet and greet activity is practiced enough, you’re going to have a dog who is struggling to hold it together when they see people and dogs — because you’ve conditioned your dog that the appearance of people or dogs predicts craziness.

Of course there are exceptions. (There are always exceptions.) There are chilled out, lowkey dogs who enjoy these interactions but who don’t lose it. And there are owners who only do this on rare occasions — and so the reactions are far less intense. But if you do this on the regular, and you have a dog who loses its sh*t when it occurs, you’re almost certainly setting you and your dog up for a lifetime of overly-aroused, reactive nuttiness when people and dogs come into the picture.

And if you don’t enjoy the behavior this creates in your dog, then I’d highly advise you change your approach, or at the very least, minimize it greatly. A doorbell that only predicts someone at the door 5-10% of the time is a far less insanity-inducing doorbell, so perhaps you can adjust your dog’s predictive powers by making things far less predictable. :)

01/03/2025

If you are interested in the amazing game of scent detection with your dog
Think narcotics dogs (but we train the dogs on a different odour 😁)

I have a workshop
Intro to Scent Detection
Sat 11th January

You MUST register with myself or Gas City Dog Club as there are limited spots

The workshop is a prerequisite to Scent Detection Classes

The classes are for fun or competition.
I use the SDDA odours
I also run DSDL league

01/03/2025

A new class of "Good Boy"
Starts Weds Jan 8th 6pm
Please register at Gas City Dog Club

Please note there will be no off or on leash interaction between dogs

The class consists of fun games to build skills to keep your dog calm and engaged with you and you to your wonderful companion

Where you and your good boy(girl) enjoy each other's company and have a beautiful bond

12/31/2024

Poisoned Praise

Lately I've been pondering experienced handlers who seem to be doing all the right things -enthusiastic markers, good technical personal play concepts, no obvious or heavy-handed corrections, good core training techniques- yet have dogs having a hard time.

From dogs who shut down to dogs who look bored to dogs that start to view the games we play with them as chores to slog through.

I'm not stranger to this myself. So what gives?

I believe a large factor (if not the largest factor) is poisoned praise. That although we've done all the right technical mumbo jumbo, that our dog doesn't believe our praise. Somewhere along the line we've poisoned it.

How? It comes in many forms, but these are the most common versions I see -and almost always there is a large combination of elements at play.

1) Frustrated handlers dealing out frustrated praise. We are trying to pass off a lie and they know it. If our praise feels like cloaked frustration, that's the end emotional result.

2) Drilling Skills. For all but a few dogs repetition kills enjoyment yet many of us continue to train and train and train to get something "right".

3) Focusing on Specific Skills too Early. Before we can truly get skill we need attitude, teamwork and communication. Many experienced handlers want to rush into skills. If you don't allow the dog to cultivate desire first, you're gonna have a heck of a time getting a great performance.

4) Obligatory Praise. As handlers we know we should reward our dogs. However if praise, treats or tug feels like a chore to the handler, the dog feels that in the communication. Just another chore on the training front today. Thanks.

5) Praise is Pressure. I could write a whole post on the topic, but in a nutshell as we advance skill sets praise comes with a level of pressure. When we earn an A on a paper we feel we should be able to earn similar again. Less than an A can make us feel defeated, even if we weren't prepared adequately. If we keep pushing the envelope on skills, sooner or later you are going to find a dog who has some level of pressure stress. Where pressure lives desire and joy get worn away. Couple this with the fact that there is handler pressure too and the dog praises us with the wanted behavior, the team can quickly be dealing with a heck of a lot of pressure.

6) End Goals are Prioritized Over the Process. Especially for handlers well into their sports, there is a conscious or unconscious push towards the end goal -getting on that competition floor. It motivates you, but it often also takes you out of the moment when you train your dog. Plan away, but not being present with your dog is a very, very good way to create disconnect and make your praise seem hollow and fake. Don't go through the motions.

7) Making Mountains out of Molehills. People -experienced or not- have the very odd ability to find a single great session amazing while completely unravelling with one off session. We all have set-backs, but I promise just like a few great repetitions isn't actually as amazing as you think it is, nor is a couple of bad repetitions as detrimental as you may believe. What we communicate is what's going to hold water long term. You don't need to be super duper happy about the set-backs, but save your mental breakdowns for when you're not playing with your dog. Honestly, it's just dog sports. You're not curing cancer.

