Do you have an adolescent dog struggling with recall? 🐕🐕
Keep the faith! Keep going with rewarding when they come back and using a long line (only ever on a body harness) to prevent them from self rewarding when they can’t listen.
It’s been a very long 10 months with Mango but now her recall is getting really good, even in environments she used to really struggle with! Video below to show you where you will get to if you stick with the training methods we’ve taught…two months ago I didn’t know if this would ever happen 🙈
#apdt #intodogs #exemplardogs #puppytraining #puppy #puppylove #puppyoftheday #positivedogtraining #positivetraining #dogtraining #devondogs #dawlishdogs #dogtrainingpaysoff #doglife #cookiefeedernotpackleader #dogsofinstagram #dogtrainer #dawlishwarren #dawlish #holcombe #teignmouth #shaldon #bishopsteington #exminster #starcross #exeter
When you buy your dog a tasty chew and they don’t quite know what to do with it 🤣🤣🤣
When your dog wants you to practice recall 🤣🙈❤️
Natural check ins what are they and why are they so important?
A natural check in is when your dog voluntarily turns to look at you and “check in.” You may see this when a dog is on lead walking with a human and they keep turning to look to their human, you may also see this when a dog gets off lead runs ahead a little and then turns to look at their human.
Natural check ins are so essential and are the beginnings of all good training… If we can get natural check-in it makes lead walking easier, impulse control easier, recall easier, life more enjoyable!
How do I get natural check ins?
A dog that checks in with its human regularly, is one who thinks it’s going to pay well i.e. the human is going to provide the fun times! By doing lots of training, playing lots of games, being present with your dog you will start to build up their desire to look at you, which we can then heavily reward.
As with all training, there are two elements – positively reinforcing behaviours we want to see happen more and management to prevent less desirable behaviours from happening in the first place. A big example of this is recall! If you have a dog who doesn’t recall well (even if it’s just in certain situations) it’s essential to not only reward well when they do recall but also to prevent them from running off and self rewarding by playing with other dogs following a scent, etc and the way to manage that would be to have them on a long line (only ever on a body harness for safety reasons) so they can’t self reward away after you have recalled them.
A dog who offers lots of natural check ins is looking to his human for the fun rather than the environment and that’s when they will be able to listen more to your cues 🎉
#apdt #intodogs #exemplardogs #puppytraining #puppy #puppylove #puppyoftheday #positivedogtraining #positivetraining #dogtraining #devondogs #dawlishdogs #dogtrainingpaysoff #doglife #cookiefeedernotpackleader #dogsofinstagram #dogtrainer #dawl
🐶👃🎉 Scent Club 🐶👃🎉
Does your dog love sniffing? Would you like to do it more regularly with them? No experience necessary.
I have ONE space on a regular Tuesday 11am - 12pm Scent club which runs once a month with a different theme each month. Suitable for dogs who are sociable with other dogs and people 🐶
Only THREE dogs share these 1 hour sessions where we teach your dog how to search for an item sniffer dog style and then progress their skills.
Many of you will know how highly I rate sniffing - the more we can encourage our dogs to sniff, and play sniffy games the better.
Why is it so good?
For lots of reasons but here are a few:
-It makes our dogs feel good
-They enjoy it
-It gives them a mental workout
-Great for puppies who can’t walk far because of their joints
-Brilliant for older dogs to give them an all round workout without causing achy joints from walking too far
-Amazing for days when you don’t have long to exercise your dog
-Perfect for all dogs
-Leads to a more relaxed dog
-Promotes teamwork between dog and human which in turn leads to better focus/attention/recall/loose lead walking
-Encourages your dog to be near to you rather than getting their fun from the environment.
If you’d like more info, please get in touch 🐶
💥💥💥 Top Tip 💥💥💥
Instead of feeding from a bowl, you can feed your dog from a food toy.
This adds some fun to their day, makes the food more exciting for those who aren’t big eaters and slows down those who love their food lots! It allows them practice those natural behaviours of chasing and sniffing too 🐶
So ditch the bowl and add some enrichment to their day in a really easy way 🐶
#apdt #intodogs #exemplardogs #canineenrichment #dogsport #scentwork #ukrally #positivedogtraining #positivetraining #dogtraining #devondogs #dawlishdogs #dogtrainingpaysoff #doglife #cookiefeedernotpackleader
💥Easy enrichment idea 💥💥
Have you received any orders in boxes recently?
