SiriusDogs: Dog Training and Behaviour

03/01/2024

“You shouldn’t pick up your dog” shouts a stranger as their husky jumps and paws at my chi x, whilst they chase their dog from 200 meters away. ⁉️

Ironically, when Loki joined my family, I was opposed to picking him up. As a result, he feels very confident on the ground, and far less confident in my arms.

The ground gives his communication skills freedom to thrive! He is able to communicate dog-to-dog as nature and evolution intended, and this results in conflict resolution 80% of the time.

Another 10% of the time however, dogs fail to find a common ground, which causes Loki to seek comfort by asking to go “up”. When he does that, I will always pick him up, as he has the right to feel afraid (or more likely uncomfortable).

What happens next:

👉Loki has no need to react because help is always available.
👉Loki hates being picked up, so when he asks to be, I know that the situation has gone “too far”.
👉I pick him up without warning in unavoidable situations (public transport, crowds, busy roads)
👉We practice “uppies” at home for a treat almost daily.

What happens in the remaining 10%?
Well, Loki can be the bad guy. This usually happens either at night, when he is uncomfortable and hyper vigilant. Another reason is pain, which only happened about thrice.

So is it okay to pick up your dog?
Yes. Because often we can’t control the environment.
It is not a matter of swiping your dog off the ground when anything goes wrong (according to humans). It is a thoroughly calculated technique which involves training and consent.

Let’s make our dogs happy, not perfect ❤️

11/05/2023

Food 🍖

Or more specifically: Why is my dog ignoring it?

It’s true that some dogs are more motivated by food than others, and this becomes a real challenge when we are working on things like anxiety, reactivity or fear.

Let’s consider some secondary factors why your dog is refusing treats:

❗️They are already over threshold (in a reactive state of mind), and food is not a priority.
❗️They don’t understand what you want them to do, and they are not motivated to try.
❗️They don’t feel safe focusing on food at that point in time.
❗️The food you offered isn’t worth it: store bought dry treats are almost always worse than cooked meats or cheese.
❗️Value of the food doesn’t match the task: if you want your dog to focus on a bland treat when a trigger is mere inches away, you are not setting them up for success!

So what can be done? Yes, sometimes dogs have to be motivated to feel motivated (crazy, I know)

✅ Start slow, in a trigger-free environment when their attention is already with you!
✅Make sure to learn the exercises at home first, so that your pooch DEFINITELY knows what you would like them to do.
✅Increase the value of treats. In many cases, “premium venison treats from a local pet shop” don’t beat boiled chicken breast.
✅Reduce the value/richness/consistency of treats gradually (if at all)
✅If you want an exercise learned to perfection, do not skip the intermediate treats 😜

Food is the only form of currency known to most dogs (sorry, Border Collies). The behaviours and cues we want, are not necessarily wired into their brains, so stay patient and Mark, Reward, Repeat!

10/05/2023

Patience (!)

No, I don’t mean patience training for your dog, I mean your patience running out when your dog bolts away into the sunset for what you wish you could say was the first time…

The society tells us that dogs are intelligent, they know right from wrong and that praise alone is enough for them to want to do things for us.

Unfortunately this isn’t the case,
It takes time and effort to teach your dog to do something that isn’t hard-wired into their brain.

Dogs don’t come with the innate knowledge to:

❗️Do their business in human-approved places
❗️Not pick up chicken bones (or anything of interest for that matter)
❗️Not jump on people who come into your house
❗️Run away to chase a squirrel or a fox

The above, and many-many more traits require learning, being motivated to learn and confidence 😎

Set your dog up for success and let go of the myth that your dog “Knows it’s wrong and does it anyway”

They probably don’t 🐕

08/05/2023

Beautiful Roxy, working on staying calm when dogs are nearby 🥳

14/04/2023

Little Peanut’s first walk ❤️

Going out of our way to:
Meet people and dogs.
See cars, lorries, buses, bins, babies and joggers
Listen to sirens, construction sites, motorbikes and car horns.

Socialise your puppy, guys!

If your puppy is reluctant to go on walks, there is a chance that he is not yet fully comfortable with the outside world. Take it easy, give them a choice, motivate them!

24/03/2023

“Everyone goes to bars with dogs, but mine doesn’t like it!”

I will be honest, if your dog doesn’t like strangers, is agitated or acts out in any way in a bar, it is likely not a suitable environment for them.

Yet we all want in on the latest craze, and here is the how and when:

❗️Dogs do not innately settle down when you sit down at a table
❗️Dogs get bored when they are tucked under the table for several hours
❗️Dogs can and will learn a way to get you out of there ASAP, be it barking, not settling or even reactivity

So what do we do?

Provided your dog is well socialised and doesn’t mind crowds, new spaces and people, you can GRADUALLY start exposing them to an environment.

