Gold Canine

07/27/2024

Friday! A study done on street dogs in India (Majumder et al., 2014) reveals what dogs do all day without the influence of humans.

A simplified takeaway:

🐕 Over 50% of the day was spent being inactive.

🐕 48% of active time was spent walking. Chasing a potential prey was only seen twice. Researchers did not actually witness any dogs killing another animal so the intent of the chase is unknown.

🐕 Just under 50% of the remaining active time was spent directly interacting with others. 85% of those interactions were with other dogs.

🐕 Being in the presence of others did not always mean they were directly interacting.

It's easy to see how the lives of our captive dogs are much, much different than what might come naturally!

You can read a more in-depth explanation on our blog below!

https://www.mindfulmethodstraining.com/blog/fish-out-of-water

02/27/2024

Remember Lulu? After only a couple months of consistency (1-2 hours / week of leash training) this is how her walking has progressed. Lulu still requires a large amount of reinforcement and patience and is working with low level distractions but has come a long way from the dog who caused her owner a very serious injury back in December. Good job Lulu!

12/19/2023

12/14/2023

Welcome to Lulu who is working on her loose leash walking skills after causing a serious injury to her owner from her darting and pulling on leash. This video is only from our third (😱) session working together. Lulu has already gone from 0 manners on lead to having a good basic understanding of leash pressure and walking politely.

12/12/2023

This is something I often hear. We don’t want to limit window access because our dog enjoys sitting and watching the world go by from their window.

While there certainly are dogs who can window watch and remain relaxed, many dogs who window watch will then bark, growl or lunge at the window. This behaviour is reinforced every time the person, dog or other trigger leaves (even though they were going to leave eventually regardless).

This becomes especially problematic if you have a dog who already struggles with reactivity, fear, anxiety or aggression. Not only does the window watching provide an opportunity to practice undesirable behaviour, but your dog is going to be very worked up by the time they go out on a walk or encounter a trigger in another context. As you can imagine, this does not set them up for success. Even if your dog doesn’t bark or growl, keep an eye on body language, as even fixating or stressing while window watching can contribute to this trigger stacking effect.

Remember that not all exposure is created equal. We can expose your dog to the things that scare or trigger them, but let’s do it in a scenario where they can be successful. Otherwise, window film, curtains and gates exist and should be used to prevent window watching, if it’s problematic for your dog.

12/11/2023

Gold Canine is now offering virtual dog training. Access our knowledge from the comfort of your own home, wherever that may be, at affordable prices.

12/08/2023

📝 Reminder:

you can (and should) have a life outside of caring for your dog's needs!

You are absolutely still a great dog guardian if you sometimes do things entirely for yourself.

Don't skip the office Christmas party if you really want to go.
Go to the holiday parade for a couple hours.
Attend your friend's gift exchange.

Do not miss out on activities this holiday season - and don't feel guilty about it either.

Your dog needs you to be the best version of yourself and that means doing things that fulfill *your* needs.

What allowances are you going to make for yourself this holiday season?

💌 SHARE this with someone who needs this affirmation!

💚 And follow .plus.dogs for mental health tips for your dog - and you!

12/06/2023

I NOSE WHAT TIME IT IS!

Dogs just seem to know when it’s time for food, time for a walk or even what time we’re expected to come home, sometimes down to the exact minute!

Yes, they may simply know this from daily routines that create predictable patterns or certain cues that predict certain events, but there is far more to this ability to tell time than the obvious reasons.

One theory is that time has a particular smell. Different times of the day smell differently. Morning smells differently to afternoon or evening.

As air heats up over the course of the day, air currents change and move around, carrying molecules of different odours with it.

These changes become predictable and a dog’s incredible sense of smell enables these odours to become their “clock”.

One example is when you leave the house to go to work, leaving a strong scent behind you. As time passes, your scent becomes weaker.

Dogs predict that when your scent becomes weakened to a certain level, it’s time for you to come home.

The level of your scent predicts the time. As dogs can detect both strong and weak scents and all of the levels in between, it means that they are actually interpreting events across an interval of time.

Another way dogs may tell time is through circadian rhythms. Just like us, dogs have fluctuations in systems like hormone levels, neural activity or body temperature and these rhythms may help them to understand the approximate time of day - just like when our stomach starts growling when it’s nearly time for dinner or we feel tired when it's time for bed.

