Doggy Homestay

10/11/2024

07/11/2024

This little gorgeous girl tends to usually be unsure of her new environment and nervous about most things. It was so awesome last night that she choose to join us for snuggles and tv, clearly confidence is growing

06/11/2024

From Madness to quiet special moments

05/11/2024

I Love these wee dog tags . And at same time Supporting local in Lincoln with Arctic Sammy

04/11/2024

04/11/2024

03/11/2024

For feline friends. Kitten season fast approaching.

We know times are tough so for a limited time we are offering desexing and microchipping for $10 per cat (must be 4 months or older) for people on a low income in Christchurch. This offer is available for female cats as well however the cat must not be heavily pregnant or feeding kittens. Please apply via our online application from cats.org.nz/felinefix

01/11/2024

Is your pet secure in knowing you Will come back?

31/10/2024

Let’s do it! Like and share this post and more importantly
BUY 2 BAGS OF PETFOOD FOR A SHELTER INSTEAD OF FIREWORKS.
MAKE A DIFFERENCE TO PETS LARGE & SMALL

31/10/2024

LETS BUY 2 BAGS OF PETFOOD FOR A SHELTER INSTEAD OF FIREWORKS…..

30/10/2024

Two years ago, our Miss Frankie had a run in with a vehicle. There is No stopping this girl she’s full of beans and all go now

28/10/2024

Who else loves good Zoomies ??🐾

Doggy HomeStay offers HomeStay Boarding and Day care Services for Dogs (and a little bit of grooming when time permits!)

23/10/2024

Dog Socialisation - a good read

Okay, so this is a word that gets an awful lot of play in the training world, and it’s definition has come to mean an awful lot of things. Many of which, are incredibly counter-productive, if not downright dangerous.

So let’s see if we can’t clarify a few things.

Socialization isn’t:
-About letting your dog freely interact with dogs at the dog park, day care, or with friends dogs.
-About allowing your dog to meet other dogs on-leash.
-About allowing all manner of people, in all manner of mental/emotional states interact/pet/pressure your dog.
-About exposing your dog to the sights and sounds of cars, buses, motorcycles, bikes, skateboards, joggers...and allowing them to freak out, panic, aggress, hide, bark etc.
-About exposing your dog to the sights and sounds of dogs, cats, and other animals, and allowing them to freak out, aggress, lunge, bark, growl etc.

Socialization is:
-About teaching your dog the proper responses to dogs. What is and isn’t appropriate behavior, and correcting the unwanted when it appears.
-About teaching your dog to walk by the barking, lunging dog(s) on walks and ignore them, completely. Correcting if necessary to achieve this result.
-About advocating for your dog and ensuring people aren’t allowed to pressure your dog, by touching, crouching down, attempting “kisses” etc. That means being a big boy or girl, and stopping others from engaging in unwanted, uninvited interactions.
-About exposing your dog to all manner of daily life “things” and ensuring a proper response. If aggression/arousal is present, it’s corrected, if fear/arousal is present (and causes an overreaction/fleeing etc.) it’s corrected. Ask your dog to learn to ignore and not care about these “life” distractions/concerns/temptations. Teach them to listen to the training, not the world around them.
-About teaching your dog to leave other creatures alone. The cat, the bird, the cow, the goat, the other dog, is simply none of their business. If they decide those things are their business, it’s your job to correct and clarify what is and isn’t their business for them.

Socialization has become a ridiculously simplified, dumbed down, all-encompassing idea. Free interaction and exposure have been presented as a panacea, the magic gateway to a balanced dog. That’s a whole lot of B.S. you’ve been sold, by a lot of people full of B.S. 🙂

Socialization is all about teaching your dog how to behave and exist in the world...properly. People have a belief that only interactions create a well socialized dog. They don’t understand that existence is almost always preferable, and more valuable than actual interaction. Yes exposure is critical, but exposure without 100% clear guidance, and corrections for poor choices, isn’t socialization, it’s chaos, and it’s not teaching your dog what’s right, what’s wrong, and that you’ll keep them safe, so they don’t have to.

A well socialized dog isn’t fazed by the world around them. And that doesn’t come from simple exposure and interactions without guidance. Ironically, that’s precisely how you create anti-social dogs.

Think on that for a minute.