Happy Houndz

Happy Houndz Friendly, fun and flexible care for your pets. We are a small team offering Group Dog Walks, Daycar

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28/11/2024

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Every morning from the first day they joined us our dogs have a little routine that they love, it takes a couple of minutes and reinforces every day some useful behaviours that benefit us all.

Training, enrichment and bonding in the space of 2 minutes with a biscuit.

After their breakfast they rush to their beds in the kitchen and wait, drooling as I reach for the biscuit tin, in anticipation of what is to come.

With 2 rich tea biscuits, one each, broken into 4 pieces we start.

First piece is a freebie, they are already in their beds calmly waiting.

Second piece – paw/shake/high 5/touch

Third piece – down

Fourth piece – dropped on the floor within reach, eye contact established and held (no matter what I do) until released to take it.

One biscuit, 2 minutes – on their beds, sat, calm, waiting, down, paw, shake, high 5, touch, down, leave food dropped on the floor. Reinforced every day, imagine the daily benefits from having these behaviours and skills rock solid.

From 2 minutes every morning with one biscuit.

Training doesn’t have to be long, involved and arduous; it doesn’t have to be serious, it doesn’t have to be hard work for you or your dog. It can be short and sweet, minutes spent throughout the day can really make a difference.

11 behaviours and skills, reinforced every morning, in 2 minutes with a biscuit.

The routine for our 13 year old staffy cross has been slightly adapted as she struggles with arthritis and has difficulty sitting, she prefers to lay down and is given her final piece rather than being released to take it.

With thanks to Shay Kelly for the inspiration to write the post.

© Decorum Dogs Walking & Training 28.11.2024

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19/11/2024

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ARE YOU MANAGING?
Are you managing your dog’s environment to prevent or improve unwanted behaviour?

As people, we tend to prefer and look for the more complicated solutions to problems. This tendency is termed “complexity bias” - the tendency to prefer complicated explanations and solutions instead of looking for the simpler ones.

Surely a complicated, time consuming, detailed solution has to be more effective, superior, impressive, or correct?

Complexity bias is so relevant when it comes to changing a dog’s unwanted behaviour. We often get so stuck on trying to modify behaviour through counter conditioning, desensitization or detailed training plans when sometimes the simplest solution to the problem lies in simply managing the environment.

Dogs will do what dogs do – when an opportunity arises to help themselves to food left on a table, to bark at the gate at anyone passing by, to have a drink from that big water bowl at the perfect height, that we call a toilet, to running off with irresistibly smelly dirty underwear, to rummaging through bins in search of anything that may or may not be edible, to running out an opened door in search of adventure - the list is long - dogs will be dogs.

Parents of little children use management all the time without giving it much thought. Baby locks on cupboards, covers on electrical sockets, valuable or dangerous items put far out of reach, fences and locks around pools, etc.

We wouldn’t just train a toddler not to stick their fingers in an electrical socket, not to open cupboards, not to touch a hot plate – it’s far safer, simpler and logical to first manage the environment, to prevent potential incidents.

The same principle should apply to managing a dog’s environment to prevent unwanted behaviour.

The more a behaviour is practiced the more difficult it is to prevent. The more a behaviour is rehearsed the better dogs become at it.

Preventing the behaviour from happening in the first place by using management is the logical, simple and effective way to address it.

Be a good manager – it’s far less stressful, for both us and our dogs.

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13/11/2024

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TRIGGER STACKING – WHEN BEHAVIOUR HAPPENS “OUT OF THE BLUE”

We’ve all had those days when nothing seems to go right and one frustrating thing after another happens to us, leaving us feeling wound up, stressed and ready to explode at the next unsuspecting person who dares to ask us something.

This “unsuspecting” person may think we have a serious behaviour problem or need anger management therapy, when the truth is that we’ve just had a really bad day or even a few bad days and don’t usually behave like this at all.

Dogs are no different and a behaviour that seems completely out of character or happens “out of the blue” is often caused by “trigger stacking”.

A trigger may be anything that increases a dog’s stress levels and has a negative impact on their emotional, mental or physical state.

These may be small things that we may not even notice or seem insignificant to us, but they are all adding to an increasing “stack” of events that may culminate in out of character behaviour.

When stress levels reach a certain point, the next stressful event, however small, may cause an explosive reaction that is completely unexpected.

Instead of just focusing on a particular behaviour and seeing it as a problem that needs to be prevented, take a step backwards, look at the bigger picture, look at events, circumstances or environmental factors that may have played a role leading up to that behaviour.

Being aware of potential stressors and allowing your dog time to decompress, relax and unwind for a few days will often mean the difference between “normal behaviour” and a behaviour that seems completely out of character.

