I got asked recently why I don’t show a lot of reactivity training. Which was confusing, because I share a lot of reactivity training.
What I don’t show is dogs behaving reactively, or contrived setups where we ask dogs to look at or interact with a trigger.
If I’m getting staring, freezing, barking, or lunging in a training scenario, I’ve messed up.
This is what I want to see reactive dogs doing instead! Noticing and dismissing to return to more desirable behaviours. Without having their hand held.
Louie just graduated from the Frantic to Focused program. One of his biggest problem behaviours was barking and lunging at other dogs. And he is a complicated guy, with some big worries, and some complex health problems that affect his behaviour. This ability to look, dismiss, and choose to do something more fruitful is the result of meeting his needs, building the trust and relationship between him and his people, and using smart reinforcement not just to teach him to not bark, but to make better choices on his own.
And not only is he able to make good choices around dogs, he even had two off leash dogs charge up to him and his mum, and they both handled it beautifully. All of his family’s hard work paid off!
Puppies get worried, it's not an emergency but it is important to listen to them.
Making a big deal by throwing all the food and games and happy voices at them can actually make it worse, as can completely ignoring them or just forcing them to continue on.
We took the time to learn about the geese together, and today when we saw them again he watched a little bit, and then dismissed them.
Especially with a puppy like Hutch, who has not had enough good experiences in their lives, I want to make sure they feel heard when they're concerned about something.
If he was panicking or showing behaviours I really don't want to see, I would have gently asked him to create some distance with me until he was able to be more successful, but this was lovely.
Hutch (aka Hutchington, Puppynut, Baby Dog) had his first "Walking Beside Humans for Fun and Profit" lesson today.
He's still mostly made of jello, but he's getting stronger every day. And he still has the normal puppy problem of not knowing where his feet are, I'm very sure he's gotten taller!
Most of my dogs' time is off leash or the longest long line I can safely manage, but I find a relaxed, attentive heel a very useful skill. Skills like this are important for navigating the world safely and confidently, with as little conflict as possible.
He is still looking for his forever home, and personally I think Hutch would be adorable in the rally ring. Those white toes make for the cutest heel.
Hutch, who is mostly being referred to as "the baby" right now, had his first Nosework experience last night!
Considering that Saturday he was biting and jumping everyone he met, barely eating and barely responding to his name, I'm very proud of him. He's doing amazing!
Shelley from CairnHeart K9 Training is such a great teacher and trainer, and gave Hutch such a good experience!
I'm very impressed with how he did with the whole experience. He walked on a loose leash, ate food the whole time, waited nicely at all the doors and gates, and was sweet and appropriate with all the people he got to meet!
Whoever his forever home turns out to be is so lucky!
Happy New Year, everyone!
We are back, and ready to hit the ground running in true high drive dog fashion!
We've got a few exciting things cooking for this year, can't wait to share them with you!
My inbox HAS died of exhaustion though, so hang tight!
This is a “moments before disaster” video.
On Friday, Biscuit had what he pretty clearly considered a near death experience with another dog. Long story short, we stumbled upon what seemed to be a reactivity setup, and Biscuit thought the demo dog was an immediate threat to his safety. He fully lost his brain, wouldn’t take food, wouldn’t walk with me, was not responding to cues, had to keep staring at the dog, even when we were way far away and had a huge visual barrier. I ended up just picking him up and carrying him back to the car. Notably, he didn’t bark or squeal.
Now Biscuit is an extremely good judge of other dogs, and also of how “on top of it” handlers are. I trust his judgement, even though my human senses didn’t pick up on much out of the ordinary. He is not a dog I would label reactive, but he’s also not the kind of dog who just goes about his life ignoring others. He’s also been attacked multiple times.
The first dog he saw in this video was a little maltipoo type, who was on two legs and straining on the leash at him. Notice the lip lick. Fair enough, I would also not love some dude behaving like that in public. He dismisses it, which is great, that dismissal got reinforced.
