Canine Buddies Dog Training The Mart, Loughrea 086 0375814

30/11/2024

Welcome to Canine Buddies Dog Training The Mart, Loughrea 086 0375814 🙂🐶🐕🦮
Community Project helping Dogs and Owners🐶
We Offer ..
* Obedience Training
* Ring Craft for Dog Shows
* Agility
* Brain Games
* Socialisation
* Sent Work
* Canine Enrichment
Please Call 086 0375814 to chat about your Dog 🙂

Canine Buddies a place where we have committed ourselves to educate people and to bring awareness ab

23/07/2024

I am guilty of this 😂🐶💜

11/06/2024

Canine Buddies Dog training 5 week course one to one training.
Booking by appointment only all dogs must be fully vaccinated.

05/06/2024

Walking with worried dogs can make walks hard, emotional and even scary. It's important to remember that even when a dog lunges forward, they are just trying to stay safe. We can help you to understand your dog and learn howe to make walks better, just drop us a line below.

05/06/2024

BARRIERS TO LEARNING – WHY SOME DOGS STRUGGLE TO LEARN

“My dog is stubborn, doesn’t listen to me, a slow learner, not the smartest, tries to be in control, will only do it at home, will only behave sometimes, is uncontrollable……” – these are comments that are often heard.

Just like us, dogs need the right kind of conditions to either be able to learn something new or to bring about a change in behaviour.

Dogs are not robots that can be programmed by a set of specific inputs that guarantee consistent results. They are individual, sentient beings that need to be understood.

If we’re feeling stressed, anxious, tired, over excited, too distracted, not feeling well, have no motivation etc. we will find it really difficult, if not impossible to learn something new, change our behaviour or change a habit. The same applies to dogs.

A dog’s emotional state, the surrounding environment, motivation, age (pups, adolescents, seniors) or any health issues all have a significant impact on their ability to learn.

If your dog is having a hard time learning something, look at these factors and see if there is a reason that may be preventing progress.

Maybe your dog is just having an “off” day, just like we do.

Try again tomorrow or next week and set your dog up for success by having realistic expectations.

Learning or changing behaviour takes time, patience, consistency, understanding and the right conditions.

19/04/2024

🧐 Welcome to Wednesday 😊

27/03/2024

14/03/2024

14/03/2024

ARE YOU WORTH COMING BACK TO?

Full credit Dogs Disclosed

I often cringe when I watch people trying to get their dogs to come back when they call.

They call and call and get increasingly angry and frustrated as their dog keeps ignoring them.

When their dog eventually does come back, or has been chased and "captured” by the now really angry person, they get screamed at, yanked about, smacked or punished in some way for taking so long and not listening.

Why on earth would a dog want to return to someone who does this to them!

Genetics may play a big part in this when an environment is far more stimulating and exciting.

Coming back to you is often the last thing a dog may want to do when genetic instinct is triggered.

An exciting scent or seeing something to chase can all override a response to recall.

Genetics aside, the most common reason that dogs don’t come back when called is because it’s not a positive experience.

Make coming back to you worth it by always making it a rewarding experience and keep practicing this throughout a dog’s life.

Have a little patience if it takes longer than you would like, let your dog finish what they’re doing before calling them, practice in different locations and environments and never reprimand or punish them for coming back.

There is never a guarantee of a perfect recall each and every time, but making it a rewarding experience will greatly improve the rate of success.

14/03/2024

🧐There is so much to behaviour than meets the eye. I often hear clients distressed, saying “ My dog has never behaved this way and don’t understand where it’s come from?”, and “He’s normally so good”.

Behaviour stems from emotions, and emotions are involuntary responses to situations and events, but they don’t just come from nowhere and can be prevented if you know what you’re looking at and how to interpret it.

When a dog behaves in a way that a human being finds inappropriate or rude, we forget that dogs are not human. Their behaviours are NORMAL for their species, and we as humans have unrealistic expectations of our dogs. We both ‘speak’ different languages, and understanding how your dog communicates will help you set them up for success and not put them in a position where they may display unwanted behaviours.

🪜The ladder of aggression is what can help you understand how a dog can escalate from what seems like a normal relaxed dog to all of a sudden barking, growling, being reactive and biting.

You may first notice your dog sending something called calming signals. This is not only to help them stay calm but to indicate to you that the dog is not a threat, and the messages should calm down a situation the dog is not ok with. This can be in the form of lip licking following a sneeze, excessive blinking, yawning, head turns to avoid. These behaviours will appear out of context and are to ideally defuse a tense situation.