Before you recycle your cardboard boxes, turn them into a game for your dog to enjoy - providing stimulation and enjoyment and adding some extra enrichment to their day.
All you need are some of your puppies/dogs favourite treats and a box - preferably with some paper packaging inside.
This activity is suitable for any dogs or puppies regardless of age as long as they don’t like to eat paper. If they do like to eat paper this one’s not for them. Perfect as an activity to keep them busy if you need to do something e.g. cook dinner and it provides an appropriate outlet for natural behaviours such as dissection and foraging 🐶
Try it, your dog will thank you for it 🥰
Excuse the cut video - Facebook trims it to 60 seconds (you just missed the box being done up and the pooch enjoying it!)
#apdt #intodogs #exemplardogs #canineenrichment
Help! My adolescent dog won’t come back to me anymore…
As puppies get older, they get more confidence to wander further away and their recall can get worse (or become non existent especially around distractions (birds, smells, people, dogs etc)
We need to do prevent them from self rewarding i.e. realising it’s more fun to play with other dogs/sniffing in the bushes etc than coming back to their human. Otherwise they will practice and therefore perfect not coming back to you and it will get worse rather than better. One way to do this is when you get to an open space instead of having them off lead, put them on a long lead (5 or 10 metres) - only ever attached to a body harness (never a neck collar)- so they have some freedom but can't run across the field to other distractions, plus you can control how close you get to the distraction. Once their recall is more reliable, you can start to leave the long line trailing along the floor (so there is more to catch hold of if you need to) and build up to taking it off completely.
Of course, there are lots of other things we can teach to help with recall, the key is patience, persistence and perseverance. Adolescence passes although feels really tough while you dog is in that stage.
#exemplardogs #reliablerecall #positivedogtraining
Help! My dog won’t come back to me anymore…
As puppies get older, they get more confidence to wander further away and their recall can get worse (or become non existent. The best thing to do is go back to basics with recall, rewarding really well (at least 3 or 4 high value treats when they comes back) to re-train them and teach them that coming back to you is the best thing they can do. If you have a tug-e-nuff toy or squeaky toy you can use this too to make you more exciting than the rest of the environment (you can use the code EXEMPLAR for a discount).
The main thing we need to do though is prevent them from self rewarding i.e. ignoring you and playing with other dogs/sniffing in the bushes etc. Otherwise they will practice and therefore perfect not coming back to you and it will get worse rather than better. One way to do this is when you get to the field instead of having them off lead, put them on a long lead (5 or 10 metres) - only ever attached to a body harness (never a neck collar)- so they have some freedom but can't run across the field to other dogs. While they are on this long lead, practice your recall lots (20 or 30 times each walk). As soon as they start coming back to you, click and put at least 3 or 4 tasty treats on the floor by your feet - this only works if they are clicker trained. If they run towards another dog, let them run to the end of the long lead and then recall them. They will likely stand at the end of the lead wanting to get to the other dog (but can't because of the lead), eventually (even if it's after 10 minutes) they’ll choose to come back to you and as soon as they makes this good decision, click and put at least 3 or 4 treats on the floor. The main thing is we've prevented them from self rewarding by playing with the other dog AND we have captured and rewarded the moment they made a good choice to come back to you. Over time, their recall should get better and stronger. Once their recall is more reliable, you can star
I think the puppy enjoyed the paddling pool more than the children…who didn’t even get in it!
A pool is a great way to help keep your dog cool in this heat and provide them with some entertainment during the day without over exerting themselves.
Really important to keep an eye on our pets at the moment and make sure they’re not overheating.
- Stick to shorter walks in shaded areas with plenty of rests for water
- Check pavements before you take them out. If it’s too hot for your bare feet, it’s too hot for theirs. Try holding your foot or the back of your hand on the pavement for 7 seconds.
- Avoid walks between 11am - 5pm, when it’s even hotter, try to stick to first thing in the morning and last thing at night or even skip them altogether and play some fun (slow) games with them at home or do some extra training instead, maybe teach them a new trick.
- Cooling coats or bandanas can help keep them cooler when out and about.
