"His tail never stops wagging" is what I often hear from people who watch my dogs work - be it in classes, at workshops and even in competition rings. And you know what, that means more to me than anything else!
Yes, I love it when my dogs do what they are supposed to do, and yes, I am as happy as the next person when my dogs' performance is noticed and praised - it means I am doing something right and I am probably at least a half decent trainer. 😉
But if my dogs didn't enjoy what I am asking them to do, if they did it like a robot with no soul, if they just went through the motions because I said so... that's not good enough for me. For me, particularly in dog sports and activities but it really applies to all training, motivation and enjoyment is part of everything I teach my dogs.
It's one of the reasons I love reward based training! It's not just about teaching this exercise and that exercise, but it's also about getting your dog (and indeed you as the owner) to enjoy the training and whatever activity you enjoy together!
So if someone says to me "your dog's tail never stops wagging", then that's the best compliment you can give me! And yes, it's one of the reasons why WAGGING TAILS Dog Training is called just that. 😉
Here is Logan, my blind American Cocker Spaniel, enjoying his scentwork session with that forever wagging tail (at a workshop with Hide and go Sniff). 😊
We all know that playing with our dogs is great both for your dog and for you as the owner and most owners play with their dogs quite often.
However, how often do you play with your dog out and about on walks? When I ask this question most people answer "never". Walks are usually seen as exercise for the dog rather than spend quality time together and having fun (whilst of course getting exercise).
But playing with your dog on walks has so many benefits. And perhaps the most important one is building value for being with you. By having fun with you and learning to interact with you on walks, he will be more likely to respond to you when you really need him to because he has learnt to and he has a big reward history for it.
Also of course, there are so many environmental rewards out there for your dog (smells, dogs, wildlife, people, livestock, water etc.) and if he only ever gets dopamine hits from interacting with his environment and rarely from you, what reason would he have to listen to you if you need him to. 🤔
So don't forget to play with your dog on walks, it makes things much more fun for him and you.
This is Amber, the Akita puppy, learning to play on her walks.
Are you one if those owners that are jealous when you see someone walking their dog on a lovely lose lead whilst your dog is dragging you down the road? Pulling on the lead is one of the top problems owners have and one of the main reasons why owners come to classes or ask for 121 help.
From the dog's point of view however it is one of the most difficult things to do... but why?
It is pretty unnatural for a dog - especially if they are young or are a busy breed - to just walk relatively slowly in a straight line. If you watch dogs off lead, they zigzag, follow their nose, run or at least trot... Unless a dog is elderly or physically limited, they won't just plod along slowly like we ask them to when walking on the lead.
So it isn't just a matter of teaching a dog to walk on a loose lead which seems simple enough, but from a dog's point of view it is everything but... Here are the skills they need to learn!
🔷️ They need to pay attention to what you are doing, stay connected with you.
If your dog hasn't learnt to be aware of your movements, then he has no chance of walking nicely by you. Play with your dog on walks, do some training on walks regularly, have fun even when on lead. Your dog will want to stay with you and will wait for the next fun segment of the walk.
🔷️ They need to learn to walk slower.
Most dogs will naturally trot or run as their default pace. Walking at human speed is slow even for small dogs. You need to teach them to slow down. Spend a minute here and there on a walk to walk super slowly on lead, one step at the time. You can do the same in your garden walking around trees or bushes, put low poles across the ground to step over, do scentwork and other calming and slow activities with them. Teach their body, their muscles, their brain to slow down at times.
🔷️ They need to learn where you want them to walk.
So you need to teach them of course where you want them to walk, by your side, within 2 feet of you, whatever you
Taking our dogs for a walk is one of the big reasons why we have dogs. I for one would rarely go out of the house if it wasn't for my dogs.
So when we have a new puppy, we can't wait until they are fully vaccinated so we can take them for walks. It is a big event and lots of exciting anticipation... only to find that our 12-week old puppy isn't as keen as we are!
For a young puppy, the big, wide world can be a scary place with lots of noises, sights and smells to process and get used to.
So how can we make those first few walks as beneficial and pleasant as possible?
✅️ Forget about the word "walk". Just think about little adventures instead. Puppy walks in particular are not about walking, distance or speed. They are about learning and processing the environment around them.
✅️ Always take tasty treats with you (cooked chicken often works well) and your puppy's favourite toy.
✅️ Reward your puppy's behaviours that you like with a treat, e.g. sitting, walking nicely next to you, settling etc.
✅️ Use treats or a toy when you puppy is a little bit worried about something. If for example your puppy is a little unsettled by cars, give a treat each time a car goes past. Or if they worry about barking dogs, give a treat every time they hear a dog bark in the distance. This will help your puppy to gain confidence.
✅️ Go at your puppy's pace, don't rush. Give your puppy plenty of time to sniff, or just stop and take the surroundings in, it's not about walking, it's all about exploring this new world out there.
