Using your dog’s appetite as a guide to their emotional state 😊😔😡🤪 is a really useful and quick way to assess whether now is a good time to train, whether they might need more space from something or whether they have the ability to listen to you at all 🐶🧀👂
Start to notice when your dog loses their ability to eat and start to consider what this can tell you about what your dog needs 🤔
#dogbodylanguage #dogtraininghack #dogtrainingtips
Prolonged high states of arousal can be extremely stressful for our dogs 😓🤪🐶
It’s bad for their physical health 💪, their mental health 🧠and their behaviour 🐕
When our dogs are in these states they are less likely to make ‘good’ choices because they simply do not have the capacity to!
If we want calm dogs that respond ‘appropriately’ to people, dogs, inanimate objects etc we need to make sure we are helping them remain cool, calm and collected 😎
High states of arousal are inevitable sometimes, and we need some arousal for our dogs to be engaged and interested 💡
We just need to make sure we’re managing it well for them 👷🏽♀️
#dogbodylanguage #higharousaldogs #caninebodylanguage
Should I do a series on safe spots to walk your 🤪 dog in London?!
It’s something I’ve really struggled with over my years with Winnie 😫
Finding somewhere that we can both feel safe and enjoy our time together ♥️ has been one of the most difficult things about owning a dog that exhibits reactive behaviours 🤬
Thankfully after a few years I have a few up my sleeve!
#reactivedog #reactivedogsunite #reactivedogwalk
A hot 🥵 weather ☀️ week which meant lots of water 💦 and shade 🌴
A little adapted but just as fun 🙌🥳
Join the waitlist to join the fuuun ✨
#adventurehikes #dogtraininglondon #dogwalkinglondon
Train an ‘Off Switch’ 👇
1️⃣ Play a game with your dog that gets them a bit excited (not too excited to start off with!)
2️⃣ After 30 seconds of play stop playing with the toy and ask for a ‘sit’ or a ‘down’
3️⃣ Reward with a treat for the sit or down and then continue to play
4️⃣ Repeat!!!
👏Eventually, if you are consistent, when you stop playing with a toy your dog will automatically do the behaviour you have asked for, without you needing to use a cue!👏
#dogtrainingtips #higharousaldogs #offswitch
What to do in the dreaded teenage years with dogs 😩🐕
1️⃣ Keep calm!! Trust that this is just a period of their life and WILL pass. It gets better I promise 🙏
2️⃣ Management is your best friend! Use a long line in exciting areas, keep them behind baby gates when you have guests over. Make it easy for them! Don’t ask too much.
3️⃣ Back to basics training! Literally treat your dog like a 12 week old puppy and start practicing (again!) everything you thought you already learnt!
Is it frustrating? Yes! Does it pass? Also, yes!! 🙌
#adolescentdog #puppytraining #puppytrainingtips #teenagedog
Steps here 🐾
1) Place a treat on the floor next to your foot
2) Wait for your dog to eat it
3) When they look up at you, take 2 steps
4) Place a treat on the floor next to your foot again
5) Repeat!!
Pattern games, created by Leslie McDevitt, are such simple exercises to do with your dog 🐶 but give fantastic results 🙌 they positively reinforce calmness, confidence and focus on the handler if repeated enough 💪
#patterngames #lesliemcdevitt
How to teach them 👋
⬆️⬇️The Up/Down game:
1) show your dog you have a treat and place it between your dog’s paws
2) once they’ve eaten it, wait for them to look back up at you
3) when they look up at you put a treat between their paws again
4) repeat!!
🏓The ping/pong game:
1) show your dog you have a treat and roll out to either your left or right side
2) once they’ve eaten the treat they will come back to you for another
3) when they’re back in front of you, roll out a treat to the other side
4) repeat!!
🚨Notes🚨: start these games in really easy areas where you know your dog will be successful in completing them, your house, a quiet park etc and slowly build up the difficulty
#patterngames #patterngame #lesliemcdevitt #gamesfordogs
Teaching your dog to walk nicely on the lead 🐕🦺 is one of the most frustrating things for owners and dogs alike 🤦♀️🤯
This hack is brilliant and truly works 🙌 Just make sure you’re using a ‘watch’ cue over and over as you walk. Initially rewarding every time 🍪 dropping down to rewarding 1 in 3 once your dog is great at it!
Over time your dog will organically check in with you - creating a beautiful loose lead! 🥰
Don’t know how to teach a watch? Let me know and I’ll make a video 📹
#looseleadwalking #focuswork #dogtraininghack
Displacement behaviours! Let’s talk about them 🗣️
We know a behaviour is a displacement behaviour when it occurs out of context so..