THEN he sees the worrisome dog. Notice how long he looks vs the first one. That high trot, head up to get a good look. He stiffens as he moves. And when he gets a good look there’s a really clear “aw hell no” moment, which I MISSED, because I was NOT PAYING CLOSE ENOUGH ATTENTION! (let that be a lesson!)
He glances at the other dog, then returns to me. Interestingly, with the first dog he dismissed it and went back to trotting and sniffing before I fed him (deliberate timing choice on my part.) With the second dog he immediately reports it to me.
Note the ears, the wide eye, the tightness in the spine, the tightness in his mouth. He eats food here because eating is a very robust behaviour for him, and he wasn’t yet in an extreme stress response
Let's talk about misrepresentation of dog breeds on the internet!
As a second generation NSDTR person, and as a behaviour consultant who exclusively works with high energy and high drive dogs, there are two specific kinds of posts that just make me slightly incensed.
The first is "you should totally buy a pudelpointer look how lovely and sweet they are! Like a doodle but cooler and more unique!" (I am literally begging you not to go get a pudelpointer if you want a doodle. Begging. On my knees.)
The second is "YOU CANNOT HANDLE A BEAUCERON BECAUSE ONLY THE MOST HARDCORE PEOPLE CAN DO THEM JUSTICE!!"
Post type A obfuscates the very real challenges a breed may present. No one dog breed is for every home, and misrepresenting them only does the few breeders in it to make money any good.
Misrepresenting breeds by glossing over the things that make them challenging, painting their downsides as actual selling points, and trying to talk them up at the expense of the truth, is actively harmful. It's harmful to pet owners who are just trying to do their best, and it's harmful to the dogs.
I know this because this is the number two reason people cry in their consults with me. They thought they were getting [social media representation of dog], they ended up with [the actual dog].*
Stop doing it.
Post type B apparently is trying to scare people off of whatever breed they're talking about, but actually just makes them sound really really cool. It has the exact opposite effect of what we want, and I personally think it's a big factor in creating the dudes who think the only dog training that matters is training a malinois. (Mals are relatively easy, CMV)
We want to talk about and share our dogs on social media. I'm not saying not to do that.
Just be honest. Being honest is not hard. Talk about the things you love, talk about the things that suck. It might go viral less, but that's less important than doing right by the dogs.
I love tollers more than pretty much anythi
This original video is about twice this long, there's a whole lot of deflecting and thinking I had to trim down.
"Hyper but actually fearful" is the "HPRs in Frantic to Focused" story. So often these guys show anxiety, pain, fear and even full on aggression in a way we don't expect them to. But when we pull back the layers, really slow them down and observe their behaviour, we see it.
Lila is a baby baby baby, and the world is very new and overwhelming for such a sensitive soul. Luckily she's got her mum helping her learn it's safe!
I've had this conversation about 5 times in the past two weeks. So if you need to hear it, you're doing good, okay?
"all spaniels are like that"
Scout has been one of the most interesting, intellectually challenging, and rewarding cases I've worked on. His mum Michelle reached out after having a nightmare of a time after they moved to the countryside and his brain completely melted.
We're talking screaming, injuring his mum lunging on leash, bolting off on walks and disappearing for ages, the works.
Scout has a complex history of early puppyhood trauma, dog/dog reactivity, guarding, and hyperactivity.
So much of what was taken as "just high drive", or "just a gundog/spaniel" was really his anxieties and internal disregulation coming out in frantic and frenetic behaviour.
Over the past several months we have steadily peeled back the layers and have learned so much about this truly amazing dog. He is so very special, and it's been incredibly rewarding to see his sweet, loving personality start to shine.
Frantic and frenetic behaviour, even in breeds known to be busy, is a red flag. Hyperactivity is a behaviour problem just like fear and aggression. (Also, it's often actually fear or anxiety or aggression presenting in a different way).
Scout's mum has poured her heart into him, and has made just staggering progress with him. Watching them work together now is a privilege, they have a very special bond and their communication is so intuitive and nuanced.
