Happy February!! 💗 NEW TRICK AVAILABLE NOW 💗
I've just filmed a tutorial for the Valentines Trick that has got me the most adorable photos ever 🥹🫶
This is available in the Dog Club Video Tutorials now - I can't WAIT to see your valentine doggies! ❤️🐕
www.raisingmyrescue.co.uk/dog-club
I originally learned this one from @thedogtrainerschool and it's still one of my favourites 🥰
#raisingmyrescue #valentinestrick #cutedog #rescuedog #dogtricks #dogclub #valentinedog
When I adopted Kuki, he wouldn't come inside, he would hide from people, run away and panic.
Two years on last summer, we were sitting in the sun in a busy town having pizza while he waited patiently with us.
There are so many triggers:
● Dogs barking
● Dogs walking past
● Children screaming
● Wheelchairs (he's scared of them)
● People walking past
● Music playing
If anyone needs the glimmer of hope that things DO get easier, maybe this will help.
By changing the emotion around the triggers, we change the behaviour, and everyone feels better. 💕🐶
#raisingmyrescue #rescuedog #rescuetransformation #caninebehaviourist #dogbehaviourist #dogtraining #exstreetdog #streetdog #anxiousdog #scareddog #trainingimprovements #rescuedogsofinstagram
Why do we hold dogs in such high regard? "They should know better" is something I hear so often.
Why? How?
How should they know better?
If you run behind a horse, you might get kicked. And people will say "well you shouldn't have run behind the horse, what did you expect?"
As moral beings who can reason, have working memory and high intelligence, we can understand that and remember - don't run behind the horse. 🛑✋️
But with dogs, we tend to blame the dog. "They should have known better" than to react.
There's no logic here. Let's stop blaming our dogs for being dogs 🐕
#dogsaredogs #raisingmyrescue #dogbehaviourist #caninebehaviourist
This concept of "safe / not-safe" is one of the most important takeaways from our recent Live Session on Aversives and Punishment.
Dogs don't have a moral compass - they don't feel shame or embarrassed or guilty, these are all human emotions. So when people say things like "they know they've done bad", that's simply not true.
There is no good or bad - there is simply safe or unsafe. So if dogs avoid a behaviour out of fear of the outcome, this is because it feels unsafe, not because "they know it's bad".
To get the best experience, love and joy out of our relationship with our dogs, helping them feel safe should be a primary objective. 🫴🐕
#caninebehaviourist #caninecommunication #dogbehaviour #dogcomnunication #dogtrainer #raisingmyrescue #dogtrainerjames #kentdogtrainers
Kuki is like, 50% Livestock Guardian Dog, so he BARKS. Since he's been with me, we've been able to ease it through things like:
🐾 Helping him feel more settled
🐾 Changing his diet
🐾 Understanding how he's feeling and how to respond
🐾 Learning how to switch him from a reactive mindset to a thinking mindset in those moments
🐾 Teaching him a flight cue to help him feel more confident with people and dogs, after some early days advice from @dogtrainerjames
Dog Club Members can find guides to ALL of these things in the Dog Club, because I want to support you in challenges that I know were so tiresome for myself!
I found Kuki's barking really wearing and am so relieved I now understand ways to ease it. 🙏
However, remember barking is a behaviour and behaviour is an indication about how a dog is FEELING.
If your dog is expressing a feeling, it's important to find out what that feeling is, and excessive barking can be an indication of discomfort or pain.
This is why I would never ever support the use of vibration or shock collars for barking 🚫
Behaviour is communication and to suppress it is to take your dog's voice away. If this is something you are using, I will happily chat through alternatives without judgement - I have huge respect for people who ask for help 💪
#caninebehaviourist #exstreetdog #bosnianrescue #rommierescue #rommie #streetdog #dogtrainer #caninebehaviour #behaviouriscommunication #caninecommunication #talkdog
A HUGE thank you to the incredibly knowledgeable Gemma Opal Veterinary Physiotherapy for doing a Live Session with me this evening for the Dog Club! 🐾
In our Live Session, we'll be covering:
💙 Things you think are normal (but arent)
💙 How to help your dog warm up and cool down for each walk and why this is so important for their long-term health
💙 Physiological and behavioural links
💙 Why noise sensitivity could be a physical health concern
💙 ...and much much more! Excited? You should be, if you're a Dog Club Member!!!
Tues 26th Nov 7.30pm - See you there ✨️
@opalvetphysio
#caninebehaviourist #caninephysiotherapist #rescuedog #behaviouralscience #physiotherapy
Me, wondering what everyone will think of the Rescue Dog Club 🤔
Messages like this make my entire week 🫶🐾🐕
#raisingadog #raisingarescuedog #rescuedogsupport #dogbehaviourist #caninebehaviourist #dogtrainer #rescuedog #rescuedogsofinstagram #rommierescue #caninebehaviour
When Kuki arrived, communication was BASIC. He didn't know me, I didn't know him, but I did learn that he had this sort of default behaviour, which at some point must have got him what he needed.
He sat for EVERYTHING. Which meant I had no idea what he wanted, ever 🤣
This may sound a bit like not-real-dog-training-and-are-you-just-a-crazy-person idea, but I found out his needs by asking questions.
I still do this now - any time we do something significant I use the associated words;
"Let's go in the GARDEN for WEE WEES"
"Let's PLAY with your TOY"
"Here, have a LICK MAT"
"Eat your DINNER"
...and so on.
By saying those phrases every time he did the thing, he began to associate those words with the activity.
So now, his communication still isn't great (if he wants a wee he just stares at me) but I can ask him questions and the correct one makes him do a lil tippy tap and run in the right direction.
He'll look at me and I'll say "do you want to play?" (No response), "OK, do you need WEE WEES?" (No response).
"Do you just want to go OUTSIDE in the GARDEN?"
(Yay - tippy taps and runs to the door)
Success!!!
Anyone else do this? How does your dog tell you they need something?
#rescuedog #rescuedogsupport #exstreetdog #Bosnianrescue #rommie #rommierescue #rescuedogs #rescuedogsofig #caninebehaviourist #dogtrainer
Morning ☀️ Kuki used to live with about 25 other dogs when he was at the rescue shelter. When he came to me, I was really worried he would miss being around so many friends, so I read up a lot about group living and routine.
It's natural for the group to have physical contact (sometimes piling on top of each other!) to start the night and again in the morning. Kuki was nervous of me initially, but I made sure to always sit on the floor with him at bedtime and again in the morning to make sure he knew he could be with me if he wanted.
Nowadays, I've learned his style is to have less contact at bedtime but ALL the morning cuddles, so we do just that 🥰
#rescuepup #rescuedog #shelterdogs #rescueshelter #rehome #raisingmyrescue #dogtraining #doglanguage #dogcommunication #dogbehaviour #caninebehavior #raisingadog #dogcuddles #morningcuddles
One of the FIRST things I encourage creating in your dog is independence. Learning independent activities can create:
● Confidence
● Gentle separation from you
● Enrichment
● Autonomy
These are fantastic traits for your dog to have, because it sets them up for being comfortable in activities away from you and help build their personality and confidence. ❤️
If your ex-street dog arrives already very independent, that's great, we can work with that to help make sure those independent activities are safe and enriching. 🫶
I have loads of ideas for independent activities in the Rescue Dog Club ✨️
#independentdog #exstreetdog #rescuedog #raisingmyrescue #rommierescue #bosnianrescue #rommie #streetdog #adopteddogs
