Follow My Lead Falkirk

20/11/2024

This sweet girl absolutely stole my heart yesterday 😭 Seven-year-old TJ hasn’t had the easiest life, and knows very little of the world outside of having puppies - but her new humans are determined to make up for that and are ready to give her all the love in the world.

TJ is understandably nervous of a lot of things - absolutely everything is new and overwhelming for her, and some things will take time. Our session yesterday focused on some practical aspects, such as toilet training an adult dog, and introducing some basic behaviours beyond ‘sit’ - but we also explored the wider concept of confidence building. How do we know when to push her comfort zone, and when to back off? How do we help her feel safe when every new situation is so wildly different from everything TJ is used to?

I really enjoyed working with TJ and her lovely humans. I’m so looking forward to seeing her grow and thrive in her new life.

19/11/2024

Last night our advanced dogs sat their Kennel Club Good Citizen assessments. Huge congratulations to Belle, Freya, and Roo on gaining their Silver awards, and Bones and Kali achieving their Bronze awards 😁

And thank you so much to our wonderful examiner Jane for running both tests for us. Your time and skills are always so appreciated ❤️

Lots of very proud handlers and dogs last night - it takes a lot of work to produce the consistent skills needed for these awards. Well done everyone!

18/11/2024

A beautiful frosty start to my week, spending time in Callendar Park with little Orla 😍

Orla was a superstar in my puppy classes over the summer, but she’s now eight months old and has discovered the joy of squirrels! Her basic recall is excellent, so just ‘practicing more recall’ won’t get her very far.

Instead, we approached Orla’s behaviour from several directions. We taught her to watch the prey animals without moving closer, getting satisfaction from the sight of squirrels rather than the chase. We practiced timing rewards and interruptions so that she can enjoy the observation without exploding with excitement. And we discussed what to do when the excitement and frustration become too much for her adolescent brain to handle, which will happen sometimes, especially with a young spaniel!

Orla is such a sweet girl, and a very quick learner. We’re hoping that one session will have equipped her human with the skills she needs to resolve the chasing behaviour, but I’ll always be delighted to work with them again when needed 🥰

13/11/2024

I’ve been loving the new products in store at Stirling Doggie Deli ( Stirling Dog Behavioural Centre ). So many great options to choose from! My boys will get an early dinner tonight before I teach my classes, so they’ll definitely be ready for a snack at bed time. The current favourites are the hairy lamb ears, but I’m excited to offer them the No-Hide venison chews after Gimli went head over heels for the taster version!

09/11/2024

Some great info from Holly Leake about the many possible reasons why your dog might fear fireworks.

It is NOT a result of poor training or socialisation.

It is NOT a result of humans ‘making a fuss’.

Dogs fear fireworks because fireworks are scary. I personally would happily see them banned altogether, as I see far too many deaths and injuries being reported every year in dogs, horses, cats, livestock, and more. But even if you personally enjoy loud bangs and bright lights, you should at the very least show some compassion to owners of animals who are having a hard time!

I am really tired of the hurtful comments directed at those who have dogs with a fear of fireworks. There are so many accusing dog guardians of neglecting to socialize and train their dog or they are insinuating it is the guardian's response to the fireworks that makes the dog so afraid. This is despite the fact that dogs (and other animals) across the UK are having heart attacks, seizures and strokes, some of which have been fatal. How can a dog guardian's response to fireworks possibly elicit such an extreme reaction to fireworks?

And if this is the cause of such extreme fear, what accounts for the deaths of wildlife and farm animals? Are there people ‘coddling’ them too? Let's not forget dogs in rescue shelters. If it's our response that creates this fear, then why do rescue dogs show extreme anxiety and try to escape their kennels? They are in there alone most of the time. Such heartless comments are baseless since studies show that there are many factors that contribute to noise sensitivity and a fear of fireworks, as seen below.

Genetics

A study involving over 13,700 dogs in Finland discovered that around 32% of dogs had sound sensitivities and 26% were afraid of fireworks. The scientists in this study also identified a genetic predisposition to a fear of fireworks (Salonen, M. 2020) Blackwell et al. (2013) discovered that twelve breeds or breed types were less likely to show fear responses to noises than cross-breeds and their data suggest that some breeds may be predisposed to fear of loud noises, including fireworks.( Linn Mari Storengen, Frode Lingaas 2015.) Thus, your dog may be afraid of fireworks, due to their genetics.

