Training Dogs:
The vast majority of people believe training their dog is about treats, clickers , planned times to teach tricks like sit and paw…
That’s where I believe we are going wrong
I see it day in day out…
Dogs that are “great in the house” … BUT….theres just this ONE problem…
That’s so far from the truth !
The truth is MOST people don’t have ANY rules or boundaries inside the house as it’s just easier to put a stair gate up and pretend we’ve taught them not to go somewhere…
It’s easier to just “allow the dogs up stairs or on the chair” or shut them out at dinner or allow them to follow us around the house everywhere …
Ask your self :
What rules or boundaries does my dog understand ? If your dog has the absolute freedom without pressure to get these rules wrong BUT chooses not to … then you’ve taught a rule or boundary…
If however there are times your dog still does these things and you have to get involved to stop them …
That’s not a rule or boundary you’ve got … it’s one you want…
Then ask yourself … if I can’t teach them to follow simple rules or boundaries … what makes me or THEM think we can teach the much harder things that bother us ?
When first getting a dog here’s what we prioritise over “sit” and “paw”:
What’s not allowed ! No going up the stairs or jumping on the couch UNTIL I’ve asked you to
This includes no wining , pawing at us or “begging” for the above… we will invite you into these spaces once we’ve finished what we were currently doing
Where to be and how to act around hoovers, brooms, mops …children, guests , dogs, cats …
What all these strange objects do and how they are safe and calm to be around especially ones that make noises
Don’t chase the kids or even approach them unless invited and they will be taught the same … when one of you choose to disengage from a situation DONT follow
Don’t hover around me while I’m opening foo
I’m so so so proud of Remi and her owners !
We helped train Remi many moons ago, it’s been ages since I’ve personally seen her in person.
Our dog walking team take care of her walks usually.
Due to holiday I got to spend some time with her and I’m over the moon that she still remembers her training which must mean her owners have continued to work hard since they finished classes .
Just look at how In Tune she is to my movements and without much in the way of commands/ speaking she just knows where to be on The lead, , that when asked to sit it means to stay there even if I go to move or cross the road etc
I’m once happy “uncle” 💯😊
Don’t forget our team and business is rated one of the three best rate dog walkers in birmingham for a reason !
If you’re considering training, ask yourself … is this video depicting the kind of results you’d like to see?
If so… get In touch !
Please join me in welcoming Hulk into the SDS family.
Hulk joins us for walks depending on his owners shift patterns
He’s an absolute joy to keep us company on our walks
Make him feel welcome 🙏🏻😍
Keira came for a taster session yesterday.
She was brought in due to being aggressive with men, especially if they wear hats or glasses …
While we did see her outburst outside and a couple of moments of impulsiveness to lunge at us and attempt to grab us…
It was clear within 30 seconds that she felt safe and comfortable around MEN and HATS that knew how to approach her and handle her …
Dogs need clear communication BOTH ways and that includes being able to read them and their signs that they are uncomfortable BEFORE they escalate to growl or bite…
No one should be approaching them and attempting to stroke them when they aren’t comfortable regardless if they’re wearing a hat etc
Kiera was very quick to pick up the things we were working on but will require more work either with us or another trainer to desensitise her to touch in a controlled way but she did amazing for such a short session 💯
If you want success , you have to confront and get comfortable with failure !
This is not just true with dog training, it is the corner stone of pretty much everything you will ever want to get good at !
I touched upon this in my last video.
There is literally only one way “other than luck” to succeed at something and that is to repeatedly fail AND change a variable the next time you try.
I two this to MYSELF everyday , my children and my clients.
Of course I look like the bad guy to my daughter when we have a duel on Minecraft and I win and she inevitably dies, loses all her equipment and has to start again.
But if I just AVOID her disappointment and let her win, how will she learn strategies to avoid my attacks and even better … counter them and win !
If I let her win, she will NEVER be able to beat someone that is actually trying and therefore long term I am only really hurting her , limiting her growth…
At the same time, she can’t get good at combat or any game until she realises this one harsh reality :
In order to win and get good at the game, she needs to see her losses/ failures as being a good thing. She is one step closer to her goal of getting good with every failure.
She has two choices :
Play less , fail less and avoid the failures (making getting good and winning even longer)
Or
She asks to play more , and get more losses under her belt so that she can finally beat me and win
This is the same for anything!
You want to become the best carpenter ?
