Devon Dog Training

21/08/2024

Absolutely love this.

PROCESSED FOODS MADE DOGS … AND YOU

If you ask folks railing against “processed” foods what the process is, they’re likely to just blink and fall silent. They have probably never even thought about it.

In fact, almost every food we have ever eaten is “processed”.

Tomatoes are ground into sauce, wheat into flour, beef into hamburger.

Water is processed by the addition of chlorine to kill contaminants and fluoride to protect teeth.

Salt is processed by being cut from mined blocks or distilled from ocean water before being ground into sand and having iodine added (to this day *lack* of dietary iodine is the leading preventable cause of intellectual and developmental disabilities, affecting about two billion people worldwide).

Coffee is processed by separating bean from fruit, drying and then roasting the bean, grinding the bean into powder, and then running water over the grounds. Into your coffee may go milk or cream which has been processed through homogenization and pasteurization and which has likely been further processed to increase or lower the fat content, as well as to add vitamin D (to prevent rickets). Sugar may be added — typically processed from sugarcane, sugar beets, or corn.

Any time a food is ground, dried, canned, coated, cut, pressed, frozen, cooked, smoked, steamed, or extruded, it is processed.

Any time a vitamin or preservative (even a natural preservative like Vitamin E or C) is added, it is processed.

Olive oil is a processed food, as is beer, and most fresh fruit (dyed for color, coated to preserve, and gassed to speed ripening).

Meat is deboned, eggs are washed and candled, fish is filleted, and nuts are shelled.

Grains and fruits are fermented, and meats are mixed and ground into sausage.

The entire history of man, from caveman to today, is about processing foods to increase yield, improve storage, decrease costs, improve taste, release nutrients, and eliminate contamination. The “processes” used include fire, water, knives, grinders, radiation, freezing, steaming, drying, smoking, canning, extruding, bottling, and baking. It has included mixing, colorizing, coating, and filtering.

So what does this have to do with dogs? Simply this: Without “the process” used to convert rice, wheat, corn, and oats into high-yield food, we would have neither civilization nor dogs.

Dogs were literally *created* by the “process” of converting grains to feed through crushing, steaming, and baking.

Dogs — the first domesticated species — came into existence with rice and wheat agriculture for a reason, and their physiology has evolved with grain. It was only when humans discovered the “process” of steaming rice, and grinding, steaming, and baking wheat, oats, and other grains and beans, that they had the extra food to start raising wolves and dogs as a ready supply of meat.

Yes, you read that last sentence correctly; 15,000 years ago dogs became associated with the first human settlements growing rice, and these dogs were consumed as *food*.

Eating dogs in parts of Asia is not a *new* thing, but a very *old* thing — older than raising domesticated chickens, pigs, or sheep as food.

While the “process” of grinding, steaming, and baking rice, wheat, oats, corn and other foods has enabled global human population to explode from 10 million to over 8 billion in the last 10,000 years, this same “process” literally *created* the dog, or “domesticated wolf” that we know today.

As Science magazine notes, when researchers compared wolves to dogs they discovered:

“Dogs had four to 30 copies of the gene for amylase, a protein that starts the breakdown of starch in the intestine. Wolves have only two copies, one on each chromosome. As a result, that gene was 28-fold more active in dogs…. More copies means more protein, and test-tube studies indicate that dogs should be fivefold better than wolves at digesting starch, the chief nutrient in agricultural grains such as wheat and rice. The number of copies of this gene also varies in people: Those eating high carbohydrate diets — such as the Japanese and European Americans — have more copies than people with starch-poor diets, such as the Mbuti in Africa.”

So is “processed” dog food fine for dogs?

Is grinding wheat, rice, oats, and corn, and then steaming it and mixing it with left-over bits of meat, fat, bone, and vegetables a “new” thing? It is not. It is not only a very *old* thing, it’s what created the dog — a Darwinian tale told in the animal’s own DNA, as well as your own.

So what’s the problem with processed foods? None.

The problem is not the process, but the calories.

You see, grinding and steaming does not do the same thing to all foods.

Grinding and steaming coffee beans adds no calories, but makes a delightfully stimulating drink.

