Speak Dog

18/12/2024

ARE YOU A DOG PROFESSIONAL?

Do you want to empower your clients and supercharge their skills?

Do you want to earn a few pennies for your business with almost no admin and none of the usual affiliation schemes etc?

AND....it won't interfere in thier journey with you?

Sounds too good to be true, it's really not.

If you want to join some of the amazing professionals already using this add on please drop me a sniffing out email to learn more.

[email protected]

17/12/2024

The 3-3-3 Rule

This piece of information is usually shared with good intentions which I appreciate and understand.

However, my personal opinion is that we really need to ditch and rethink this " saying" as it can have the potential to do more harm than good.

3 Days

Decompression is referring to a period of time where our goal as guardians is to manage and adapt situations so a dogs stress levels start to reduce.

This might look like avoidance, leaving the dog alone, being there more for them etc, being there but not touching them, it's not about anything other than how can we give the dog what THEY need to just take a break and breath.

The neural pathways in the brain related to certain feelings need a break from constantly firing up and being triggered and we need to learn how to achieve this.

This takes time, normally way more than 3 days even for pretty resilient dogs.

For some dogs it can be 14 days, 30 days, 60 days, for some dogs longer!

The 3 day rule for me is the one that has the most potential to set new guardians up to feel like they are failing.

Especially when from an adopters perspective its likely, they have wanted to help a dog in need and often hope that with care and love every dog will forget their worries and thrive, some do, but for those that dont?

I can understand the feeling of frustration and even rejection in some cases when months down the line the dog is still struggling.

This phase for me is THE MOST CRITICAL and should have no time limits.

3 Weeks

Described as a dog settling into routines.

For some, especially dogs who are anxious or fearful they are likely to learn your routines much quicker than 3 weeks.

Anxiety craves predictability and nearly every dog I've had the pleasure of working with to date who were experiencing anxiety were experts as second guessing routines and preempting what's coming next.

Again each dog will take whatever time they need to get into a routine. Interestingly, most information I have read says " to settle into YOUR routine.

I just want to address that some dogs will require YOUR routine to change , some won't, again don't put this into a box, look at the individual dog.

3 Months

This period is described as the dog feeling settled and secure and ready to ' take on a bit more"

I am sure there are many amazing guardians out there who will give you various lengths of time it took or they are still working towards.

Some dogs will walk into your life like they have always been with you, Ive had this happen with my lurcher, some will take a few weeks, a few months, some dogs will always struggle.

When we are giving these fit in a box timeframes are we trying to fit a square peg into a round hole.

I try to think about what we could potentionally be setting the new guardian up to feel when the dog isn't decompressing as quickly as expected or hitting these markers?

Arming guardians with good honest information where the focus is not time frames or exceptions, but focuses primarily on what that dogs needs to feel safe and build trust is paramount.

How do guardians recognise how their dog is feeling, are they armed with a basic observation framework to correctly gather information?

Instead if 3-3-3 we need to focus on " I Am Me"

15/12/2024

My beautiful friend Jayne has these Christmas Treat Boxes for sale.

Packed full of goodies for a ridiculously cheap price of £15.

She doesn't have many left so please drop me an email if you would like one.

[email protected]

15/12/2024

DO YOU RUN A REPUTABLE DOG BUSINESS?

Do you want to supercharge your clients knowledge WITHOUT it interfering in thier journey with you.

Would you like to make your business a little more revenue with almost zero extra admin?

Sounds too good to be true?

It's not and it's already used by some BIG names in the dog industry.

To SNIFF OUT out more please do drop me an email

[email protected]

14/12/2024

Fear is not a choice.

Im not trying to annoy you, I'm not being stubborn, silly or stupid.

It might not make sense to you why I am scared but the fear I feel is very real.

My reactions are a genuine attempt to keep myself safe.

You can't reinforce my fear by being kind to me.

Ignoring me or punishing me makes me feel worse not better.

I don't understand why you get frustrated, annoyed or angry with me when all I'm doing is trying to stay safe.

I don't know where to turn sometimes, it's pretty scary.

If I could speak, I would ask you to understand me, be patient, be kind, be supportive because I need trust and safety more than anything.

I need you!!

11/12/2024

ITS ABOUT TIMING

I often hear dog guardians being told that they are rewarding inappropriate behaviour by offering rewards.