You need to practise getting it wrong and failing a thousand times …
You want to train your dog to stop reacting , or doing something that is dangerous/ stressful…
You have to stop avoiding that scenario and practise failing/ changing a variable (with the help of a trainer) until success is inevitable
Want to stop tantrums at a restaurant with a toddler ….
We need more visits to a restaurant/ more tantrums and failure withOUT avoiding this with help from an iPad …
What
Baby Sophie the cocker spaniel having her first puppy groom at 5 months old. Puppy grooms are a great way to introduce your puppy to the sights, sounds and smells of a salon without overwhelming them. What you don’t see on camera is that Sophie also had her nails clipped and ears cleaned - she was an absolute superstar from start to finish - well done Sophie 🥰 #dog #cockerspaniel #baby #babydog #doggroomer #doggrooming #groomer #grooming #dogsoftiktok #birmingham #business #cute #puppy #love Video Description - Video shows 5 month old Cocker spaniel puppy Sophie being groomed at Sheldon dog services. First she was desensitised to the sound of clippers by having them on next to her, we then clipped the hair between the toes and popped her up in the bath. She has a lovely scrub in the bath and was then blow dried where she sat good as gold. She was finished off with a brush through, tidy up of her feet and a pretty pink bandana 😊
We don’t always walk our dogs !
When people think of dog training or training their dog… they automatically think of commands , sit , paw etc
When owning a dog we judge how good of a “parent” we are by how long and often we walk them…
The truth is most “walks” are stressful, most dogs don’t even care that their human is there and are completely disengaged ….
We try to teach people that their dogs need to learn “skillsets” before “tricks/commands”
How many of you take the time to just sit outside the front garden and teach your dogs to be comfortable doing NOTHING ?
How many of you do the same thing at a park?
Patience, impulse control and switching off… are some of the first things we should be teaching our dogs … way before “paw” and “sit”
If our dogs have these skillsets then everything else becomes possible and more so PROBABLE !
Most people would consider not talking to their dog and just sitting here quietly in each others company “boring”
I absolutely love that my dogs have more freedom and still choose to be with ME …
It doesn’t matter how many kids are playing football near us, how many cats run by us, how many dogs walk passed … how many neighbours leave their houses….
Because we’ve taken the time to teach boundaries and an off switch… Lexi will happily take note of them all and still stay put on our grass and take in the moments of peace , tranquility together !
Long story short…
This doesn’t look like dog training … but it’s some of the best training you and your dogs can do together 💯
Ronnies magical transformation 🪄
Biscuit could give Michael Flatley a run for his money 😂 #dancingdog #poodle
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Congratulations Tammy, please contact us to arrange your appointment ☺️
And a huge thank you to everybody who took part in the raffle and has helped Millie-Mae to raise money for Matts mission, helping to grant wishes for children with cancer.
We still have some numbers left in our raffle to win a 1-2-1 dog training session (usually £45). Once all of those numbers are sold we will announce the winner of that prize 😊
As well as raising money, Millie-Mae is also donating her hair to make a wig/wigs for children with cancer - what an absolute super star she is! 🌟
Bertie and his owners have completed our behaviour and obedience course.
They have done extremely well however they asked us to have a couple of 121 sessions to tidy up a few problems that still persist such as :
He still jumps up the back of the chair and barks at passing dogs
He still goes mental when he has his doggy friends over and forgets some of his manners
He climbs onto furniture near the bedroom window and barks at passing dogs etc
He goes a bit naughty when he knows the next door neighbours dog is out.
Now here’s the important bit …:
Whenever a customer asks us to help with “their one specific problem” we CANT actually spend that session working on it.
If they haven’t already laid some foundations in multiple areas… then we have to spend that time on other things such as :
Impulse control
Patience
Loose lease walking
Threshold manners
We can’t just get a dog that doesn’t understand a basic “sit means stay” to “sit and stay” when the door goes or when there is a guest coming in …
We can’t get a dog that doesn’t understand or have the skills for “basic loose lead walking without distraction” to “stop reacting to dogs on a walk”
The great thing about Bertie and his owners is how hard they have worked on the foundations and basic understanding of much of the above.
This meant that instead of spending an hour just teach a basic “place” command…
We got to spend the majority of the hour working on their exact problems and giving “lightbulb” moments to their specific issues
With just a few tweaks to their normal routines, a few “smarter not harder” techniques to improve what he already knows… I’m confident Bertie will have the last few niggles ironed out in no time!
How awesome did he do during this video?
