We were down in Devon the weekend before last, staying with my mum and dad.
So I took the opportunity to use their lovely garden for al fresco breakfasts for Alice... she always gets half her food in a bowl, and then the rest in two kongs that she has to find.
The first morning I didn’t think to take videos, but there was a slight breeze blowing up the garden carrying the scent to her, so she found them both within seconds. This is the first kong from the second morning, when there was zero wind which made it a lot trickier.
Still nailed it though 🤩 One of the things I love most about dogs is just watching them do their thing ❤️
PS: Diamond Dogs this speeded up video will be way too busy for you, even with the calming music 🤣 I’ll pop another one in the comments that will be more your bag 😍
The other week, I was talking - aka having a mild rant - about letting our dogs sniff.
So to follow on, I want to talk about the power of scattering feeding i.e. scattering food on the ground for your dog to find. Scatter feeding is such a simple thing to do, but can have big benefits…
⭐️ Scatter feeding can help an easily worried or spooked dog, by building their confidence and their resilience: “I found a treat! Yay me! And I found another one! Yay me again!” 🥰
⭐️ Scatter feeding can help an easily frustrated dog, by growing their ability to cope with micro doses of frustration: “Can’t find it can’t find it…. Yay I found one! Can’t find it can’t find it… Yay I found another one!” 🤩
⭐️ And scatter feeding encourages any dog to sniff, which releases endorphins and encourages relaxation 😍
Here’s a little video of the awesome Layla Dog, showing you all how it’s done (Just so you're mentally prepared, nothing interesting happens at the end, it’s just 53 seconds of the ginger ninja sniffing. You're welcome 🤣 Personally I could watch her all day ❤️)
Let’s talk about long lines…
Long lines get a bad rep in some quarters. I think some people feel like they’ve failed if their dog has rubbish recall and they have to use a long line. And also that they’re failing their dog - that it’s cruel to not give them freedom.
And I think some other people judge those first people for using long lines. Actually I don’t think it, I know it.
Alice doesn’t have rubbish recall. She has zero recall. Nada. It’s not even a thing where she comes from 🤣
And you know what? I used to feel like a failure. Especially once I became a dog trainer. Call yourself a dog trainer when you can’t even let your own dog off-lead? 🤷♀️
But these days, I have a different perspective on it.
In my book, long lines don't take away freedom, they give freedom 🌟
Regardless of whether your dog is on a long line temporarily - maybe because they're a teenager with big hormones and no brain cells 🤪
Or whether they're on a long line permanently because they can’t be trusted not to run away and live out their days on the moor (and yes Alice I'm looking at you right now 😍🤣)
Either way… a long line lets you give your dog freedom, to still explore the places they couldn’t otherwise go.
So please, don’t ever feel guilty about keeping your dog on a long line if you need to use one 🙏 It keeps them, you, and others around you safe - and that can never be a bad thing 🫶
And just in case you needed a reminder that dogs can still have fun on a long line, here's a (very unseasonal) video of a very happy dog on a long line ❤️
I'm tired this week and so this might come out wrong, but let's do it anyway:
👤 How do I get my dog to stop sniffing so much?
🐶 You don't
Most of the time in training sessions, if someone asks “how do I stop my dog from doing X”, we'll explore how we can make that happen.
[Spoiler: it generally starts with “let's think about what you want them to do instead” … but that's a whole other facebook post]
But if someone asks how do I get my dog to stop sniffing, my answer is: “you don't”
We see the world 🌎
Dogs sniff the world 🌏
Imagine being told you can't look at an amazing view - whether that's from a mountain top, a beautiful sunset across the sea, or maybe a whole cityscape laid out in front of you… whatever floats your boat.
❌️ Nope, you’re not allowed to look. Shut your eyes and move on.
Mean huh?
And it's the same for our dogs. Sure, we don't think a lamppost or that patch of grass is very interesting - but it is for them.
It tells them all about who or what's been there before - other dogs, wildlife, people, other scents that have landed there on the breeze - in truth we don't know the half of what they're sniffing, because our noses are positively amateurish compared to theirs.
As well as gathering information, sniffing can also help a nervous dog relax, it can help them feel safe. It can even be a displacement behaviour - a “I'm a bit worried about what's going on over there, so I'm just going to hang around here and do some sniffing” kind of thing.
There’s can be so much more to sniffing than just sniffing 🤩
Alice had stopped wanting to walk most mornings as her arthritis had got worse. She’d do a wee on the grass outside our house and that would be her done.
Now she's on an extra painkiller that works for her, she's got her mojo back a bit - she wants to walk more, and every blade of grass and patch of tarmac needs investigating.
