Calming Canines

Calming Canines Certified Family Dog Mediator and qualified Canine Behaviour Practitioner.

Helping dogs to build confidence, overcome their fears and anxieties and to live their best lives. Dogs can suffer from fears, phobias and anxiety regardless of age or background so whether your dog is a recent rescue, a nervous puppy or anxious adult there are lots of things we can do to improve their confidence and start to overcome their fears.

30/11/2024

Why are we so keen to punish dogs? Why is that so often our default position when it comes to teaching dogs? Why is our instinct often to correct the one thing the dog is doing 'wrong' and leave all the stuff they're doing right unacknowledged?

I shared a post recently of two dogs who get overwhelmed when unknown dogs get too close and shout at them as a result. The whole point of the post was that, sometimes, we can push through less than ideal behaviours to reach a learning point on the other side.

But what did some people pick up on? That the dogs had displayed 'bad' behaviour which should have been 'corrected'. Never mind all the good stuff which was happening alongside the 'bad' behaviour. Never mind the ability to disengage or the ablility to stand calmly in proximity to a strange dog. Never mind that they were focusing on their human instead of focusing on the other dog. Never mind the fact they were both calm(er) than they had been previously. None of that was deemed deserving of reinforcement but their minor infraction of putting paws on their human, or barking, 𝘸𝘢𝘴 deserving of correction.

Change takes time. It's a process, not an event. If we wait for perfection and reward nothing less then we'll be waiting a long, long time for any meaningful change. We need to see the bigger picture and work on what's most important first. We need to not sweat the small stuff*, especially if there's some desirable 'big stuff' going on at the same time. But most of all we need to let go of our human conditioning that we need to correct every little thing our dog does 'wrong' regardless of what they're doing right.

*which doesn't mean to say we ignore it. With thoughtful reinforcement delivery, movement etc we can often address low level problem behaviours while keeping our focus on the bigger picture

When I was first diagnosed with ME and realised I was unlikely to ever get back the life I used to have, my first though...
22/11/2024

When I was first diagnosed with ME and realised I was unlikely to ever get back the life I used to have, my first thoughts were "How will my dogs manage and how will I manage my dogs? What if I can't look after them properly?"

As it turns out, I needn't have worried as they've settled into their new life with a different version of me very well. I've made adjustments, such as getting a mobility scooter so they can still have long, enriching walks and the training I do is no longer as physical for me but is still mentally stimulating for them.

They are still happy and have all their needs met.

If you have a chronic illness and have dogs, it is easy to worry that you're not doing enough to ensure their happiness. Your dogs don't NEED to go visiting new places every day, do full on training sessions every night or have play dates constantly, regardless of what social media may want you to believe.

Yes, sadly some people will find that their dogs need more than they can give, but that is no different to the people that end up with the wrong breed for their lifestyle and not your fault for having a chronic illness.

People with chronic illnesses can and do give great homes and lives to dogs!!

Picture shows a sable and white sheltie sitting on grass and looking up at the camera.

19/11/2024

Wanting a behaviour from our dogs to stop is common. Sadly, there are so many 'trainers' who appear on television or have massive social media followings who will advocate using devices and methods that 'will stop it fast'. Let's be honest, as humans we are often results driven, so I can see why these would appeal to people who don't know why these things should not be recommended and used. The reality is that they can make the situation so much worse.

Suppressing a behaviour doesn't mean that the reasons that behaviour happened aren't still there, just that the dog can't do what they feel they need to in that situation. That can lead to increased frustration, stress, fear - depending on what the driver for that behaviour is. Think of it like a pressure cooker, adding more and more pressure, with no way to reduce that pressure. Eventually there comes a point where the pressure is just too much and boom.

If a behaviour is something we can't live with, there are things we can do without suppressing that behaviour. Manage the situation so that the dog is not in a position to practice that behaviour - for example baby gates to stop them jumping up at arriving guests or finding quiet areas to walk if your dog is uncomfortable with other dogs close up. If there is something you would prefer them to do in that situation keep using the management and then, using kind and ethical methods, teach them what you would like them to do instead. If the behaviour is not something that we can simply train an alternative for - a dog who reacts to other dogs around for example - find a behaviour consultant who uses modern and kind methods to help the dog no longer feel the need to use that behaviour.

Behaviour suppression is never the answer.

Here are links to a couple of blog posts that explore the topic a little further:

https://www.goodguardianship.com/post/the-first-question-to-ask-wtf-what-s-the-function
https://www.goodguardianship.com/post/why-we-should-look-beyond-stopping-behaviour

Kite has a new friend! Kite has been reactive to this adolescent entire male rottweiler in the past but with slowly and ...
19/11/2024

Kite has a new friend! Kite has been reactive to this adolescent entire male rottweiler in the past but with slowly and carefully allowing Kite to move closer when he was ready, along with desensitisation and counter conditioning, he is beginning to gain confidence.

He is still skittish around him, but yesterday he had a surreptitious bum sniff and today he chose to approach him, albeit carefully!

Kite's fear of other dogs is mostly genetic, exacerbated by other dogs rushing him and ignoring his polite requests for space. He will never be the kind of dog who wants to run and play with dogs outside his family group but I'm fine with that, it's who he is.

My main aim for Kite is that he is comfortable enough in the general proximity of dogs he comes across relatively frequently that he doesn't feel the need to act defensively. If he goes beyond that it's a bonus. Having realistic expectations of what the outcome of training may be is important for your own sanity. If I were expecting a dog like Kite to be able to cope in a large group of unknown dogs who were running around playing, I'd be setting myself up for a lot of frustration and disappointment.

Dealing with reactivity doesn't need corrections!

Social support.Today I took Ash to a new place. He struggles with new places. We went there last week and he managed les...
03/02/2024

Social support.

Today I took Ash to a new place. He struggles with new places. We went there last week and he managed less than 5 minutes before wanting to go back to the van where he feels safe. Today he had an hour and a half walking, sniffing and investigating.

What magic did I perform in order to cause such a massive improvement? He was with my other dogs. That's it. Last week I met a friend with her dog and Ash wouldn't have coped with a new place as well as a new dog so he popped out for a wee walk on his own before I walked the others. This week we were alone so he came with his family.

Don't underestimate the value of social support. When we're out walking, Ash rarely interacts with other dogs, including those he knows well and those he lives with. This doesn't mean that those dogs aren't a necessary part of his life and an important factor for his emotional well-being.

I've spent a long time slowly building a small circle of friends for him and even though he hardly acknowledges their existence now he's comfortable with them, he will gravitate towards them for the confidence and sense of safety they provide for him.

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