8) Not Taking Time to Play. Interact like you mean it. Play for the sake of playing. Quit training and have fun (a lot of handlers truly don't know how to mentally entwine the two). Build muscle memory for joy, desire, messy speed. You can refine it later. You obviously have the skills to teach "stuff". Now teach yourself to have enough fun that your dog believes you.

9) Quest for Perfection. We all want our dogs to do it right, but I promise the quickest way to strip desire in a dog is to make them go back and fix their work. God what a chore! Like a teacher over your shoulder telling you the moment you get something wrong. What a nag! Keep flow. Keep momentum. Keep speed. Keep desire. Those are way the heck harder to train anyway. Don't worry at some point you'll have enough steam in the tank to fix things, but until you actually have that, keep moving. Poor finish -keep moving! Missed a jump -keep running! You do not need to make it "right" all in the same session.

10) Time Lines. Deadlines create pressure. If we want X by Friday, unless it's already close to ready, I will need to strip desire in favor of simply "getting it done". There are times I may need to do such, but if more than 10% of my training is rushed, that rushed feeling is going to start to poison things. Rushing kills the process, which kills joy. Marie Kondo would feel we should throw it out.

If you think you may have poisoned your praise I encourage you to take a training break. A couple of weeks or even a couple of months. Enjoy your dog. Begin to grow a new praise system -one they believe and buy into. Allow them to show you how brilliant they are and have them believe it. Let them be cheeky.

When they have some fire in their soul, then you are ready to try again, going slow, relishing each session as two teammates who at the end of the day really enjoy time spent together.

12/14/2024

Walk with me; don’t just walk me. Slow down and see the world as I do. I know you’ve got things to do, places to be. But out here, with the ground beneath our feet and the sky above us, there’s a whole world worth noticing.
The autumn chill is in the air today, crisp and full of new smells. It’s different from yesterday, and different from the day before. Every day is new. The leaves crunch under my paws, and I stop to breathe in the rich, earthy scent of them. To you, it might just be a pile of leaves, but to me, it’s a story—one I can’t help but dive into, nose first.
There’s a squirrel somewhere nearby, I can sense it, darting up a tree, its tiny heart beating fast. And the wind carries whispers of things far away: a family cooking dinner, the trace of a cat that passed by early this morning, and the faint perfume of flowers holding on to their last bit of summer. It’s all here, swirling around us if you just take the time to notice.
You tug on the leash, eager to move on, and I can tell you’re thinking about something far away from here. But when we walk, truly walk, you and I can be in this moment together. Feel the cool air brush against your skin, let it wake you up. Notice how the sun filters through the branches, casting shadows that dance on the pavement. Hear the crunch of the leaves beneath our steps, like a secret rhythm just for us.
To you, it might be just another walk, a daily routine to tick off the list. But for me, every step is an adventure. Each scent is a clue, each sound a piece of a puzzle. When you walk with me, really walk with me, you’ll see it too. The world is bigger than what we’re rushing toward. It’s right here, in the small moments, in the quiet spaces between your thoughts.
So, slow down. Breathe. Let the chill fill your lungs and the colours fill your eyes. Walk with me, don’t just walk me. See the world as I do, if only for a little while. It’s all waiting for you, just beneath the surface.
❤️If you are a dog lover, please support the products from our store.Thank you ! 👇👇 👇https://www.nativewolfstore.com/tags/Dogs

12/14/2024

What can I do to help others? This is a question I try to ask myself when I'm out working with any dog.

We can have concerns for three parties when out with our dogs. Ourselves, our dog and the others (people and other dogs).

I am lucky enough to use the park you see in lots of my videos. It's a shared space for dog people and non dog people and our laws allow our dogs to be off lead.

Certain cultures and religions don't like dogs. I try to recognise this and move my dog to the side of the path when waking past a person of that culture.

I don't put my own dog in a position where he is unprepared. That can mean certain places may be off limits for us. I've worked with reactivity and aggression issues in dogs for over 20 years now in one way or the other. I don't put my dogs in a position where there is a high likelihood of off lead dogs coming into their space. My view is that thinking otherwise is entitled and ego drive (I have every right to be there thinking).