Grinding and steaming green beans makes them slightly more digestible while removing a few vitamins — a fair trade.

But grinding, steaming, and baking wheat, rice, corn, beans, chickpeas, or rice releases huge amounts of calories for human and canine access. It is “manna from heaven” for both hungry humans and a wide array of other hungry animals, from wolves and dogs to bears, raccoons, fox, rats, and horses (to name just a few). Horses? Yes horses — look up “horse bread”.

“Processed corn” in dog food is simply corn that has been ground and heated with water to break down complex carbohydrates so they can be more easily digested, same as “processed wheat” is ground and heated with water to make bread. Just as bread is further processed by adding vitamins and natural preservatives, so too are vitamins and natural preservatives added to dog food. Just as your meat is heated for hygienic reasons, so too is the meat used in dog food.

While your own weight may balloon due to unfettered access to an uncalibrated and untested diet of beer, ice cream, pretzels, hamburgers, candy, and pizza, dog food is carefully balanced and calibrated so that fats, carbohydrates, proteins, fiber, minerals, and vitamins are presented in a known, fixed, and provably healthy (and FDA-approved) diet that is absent the kind of sugar-salt-and-fat binges that typify human consumption patterns — including yours.

So is your kibble-fed dog eating better than you?

Almost certainly.

Are all those CALORIES good for you or the dog? Probably not. More on that in a later post.

18/08/2024

Truth is more difficult to hear.

T.S. is talking about politics here, but just swap out the politics for dog training, and you’ve got the blueprint for the majority of dog trainers who are interested in telling you anything but the truth.

Why?

Because they’re not actually interested in helping you, they’re interested in furthering the ideological spread of their beliefs and ensuring the world reflects the values, beliefs, actions that they prefer.

When you hear folks risk telling you that which is uncomfortable, emotionally difficult, and anything but easy, you can be fairly confident they’re actually trying to help you, rather than themselves.

18/08/2024

A first session is held at your house and will last approximately two hours. During this time I will be able to meet both you and your dog and see how the dog acts and you react. After this we can talk about what you want and I will work out a strategy and set you some homework. It really is that simple, real changes in the behaviour of your dog will start, the moment you start your homework. Please get in touch for an appointment. DM me or WhatsApp on 07899 872826

14/08/2024

Love, love, love - true love means setting aside one’s own needs in order to cater for the needs of the one you love. And that’s ‘needs’, not ‘wants’.

14/08/2024

Oh yes. Well rested, fully energised, good dog….

This questionable dog wisdom has circulated and been championed, without question, for years.

And while I get the sentiment, and the simple logic behind it, it’s one of those training concepts that’s leaning heavily on a short-sighted, superficial view.

What owners (and many trainers) miss, is that you can actually condition/train a dog to learn how to be calm, chilled, and relaxed, even without having run a marathon. We train this all the time. Duration work actually conditions the dog to turn off and relax, even when their batteries are fully charged. Along with that, simply having rules, or standards of acceptable behavior—which don’t get a pass because the dog hasn’t been exhausted yet—rules and standards which are enforced, teach a dog that good behavior is required, even when they’re brimming with energy.

Yes, a dog who’s too tired to misbehave might be considered a “good” dog while he or she is incapacitated, but as soon as the battery is recharged, the same “not good” dog will be present. And if repeated enough, the refreshed dog will gain stamina and strength, and what’s needed to make them “good” will only increase.

PS, no, this isn’t a suggestion (or excuse) to NOT exercise your dog. Exercise is a critical aspect of having a healthy, happy dog. What it is, is a reminder that good behavior shouldn’t be dependent upon your dog being exhausted—it should simply be the standard. Your dog is capable, and there will be many times in life where exhausting them won’t be possible. Teach them how to be good regardless, and then you’ll be good regardless.

14/08/2024

More of this….

First, let’s address what we all know is coming in the comments: “But what about play, affection, freedom, and not creating robots?!?!” 😡

I would be quite the unnecessary dog training content creator if I devoted time to that which every single owner does/shares/engages in without any prompting. Which is precisely all of the above. ☝️ And if you’re still buying the myth that rules, structure, and accountability will create personality-less robots… well, you might need to get around more well trained dogs and see just how robotic they aren’t.