✅️ Going at the puppy's pace also means don't overwhelm him by taking him to lots of new places or busy places when he is still finding his feet. Keep to quieter areas for the first few walks, go to places where he can observe from a distance if needed. It is of course important to take your puppy out and about to socialise them, but don't rush it. Some puppies are more confident than others, take it at whatever pace your puppy i
How fabulous is it to have a great run and walk and still come home with a clean and dry dog. 🤣
Elijah and I got up early today and were at the dog park at 7 am. Secure dog fields are a great way of giving your dog off lead exercise, be it because your dog can't go off lead in public, or for training, a play date with friends or just to have some quiet and relaxing off lead time with your dog(s) without having to keep your eyes open for other dogs, people, wildlife or livestock.
There are lots of secure dog fields around now, if you're not sure where your local ones are, comment here and I'm sure we can help you find one. Those of you that use secure fields please feel free to comment too.
After the run here, Elijah and I then popped over to the local nature reserve for a bit of sniffy time and we met the horses today too.
HOW TO USE TREATS
Being reward based trainers, we use treats and lots of them. However, most people using treats just use them in one particular way... giving it to the dog from the hand to the dog's mouth. That's often great, but there are so many different ways of delivering that food reward, and it often adds a lot more value to it for the dog (movement increases value). How many ways can you give a treat?
🔸️ Give by hand
🔸️ Toss along the ground
🔸️ Roll along the ground
🔸️ Drop on the ground
🔸️ Scatter several treats on the ground
🔸️ Get the dog to chase the treat in your hand before releasing it
🔸️ Hide a treat
🔸️ Get the dog to catch a treat you throw
🔸️ Put a treat into a pouch/lotus ball for the dog to chase and either you give the treat or the dog gets it out himself
Can you think of any other way of using or delivering a treat to reward? Put it in the comments.
Here is Elijah catching treats I throw, he loves doing that and is so good at it.
We're always here to help with any training needs. www.wtdt.co.uk
REWARDS
What do you reward your dog with if they have done something you asked them to?
With reward based training, many owners and indeed many trainers, think that it's all about treats. Yes, we use treats a lot too, absolutely, as they allow a lot of repetitions in a short space of time and are a very convenient and effective way to reward our dogs. But there are so many other types of rewards and we mustn't forget about those. Think about...
🔸️ Toys and various ways of moving them
🔸️ Playing in various ways
🔸️ Voice (happy cheerful, laughing)
🔸️ Body and how we move (including clapping!)
🔸️ Touch
🔸️ Sniffing
🔸️ Saying hello to a dog/person
🔸️ Going off lead
🔸️ Going into the garden
There is so much more. The key thing is to find stuff your dog loves or loves doing and that are practical for your training purposes. What rewards does your dog love?
Here is an example of my lurcher Blake and I practising our competitive heelwork (we're a bit rusty, because we can't compete anymore we don't practice as much). He loves toys (tugging and chasing) more than anything, so I will often use toys with him. Lurchers can be hard to motivate, so having a high speed and moving reward they love is ideal!
Give us a shout if you need help with training. We run classes and offer 121 help too for any breed! Www.wtdt.co.uk
What sort of games do you play with your dog? Playing is so important for so many reasons...
➡️ Bonding: It is fun and it strengthens the bond between you and your dog building trust and a great relationship.
➡️ Physical exercise: It helps your dog stay fit and healthy, building strong muscles, maintaining bone health and improve cardiovascular health. Especially in puppies and young dogs and indeed in elderly dogs it will also help develop and maintain fine motor skills, coordination and balance.
➡️ Mental stimulation: Playing engages your dog's mind and prevents boredom. Play can also give an outlet for specific needs that your dog has based on his breed like chasing, grabbing, herding etc. Good play can help reduce the likelihood of behavioral issues.
➡️ Socialization: Playing provides opportunities for your dog to interact with other dogs and people and appropriate play teaches them important social skills.
➡️ Emotional well-being: Playing can elevate your dog's mood, reduce stress and anxiety, and promote overall happiness.
➡️ Training: Play sessions can be used as a great opportunity for training and reinforcing wanted behaviours both for domestic every day training and working/sport dog training, making learning fun for your dog.
So do put some time aside every day to play with your dog. Play the games your dog loves. And don't just play at home, play on your walks too.
One of my lurcher Elijah's (see video) favourite games is playing tug and it is such an amazing activity to play with your dog as it has so many benefits. More on tugging specifically in another post. 😎
Is your dog obedient at home, does all the exercises you want him to do, listens perfectly well when you do your training and practice for the next class, but it all goes out of the window when you go out and your dog is somewhere different?
We hear this so often from clients and it is incredibly frustrating. We know they can do it, but they just won't... But do they really? Do they really know what we want? And if they so, are they actually able to execute what we want?
Have you ever studied and practiced something and then when you needed it, you just couldn't do it because you're in a different environment, because there are distractions around you, because you're feeling stressed? I know I have...
