Happy Buddy Dog Training

04/07/2024

28/06/2024

Cabeza de bolillo

🐶🐾🤣🤣🤣🤣

12/05/2024

When scientists looked at aggression in a large sample of dogs, according to owner surveys, the factors that they found were associated with aggression were being fearful, being older, being a male dog, being a small dog, being someone's first dog, or being an only dog. Of course, this research is correlational so it does not show causation (for example, it's likely that if someone notices their dog is aggressive, they sensibly decide not to get another dog). But it's a reminder that fear is a common cause of aggression. And there were some interesting findings around breed, too. From the archives. https://www.companionanimalpsychology.com/2021/05/understanding-aggression-in-dogs-its.html

12/05/2024

These are some examples of displacement behaviours and serve as indicators of the dog's internal state which can provide valuable insights into their emotional well-being.

Displacement behaviours arise when an animal faces conflicting motivations/ feelings for two or more behaviours, leading to an unrelated action. For instance, birds might peck at grass when torn between attacking or fleeing from a threat, while humans may scratch their heads when indecisive.

Context matters when interpreting animal behaviour. EG: Sniffing and scratching could be due to various reasons like being itchy, exploring scents. Understanding the environment and situation helps in accurately deciphering the dog’s actions.

In interpreting body language, subtle cues matter too. A relaxed dog typically has ‘loose’ muscles, a ‘soft’ eye, and their tail held in the breeds natural carriage, and may pant gently. A stressed dog might have tense muscles, mouth shut, a lowered/ ‘stiff’ tail, flattened ears, and avoid eye contact. Understanding body language in canine communication helps distinguish between comfort and discomfort in the dogs demeanour.

These behaviours can also occur when an animal is hindered from engaging in a highly desired behaviour. Often, out-of-context behaviours provide comfort to the animal, like scratching, grooming, or sniffing.

In animal behaviour evaluations, displacement activities serve as indicators of unmet behavioural needs. For example, humans display self-directed behaviours like fidgeting in stressful situations, indicating negative emotions.

When a dog displays displacement behaviours, these are actions that seem out of place. These behaviours are often seen when a dog is unsure how to react in a particular situation.

This typically happens when the dog experiences conflicting emotions like anxiety, stress, or frustration, and serves as a way for the dog to release tension, or cope with the mixed feelings they are experiencing.

08/05/2024

Official statement on Dog Training and Behavioral Wellbeing

08/05/2024

También bañamos gatitos, recuerda que deben de estar acostumbrados 😽 amamos a los michis y no nos gusta estresarlos ni enojarlos. 😻

✅ Reserva tu servicio veterinario o de bañito
🐾💙🐾 Agenda tu cita al 𝟵𝟴𝟰 𝟮𝟰𝟬 𝟳𝟬𝟲𝟲 🐾💚🐾

07/05/2024

🐾 En adopción 🐾

Lluna 🌛
3 años
La que enamora con sus ojos 🌚

Esta belleza de nena es toda una warrior. se rescató de la selva con sus 12 bébés, y desde que ha entrado a la casa ha sido la perrita más agradecida del mundo.

Le encantan los apapachos es muy cariñosa. La siesta y la playa son su pasión. Convive con perros, gatos, y niños. Puedes venir a conocerla sin compromiso, le encantan las visitas. 🐾🤎

Se entrega esterilizada, vacunada, desparasitada. Se hacen filtros.

Ayudala a encontrar una linda familia 💜🐕 Comparte 🙏🏻

01/05/2024

¡Gracias a tu apoyo estos animales se pudieron ayudar en Abril de 2024!

395 esterilizaciones previniendo así sufrimiento innecesario, animales en situación de calle y abandono.
Además se ayudaron a 173 Gatos y 192 Perros y a sus familias con atención médica.
¡Muchas gracias por rescatar y adoptar! ❤️🐾

__________________________________

Thanks to your support these animals were helped on April 2024!

395 sterilization surgeries to prevent so much unnecessary suffering, homeless animals, and abandonment.
We also were able to help 173 cats and 192 dogs and their families with medical care.
Thank you so much for adopting and rescuing! ❤️🐾

01/05/2024

This is funny at first glance, but it's actually a great example of "environmental management."

You can prevent many annoying behaviors by using environmental management, (i.e., changing your dog's environment to prevent them from engaging in certain behaviors).

