Leena Ukil - The FamiLee Dog

Public interest announcement • For all who are interested in taking their dogs to treks especially in Aarey forest, please take an appointment with The FamiLee Dog and explore the space. Solo adventures with no prior experience or R&D is not a bright idea 😎. TFD has been going to the forest with dogs for the past 4 years and unless you are with people who have explored the space, you and your dog might have an experience that in hindsight you may not appreciate. #jungketreks #jungletrails #trailandteks #dogtreks #outdoordogs #trainandtrek #offleash #aarey #measuredrisks #tfd

| Introducing Dog Treks for outdoor fun sessions | • The FamiLee Dog has always done a few outdoor sessions for dogs that are with us for obedience training and that includes a trip to the jungle. Given the benefits of outdoor and off-leash time for our dogs we have now opened it up as a event by itself. Here is a glimpse of one of the trails classified to be level 3 for high energy dogs with good fitness range. We have other levels too for all types of dogs & humans. Details to follow. Meanwhile enjoy this absolutely fun post of @kai_the_golden_retriever_2021_ and Leo the Labrador from today mornings outing. #dogtreks #outdoor #offleash #trekandtrain #goldenretreivers #labradorretreivers #dogtime #dogslife #trainertales #letsgetout

‘Over-excited’ dogs get frustrated easily. AND ‘Frustrated’ dogs can’t learn with delay in gratification. I find that an easier way to get them to focus is to instantly redirect them with something they want while giving them what originally excites them and in the process (managed & controlled process) teach them an alternate behaviour. It buys you time to calm their brains. Obie is an extreme jumper. He topples people because he wants to meet them. We use a high value treat to redirect him quickly but at the same do not distance him from the trigger. Instead we do give in to him so that he doesn’t get frustrated. And within that halfway home to calmness we ask for a new behaviour which is to go to his bed. Over time this will teach him patience. Unlike many dogs who learn with delayed gratification (that is they wait and give you an alternate behaviour to get to what they want), an over-excited dog needs instant gratifications. This also ensures that the method works for all triggers. @reshmaka26 thank you for having us over. I hope this makes sense. DM us for more. • #overexciteddogs #goldenretreivers #frustration #blockslearning #patiencebuilding #instantgratification #delayedgratification #thefamileedog #onsitetraining #obiekan #junglee

||Hierarchy in multi dog households|| • As most of you know, I am currently fostering one of my building stray. When Meena first came in she was pretty injured from a car accident and needed rest. She was hence kept in the inside rooms where normally my dogs Ruby and Alaska don’t go without permission. It is however a room of high value as it’s the bedroom. (At this point there is no power struggle). Once Meena became better and could move around, then my dogs became a bit restless because now we had a newbie who was flexing her muscles a bit. (The power grab is just begun). Being the ultimate boss I had to now quickly tell Meena that Ruby was the top dog in the house among them and that she could not challenge him. Thus Ruby was invited into the bedroom and I used food (since I know Meena isn’t food aggressive but Ruby’s world is centered around food) to give some power to Ruby while clearly communicating to Meena what she wasn’t allowed to do. This is just one example. And this is done professionally with prior knowledge about the dogs. Why I wanted to post this was to stress on the fact that dogs don’t believe in fairness. They function rather well with established hierarchy. The ranking can sometimes be very subtle or more pronounced like how it is within my home but in order to prevent any undue confusion, it should be introduced and maintained. #dog #hierarchy #status #dogtodog #challenge #communication #dogstatus #multidoghousehold #homerules #blacknwhite

| A quick video to show you dog body languages. | • The difference between Alaska & Ruby is their level of confidence. Alaska is a nervous dog that in the presence of myself or Ruby can pretend to be confident (status by association). Ruby on the other hand can’t be bothered. The strays are a mix of confidence level in this video. Hope you enjoy it. Feel free to ask any Qs. #bodylanguage #dogbodylanguage #tutorial #dogs #straydogs #confidence #nervous #fightorflight #indies #thefamileedog

| Purely entertaining with a touch of aggression | • Ever wonder how dogs drink water? Here is a slow motion video of ruby drinking water. Note the backward folding of the tongue that creates a trough to pick and carry water into the mouth. Seems efficient. Also did you spot the hint of aggression? The subtlest most body language to ward off another dog from interfering with Ruby’s drinking!!! #howdogsdrink #drink #water #tongue #dogoftheday #dogwater #indie #aggression #resourceguarding

| Happy Dogs Need A Job | • Thinking out of the box doesn’t have to elaborate. You have a dog that loves retrieving? You have a dog that loves sniffing? Combine both and teach your dog to bring something to you that you need. Here teaching Molly to bring us back a set of keys. She feels she has a job and we feel happy because she is mentally enriched. This task will qualify as a breed specific mental game!! #labradors #mentalenrichment #fetch #fetchkeys #ilostmykeys #mydoghasajob #workingdogs #thefamileedog

