Green Paw Dog Training

07/11/2024

I have two spaces left on my final 'How to Train Your Dog' Classes of 2024.

If you would like to come along and learn more about how your pup's brain works, alongside teaching them a solid 'settle' behaviour, then we'd love to have you!

They start Monday 11th November at 7:45pm and run for six weeks.

If you'd like to see more details, head to https://www.greenpaw.org.uk/train-your-dog. There's a 10% discount when you go to book.

06/11/2024

November's Theme: A Sustainable Christmas

Toys are often a big part of Christmas where our dogs are concerned, but many are made from non-sustainable materials and can quickly end up in the bin. Instead of adding to that 100 million bags of rubbish, why not:

🎁 Opt for toys made from h**p, cotton, or natural rubber, so they can be composted or recycled when they wear out
🎁 Choose toys that are designed for repeat use, such as lick mats and Paws in Earnest's Rylo
🎁 If your dog is a chewer, go for toys that are durable enough to last longer, and only let your dog play with them in a non-destructive way
🎁 If the destruction is part of the fun, why not patch up old toys so they can be re-destroyed
🎁 If it's all about tearing up the paper for your dog, why not wrap up an old toy but stuff it with treats so they get the joy of unwrapping while finding a surprise inside?
Often, it’s the time spent together playing that brings more joy to your dog than brand-new toys. Let’s make this Christmas less about novelty and more about meaningful moments.

Has this given you any thoughts about what you'll be getting your pup this year?

*GWP Group "Christmas packaging facts and waste statistics (2024 update)"

04/11/2024

Please join me in congratulating these wonderful puppies who have graduated from Puppy Life Skills.

Guardians now have the tools for relaxed lead walking, solid recall, 'cafe' behaviour, and impulse control.

They were all superstars 🥰🐶🌟

31/10/2024

October's Theme: Why your dog doesn't listen

The domestication of dogs started at least 15,000 years ago, with some studies stating that humans and dogs were living together up to 60,000 years ago. Specific selective breeding for different 'jobs' started about 5,000 years ago, and in the 19th Century breed types as we know them began to be classified - prior to that, they were known under generic roles, 'hunting dog', 'hound', 'herding dog' and so on.

It's only in fairly recent times that every breed has become a general 'pet' dog.

However, we have not undone the thousands of years that came before; and these breed-specific traits are usually what draws us to specific dogs.

It does mean that, sometimes, a dog who 'doesn't listen' is actually a breed-type that's incompatible or struggles with a particular cue. They are battling generations of instincts. Here are a few examples:

🏠 Trying to train a Livestock Guardian Breed not to bark at people approaching the home
🦌 Expecting perfect recall from a hound in the woods
☘️ Asking a terrier not to dig in the garden

It's not that these are impossible requests, and some individuals find them easier than others. It's just worth checking your dog's historical purpose if you're really struggling with something, and then accepting it will take a lot more time to train that desired cue than you had hoped.

Please share this post with someone you think it could help.



*'A brief history of breeding' by Dogtime

28/10/2024

This little lady has been an absolute joy to work with. She has built up to walking on a loose lead in new areas and even quiet woodlands ❤️

In addition, she will be the star of my future online course on lead walking. I’m afraid I’ve no timeline on it…. editing videos takes forever 🙈 and I’m getting my Calm Anywhere: The Ultimate Settling Course out first!

I am so glad I asked her family about filming her training in the first session. I couldn’t have asked for a better pup and set up.

Thank you to Beryl* and her whole family for their time, patience, and for all the practice they’ve given their girl

Lasting Leadwork is one of my flagship in-person programmes. If you are local and would like some help with your dog’s lead walking, just send me a message ✉️

25/10/2024

October's Theme: Food Waste

Reducing food waste doesn’t have to be complicated. Here are some (fairly) simple options:

📱 Use apps such as Olio and Too Good to Go: These connect you with surplus food from local businesses, so you can enjoy delicious meals at a fraction of the cost while saving food from the bin. They are especially great for those living in cities and towns.

🥦 Buy yellow-sticker: Look for reduced-price fresh vegetables and other items at the supermarket. These are often still perfectly good but at risk of being thrown away. You get both cheap veg AND you reduce the supermarket's food waste from potentially unsold food. My husband and I 'yellow-sticker' shop a few times a week.

