Good ode' egg lob. 🤣
Excuse my ten thousand recall cues. To be fair, getting him interested this first time was my only goal, and it worked. So next time, maybe I'll just ask once 🤣
Good evidence that when I tell clients not to worry when they apologise for calling multiple times when I told them to just call once, I really am not frustrated by you. I'm just as bad. 🫣😅
I need my dogs to know that when I hurt them, it is not intentional! Having a good apology that your dog understands is important. It can be as much as 'I'm sorry', or bigger apologies where needed. What your dog benefits from will be based on their specific preferences and learning history. This big of an apology may freak some dogs out. But for kai it is perfect.
I am clumsy, kai is fast. Sometimes, I mess up. And that moment of 'sorry' is needed.
Taking the time to say it, in whatever way works for you and your dog can make a huge difference to your relationship though. And of course, your training too!
How do you say sorry to your dog?
Perfect place for a hot day 🥰
Milo In his happy place.
Let's talk about nightmare dogs and meeting their needs... 🥰
Buddy and I had a training walk today. We popped through the park and walked up to the garden centre.
He did some super amazing lead walking, and is really good generally now when there are no people or dogs around.
He sat and watched a couple of dogs walk past him at close proximity really well, and we walked past a fair few people nicely, too.
Find those glimmers and hold onto them. The tiny moments are what you build up from. 🥰
A little moment from today. ❤️ If Buddy could run over to everyone he saw, then he would be one happy dog. But he'd also be a pest and likely to get himself into trouble he is not equipped to deal with.
To deal with this, some of the things being done to help buddy include:
🐶 Providing appropriate social outlets so he gets dog time with friends.
🐶 Teaching loose lead walking (A work in progress, he is a bird dog, after all! But it is coming on!).
🐶 Reinforcing engagement with his handler around distractions.
🐶 Providing him with opportunities to observe and learn from his environment, engage/disengage training games have their limits and sometimes we have to allow for actual social skills to be developed to avoid having to micromanage forever more.
Considering Buddy just turned 1 year, he is doing so good. Raising adolescent dogs can be so hard. Being an adolescent dog is so hard. At 12 months old, they look adult, and we expect a lot. The reality is their brains are still developing, and they have a lot of learning and understanding left to do. ❤️
Here, I talk Buddy through the situation using a calm (and let's face it fairly monotone 😅) voice. From reinforcement history this let's him know what we're doing ('watching') and when he's doing good. Being able to communicate predictability can be so helpful for all dogs, but especially those who need more guidance due to age or big emotions.
Is your dog part kangaroo? Fed up of being leaped all over?
Jumping up can cause joint issues in young dogs, so even if it's something you don't mind, if it becomes excessive, it's good to address it so as to avoid long-term health issues.
There are plenty of ways to approach this, and it can actually be quite a fun thing to work on for you and your dog. 🥰
Such beautiful shift in focus from possible 'prey' Then back to our walk together.
Usually kronk manages a lot closer than this, but in this instance the birds were flapping around quote dramatically and I was really impressed when he managed to stay composed! 😍
So long as the line stays loose and relaxed and your dog doesn't appear to be escalating allowing them to calmly observe is so valuable ❤️
Buddy making really good choices today. Being able to watch a dog pass without flinging himself around is a big deal. Don't get me wrong, this is a 'best moment' video. There were some very, veeeeery messy moments, too 🤣 But we're most certainly making progress thanks to his hoomums dedication. ❤️
Living with a teenage dog is hard. But being a teenage dog is also really hard too. Thankfully with good management, behavioural outlets and training the teenage phase passes!
Those who have struggled with teenage dogs will most likely agree that progress usually goes unnoticed for a while, then you'll go 'oh, I've not cried/lost my sh*t/felt things are unbearable' for a while. 😅
In some dogs adolescence can last until they're around 4! So lots of deep breaths may be required!!! 🫣
Such a lovely training walk with Kronky Dog today 😍
🌳☁️🌳 ☀️ 🌳☁️🌳
Love these moments of coexistence during breaks in play. Makes a big difference between healthy play and play that needs carefully micromanaging etc.
When Kali first met Kai she would leap on him non stop (just a normal baby dog learning the ropes), now she's really figuring out that if she does that, she'll get ignored once Kai has had enough or if she gets too much, Which is helping her develop a little bit of an off switch.
She's still a baby doing baby dog stuff, but she's really nowhere near as pushy with play, or her teef, which is lovely. 😅 ❤️
Such a great pup. 🥰
#foxhoundmixofinstagram
#dobermanpuppy
#playtime
Sometimes kai gets stuck when he spots dogs he wants to go over to greet. Giving him a moment, and then asking what he wants to do, vs telling him he has to move away means he can make a decision to move away and learn from it. Time wins here, over micromanagement.
Note, he gets to sit and observe here because he's watching, BUT his lead is loose, he's not pulling toward his 'trigger' and everyone is in one place (e.g. none of the dogs are moving toward us, we're not in anyone's way etc).
