MAC Dog Training

02/09/2024

Mando is definitely one of the biggest puppies I’m currently working with!

5 months old and already 30 kgs!

I’ll also say he’s definitely one of the laziest pups I’m working with😂

16/06/2024

A reminder here to say that I’ll be out of office from the 17th-27th of this month!
Off to Marrakesh for a bit to try and relax and switch off the brain and not think about dogs constantly😂
Any enquiries sent during this time will be answered when I’m home or at least not when I’m slumped back on a sun lounger getting redder than a fresh Scottish lobster

31/05/2024

This is the difference that 3 sessions can make!
Fingal is a typical Jack Russell: Highly driven, low tolerance for frustration, and enjoys seeking conflict.
This all means he can turn into an angry raging nightmare in a split second (his reaction in the video was a mild one!). Better yet, he’s got a few serious bites on his record.
We’ve still got some more work to do but this has been great progress in a short amount of time from both Fingal and his owners

26/05/2024

Kira and Hendrix just winding down and chilling out😁

04/05/2024

Amber kisses on the first date🤣
Hendrix has been super busy as my right hand man the past few weeks and today we worked on Amber’s social skills around new dogs.
I think it’s fair to say that it went quite well!

23/04/2024

I took Kaiser down through the woods to the river this afternoon and the water helped him cool off😊

I feel like he’s imagining himself as a grizzly catching some fresh salmon😂

05/04/2024

Isn’t it supposed to be spring!?😂🌼☀️
A couple of drenched Border Collie’s for Buddy’s training session today.
Working on his dog reactivity but he’s been doing so well recently that it turned out to be a very easy session😁

19/03/2024

This is what fear can look like in a dog.
It’s easy to mislabel these dogs based on what the outward behaviour looks like. I know, that with this dog in particular, the LAST thing he wants to do is bite me.
He’s just learned that acting this way gets people to leave. This behaviour gets him exactly what he wants.
When dogs see strangers as threats, they often don’t think that their owners will be able to handle these situations. So they take it upon themselves to handle it, which only works to create more suspicion and nervousness around new people.
One of the first things we always want to do with a nervous/fearful dog is build confidence. Confidence will build resilience to stress and curiousity with new things. If you combine all of this, you’ll get a dog that doesn’t feel the need to even react in the first place because there’s no fear anymore.

26/02/2024

Hendrix turns 10 🥳

Posted this on instagram but not Facebook!
It was Hendrix’s birthday on the 24th so I put together some photos of my right hand man

24/12/2023

Hendrix and I wish everyone a lovely Christmas and all the best going into 2024!🎅🎄

16/09/2023

The XL Bully Ban

When will the government realise that banning the breed is the most surface level and short-sighted “solution” to this problem?
Responsible bully owners who understand what their dog is and have sacrificed their time to prove to the world that their bully can be just as well adjusted as other dogs will just be treated like none of that even matters-simply because of how their dog looks.
And what about the irresponsible HUMANS?
The ones who breed these dogs without thought for the genetics that go into them and then make their money selling it on to other irresponsible HUMANS who will use them as a status symbol for their fragile egos. Well, I’m sure their businesses will take a momentary hit but all will be fine when the move onto, and quickly ruin, the next power breed-that will inevitably get banned because this government just seems to have a hard-on for that dumb-ass approach.
Not to mention the government can’t even identify what an XL Bully is at the moment? They need to put together a panel of “experts” to determine what classifies the breed?
Uncertainty breeds fear. Fear is overcome by curiosity. Curiosity is satiated through education.
Don’t even know how to end this other than dropping a link to this petition that could put a stop to this-it’s worth a try

https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/643611/signatures/new?fbclid=PAAaY9asOluZSJzqp_Z2LlyFX7ksfQBj5849oluT5R6DAAbA1a9GV4vCJEpLc_aem_AfKuLj1_TAqGjqozPu_T878d00yJ9x3sQ0X90fT6YBtddG1z8Yn6qvXay3pGEnF0C0Q

I believe that the XL bully is a kind, beautiful natured breed that loves children and people in general, and are very loyal and loving pets.

