Stop Hounding Me

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Stop Hounding Me

Positive reinforcement trainer to guide guardians through your dogs behaviour
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26/04/2024

Sooooo about that well behaved dog…

What is a well behaved dog to you? One that heels the whole walk? One that comes when told to? One that completely ignores their environment and responds to their owner immediately?! Yeah I’d have looked at those things too and thought “wow, why doesn’t my dog act like him?”

🐶 what would you think if I told you not every trainers dog is happy and their needs often are unmet (not always!! But sometimes). ❤️‍🩹

Having a dog who has been corrected enough so they stop showing behaviour isn’t a well behaved dog, that boy is struggling. Without a way to communicate they simply shut down and no ‘reward’ after this is going to make it better, because the fear of punishment is looming over their head. Until that tool or method is taken away, your dog will suppress these emotions and learn how to avoid punishment.

Now not all trainers think this way, but a lot do so looking at a trainers dog doesn’t necessarily mean they focus on the dogs mental wellbeing during training sessions.

Dog owners that focus on behaviour are the bees knees 🐝 ensuring a dogs mental wellbeing is in check during training sessions is a necessity for the relationship and trust built between yourself and your dog. These dogs don’t always appear to be the ‘well behaved’ type.

If your dog trainer can explain WHY their dog isn’t the most ‘well trained’ dog, that is so much more valuable to your training journey than any dog that blindly obeys their owner. They’re working on this as a team, and they definitely can show you how to work with your dog to gain results through trust.

14/04/2024

Slide ➡️ to see some of our favourite enrichment items (from utilising what you have at home to specifically designed enrichment types) 📦 🧸

What are your favourite enrichment things to do?

12/04/2024

What is high value? 🤔

A high value reward is something that is of upmost importance to your dog. Something they cannot resist under normal circumstances. Using high value treats in difficult situations encourages our dogs to make good decisions.

If you’ve pulled out all the stops and your dog is still struggling to respond to you/follow a cue it’s time to switch things up and change things in our environment or methods ❤️‍🩹

04/04/2024

Recently our FYP is full of dog trainers using all sorts of tactics to train our dogs

Amongst the harshest of training methods, and those using punishment to train their dogs, there are some common phrases used.

🚩 guaranteed results - this one is a huge and most common red flag. You should not be guaranteed that a problem behaviour will disappear within a few sessions. This implies that tactics used are going to suppress behaviour - maybe by correction, aversive tools or other stimuli to prevent that behaviour from occurring.

🚩 saves lives - what’s worse, torture or death? It’s such an odd concept to have that using tools to harm our dogs is better than them being euthanised. And it’s so odd because it’s such an odd argument point. If your vet refers you to a qualified veterinary behaviourist specialised in both veterinary medicine and canine behaviour and does not feel there is anyway they can support your dog, how do you think your dog is feeling? Are they happy? Do they feel safe? Why would it be better to put them through suffering just so we can keep them around a little longer?

🚩 well trained - implies that the way they look and act is more important than how they feel and their behavioural and emotional needs. This isn’t such a red flag maybe an amber one but being well trained should not triumph the importance of our dogs behaviour.

🚩”show em who’s boss” - no. Absolutely not. Dominance theory is out and suggesting a dog needs to be belittled into complying is absolutely not right for you or your dog.

28/03/2024

Often through posts on social media, you’ll see comments suggesting people should keep their opinions to themselves. Amongst both aversive and positive reinforcement training methods, this comment is common.

Unfortunately, posts made public are free for anyone to add their two pence but this topic in particular has its issues

1️⃣ using some methods on your dog may have taken plenty of trial and error. You might have already tried out the gentler methods and decided they didn’t work so have resorted to the use of tools or harsher methods. This in itself is dangerous when put onto social media.

New dog owners or those experiencing similar issues are watching this content and might even try and replicate these things within their home when there are other, kinder methods available. This can cause to redirection and other aggressive tendencies making behaviour far worse than before.

2️⃣ not all arguments in comment sections are bad. They can help both training styles get their views across so limiting this conversation leads for a very one sided, unchangeable approach. Criticism can be constructive at times and refusing to listen to this is a big 🚩

3️⃣ if we aren’t able to comment on a training style, what can we do if we see this getting progressively worse? If a trainer was unable to hear input from others they may become more aggressive with the way they train their dogs. At what point then would we be able to step in and give our opinion?

The difference with these two training methods is with treats and a clicker, you aren’t going to cause any harm. Whereas introducing discomfort/pain elements can cause damage.

25/03/2024

There are so many trainers out there that use slip leads as tools to train heel, give corrections and suggest harnesses cause pulling on the lead, but is this true?

A slip lead would be very effective at training heel quickly. Why? Because adding pressure onto your neck is going to make you go “hold on a minute, what’s this about”

Slip leads use pressure to get results so suggesting a harness, that doesn’t add pressure can cause pulling sounds like it makes sense but it’s not true.

All skills come with training, your dog didn’t learn how to sit, stay and come back without you teaching him did he? So why would you expect your dog to have a ready-made heel command hard wired into his head?

So in short, slip leads work. They cause discomfort and some level of stress on our dogs. Add this to a ‘reactive dog’ and you have a very frustrated boy with no outlet or ability to communicate with you.

Harnesses don’t cause pulling. You have to train your dog not to pull as you have to train everything else.

Would you prefer a quick fix or training with your dogs health and wellbeing as a main priority?

10/03/2024

Me sat watching LickiMat PR try to fix their mistake.

Hey Alexa, play ‘I Predict a Riot’ by Kaiser Chiefs

28/02/2024

The Ladder of Aggression is a term that is widely used but still not accepted by dog owners.