We sometimes find it hard to adjust to different situations and dogs find it much harder than us. There are many reasons why your dog may not do what you ask them to do, but one of them is lack of generalisation practice. Dogs don't generalise well and the skills they have learnt at home or indeed in class may literally not be accessible to them somewhere different - unless you have taught them to be able to remember in different situations. And that's generalising! It is so important to practise things in different locations and situations so your dog learns to function and comply in all the situations where you need him to.
A lot of my training happens on walks, in garden centres, up the high street, in a car park whilst waiting... 😀
Here is Elijah and I practicing a bit of heelwork on our walk yesterday. Where have you practised the last time other than at home or in class?
https://vm.tiktok.com/ZGeUfPfpS/ (And yes, we're on TikTok if you fancy more useful videos 😉).
Young Rodney here demonstrates how good he is when asked to leave dropped treats. This is such an important skill for any dog and is also a useful impulse-control exercise. We teach this in our Foundation courses.
If you'd like your dog to be able to do this and other exercises as well as Rodney, check our website here https://www.wtdt.co.uk/TrainingClasses
Tidying up toys is a useful skill to teach your dog. 😀 We do some trick training in our Junior/Advanced classes in South Norwood and we also offer an online option to join our Trick Training Group. See the link below if you'd like to join.
https://www.waggingtailsdogtraining.co.uk/online-courses
Introducing a new Puppy into our lives is something rather special, isn't it. But it can also be a worrying time as we want to get things right to end up with the sociable and well behaved adult dog we envisage.
Well, here are my 5 top tips to socialise your puppy effectively and safely.
👉 Carry your Puppy around until they have been fully vaccinated to start socialising as soon as possible.
👉 Get your Puppy to be around as many different people as possible.
👉 Get your Puppy to be around as many different dogs of different breeds as possible.
👉 Also don't forget to teach your Puppy to ignore people and dogs.
👉 Observe your Puppy's body language and don't overwhelm them.
https://vm.tiktok.com/ZGerWM4Qr/
Our next Puppy Foundation courses where we cover socialisation as well as basic obedience and life skills start on
Saturday, 3rd February, in South Norwood and on
Tuesday, 13th February, in East Dulwich.
Spaces are limited to make sure each owner and each puppy are dedicated enough space and time.
For more information and to register go to our website at https://www.wtdt.co.uk/TrainingClasses
Does your dog tell you secrets? 🤔 🤣
Well, Elijah just wants you to know that he loves trick training. And at WTDT we incorporate trick training into our Advanced Classes in South Norwood and we also we offer an online option where you can learn 18 tricks with our help from the comfort of your home.
Trick training is an amazing way to connect with your dog and have fun together all whilst both you and your dog learn valuable skills along the way.
Ask us about our classes in Sputh Norwood via 07804 831394 or [email protected]
For the online trick training go to https://www.waggingtailsdogtraining.co.uk/online-courses
https://vm.tiktok.com/ZGej1hPGa/
Have you ever taught your dog a new exercise or a new trick, and now your dog won't stop doing it even when you don't ask them to, because they want that treat?
With reward based training that's a very common problem... and it's a nice problem to have, right? But how can you stop them from throwing behaviours at you that you haven't asked for whether that's in everyday life or in a training session?
Well, you can put that behaviour under stimulus control so they'll only do it when you ask for it. Here's how...
https://vm.tiktok.com/ZGe2yJE67/https://vm.tiktok.com/ZGe2yJE67/
Why do dogs pull? I'm about to make a video about the reasons why Dogs pull as thats ine if the most common reasons why owners enlist the help of a dog trainer, but first I want to ask what you think the reasons are? Let me know in the comments.
https://vm.tiktok.com/ZGeYuEEFQ/
Do you incorporate training and playing into walks with your dog? If not, you should. You'll have a more responsive dog that enjoys being out and about with you.
https://vm.tiktok.com/ZGeNj2PmX/
It is so important to add fun into your dog's training. Activities like scentwork, trick training, agility etc. will improve the bond with your dog, will improve your training skills and will teach your dog that doing things with you is fun, which will then spill over into other areas too like obedience training and help you immensely with that.
In our Advanced classes we incorporate all sorts of fun activities.
https://vm.tiktok.com/ZGeLdfBry/
Do you have a new puppy or rescue dog? Our new Foundation course in South Norwood starting this Saturday, 17th, for puppies and adult dogs will provide you with the skills you and your dog need to develop into a Happy and well behaved companion.
https://www.wtdt.co.uk/TrainingClasses
Most of the training you do with your dog at home, in the garden and indeed in training classes, needs to be taken out into the real world for it to work where and when you need it. Dogs aren't great at generalising (doing things automatically in different places) and they need practice around distractions.
This morning, Elijah and I went to the garden centre for a bit of socialising and for a change of scenery, but we used the opportunity to get some training practice in too.
Where have you been practicing with your dog lately? Anywhere interesting?