It's time we listened to dogs like Scout better.
This is me getting Biscuit ready to go in the group ring yesterday. Does he look anxious?
No. He doesn't. Since returning to the show ring with him as an adult, he has consistently gotten comments from judges and other competitors about how happy he is and how much he loves showing.
Me however? ANXIOUS. VERY ANXIOUS.
Conformation showing is a huge anxiety trigger for me. It's BAD. But you'd never know it by looking at the dog, or at how I am when I'm handling him.
I absolutely despise the phrase "anxiety travels down the leash". It doesn't.
As a trainer, I work with a lot of people with high anxiety and perfectionism. I can't tell you how many times a client has asked me if they caused their dog's anxiety by being anxious themself. Often they have been told as much by other people.
The shame and self blame can be debilitating.
In my experience, just feeling anxious does not produce anxiety in the dog.
But some behaviours associated with being anxious CAN. Micromanaging, being frazzled and inconsistent, dropping treats and gear, being irritable.
Instead of blaming anxious people, we can help them build skills and strategies to set themselves up for success, and skills and strategies to deal with the moments when their anxiety is affecting their dog handling skills.
(Shout-out to Adam from Flash of Brilliance Pet Training for their seminar on ready to work skills which has some great content for anxious handlers!)
Force free means force free for ALL learners.
Are stop cues better than recalls?
So there's a problem with recalls. A few actually.
Every time you recall your dog, you're punishing them. You're taking away something valuable: access to the environment.
And then there's a social interaction. Come eat food from my hand. We always want to touch them, talk to them. Maybe adjust their harness (omfg my kingdom for a harness both me and Biscuit actually like)
This is a huge problem with really environmentally focused dogs. Especially dogs who really want to be out in front exploring (hounds, gundogs).
We can build in a lot of conflict into our recalls, and they can be extremely difficult to build and maintain!
Stop whistles? None of that.
Sit your butt, chase a reinforcer, keep going. Simple.
Sometimes you need the dog to come back. Often, you just need the dog to be able to be directed. An emergency stop gives you an opportunity to cue them to take a certain path, switch direction, or wait until a hazard is gone.
(One time there was a skunk between me and the dogs. You bet I was grateful for a solid stop cue there!)
Or really, what's the point?
Quick question:
What do you think is harder on his joints?
The free throw or the marked retrieve?
This is Your Dog on Fear Free Grooming.
Percy has every reason to hate it. He has a big coat that tangles if you look at it funny, he's got a serious injury that makes it painful to be handled sometimes and makes standing hard. He's had to have invasive medical procedures without sedation. He has other health problems that affect his skin and coat, sometimes quite severely.
But still, this is what I walked in on picking him up from Markeydas Pet Grooming on Friday. The happiest collie, feeling fresh and so excited to show everyone the unicorn toy!
Over the years I have seen so many dogs shaking in fear, being dragged into a grooming shop, biting, howling and screaming. I've seen dogs being physically abused by certain groomers and their fears ignored and dismissed by their guardians. It doesn't have to be that way.
How did we get Percy here? Training. Early socialization to grooming. Listening to him when he taps out. A skilled fear free groomer that is set up to work for the dogs, not against them. Skillful and compassionate handling. Not letting his coat become a disaster between grooms. Valuing his health over how he looks.
Grooming can be safe.
Percy's fear free groom
Percy before and after his fear free grooming at Markeydas Pet Grooming in Langley BC
The pet industry is unregluated, and grooming can be stressful. Look for further certifications like Fear Free or Low Stress Handling and continuing education in animal behaviour.
Percy's groom was able to be done in an hour, really important for a sensitive guy with multiple physical limitations. And he was relaxed and happy when I arrived and after we got home! A great experience overall
A well trained recall allows our dogs to have time to be dogs, safely. What does your dogs' recall allow them to enjoy? Tell us in the comments! ⬇️
Safe(r) alternative to fetch