‘My dog would never bite someone’ is what we often hear of a beloved pet owner. I would never throw f***y cuffs but I am certain, put in the wrong situation, if I felt that is what I had to do…I would do that!

The Ladder of Aggression is such a good tool when learning about your dogs behaviour because you can pick up so much overtime.

Comment below to receive a PDF of what this means and how it applies to you and your furry companion 🩵

19/02/2024

“He knows when he’s done wrong” ❌

“She knows no means no” ❌

It seems that we quickly associate the behaviour dogs show us as ‘guilty’ after they do something we see as undesirable but what would you think if I told you this wasn’t true? 💭

Dogs don’t feel guilty. That being said they are very clever. Let me explain;

❤️‍🩹 Say they’ve just eaten something off the table that you’d rather they didn’t. You’ve walked in - caught in the act. Cue the guilty face.

Now, your dog has been in similar situations to this before. They know that stare you make, the pause you take perhaps the change in stance, facial expression or movements you make. They’ve been able to recognise this experience as one they’ve previously made which has resulted in an unpleasant experience. Maybe you told them off or intimidated them as a result - to punish them and teach them ‘no’.

🐾 That guilty face isn’t guilt, it’s realising what’s likely going to occur next - the punishment

😢 Now that that is explained, you can see that causing this realisation in your dog is going to cause some pretty stressful reactions.

Perhaps they sulk or come over with their tail between their legs. You don’t want your dog to feel threatened by you, do you?

Causing stress for your dog like this is avoidable, which is why we advocate for ignoring the behaviours you don’t want to see and praising those you do 🩵

16/02/2024

It’s not only puppies that these skills are for, but older dogs too.

Every dog guardian should be looking to perfect these skills of their four legged friend, regardless of breed and behaviour

What was the first skill you taught your dog?

09/02/2024

Sometimes we find ourselves so focussed on our dogs behaviour we forget to stop and think of ourselves.

It takes a special kind of patience to support a dog with their behavioural issues and it’s not their fault but that can be EXHAUSTING at times

Give yourself grace. Give yourself understanding. If you find yourself in the behaviour maintenance phase and not the modification phase THAT IS OKAY.

Share this to someone you think might need to hear it today because they are doing an amazing job

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I’ve got a new dog/puppy that I want to train, what should I use? That depends on what your priority is - getting the job done quick or getting the job done right Aversive methods WILL get the job done quicker there’s no way to hide it. But reducing the conversation your dog is able to have with you is gonna cause issues down the line If someone said you could lose weight without exercise and healthy eating you wouldn’t believe them! Good results take time and that’s exactly the same with dog training. You should be looking into plenty of items to make your dogs life better so dealing with big feelings are easier for them when they have their person there to support them! Here are some items we LOVE - longlines are an absolute must for recall training making it a safe and secure exercise with the freedom for your dog to choose to not come back. If they don’t, that’s okay! We need to work on how to make ourselves more exciting to come back to! Treats - a few trainers call this ‘being a treat dispenser’ but is that such a bad thing? You go to your grandparents to see them, not the snacks and chocolate they have (but knowing they have these too make it extra exciting) that’s what we want to make our dogs feel Enrichment - to set your dog up for the day they need things to do. They aren’t going to come back to you if they’ve been sat inside all day watching you on the computer or staring at your phone. Give em a box to chew, a toy to play with, a puzzle to solve or a mat to lick. Learning new tricks and figuring out where things are are amazing ways to support your dog throughout the day! Snoozes - naps are so so important. A well rested dog is a dog who can learn. Imagine being cranky after a bad nights sleep and that one person is in your face telling you about their weekend 🥴 yikes What items would you use to train a new dog?

With so many dog trainers in the UK with programmes on platforms like @netflix and even @itv it’s hard to watch some of these dogs go through unnecessary force when other, less fear driven methods are readily available 💔 just because you watch an episode of some dog programme out there using force, doesn’t mean that’s something your dog needs to feel. There is always a gentle method to training every behaviour #dogsinyellow #dogbehavior #dogbehaviormodification #forcefreegundogtraining #forcefreeoc #positivereinforcement #positivereinforcementtraining #dogtrainersontv

If your dog is lucky enough to have someone recognising their behavioural needs, here’s some ways to get that space you both need: 1️⃣ The excessive shuffle - looking clearly uncomfortable and leashing or bringing your dog closer often makes good dog owners grab their dogs or adapt their dogs position to you. This is the type of person we like. If you’re not already, be this person. 2️⃣ Move aside - with 50/50 success rate this one can work well. Gathering your treats and having your dogs focus in this situation is perfect. Eventually the other owner should get the gist and move along a little quicker. 3️⃣ Turn around - adding time onto your walk might be the best way to support your dog right now. Go the long way round! 4️⃣ Using a lead/leash sleeve - dependant on your situation and the human approaching you (whether they have a dog or not) a lead sash can vary in warning signs so using one that demands space in red is often the best deterrent to unwanted attention. Pretty colours can sometimes spark interest and encourage people to come over to ask more. 5️⃣ A vest - you can wear something bright and reflective too, you might look and feel daft but ‘No Dogs’ on a human high vis so far has 100% effectivity. 6️⃣ Wording - if direct communication is your thing I’m sure you’ve tried ‘not friendly’ but if you wanted a somewhat less threatening one, ‘in training’ works too. More threatening (and not true) one would be ‘he’s contagious’ which definitely makes bad dog owners get a jog on to gather their dog and move as far away as possible. What do you do to make space for your dog, and what do you find works best? #givemespace #givemydogspaceplease #dogtraining #reactivitytraining #nervousdog #donottouch #dogtraining #dogsofinstagram #dogtrainingtips #dogtrainingadvice #positivereinforcement #positivereinforcementdogtraining #positivereinforcementtraining #forcefree #gentledogparenting #nobree