I love these little moment of learning. ❤️
Trying to capture how much freedom kai gets off lead. But I couldn't get him to leave me alone. 🤣🤣
And yes. That's without a shock collar, and with a hound mix who is led by his nose!
Little Baby dog learning to play with big baby dog ❤️
How do you spot healthy play between dogs?
You should be able to observe over a period of time that the dogs will swap roles, sometimes being the chased, sometimes being the chaser. You should be able to consistently see the dogs' self handicapping, e.g. making themselves vulnerable or matching the other dogs' ability (e.g. slowing down, rolling over onto their backs, allowing the other dog to mouth their throat etc). There should he switches between activities, from higher arousal play, to more peaceful interactions, and they should be able to switch off from each other and parrelle play / explore / relax as well. Meta signals are also super important. That's where the dogs exaggerate their movements to show that they are no threat to each other and that they want to play a game rather than harm each other. ❤️
You won't see all of this in a 30-second clip. If the dogs are together a while, then you should see all of these signs of healthy play at some point, though.
Some dogs with inept social skills may need support learning healthy play, this can be done with slow and steady introduction to play mates, confidence building, helping with development of social skills and consent tests between the dogs. 🥰
I shared this video with a friend earlier.
Kai came and showed me his find, parading it. I'd only left him alone for about 2 minutes. 🤣 my friend commented on how calm my response was considering he'd totally destroyed the muzzle. (He loooves the muzzle as muzzle = pate, so I should have known that when I put it down after a session and he watched me we were in for trouble.) 😅
From my perspective yeah, this is less than ideal to say the least 🤣 But whats done was done, and If I'm daft enough to leave something accessible for my theiving hound, then I only have myself to blame when my dog is a dog.
There are tonnes of strategies to prevent this kind if thing. Where your dog steals and chews something of some sort of value to you. Leaving items your dog may want to steal within their reach is not one of them. 🫣
We can never blame a dog for being a dog.
One of my favourite strategies for theiving hounds is to hide items around the house that are actually for them to find and 'steal', this has to be done carefully if your dog is a resource guarder, but if they're just typical cheeky teens then it can satisfy their desire to steal stuff in a way that is non destructive, and by the time they're done stealing the 'legal' items, they don't care about the 'illegal' items so much.
Kai chewing Milo's muzzle up has reminded me I've not done that for him for a while. 🫣🤣🤣🤣
If I'd seen him stealing or chewing it, I'd have used an positive interruption and traded. Or probably gone 'whatcha doin?', 'shall we not?'.
By the time he's chewed it up, carried it through 3 rooms I'm a tad late for that response. So we just shrug it off and trade so he doesn't eat it!. 🙈
I am no gundog trainer. But we had muddy, MUDDY fun. 🥰
Breed Specific outlets such as this, even if only done to basic levels for fun, can have a significant impact on your dogs wellbeing. ❤️
I am no gundog trainer. But we had fun! Muddy, MUDDY fun. 😅
Mr. Kronk had a bit of an off tummy today, so we stayed mostly home based and spent time playing some nosework games. 🥰
At one point, he went to the front door and sat waiting for me to put his harness on, so we then went for a short potter out and did some low impact training and people watching.
Kronk is intermittently reactive, born mostly from frustration. So I thought we'd not ask too much of him out and about with him feeling a bit rough, but we had a fair few people, a dog and a bike go past us and he was an absolute superstar. 🌟
He definitely has plenty left to work through, but he really is doing so well, and I do love getting time with him regularly. He's such a sweet boy. 🥰
Does your dog:
Run off?
Chase wildlife?
Get distracted by scents?
Ignore you?
Recall can be tricky, especially in adolescent dogs or independent breeds.
There is lots we can do to make a recall more reliable, though.
For me, recall is an essential skill, even if you don't ever let your dog off lead! It means you can call them away from potential dangers or easily change direction without having to pull or manhandle them. It's useful on lead AND off.
If you want help building a reliable recall, pop me a message to see how I can help.
In the meantime, some FREE tips!
🐾 Start off in a low distraction environment.
🐾 Use high value rewards for when they come over to you (e.g. fresh meat!)
🐾 Don't ignore the check ins. Reinforce even the smallest glance in your direction to begin.
🐾 Utilise a secure field or a long line (5 or 7 metres is perfect).
🐾 Don't constantly call them. Nagging gets you nowhere. To start with, only call them when you KNOW they will be able to respond.
🐾 If they don't respond, don't keep calling them again and again! Once is enough. If it doesn't get a response, then explore why. And try again.
🐾 Get out and practice. Don't put it off just because you feel it won't go great. You'll get there sooner the more you do, even if it isn't perfect!
🐾 Try to have fun! Recall can be the most fun thing to teach your dog and do wonders for your relationship 🥰
Share if you think someone will benefit from these tips! Or tag them in the comments 👇❤️
Want help? Contact me!
☎️ 07504000709
www.feralhearts-horses.com