So, back to the post. This simple formula (rules, structure, accountability—or said more simply: healthy leadership) constitutes the majority of what we share with the countless struggling dogs we see, and then pass on to the countless struggling owners which bring them to us… and which transforms both creatures.

It’s the stuff that’s almost always missing, and the stuff which helps them find mental peace and balance, and safe, healthy behavior. The play, the affection, the freedom? Nah, there’s plenty of that going on—as the owners always share. And to be clear, once dogs get into a healthy space with us, they earn all that good stuff as well—but it’s earned and balanced and healthy.

So why do we see this continuous imbalance? For some it’s laziness (too much work), for others it’s ignorance (knowledge gap), for others it’s selfishness (allowing dogs to do as they please and spoiling them—actually spoils the owner emotionally), and for still others it’s a misguided moral issue (they feel “imposing” their will and leading is oppressive).

Whatever the reason, it’s always the dogs who suffer due to our gaps. We can choose to honestly examine these gaps, and decide whether our dogs are worth the effort and personal growth, or we can ignore them and keep blaming bad behavior on dogs just being dogs.

04/08/2024

Once upon a time there was a white dog walking down a street, and she came across a black dog trying to sleep on the porch in front of a house.
The black dog was whining.
“Why are you whining?” the white dog asked,
“Because I lying on a nail” said the black dog,
“Why don’t you move off the nail?” said the white dog,
“Because it doesn’t hurt enough yet” said the black dog….

Sometimes it takes time to realise we need help with a problem. Dog training is often like this, but I t’s not going to improve unless you do some things differently.

If you’d like a guide to help you with those changes, please get in touch. 07899 872826

31/07/2024

What a great photo, it’s like butter wouldn’t melt! Unfortunately, that’s not the whole truth and I was there to help these beautiful dog’s owners out of a difficult situation. It’s no shame to ask for help, nobody intended to end up with a problem dog, and sometimes only an outside perspective can make the difference. If you’d like some help, get in touch. Appointments available in August. 07899 872826

29/07/2024

If you buy a trumpet, and hand it to another person who can play a good song on it, the trumpet works.
If you can’t get a tune out of the same trumpet, it’s not the trumpet’s fault.
Same is true for dogs.

28/07/2024

One of the very best things an owner can get out of high quality training is a clear insight as to what their dogs are truly capable of.

Great trainers can leverage the right tools, training, and mindset to find answers that many owners would otherwise not find on their own. And even though it’s only a piece of the solution—knowing what is and isn’t possible—is an awfully important piece.

Once an owner sees what is possible, then it is up to them (with the guidance of their trainer) to become the equal of their goals and challenges with their dog. This almost always includes immense amounts of mental, emotional, and physical effort. Skills have to be learned, new ways of thinking and acting have to be developed, and lifestyle needs to be adjusted.

Of course this is a tall order. In the same way that most everyone would love to be in great shape, be financially abundant, and have great relationships with friends and family… these accomplishment all require great effort, great sacrifice, and longterm discipline and commitment.

And because we all know how us humans are wired—instant gratification with longterm costs almost always beat out delayed gratification with longterm benefits—we find most humans know precisely what’s needed, but find that cost simply too high to pay.

So when we proclaim how much we desire to transform our dogs and their behavior, it’s best, if we want to avoid appearing foolish and hypocritical, that we first examine how much of ourselves and our behavior that we’re truly willing to transform.

Said another way, don’t complain about the results you didn’t get from the actions you didn’t take. The results are waiting for you, but only come when you’ve become their equal. ❤️

27/07/2024

DOMINANCE, SUBMISSION, and EVOLUTION

Evolutionary biologist Roger Abrantes, author of Dog Language, writes about dominance among wolves and dogs, dissecting the arguments made and holding them up to the light of observation as an evolutionary biologist. He writes on his blog:

“Dominance and submission are beautiful mechanisms from an evolutionary point of view. They are what enables (social) animals to live together, to survive until they reproduce and pass their (dominant and submissive) genes to the next generation. Without these mechanisms, we wouldn’t have social animals like humans, chimpanzees, wolves and dogs among many others.”