Pain & health conditions

A study showed that dogs that experienced muscle or bone pain were more sensitive to sudden noises, loud noises and different pitches than dogs who were noise-sensitive but didn’t have pain. (Lopes Fagundes 2018) The same study found that the average age of onset for noise sensitivity in dogs differed between groups. In clinical cases (with pain), the average onset of noise sensitivity was 5 years and 7 months.

“Although the average ages of the dogs at presentation were similar, the average age of onset of the problem was nearly 4 years later in the “clinical cases.” This strong theme of an older age of onset suggests that the pain may develop later in life and that owners seek treatment more readily, perhaps because the appearance of the problem is out of character in the subject. The average age of onset within the control population also suggests that the problem does not simply relate to a lack of habituation as a puppy and that other mechanisms need to be considered for many cases.” (Lopes Fagundes 2018)

Other health conditions can also trigger noise phobias. Conditions such as endocrine diseases, cardiopulmonary disease, neurological problems, and cognitive dysfunction, can potentially contribute to or exacerbate behavioural problems including noise fears. (Bowen J. 2008) So both pain and health conditions can cause a fear of fireworks.

Age

Studies show that fearfulness is most common in dogs aged 4-8 years and that noise sensitivity often increases with age., ( Milla Salonen 2020) Another study that supports this shows that the average age of onset of noise phobias developed around 4 years 7 months of age. Dogs progressing through adolescence also go through a second fear period from around 10-12 months of age. At this time of development, dogs can develop new fears and phobias, including noises like fireworks. As a dog reaches their senior years, ill health and conditions such as cognitive dysfunction disorder (dog dementia) can also cause anxiety, fear-related behaviours and noise sensitivities.

Anxiety

Studies show that dogs most fearful of noises also presented with a higher chance of separation-related anxiety and being fearful in novel situations. These dogs also took much longer to decompress after a stressful event compared to dogs less fearful of noises. (Linn Mari Storengen, Frode Lingaas 2015.) It makes sense that if your dog is already struggling with anxiety, that they are more likely to develop noise phobias.

Survival Instinct

“An extreme avoidance response to a loud firework going off unexpectedly nearby, given the salience of this event and its unpredictability for the animal, can be interpreted as adaptive (‘rational’), an argument which has also been applied to extreme fear responses in humans”. (Davey, 1995) From a survival point of view, it is logical for dogs and other animals to respond in fear to explosions. Why wouldn't they? They can't reason that it's harmless.

It should be noted that studies have found that dogs that attend training classes are less likely to be afraid of fireworks however, it is unknown why this would be the case, as exposure to fireworks sounds is not usually part of the curriculum.

Many dogs have been desensitized to fireworks as puppies and have been adequately trained and socialized, and yet they still develop a fear of fireworks. The fact that dogs don’t develop this fear until around the age of 4 proves that often the fear is due to over-exposure, trauma, anxiety or health issues. If it was solely due to a lack of training or due to the dog guardians' response to the fear, we would likely see the phobia developing much earlier in the dog’s life.

Therefore, it is hurtful and completely speculative to blame guardians for a dog’s phobia of fireworks. The real blame rests on the shoulders of those who continue to set off loud fireworks, knowing for well the suffering it causes to dogs, pets, wildlife, and even people. - Holly Leake

Huge thanks to my friends at Canine Principles for their help finding studies on the subject. ❤️🐾

References

Bowen J. Firework Fears and Phobias. UK Vet Companion Anim. 2008;13:59–63. doi: 10.1111/j.2344-3862.2008.tb00529.x. [DOI] [Google Scholar]

Camps T., Amat M., Manteca X. A Review of Medical Conditions and Behavioral Problems in Dogs and Cats. Animals. 2019;9:1133. doi: 10.3390/ani9121133. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar

Lopes Fagundes AL, Hewison L, McPeake KJ, Zulch H, Mills DS. Noise Sensitivities in Dogs: An Exploration of Signs in Dogs with and without Musculoskeletal Pain Using Qualitative Content Analysis. Front Vet Sci. 2018 Feb 13;5:17. doi: 10.3389/fvets.2018.00017. PMID: 29487858; PMCID: PMC5816950.