This can be true, the idea of reinforcement is to reinforce the behaviour we like but timing and application is critical.

If your dog is pulling at the end if the lead, and the human stops, this brings the dog back to them and the human then rewards the dog, in the humans mind they are rewarding the dog being close, but to the dog the sequence is

I get a treat, I walk away, my lead goes tight, I go back and get a treat.

Were actually rewarding the behaviour were hoping to stop, this can understandably lead to the human feeling frustrated when progress is not being made despite their best efforts.

I've also seen food being used in the the right context, such as trying to pair an experience with something positive and the human being told they are rewarding the dogs feeling unsure...this was incorrect and the guardian was delivering the good stuff at the right time.

We can also use rewards at the wrong time and make it a predictor of something unpleasant.

Timing and application is important in not only helping your dog learn, associate or understand but it's important for the human to understand.

This is how we can help avoid the " being kind doesn't work" mentality.😊

10/12/2024

BUSINESS SHOUT OUT

Amy Thomson Dog Training

Amy is a fantastic Life Skills Puppy Tutor and highly skilled Clinical Animal Behaviourist.

Amy runs courses and classes from her own private venue in Wiltshire and she also has worked really hard on offering a fantastic online self paced Life Skills Course.

I've had the pleasure of collaborating with Amy for a number of years.

All Amy's clients who book onto one of her courses have access to the Speak Dog "Learning to Listen" Live online session with me as part of their package.

This empowers and enhances Amy's clients learning journey and doesn't interfere with thier learning journey with Amy in anyway.

Please do check Amy out if your local to Wiltshire and if you're not, her online course REALLY is packed full of useful skills and information.

www.amythomsondogtraining.co.uk

09/12/2024

Our fantastic Succeeding Together Nutritionist will be talking all things food and Christmas.

If your a Speak Dog client you have access to this a d other talks as part of your package.

Or you can get lifetime access to this fantastic group for just £60

Please message me for the link to join the INSIDER Group 😊

I will be chatting all things food next week with the lovely Sam from Suceed Together. This is only available for members of Suceed Together, so why not join?

Suceed together is a group of canine professionals that work collaboratively to help you and your dog. For a small annual fee you get: Fortnightly Q&A with a different professional, all the talks and backlog of talks, all our short courses and access to our facebook group with all professionals. You can join here: https://succeedtogether.online/register/k9confidential/

09/12/2024

If you have a dog that struggles the humans focus is often and understandably getting the undesirable behaviour to stop.

We are also programmed to want results as quickly and easily as possible, especially if something is making our lives harder, we just want it to just stop.

When people decide to reach out for help, are they likely to go with someone who promises results or someone who explains it's usually not that simple.

Reputable professionals know the focus needs to expand from the end goal.

Reputable professionals know its all the things leading upto and surrounding the reaction that's probably more important than the reaction.

A dog that struggles at the vet, is likely to always struggle at the vets no matter how much " Training" you put in if you are not addressing the other possible contributing factors.

Just like us, if we are struggling with an anxiety, simply trying to stop anxiety isn't likely to be successful.

Especially if we are not getting good sleep, eating right, being supported correctly by the people around us, are dealing with a health issue etc, it's very rarely just about the reaction.

There is often an expectation when people reach out that " were paying good money to fix it"

I'm always abundantly clear that the journey ahead is likely to be very different from what they thought

It's not a magic wand, a quick route into stopping the behaviour, it's unlikely to tick the box in our brains that gets us to the quickest and easiet result.

In order to help we need to understand, quick fixes, time frames, promises can all be red flags.

I know the client has goals and wants results, but as a reputable professional my aim isn't to make promises to get paid or get the business, my goal is to discuss those goals amd results and try and help both dog and human understand each other better.

The goal, the focus should be ' how can I help my dog" NOT " how can I get my dog to stop"

07/12/2024

I am powerful

I come in numerous forms

I can be taken for granted.

I can make you and others happy, sad, angry, safe, hurt, frustrated, heard, appreciated, I can trigger many emotions.

Im so important that removing me can be seen and used as punishment.

I can make or break relationships and businesses.

I AM COMMUNICATION!!

Communication between two species can be tough, it doesn't always occur through a tangible language.

We can take for granted the efforts our dogs go too, to try and learn our words, movement and facial expressions ( amongst other things)

BUT.....are we playing our part?