Abrantes describes dominance and submission as the sustainable versions of their unsustainable corollaries, aggression and fear.

“In the long run, it would be too dangerous and too exhausting to constantly resort to aggression and fear to solve banal problems. Animals show signs of pathological stress after a time when under constant threat, or constantly needing to attack others. This suggests that social predators need mechanisms other than aggressiveness and fear to solve social animosities.”

Of course, anyone who has been around dogs for a long time, especially groups of dogs, has seen dominance and submission, provided they were really observing the dogs.

This last point is important, because often people see, but do not observe and dominance and submission are rarely in explosive display. As Abrantes notes:

“Hierarchies work because a subordinate will often move away, showing typical pacifying behavior, without any obvious signs of fear. Thus, the dominant animal may simply displace a subordinate when feeding or at a desirable site. Hierarchies in nature are often very subtle, being difficult for an observer to uncover. The reason for this subtlety is the raison d’être of dominance-submission itself: the subordinate animal generally avoids encounters and the dominant one is not too keen on running into skirmishes either.”

Now is dominance a very useful idea in the world of dog training, and what does it mean in that context?

That's another post, not yet written, but I am a bit skeptical as to the utility of “dominance” in the arena of day-to-day dog training.

For now, let's simply come to terms with a simple fact: that dominance and submission are behaviors that do exist, and they exist not only in wolves and dogs, but also in chickens, horses, bison, prides of lions, walrus, zebras, seal, elk, deer, elephants, and nearly every other social higher-order communal animal, including humans.

If the *idea* of dominance and hierarchies triggers you, that’s about your emotional scars, childhood trauma, hangups, and immaturity, and not Mother Nature. In the natural world, dominance and hierarchies make the world go around.

26/07/2024

Well here’s a super unpopular subject. 😆

This was one of my very first insights when I started training: what constitutes an authority figure? The answer is simple, but detested and decried as unsavory, untrue, unfair, and ugly by most who prefer a reality drenched in less… reality.

Simply put, in the human/dog context, an authority figure creates the rules and guidelines for behavior, AND an authority figure is able to enforce these rules and guidelines.

Of course this sounds harsh, oppressive, and unfair. But not only does it need not be any of the preceding, it absolutely shouldn’t be. What it should be is a crystal clear hierarchy of goodness in which your dog is guided through our complex and overwhelming world with love, nurturing, and their well-being as the foremost priority. But creating that reality of goodness and safety typically doesn’t come from coddling, permissiveness, and a life without sometimes unpleasant consequences doled out by an authority figure tasked with forming and bringing about a dog’s best.

But let’s get back to our allegory. Because embedded within its somewhat silly details is precisely the problem that stymies so many owners.

You see, because of your behavior and how you’ve presented yourself to your dog, most of you are viewed as anything but an authority figure, and so most of you get the same reaction from your dog as our driver offers the civilian “enforcer” in the first example. Because you haven’t earned authority figure status you don’t get authority figure responses.

You can dislike this reality all you want. You can offer romantic examples of how life between human and dog *should* be… but disliking reality, and what’s more, ignoring it in favor of your prefered reality doesn’t change reality—it simply puts you at odds with it and ensures by way of your lack of reality-alignment mindset that you and your dog will struggle.

I don’t make the rules of reality. I just share them as I’ve observed them unfold. And deciding to align with reality, as unromantic, and sometimes uncomfortable as it might be, is the greatest gift you can offer yourself and your dog.

24/07/2024

The very idea makes some heads explode. Why? 🤔

20/07/2024

If your dog is pulling, straining on the lead, whining, barking for long periods, hiding away or cowering from new people or dogs, these are all signs of distress. Unfortunately your dog is suffering from stress and anxiety and you need to get some help to unpick these problems. These behaviours are demonstrated by the ‘Stress Ladder’ which describes certain symptoms in dogs and the corresponding behaviour. If you’d like to help your dog to learn to cope better and for you to have the confidence to calmly and effectively lead your dog, please get in touch. Taking bookings for August and September now. 07899 872826

13/07/2024

Evy is a beauty! She’s a 4yo Sprocker, and as with so many dogs that I work with, she’s a knat’s whisker away from being a brilliant dog. The problem is always that the client doesn’t realise where the issues are, and how simple that transition can be. That’s where I come in, as the facilitator to work between the owner and the dog. Need some mediation? Get in touch, it really can be very simple. 07899 872826

11/07/2024

Walking your dog shouldn’t be a struggle. If you’d like to enjoy your walks together again, get in touch. 07899 872826

10/07/2024

Every follower has three important questions they want to know about their leaders.
1. Can I trust you?
2. Are you committed?
3. Do you care about me?

