Seizing the opportunity
Young dogs that are still growing their confidence often like to stay close to their person on walks.
It's important to not to take this forgranted and get complacent. Just because they are great at coming back now doesn't mean they always will be.
As confidence grows, and especially as adolescence takes over, this is where they might start to be more independent and not care so much about coming back to you.
So, while they still want to hang around you, make sure they're getting lots of rewards for it. The more reinforcement history a behaviour has, the more likely it is to be repeated.
Lovely Mable here started a game in which she'd run to the other dog we were walking with, then run back to me.
Essentially she was choosing to recall all by herself.
So I seized the opportunity to call her name as she started running and reward her when she got to me.
Yes she was going to do it anyway, but now we started a pattern. When she hears her name, she comes back, she gets a treat.
Patterns with lots of practice become habits. And a behaviour with a reinforcement history is more likely to be repeated.
This will hopefully pay off in the future when a recall is actually needed.
Button Press Training
I've got some new buttons that I thought would be fun for me and the dogs.
These are recordable buttons so I can have each one say something different. In the long term, the idea is they would be able to use them as another way communicate different things with me. Like requests to go outside and activities like scratches, play or a walk. The possibilities are endless.
But to start with, they first need to be able to push the button.
Puppy and Batman are well on the way, but we have some small kinks to iron out.
Batman being a large dog with enthusiasm will sometimes scratch or kick the button rather than press it. But as becomes more thoughtful of his actions, this is improving. Eventually the buttons will also be held in place with a tile board which will help him too.
Puppy however, is on the other end of the scale. Her small size and delicate nature often means she doesn't always push the button hard enough to activate it. I reward effort because that's the important bit. But on the times she does activate the button, u try to give her extra information to say I REALLY liked that and hopefully we'll get more of it in the future.
These two are a great example of how every dog is different. We all can have different experiences of the same thing, which is why it's importance not to compare your dog or yourself to others.
Parsley Body Language
Body Language Breakdown
Can you spot anything I missed?
Shake Off
The Shake Off
Dogs do this when they're wet to get rid of excess water, but did you know it also has a behavioural function?
The shake starts with the head and rolls down the body. If your dog isn't wet and you see them do the shake off, there's a couple of things that it could mean.
Shake offs seem to be connected to tension. The shaking seems to help release built up tension in muscles and act like a bit of an emotional reset.
So you might see shake offs after minor or major stressful events, such as interactions with other dogs or people, or really anything that might have concerned them enough for the body's nervous system to respond to it.
Even positive experiences such as play, excitement or exercise can create that body tension warranting a shake off.
You might also see shake offs during transitioning between activities. Such as when they first wake up, or when they get home after a walk. Again this is like a reset.
It's one of the ways dogs can regulate their emotions. So it can be seen as a good thing. The dog is shaking off an event so they can feel calmer.
However, if you see your dog shaking off often in a given situation, that might be a sign you need to step in to help change or calm the situation down, or remove them from it so they don't get overwhelmed.
You can also try the shake off yourself.
Stressful day at work or nervous before a big event? Shake out your body and see if you can feel that ease of tension.
Does your recall word matter? Itâs the training that counts, not the word right?
Yes, regardless of whatever word you use, youâre going to want to put lots of work into training it. But could you be making it harder than it needs to be simply by using the wrong recall cue?
The wonderful behaviourist and author, Patricia McConnell Ph.D, discusses the findings of her dissertation on how different sound properties affect responses in mammal communication in her book, âThe Other End of the Leashâ, and also in her blog post https://www.patriciamcconnell.com/theotherendoftheleash/its-how-you-say-it
She found universally, that short, rapidly repeated notes are effectively used to increase motor activity and approach, so to call them over or speed them up. Whereas long, continuous notes are effectively used to inhibit activity, so promote slowing down or stopping.
So what does this mean for our recalls?
A really common recall word is a single, abrupt âCome!â. And sure, you can train a dog to respond to such a cue. But based on Patriciaâs findings, it may not be particularly natural for a dog to be inclined to approach with such a short, singular noise. Meaning you will probably have to put more work into teaching them what you are trying to communicate and building desire to do it.