🥫 Buy canned and frozen veg: They last longer and are less likely to go bad, whilst still ensuring you have nutritious food available.

🐕 Feed (beneficial) scraps to your dog: Certain vegetable peels, cooked meats, and fruits (like apples and blueberries) make great treats for dogs. Your dog is less likely to be put off by a funny-shaped strawberry or a slightly bendy carrot either! 🍓🥕

If you're unsure how to incorporate fresh veg safely into your dog's diet, then head to my website and sign up to my newsletter for my free guides on exactly this. www.greenpaw.org.uk/sign-up

22/10/2024

As it is Tuesday, there is only one thing for it.

Let's see those tongues... 👅🐕

21/10/2024

DogWuf Training has created a couple of great signs (and advice) for nervous dogs this Halloween 🎃

19/10/2024

Why your dog doesn't listen:

I was listening to a podcast recently, which said it takes up to 66 days to establish a new habit. Not to transform your life. Just to add one simple habit.

This resonated with me, as I had heard 21 days before, but have managed to do something for longer than that and still never ingrained it as a habit.

This got me thinking about training our dogs. Ultimately, we want the thing we are training to become a habit. But if it takes us 66 days, as a cognisant adult human who wants the new habit, getting it right every day.... (and your dog isn't going to get it right every day!), then how long do you think it should take a dog?

Double or triple the time? More?

So, if you've been doing something with your dog for a while and it's not yet a habit for them. Don't panic. So long as they are rehearsing the new thing more often than the old behaviour, you will get there with your dog. Take the pressure off and take baby steps.

16/10/2024

Tell me you have a Spaniel, without telling me you have a Spaniel 🤷‍♀️😂

Have a great Wednesday everyone.

13/10/2024

October's Theme: Food waste

I make some pretty strange meals sometimes. All in the name of reducing food waste. I call it "Pasta a la everything", and it involves roasting every sad vegetable in the crisper to go into a pasta dish for that evening. Give it a go - it's (usually) better than you think.

"Around 17% [of the world's food] - approximately 931 million tonnes - ends up being wasted in retail and by consumers. Much of this food waste takes place in households."*

One of the UN's Sustainable Development Goals solely focuses on responsible consumption and production due to the benefits to climate, fair distribution, workers and our health.

In my next sustainability post, we'll look at more practical ways you can be part of the solution. Today, all I ask is that you head to the fridge and plan to use one thing that's looking a bit sorry for itself this evening.

Will you give it a go?

*Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

10/10/2024

Helping change how a dog feels about things they find triggering is always a tough and slow process.

Enormous respect and congratulations to this boy and his guardians for their hard work during their programme.

His response to close traffic has come on in leaps and bounds with their care and timing. His conflicting thoughts on dogs (best friend or foe?) is going to take longer, but I love hearing the success stories on the way. His guardians are going to keep building how close he can be to other dogs, and celebrate every metre he achieves 🙌

Thank you for all your work

07/10/2024

Why your dog doesn't listen

A mistake I regularly see with people training their pet dogs is around 'generalisation'.

This is the term used to explain in which contexts a dog displays a behaviour - if it's everywhere, then the dog has generalised the behaviour.

Unfortunately, this doesn't happen easily when we train a new behaviour. But, just as we wouldn't be surprised by a child struggling to recite their 8 times table in a toy shop, we shouldn't be surprised that a dog struggles to practice their "down" at a busy park.

That's not to say it's not possible, just that it takes time to build up to that level. If we stick to a "down" (lying down) behaviour, it would look roughly like this:

🐾 Teach it in your lounge
🐾 Practice in your garden
🐾 Practice in a friend's house and garden
🐾 Practice in a quiet grassy area, such as a pub garden out of hours
🐾 Practice outside the park
🐾 Practice in the park when it's quiet
🐾 Practice in the park when it's busy

To move onto each stage, your dog should be getting it right at least 8 out of 10 times for the stage before.

This is how to have a dog who listens (understands) everywhere.

It's not easy - if it was, every dog would be perfectly behaved! It is possible though; it all depends on how important it is to you. If it's not important, don't worry about generalising it!

