Barking Glad Dog Training - by Janet Ilett

25/06/2024

Today I've been working with gorgeous puppy Alfie and his humans. His owners are doing a splendid job with him, building his confidence and trust.
We did some recall, some proximity games and some engagement exercises. He's a clever boy!

06/06/2024

Today I've been working with this beauty and his human.
Impulse control exercises to help him remain calm when his human returns home.

30/05/2024

Meet gorgeous puppy Winnie..So cute I had to share 2 photos!
We had a session on learning about how to tackle all the typical puppy behaviours. Her humans are doing a brilliant job.

27/05/2024

All set up at Glentawe Riverside Park, Pontardawe.
Come along and say hello.
Bring your dog training questions.

26/05/2024

Most dogs LOVE Liver Cake.
Here's an easy recipe:

1kg Liver
4 eggs
400g wholemeal flour

In a food processor blend the liver and eggs until it is the consistency of a smoothie.
Put it into a mixing bowl with the flour and mix well.
Transfer the mixture into a cake tin and bake on 175° fan oven for one hour.
When it's cold cut it jnto small pieces. Freezable.
Much, much cheaper than shop bought treats and with no artificial ingredients.
Ideal for high quality treats when training your dog.

15/05/2024

Stress
Does your dog sleep with one eye open?
Is she on high alert on a walk, always looking over her shoulder, not sniffing much?
Is she reactive towards people, cyclists, other dogs? All of these are signs your dog is not relaxed.
If your dog is anxious or stressed, the stress hormones in their body will be higher than normal. It can take 72 hours for the stress levels to go back down to normal and this only happens if there are no more stressful incidents for your dog. Each stressful incident tops up the stress hormone.
To help dogs with these issues it's important to bring their stress levels down.
They need to feel safe and to be treated with care and understanding. Punishing a dog for these reactions won't help, as their behaviour is being driven by their emotional state.
Get to the root of the cause and work with an ethical, force free trainer to help the dog feel more confident in her environment. Once she's more confident, you'll notice how much more relaxed she is. And her humans will be too.

14/05/2024

Beautiful little Lottie. Only 17 weeks old and smashing the recall training at the park today. She's going to sleep well tonight! 😁

13/05/2024

09/05/2024

This morning I met gorgeous Lily and her human. We did a training session on loose lead walking, reducing excitement when visitors come to the house and how to help Lily disengage with other dogs.
Her and her human aced the training session.

08/05/2024

I've been working with these two beauties and their human.
They needed a bit of help with feeling more relaxed when other dogs are nearby, help with being calmer when the owner arrives and learning to be comfortable when the owner goes out.

14/11/2023

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/apply-for-a-certificate-of-exemption-to-keep-an-xl-bully-dog?fbclid=IwAR2QIayyGeLX6kG_hGpibMzmSbOZbdFm8UtCF5zUYRkS9kZH-Ibvq_a0OW4

Use this service to apply for a Certificate of Exemption to keep XL Bully dogs.

03/11/2023

Getting your dog to settle...
Have you ever done a zumba class or a 5k run? I bet afterwards you were pumped up and raring to go... It's similar with dogs... If you want your dog to settle and go to sleep while you are out, a slow, relaxed sniffing walk promotes calm. A crazy, ball chasing running walk doesn't. It promotes a wide awake, pumped up dog. There's a time and a place for both types of walk.

01/11/2023

This fabulous raw food company right on our doorstep. My dog loves it!
For this month I've bought her:
Salmon & chicken
Salmon and tripe
Lamb and beef
Chicken
Tripe

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100092195125206

We are a new raw pet food company that specializes in the production and distribution of raw dog food

24/10/2023

Let's talk about fireworks as they've already started.
First of all, if your dog is afraid, go ahead and comfort him/her. This is the right thing to do. (You may have heard that comforting a fearful dog will reinforce his fear - it won't because you can't reinforce emotions. Fear is an emotion).
There are many things that may help such as:
Having the TV radio on. Alexa has a soundtrack for dogs or try radio 4 (mainly talking) or classic fm.
Using a plug-in calming plug available from pet shops or vets. Or a calming collar.
Putting your dog in a thunder vest.
Make your dog a den.
Give them a long, long, long lasting yummy chew or a frozen stuffed Kong or two.
Your vet may prescribe medication if you think your dog would benefit.
To get ready for New Year fireworks, start a desensitising plan now to help your dog feel better about fireworks (and thunder, sirens, etc).
You really can desensitise your dog to fireworks, but it takes time.
Reassurance to a frightened dog builds a good relationship and trust.

30/09/2023

Congratulations to Tess and her human Laura for passing the test to become a Therapy dog with Therapy Dog Training UK.
What a fabulous team you are.

16/09/2023

Interesting and shocking reading. If this is true of XL Bullies, it will be true for many other breeds!

https://bullywatch.link/2023/08/01/finding-kimbo/?fbclid=IwAR2vctlV7k6uP8ODLoVBOyxCeoYLZwzxmE5b4xNovjG25Z9YvJO68x6UFos

At Bully Watch, we began delving into the pedigrees—essentially, the family trees—of dogs from the most well-known Bully XL kennels across the UK. Our investigation steered us down a trail where on…

11/09/2023

Beautiful Tess is in training to become a Therapy dog with Therapy Dog Training UK
She's a little superstar.

