Focus is a two-way street. It’s all about engagement and relationship. ❤️
Put your phone away
Be present when you’re with your dog. Enjoy your time together. Our crazy worlds are 24/7 with technology. Take a short rest from it, breath in your dog and the world around you - just enjoy it together. (I know the irony - I used my phone to do this clip while with my dog 🫣)
Forget the ball launcher
Dogs that just want to chase that ball again and again can get fixated. Unless warmed up it can cause injuries. Repeated twists, jumps and turns as well as sudden braking really takes its toll on the body. The hormonal rush also causes imbalances in the body and a continued high state of arousal effectively. He’s just creating an adrenaline addict and you know what addicts want; they want more more more!!!
Let them sniff
Your dog sees the world through its nose. Have you ever watched your dog intently sniffing just a couple of blades of grass? They can take minutes over it whilst you and I just see a couple of blades of grass. Let them soaking up the environment around them allowing them to sniff and process that information , as well as that you can also do scent games whilst you’re out…small games of find it or even sent detection or tracking.
Play and train together
Our dogs are super clever and love to do things together with us. Be more than just an Uber to the park, or the gatekeeper to the outside world. Enjoy it WITH them, learn things together as they say - every days a school day!! Your dog is learning every minute of the day, be sure what they learn is that hanging with you is cool…NOT that everything else out there is 100% better than you.
Go forth, have fun together. 🐾❤️🙌
#forsetibehaviourandtraining #positivereinforcementbasedtraining #germanshepherdsofinstagram #swindondogtraining
Sunday morning scent detection for the win!! 🏆 Sophie finds the world an overwhelming place so we are using scent detection to build her confidence and problem solving. You notice her move away from the search once or twice when something else has caught her attention but she then returns to work and allows the things in the environment to be just that - a background only. ❤️ What is your dogs favourite activity? #sniffforsuccess #germanshepherdsofinstagram
l’ve had lots of conversations about muzzles over the last few weeks. Let’s remove the stigma around them. Does your dog wear a muzzle? Tell us why... Sophie’s is for safety (and people tend to give us a wide berth when she is wearing it - which is exactly what I want while we work on her feeling more comfortable around people!) 🙌 #gooddogswearmuzzles #germanshepherdsofinstagram #facefence
Thanks to our canine detective teams today, we saved Christmas from ruin and found the cheeky elf who was determined to make off with the Christmas chocolates! Well done all of you - and to those that couldn’t make it - we missed you! ❤️
Little Fuego was a bit worried about the big dog when he first visited.
After his 121 Super Sniffers session he took him self over with a lovely approach, got up next to big dog and relaxed.
Go Fuego - I am loving watching you develop into your beautiful soul!
I couldn’t be more proud of this girl today!
Previous vet experiences have been stressful for her and working together with the vet, we agreed a plan with her needs firmly in the centre.
Despite seeing another dog and a human seemingly dressed as a dog (?!?) before we went in, she remained pretty relaxed throughout.
Yes, there were the odd things that triggered barking - reflections on windows, movement inside, or birds flying overhead but she settled back down and the vet and I were able to make a plan for her upcoming spay all while giving her a positive and comfortable experience.
This doesn’t mean she will forget past experience but it will go some way towards changing the bank of experiences to more positive. ❤️
Are you watching me…?
When you are playing ‘hide and find’ with a toy...
Apparently, having a window in the ‘green room’ offers a chance to cheat! 🤣🤣🤣
Arnie asking for play ❤️
Long post - but an important one!! 👀📖
Today I saw a post about a dog with a bite history. The following words were used in that post….
“The rescue are amazing and want to find this boy a lovely home, but simple things like stroking him, putting a lead/collar on and off, often results in bites.
Everytime a dog bites and you back away (natural response) that behaviour becomes more common and reinforced.
[He] needs to learn that biting won’t make people go away and that his life will become so much better when he settles down.”
😭
Now one thing I may agree on is that the dog may learn that this response gets him the outcome he seeks – the person backing off reinforces the behaviour.
What I can’t agree with is that the dog SHOULD have to learn that people won’t go away if he isn’t comfortable with them so close.
One of the things I feel most strongly about is that we treat all living beings with respect, consideration, and empathy.
When we want something of someone, we talk to them, ask them. Dialogue is key to avoid misunderstanding and ensure clarity on both sides understanding and acceptance. If one party isn’t too comfortable then a discussion takes place to find a way forward that does work for both…
When our dogs feel uncomfortable about something they try to communicate in the way that they can; they don’t speak inhuman tongue BUT they do speak through their body language.
The words used in that post effectively say that the dog; a sentient being with needs of his own, should just shut up and put up. If he is unhappy, get over it – people won’t be leaving you alone.
In what world is that ok? Ethically? Why do humans think that what we want is always more important than what anyone else wants?
This video is a Pomeranian who I had the pleasure of working with alongside his fab owners. He was very unhappy with people around him and certainly didn’t want people shoving their hands up and into his space.
•We worked
What’s your dogs favourite pastime?
Sophie has been in season and she finds the world harder than usual during this time.
Everything is a worry and she responds to it all with huge vigilance. Creaking floorboards, neighbours, the postie - it all gets barked at.
To work her brain without having to face the outside world, we’ve been practicing her scent detection skills.