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30/07/2024

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We worry about heatstroke, and rightly so! Temperatures like we are seeing this week are dangerous for many pets.

Fly strike is another potential summer hazard. A dog with diarrhoea, especially if hairy can get a dirty bottom! And that’s how the process begins. Maggots can burrow through skin and make a pet so seriously ill. So check those bottoms and keep them clean!

www.animallovepetfirstaid.co.uk

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15/04/2024

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THE EFFECT OF PAIN ON BEHAVIOUR

On Saturday night I was round at one of my friend's for dinner, and another of our friends came with her lovely black lab Poppy (because she is besties with our other friend's retriever!!).

Now Poppy is 9 years old, and has (I believe I am remembering correctly!) spondylosis, which is where there is "wear and tear" in the spine....basically there are arthritic changes in the spine. This causes pain, and my friend is an amazing dog mum and advocates for Poppy so well. Poppy is on pain meds and is a very happy girly because of it!

However, for those of you who suffer from arthritis and other joint conditions, that doesnt mean that there is never any pain. I have arthritis in my knees due to lack of cartilage, and they flare up every now and then, but even when theyre not in a flare up, certain movements, or if I slip or do too much really hurt. Slippery floors are one area that can be SO hazardous and damaging for ALL dogs but especially dogs with arthritis.

Poppy has been to our friend's house a LOT over the years, and in the hallway there is a small area of wooden floor before you get to the living room. Fairly recently Poppy slipped in that hallway, something that has never happened before, and the impact on her behaviour has been significant.

On Saturday night she would stand in the kitchen at the entrance to the hallway and look down the hall, start to take a step then change her mind. Our lovely friend then put a runner down in the hallway and Poppy immediately and happily went into the hall and living room, and then had no concerns at all.

Despite having most likely hundreds of times in our friend's house where she has NOT slipped, and has very positive associations with the house, that ONE time where she slightly slipped and most likely caused pain was enough for her to learn to avoid that flooring because it hurts. Single event learning in action!

Think of laminate and tiled slippery floors as being like us trying to walk on ice. Not easy! And imagine how it feels when you HAVE walked on icy ground - when you are constantly slipping and unable to gain traction, it can cause pain very easily even in people without arthritic joints. That slipping with dogs can cause pain, microfractures and further damage to the joints.

And this does not only apply to older dogs. According to a study by Anderson et al (2018) it was estimated that 20% of dogs older than one year had osteoarthritis, and as much as 80% of dogs over the age of 8 suffered with osteoarthritis.

And then you watch certain appalling TV programmes who brand an elderly dog who is unwilling to jump off the sofa onto wooden floor, or walk on slippery floors as a "diva" instead of recognising the dog is in pain 😡

My friends are both excellent dog mums, and their dogs are very lucky that they understand them and listen to what they are telling them, meaning Poppy was able to communicate that she was worried that walking on that floor again would cause pain, and she only had to tell them once before the situation was rectified. Other dogs arent so lucky.....so please do listen to your dog. There is ALWAYS a reason for dogs being reluctant to do anything, and it is NEVER stubbornness or "being a diva"!

Photo of lovely Poppy for you to see the lovely girl herself!

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26/02/2024

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I come across this a fair amount.....people seeming reluctant to use a high rate of reinforcement with their puppies or dogs

What do I mean? Well ....we need to remember that one of the ways dogs learn is by what works for them....therefore I'd something that they do earns them something good, the likelyhood of that behaviour being repeated increases.

But often I find myself discussing WHY it's so important to not be "stingy" with food rewards, and explaining that rewarding a LOT to begin with is actually the fastest way to get to the point where you CAN reduce the food reinforcements.

Think about your work.....if you went to work for a month, and did overtime on a difficult project, but you still only got paid a week's worth of salary....would that motivate you to put extra work in, or even go put in more than the absolute minimum effort next month? Highly unlikely?

Yet why do humans still sometimes seem to feel that using one piece of dry kibble is a sufficient enough salary to encourage a dog to learn to recall back to them in the woods, or to learn a new skill, and definitely to change a response such as fear to a trigger?

I think it goes back to old school days when dogs, and it doesn't help that there seems to be more "balanced" trainers out there (those who are essentially unqualified and using old school, outdated methods which do not take into account motivations for behaviour or how dogs learn, and aims to suppress behaviour) who make it seem like behaviour can be "changed" in the blink of an eye (again....it can't....all learning with humans and animals takes time. Suppression is not the same as learning!)

Please don't be stingy with reinforcements with your puppy or dog! It's not bribery! It's showing you understand how dogs learn! It does not mean you will have to use the same rate of reinforcement forever.

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