Rudi the Lagatto working hard at Scentwork School 🏫
Teaching scentwork can be tricky as we want to guide our dogs, but Rudi definitely understands the idea of searching and of what the target odor is.
So we just gave him a moment to work it out and he remembered to go sniff the tin with the Kong!
Excellent work and patience!
Nellie the Flattie learning to wrap a cone !
Learning to go round a cone is great for body awareness, confidence and working those bright brains! 💡
Love seeing your dogs learn!
Dealing with Noise Reactivity
Does your dog bark at noises? 🤔🗣️
Teach them noises = food for quiet 🤫
Here is Snickers the mini Dachshund who has started some work with me to reduce some reactive behaviours.
The key to reducing reactivity to noises is to setup scenarios where your dog can hear noises and not react.
We are teaching them to Notice Not React.
Here we started knocking verrry quietly and marking her good behaviour with YES and then treating her for not reacting.
You have to practice similar games in controlled situations for this to transfer to real life.
Extra Tip - Try marking and rewarding your dog for hearing noises round the house on walks.
Have treat stations around the house to have rewards to hand that you can use.
Some super lead walking in Puppy Power this week 🤩
Lead walking can be a tricky skill to master, after all the world is full of distractions!
And pups have short attention spans!
Remember:
✅ Reward good choices , such as a slack lead
✅ Practice alot at home & in the garden
✅ Practice in quiet places
✅ Have patience and let your puppy process things from a distance
If your puppy really struggles, try taking them somewhere quieter and have them on a long line.
Rewarding them for checking in and following you when you change direction.
It's often easier, the longer the lead is initially!
Bruno the Lab puppy learning to lay down!
Learning an off switch is so important for pups!
We teach this by paying the calm down, and releasing with a release cue when we want them to break the down.
This creates a solid position and understanding.
Bruno picked the calm aspect of this up very quickly and was quite happy to lay there awaiting food 😆
Teaching drop is SO important!
Don't wait until your puppy has stolen something though! 🙅♂️
If you only practice when your puppy steals things, your not teaching drop...
You are ✨ negotiating ✨
While that is most certainly better than shouting at your puppy, or chasing them ( don't make it a game!)
It's teaching them to steal first, and then they'll get a treat for dropping.
Instead practice drop with toys, and day to day items as a regular game.
If you only practice drop when your puppy has something hiiigh value, and then they lose access to their thing ( your slippers perhaps!)
You may find they don't want to drop anymore.
Make drop engaging and something you regularly do!
Little Chaney the Westie learning scentwork at Puppy Power 🤩
We love low pressure activities in puppy classes, not everything is about self control.
Here we have Chaney searching out a treat hidden underneath the cones.
This gets her brain working!
Getting pups brains working with scentwork mentally tires them and helps them to problem solve too.
Lead pressure creates reactions ❗❕
Lead pressure can add to the physical pressure of most dogs when stressed or excited, it begins to fuel those big feelings.
You can see here that something has caught Lina's eye and she's herself put pressure on the lead.
Then watch as her owner steps closer, creating more slack.
Never into her space, but just gently takes pressure off.
As a result Lina didn't react 🥳
Lina has been working with me for group classes since puppyhood as well as 121 for Reactivity.
Lina is making great strides thanks to her owners hard work & commitment 🙌
#TeamRuby were acing there work on leave it and walk away at Practice Makes Perfect 🙌
The initial goal was to simply be able to cue leave it, and step away from those tasty treats, as in real life you don't just want your proximity to the dog to be the cue for them to continue leaving.
But Ruby did so well her owner was able to walk away, sit down AND face away from Ruby!
Excellent work!
Walks can be a challenge, right?
Some dogs pull, some react and some are just shy.🐕
But what if we can take the edge off some of that energy before we go out?
Hide and seek with treats can be a great option to mentally tire your dog before your dog goes out , probably physically too if your dog is faster than Arkle 😆
Simply take some treats, or a toy, and hide them somewhere your dog can't see. Release them with a cue you don't use for anything else, such as "search" , then watch them use that nose!
Playing hide and seek games , whether with a toy or treats can get your dog in the right mindset before you even go out.
Meaning your walks are more likely to start calmly, and your dog will be more likely to relax!
He lives such a miserable life does Arkle 😭💔😂
You'll have to do better than that with your trolling though Stevey 🤷♀️😂
A big welcome to the newest Puppy Power crew 🙌
Phoebe, Honey, Bill & Bella 🤩
They were all chilled and enjoyed learning about offering eye contact, touch and the hugely important skill of being chilled around other pups.
An excellent start to the course, well done everybody!