✅ Digging a hole mid play
✅ Chewing grass instead of fetching a ball
✅ Biting a pillow when lots of visitors are around
Displacement behaviours help manage a dog’s arousal levels, can be a distraction from pain or a self soothing device if a dog is feeling anxious or stressed 💆
Displacement behaviours are a great way to help dog handlers get clues 🕵️ about their dog’s feelings and assist them the best way they can ❤️
#displacementbehaviour #dogdisplacementbehaviours #dogbodylanguage
💚 play behaviours we love include ⬇️
✅ Managing excitement levels
✅ Swapping roles regularly
✅ Handicapping: making play appropriate partner
There are others but this is a great place to start 🙌
Start to observe your dog’s play and see if you can notice any of these behaviours 🤔
#dogplay #caninebodylanguage #dogbodylanguage
Dog boundaries! Let’s talk about them 🗣️
What are they? Body language asking for space like a lip lick, head turn or stiffness ❌
Why is it important we listen and respect them? If we don’t listen, a dog will escalate its behaviour until it is heard 👂This could result in a bite 🚨
How do we respect our dogs boundaries? By advocating for our dogs ✊ asking for others to give them space or changing their environment so they don’t need to escalate their behaviour ⬆️
I highly recommend dog and human vests, lead covers and bandanas which say ‘I need space’ or ‘nervous’ 🙏 If you find vocalising boundaries difficult, these items can help you do it instead.
#dogboundaries #dogbodylanguage #dogtrainingtips
And the resource here is the hole she is digging!👩🌾
When we assess any body language we need to consider the 💥whole💥 picture
I.e. what the other dogs are doing, what the rest of her body is demonstrating, her facial expressions, any vocalisations etc 🐕
Even though Cassie’s tail is tucked we know she isn’t fearful by what she’s doing, her body language expressions and how she’s interacting with the other dogs 🐕🐩🐕🦺
We can also see she’s having lots of fun digging a hole 🕳️ so we can confidently conclude this tail tuck is ‘make me invisible so you don’t steal my hole!’
What body language indicators do you see that indicate this tail tuck isn’t fear?
#tailtuck #caninebodylanguage #dogbodylanguage
Yes Lolly got lots of treats after this because I felt so bad for her, look at her sad little face! 🍭
But this is a great example of dogs utilising the different tools in their body language toolkit 🛠️ to get the things they want!
It’s also a great demonstration of dogs avoiding conflict as much as possible. Dogs (mostly) don’t want to fight! 💥❌ So if you are noticing aggression it’s often because they feel they have no other choice
Have you ever noticed your dog do this?
#dogbodylanguage #caninebodylanguage #dogresources
Did you get it?! 🤔
❌ FIRST: We start to see Winnie’s tail become more tightly tucked. A tucked tail indicates fear, stress or an attempt to become ‘invisible’ by hiding their anal glands.
❌ SECOND: She chooses to remove herself from the situation and have a sniff 👃. Have you ever noticed your dog having a sniff mid play or training session? This is an attempt at regulating their emotions when they become over excited or stressed.
❌ THIRD: She moves herself in front of me with her back to the road and traffic 🚗. If a dog turns its back on something, it is saying I DO NOT want to communicate with whatever is there!
It is SO important to ‘listen’ to our dog’s body language, ESPECIALLY when we’re socialising our dogs to something they find scary or stressful 😰.
If our dogs are scared of the stimulus they are not learning to become comfortable around it🐶❌❤️.
This socialisation session with Winnie is not an effective one because of that!
Let me know in the comments if there’s anything you noticed that I haven’t mentioned?
#dogsocialisation #dogsocialisationtraining #dogsocialization #caninebodylanguage
Absolutely freezing this week!! ☃️ But we did so much running and playing and learning that we didn’t really notice 🥳
Warmer weather is coming 😅🙏
#adventurehikes #caninetraining #caninelearning #londondogwalker #londondogtrainer
🏠🌲🚗👇
Loose lead walking can be one of those incredibly frustrating things to train for owners and dogs alike🙅♀️🤯
It’s really important that as you’re teaching your dog this, you aren’t allowing them to pull at other times. If sometimes you train and sometimes they pull, they WILL NOT learn ❌
That’s exactly why I encourage owners I train with to have a ‘working’ mode 💪 and ‘relaxed’ mode 🍹.
Relaxed mode on a harness which lets your dog pull when you’re in a rush and can’t train. And work mode on a collar when you have time to work their LLW.
This means they will LLW on a collar and pull on a harness, and it gives owners a degree of flexibility. It makes it much more likely to be successful at it. 👌
If you need help with LLW get in touch! 🙋♀️ I can help!
#looseleadwalking #looseleadwalkingtraining #dogtraining #positivereinforcementtraining #dogtrainerlondon #londondogtraining
👏LET 👏THEM 👏SNIFF 👏
Please don’t rush your dog as they investigate their surroundings! When you walk your dog you are doing so for their well-being not yours 💖
And their well-being ✨DEPENDS✨ on being able to sniff. Sniffing is akin to breathing for dogs 👃🫁
They sniff to:
🌲Explore
👩🎓Learn
🤪Regulate their emotions
😁Improve their mood
🤗Comfort themselves
Don’t deprive them of this!
If you’re feeling impatient why not try listening to a podcast 🎧 or alternatively you could take it as your chance to practice some mindfulness with your pup in nature 🌲🧘♀️ 🫁
Enjoy the slowness! Enjoy the quiet!
#mindfullife #letthemsniff #mindfuldog #mindfulowner #canineenrichment #caninescentwork