Dogs need structure and boundaries. Management is a way to keep your dog safe and curb inappropriate behavior.

One of the key goals of environmental management is to prevent the development (or progression) of problem behaviors. It is a proactive approach that recognizes that managing a dog's environment effectively reduces the likelihood of them engaging in unwanted behaviors.

Baby gates and crates (employed as creatively as needed 😁) are excellent tools to manage your dog's behavior.

Environmental management also involves putting your shoes in the closet or not leaving the TV remote, your phone, homework, or anything your dog can pick up and chew on in places where he has easy access to them.

Managing your dog's environment is an effective and very simple way to turn unwanted behavior around.

01/05/2024

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I'll admit it.

I'm not a big fan of high impact dog sports.

I think they can be fun, but not when we add competition into the mix.

Sure, it's a great feeling for us when our dogs do well, but I'm not sure that we always have the dog at the center.

We have a lot of control over our dogs so if you're putting emphasis on (and the only real outlet that your dog has) is a dog sport of course they are going to get excited about doing that activity.

On the home site for agility it says that agility is supposed to "mimic the way that a dog would naturally move their body".

(Now I've seen A LOT of dogs moving their bodies... But not in the way an agility course is set up. 🤔)

I think there is a place for dog sports, if you don't get too caught up in the intensity.

I've tried a few different dog sports with my dogs, but I always approached teaching by letting the dog lead me on their interest level.

My dogs have always deviated towards natural behaviors like wanting to sniff, dig, chew, deconstruct, chase. Running is also an interesting one. I observe they often run in short bursts rather than long stretches. I would say most of the time they canter.

Observation without bias is critical to understanding what behaviors your dog actually engages in.

(Of course that is in the absence of fear, anxiety and other pressures.)

With my dogs I thought Nero would love fly ball and he had no interest past the first 2 sessions. He would have 2-3 goes and then take the ball off and played by himself! (That was a clear message 🤣)

My high drive, working-line GSD Lycan didn't care for bite sports, but he loves playing tug with me. Lycan became too aroused during the initial lessons and I was told I had to have him "work through it", but I wasn't going to push him.

Something that I absolutely can I get my head around is dogs in sports with aversive tools.

Can you even call that participating?

Dog sports are elective if your dog needs an aversive tool to be a part of that sport - participation is for you, not the dog.

What are your thoughts on this?

01/05/2024

🙏💕🐈‍⬛

29/04/2024

29/04/2024

When we welcome dogs into our lives, we often treat them as part of the family, showering them with affection and cuddles. However, what many of us don't realise is that our well-intentioned hugs might not be as comforting to our canine friends as we think. This blog explores the importance of under...

29/04/2024

It can be all too easy to look at a behaviour, particularly one that we find problematic, as an isolated thing that just occurs, or is put down to false and outdated ideas like 'dominance' or 'stubbornness'.

Think of behaviour as a symptom - underlying that behaviour there is an emotion driving that behaviour. Behaviours don't happen just 'because', there is always a reason for them and so it's up to us to learn how to understand what they are trying to tell us so we can work out what that emotion is.

And at the root of it all there will be a need. Something that is causing the dog to feel that particular emotion and so lead them to show the behaviour that we are seeing. Once we have discovered the emotion the dog is feeling, we can work out what the dog needs and help them to get whatever that may be.

The three pictures here give an example:

Behaviour: the dog is barking at something. If you look at their posture and body language the body is leaning back, away from what they are barking at. The ears are back, whiskers flared, and eyes fixed on something. The front paw is slightly lifted and there is a back paw in the air, and the back end of the dog may be lowered towards the ground a little.

Emotion: what the overall picture of the body language is telling us is that the dog is scared of the thing they are barking at, so the emotion they are feeling is fear.

Need: What this dog needs is immediate space from the thing that is bothering them, so they can feel relief from that fear and feel safer again. What they need going on is an increased feeling of safety and security, more trust in us to help them if they need it or get them out of a situation if it's too much for them.

When we can understand the need and emotion driving the behaviour we can understand our dogs far better and see where they need our help.

29/04/2024

👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🙌🏼🙌🏼🙌🏼🙌🏼🙌🏼🙌🏼🙌🏼

01/04/2024

As always - you can't punish away fear.

