He doesn't have rocket recall... But... For a very nervy boy who is flighty and wary and always been reluctant to come when called ... This is him doing it on his own time... But he's doing it!!!!!!! 🙌🙌 This is HIS achievement for him as an individual. Every dog is different and we have to take things as their pace
When he starts growing in confidence he will start doing this a lot faster.
#valsk9training #TeamDog #cockerpoo #gowiththeflow
I've decided to ditch dog training and become an agent for all singing dogs out there🥂🙌🏻
#valsk9training #careerchange #musicvideo #singingdogs
I've decided to ditch dog training and become an agent for all singing dogs out there🥂🙌🏻
#valsk9training #careerchange #musicvideo #singingdogs
We are wishing the bestest boy @princeapollojoseph a wonderful happy 2nd birthday today.
By far one of the most special dogs ever. The most lovable cuddle monster ever and he absolutely LOVES to learn. His latest is some dance moves!
Neither of us are the most graceful at dancing😂 but we had a hell of a lot of fun trying and Prince learned some new moves, he's getting the hang of middle, bow, and twist and we'll as nose bops. He learnt these in just 20 min.
Sending you big hugs and kisses from all of us @valsk9training love you load
From Aunty Val 💋😘❤️❤️
#valsk9training #AuntyVal #rewardbasedmethods #positivereinforcement #dontsuppressyourdog #skillupyourpup #learnsomethingnew #confidencebuilding #trainingisfun #teamDog #trust #relationshipwithyourdog #helpingyouunderstandyourdog #xlbully #familydog #family
We've been working really hard on Peggy's recall and disengagement from really high arousal things... She's learned some cool new tricks along the way too!
#valsk9training #rewardbasedmethods #positivereinforcement #boardandtrain #residentialtraining #licencedhomeboarding #dontsuppressyourdog #confidencebuilding #socialising #socialskills #labrador
When you get called out because the dog is displaying some worrying behaviour but the dog overheard the call and was an absolute angel during the session... Got a bit sidetracked with his adorableness ❤️❤️😍😍🤪🤪🤪😅😅😂😂😂
On a serious note, he has been "attacking" male guests. And head banging the window wall when deliveries come to the door. He barks at people, particularly men, and also other dogs.
All of which he did none of, but we did practice some things that will help them with regards to all of the above.
Remember Billy is an excellent trainer of humans so we need to really outsmart him!!
#valsk9training #rewardbasedmethods #positivereinforcement #pinkyandthrbrain #billybigbollocks 😅 #masterofmanipulation #maltese #cleverpup #cutedog
Did your dog learn tricks at puppy class but they won't do them anywhere else?
Start practicing them on your driveway, garden, along the pavement or in the park. With practice they'll be confident to do it anywhere.
Why? What's the point?
Well, if we can give our dog tasks to do when they're a bit unsure of their surroundings, it helps them focus back onto you, and helps boost their confidence in that specific situation or environment. For example, a vet visit may not be so scary if your dog is playing and doing these tricks with you and getting rewards for it... As opposed to fixating on scary vets, nurses or the scent of other worried dogs.
Or instead of lunging and barking at other dogs, how about you do a spin or a hand touch or a beg. Eventually you won't have to alway do this because their confidence levels in those situations would have improved and they'll be happy to strut their stuff without worry.
So start skilling up your pup.
#valsk9training #rewardbasedmethods #positivereinforcement #boardandtrain #residentialtraining #licencedhomeboarding #dontsuppressyourdog #confidencebuilding #socialising #socialskills #labrador #dogtricks #simpletricks #powerposes #powertricks
Resource guarding - traditional trainers used to take the item from a dog and if the dog growled or snapped they would get some form of punishment. (sadly these old school trainers still exist 🙄)
Dogs may guard for a number of reasons, usually it's because of access to a resource. This can be food, chews, comfort, mate, self preservation .
We need to be able to identify what's the cause of the guarding.
