Whiskers Pet Care Services - Four Marks

09/01/2025

Pattern games are great, don't under estimate what seems to be a simple exercise in your eyes, it can help a dog hugely. (Shared from Theo Stewart)

PREDICTABLE PATTERNS AND WHY THEY MATTER
We can help our dogs cope in our world by providing predictable patterns that they can follow, even when the unpredictable happens.

This requires consistency and repetition, but dogs quickly learn what to do when that behaviour creates a predictable, rewarding result.

Predictability allows the brain to conserve energy which lowers anxiety and creates a sense of trust and security in knowing what to expect or what comes next.

Like other animals, people included, dogs are experts at looking for and finding patterns.

Being able to find a predictable pattern, not just in an environment but in the behaviour of others, helps to make sense of a situation, rather than feeling confused or anxious when no pattern can be found.

When we create predictable patterns, dogs begin to understand what happens and how they should respond when a specific situation occurs.

The situation becomes the cue for the behaviour rather than the cue itself. We often get caught up in using cues instead of just showing our dogs that this is what they should do in this situation.

Pattern games or training a behaviour by using patterns is a really effective tool to use with dogs that are reactive, anxious, fearful or lack confidence.

They’re simple and quick to teach and provide predictability when a situation may be unpredictable.

To find out more about Leslie McDevitt’s different pattern games from the Controlled Unleashed ™ program, have a look at Tanzi Leary’s (CDBC, CPDT-KA, PMCT1, SAPT, FFCP) website - https://www.dogcrazylady.com/post/pattern-games

05/09/2024

Wow, I have never been a fan of Graeme Hall but now it would seem he has been enlisting other trainers to show him what to do off camera!

⚠️ 𝑾𝒉𝒚 𝑰 𝒘𝒐𝒏'𝒕 𝒃𝒆 𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒏 𝑫𝒐𝒈𝒔 𝑩𝒆𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 (𝑽𝒆𝒓𝒚) 𝑩𝒂𝒅𝒍𝒚

Yesterday, I received the following email from a researcher for the TV programme *Dogs Behaving (Very) Badly*:

"𝑀𝑦 𝑛𝑎𝑚𝑒 𝑖𝑠 (redacted) 𝐼 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑘 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑇𝑉 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑤 ‘𝐷𝑜𝑔𝑠 𝐵𝑒ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑖𝑛𝑔 (𝑉𝑒𝑟𝑦) 𝐵𝑎𝑑𝑙𝑦’.

𝐼 𝑤𝑎𝑠 ℎ𝑜𝑝𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑒𝑛𝑞𝑢𝑖𝑟𝑒 𝑎𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑡𝑒𝑎𝑚 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑏𝑒 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑖𝑛 𝑏𝑒𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎 𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑒𝑝𝑖𝑠𝑜𝑑𝑒𝑠 𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑐ℎ 𝑤𝑒 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑓𝑖𝑙𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑛𝑒𝑥𝑡 𝑤𝑒𝑒𝑘 𝑖𝑛 𝐿𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑎𝑠ℎ𝑖𝑟𝑒 𝑛𝑒𝑎𝑟 𝐿𝑦𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑚.

𝑊𝑒 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑠𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑑𝑢𝑙𝑒𝑑 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑓𝑖𝑙𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑜𝑛 𝑇𝑢𝑒𝑠𝑑𝑎𝑦 10𝑡ℎ 𝑆𝑒𝑝𝑡𝑒𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑙𝑜𝑜𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑎 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑑𝑜𝑔 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑟 𝑒𝑥𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑜𝑛𝑏𝑜𝑎𝑟𝑑 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑓𝑖𝑙𝑚 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑢𝑠 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑎𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑 𝑎𝑛 ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑎𝑓𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑛𝑜𝑜𝑛. 𝑊𝑒 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑙𝑜𝑜𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑎 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑓𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑡𝑜 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑤𝑐𝑎𝑠𝑒 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 ℎ𝑒𝑙𝑝 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑑𝑜𝑔𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑝𝑜𝑛𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑎 𝑡𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑝ℎ𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑡𝑜𝑛𝑒.