If your dog was asking you, what is the honest answer? Not just a blind “yes”! But are you communicating those answers in their language in a way they can understand.

05/07/2024

It’s rare that you will see a calm dog make truly terrible choices. The “out of the blue” dog fight, the jumping on and knocking down of a child, the exploding at a dog on the walk, the frenzied bite on a guest as they enter the house, the streaking/sneaking out the front door as you attempt enter/exit, the ignoring of known commands in dicey situations… and on and on.

Does this mean your dog always needs to be calm and laid back? Of course not. There’s absolutely a time and place for some crazy—but for most owners they have little to no say about when the crazy happens and to what extent and for how long it goes on.

Our dog’s factory settings are set to crazy, chaotic, and overly-aroused. Which means, if we want to see our dogs at their very best, WE have to take responsibility for training calmness, patience, impulse control, and an “off-switch”. Because if we don’t, the factory setting will not only be all that’s listened to, but it will actually increase in severity and frequency the more it’s allowed to be practiced and patterned.

Which means, it’s up to us to lead and guide and teach the other stuff—if we want our dog’s most polite, most reliable, most clear-headed, and safest behavior… when desired.

The beauty of it all is that you CAN have it all. You CAN have the crazy and you CAN have the calm. It’s not an either/or equation—and it shouldn’t be. Life is about balance. No dog’s life should only be one of calm, controlled, robot-like “goodness”, because that’s not goodness, it’s an out of balance hyper-fixation on suppression of behavior. But could your dog use a bit (or quite a bit) more calm, polite, impulse-control-rich behavior? Chances are very good that the answer is yes.

And if you’re struggling with behavior issues, the answer is an absolute, 100%, resounding yes.

My advice? Get both, and enjoy both—just remember one comes naturally and one requires help—your help, and lots of it.

03/07/2024

Owners and trainers both need to better understand this dynamic.

Without clarity on this, owners develop unrealistic expectations, and trainers take on unhealthy responsibility.

Dogs only change when their environment changes—and only when it changes longterm.

Good trainers coach their clients on how to best change the environment their dogs live in by changing how their clients interact with their dogs daily, moment to moment.

Thus the only way you “fix” dogs is by “fixing” their owners through competent coaching and education. Any other expectation or promise is a guaranteed trip to disappointment-land, for both parties.

02/07/2024

🍋We have seen a worrying increase in people suggesting the use of lemon juice to use in dogs with heat stroke🍋 Especially in Brachycephalic (Flat faced breeds)

When dogs have heatstroke they can often pant excessively and produce lots of saliva, people believe lemon juice will help clear this if they pour/squirt into the mouth.

When polled in the Veterinary Voices UK Facebook group, 0 of over 970 veterinary professionals would recommend giving lemon juice!

💔One member sadly lost a case because an owner had been attempting to manage heatstroke at home, a heartbreaking tragedy.

If you think your dog has heatstroke:

❌ Do not pour lemon juice into its mouth if they are producing excessive phlegm or saliva
❌ Do not attempt to force any liquid into its mouth - you risk causing aspiration
❌ Do not leave wet, cold towels stationary on them. They quickly warm and trap the heat

✅ Do...
✅ Bring your dog inside into a shady, well ventilated, cool room
✅Call your veterinary team and follow their instructions
✅Prepare yourself to promptly transfer to your practice
✅Cool them down by pouring cold water on them
✅ Depending on their current condition they may drink small amounts of cool water, don't allow they to lap up huge quantities at once incase they vomit
✅ Travel in a cold, air-conditioned car

✅ According to one study into heat-induced illness in dogs, those actively cooled before arriving at the vets had a lower mortality rate than those not cooled prior to arrival.