A dog experiencing pain or discomfort may appear to guard spaces or food for example, when in fact they're just trying to not get hurt or feel pain.
It's always advisable to get a vet check to make sure there's nothing going on below the surface.
In Tanners case, he's not trusting us not to remove the chew, so he needs to make sure he tells us to stay clear of it by snarling and growling.
We need to let him know that we're not going to snatch things from him and that's it's OK to move away from a chew.
We spent the week teaching him to swap high value toys, and how to drop and hold items. He's learned to trust that whatever his choice, it will be worth his while, so he feels safe that he can release these things.
This has helped to achieve this today, where I was able to be around him, reach out towards him without him worrying about protecting his chew. He began moving away from it more frequently and we could mark that behaviour.
We didn't have to use any aversives to achieve this. We didn't have to snatch his chew and hit him or shout at him, he didn't have to snarl or growl at us at all while he learned all this.
Any advice you read online telling you to take the item and asset your dominance or tell the dog who's boss is stuck in a very old school era of training.
#valsk9training #rewardbasedmethods #positivereinforcement #dontsuppressyourdog #skillupyourpup #learnsomethingnew #confidencebuilding #trainingisfun #teamDog #trust #relationshipwithyourdog #helpingyouunderstandyourdog #resourceguarding #resourceguardingprevention
This is how Atlas' session went. From no recall, loose lead walking or owner focus to this.
We now know he can do this without constant lure and we are able to provide him what he wants during a walk which means he actually wants to be around us.
#valsk9training #rewardbasedmethods #positivereinforcement #dontsuppressyourdog #skillupyourpup #learnsomethingnew #husky #looseleadwalking #ownerfocus #playingandlearning #trainingisfun #everyopportunityisalearningopportunity #helpingyouunderstandyourdog
This is how Atlas' session went. From no recall, loose lead walking or owner focus to this.
We now know he can do this without constant lure and we are able to provide him what he wants during a walk which means he actually wants to be around us.
#valsk9training #rewardbasedmethods #positivereinforcement #dontsuppressyourdog #skillupyourpup #learnsomethingnew #husky #looseleadwalking #ownerfocus #playingandlearning #trainingisfun #everyopportunityisalearningopportunity #helpingyouunderstandyourdog
We began Tanners training by teaching him a drop it cue. To do this, we first needed him to learn how to go from high arousal activities to low arousal activities. The mere idea of letting go of a. Prized possession for him was ungodly, once something is in his mouth, there's no letting go... Because he's so playful we used this to our advantage. We introduced the concept of letting go and making choices by offering a toy swap. Once he got the hang of letting go for something more fun, we were able to switch from a vigorous game of tug, to a calm game of "find it" and we were able to switch this on and off. Once he knew this, it opened up a window of using toys as reinforcement and we got some basics in, including loose lead walking. Indoors he tends to steal all things he can get his mouth on, so we continued to reinforce the drop cue with legal items (toys) and illegal items (flip flops). We did this all through play, and he's now able to drop an item when told without running away and turning it to a game of "catch me if you can".
Did we need to physically punish him for this?
No
Did it take forever to achieve?
No
How long did this take overall?
Over the span of 2 days, we did around a total of 2hr of games. But we weren't just focusing on one cue, we were also practicing eye contact, owner focus, loose lead walking, sit stays, recall, high and low arousal, hold it cue, drop it cue.
#valsk9training #rewardbasedmethods #positivereinforcement #boardandtrain #residentialtraining #licencedhomeboarding #dontsuppressyourdog #confidencebuilding #socialising #socialskills #lifeskills #labrador
We began Tanners training by teaching him a drop it cue. To do this, we first needed him to learn how to go from high arousal activities to low arousal activities. The mere idea of letting go of a. Prized possession for him was ungodly, once something is in his mouth, there's no letting go... Because he's so playful we used this to our advantage. We introduced the concept of letting go and making choices by offering a toy swap. Once he got the hang of letting go for something more fun, we were able to switch from a vigorous game of tug, to a calm game of "find it" and we were able to switch this on and off. Once he knew this, it opened up a window of using toys as reinforcement and we got some basics in, including loose lead walking. Indoors he tends to steal all things he can get his mouth on, so we continued to reinforce the drop cue with legal items (toys) and illegal items (flip flops). We did this all through play, and he's now able to drop an item when told without running away and turning it to a game of "catch me if you can".