| Importance of corrections | • Balanced training or only positive training should not mean the absence of correctors. First time bad behaviours also need guidance. Yes, you can place a reward correctly for a good behaviour and/or to teach an alternate behaviour by rewarding positively but placing a corrector for the bad behaviour is equally powerful. It’s like teaching a set of rules. Case in point is teaching babyA that pulling dog ears is a no-no. Also note the situation was a set up. Sometimes expected behaviours needs to be corrected in a set up environment to stop a problem even before it becomes a problem. P.S. kid training is almost similar to dog training😁 #dogtraining #correctors #vocalcorrection #balancedtraining #trainingsetup #trainbeforeitslate #guidance #parenting #boundaries #settingrules #rules #dogear #ruby #indie #thefamileedog

|| 3 common mistakes while training a recall || • The video is self explanatory but elaborating on point no. 3. If your dog knows you are always tethered to your dogs imaginary leash come no matter what, he/she will stop paying you attention. After all the saying, “ghar ki murgi, daal barabar” holds true for the dog-human relationship. (After a while even the home chicken starts tasting like ordinary lentil soup😆). Don’t hover around your dog when he/she doesn’t immediately come to you and do a clean finish. Instead bluff that you are going to leave and let a certain level of panic set in. You will soon begin to see greater focus and attention from your dog. #recall #dogrecall #comewhencalled #dogtraining #thefamileedog #finish #commonmistakes #GR #offleash #offleashtraining #befree @shuri_ramani_sen

||Finish to a recall - positional cue|| • Last week we spoke about how to get a cleaner finish to a recall. I find dogs do really well when aided with additional visual cues. It also helps owner understand what exactly are they trying to achieve. This is Luna’s first off-leash experience. And the goal of the free roaming recall is to finish within the owners knees. Note in the first recall how the finish is clumsy and there is no stay to the recall. Luna flits around the male owner and then moves off. In the second recall the female owners squat position with open knee, palms on knee without a grab ensures a better finish and even a sit/stay till the third recall. In the third recall, the squat clearly helps on giving a positional cue. I am not too happy about the slight grab but everyone is learning at this point. Later on a squat can be replaced with a standing positional cue while reserving the squat for emergency recall with focus. Hope this helps. Feedback are welcome. #recall #finish #cleanfinish #sprucing #dogtraining #dogrecall #conewhencalled #positionalcue #cues #thefamileedog #beachday #indie #desi #dogs

|How can you teach a pet dog the stray dog language?| • There is no other way to do it but to expose your pet dog under the strict guidance of a behaviourist who not only knows your dog but also knows the strays. Note here how the GSD choose to stalk the white stray who is taken by surprise but ignore the GSD. Note the GSD isn’t aggressive. The brown dog however gives it back to the GSD and let’s her know that her stalking is unacceptable behaviour. Note how the GSD then shows submissive behaviour(tail is tucked, gaze is turned) and how quickly all deescalates. If the owner intervened anytime before this point some sort of aggression would have escalated. Instead we do a simple recall after the fact. The GSD learns sone important vocabulary in the stray dog world. The owner learns to keep calm. Also note how the GSD isn’t able to place her owner in the aftermath which is why I ask her to add extra audio by clapping. Use every opportunity to your advantage and strengthen recalls. It’s a life saving tool. #recall #lifesaving #doglanguage #straydogsspeakdifferent #bodylanguage #language

Fine tuning recalls • This video is to point out how even when your dog comes back to you when called it dodges you when you go to grab it. The ‘finish’ of a recall where you are able to leash the dog is as important as the recall. What is the use of your dog coming to you if you then can’t leash it go take away? Normally owners are anxious when practising off-leash recall and/or inpatient and grab their dog with outstretched hands which makes the dog want to run away quickly before being grabbed. Don’t forget to reward first with pets and praise. Here we are working on the owner to not immediately want to grab the dog but instead pet the dog. I will post another video soon to show how a positional cue can then add to fixing the dodge snd give you a cleaner finish. #dogrecall #recall #comingwhencalled #positionalcue #dontgrab #freedom #dogtraining #indiedogs #desi #thefamileedog

Open doors? No worries. We got you covered with a wait & release command. #threasholdtraining #true2life #waitandrelease #wait #opendoor #dogtraining #dogrushing #doortraining #realistic #thefamileedog #chowpit #dogtraining #true2life

|| The TAIL says a lot || • Ruby in all his lifetime as a pet has never met a non-desi dog off-leash. He specifically doesn’t like labradors and GSDs because he has had incidences of over friendly dogs not getting his memo of ‘stay out of my personal space’. Here he is meeting sweet bolt who is a bit wary of desi strays and the highlight of the video is how the tail is doing most of the talk. This is a carefully set up dog to dog interaction in a strategically chosen space. Please don’t randomly try such interactions. Not all wagging tails are friendly plus ruby normally never walks with his tail raised high. If you visualise both tails as the white flags that enemies at war show at confrontations, you will appreciate the signal that each dog is sending. Ruby is sending short but constant warnings and as soon as Bolt gets it and signal back that he got the brief, Ruby carries on away. Simple but elegant, isn’t it? #dogtodog #doginteractions #dogsocialization #reactivedogs #waggingtails #warning #whiteflag #peace #personalspace #communication #dogbodylsnguage #ruby #bolt #desidogs #indie #indogs #labrador

OFF-LEASH FUN AT THE BEACH