If the messages the dog is sending are being ignored the next thing you may see are displacement behaviours. This is when a dog displays actions that seem out of place or unrelated to the current situation. This typically happens when the dog experiences conflicting emotions like anxiety, stress, or frustration. This behaviour serves as a way for the dog to release tension or cope with the mixed feelings they are experiencing.

This is when the dog redirects their attention to something else so they don’t have to deal with the ‘scary thing’, or situation, and can be a form of self-soothing behaviour that can give the dog a moment of relief. These behaviours can be random ge***al checks, eating grass, randomly scratching, or excessively sniffing in the environment etc...

The dog may now move to more intense behaviours if he/ she has not shut down and gone into a learnt state of helplessness. Your dog may have a small ‘rumble’ and start barking. Their breathing has rapidly increased. The dog is trying to deter the threat. You may even notice the dog dips their head down, snarling with excessive lip licking. At this stage you may even see a nose lick (the tongue will be going right over the nose with every lick). The dog may be baring teeth and growling. In between these behaviours you may still notice more calming signals or displacement behaviours.

If the dog gets to the stage where their behaviour is highly reactive and they are lunging out, barking/growling, teeth bearing, snarling, and showing stiff and tense body postures while exhibiting these behaviours, then this is a dog who is completely over threshold and not coping!

💥This defensive behaviour is their last resort before they follow with a bite! Their body is in overdrive, and in fight mode as the other behaviours of freeze, fidget and flight did not work. This dog is in SURVIVAL mode and the next step is to bite to protect/ defend himself/ herself.

Behaviours can escalate quickly. Within a blink of an eye, your dog can go from being ok - to nervous - to flight or fight.

Identifying body language, facial expressions and communication signals is an incredibly important step to PREVENT and ensure your dog remains in a state where they can cope successfully.

08/03/2024

It is absolutely fine for you to have some boundaries in your relationship with your dog, BUT

make sure that these boundaries are based on a foundation of factual information and understanding!

There's a lot of misinformation out there about domesticated dogs and this, of course leads us to harmful ideas about the ways we should structure our relationships.

When you begin to acknowledge and respect your dog's boundaries, the relationship you share can improve dramatically.

Dogs, like us, have their own comfort zones and limits, and recognizing these signs can foster better communication and trust.

By paying attention to your dog's body language and responses to certain situations or actions, you can learn to read their signals of discomfort or stress.

This attentiveness allows you to adjust your behavior and interactions to ensure your dog feels safe.

Because often at the root of behavior concerns is a dog who does not feel safe.

A dog who growls, snaps or bites is NOT

❌ "bad"
❌ "misbehaved"
❌ "aggressive"
❌ "untrained"

⚠️ A dog who must resort to elevated communication has commonly had their boundaries tested or broken.

Respecting your dog's boundaries not only enhances your dog's overall well-being but also strengthens the bond between you and your dog, leading to a more harmonious and connected relationship.

Instead of focusing on how much respect your dog has for you, shifting your mindset to how much respect you have for your dog can help you relieve stress and tension around your relationship that didn't need to be there in the first place.

We undoubtedly hold our dog's mental health in our hands so who is the dominant one again?

What do you feel are healthy boundaries to have with your dog and why?

Check out the comments for my answer!

08/03/2024

08/03/2024

Some exciting news on this World Book Day... 🌎📖
I am really excited to announce the upcoming release of Dogs Can Talk! An interactive, and engaging storybook aimed at preschoolers and primary school age children, and their families, to learn about dog body language.

Dogs Can Talk! follows a boy named Fred and a dog named Sam. Fred doesn't realise that dogs can talk using their body, so doesn't know what Sam is saying to him. Can you help him to work it out?

Including colourful illustrations by Jessica Mitchell-Fowle, helpful notes for parents and carers, plus activities and conversation starters for adults caring for young children. This book is a fun and educational read for the whole family.

Understanding dog body language is essential for anyone spending time around dogs and aids in bite prevention.

More information regarding release date and how to get your copy coming soon - stay tuned!

(Automated scheduled post for 7th March 2024 during a reduced period of work, email [email protected] for enquiries, there will be delays to receiving responses during this time)

08/03/2024

Management is something of a dirty word in animal training. It is often viewed as a cop-out. It's something you do when you can't "train" an animal well enough. And there are a lot of discussions around how “management fails”, often as a means to discredit the use of management in behavior modification strategies. But the truth of the matter is that management is a key first step to behavior change in any species. This includes humans.

