Using obedience to manage your way through situations with your dog can absolutely be a part of behaviour modification, but it is surface level, entry level. A temporary tool to help you MANAGE your dog through situations. If you want to truly trust your dog outside those managed situations you have to work on your relationship too.
To change your relationship with your dog you have to... change your relationship with your dog!
The #partnershipproject is the best start point to start getting organic engagement from your dog 🐕❤️
Social learning and demo dogs.
There is no greater teacher for dogs than other stable dogs!
This clip is from earlier this year during the run of collies I had to stay (this is handsome Max, who does not enjoy nail clipping).
I am using reverse psychology with Max. Nail clipping isn't something he has to endure, it is an OPPORTUNITY to earn the good stuff. Using another dog who loves this game helps Max change his feelings faster than if I didn't have him around. Minsc the shepherd LOVES having his nails clipped, because I've built this as a fun thing for him.
So, with Minsc (GSD) and Max (collie) both out. I was offering Max a turn, he was saying no, and I listened to that no. Called the bluff, sent him away, and offered the turn to Minsc the GSD. Minsc said HELL YES, came in, got a clip, got his snacks, and then was impatiently waiting for his next turn. This social interaction helps Max see that maybe, just maybe, if other dogs are actually seeing the clip as a fun resource and opportunity, maybe the clippers aren't actually going to chop his feet off after all 🐕🤔💭
#dogbehaviour #cooperativecare #sociallearning
You shouldn't just let your big dog "sort things out for themselves" just because they are large.
If you have a smaller dog, your main concern in many potential interaction may be your own dog's safety. And that is fair and sensible!
If you have a larger dog more capable of doing damage, you have even more of a social responsibility to work so that they do not harm another dog (or person.
It is the little things that matter.
The German and Belgian shepherds in this clip are all stable, and not a danger to the little terrier, but that is because all of the handlers advocate for their dogs, and the shepherds all know that it's not their job to "deal with" the incoming shouty dog. It is the humans job.
When crate training had been done right. Dogs love them!
I left Pepper's travel crates roof hatch open, and she was very clear about where she wanted to nap!
Crates really aren't a prison, they are a safe, calm, relaxing, private space for dogs.
#honesthounds #cratetraining
None of the Homest Hounds Afiliates will simply tell you to avoid your dogs issues. We work on them.
Initially I get dogs moving, walking, being a dog, eating, sniffing, and getting the pressure of any chronic stress off them. Later on, we do some more traditional "training setups" to work on specific issues (resource guarding from humans and dogs in the above, see the bone in the border collie's crate). The more progress the dog makes,the nearer and nearer to real life situations we get.
A week ago Spot was growling when even just I approached his crate offering food (even without my dogs present). In this clip from a few days ago I was working on him feeling optimistic even when other dogs are around. He's starting to see other dogs and hands approaching as an opportunity to gain more food (roast chicken in the tub) rather than a threat that might take his food away.
#bordercollie #resourceguarding #foodresourceguarding ##honesthounds
Type A dogs, who love work, and will invent jobs if you don't give them a job.
I don't find this job (rock relocation) annoying or dysfunctional, so I let them carry on.
The issue is that clever dogs will find so many different jobs to do and get addicted to, and most of these jobs will be dangerous to them (car chasing), dangerous to others (guarding, chasing skateboards or cyclists), or just very socially unacceptable (e.g. stalking/herding other dogs, children, etc).
#honesthounds #dogtraining #dogbehaviour #herdingdog #germanshepherd #bordercollie
It is possible to have a guarding breed who has guarding tendencies but who trusts you to make the judgement calls on whether something needs to be barked at /growled at/lunged at/bitten.
If your guarding breed is adding to your stress around strangers, step 1 is to check out the FREE partnership project on Honest Hounds, and step 2 for customised advice is to book a zoom (or a free 15 min discovery call).
Yes, you can have a dog who has protective tendencies but who can function in the world.
#gsdstagram #gsd #honesthounds #partnershipproject
You can manage and train at the same time!
Full post over in Honest Hounds in the Education tier, which you can get for £1 with code HHJESSICA.
#management #dogtraining #cockerspanielsofinstagram #gwpsofinstagram
Freeze or flight aren't "lower" levels of behaviour than "fight".
They are options dogs have, and they usually use them interchangeably, for example freezing until that doesn't work, then either running or choosing aggression.
All of the states fight/flight/freeze can easily swap into the other states, in an instant.
If you want to see a non fight/flight/freeze state, see how much this collie changes in a week, his whole energy gets softer.
#dogtraining #honesthounds #dogbehaviour #bordercollie #muzzle
The missing puzzle piece for me with my own dogs and with client dogs, that forcefree or balanced training both seemed to be missing, was partnership.
@jess_probst_ taught me how to find that with dogs, and now @honesthounds has the most amazing course ready to launch soon 😍
Setting dogs up for success - reducing competition between dogs.
We can make resources (in this example toys) more or less valuable by how available the toys are to the dogs. On this walk, I wanted to have the dogs' mouths busy with something, but not to cause any competition for "THE REALLY HIGH VALUE THING."
So, in this case, on this walk, the market was saturated with purple ring toys. 3 dogs, and 4 toys, plenty, plenty, plenty to go around.
This is the opposite of charging a toy up! Whether you want to increase or decrease the value of a resource depends on the situation 🤔 🐾
#dogtraining #playdrive #spaniel #gsdofscotland #honesthounds
We all need to practise things to get better at them - humans and dogs.
We also get better at what we practise - so if my husband had picked up Minsc in this front heavy way each time, Minsc would have fallen on his head every time.
That isn't how we progress. We progress by changing what doesn't work, and by practising what we want to do instead.
Now, please enjoy this fantastic blooper that has been cracking me up (and he is absolutely fine).
#sillydog #honesthounds #gsdofscotland #gsdsofinstagram
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