04/09/2023

Meet Bertie!
Melting hearts wherever he goes!❤️
He's a clever boy learning to toilet outside, recall, 'touch' and what not to chew. His dog parents are doing an ace job with him.

22/08/2023

If you're trying to find a dog trainer, it can be a minefield out there. Dog Training and behaviour is not regulated so anyone can label themselves as a dog trainer without having any knowledge on how dogs learn. And I know there are many, many of them!

Use someone who is up to date with their education. Avoid anyone that talks about pack/dominance/alpha/corrections (a pretty word for punishment). All this was disproven decades ago. Anyone still using these methods are promoting anxiety and reducing trust and confidence in dogs. And some of these trainers don't even know what impact their methods have on the mental wellbeing of the dog.
Check out organisations that are part of the UK Dog Charter. This charter helps to protect our dogs from harmful training techniques.
Your dog is one of your family. Do the right thing... Do your research.
http://www.dogcharter.uk

16/08/2023

Top Training Tips

* Use motivation and positive reinforcement methods. This promotes confidence, happiness, trust, and increases your bond. (punishment methods do the opposite).

* Train every new behaviour in a very low distraction (boring even) environment. In your home and garden is perfect. This makes it easy for the dog to learn. Once they've got it, practice in different rooms, in your car, on your drive etc. Build gradually to more distracting environments. Train for the moment, not in the moment.

* Make it easy for your dog to learn. Break the training down into small, manageable nuggets.

* Reward your dog with a tiny high value treat, or a game/toy each time your dog gets it right (or for each tiny increment towards getting it right). The reward is a huge motivator and a great reinforcement.

* Keep training sessions short. 4-5 minutes a few times each day is good. Stop before your dog gets bored.

* Using a clicker (correctly) is a fun way to train your dog. Many dogs do extremely well with clicker training.

* If you want more of a behaviour, reinforce it. If you want less of a behaviour, ignore it or give your dog an alternative task.

* If you need help from a behaviourist or trainer, ensure they are up to date with their knowledge on science on how dogs learn, accredited and have some qualifications. Many dog trainers still use outdated, harmful methods and dog training isn't regulated unfortunately.

05/08/2023

Do your dogs sleep with you?
I'd love to see a photo! 😁📷

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=671569851671628&id=100064558579162&sfnsn=scwspmo

While the studies were small, the conclusions are big: Dogs do not negatively affect human sleep.

24/07/2023

This evening I had the pleasure of a training session with this young rescue beauty and his fabulous clued up humans.

19/07/2023

It's been a busy few weeks helping many of you with your dogs issues. I've been out and about visiting many dogs and their humans.
Some of these challenges include chasing sheep, poor recall, not listening, pulling on the lead, negative reactions to other dogs and people in high vis jackets, anxiety, excessive barking, therapy training and newly rescued dog settling in.
I cover Ammanford, Brynaman. Ystradgynlais, Pontardawe and everywhere in between.
If you're having challenges with your dog, please drop me a message or give me a call
07989 658867

17/07/2023

Lovely Frank and Bruno. (Not the best photo, but the best photo I got of the two of them!) Bruno has a negative response to other dogs while out on a walk.
His fabulous humans are going to work on helping him to feel better when he sees other dogs.

15/07/2023

https://www.facebook.com/100064558579162/posts/660357492792864/?sfnsn=scwspmo

Female dog incontinence while sleeping or lying down is usually due to a lack of hormones in spayed female.

13/07/2023

Gorgeous 8 month old Beau today, learning how to listen.

10/07/2023

Gorgeous little Dottie doesn't like being left home alone. Her humans now have a plan to work on to help her feel confident and relaxed while they are out.

07/07/2023

Biting
If a dog bites, it's because he feels it's his only option, his last resort. He really doesn't want to bite.
Before a dog decides to bite, he has already communicated to us that he's feeling unsafe, anxious in the situation he finds himself in.

He will have displayed body language that says 'I don't like it. I'm afraid, please get me out of this situation, please stop'.

This body language includes lip licking, turning away, whale eye (showing the whites of the eye), ears back, displacement activities, yawning, lip curling, showing his teeth, growling.

If this display of body language doesn't work for him (often because his human is unaware of these signs), he will resort to the next best thing, which is a bite.

However, once a dog has learned all the body language signs don't work but a bite does, he's going to skip the body language and just bite next time.

So his humans have helped the dog learn that biting works.

Unfortunately, this often has a sad ending for the dog and his humans.

We can all do better for our dogs.

06/07/2023

Fab training session this morning with the gorgeous Marley and his owner. He's learning how to walk without pulling, how to come back when called and how to remain calm when he gets excited by his doggie friends and humans.

05/07/2023

Hello
I'm an IMDT and OCN accredited dog trainer working from SA18 area covering Ammanford, Brynaman, Ystradgynlais, Pontardawe areas and everything in between.
I've been a dog trainer for 6 years practicing ethical, positive, science backed training methods. I work closely with 2 dog rescue charities. I'm also a trusted trainer with Therapy Dog Training UK
I've met many of you and your lovely dogs already and helped with many issues over the years. In addition to the usual training issues such as recall, loose lead walking, barking, reactivity, etc, I've got lots of experience training Romanian and other foreign rescue dogs.
If you are struggling with your dogs behaviour, give me a call or send me a message.
Please have a look at my reviews.