Our interpretations of our dogs behaviour and emotions can have a huge impact with how we respond and how we then share our interpretations with others.

My drive, my passion, is to take away all the labels, all the interpretations and start with the CORE building block of communication.

OBSERVATION!

Learning to Listen Sessions are live, online , 1 hour sessions with me and are fully interactive.

Duation: 1 Hour
Cost : £17.50

Session dates and times held regularly every month.

Please do come and join us and start to see all your dogs whispers and not just when they shout!

www.speakdog.co.uk/events

05/12/2024

05/12/2024

BUSINESS SHOUT OUT

Woody's Holistic Grooming

We've been collaborating for a number of years, and I LOVE the ethos and compassion Daniella brings to the Grooming Industry.

Grooming can be stressful for many dogs but also important to their welfare, so a consent based approach can be a real gamechanger for any dog but especially my clients where anxiety, stress and lack of choices are already a contributing factor.

Woodys incorporates the Speak Dog Learning to Listen Session into their packages helping guardians to listen to thier dogs so together they can build on positive Grooming experiences where the dog has a voice.

Please do give Daniella a follow on Facebook, you will love what you see and she has some amazing webinars and courses available and coming up too.

We a proud to collaborate with Woody's Holistic Grooming 🥰

05/12/2024

WHAT ARE YOUR DOGS NEEDS!!

Whilst some people may think they are helping a dog, if they are not considering and advocating for what the individual dogs needs are, it can do more harm than good.

Support HAS to look at what the dogs needs are and not just the humans desired end results.

04/12/2024

DO YOU RUN A DOG BUSINESS?

If I could help enhance your clients learning and make your business a few pennies without interfering with your clients journey with you, would you be interested?

Sounds too good to be true, but it's really not.

Already being incorporated by some BIG names in the dog community who's focus is compassion and welfare, it's a simple concept with HUGE benefits.

Would you like to find out more?

Fancy having a sniffing out, no pressure chat?

Please do contact me via email me

[email protected]

03/12/2024

One of the quickest ways we can magnify the fear of sleeping alone, is to make being alone worrying.

I know that sounds obvious, but it really isn't as all to often puppies and dogs are placed into isolation to sleep or when the human goes out and are left to cry it out.

For some dogs this is a really scary experience.

Some will cry, some will desperately bark and scratch to get out and some even just go quiet, this can mislead guardians into believing the puppy or dog is "fine"

The misunderstanding comes from thinking that its " normal" for ALL canines to sleep alone.

Puppies in particular, are just not programmed to feel safe isolated and alone, this would make no sense from a purely survival basis yet alone other various reasons.

So, when we decide that this puppy or rescue dog needs to learn to sleep alone from day dot,
are we actually committed to helping a dog feel comfortable being alone or do we just want them to go into their space and be quite?

You can't reinforce fear by being compassionate.

You CANT reinforce the fear of being alone by coming back amd showing them you hear they are crying and scared.

You CAN further ingrain a fear by keep making them repeat the process.

You CAN make them feel more insecure about being alone or in isolation all the time.
These dogs will generally follow you everywhere and stick to you like glue, again often mistaken for " obedient" dogs who never stray far from you.

As guardians our job is to do what is needed to help show our puppies and dogs they are safe.

If that means being in our room with us initially then that is what we should do.

If that means sitting down with a coffee and being still so they can rest, on our laps and sleep, we should facilitate that.

If that means having to adjust our plans because THIS puppy or dogs needs a different approach, then we should make those adaptions.

It's not giving in, I repeat ITS NOT GIVING IN.

Our focus is welfare, mental and physical welfare, this should be the priority, training and working towards OUR end goal comes way after!

You have to lay a solid foundation to build on, and the first corner stone is safety!

03/12/2024

Business SHOUT OUT

K9 Confidential Training and Behaviour

Speak Dog have enjoyed collaborating with this fantastic business for many years.

As behaviourists, having other professionals to talk too can be a gamechanger and can really help with various perspectives and approaches.

On top of that, having someone who relates to some of the emotions you feel at times is so helpful.

Sam is also part of the Learning to Listen business collaboration, her behavior clients join me for one of my live sessions, we have loved the feedback and the change in language we often see.

Also, if you are based in Swindon and surrounding areas Sam has an amazing enclosed dog field that my dogs have always hugely enjoyed.

www.k9confidential.co.uk