08/08/2023

How handsome is this guy!?

22/07/2023

Cici will wait until nobody’s watching to give out some affection😂

09/07/2023

I was filming some training with Loki for his owners today when I caught this moment!
He spontaneously decided to jump up next to me on the bench and take in the scenery for a minute🤣

08/07/2023

Dogs have 4 options when faced with danger-
Fight, Flight, Freeze, and Appease.
Usually dogs will only choose "Fight" as a last
resort because it only creates more conflict which dogs, like humans, usually try to avoid.
Rufus will typically go from Freeze to Fight
which he shows by snapping and biting at his
owners. It's difficult to say why but it's most likely something that happened with his previous owners.
Our job is going to be to give Rufus the option of
“Flight” back to him. The option to just move away from things or situations he doesn't like or isn't entirely comfortable in.
This seems to have been stripped from him when he was a puppy, so he'll be learning it now and will hopefully go on to choose to move away away from tough situations instead of going in to battle

28/06/2023

It’s not always scary & mean dogs that I work with🤣
Sometimes it’s puppies like Bailey whose only issue was a lack of confidence in new places. This was how I was working with her back in April.
With nervous or insecure dogs, I like to give them a job to do or just a little task to carry out.
The task can’t be too hard-if the dog can’t achieve what you’re asking then it’ll just break their confidence more.
The task can’t be too easy-they won’t learn anything if there’s no challenge.
I’m trying to cultivate an attitude in Bailey; “when we go to new places, we have fun, there’s lots of food, and I’ll present you with a challenge that I know you can overcome.” Rinse and repeat.
I’ve been hearing back from Bailey’s owner and seeing her videos after all our sessions together and Bailey has been doing amazing with her socialisation and is already a much more confident dog!😄

25/06/2023

This is the stuff Hendrix and I do every morning instead of going for a walk
Every dog loves a challenge and I believe for a dog to be properly fulfilled, we need to give them different forms of challenges every day that they can overcome.
The half hour walk around the neighbourhood isn’t enough of a challenge for your dog and in most cases is probably pretty boring for them.
I want you to find ways to challenge them mentallly and physically.
For the clients that I’ve worked with on play, this is an example of Capping. Watch how I bring Hendrix’s energy up and then give him his cue to relax before releasing him to go again. Great for teaching impulse control and emotional regulation.

22/06/2023

A new, bigger car means Hendrix has got more space than ever before!😄
It means I can use a crate for him which gives us added safety and will help him with his travel nausea.
He also just loves jumping into the back like it’s an obstacle course😂

21/06/2023

Obedience essentially means "do as I say" but what about when you're expecting obedience in a situation where your dog is feeling uncomfortable?
It will probably be beneficial to let your dog break position if it makes them feel more comfortable.
By allowing your dog to have a way out of a tough situation you're allowing your dog to seek safety by using a passive approach.
If your dog thinks that it's not possible to take a passive approach to getting out of a situation-they'll take an active approach to seeking safety. If the dog finds that this approach works, they'll keep doing it. In the biz, we call that "reactivity" 😬

28/05/2023

Me and my bud Hendrix❤️
📷 Hazel Ferguson

12/05/2023

My pal Kira❤️
Photo courtesy of the amazing Hazel Ferguson😄

27/04/2023

Trying to have a serious training session while this guy is acting like a goofball😂

20/04/2023

Puppy training isn’t always exciting!🚫🥳🚫
I’m working with Bailey who is naturally nervy in new places around new sights and strange sounds.
I’ve been spending a lot of time with her in new places allowing her to soak everything in so she can understand that she’s safe and that there’s nothing to worry about 😄
Exposure to new places is critical for puppies to become self-assured, confident and balanced.
But bringing a lot of high energy to this would only work to distract her from the environment.
The rewards aren’t to create a specific behaviour-it’s just to help her feel more relaxed. It also gives me good gauge of how she’s feeling as a dog that’s too nervous won’t take food. The good news is that my treat pouch was empty after this 😋
By working calmly and rewarding infrequently-I’m allowing her to stay in a calm state of mind where she can learn everything she needs to about this strange new place she’s in.