Linn Mari Storengen, Frode Lingaas 2015. Noise sensitivity in 17 dog breeds: Prevalence, breed risk and correlation with fear in other situations Applied Animal Behaviour Science
Volume 171, October 2015, Pages 152-160 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.applanim.2015.08.020

Salonen, M., Sulkama, S., Mikkola, S. et al. Prevalence, comorbidity, and breed differences in canine anxiety in 13,700 Finnish pet dogs. Sci Rep 10, 2962 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-59837-z

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08/11/2024

My most recent APDT Foundation Award achievers 🥰 Congratulations to Riley, Sune, Clark, Bramble, Belle, and their humans for all their hard work!

05/11/2024

Bonfire night advice 🐾

We have put together some tips to support your pet tonight if they become scared 🐶

Please support your dog if it’s scared

Close all curtains blinds etc

Put the tv or radio up to a higher volume

Put music on in different rooms to bounce the sound a bit more

Make a small enclosed den area if possible
Some dogs will try and Earth themselfs in the bathroom, so if your dog is trying to get in there allow access if safe to do so, I often put a bed into the shower area

When allowing your dog to toilet please lead them up if there scared as tonight is the night many dogs bolt and we have many people message us with missing dogs 🐶
It’s amazing how high your dog will jump or climb if scared

If your dog is shaking and just cannot calm down please go to the vets and get meds for the weekend as there always seems to be more fireworks at the weekend

Another option is also to put your dog safety in the car and drive out to where there is no fireworks “ be super careful getting the dog in the car so it dosnt bolt”

Most dogs will be ok and that’s fantastic but some are not

Stay safe everyone this is one of the busiest night in AE from humans also being hurt 😢

04/11/2024

A successful afternoon in the park with the lovely Zoey 🥰

Zoey has been showing some reactive behaviour towards other dogs for most of her life, but things have been gradually escalating from year to year. This is very common when we’re focusing on the problem behaviour - e.g. barking and lunging - without targeting the underlying emotions which cause that behaviour.

Zoey’s human has had some success with management and using treats, but it can be so hard to know if what you’re doing is working without a bit of outside guidance - so our session looked and when and how to use food rewards, when to manage the situation, and when to stand back and watch Zoey’s brain working things out.

She’s a clever girl and we saw the desired behaviour (see a dog, relax, and get on with your day!) shining through several times during our session. Well done to Zoey and her person 😁

04/11/2024

I’m relieved to announce that I’m finally back in action! Last week was rough 😬 I think I’ve now caught up on all of my messages, but if you’re waiting for a response then I may have missed you - please get in touch again!

I got back to business over the weekend and had the pleasure of working with this sweet girl. Daphne is a rescue dog from Italy who sometimes has a hard time coping with excitement - she finds it especially tough to listen to her humans when passing other dogs. She’s also prone to ‘zoomy’ behaviour which can lead her to grab at sleeves and otherwise act a bit outrageous.

Daphne is a quick learner, and it didn’t take her long to work out what we wanted from her (me having fishy treats in my pockets definitely helped 😂). During our session we worked through a number of different scenarios for ignoring some dogs, interacting with others, and trying to stay calm when she spots people or dogs that she knows and loves.

I’ve left the family with plenty of homework, and I’m looking forward to working with this beautiful pup again in a few weeks 😊

30/10/2024

Thank you all for being so patient while I’m out of action. This week has been a real struggle, but today I can finally breathe again and I’m hoping this means I’ll be up and about within the next couple of days.

I’ll be in touch to offer appointments to everyone who has had to reschedule, and I’m slowly working through messages whenever I’m upright.

I’d also like to say a massive thank you to fellow trainer Rachel for stepping in and running tonight’s classes, so that the dogs and handlers working towards their Kennel Club assessments didn’t have to miss a training session. I’m so grateful for your help ❤️

28/10/2024

Yep… all of today has been cancelled.

I’m currently fighting an absolute beast of a chest infection and today’s 1:1 sessions and group classes have been rescheduled. Sorry everyone 😭

I’ll be spending the next couple of hours very slowly sorting out my animals before retreating back to bed. The good news is that I might finally catch up on some reports!

Currently the rest of the week’s appointments are running as planned, but maybe watch this space 🫠

16/10/2024

Our next round of APDT Good Companion Award achievers! Congratulations to Guinness, Rocco, Innis, and Bones on gaining their Foundation awards 🥰

15/10/2024

The only thing better than a staffie - is TWO staffies 😍 My blurry photo really doesn’t do this gorgeous pair justice. I adore staffies, but they’re such an easygoing breed that I don’t get to work with them 1:1 all that often!