If you'd like to learn this in a fully-taught manageable way, then sign up through the link in my bio. My first online training course will take you through this in manageable steps that fit into busy lives!

04/10/2024

Excited to have joined the Wooflinks community 😁

They performed some nice extra checks, so you can trust the professionals you find on there if you're looking for other dog-services in the future

🌟 NEW PROFESSIONAL PARTNER ALERT 🌟

Welcome to Green Paw Dog Training who has just had their listing approved on Wooflinks 💛🐾

Phili has 10 year's experience in positive reinforcement training, using the latest, science-backed methods. Based in West Berkshire, she is committed to tailored, positive and sustainable dog training.

You can view her Wooflinks profile here:
https://wooflinks.co.uk/listing/green-paw-sustainable-dog-training/

Please join me in welcoming her to our community! 🐶

04/10/2024

Happy Fri-Yay!

What are your weekend plans?

Check out this cheeky little chap I got to play with.

He is having so much fun playing with the Fauxtastic Powerball.

Get 10% off with the code GREEN PAW 🥰👋🤩 www.tug-e-nuff.co.uk

01/10/2024

Household pollutants

Pesticides and herbicides are promoted as killing very specific 'bad' things; insects we've decided we don't want, small wild plants that get in the way of our lawn...

Whilst this sounds great for making our busy lives a bit easier, there are actually no poisons that only poison the exact thing we don't want, whilst being perfectly harmless to the soil, plants and creatures around them.

The smaller the creature, the higher the impact. This means a baby bird can succumb to poisoning just from the herbicide-treated moss cushioning their nest; it also means your dog's health is impacted more than your own.

The list of potential symptoms for pesticide poisoning is long, but a few key risks include inhibiting enzymes essential to their central nervous system, liver, heart, and also chemical burns.

What can you do?
☘️ Stop using the -cides; herbicide, pesticide, fungicide
☘️ Consider choosing hardier plants for your lawn
☘️ Encourage a wildlife friendly garden - this will bring the natural predators of the insects you don't like!
☘️ Wait 48 hours before letting your dog into your garden if you do use a -cide

This one takes a bit of a change of current societal norms. It has reduced my garden workload and boosted our mood, watching bees and butterflies whilst we eat of an evening. It helps you, your dog, wildlife and nature at large.

Would you give it a try?

28/09/2024

What are your Saturday plans?

We quite fancied a Sniffari today. Letting this little guy sniff around the environment is very rewarding for him. Lots of amazing smells around! We can use food or hide toys too. Any encouragement that helps your dogs to sniff 🥰🐕👃

25/09/2024

𝗦𝗲𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿'𝘀 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗺𝗲: 𝗥𝗲𝗹𝗮𝘅𝗲𝗱 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝘄𝗮𝗹𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝟯

𝘛𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘥𝘰𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘬 on 𝘢 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘹𝘦𝘥 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘳𝘶𝘭𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘩.

𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘥𝘰𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘶𝘭𝘭 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘦𝘹𝘢𝘤𝘵 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘶𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺! 𝘌𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 '𝘸𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘱𝘶𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥', 𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯 '𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘰'.

𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘥𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘥𝘰𝘨 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘢 𝘴𝘯𝘪𝘧𝘧. 𝘈𝘯𝘥, 𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘭𝘺, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘯𝘪𝘧𝘧 𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘰 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘥𝘰𝘨'𝘴 𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 - 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘴𝘯𝘪𝘧𝘧!

𝘐𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘥, 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘹𝘦𝘥 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥, 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘥𝘰𝘨 𝘴𝘯𝘪𝘧𝘧 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘴 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘺𝘰𝘶. 𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘥𝘰, 𝘴𝘢𝘺 "𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘱𝘶𝘱" 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘢 𝘵𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘺 𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵. 𝘙𝘦𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘴𝘯𝘪𝘧𝘧. 𝘉𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨, 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘥𝘰𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨:
1. 𝘐'𝘮 𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘯𝘪𝘧𝘧, 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢 𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦
2. 𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘐 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘦 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘯𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘐 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘢 𝘵𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘺 𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵

𝘞𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘯𝘪𝘧𝘧 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 ('𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘯𝘪𝘧𝘧 𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺') 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘰𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘳! 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘵 𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘩 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶.

𝗪𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗴𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗮 𝘁𝗿𝘆?