We also lowered the difficultly so that she was super successful and really enjoyed herself. She was searching for a 3mm x2 mm find hidden on the chairs 👏
Double-double recall 🚅
How reliable is your dogs recall?
I often use the ‘double recall’ technique but it’s not often to recall two dogs together! 😂
Tetley and Sophie both learnt this method when young and it’s great to see them both responding well still despite the adolescent brains they are both currently controlled by 😁
When I’m setting up for a 1/2/1 session, I like to imagine what the dog will see and experience when they arrive so that I can focus on both the dog and guardian being relaxed nice and quickly….
Today I decided to drop the camera to doggy eye level to see how it might be…👀🐕😋
“Control is an illusion” – Melody Beattie
We talk about control a lot when talking about our dogs…
* dogs need to be under control
* control of dangerous dogs
* Etc etc
What is controlled, who’s doing the controlling and how control is achieved, is all pretty important.
Sophie finds the world slightly overwhelming, and she’s quite expressive about it. She’s learnt expressing that discomfort tends to resolve the issue…things move away, so which would she not use that skill again in the future?
Today Sophie and I spent precisely eight minutes outside with the sole purpose of problem-solving if she came across something she wasn’t too happy about (it was a quiet time of day so triggers should be manageable).
There was bits and pieces going on and Sophie was quite relaxed.
You can see her processing and making decisions on how she wants to deal with things.
Sophie has control over her decision-making.
Sophie has control over her problem-solving.
(I was still more involved than I aim to be! 🤦♀️)
You also see us get ‘caught out’ by something unexpected which was just one too many things in quick succession, PLUS faster movement was involved.
That wasn’t ideal, I spend a lot of time trying to make sure we work at a level Sophie can cope with. That said, while she did express her emotional state, a bit of gentle encouragement meant she disengaged, began to sniff and recovered from the situation fairly quickly.
I don’t control my dog - I love her
I don’t control my dog - I support her
I don’t control my dog - I coach her
I don’t control my dog - I control the environment and the learning opportunity it offers.
I don’t control my dog - I control myself
When all is said and done, if I am always controlling her, how will she learn self-control? How can I guide her when I’m too busy controlling her?
I don’t want to control my dog, but I will always be RESPONSIBLE for her.
More importantly Sophie will be in contr
It’s National Puppy Day 🐶
Let’s share the love - show us your all time favourite pic of your puppy ❤️
#nationalpuppyday #puppiesofinstagram #germanshepherdsofinstagram #germanshepherdpuppy #chowchowpuppy #colliesofinstagram
Whispering Shepherd ❤️
I hope you all had a lovely break over Christmas?
I’m back now after the longest Christmas break in years and I am really looking forward to catching up with everyone again soon. 🙂
In the meantime….enjoy Sophie learning to whisper! ❤️
Baby deer stuck on the wrong side of the fence! 😢
🙈 This is why I am always going on about the importance of recall!
We arrived at the field after the school run 🚍and practiced some loose lead walking 🐕🦺 outside before going in.
After all, it’s important to have a calm mindset 🧘🏻♀️ even when off for a free run about. If Sophie has lost her mind 🧠 with excitement before we get in the field then she certainly won’t be able pay any attention to me 🤔
After just a minute off lead in the field I spotted the baby deer 🦌 in the corner, obviously stuck and trying to get back over to its mum 👩👧
I’ll be honest…my first feeling was panic! 😱
What if Sophie spotted it? 👀
Would she chase it? 🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾
Very. Flipping. Likely!!! Arrrrrggggghhhh
Breath. Think. Breath. Think.
Meanwhile Sophie was enjoying jogging about and watching the birds 🦅 fly overhead…
One calm recall cue and she turned, returned and waited in middle while I popped her lead on. 💓
THEN she spotted the deer…..
But….stayed calm and watched it 👀 while standing beside me 🐕🦺
I popped her back in the boot and returned to guide the baby out through the gap (in the other corner!)
Sophie then got her just rewards and got to track the deers scent around the field (video in the comments)
THAT is what I can a win-win-win. 🥰
Loose lead walking in the real world
Sophie is now 9 months and has hit adolescence like a steam train (much like she is in life generally! 🤣)
Her loose lead walking has gone right out of the window and as some of you know my embarrassing story from last week - she managed to accidentally take me out big style! (Full on…flat on the floor, winded and whiplash style take out! 😵💫)
I’ve reverted to smaller bitesize training walks so we can be focussed and practice success. This was a short walk around the block earlier today…we encountered builders, scaffolding, kids and scooters AND it was only moments after her losing her mind over another dog.
Proud mum moment! ❤️
Reflex to name - Avoiding the slimy ditch water 🥴😮💨
“What is in a name???? A dog by any other name would smell just as sweet…?!?” 🌹
👂When your dog hears her name, what does she do ⁉️
Take a second to watch her and ask yourself…
❤️ how does she feel?
🧠 what is she thinking?
I want my dogs to LOVE hearing thier name as it predicts something awesome is going to happen for or to them.
Going back to the (slightly edited!! 😛) Shakespear quote…Sophie most certainly would NOT have smelled just as sweet had she gone into that ditch filled with slimy stagnant water!!! 🦨)
Let’s see your doggo’s faces when you say their names….