Sibling pair Winston and Willow are absolutely delightful, but they’ve been having some difficulties with greeting dogs, which is starting to turn into reactive behaviour when they fixate on dogs from a distance and begin pulling hard on their leads. And anyone who’s handled a bully breed knows - these stocky little bodies can be disproportionately strong!

Our session looked into where this behaviour is coming from, and how their differing social needs are causing some friction - especially when Willow wants to run up and say hello to a dog, and Winston isn’t so sure. We discussed how to read the body language of both dogs, when to distract, when to reward, and when to relax and let them figure things out.

I can’t wait to work with this pair again in a few weeks, when some Winston cuddles will definitely have to be on the agenda 🥰

14/10/2024

What a lovely start to the week - a really successful follow up session with lovely Hallie. At our first session, Hallie was highly reactive to pretty much anything that moved (and plenty of things that didn’t move!) and every single walk was stressful for her and her humans. She couldn’t calm down and had to be dragged away, barking and lunging.

Her humans have been putting in a ton of effort, coupled with some of my suggestions for new equipment and herbal supplements for a suspected hormone issue, and on our third session I was absolutely blown away by their progress. Some of today’s highlights included:

- better connection between dog and handler
- dog and handler both enjoying their walk
- Hallie calmly observing humans doing ‘scary things’ across the street without barking
- Hallie successfully disengaging and walking away from dogs, humans, and bikes
- Hallie choosing to sniff for treats even when a dog was less than ten feet away
- a non-aggressive greeting with a human that she has only met once before
- Hallie advocating for herself - telling her handler when she saw a ‘scary human’ up ahead and needed space, instead of fixating and barking at them

I’m delighted with all of those points, but especially the last one - it’s the first time I’ve seen Hallie very clearly make a choice and tell her human what she needed without panicking. We listened, crossed the street, and that’s when I filmed this little clip. Relaxed lead; a dog able to take treats, check in with the handler, and move freely; no micromanaging, no punishments, no fear; just good communication.

Well done, Team Hallie - you are all superstars ⭐️

09/10/2024

I was delighted to hand out my first APDT Good Companion awards tonight - Freya, Roo, Kali, and Holly all completed their skills checklists and got their Foundation rosettes 🥰 Holly was a little too excited about her rosette, which didn’t make it into the photo 😂

Hopefully more Foundation awards to come next week, and then we move on to our Improver awards. Onwards and upwards! Massive well done to tonight’s dogs and handlers ❤️

27/09/2024

I say it all the time with behaviour modification - if it looks boring, you’re doing it right!

Yesterday’s follow up session with Oscar focused on ‘indoor issues’ - namely, his tendency to scream incessantly at guests. Poor Oscar feels very worried about strange humans in his space, and tends to bark constantly at them until they leave, so seeing him relaxed enough to stretch out like this was lovely.

During our session, we looked at the specific things that Oscar finds tough about sharing space with strangers and how we can make those triggers less stressful. We then looked at a few different coping strategies to help him relax around guests - and clearly he found some of those strategies effective 😂

The real test was when I got up to leave at the end of the session. Oscar sat up, had a little bark - and then after a couple of pattern games he sat quietly and watched me leave without a fuss.

Oscar and his humans have plenty of work to do, but there are some really positive signs in his behaviour already and I’m very hopeful that we can help this lovely boy to feel less worried about visitors from now on.

20/09/2024

For all of my clients riding the ‘adolescent rollercoaster’ - some words of wisdom and support from Ann! Follow her series on Sonic’s terrible teenage phase at Stirling Dog Behavioural Centre.

20/09/2024

Right gang, it's time for an anatomy lesson. I've had several recent conversations with clients explaining why I do or don't recommend specific bits of kit, and found myself having to Google an image of canine anatomy for one person in order to explain why I absolutely will not use grot collars in my training.

It then occurred to me that the average dog owner might never have considered what's actually going on 'under the surface' when you use specific bits of equipment with your dog. I've put together this video to hopefully help you visualise exactly what I mean when I talk about 'the delicate structures of the neck and throat'.

All of the points in the video are made using both a diagram, and dissection images - if you're squeamish, I verbally warn when I'm switching back and forth between the two, but you can also contact me if you'd like a copy of the diagram image without the fleshy bits.

Please, please consider the physical impact that your equipment choices will have on your dog. 'Collar pops' on a prong, grot, or similar noose-like device are barbaric and have no place in ethical training.