- Cooling beds or cool mats are a great option and your dog can choose to go on them if they need to cool down (some dogs may need some encouragement). Cool coats are also an option - even in the garden/home.
- Air conditioning often doesn’t get into the boot of cars, they could be too hot in there.
- Paddling pools in the garden are great too (I’d recommend the hard plastic shells rather than an inflatable pool - not sure how long mine will last!)
- Suncream (dog safe) for dogs with pale/short fur.
- Make sure there is fresh, cool water available at all times. You can even put ice in their water which some dogs love to crunch (do not do this if you suspect your dog has heat stroke)
- Do NOT cool your pet rapidly if you suspect they have heat stroke as this can cause them to go into shock.
Signs of heatstroke in dogs include excessive panting, drooling, reddened gums, vomiting, diarrhea, mental dullness or loss of consciousness, uncoordinated movement, and collapse.
#apdt #intodogs #exemplardogs #puppytraining #puppy #pu
💥💥💥 TOP TIP 💥💥💥
Hopefully you won’t have to give your dog ear drops, but you may need to at some point in their life. Physically holding a dog is no fun for the dog or you, so we want to teach them to like having ear drops in.
This can start (and ideally would start) before your dog needs drops - obviously we won’t actually put drops in their ears if they don’t need it but we can do the hard work now so when they do need it we just have one final step to go.
Start by holding an small bottle (an ear drip bottle or an empty human eye drop bottle) in your hand and rewarding your pup if they come near you. Once they are happy at this stage, move the bottle towards them slowly and reward them as you are doing so. Once they are happy with this, touch their ear with the bottle near them and reward them at the same time (two people can be helpful from now on). The next step would be to lift/hold their ear whilst the bottle is near them and still rewarding them at the same time. We can’t do the final step of administering the ear drops but you will have done most of the hard work for the time they do really need ear drops.
The key is to go at your dogs pace and build the positivity. If at any point they back away, let them and start building confidence gradually another day. It’s all about choice for your dog and not having to physically restrain them ❤️
They say the proof is in the pudding - here is little Mango at 16 weeks having ear drops for an ear infection. No fighting, no fear, just a puppy happy to have her ear drops. Her reward (squeezy cheese) lasted after the ear drops had been administered too to make it a real positive 🐶
#apdt #intodogs #exemplardogs #puppytraining #puppy #puppylove #puppyoftheday #positivedogtraining #positivetraining #dogtraining #devondogs #dawlishdogs #dogtrainingpaysoff #doglife #cookiefeedernotpackleader #dogsofinstagram #dogtrainer #dawlishwarren #dawlish #holcombe #teignmouth #shaldon #bishopste
💥💥💥 Puppy Training - Top Tip 💥💥💥
Recall is a biggie - obviously it’s important to practise lots of training but if I had to pick the two most important ones they would be recall and leave it (closely followed by wait) as they can save your dogs life.
So when teaching recall it’s important to teach all the family how to recall your pup and teach your pup to respond to all the family 🐶 Children are never too young to learn and actually it’s so important to teach them how to interact appropriately with dogs to make sure the relationships are happy and safe ones. If anyone would like some complimentary posters on this please drop me a message and I’ll email them out to you 🐶
IMPORTANT - please supervise children carefully when dog training.
#recalltraining #apdt #intodogs #exemplardogs #puppytraining #puppy #puppylove #puppyoftheday #positivedogtraining #positivetraining #dogtraining #devondogs #dawlishdogs #dogtrainingpaysoff #doglife #cookiefeedernotpackleader #dogsofinstagram #dogtrainer #dawlishwarren #dawlish #holcombe #teignmouth #shaldon #bishopsteington #exminster #starcross #exeter
Teaching your dog a trick can be great fun for both the dog and the human, it builds the bond and also gives their brain some exercise 💪
So if they still have oodles of energy after their walk (5 minutes per month of their age), or get restless in the evenings then grab some treats and do some training to help tire out their brain and build your bond together 🐶
💥💥 Puppy Training - Top Tip 💥💥
This is a really simple game - one you can do with treats or even their food at mealtimes if they’re happy to eat that as a reward. It’s also one you can do from the comfort of your sofa if you want to (perfect for in the evenings when you want to sit down but your puppy has other ideas!)