I was out with Sonny this week at the park. His social interactions with dogs are very good but he can be slightly over enthusiastic sometimes. I'll give two examples of how I considered others

1. A man with a tiny terrier puppy on an extending lead. His handling was harsh, pulling the dog on without consideration. I moved to the side to pass by. Yes, it was my "right" not to but if I had walked by closer, puppy would have approached and possibly been reprimanded. A small gift I was able to give the puppy.

2. A lovely papillon puppy approached us. Sonny acted completely appropriately, puppy thought better and retreated. I noticed this and called him away. Simple, effective care for everyone involved.

Runners and cyclists- move to the side to let them past and give them more space - if your inclined not to do it for them, do it for your dog.

I had a pleasant interaction with two ladies in their late 70s yesterday. Both had lost their dogs (i have seen the 4 of them for years at the park) and we talked about the grief of losing a dog. Sonny likes to lean against people when talking. I was aware of his size and strength against this woman's legs, needed to watch he didn't bump her over, so took some of his weight into the lead. All this took was a little observation and care.

The nursery schools use the park a lot. 25 three and 4 year olds walking in a chain. Move to the side, let them past.

The fitness in the park people. I watch for their patterns and give them space to work. I wave over at the instructor if I'm using them as a distraction for my dogs to say thanks. Both of us working in a shared space, neither of us having a sense of entitlement over space.

Two off lead dogs approach us (a bone of contention with a lot of people, and no, I'm not really interested in views on how annoying it is). Sonny dealt with them beautifully, but the boy dog didn't recall immediately so his human started shouting aggressively at him. The man was upset, would it have helped his dog or mine if i got angry too?

If you don't want someone petting your dog, tell them. If they don't listen, move if you can. And I think we should always be in the position to move in that situation or there's something wrong with our environmental awareness and planning of we can't. Yes, it agree, we "shouldn't" have to. But should or shouldn't isn't that relevant in real life much of the time. Move, help your dog, help that person out.

During covid I saw people's capacity to give others space markedly decrease, rather than increase. I think it was as a result of being told to give others space. It seems to have lasted, unfortunately.

Lastly. Should. Shouldn't. When I say or hear these words, they cause me to pause and check entitlement and ego. Yes, of course, people do let their off lead dogs approach your dog. Yes, of course, people want to pet your puppy after you've asked them not to. And they "shouldn't" but they do, do what are we going to actually do about it to help the situation?

This takes a shift in thinking and lots pr practice.

What other ways can you think of to help others when out with your dog? Let me know in the comments.

11/10/2024

Canine Physio appt available

Sat 23rd November

Lauren of Chinook Canine Rehab is
a physio that specializes in Canine Rehab or helping an aging dog be more comfortable and mobile

She comes to med hat once a month

Please pm for details

11/07/2024

This is an absolutely amazing lady to friend/follow
https://www.facebook.com/martha.hoffman2?mibextid=ZbWKwL

10/23/2024

Next 6wk class starts Weds 6th Nov 6pm

Please register through Gas City Dog Club

Any questions please pm me

10/21/2024

Sat Oct 26th 1-4

Freestyle Workshop (dance and tricks to music)

This workshop is super fun where we put a fun routine together

2 spots left

10/16/2024

We always appreciate new places to train and compete❤️

Open Your Doors to Scent Detection! Here at DSDL, we’re looking for facilities like yours to host our scent detection practice sessions. By allowing us to use your facility, you’ll help promote the sport of scent detection while bringing together a community of dog enthusiasts. Our well-trained ...

09/28/2024

I always enjoy starting dogs in Scent Detection❤️❤️❤️

17 dogs started today

They were all amazing

Next intro will be January

09/15/2024

Saturday's Scent Detection Murder Mystery was very popular
All monies raised combined with all monies from the tracking Intro workshop will go to Persian Deams early next week to help pay for Gordy's vet bills

Thank you all that participated and helped

Murder Mystery solved!
A young adult Golden Retriever by the name of Sir Humphrey who loved to hump chose the wrong dog with his shenanigans.
Sabra the English Shepherd.
The herder snapped and put chase to the sporting breed through 3 rooms she caught up with him and injected him with "Bye Bye Bow Wow" then she finished him off by drowning him in a bucket of water