Pressure and Release - Loose Leash Walking
I made this video for our fosters over at Pawsitively Furever and figured I’d share it here as well! I’ve been meaning to post more videos for a long time, but I’m extremely camera shy, so it’s been a huge challenge to post anything I make 😅 This is one of my favourite methods for teaching loose leash walking because it’s simple, and you don’t necessarily need a food reward to reinforce the behaviour. It uses a combination of your dog’s natural instinct to release pressure, as well as using their daily walk as reinforcement for the behaviour
Winston is 7 months old now, so I’m starting to test out giving him some new privileges. Those privileges may or may not be short lived 😂
One thing I’ve learned about livestock guardian breeds since bringing Winston (believed to be a mostly Saint Bernard/Anatolian Shepherd mix) home is that they are often more active during the night. This is in part because dogs have a different sleep cycle than humans, and actually will often wake up during the night for extended periods of time, but for LSGs specifically it connects to the reason they were bred. These XL dogs are used primarily to protect livestock from predators. Because these predators are often active at night, these dogs need to be somewhat active at night to do their job properly.
For the last month, Winston has been struggling with sleeping through the night. Almost every night, he will start barking around midnight and ask to go outside for the sole purpose of “patrolling” our backyard. It’s almost like he just wants to go out and make sure there aren’t any predators nearby, and then he comes back in and will go back to sleep for the rest of the night. While it’s extremely frustrating for me to have to get up in the middle of the night (especially since I have a sleep disorder), he’s just doing what he is genetically predisposed to do. Somewhere along the line, he’s figured out it’s his job to keep us safe from any potential threats, even in the middle of the night.
How do you manage a behaviour that is caused by a genetic predisposition? You work WITH it instead of against it!
I tried for weeks to get him to sleep through the night. I tried ignoring him. I tried conditioning to the ecollar. I tried begging and pleading with him to PLEASE just be quiet and stop barking. But of course, none of that worked. So tonight we’re trying something new. Instead of trying to get him to ignore his instincts, I’m letting him have free range of my apartment so he can “patrol,” or at
Let’s talk body language for a second. I know, I know - it’s the hot topic of the week. But it’s also extremely important, so it’s definitely worth repeating. In my reactive group classes, one of the first exercises I do is ask my clients what warning signs they notice in their dog before they react. Most times they have a really hard time pin pointing specific body language or signals, especially if their dog has long hair or floppy ears that make it more difficult to read. So then their homework becomes really focusing on what they are noticing about their dogs before the moment they react. Nine times out of ten, they quickly realize that what they thought was a dog that gives “no warnings” actually IS doing a lot of communicating about their discomfort before they start getting loud. Take Luna for an example. When she was dropped off, I asked her previous owners what type of signs they noticed before some of her major behaviour issues showed up. They told me she “got really quiet,” but other than that “didn’t show any warning.” But if you watch Luna closely - even in this short video clip - you can see her engaging in avoidance behaviours to communicate that she’s uncomfortable. When Poppy gets too close, or turns to engage, Luna turns her body away or does a u-turn to come back behind me. This is her way of telling Poppy she needs space. Because I paid attention to those subtle cues, Luna hasn’t felt the need to react since she’s been here. Is the problem completely solved? No. But it’s being managed in a way that is building her comfort level and tolerance for co-existing with other dogs. Sometimes it’s not about the big flashy training methods or how quickly we can get our dogs to “enjoy” the company of other dogs. Sometimes it’s about giving them the space they need to feel safe so they can start expanding their circle of comfort ❤️
Luna
🌙Pawsitively Furever Luna🌙Luna stopped by the Empower dog house for some training this week, and she’s doing amazing! For Luna is just for me to get to know her, and give her time to decompress as she’s coming into foster care. Luna’s life has lacked consistency, so I’m taking my observations this week with a grain of salt and keeping in mind that her behaviour will likely change as she settles in with her new fosters. Today we kept it simple and practiced some dog interactions outside. Luna’s previous owners told us she’s reactive towards other dogs, so for safety it’s important for me to know what sets her off and how she responds in different situations. So far, she seems to mostly ignore other dogs while outside, but inside she becomes fearful and reactive. This fits with a pattern I’ve been noticing with her about how she responds when she feels trapped or threatened. If she has a way to remove herself from something that scares her, she will display avoidance behaviour, but if she feels trapped and like she can’t get away she will switch to “fight” mode, which is mostly just growling, lifting her lips, and air snapping. I’m so excited to see the progress this girl is going to make ❤️
Your daily reminder that dog training isn’t always fancy tricks and impressive obedience - sometimes it’s about supporting your dog and helping them work through something challenging!
Poppy is a very bouncy dog - one of the things she’s best known for is his crazy zoomies! While this quality does help her from a skills perspective of being able to engage in different tricks - like rebound - her confidence doesn’t always match her enthusiasm. What makes things even more challenging is that she is a dog who does not like to repeat herself, meaning our training sessions have to stay short to prevent her from getting sloppy and disengaging in whatever I’m trying to teach her.
Our job in training can be compared to a personal trainer at the gym - we’re here to show them what to do, encourage them, and be a spotter to make sure they don’t get injured. Things aren’t always perfect, but as long as you keep it fun and engaging you’re on the right track.
Keeping it Fun
Your daily reminder that dog training isn’t always fancy tricks and impressive obedience - sometimes it’s about supporting your dog and helping them work through something challenging!
Poppy is a very bouncy dog - one of the things she’s best known for is his crazy zoomies! While this quality does help her from a skills perspective of being able to engage in different tricks - like rebound - her confidence doesn’t always match her enthusiasm. What makes things even more challenging is that she is a dog who does not like to repeat herself, meaning our training sessions have to stay short to prevent her from getting sloppy and disengaging in whatever I’m trying to teach her.
Our job in training can be compared to a personal trainer at the gym - we’re here to show them what to do, encourage them, and be a spotter to make sure they don’t get injured. Things aren’t always perfect, but as long as you keep it fun and engaging you’re on the right track.
Exciting news for the Empower community! 🙌
I have a TON of ideas (so many I can barely decide what to do first!), but if anyone has any requests for classes please let me know.
I will definitely be running at least one basic obedience/puppy class and a class for reactive dogs, but any and all requests are welcome. I still have some paper work to do before classes can start, but I’m so excited for this opportunity!
We Like to Party
We had a great time out on our pack walk today - and Alda joined us for the very first time! We walked all the way from Waterloo Square to Kitchener City Hall - that’s about 5km and took us about 2 hours!
Pack walks are a great option for socializing dogs and teaching neutrality, and I’m so glad to be a part of two awesome groups where we can meet up and just hang out with our dogs!
It’s finally sweater weather!
Good luck to all the puppy parents out there as the seasons change! Remeber that it’s completely normal to see a regression in your dog’s behaviour this time of year - all the leaves and new smells are a huge distraction, especially if this is their first or second fall.
Gotta Go Fast
Poppy could give Sonic the hedgehog a run for his money! We had all the agility equipment out for class today, but the only thing she was interested in was the tunnel 😂
Poppy has zero interest in balls, so we don’t do flyball - but that won’t stop us from awkwardly practicing our box turns 😂
