mypawfectk9

29/01/2025

I never ever forget the dogs and people I’ve worked with. So please don’t ever think it’s been too long to check in!

Here is Boo in Costa Coffee. Mum sent me a message just to say look how well she is doing.

This little one was super super barky! And I mean barky - like at anything, everything and nothing at all.

We worked on desensitisation to triggers and general calmness and disengagement. Was always doing to take time as Boo isn’t the only doggy in the home …

So pleased to see her out and about, which would have been unthinkable when I first met them.

Well done - and thank you so much for sharing this with me 🙏😎

29/01/2025

** Creating a Reliable Recall and Improving Loose Lead Walking **

NEW COURSE DATES

EMAILS ARE NOW BEING SENT - dont miss out!

6:15-7:15pm at Weeton Village Hall.

Thursday 20th February – Thursday 27th March (6 weeks)

Weeton Village Hall (PR4 3ND)

This intensive series of 6 sessions works through the behaviours which can cause issues with recall and loose lead walking. Through my years of experience, I have found that the two are linked; if a dog pulls on the lead, the recall also tends to be an issue. This is because we are often working with a lack of impulse control more than the understanding of how to walk on a lead or the desire to return to their guardian when distractions are present.

Within the recall parts of this series of lessons we look at preventing the desire to chase; so we build value for proximity, disengagement skills and improve our impulse control – all achievable through games we can play in the village hall, and of course at home. We will also look at triggers and predictors around recall issues as well as work on your understanding of your dog’s body language so we can spot potential recall issues before they start.

The loose lead elements will consist of both theory and practical application as well. The theory is often the most important part, as when we understand how our dog thinks and how they interpret our actions we see things very differently and can begin to change our training approach, so we are working with our dog, not against them.

If you are currently using a harness to walk, that’s fine and please bring them on their harness, but I will be teaching you via a flat collar and lead, so please ensure they are wearing a suitable collar for the sessions. I am a positive reward-based trainer who is completely force free.

I will not have the use of choke chains, even slip leads or any other aversive methods, such as prong collars or E-collars in my class. I will not teach any methods which involve ‘corrections’ to the dog either. We do not yank leads or shouting at our canine companions.

My methods use reward and plenty of patience!!

Send a message to learn more

28/01/2025

What goes up must come down!

This is the same for arousal levels in dogs.

I love playing fast moving tuggy chase games with my dogs, but I need them to then return to a calmer state of mind.

Being an adrenaline ju**ie isn’t good, so if we get them up with fast moving chase games, we need to settle them before going for a walk say or wanting to return to watching TV!

So after a class focused on toy play and retrieves we need a calm few moments before class dismissed!

Well done guys!!

27/01/2025

Really pleased with how you’re all coming along in your respective classes. There are definitely WOW moments to be celebrated now.

Really proud of all of you for different reasons - all on your path for success 🙏😎

27/01/2025

📣 Recall and loose lead lead Deep Dive 📣

6 week course covering the theory and practical solutions to help with your loose lead walking and recall - last chance to sign up to this course until May!!

3x remaining places
Thursday 20th Feb 6:15-7:15pm
Weeton Village Hall

Worksheets each week to build a comprehensive booklet on the topics
Lots and lots of support from me via video feedback
Access to private Facebook group for videos and tutorials!

26/01/2025

Environmental rewards

What your dog finds rewarding is endless. If I were to rank order what my dogs find rewarding it would be something like this

Mist – Disembowelling a fleece tuggy toy (and that is fine because it is HER JOY!)
Cooper – Running in huge circles
Keeva – Rolling in fox p**p

So today I want to write about how to use the environment as a reward. We use food and toys to build a behaviour and exaggerate it, position or speed for example, but we are not always going to have these to hand, and nor is it practical to do so sometimes.
I use environmental rewards so much, I do it without even thinking. Walking on a loose lead, the walk is continuing and thus is the reward for that behaviour. My dogs know they get plenty of walks and opportunities to go out where we mooch and sniff as much as they want, so we aren’t over threshold before we even go out the door. There is give and take in this relationship, they don’t try to kill me and we get to enjoy lots of walks/sniffs etc. The walk and the opportunities to sniff becomes the replacement food/toy.

Walking in proximity to me off lead for some duration towards the pond where they desperately want to swim… the swim is the reward for them choosing to walk ‘close’, then I shout ‘Go Swim-Swim’ and off they shoot.

Using the environment as a reward to run, chase, play, sniff, search, swim etc etc is the most important thing! Training is all about relationship and trust, trust that the dog is going to do their part of the bargain and you will then do yours.

Trying to prevent your dog being a dog and interacting with the environment will never work – you need to find an agreeable way to harness the power of environmental rewards.

…….yes Keeva does roll in the fox poo, but at least we will also get to go swim-swim as well!

You have to pick your battles so times!

25/01/2025

Toys as a reward

There are a huge range of toys on the market so it can be difficult to get the ‘right’ one for Fido.

Just because your dog does not play with it immediately does not mean they wont in the future; it may also be that they do not know how to play with that specific type of toy.