Dogs are not the only species that can interpret time. Animals that migrate or hibernate follow seasonal cues from nature in the form of daylight and temperature to know when the time is right.

Having hundreds of millions more scent receptors than us, a dog’s amazing ability to smell is likely the reason that dogs just "nose" what time it is.

11/13/2023

It's so very important when training to remember to reward, or mark, each time your dog does it "right." Even if it's not perfect, let them know they're on the right track! This picture helps us realize just how important this is.

11/06/2023

To my valued clients and friends,

As some of you may have already heard, it is with a heavy heart that I inform you that Gold Canine will be discontinuing in person services on November 24th as we will be moving provinces.

While this move has come suddenly for us (we ourselves only found out mid last week), it is a change that we have been slowly working towards for some time. Moving is bittersweet, while I am very excited for this new chapter it also means leaving behind each and every one of you and your pups. If I could take you all with me, I would.

Unfortunately, at this time I do not have an alternative company or person to recommend for dog walking or backyard cleanup locally. For any of my training clients, MJ at My Girl Friday - Dog Training in Waterloo or Christina at Be Well Dog Behaviour & Training in Woodstock, are both wonderful, force free/fear free training options.

In person services will continue as normal until they cease on November 24th. If you have any questions or concerns, or wish to discontinue services earlier than the 24th please feel free to reach out. I am happy to answer any and all questions you might have.

It has been great working with all of you and I hope you'll stay in touch. After all, with this glorious internet business I am only an email away!

Miranda Wettlaufer | Force Free, R+, Canine Educator | Gold Canine

11/02/2023

Thursday’s furry feature’s 🥰

10/26/2023

Today’s adorable client’s enjoying some fall fun 🍂🍁

10/26/2023

I Ain't Misbehavin'… I’m just misunderstood

What we often think of as misbehaviour is often just a dog behaving like a dog naturally does.

We expect so much of our dogs when we bring them into our lives, forgetting that they are a different species that doesn’t interact with the world in the same way that we do.

We hold them captive in a confined, unnatural space and become frustrated when they don’t behave the way we expect them to.

We become frustrated when our dogs don’t walk nicely on a lead, don’t get on with every other dog or person they meet, steal food from counter tops, don’t give things back, guard resources, dig, chew or destroy what they shouldn’t, bark, howl or whine too much etc.

We need to replace our frustration and our need to train away or fix unwanted behaviour with understanding and patience.

Understanding that dogs naturally behave in a certain way and patience in guiding them to learn a different behaviour using force free, positive reinforcement methods or by better managing their environment.

Providing outlets to engage in natural behaviour, providing mental, physical and social stimulation and understanding why dogs behave the way they do will make a huge difference to their lives.

One of the greatest gifts we can give our dogs is our understanding.

10/21/2023

Such an important cue to have- whatever words you use make sure your dog knows what they mean and how to respond.

10/18/2023

How cute is she? 🥰

10/12/2023

DISTANCE ASSISTANCE
It’s not easy having a reactive dog. As much as we may feel frustrated, restricted, angry or even ashamed or embarrassed, our reactive dogs are also experiencing a range of negative emotions when they react to something that triggers them.

This reaction is usually caused by anxiety, fear, feeling threatened or frustrated.

These emotions cause high levels of stress and stress prevents both us and our dogs from being able to process information, think clearly or learn a different, more acceptable way of reacting to whatever triggers us.

This is why creating enough distance is so important.

I’m really scared of snakes and even struggle to look at them. The only thing I want to do is run away and create as much distance as possible.

If someone was restraining me, forcing me to sit down and look at the snake while trying to feed me my favourite chocolate (or any type of chocolate!), telling me there was nothing to worry about or trying to educate me about the specific species, it would do nothing to alleviate my fear and would only increase my stress levels.

Doing this at a sufficient distance, where I felt safe would be far more effective and my stress levels would be much lower. I may even eat the entire slab of chocolate!

In time, with patience and practice, I may even be able to get much closer to the snake without having a negative reaction.

The same principle applies to reactive dogs. Creating sufficient distance where they can see the trigger but still feel safe, comfortable and don’t react is the best way of helping them to cope with their feelings.

Some dogs (and people) may never be able to decrease that distance and that’s also okay.

Accept your dog for the unique individual they are, work on the things you can change and accept the things you can’t.

10/12/2023