When we are trying to make different choices in our own life; such as eating a more balanced, and nutritious diet, the first thing we do is implement management strategies to facilitate those changes. We make sure to give away the foods that we know don’t serve our new goals, or stop buying them from the store. If we are looking to engage in less screen time we set timers and screen time limits on our devices. If we are hoping to spend more time engaged in exercise to benefit our health, we might sign up for a sport, work out classes, or even designate a gym buddy to go with us to encourage us to develop and maintain those habits. We utilize management in our daily lives to help us make positive changes, or maintain certain necessary behaviors. We pack a lunch the night before, so we don’t spend extra money on eating out. We set a budget to help us save for a rainy day, or a vacation. We set up management strategies in our own lives, and never think twice about it as a form of ‘failing to change behavior.’ We absolutely see it as a necessary and fundamental part of behavior change. Hell we have entire careers dedicated to “management.”

So why do we treat management solutions as a less-than option for animals? Why do we expect dogs, horses, or cats to simply change their behavior with out first modifying their environment to facilitate that change?

In learning the sequence of events is : Antecedent. Behavior. Consequence. This refers to how learning occurs with in the brain. That is that the antecedent of a behavior is everything from a cue (“Sit”) to the environment in which it happens, these proceed the behavior (the dog sits) which then prompts the consequence of that behavior (a reinforcer is given for the dog sitting.) In behavior modification the antecedents are often less about verbal or concrete cues, and more about the environment in which certain behaviors occur. A dog who struggles on leash with other dogs present, who over reacts and becomes reactive or presents with aggressive behavior, our first step to helping them is to stop putting them into situations where those things occur. This is management. We alter the environment (we chose to walk at low traffic times, or in areas with minimal others present etc) to better serve the dog’s learning to manage their emotional overload in a more desirable fashion. If we have a cat who becomes aggressive towards new people in his home, the first thing we do is provide that cat with a quiet , comfortable space away from company that he can be in to avoid perfecting his ninja cat attacks on our visitors. This is managing the environment to avoid rehearsing the undesirable behavior. Management is a vital part of behavior change, using it is not a failure to “Train the animal”, it’s a key component to ensure they are able to learn new behavior patterns.

08/03/2024

Oh the dreaded slurping, munching, licking sound of a dog chewing on their own paw, again and again❗
Self soothing....sometimes not as helpful as it may sound.
When does self soothing become obsessive ❓
Simply put....when it becomes excessive. What excessive means from one dog to another may be completely different.
Every dog is individual.
Mouths are used in many (but not all) self soothing behaviours. Self soothing can be an attempt to reduce anxiety....and it works for many dogs.

However....there is a point where this can begin to turn and become damaging.

Licking paws.
Dogs that continually lick paws until they are red, inflamed or raw need help. Veterinary help must always be sought FIRST before behavioural reasons are looked into. While you may be convinced it is just a "habit" that habit has lead to chronic dermatitis, a yeast infection or maybe that compulsive licking and nibbling at paws is actually from a grass seed and is now infected and is scouring its way internally up your dogs leg.

Nibbling/sucking bedding.
You may have a dog that suckles or nibbles their blanket...maybe there are some "cookie cutter" mysterious holes in the blanket....your dog has likely ingested the material. Teeth rubbing continually against textured fabric can cause big dental issues.

Biting/chewing objects.
This is something that very few people see as an issue, as dogs chew. If your dog is spending a long time chewing a toy and does this at various times during the day....observe them, there could be a pattern of seeking comfort after something they found stressful. We may not see the preceding event as stressful...but your dog did. There could very easily be a pattern.
Your dogs teeth may be becoming blunt and worn away from continually chewing....they may then feel they need to chew more as they now have pain in their mouth.

Nibbling/biting themselves.
This often looks like something is annoying them, they may nibble or chew holes in their own body, tails can be a target too. Your dog can actually start to nibble off their own tail, it may get shorter and shorter and you may start to see destructive biting on what was once a healthy tail.

Have you come home and your dog has chewed a piece of furniture or a door?....there is a reason for this behaviour.
Instead of looking at your dog as "naughty" or "bad" perhaps your dog was highly anxious when you left and attempted to self soothe?

Some dogs that are destructive have underlying high level anxiety issues. They are attempting to feel better the only way they can in that moment.

Self soothing behaviours are fine...your dog has managed to figure out how to calm themselves and feel better emotionally.
BUT..... there is a point when they are far more damaging than we think.

Vet check first, then you can look into behaviour modification.

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