Or, you could switch it up to a noise your dog will be more naturally inclined to respond to anyway because it just makes more sense to them right off the bat. Something you can repeat easily.
I like to use Pup, Pup, Pup, Pup, Pup⊠and the response I get tends to be way more enthusiastic.
Other options could be a whoop, whoop, whoop or even come, come, come if youâre attached to that word. Just make it easily, quickly repeatable.
There are other aspects of our communication, such as our body language, that can also help or hinder our training, but thatâs a topic for another post.
What recall word do you use? And have you noticed how your dog can be more n
Want a dog that loves coming back to you?
Did you know thereâs way more ways to spice up your recall than just better treats?
Recalls donât just have to look like a person standing in a field calling their dog. In fact, I actively avoid stationary recalls.
Anything that gets your dog coming back to you is a recall. Hereâs some ideas to try out.
đŠŽ1. The Call and Run. Most dogs love to chase and chasing you can be super fun! Bonus points if you can evade their capture longer by running around trees or other obstacles.
đ¶2. The Hide and Call. Find a tree or bush to hide behind when your dog isn't looking and then call them. Just donât make it too hard as we donât want to panic them.
đŸ3. Teach them a fun trick that involves being close to you and use that in place of a recall. For example a nose touch to your hand or standing between your legs. Adding in moving away from them as you cue the trick also adds a fun chase element.
đ4. If you donât need them to come all the way back to you, direction changes can work nicely. Call out to them something like âThis wayâ, and start to turn and walk in a different direction. This ones also nice if you donât need an immediate response from your dog. They can just finish up on a sniff spot and join you when theyâre ready.
Let me know what tips and tricks you have that keep your dog running back to you.
Recalls. Why can they be so tricky to master?
We are under ever increasing pressure to keep our dogs under âcontrolâ in public, a reliable recall has become a necessity. And as a result, lack of a reliable recall can be a great source of stress on walks.
But our dogs aren't robots, we can't simply programme them into compliance.
It can be quite simple to teach a dog a recall word. It doesnât take them long to learn that if they come back when you call, good things happen. So isnât that the end of it?
Unfortunately not in most cases. Because again, dogs are not robots.
When we go outside, they are presented with enormous amounts of information. They have to process all of it and decide how best to respond.
When we are in training classes, at home or just somewhere with not very much going on. Recalls are much easier, because there's less information and fewer alternative options.
But introduce a more difficult environment, say a park, where there are lots of smells, perhaps other dogs and people, the dog now has lots of information, and multiple options for how they want to handle it. When we give them our recall word, we are simply providing just another piece of information, and another option for how to behave.
They then have to decide what their top priority is at that moment. Do they come and get a little snack from you, or do they go investigate that smell the last dog left behind?
So you can see, the question isnât simply, how do I teach my dog to recall, but how do I make recalls the priority choice for my dog?
This is where it becomes frustrating for the human side. When it feels like they know how to recall, but are choosing not to.
But I encourage you to shift your perspective in those moments.
From the dog's point of view, they are just doing what makes sense to them at that moment. As a domestic animal, living captive in our homes, much of what they can and cannot do is dictated by us in most aspects of their li
We are under increasing pressure to keep dogs under âcontrolâ in public, a reliable recall has become a necessity.
But our dogs aren't robots, we can't simply programme them into compliance.
It can be quite simple to teach a dog a recall word. It doesnât take them long to learn that if they come back when you call, good things happen. So isnât that the end of it?
Unfortunately not in most cases.
When we go outside, they are presented with enormous amounts of information. They have to process all of it and decide how best to respond.
When we are at home or just somewhere with not very much going on, recalls are much easier. There's less information and fewer alternative options.
But introduce a more difficult environment, say a park, where there are lots of smells, other dogs and people, the dog now has lots of information, and multiple options for how they could handle it.
When we give them our recall word, we are simply providing just another piece of information, and another option for how to behave.
They then have to decide what their top priority is at that moment. Do they come and get a little snack from you, or do they go investigate that smell the last dog left behind?
So you can see, the question isnât simply, how do I teach my dog to recall, but how do I make recalls the priority choice for my dog?