𝑊𝑒 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑛𝑒𝑒𝑑 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑜𝑤𝑛 𝑑𝑜𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑖𝑙𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑤 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑝𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑛𝑜𝑛-𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑏𝑎𝑙 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑠, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑚𝑜𝑠𝑡𝑙𝑦 ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑔𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒𝑠.

𝑃𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑒 𝑙𝑒𝑡 𝑚𝑒 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤 𝑖𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑖𝑠 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑘 𝑎𝑛𝑦𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑏𝑒 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑖𝑛. 𝑂𝑓 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑠𝑒, 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦’𝑑 𝑛𝑒𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑒 ℎ𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑦 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑒 𝑜𝑛 𝑐𝑎𝑚𝑒𝑟𝑎, 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑖𝑡 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑏𝑒 𝑎 𝑔𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑡 𝑜𝑝𝑝𝑜𝑟𝑡𝑢𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑡𝑜 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑤 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑠𝑘𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑠!"

My first thought was to delete the email. I'm not a fan of Graeme Hall. I've watched a few episodes of his show, and in my opinion, he seems to make things up as he goes along, relying on outdated training methods.

However, I was puzzled. Was the “cravat” unwell, and they needed a stand-in? I'm a nobody – why on earth would they want to film me training a dog when there are so many high-profile trainers out there? Curiosity got the better of me, so I decided to give the researcher a call.

I'm still in shock as I write this. The researcher explained that they wanted to invite me to Lytham with my Border Collie to "demonstrate" to Graeme Hall how I would train my dog not to respond to a phone ringtone.

Graeme would then take my training method and use it to teach the Border Collie of the family seeking help – all while filming it for his TV show!

WTF 😳😳😳

I decided to dig a bit deeper and reached out to the force-free dog training community to see if anyone else had experienced something this bizarre.

It turns out that many trainers had also been asked to attend filming sessions to show Graeme how to train dogs before the cameras rolled. Most reported that they refused because of his methods, but a few had shown him and his team how to train a dog, only to be dismissed without any credit for their expertise.

I then did some open-source research on "The Country’s Best Dog Trainer," as the *Daily Telegraph* calls him. He has no formal training in canine behaviour or training. He’s essentially winging it with the help of whatever trainers are willing to show up and assist him.

According to his website, he charges £875 per session 🤔😧

Now I’m not someone who normally criticises other trainers. I prefer to let my clients decide if I’m the right trainer for them based on how I work with their dogs.

However, I couldn’t let this pass without making it public knowledge.

If you're looking for a dog trainer, please avoid this programme and this man. You have no idea whose techniques he’ll be using week to week, and given that most qualified and accredited trainers want nothing to do with him, the quality of training you’ll receive is questionable at best.

Instead, do your own research and find a local trainer who aligns with your own dog training ethics. Organisations such as The IMDT or APDT - Association of Pet Dog Trainers can help guide you to qualified & accredited trainers in your area.

𝑷𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒆 𝒅𝒐𝒏'𝒕 𝒑𝒖𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒅𝒐𝒈𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒔!

19/07/2024

This is so true!

26/06/2024

03/04/2024

Please don't throw sticks for your dogs ......

12/03/2024

Dogs really do know what time you are due home from work ...!!

I NOSE WHAT TIME IT IS!

Dogs just seem to know when it’s time for food, time for a walk or even what time we’re expected to come home, sometimes down to the exact minute!

Yes, they may simply know this from daily routines that create predictable patterns or certain cues that predict certain events, but there is far more to this ability to tell time than the obvious reasons.

One theory is that time has a particular smell. Different times of the day smell differently. Morning smells differently to afternoon or evening.

As air heats up over the course of the day, air currents change and move around, carrying molecules of different odours with it.

These changes become predictable and a dog’s incredible sense of smell enables these odours to become their “clock”.

One example is when you leave the house to go to work, leaving a strong scent behind you. As time passes, your scent becomes weaker.

Dogs predict that when your scent becomes weakened to a certain level, it’s time for you to come home.

The level of your scent predicts the time. As dogs can detect both strong and weak scents and all of the levels in between, it means that they are actually interpreting events across an interval of time.