Begin with a range or materials and shapes. Hard and soft, noisy and quiet. Allow your dog to choose their toy and watch how they then interact with it. What do they do? Shake it, destroy it, run around parading it in their mouths?

How your dog interacts with the toy may sometimes reflect some stereotypical breed specific traits. Soft mouthed dogs may simply show joy for carrying their prize around, they may prefer soft toys too. Parading their prize if the best part for them!

Harder mouthed dogs may prefer harder toys that they can chew and squeeze - more robust than your soft toys.

Some may like nothing more that to destroy a toy, shredding it to pieces may be their most rewarding thing. Playing tuggy with you or stopping a moving ball.

Once you have watched and learned what your dog likes to do naturally, then you need to provide that same level of joy with you and get involved in the game!

However you structure your games remember that these will evolve over time. Likes and dislikes change so be flexible and aware of where the joy is for your dog and build that into your reward structure when training and playing.

My dogs have lots of toys, but we have ‘special toys’ that they only get in certain places for a certain game - rewards need to reflect the energy of the environment too. For example, we have frizbees for the beach and the field where we play a games of chase, circles and emergency stops.

The environment and external factors will also affect thy type of reward or play your dog wants or needs (environmental rewards coming up tomorrow!)

We have the big squeaky balls, that are reserved only for two things - to prolong the life of the hoover and the lawn mower! We have loads of different types of interactive toys and tug toys of all different shapes, lengths, fabrics etc. The prized, most special tug toys are reserved for agility training with me, or some training in the garden or front room – they do not have access to these without me to maintain the prestigious nature of them!

Building value and a structure with the toys is important too. There are videos on this in the private Facebook group. Again identify what your dog likes to do with the toy or to access the toy when using them as rewards. Do they like to chase you with the toy outstretched in your hand? Do they like to search for it, then parade it around to your applause and praise? Do they like to shred it – so a game of tug maybe perfect here?!

If you are struggling finding out how your dog likes to interact with toys/you or the type of toy that like, please pop me a message and i'll be happy to help. This is so important that have an outlet for predatory behaviours (do you know what your dog was bred to do?) If we can provide that outlet some many other behaviours will disappear or become far easier to manage.

We are working on toy play in our foundations classes this week at Weeton and Norbreck

23/01/2025

‘But my dog isn’t motivated by toys or food…’

I do hear this a lot from clients when we talk about how to reward their dog for a good choice the dog has made in training. The truth is that all animals are motivated by reward (including us) you just have to find the right motivator and how that can then be delivered in the right way.
Food.
Food is a primary motivator for us all! It is the best way to get a dog thinking and responding. You need to identify what are high value and lower value food to your dog (not what you think they SHOULD like!).
1. This is easy to do. Put out some dishes with all different types of food in them. What order does your dog eat them in? List them in that order so you have a high to low list of food rewards.
2. Food is best for thinking activities too as using lower value foods can maintain concentration on a puzzle – sometimes if the food is simply too good the dog cannot think clearly enough past the food in your hand to execute the behaviour!
3. Delivery. This is a big one! There are some many ways you can deliver the food to your dog – throwing it away from you, behind you, through your legs, teaching the dog to catch, rolling it along the floor, throwing it into grass for them to ‘find it’! Taking food from a stationary hand in a stationary manner can be quite unappealing to our breeds motivated by chase and searching.

Reward markers

I will elaborate more in this topic at a later stage, but for now, you need a word that signifies to the dog they have that behaviour correct and a reward is coming. Our timing is so slow compared to our canine friends by the time we have messed about getting the reward and delivered it, the dog has no idea what that reward was for and you haven’t ‘captured’ the behaviour you wanted too!

I don’t use a clicker as it is just something else to carry, hold or forget, so I just mark a behaviour with a word. Something that is quick ‘YES’ or ‘GOOD’, ‘NICE’ etc etc

Pair this word with food, and then when you are a million times too late with your reward, as least the dog know the ‘YES’ was for that exact behaviour and a reward is on its way!

Jackpot behaviour!

This is when I would use many many pieces of food in quick succession to reward the dog for an fabulous choice! Literally the dog has hit the jackpot on that behaviour and is paid well. The better the reward, the more likely and faster the dog is going to repeat the behaviour 😉

22/01/2025

All ready for our recall lesson at Weeton at 6:15pm! This is the first focus on recall of the Deep Dive!

There is one more course available until we take a break over Easter and May!

3x places remaining
Thursday 20th Feb for 6 weeks
One hour classes

22/01/2025

Keeva has had an awesome first summer competing. Waiting for the warmer weather before we pitch our tent for our loved weekends away :)

22/01/2025

I just love spending time with my dogs! I am so lucky to do a job I love and gives me the flexibility to be with my guys as much as possible :)

22/01/2025

It’s all about the predictors, and the micro predictors and the predictors of the predictors…

Dogs learn very fast; The ‘good’ behaviours we spend time on training, but also the not so great behaviours are learned much faster!
Often because the not so great behaviours receive an immediate response from us; they gain our attention. For example, door bell rings and we rush to the door, often hysterically to prevent the dog getting there first. We do this so we can try to get some degree of calm and control before we open the door….
But what has the dog learned?