This is where it becomes frustrating for the human side. When it feels like they know how to recall, but are choosing not to.
But I encourage you to shift your perspective in those moments.
From the dog's point of view, they are just doing what makes sense to them at that moment. As a domestic animal, living captive in our homes, much of what they can and cannot do is dictated by us in most aspects of their lives.
It is only natural that when they get a taste of freedom, they grab onto it. You could take them home at any moment, they might not get another chance to smell that smell, run freely, goof around, meet other dogs
Recalls. Why can they be so tricky to master?
We are under ever increasing pressure to keep our dogs under âcontrolâ in public, a reliable recall has become a necessity. And as a result, lack of a reliable recall can be a great source of stress on walks.
But our dogs aren't robots, we can't simply programme them into compliance.
It can be quite simple to teach a dog a recall word. It doesnât take them long to learn that if they come back when you call, good things happen. So isnât that the end of it?
Unfortunately not in most cases. Because again, dogs are not robots.
When we go outside, they are presented with enormous amounts of information. They have to process all of it and decide how best to respond.
When we are in training classes, at home or just somewhere with not very much going on. Recalls are much easier, because there's less information and fewer alternative options.
But introduce a more difficult environment, say a park, where there are lots of smells, perhaps other dogs and people, the dog now has lots of information, and multiple options for how they want to handle it. When we give them our recall word, we are simply providing just another piece of information, and another option for how to behave.
They then have to decide what their top priority is at that moment. Do they come and get a little snack from you, or do they go investigate that smell the last dog left behind?
So you can see, the question isnât simply, how do I teach my dog to recall, but how do I make recalls the priority choice for my dog?
This is where it becomes frustrating for the human side. When it feels like they know how to recall, but are choosing not to.
But I encourage you to shift your perspective in those moments.
From the dog's point of view, they are just doing what makes sense to them at that moment. As a domestic animal, living captive in our homes, much of what they can and cannot do is dictated by us in most aspects of their li
Wonderful Bailey's 1st taste of Freework. As an adolescent that's still learning about his new life, this is going to be a great help in supporting him.
What's the 1st thing you should do when you get a harness for your dog?
(Or anything else you're expecting them to wear)
Unfortunately our urge to put it straight on them and tell them how beautiful they look isn't it.
Harnesses are something they're going to have to wear ALOT over their life. So it's really important that that don't hate them or find them stressful.
1st impressions matter. When we don't check in with how they're feeling before and during doing things like putting a harness on, we risk creating a negative experience that is then connected with the harness.
From your dog's perspective, they don't know what this thing is, and then then are manhandled to get it over their head and/or feet, they dont understand what's happening and then they're trapped in it with the weird feeling of its pressure or texture that they can't make stop.
Some dogs will end up tolerating the harness, but so often I see dogs that used to tolerate, but over time become more fearful and resistant.
1st impressions count.
So what can you do instead?
Before you even touch the harness to your dog, start with the right emotion.
Here's one way of how.
Get something yummy ready and put the harness out somewhere in the home.
Keep watch of your dog and as they come across this new item and go to investigate, sprinkle your yummy things over and around it.
A few repetitions of this and when your dog sees the harness, instead of thinking, 'oh no, avoid at all costs', they'll be thinking 'woohoo, I love that thing!'
And you're setting your dog up for the best possible relationship with their harness, making any training you do around it that much easier.
But if you're thinking 'that's all well and good but nobody told me this when I needed it'.
You can always start fresh with a new harness, or put some extra time and effort in with their existing one to reverse their current emotions.
Would your dog let you clean their eyes?
Most dogs probably fall into the 'tolerate it' or 'absolutely not' categories.
With cooperative care we can turn that around.
In this video, my Pup is not only holding still for me, but she's also telling me when to start by resting her chin on my hand.
It's a 2-way communication. At any time she can choose to not rest her chin at all, or lift it to tell me to stop. Those are the rules we both understand and respect.
Do you want to have this sort of relationship with your dog?
Find out more here đ https://www.heathermedwaydogbehaviour.com/cooperative-care-course