Do I begrudge the fact that her morning toilet walk has gone back to
Harnesses don't make dogs pull
After yet another conversation with someone who was adamant that harnesses make dogs pull, I thought I’d reshare this post from last year, with an updated video of some of my favourite dogs in harnesses, not pulling at all ❤️
I'LL SAY IT LOUDER FOR THE PEOPLE AT THE BACK: A HARNESS WON'T MAKE YOUR DOG MORE LIKELY TO PULL
A guy in a battered old pickup truck stopped on the lane today when I was out walking Juno.
He stopped so that he could tell me a) she was pulling a lot, b) he'd never seen a dog pull that much, and c) she shouldn't be wearing a harness because it was making her pull.
I'm not having a pop at the chap, because his heart was in the right place and he was trying to be helpful, and he was a hell of a lot less patronising than lots of other people who have decided I needed to know all sorts of nonsense in the past.
And in fact, I'll start with the ways in which the trying-to-be-helpful chap was right:
✅️ Yep she was pulling a lot
✅️ I also believe him that he's never seen a dog pull that much. Who knows, maybe he just hasn't seen many dogs before 🤷♀️ If he'd seen Chai with the sheep yesterday, then he'd know what pulling really was 🙈🤣
Ways in which the trying-to-be-helpful chap was wrong:
❌️ She shouldn't be wearing a harness... incorrect: she SHOULD be wearing a harness
❌️ The harness was making her pull... incorrect: harnesses do NOT make dogs pull
Juno was pulling because she was a heady mix of nervous energy and excitement. She can walk beautifully on a lead, and does so when she’s out with me most of the time now. But not when she's exploring somewhere new, like today.
If her lead had been attached to her collar, she'd have been pulling and half-garotting herself in the process.
As it was, her lead was attached to her harness, and she was pulling but not doing damage to the fragile and very important physiology in her neck. Which is why she SHOULD be wearing a harness.
And yes, I'll grant you tha
Facebook keeps telling me I should make reels because that's what people want to see. Thanks but no thanks Mr Zuckerberg, not my bag at all.
Instead, here's a 34 second video of Alice doing nothing at all. Nada. There's not even a sideways startle at a squirrel halfway through this time.
(But do turn the sound on for the extra peaceful birdsong 🐦 🎶)
I'm obviously biased, but I could literally watch her all day doing this - all chilled, but with her little nose and ears twitching and taking it all in 😍
It’s often suggested (and I used to suggest this! ✋️) that the best way to teach your dog to settle is getting them to lie on a mat and reward them with treats.
But if your dog struggles to relax and just chill out… then this ISN’T the best way to teach them a settle. Especially if food = excitement. And/or training = excitement.
Using a mat or a blanket etc as a visual and physical cue IS a brilliant way to help teach a settle… but the best way of initially teaching your dog to relax on it?
Find somewhere where they can already relax, and put the mat there 🤩 That could be in their bed, on their favourite end of the sofa, or anywhere else where they often choose to relax.
And if they struggle to relax anywhere? Model your own behaviour to help:
✅️ slow down your own breathing
✅️ lower and calm your voice (or don't speak at all if your dog finds that too exciting)
✅️ if your dog finds it soothing to be stroked, try slow gentle hand movements
I’ll pop a link in the comments to the wonderful Susan Garrett’s podcast episode where she talks about all this and more, on how to teach relaxation 😊
Disclaimer: I didn’t teach Alice how to relax, she’s just the most chilled pupper I’ve ever met [unless it’s half two and she thinks it’s tea time 🤣] She’s the one who’s taught me to be more chilled ❤️
Wednesday afternoon dog trainer life 🤣
Ooh it actually felt like summer today 🤩
Here's a throwback to a Scottish summer holiday six years ago…
When I watch this video back:
▶️ First, I see a dog on an extendable lead attached to a collar 🙈 For me, that’s now a big fat no - but at the time, I didn’t know any different. When we know better, we do better ❤️
▶️ Second, I see a dog who is stiff in her hind legs, who bunny hops when she sets off moving 🙈 For me, that now screams pain/discomfort - but at the time, I didn’t know any different. When we know better, we do better ❤️
▶️ Third, I see a dog who is trying to be such a big brave girl about the waves 🥰 Six years on, she’s still never been in the sea - turns out she’d much rather be in the sand dunes hunting little critters 🤣
Look out for a post on Wednesday about some of the subtle signs of pain or discomfort in our dogs that you might not be aware of. But in the meantime, have yourself a dose of Alice at the beach 😍