Did we need to physically punish him for this?
No
Did it take forever to achieve?
No
How long did this take overall?
Over the span of 2 days, we did around a total of 2hr of games. But we weren't just focusing on one cue, we were also practicing eye contact, owner focus, loose lead walking, sit stays, recall, high and low arousal, hold it cue, drop it cue.
#valsk9training #rewardbasedmethods #positivereinforcement #boardandtrain #residentialtraining #licencedhomeboarding #dontsuppressyourdog #confidencebuilding #socialising #socialskills #lifeskills #labrador
Not every day you get a shout out on live radio 😎🐕❤️❤️great conversation topic on @bbc5live with @djspoony talking about the #xlbully and the ban. I'll be forever known as #AuntyVal #AuntyValsK9Training 😂❤️😂😂 love ya @princeapollojoseph
#valsk9training #rewardbasedmethods #positivereinforcement #dogbehaviour #dogtraining #socialskills #skillupyourpup #learnsomethingnew #xlbully #endbsl #responsibledogowners #dontbanmelicenceme
Where's @princeapollojoseph? Lol, Rollo recognised @djspoony voice and then saw his best buddy on TV... They're now looking all over the house for Prince 😅❤️❤️❤️🐕🐕
Otis on day 4. New environment, more distraction and meeting a new dog!
We also got our new toys delivered just as we were heading out so we were able to try them out. Otis certainly approves of them!
#valsk9training #rewardbasedmethods #positivereinforcement #boardandtrain #residentialtraining #licencedhomeboarding #clickertraining #lurcher #greyhound #dogreactivity #frustratedreactivity #playingandlearning #learningisfun #learningthroughplay
You know you're on your way to proofing a loose lead walk when the dog offers it even when they're not attached to you and with wide open fields to go and explore! Go Otis!
#valsk9training #rewardbasedmethods #positivereinforcement #boardandtrain #residentialtraining #looseleadwalking #ownerfocus #playingandlearning #trainingisfun #everyopportunityisalearningopportunity
Reactivity is an umbrella term. There are many reasons for a dog to be reactive. In Otis' case he gets really frustrated that he can't get to another dog and so he barks and lunges. It looks scary, but Otis actually has really good social skills... We need to help him have really good greeting skills too so that he can actually make friends. And no... We don't need to "correct" him, we need to teach him firstly how to regulate his emotions, teach him an alternative behaviour that is not compatible with lunging, and making sure this becomes the new behaviour. We have taught Otis to change direction with us, we have reinforced this a lot, so now, the moment he sees us move direction he is quickly following us, this makes his reactions a lot less intense and it's more reinforcing for him to follow us than it is to bark and lunge.
We're not luring him, we're marking the behaviours we want and making sure to reinforce them immediately.
Koda popped over to help us out, and in the mean time his owner got some much needed training with Koda as he benefits from ignoring other dogs and not feeling scared.
#valsk9training #rewardbasedmethods #positivereinforcement #boardandtrain #residentialtraining #licencedhomeboarding #dontsuppressyourdog #confidencebuilding #socialising #socialskills #gwp #pointer #wirehairedpointer #lurcher #greyhound #dogreactivity #frustratedreactivity #husky
Teddy is such a smart puppy! Watch how amazingly he did today!!
#valsk9training #rewardbasedmethods #positivereinforcement #dontsuppressyourdog #skillupyourpup #learnsomethingnew #confidencebuilding #cockerpoo
Oh look... A flood plain doing flood plain things... 😳😳😳😯 We were walking on the other side of this last week... Today you'd need a boat to get there!!
#floodplain #dogwalks #kempston #bedford