29/03/2024

Using 'corrections' to alter behaviour only tells the dog what not to do. It gives no information on what to do instead, and doesn't take the reasons for the dog showing that particular behaviours into account. In particular it suppresses the emotions that have prompted the behaviour and, while it seems to have worked as the behaviour stops, the emotions are still there. Those emotions can then lead to fallout later, with the potential for much more serious issues than the original behaviour their humans wanted to stop.

When we focus on building a connection, understanding our dogs and their behaviours and why they do the things that they do, we can see the 'why' of the behaviour and take any action necessary to remove the need or reasons for that behaviour.

Whether there is something the dog is struggling with in that situation or if they need a bit more reinforcement history or help to understand that the cue we are asking them to follow means the same thing out in the world as it does when we first taught them it at home.

Whether the root cause is fear, frustration, confusion, pain, or any more of a list of possible underlying causes, having a strong connection and understanding of our dogs will let us see what they need and how we can work to provide it for them.

28/03/2024

21/03/2024

Walking with a dog and a pram - not actually the easiest skill!

This is something that requires some learning for both human and dog, but here are my top tips for walking with a pram or pushchair.

🐕 Use a comfortable, secure walking belt for hands-free walking. I use one that is actually for sled dogs or cross country hiking as it provides very good lumbar support.
🐕 Use a longer lead than you normally might so that your dog can still perform natural behaviours whilst walking near a pram. Pick it up and shorten it when needed, for safety, and to prevent it getting caught in your wheels.
🐕 Use an easy access bag for treats and poo bags. I use the pacopouch from perfect fit.
🐕 Work with your dog on their general lead walking skills as it makes it a lot easier to walk with them & and a pram if they are a bit more engaged with you and calmer when on lead. This includes any coaching around triggers, just to make things a bit easier for you to manage.
🐕 A close cue, a movement cue, and a wait cue make a big difference! You'll also need to teach them not to walk directly in front of the pram.
🐕 When testing out your pram, see if you can steer it one-handed and check out how good the wheels are if you plan to take it off-roading with your dog.

✅️ DO:
🐕 Think about what different types of pram look like for your dog. For example, some are more comfortable walking next to a pushchair than a bassinet stroller because their ability to see around them isn't as impeded. When helping my clients to prepare for a baby I always suggest walking with an empty pram or doll in a pram (add in some crying noises and periodic stopping and settling when your dog is ready) to prepare them for the real thing and get you both used to it. Trust me, it is slightly less stressful doing it for the first time if there isn't a real baby.
🐕 Let your dog get used to this gradually. Walking next to a big thing on wheels can be strange for many dogs and even scary for others. Don't rush out and expect them to be totally fine the first time round, they may need some help and practice.
🐕 Choose routes that are easier for you to navigate with both dog and pram.
🐕 A quality walk for your dog is more important than distance covered. Let your dog spend time sniffing, don't worry about how far you go. I know what it is like wanting to get a baby to sleep in the pram though!
🐕 Desensitise your dog to the rain cover.
🐕 Reward your dog if they're doing an awesome job!

❌️ DON'T:
🐕 Tie your lead to the pram! It honestly horrifies me when I see people do this. This is a huge safety risk.
🐕 Expect your dog to be totally fine with this straight away. It's new! Most humans find it tricky to start with too.

If you are expecting a baby, you can find my course Preparing Your Dog For A Baby at knowyourdog.thinkific.com and use the code DOGDAYS50 for 50% off the course price (limited time offer).

(Automated scheduled post for 19th March 2024 during a period of reduced work, email [email protected] for enquiries, there will be delays in receiving responses during this time - please bear with me)

21/03/2024

Our goal is to prevent, treat and effectively manage behavior problems in companion animals to enhanc

21/03/2024

Resource guarding is common! Dogs who resource guard are NOT:

❌ "Alpha"
❌ "Dominant"
❌ Trying to "show you who's boss"
❌ Bad

Dogs who resource guard are scared they're going to miss out on the good stuff! By understanding WHY a dog is resource guarding, it's much easier to fix. If you've got a tenacious guarder on your hands, we'd be happy to help.

20/03/2024

Ya se siente ☀️🌊🤣

20/03/2024

Let them sleep

Total sleep is not as important as sleep quality! While total sleep definitely matters, getting deep sleep and entering REM phase sleep is critical for emotional regulation and helping both acute and chronic pain. Do you wake your dog up? Have a think about how you can help them sleep deeper 😴

20/03/2024