Feel Good Friday.... What's your weekend plans? I'm nursing not 1, but 2 poorly pooches. No dancing shoes for me, and Mother's day plans are on hold...
Trainer tip Tuesday.
Pattern games:
Superbowls - This game gives a predictable pattern for a dog to follow, and can help develop a sense of security, confidence, focus on you, and played in multiple locations, can support working through reactivity based on anxiety, by giving something your dog can make sense of.
(Superbowls pattern game instructions
• Starting the Game: Ask your dog if they’d like to play Begin with your dog on a leash, particularly if they are easily distracted, reactive, or still learning the game. Stand by the first bowl with your dog.
• Placing the Treat: As your dog watches, place a treat into the first bowl. This action grabs the dog’s attention and sets the expectation for the game.
• Moving to the Next Bowl: Walk with your dog to the next bowl in a controlled manner. This helps in teaching the dog to focus on moving with you and anticipating the next step in the pattern.
• Repeating the Process: At the second bowl, repeat the process of placing a treat in it, and then continue to the next bowl. The repetitive nature of the activity helps to create a predictable and calming pattern for the dog.
• Adapting the Superbowls Pattern Game: As your dog becomes more comfortable with the game, you can increase the distance between bowls, add more bowls, or introduce slight variations to maintain engagement and keep it challenging. For dogs who react to certain stimuli - other dogs, windows, fence fighting, play this onlead walking towards and away from these triggers, at a comfortable distance, then increase how close you can get to a trigger over time. (Always involve a professional for this bit.)
• Focus and Impulse Control: Throughout the game, encourage your dog to focus on you and the task. This game teaches impulse control and attentiveness to you.
• Ending the Game: say all done and toss a few treats away, don’t resume play go and get a drink or do something different for 20 minutes.)
Here's a quick demo, (ignore m
Trainer tip Tuesday live - The ping pong.
This is a great way to build focus on you, because fun stuff starts for checking in.
This skill can be practised no distraction then low distraction, and increasing difficulty until you have focus on all areas.
Guest starring Luna, the lunatic.
This live is a self help tool for Guardians of reactive dogs.
In this live we will discuss how to reset and take a breath, so you can build the skills as a default in order to use them when you need them, during the rehabilitation process for your reactive dog.
I hope this little live helps.
Live a day- Who's walk is it anyway.
For the feel good Friday theme I wanted to quickly discuss walking with your dog.
This is for any dog, sensitive (reactive) or secure (just takes things in their stride.)
Any questions that I don't see and answer immediately will be answered in the comments, I am happy to answer belated questions from comments too. :)
Canine Cognitive Decline
I agreed to do a live about CCD based on a question I had on a trainer tag.
Its a little later in the day than anticipated, and I am not going into too much detail because of that, but I am happy to review any questions and will happily post any studies regarding this in the comments for anyone wishing to geek out about it.
There's a great book by Eileen Anderson called Remember me, which has lots of tips for caring for our canines who are struggling with CCD, including her own experiences.
On the build up to Christmas my doggo gave to me, Pattern games to build predictability.
Trainer tip Tuesday..calmness in doorways...
Bit late for trainer tip Tuesday, but here is.. The out.. (Cybele is learning to manage teenage impatience 🤣)
How many hours do you spend training your dog?
I bet you started thinking about coaching/training time, right?
You train your dog every single time you interact, in every single day.
According to a 2009 study published in the European Journal of Social Psychology, it takes 18 to 254 days for a person to form a new habit. The study also concluded that, on average, it takes 66 days for a new behavior to become automatic.
So building impulse based self control in our dogs, is nearly halfway there in a month, established in 2.
It's going to be harder for our teenagers because how many well adjusted 15 yr olds are there? It's the same with our dogs. Consistent reminders and patience are truly required in this stage, but it's worth it.
In adults, they've established a habit.
We've established a habit.
Relationship and Agency based training is just tweaking some of what you both already do, once your dog has some self control, and uses their thinking brain, over their feeling brain.
So unless your dog lives in a vacuum, you spend 8760 hours, every year of your dogs life, training your dog.
Spend 91 hours of that year, building good habits. (That's 15 minutes a day.)
Attis was initially supported to build waiting at the door using treats, and built into using real life reward of the door staying open, then going through it. The teenage dog in the background wanted to walk with us, even though she'd just got back. 🤣Xx
Show and tell Friday
This looks like nothing...this is in fact, nothing... Or is it?
This is slow thinking and cognitive processing.
Attis chooses the distance to observe, sniff and take in information at his own pace. It's his walk, his time.
Allowing him to do things at his own comfort levels during walks means I can guage his comfort levels. It builds trust between us because he's happy to come with me and I'm happy to go with him.
It builds confidence in his own decisions.
Because he's comfortable, and he's developing his own impulse control strategies. (No small fete for 6 month old Shepherd boy.) If you have a herding breed, you will know 🤣
Show me or Tell me something you've done with your dog this week, that you're proud of.
#caninecare #canineenrichment #germanshepherd #dogtips101
We are launching live next Friday (1st of September) @ 6pm to talk about Training tips, for multi dog homes? Ask anything. Put questions in the comments 👇🐶
Dog Trainer life..Unedited..🤣 What quirky stuff does your dog do?
Did you know Montaguer (LeGuerer, 1994) has found that dogs exhibit a repulsion toward the odor of psychotic children?
Dog trainer tip Tuesday.. Mat work (or bed.) with My Aditi MacFeety. #dogtrainingtips #dearnevalley #goldthorpe
Cheap and simple crate games... You never know when you'll need a crate travelling or unfortunate vet visits...
Today he's getting ready for Tuesdays, training tip.. Settle on a mat.. 🤣😉 Yes he's caked the bed in mud, it's big laundry time xx