All Paws Dog Training Services

13/12/2024

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12/12/2024

Just been talking about this today 🧐
Rice doesn’t help settle your dog’s tummy!
Actually, chicken causes lots of problems for many dogs too! Largely because chickens are fed grains! (Not to mention all the chemicals/antibiotics that are pumped into them)

06/12/2024

Don’t get another dog he said….
I don’t like spaniels he says …..

Luckily I rarely listen to a word he says, just nod and do what I want anyway 😂😂.
Shhh don’t tell him 🤫🤐

01/12/2024

What we’re working on today:
Return to heelwork position
Through
Spin at side
Release cue

Teaching her inadvertently that good thinks happen when you are close to me 😁

29/11/2024

Puppy training:
Things we’ve been working on so far;

Age 8 to 10 weeks;
Bonding
Name response
Auto sit/sit
Toilet training
Switching between positions (sit,stand,down)
Following a lure
Socialising to as many places, sights and sounds as possible before the critical socialisation period ends
Basic retrieve
The meaning of the word “No”

10 to 12 weeks:
Recall
Loose lead walking
Down
Wait (to be released from crate)
Learning to rest after play, exercise or training (important in working breeds such as this 😂 that would keep going all day if you let them)
Learning to spend short periods of time alone

12-14 weeks
All of the above as well as:
Touch a hand target
Chin rest

Puppies are sponges - they are learning all the time. If we don’t teach them what we want them to do, they figure out what they can get away with 🧐 and end up developing “problem behaviours”

28/11/2024

My heart ❤️ 🥰

27/11/2024

I’ll be honest my heart generally sinks when people tell me they have a malinois puppy in particular but this is true of other “high energy” breeds too. I’ve just got a puppy myself and did a lot of research before choosing the breed. Luckily I know what I’m doing but now I understand why some of my previous clients have struggled with a puppy cocker 😂

The problem with gatekeeping breeds

Anyone who has spent more than a minute online in dog world will have seen the rhetoric of how it takes someone very special to own a power breed such as a Belgian Malinois or a Cane Corso or an APBT or the like. Social media platforms are filled with posts either showing these breeds doing incredible things, or posts about how you should never get a breed like this unless you are going to work them and unless you are able to fulfil their needs. These posts are spot on and I couldn’t agree more. But they are creating a problem.

Everyone thinks they are special.

It’s a bitter pill to swallow.

As humans we have an ego and our ego often leads us to believe we are more capable than we are. The problem with gatekeeping breeds is that it makes them more desirable. People want to say ‘yes I can handle my Belgian Malinois because I am special’. We desperately need approval and admiration from others, especially in a world that is chronically online.

We saw it happen real time with the XL Bully. People saw this incredibly powerful breed and said ‘I’m special enough to handle one of them’ and then promptly bred them in the hundreds of thousands leading to many ill equipped homes owning a dog they absolutely could not handle.

The truth is, that to own a truly intense, working bred dog, you actually need to have an incredibly small life. You need your entire being to be obsessive about training, handling and working with the dog. It’s a full time career in itself to truly meet the needs of these dogs. You need to be absolutely addicted to it. That level of obsession however isn’t ‘cool’ or ‘sexy’. It doesn’t make for great online content either. That level of obsession however is what makes the dog easy to live with.

Even as I’m writing this, I know someone out there will read it and go ‘yes I can do that’. If you’re that person, please really look inward and be truly honest with yourself. Confront your ego.

I work at a rescue centre and years ago all we had was bull breeds, terriers and lurchers. Now all we have is fad colour Frenchies, Cane Corsos, Shepherds and Malinois/Dutch Shepherds. It speaks volumes.

I don’t know what the solution is. The more we say ‘not everyone can handle this breed!’ The more that is perceived as a challenge to the ego, and the more the ego grabs at a chance to prove itself.

We are heading down a very dark road of breed bans and dog legislation and those of us in the industry can see the patterns unfolding. We don’t know how to stop it, or even if stopping it is the right answer.

The issue is that our human egos and our desperation to be seen as ‘worthy’ is ruining our dogs and creating real danger for the general public.

Look inward. Really question why you want a certain breed. Take pause from the online rhetoric on both sides. Choose a dog that you and those around you need, not just one that you want.

