Can your dog think?
Is your dog able to think and problem solve? Have you worked their brain lately? If not, this is a very simple game that you can do on your daily walks which is incredibly beneficial for our dogs. This game is a powerful tool to work on your dog's impulse control, while boosting their self-confidence and doing something with them that they find mentally stimulating!
🐶 Ask you dog to stay (or keep them on the lead).
🐶 Throw their favourite ball or toy on the other side of a fence (they have to be able to go around the fence, the game won't work if a place is fully fenced with no way through or around).
🐶 Ask your dog to go find their toy, and do not speak to them or give them any indication. They have to figure it out on their own.
🐶 When your dog finds the toy, praise them from a distance and let them play with it as they see fit.
This game is fantastic because the dog has to control their emotions and think to get to something they really want. It also boosts their self-confidence because they have to work away from you and problem solve.
What's also interesting is that depending on your dog's personality, they will problem solve in different ways, some dogs might choose to jump the fence, some go under, some go around, others will even go through the fence!
Try this with your dog and let us know what they choose to do!
#dogtraining #dogtraining101 #dogtrainingtips #dogtrainingisfun #doggames #mentalstimulation #mentalstimulationfordogs #problemsolving #problemsolving101 #problemsolvingskills #confidencebuilding #confidencebuildingtips #impulsecontrol #havefun
Are you ready for bonfire night?🐾 A lot of dogs find the sounds of fireworks scary and can be very anxious when they hear them. A good way to get your dog more relax during firework season is by building positive associations with the sounds of fireworks. Ewen (border collie) doesn’t mind fireworks because I trained him around these sounds since he was a puppy. However, I only rescued Mabel a few months ago, and she is terrified of fireworks! She will hide in a corner, shake, and not sleep at all even well after fireworks are over. I have slowly been desensitising her to these sounds by playing firework sounds on my phone/computer/speaker when she gets her evening chew. I have gradually increased the volume over time to avoid overwhelming her, and tomorrow is the big test for her with actual fireworks in the distance. Although she might not be fully comfortable with the sounds of fireworks, it will tremendously reduce her anxiety around it. 🐾This process can take a bit of time depending on how sensitive to sounds your dog is, but it is a great way to train your dog to be socialised to certain sounds. This process can also work with thunderstorms, city noises, doorbells etc. To make sure that everything goes well tomorrow, I have prepared both of the dogs frozen food toys which will continue the desensitisation and help distract them from any sound they might find scary.🐾Alternatively, if you haven’t had time to work on desensitisation, and your dog is frighten of fireworks, you can try playing calming music or the radio to mask the sounds of fireworks as much as possible. You can also use a pet remedy plug in/spray to help reduce their anxiety. Provide them with a safe comfy spot where they can go, keep them inside and if they need a potty break, keep them on a short lead even if your dog has a good recall. Try to give them some space if they are scared. If they come seeking reassurance, don’t push them away, be a calming presence for them. The best t
Great work this week everyone! I was so busy attending to everyone I forgot to take pictures 🫢 I look forward to seeing the progress you’ve made during next session!! In the meantime be careful with the heat, skipping a walk has never hurt any dog but the heat has. Make sure they have plenty of water and a place where they can cool down 💦🐕
If you have an active dog who needs their walk, try walking before 9 am and after 8pm, go to places where there’s water so they can have a swim, and be careful with the tarmac, it can burn their paws… Have a great week everyone! 🐕👍🏼
Stay with Mabel 🐕
The start of the puppy classes is almost upon us! And Mabel is proofing the last details…
Being able to tell your dog to stop moving and stay from a distance when you’re out of sight is super helpful and important!
A solid stay from a distance can be very useful in situations where your dog wants to go see other dogs but you don’t know if the other dogs are friendly yet, or if they are getting close to a road or the exit to wherever you’re walking.
It can also be a useful command when you want to put your dog back on the leash while avoiding using their recall word (this prevents building associations with: being called = back on the leash —> your dog stops coming back when called).
To get this result you need to start small! They need to have a solid stay before you can add some movement to it.
#dogtraining #dogtrainingtips #stay #stayinmotion #puppytraining #puppyclasses #welltrained #safe #gooddog #work
Does it look like recall? A little bit. But really what we’re working on here is not her ability to come back when called, but her ability to ignore food on the ground.
The purpose of this exercise is to help the dog build their impulse control, control their emotions around something that excites them a lot! This is really important when you want your dog to listen to you around stimulations (dog, food, people etc..). Working on exercises like this one, helps reinforce your dog’s focus on you and their ability to listen to you better.
This has been one of our biggest challenges with Mabel because she LOVES food more than anything else. When I rescued her, she would eat anything she could find in a split second, and any training we would do would be out of the window anytime there was food around.
So I started implementing exercises like this one, where she had to be around food, walk pass it, walk around it, even walk on it! Which is very difficult for her. This is an advance level of this exercise, I started very small, with one kibble on the floor instead of hundreds.
You will also have noticed that I spread her kibbles on the ground instead of putting it in a bowl. Although I don’t always do that, sometimes I like to give her an opportunity to do something she loves doing: being a hoover, a little scavenger. This is a natural behaviour and also mentally stimulating for a dog because they have to look for the kibbles.
Now this does not reinforce her eating everything that is on the floor, on the contrary! Since I started doing this with her she understands that in order to eat something off the floor she needs my approval first, therefore when I drop a piece of food on the floor that she isn’t suppose to eat, she never goes for it right away, she checks in with me first to see if she is allowed.
#dogtraining #puppytraining #goodpuppy #gooddogs #goodjob #scavenger #hooverdog #happy #canineenrichment #canineenrichmentgames #alwaystraining