More information on heatstroke and how to manage while transferring to your veterinary team? See Dr David Marlin:
https://drdavidmarlin.com/managing-dogs-in-hot-weather/

26/06/2024

CJ here is really nervous and suffers from separation anxiety. I’m working with his owner to give him the safety and security he needs and to help them both to get the best out of their relationship. If you need help with your dog’s behaviour, please get in touch. 07899 872826

26/06/2024

Is it true that if we use cold water on heat stroke pets they will go into shock?

One of the most common things we still hear is that we can only use tepid water on a pet with heat stroke, incase they get some complications like hypothermic overshoot, peripheral vasoconstriction hindering a cooling response, and cardiogenic shock...

We have heard not to use cold water in case it causes shock... this rarely happens!

But guess what? In a recent study over 26% of dogs presented with heat stroke died, with flat faced breeds making up nearly half of heat stroke cases seen in the study.

You should:

💧Get someone to call the local veterinary practice and tell them you're going to travel down with a heat stroke patient
💧Pour, hose or if possible immerse the pet in very cold water (this should obviously be done under constant supervision, ensuring the head is fully above water and immersion should not be attempted if the animal is too large, or you are unable to do so without hurting yourself)
💧NB: If using a hose pipe, make sure it has run through until cold, as they can often contain water that is extremely hot in the tubing initially
💧Do not drape in towels and leave them in situ. Keep the cold water flowing.
💧Move to a cool, shaded area
💧Prepare to transport to vets in a cold, air conditioned car

In studies they found that:

🌅International consensus from sports medicine organisations supports treating EHS with early rapid cooling by immersing the casualty in cold water.
🌅Ice-water immersion has been shown to be highly effective in exertional heat stroke, with a zero fatality rate in large case series of younger, fit patients.
🌅Hyperthermic individuals were cooled twice as fast by Cold Water Immersion as by passive recovery.
🌅No complications occurred during the treatment of three older patients with severe heat stroke were treated with cold‐water immersion.
🌅Cold water immersion (CWI) is the preferred cooling modality in EHS guidelines and the optimal method applicable to UK Service Personnel
🌅Studies suggest using either ice-water or cold-water immersion

The best intervention is PREVENTION, but if you find yourself with an animal with heat stroke, using cold water either by pouring, hosing or ideally (if safe) immersion then this may help reduce their temperature to safe levels while you transport to a veterinary practice.

Read more below:

https://www.vetvoices.co.uk/post/cool-icy-cold-or-tepid

23/06/2024

Flo again. So the natural progression is, that when the dog decides to cooperate with you, the lead is no longer needed.

This isn’t hard to do, it’s something almost any dog can achieve - and even some humans. 😉

23/06/2024

Tough time to be a dog owner. Seems like the entire world is determined to convince you that that thing you *know* is a problem, is anything but.

With society moving further and further away from a more primal, reality-based connection with life in favor of a hyper-intellectual, utopian-based feel-good-emotions-only connection—all that doesn’t fit comfortably in the latter box must go.

And with “respect” having lots of inconvenient baggage, associations, and actual propaganda (meant to further dissuade those who might actually trust their instincts) working against it, it’s an easy one to dismiss.

But time after time after time, we see dogs who come to us for all manner of behavior issues—from the minor and annoying, to the serious and dangerous—that all stem from the same foundational place… a clear lack of respect for their owner(s). And time after time after time we see these issues “magically” disappear once the relationship dynamics between human and dog are made both clear and healthy.

Do we demand the dogs who come through our program are polite and respectful? You bet. Do we see them often quickly relax and seem to shrug off the weight of living in a toxic dynamic with their owner, and thus their world? Yep. They also become infinitely safer, and all the obedience work becomes not only much easier, but also more fun and reliable.

Folks don’t have to like reality, and folks can resist it as fiercely as they wish, but it doesn’t change the rules of how it operates, it only ensures that you’re out of alignment with and in denial of that which is real. And that means all manner of continued struggle and misery due to a “mysterious” problem that appears to have no answer… but which absolutely does.

It’s an answer that’s was simple, obvious, and powerful. An answer you all knew up until 5 minutes ago.

22/06/2024