06/04/2023

This is why you should be playing with your Reactive dog✅
Since I got started with Duke, getting him to play with us been something I have been really pushing for in his training plan. But it wasn’t easy.
His reactivity is based in frustration. Frustration with the fact he can’t go and play with every other dog he sees. Yet he wouldn’t play with us, the humans.
We wanted Duke to have an appropriate outlet for that high energy play and teach him that he can get that on a regular basis from his owners.
He doesn’t have to go looking for dogs to play with as long as his owners are the biggest source of fun and will be his source of fulfilment.
Every dog wants to engage in play; it’s one of the most natural behaviours that mammals engage in.
He wouldn’t play with his owners because of his weird background of being a rescue from abroad. He never had the same early experiences as most “normal” dogs where they learn to play with a member of a different species (us) and understand that toys are objects that can be shared and uses in a co-operative way.
But!…the last few weeks have been a big turnaround for Duke! We see him now regularly playing with his owners and having a healthy outlet for his frustration and prey drive. This is going to be a big milestone is his training!
Play naturally brings on joy and other pleasant emotions which every dog should have a right to feel. Dukes life before was filled with constant stress, anxiety, and frustration. Imagine living like that for a moment.
If we allow our dogs to feel more joy-especially in environments and around triggers they’re unsure of then we begin to attach positive emotions to those things. A more positive outlook means more positive behaviour. And that is essentially the goal of reactivity training.

23/03/2023

Recall drills with Lola😀
This is my favourite way to practise recall! Watch how, on the 3rd attempt, Lola gets wise and beats us to it😂
You’ll need two people; The Handler and The Distraction
Have one person with a handful of low-value treats lure the dog away from their owner, trying their best to create a decent amount of distance-“The Distraction”
When the dog is distracted and far away enough, the other person calls the dog using their recall command-“The Handler”
The handler marks the behaviour with a “Yes!” and rewards the dog with high value treats.
If you find it isn’t working-try having the distraction stop in their tracks when the handler calls the dog.
Make sure whatever the handler is rewarding with is higher value than whatever the distraction is holding.

10/03/2023

Ollie’s Before & After!
Ollie started off as a nervy, insecure dog which caused him to feel unsure around new things. As can be common with these smaller breeds, they can feel the need to fend off any potential threats.
We spent a lot of our reactivity work focusing on building trust and engagement with his owner, creating a more structured walk, working with thresholds and distances from his triggers. and swapping out his harness and flexi for the classic slip-lead.
We worked a lot on his resource guarding by making use of management protocols (not giving him free access to stuff he really REALLY likes!😬) and counter-conditioning as well as training a solid recall and building up his place command.
That’s a hell of a lot of work to do in 4 sessions (with some Uni work to be done on the side😂) but these two did incredible! The results speak for themselves😁

23/02/2023

Harsh truth-you don’t have a recall problem you have a relationship problem!😬

18/02/2023

The likeness is uncanny😂

31/01/2023

FYI: If Kaiser ever asks you out on a date, be aware that he’s very insistent on giving you a big kiss 😂

25/01/2023

Check Lola prancing like a show horse😂
At 6 months old and only on our second session Lola’s heel work is coming along very nicely. She’s a hard working and hard-headed pup from strong breeding lines and isn’t afraid to bring out her feisty side when she feels like it!
We were using our heel work to give Lola something to focus on around some construction with men in high vis vests-somewhat of a trigger for Lola.
Giving her a job to do is really just a way of allowing us to build her confidence around things she’s unsure of 😄