- Kahla

📸 Alison Bowkett

23/11/2024

Is your dog nervous of things that seem “silly” or unnecessary? This can lead to being nervous of things in general out and about. We can easily build resilience and confidence in our dogs, especially when they are puppies.

Betty got a fright when she knocked this crate base over. I took the opportunity to teach her it was nothing to worry about, just because it moved in a strange way. Putting treats on there encourages her to be brave (but doesn’t force her to - if it’s too scary she can leave them). Although you can see she’s a bit jumpy, she’s brave enough to keep going back for more.
Note: I probably shouldn’t have thrown the treats on - she jumped when they hit her and this wouldn’t have been great for a nervous dog, luckily she’s a badass 😆

20/11/2024

Where’s Betty? 🧐🤷‍♀️😂

16/11/2024

What’s Betty doing? …making a mess 😂🤷‍♀️

BUT more importantly what she’s NOT doing is chewing the rug/skirting/jumping up the surfaces while I’m trying to cook/getting up to general mischief that I don’t want her to do. Giving me a few quiet minutes to do some meal prep while she entertains herself and builds confidence 😁

11/11/2024

Our very 1st heel work session at 11 1/2 weeks old! Should have got a big dog - I’m going to have a bad back 😂.
Heelwork/loose lead walking - 2 very different things and what I think most owners give up on because they are both hard work, not easy and require hundreds and hundreds of repetitions, especially when pulling on lead gets rewarded so frequently (they get where they want to go faster/eat something/greet someone or another dog/pee on the lamppost etc etc).
I’ll be sharing out progress as we go 😁


P.s the blue glove is because I’m using her raw food for training

08/11/2024

Little bit of name training out and about on our hols - one of the most important things to teach your dog. HINT: most dogs that don’t respond to their name have rubbish recall!
Nala says her name is Betty too 😂 in fact she says I can call her anything if she gets a snack 🧐

03/11/2024

Sandy shnozz 😆

31/10/2024

https://youtu.be/1CFFDkPhZM8

Practising positions with Nala. Not perfect but we've come a long way since we started learning them 😃❤️

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30/10/2024

Lovely review from Bruno’s dad 😌. What an absolute star 🌟 he’s been during his training - his confidence has come on leaps and bounds 😁

29/10/2024

Teaching Betty her name 😍🥰

25/10/2024

The “auto sit”
Betty spaghetti has been learning that sitting is a very rewarding behaviour. When I got her 9 days ago I started showering her with praise pretty much every time she sat. I ignore her when she jumps up me (a behaviour I don’t want her to find rewarding). Now she is learning she can get what she wants if she sits patiently and politely - her food, access to the garden, access to the house , out of her crate, my attention. Simples! I haven’t told her the word sit yet (I will eventually) but the fact that she does it automatically for all of the above is better 😁
Try it!

18/10/2024

So, Betty spaghetti has had a very busy 1st 2 days in her new home…
She met her new brother and sister as well as Frankie the sh*tzu - none of which were very impressed 😆. They all politely made it clear that they wanted nothing to do with her 😂. That’s fine by me - I prefer she learns that I am more interesting/important than other dogs.
She has started to learn that when something/someone comes to the door it’s nothing to do with her - one of the most important lessons in my opinion. She has started to learn to self regulate and put herself to bed when tired (on the 1 occasion she didn’t- I helped her out 😂). A tired pup is good for no one!
She went on a group walk (in the sling) and took in all the sights and sounds. Went to My Pet HQ to stock up on treats and toys and went to the vets with Roo for his hydrotherapy appointment.
Day 2 we traveled for 7 hours to Hereford for a training course tomorrow. We stopped at mega crowded, noisy services and she took everything in her stride. Not a peep during the journey and went to the toilet every time we stopped. Now, we are doing the all important pub training and she’s snoring on my lap as we speak 😁. Tonight we are staying in a hotel but nothing will be different for her because she’ll be in a crate on the bed. Tomorrow we’ll meet lots of new people and dogs.

Now, I’m not suggesting that this is a suitable 1st couple of days for all puppies but we really don’t do them any favours by keeping them hidden away for weeks and weeks until after all their vaccinations. They need to be experiencing all the sights and sounds to create confident adults.