Good morning everyone! The sun is shining 🌄 Let's make today a good one 💪
Play and socialisation are extremely important for dogs, however, it's very common for owners to mistake play fighting for aggression 🥊🐶
Hopefully after reading this post you will know when to intervene and when to let dogs have fun and do what they do best which is be dogs.
Behaviours that say this is all good fun:
1. Both tails up and wagging.
2. Sneezing.
3. Play bow - Front end down and back end up in the air (sometimes the initiator will slap their front legs on the floor).
4. An open mouth with wrinkles around the mouth and eyes.
5. Exaggerated big bouncy movements.
6. Exaggerated loud continuous growling and snarling (this may sound scarier than a serious fight).
7. Being voluntarily vulnerable by lying down and exposing their belly.
8. Allowing themselves to be caught when chased.
9. Taking it in turns to chase each other.
10. Alternating between who is lying down and who is on top.
11. Breaks/pauses.
12. Both dogs keep on going back for more.
Behaviours that say this isn't a game:
1. Very stiff bodies with raised hackles.
2. Closed mouth, lip curled and a low warning growl.
3. Quick and efficient movements, no bouncing and no taking it in turns.
4. Tails down, ears pinned back and snarling.
5. If the dogs actually get into a combat it will usually be over very quickly and the loser will try to flee. The loser doesn't come back for more.
If dogs are fighting its important to never try to split them up using your hands as you could get severely bitten.
Instead break it up by throwing water onto both dogs, this will shock them into stopping and you can then remove the dogs from the situation.
Throwing water should only be used in extreme emergency situations and never when the dogs are just playing.
Hopefully by learning more about body language you will be able to see the warning signs which means you can remove your dog from the situation before
✨️CHALLENGE RESULTS ✨️
Its time to share your results from last week's impulse control challenge 🎉
Here is mine and Bella's ☺
The football is Bella's absolute favourite toy! Bella was worked so hard and gone from being in a hyper aroused state around the ball to being able to remain in lie down whilst the ball is kicked.
I'm so incredibly proud of her progress 💗
If you would like to learn how to train your dog to do the same, please contact me and we can book in a zoom or face-to-face training session ☺
#weeklychallenge #weeklychallengeresults #shareyourprogress #impulsecontrol #dogtraining #football #controlarousal #progress #contactme
Bella helping out with the gardening 🏡
Good morning everyone ☺
I hope that you all have some lovely plans for the weekend.
The weather is beautiful outside ☀️
Bella says it's the perfect opportunity to go put and do some gardening 🏡
We focus so much on make sure that our dogs are happy, we need to make sure that we also remember to take care of ourselves 💗
What self care activities have you got planned for the next 2 days?
#weekend #sunshine #gardening #digging #selfcare #goodmentalhealth
Hiding treats in the grass and allowing your dog to sniff them out is a quick, easy but effective form of enrichment 🧠
Activities that involve sniffing give your dog's brain a fantastic workout 💪
Apparently 15 minutes of scent work can tire a dog out more than a 2 hour walk that has no sniffing opportunities.
Since its a glorious day, let's leave the balls at home and take our dogs out on a 'sniffari' 👃
#enrichment #sniffari #sniffing #scentwork
Bella's first ever puppachino ☕️
#starbucks #puppachino #assistancedog #reward
Good morning everyone! The rain has stopped 🎉 I was so happy to see the sunshine this morning, it never fails to bring a smile to my face ☺
I hope that you all have a fabulous day planned. ☀️
In this video we have Bella playing with her best friend Oscar.
Can you identify any body language that indicates that they are playing rather than fighting? I'll give you an easy one to get you started, Bella goes into a play bow which indicates that she is not a threat and is wanting to play 🐶
Shaping Emergency Stop
🌧🌫 When the weather is rainy and miserable, its the perfect time to stay indoors and work on some training.
Training is a fantastic mental enrichment acitivity which can be more tiring than a long walk! 😴
If your dog isn't used to daily training sessions, start off by making them short, e.g. 2 minutes, and then build up the time periods slowly over the coming weeks.
Bella and I have been practising shaping our emergency stop, she is doing so well! We use the word 'freeze' instead of 'stop'. We are all used to saying the word 'stop' in quite a harsh tone, its important to make sure that all of our cues are positive. Using 'freeze' instead of 'stop' helps to create a more friendly tone. 🐕☺️
One of Bella's favourite activities is 'landscaping'.
People often discourage their dogs from digging, however, this natural behaviour has many benefits, e.g. stress relief.
Understandably you may not want your dog to dig up your garden! A children's sandbox creates a fantastic alternative, try adding treats to the sand to give your dog a mental and physical workout!
What are some of your dog's favourite activities?
I specialise in force free progressive reinforcement training. K9 Connectionism - A calm approach to canine confidence.
