Happy Dogs Concept Training

Rainy day game number 2. Powering up the little one's down.

Rainy day games! No1. Archie rocking middle. (Notice our sessions are super short. Bit of their dinner, bit of fun, back for a kip.)

It's going to bucket down tomorrow (Wed) by all accounts so if you don't fancy slogging through the rain try a few of these things instead: - scatterfeed kibble around unusual objects or just on the carpet - roll kibble up in a tea towel. If you want to be devious tie a knot in it - pop your dog on their bed, show them some food in a bowl and then go hide the bowl. If they follow you, pop them back and make it easy to begin with (ie don't move far away) - Pack some wet food into a buffalo horn, kong or trachea for a long lasting dinner - Teach a trick! Get them to put two paws onto an object; stand between your legs (middle); press their nose into your hand; shake paws; spin right or left, or go around an object. Use your imagination. Loads of indoor fun! If you'd like a video on how to teach any of those let me know and I'll show you with Skibs, because he hasn't done most of that.

Really simple but effective game, on lead or off lead. Great for building focus on you, loose lead walking, disengagement from the environment, recall, moving away from things you don't want to encounter outside... You name it, you can Rewind it. Walk along and at unpredictable moments go backwards, saying 'REWIND'! To begin with feed, feed, feed with your dog's head close to your body. My dogs are pretty experienced so I'm altogether looser about how I feed, but if you want them to see you and only you, keep that food right next to your body.

Orientation game

Super for getting a dog who chooses you. Play orientation game today just for a minute or two. Throw a piece of food out in their eyeline, let them find, it celebrate the moment they turn back towards you (YEA SUPER!!!) and throw in another direction. Brilliant recall game.

#OperationSnowDay! And because I can never walk past a teaching opportunity and let it be, notice that Archie and Sky do play rough, which not everyone would allow. BUT I make sure they are actually being very gentle with each other; I never let it continue for more than a couple of minutes so they don't become over-aroused; and if they can't hear me, it's stops.

Rewards - what they are and how they work. Reinforcement is essential for good training - but it goes way beyond feeding your dog.

Building duration in behaviours. Notice I don't really use 'stay' and only very occasionally 'wait'. You can build duration by slow feeding, but I find anticipation much more useful, not least because the behaviour itself becomes valuable. It's an integral part of a game, so takes on the value of the game.

Teaching Sky a retrieve. Key steps: 1. Build a love of interactive play. 2. Teach an out by holding the toy quietly until the dog releases it and then instantly having another game 3. Establish the idea of playing with you before you ask the dog to bring the toy back to you 4. Make it all about joy. A dog who loves to play with you will always be a willing, happy companion

Sophie and Shirley teaching rewind at our workshop. Great game for teaching reactive dogs to disengage from the environment and move back to you. How to play: walk along with your dog then say 'rewind' and move backwards, rewarding just in front of your body. The closer the dog's head is to your body to take the food, the more control you have of their gaze and movement.

Quick tip on a using a chin rest in the real world to make it easier to put harnesses on and off - particularly for dogs who back off or get excited as Arch would typically do if we hadn't taught this.

Tiny bit of living room fun. Training can be super short.

#Chintarget or #chinrest. Such a useful thing to teach because it gives you control of your dog's head and it's a lovely trust position. I use it with Rosa for consent, or to ask for calmness at the vets etc. Once you have a comfortable chin rest with some duration you can check their ears, look at their teeth, lift a paw and grow your handling.

Shirley and Porsha demonstrating cone game. This one is so useful for getting dogs used to putting their heads into harnesses, head collars, or vet cones, as well as building general confidence.

Morning everyone! #calmandconfidentcanine tricks and tips. We taught you a really useful little game which is SO easy but which helps to resocialise your dog at any age, and to make sure their feet are anchored and their head is pointing where you want it. This means you can turn them away from distraction and protect their optimism by giving them a game to play looking *away* from the refuse truck or the bouncy lab on the other side of the road. You know it: It's two paws up!

#CalmandConfidentCanine workshop video 2. We talked about the importance of boundaries. This needs a little bit of time every day but it will start to make a difference almost straight away in terms of your dog's calmness. And in a couple of months you'll be amazed at how much easier they are to manage. Practise: - feed the bed - release your dog. Say your release cue (Break! Free! Okay go!) and throw out a piece of food for them. - they'll soon start to hop back on the bed and you can ask for a little stillness, or a little duration by food fiddling. Don't makew the mistake of putting them on the bed and making the intervals between rewards longer and longer. 10 seconds, 20 then one minute then two minutes. This isn't fun, it's pressure. Make it easy and random. Help you dog to win and they will want to play with you every time. I've deliberately done this with Sky because he is quite new to boundaries so you are seeing the early stages. If your dog just gets off and wanders away, try putting their harness on and if they keep getting off, just hold their harness for a second. Also think about using higher value food. Not all dogs are foody, so that value has to match what we're asking of them.

Middle, funder and tornado - in the living room. Sky's #proximity games continue. (You'll have to forgive me sticking my bum in the camera - the things I do for students!)

Little bit of spotlight game with Sky. Note he's got a lead on but sometimes I'll drop the lead and sometimes pick it up but hold it really loosely. Ideally I don't want it to make any difference. If he's choosing to be in my 'spotlight' then the lead will always be slack anyway which is the association I want him to build with the lead. A lot of lead walking problems are caused by 1. the dog not having value in proximity ie they don't see the point in being next to you and 2. they develop unhelpful associations with the lead - chewing, excitement, tension, using it as a tug toy. If that's your dog, change your lead for a new one which looks and smells different, and don't let them rehearse those behaviours with the new lead.