Another way dogs may tell time is through circadian rhythms. Just like us, dogs have fluctuations in systems like hormone levels, neural activity or body temperature and these rhythms may help them to understand the approximate time of day - just like when our stomach starts growling when it’s nearly time for dinner or we feel tired when it's time for bed.

Dogs are not the only species that can interpret time. Animals that migrate or hibernate follow seasonal cues from nature in the form of daylight and temperature to know when the time is right.

Having hundreds of millions more scent receptors than us, a dog’s amazing ability to smell is likely the reason that dogs just "nose" what time it is.

17/02/2024

08/02/2024

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=2536483276526624 Wi******er plumber goes viral after accidentally letting the cat out. Watch to the end!

19/01/2024

When choosing a trainer please ensure that they are totally committed to force free and positive methods only. Often I see "balanced trainers" advertising - what does this mean? Well, it often means that they mainly train with positive force free methods but when those aren't yielding results quickly enough they add in aversives, such as a e-collar etc. What happens when the e-collar doesn't give the desired results? Then we are on the path to further aversive tools and so on. Dogs deserve better and positive reinforcement and force free works, it just isn't always the "quick fix" that so many people demand these days.

One of the many issues with the use of punitive/aversive tools and methods is- when they don't work - the escalation of intervention can often be to add MORE punitive/aversive methods.

It is sadly now not uncommon to see dogs with an e-collar AND a prong collar on. Leading to the question, if one tool was so effective- why would you even need a second?! 🤔

This picture is an example of everything that is wrong with our industry. An 'professional' so uneducated, so unskilled that they have to NOTHING but multiple aversive tools and aversive methods to use.

I'm sure this was justified by using one of the many sayings we often see used to justify aversive tool use.

The dog being "a red zone dog", "highly aggressive" or perhaps they are "really high drive".
Of course let's not forget that......

🗣️ “Every dog learns differently"
and
🗣️ “Not every dog responds to positive reinforcement training".

My experience and that of thousands and thousands of others says otherwise.
Never let a trainer justify such abuse. No dog deserves this.

The dog pictured is on a choke chain, on an e-collar, on a prong collar- which is slung up high so any movement (even if to balance) causes it to dig in more than it is already.
As if that's not bad enough, the dog is balancing on a chair with a muzzle on.

Whilst the trainer probably thinks they're stopping undesirable behaviour, they're also inhibiting the ability for the dog to offer any desired behaviour at all. This dog has been given nothing but surrender as an option.

It's important to note that there are many balanced trainers who have an adequate knowledge of behaviour and training who would feel just as sad as I do when looking at this picture.

Whilst I do not advocate, nor am I permissive, of the use of balanced training methods and aversive tools, I am aware that there are plenty of balanced trainers who are incredibly careful about how and when they use tools.

I'd like to see such trainers speak up and call out the escalation of aversive tool use. I'd like to see these trainers openly discuss and educate on the risks associated with aversive tools rather than using ambiguous language such as 'when used correctly'.

The trainer of this dog probably thinks they are using them correctly.

I do not subscribe to 'correct' aversive tool use. I've not needed a tool in 13 years.
But, I do recognise that many people will not listen to those who do not use aversive tools, such as myself. They think we are bias, uneducated, inexperienced and yet to see the benefits because we haven't given it a go ourselves.

So, if you're a balanced trainer or an aversive tool supporting dog owner who is saddened by this picture- then please reconsider how you communciate your advocation of aversive tools.

Aversive tool use is IMO more popular than ever. This picture is an example of how things said online or inperson can be interpretted.

If you advocate for tool use and you do not openly acknowledge and educate on the risks associated with such methods, this is what can and does happen.

Note, discussing this risks on your platforms will reach more who are more open to aversive tool use (and thus, more at risk of fallout!) than if you acknowledge the risks only on discussions promoted by those against aversive tool use.
IMO- the use of aversive tools are never necessery and after working with thousands of dogs for nearly 14 years, I feel I have enough anecdotal experience (alongside that of my like minded colleagues) to maintain my stance on the matter.
Thanks to The Perfect Puppy Company for bringing this awful picture to my attention.