1️⃣ Start small, in and out to begin with, and build up from there.
2️⃣ Pick a spot where they are less likely to see any triggers.
3️⃣ Bring something your dog can occupy themselves with (a KONG, a lick mat, a chew etc)
4️⃣ IF your dog doesn’t like people, make sure they are not approached, pestered or handled against their will
5️⃣ Make sure your dog is walked/stimulated beforehand, and perhaps they will choose to rest if they are not overwhelmed by the noise!

Remember that a bar/pub/restaurant is still a stimulating environment so sleeping may not be on your dog’s “to do list”. They need to LEARN to settle over time, so keep the bar low to begin with!

10/03/2023

-Phobias

There is only one solution to resolving an irrational fear: desensitisation.

Molly is terrified of approaching a car, getting into a car, and being in a car.

Unlike most cases, there was no incident that caused this fear, no unpleasant experiences, she has simply been afraid from day one.

After a couple of sessions, we convinced Molly that being inside a stationary vehicle is not as scary as she thought. We didn’t force Molly inside, we convinced her that it is in her best interests, and she made the decision to get in 🥳

Next step? A quick, 2 minute trip 🚘

09/03/2023

Socialisation:

I will not stop writing about the importance of socialisation, and want to address what it really means.

Socialisation is a small window of time when a puppy is young, during which they need to be gradually and positively exposed to new things like different dogs, different people, different objects and situations.

This is Mia, and she pulled on the leash, was reactive to strangers and walking her was incredibly stressful. However when reaching the park, she was absolutely comfortable when running freely.
As it turned out, pulling wasn’t the problem, her unfamiliarity with the leash was. Before being rehomed, Mia never had to wear a leash as a puppy, and was in for quite a surprise when she moved to a busy city environment.

This is why we addressed the route of the problem, rather than dealing with the symptom alone.

06/02/2023

When is a good time to start training your dog?
Easy, as soon as you have them.
You can avoid many behaviour complications down the line by making sure your puppy learns the boundaries, skills and manners from the very start!

Training a puppy is as important as sending a child to school, puppies are not born with an innate understanding of what you may expect from them 🐶

01/02/2023

Taking your dogs to work:
All dogs, and especially puppies need sufficient amounts of rest. “Zoomies”, alertness and remaining awake throughout the entire day don’t mean that your puppy isn’t exhausted!

It’s a good idea to provide them with a place to unwind and relax in a busy workplace environment, otherwise your dog is at risk of developing destructive, unwanted behaviours!

15/09/2022

Gambino kick-started his recall course, and made some amazing progress on his first session!
He is being taught cues indoors first before we add dogs and squirrels outside into the equation 🐶

27/06/2022

Socialisation:

A thousand walks with dogs are not enough to “socialise” a puppy.

Why?

Because in canine behaviour the word “socialisation” has less to do with social interactions, and more to do with the puppy familiarising themselves with various objects, environments and beings.

A thousand interaction with adult humans may not make your puppy socialised towards a crying baby.

A million car rides will not necessarily make them like buses.

The world and their future immediate environment is full of things a puppy needs to learn to recognise before they settle into a mentality of what is normal to them and what is not.

Many behaviour problems arise from insufficient or incorrect socialisation.

Puppy parents, remember: you are likely to save yourself a lot of time and money if your puppy grows up socialised and confident! 🎉

Our puppy course covers socialisation in depth, and we try to familiarise them with as many potential triggers as possible! ✅

01/02/2022

Jury the tri-lingual GSD 🙌🏻

I have spent our session on Sunday memorising all cues in not one, not two, but three (!) languages 🤩

Quite a fun thing to do on a Sunday night if you ask me 🥳

In all truth, I am a big believer that the language you use with your dog should be something that naturally comes to you. You can change the word itself to but be sure to choose something that will definitely spring to your mind when you need to apply it!

PS: look at those ears ❤️

04/01/2022

04/01/2022

Post a review to our profile on Google

04/01/2022

“Don’t worry, my dog is friendly!”- shouts their parent from the other end of the park, as their Cockerpoo puppy charges towards a reactive GSD.

Does this sound familiar?

Of course your dog can have a run, play with other dogs and have a lovely walk, but only if it doesn’t ruin the fun for other dogs.

Those “other dogs” could be:
1) In training
2) Anxious
3) Reactive
4) Injured/unwell
5) Service/guide dogs (yep, I’ve seen this happen)
6) Easily startled

The list goes on…

Another way to look at this, is if you were walking down a street and a stranger starts calling out to you and running towards you, or In fact, even if they had to be held back by other people, you would surely feel uneasy 😬

Of course there is no denying that your dog could have gotten loose accidentally. That being said, from my experience, dogs that run up to me when I’m with a dog who does not want “company”, do it often and regularly, and tend to be the same “friendly ones”.

In conclusion, dear dog parents, let’s make a park a safe and enjoyable place for everybody 🏞