The door bell = erratic and excitable behaviour from family and the best, most exciting race ever to the door ever!!

The door bell is a predictor to the dog that fast movement towards the door follows 😊
We can’t help our responses as it is a reaction a lot of the time, but we need to consider our response to stimulus (like the door bell) before we even begin looking at why on earth our dogs do X in the presence of Y?
Well, its all about predictors!
Dogs ‘back chain’ their learning. It is a method I use often in classes, where we teach a sequence of behaviours, but we start with the last behaviour in the chain first and then work backwards, reinforcing each step as the dog progresses through the sequence.
Basically you start and the end, and work to the beginning!
Predictors are incredibly powerful and you need to identify these before any counter conditioning or de-sensitisation to triggers can begin.
Always ask yourself what is predictor that we are going to do X and look at your dogs response. This is key in pretty much every dog training struggle I am asked to help in. From recall to Separation related behaviours to barking to loose lead walking or even resource guarding.
I am currently supporting a couple and their dogs with separation related behaviours. Back chaining the trigger for the dog came down to the gentleman simply uncrossing his legs. This action was enough for the dog to jump up and begin pacing and barking. The gentleman uncrossing his legs was a predictor to the dog that he may well now stand up and leave the room…. Unleashing panic in the dog!
Where do we begin here then? Simply rewarding the dog for not responding when the gentleman uncrosses and crosses his legs; and this needs to be repeated over and over again before we move to the next step.
My advice to anyone struggling with a behaviour would be to list all the predictors and begin to reward calm responses at the very lowest and move toward the final goal.

22/01/2025

LAST COURSE until the SUMMER so dont miss out -

3x places remaining :)

20/01/2025

Tonight we worked on obsessive/ focused behaviours with a twist!

The dogs on this group become fixated on certain objects. These objects represent possibly triggers such as movement, noise and play.

Each dog can be quite single minded in terms of HOW they engage with a triggered object and their inability to disengage.

This exercise taught them to disengage from the object. Really a hard ask for some dogs that are so focused on a set out come.

These guys showed some excellent progression in a very short amount of time.

17/01/2025

Creating a Reliable Recall and Improving Loose Lead Walking

6:15-7:15pm at Weeton Village Hall.

Thursday 20th February – Thursday 27th March (6 weeks)

Weeton Village Hall (PR4 3ND)

This intensive series of 6 sessions works through the behaviours which can cause issues with recall and loose lead walking. Through my years of experience, I have found that the two are linked; if a dog pulls on the lead, the recall also tends to be an issue. This is because we are often working with a lack of impulse control more than the understanding of how to walk on a lead or the desire to return to their guardian when distractions are present.

Within the recall parts of this series of lessons we look at preventing the desire to chase; so we build value for proximity, disengagement skills and improve our impulse control – all achievable through games we can play in the village hall, and of course at home. We will also look at triggers and predictors around recall issues as well as work on your understanding of your dog’s body language so we can spot potential recall issues before they start.

The loose lead elements will consist of both theory and practical application as well. The theory is often the most important part, as when we understand how our dog thinks and how they interpret our actions we see things very differently and can begin to change our training approach, so we are working with our dog, not against them.

If you are currently using a harness to walk, that’s fine and please bring them on their harness, but I will be teaching you via a flat collar and lead, so please ensure they are wearing a suitable collar for the sessions. I am a positive reward-based trainer who is completely force free. I will not have the use of choke chains, slip leads or any other aversive methods, such as prong collars or E-collars in my class. I will not teach any methods which involve ‘corrections’ to the dog either. We do not yank leads or shout at our canine companions.

My methods use reward and plenty of patience!!

What to bring:
• Plenty of treats, a mix of high value (cheese/ chicken/ham etc)
• Two tuggy toys (I recommend tug-e-nuff toys. Enter mypawfectk9 and get a 10% discount!)
• A bed/crate for your dog to settle on as dogs maybe working whilst yours in not. You can place your dog back in the car in between turns if you feel this is better.
• A pen / clipboard if you have one – as you will be emailed the worksheet before class.
• A drink for you and your pooch.

17/01/2025

‘We did it!’

So much love for these guys - they have been dedicated from the outset with her best interests at heart from day one. They will move heaven and earth for Maggie to have her best life.

After quite an upheaval in her young life Maggie became very fearful and reactive to other dogs.

Nikki has never stopped working towards their end goal of finding the sociable, care free dog she remembers, and here she is. Off lead paying so well with another much larger dog!

Lovely relaxed body language and great ‘play sharing’ in the other videos.

Nikki said ‘I think this will be my last update as we’ve done it!’, well I still like to see Mags enjoying herself with new calm confident manner!

Please don’t stop with the updates 🙏🙏

17/01/2025

17/01/2025

🤣🤣A Friday Funny 🤣🤣

In spades please… 🙏 when your dog thinks they know a better way … 🤔