Throw a piece of food for your dog and let them chase and sniff to find it. Once they’ve eaten it, wait, they will likely look to you for the next piece. Throw the next piece in the opposite direction and let them chase and sniff to find it. Once they’ve eaten it, wait, let them look at you and throw another piece. You get the idea. This encourages attention to their human (if they look at you good stuff happens so they want to look at you more), it also encourages them to sniff and gives them an appropriate outlet for chasing - three brilliant skills for one easy game 🐶
Short video because I was singing in the longer one and no one wants to hear that 🤣
#apdt #intodogs #exemplardogs #puppytraining #puppy #puppylove #puppyoftheday #positivedogtraining #positivetraining #dogtraining #devondogs #dawlishdogs #dogtrainingpaysoff #doglife #cookiefeedernotpackleader #dogsofinstagram #dogtrainer #dawlishwarren #dawlish #holcombe #teignmouth #shaldon #bishopsteington #exminster #starcross #exeter
💥💥 Puppy Training - Top Tip 💥💥
Food toys are a fabulous way to feed your dogs their daily meals. It makes it more exciting for those who find food from bowls boring and it can slow down those who eat way too quickly.
More than that though, it offers some mental stimulation or enrichment for your dog. It provides them 10 minutes or so of brain exercise and it’s fun! It encourages the natural skills of sniffing and foraging and will also tire them out. Using their brain tires them out twice as much as a walk and sniffing tires them out three times as much! So feeding them their food from a toy can mean oodles of benefits for your dog (and you!). So ditch the bowl and become more inventive at mealtimes 🐶
#apdt #intodogs #exemplardogs #puppytraining #puppy #puppylove #puppyoftheday #positivedogtraining #positivetraining #dogtraining #devondogs #dawlishdogs #dogtrainingpaysoff #doglife #cookiefeedernotpackleader #dogsofinstagram #dogtrainer #dawlishwarren #dawlish #holcombe #teignmouth #shaldon #bishopsteington #exminster #starcross #exeter
💥💥 Puppy Training - Top Tip 💥💥
Digging is a natural doggy behaviour and therefore it’s not something that we can stop. Like most doggy behaviours, however, we can redirect it to an appropriate outlet.
You can teach your dog a “dig” cue and let them dig until their heart’s content at the beach. If you find your dog is destroying your flower beds, try to block access and give them their own area to dig in - a child’s hard, plastic sandpit works wonders.
Hide treats in their digging spot so they get rewarded when they dig in the “right” place 🐶
#apdt #intodogs #exemplardogs #puppytraining #puppy #puppylove #puppyoftheday #positivedogtraining #positivetraining #dogtraining #devondogs #dawlishdogs #dogtrainingpaysoff #doglife #cookiefeedernotpackleader #dogsofinstagram #dogtrainer #dawlishwarren #dawlish #holcombe #teignmouth #shaldon #bishopsteington #exminster #starcross #exeter
💥💥 Puppy Training - Top Tip 💥💥
Always set your puppy/dog up for success with all training, but especially recall. If you are in a new area (or a busy area) and you don’t know how reliable their recall will be; or your know your pup isn’t in their best listening mood - stick to recall on a long line. At least to start with. Recall on a long line (only ever use a long line on a body harness - never on a neck collar or head collar as there is potential for fatal injury) is still good recall practice. It also prevents your pup from ignoring you and self rewarding with another dog. When you are confident that their recall is strong, or if you’re in an area where you are confident they will be able to succeed with recall have a go at recall off lead if it is safe to do so. If your pup has been reliably recalling but has now started to find other dogs/people more exciting than you (this often happens during adolescence) I’d advise going back to a long line to prevent them from self rewarding with other dogs while you re-train recall. Recall off lead is easier to train the younger they are as they have less confidence to stray too far away from their human.
If you’d like help with recall, please contact us 🐶
#apdt #intodogs #exemplardogs #puppytraining #puppy #puppylove #puppyoftheday #positivedogtraining #positivetraining #dogtraining #devondogs #dawlishdogs #dogtrainingpaysoff #doglife #cookiefeedernotpackleader #dogsofinstagram #dogtrainer #dawlishwarren #dawlish #holcombe #teignmouth #shaldon #bishopsteington #exminster #starcross #exeter
