Gone To The Dogs

24/01/2024

This is perfect and always what I encourage you to do 🙂

21/12/2023

Some Christmas fun at Manners Class on Monday night 😆. Wishing everyone a safe and merry Christmas 🎄

21/12/2023

I just love it when amazing owners send me pictures of their dogs doing cool things. This gorgeous schnauzer was quite reactive with other dogs and would use his schnauzer scream when he encountered any dogs. Working with the owner we were able to show him that he was safe and the owner had everything under control. Now he gets to go to lots of places and can cope in the presence of unfamiliar dogs 🥰

24/11/2023

Here is a challenge 🫣😆

27/04/2023

Good Dog Group Class

Does your dog bark and lunge at every dog it sees when you try to take if for a walk?

When you take your dog for a walk does your dog pull you all the way?

I can help you with those things.

Let's work together so you can teach your dog to listen and make better decisions.

Next group class starting in July in Hawera - indoor venue.

The class runs for six weeks and currently is at the special price of $179

Classes are strictly limited to six dogs so that I can provide you with a better service.

For more information please email me:

[email protected]

19/04/2023

Accell Therapy Mat

What is the biggest problem I have with the Accell Therapy Mat? Trying to get the dogs to wait their turn 🤣🤣🤣

25/03/2023

This is a great example of what we need to work on 👍

09/03/2023

This!! You have probably heard me talking about the 'teenage' stage 😃

BRAIN UNDER CONSTRUCTION!
The challenges of teenage dogs
There’s a saying that parents who have gone through the teenage years with their off spring will relate to - “Parents with teenagers understand why some animals eat their young!”

Many dog owners are unaware that dogs also go through a teenage stage and are frustrated and unprepared for the changes this brings. It’s a sad reality that this is the age that many dogs are surrendered to shelters as their owners no longer “like” the way their dogs behave, can’t handle them and give up on them.

The teenage brain is going through many changes. Think of it as being “rewired”. The rewiring process can cause some parts not to work at all or only work sometimes. Some parts work too much with too much current and new wires cause unexpected results.

There are many similarities to the changing human teenage brain. There’s a valid scientific reason why car insurance premiums for young adults under 25 are more expensive. The brain is not fully matured – irrational decisions, risk taking, poor choices and accidents are more likely to happen.

Be patient, understanding and most of all consistent with your teenage dog. Don’t give up on them. They are feeling just as frustrated as we are. Being aware of what is happening in their brain as it develops to full maturity helps us to be more accepting. Remember that this is just a phase and it will get better.

01/03/2023

Having an Exit Strategy is vital to help dogs that are struggling to cope. 🐾🐾❤️

DO YOU HAVE AN EXIT STRATEGY?
An exit strategy for dogs is something that is pre planned and continually practiced until it becomes second nature.

Having this plan in place has huge benefits for dogs that react to triggers in the environment - be it other dogs, children, people, cyclists, skateboards or similar.

The exit strategy of quickly increasing distance when a trigger appears decreases stress levels, provides an opportunity to process information and helps dogs learn to respond in a different way from a space of safety.

Practicing quick U-turns, a sudden change in direction, speeding up or even hiding behind a tree are all useful ways of creating a strategy. Over time, some dogs will learn to remove themselves from a trigger on their own, before they start panicking, having learnt that moving away is an option they have.

Forcing a dog to face whatever is triggering them results in increased anxiety, stress or fear. They won’t just get used to it. A brain that is flooded with cortisol (the stress hormone) is unable to learn, process information, think clearly, or make better decisions.

After a long time of using exit strategies with one of my dogs that is reactive, she has begun to move away and create her own distance. Through practicing this pattern of creating distance she has realized that this is what she should do when that scary thing appears.

Some dogs may never get to this stage, and that’s also ok. Each dog is an individual, with different genetics, backgrounds and learning experiences. Accept your dog for who they are.

Think about how we may use exit strategies to help us cope and how they make us feel better.

Some time ago I suffered from debilitating panic attacks after a series of traumatic and life changing events. I couldn’t drive on a highway or be in an enclosed space. My daughter was graduating from university and I could not miss this event, but what if I had a panic attack in the auditorium, couldn’t get out and embarrassed her and myself?

A therapist that I was seeing at the time helped me to develop an exit strategy which enabled me to cope. I arrived at the venue early and found a seat right next to the exit. If I started panicking, I could just leave through the door. Just knowing that this option was available made such a difference to my state of mind and I ended up being able to make it through the entire ceremony.

The same strategy helped me cope on highways. I just had to drive to the next exit.. and then the next and the next if I felt up to it.

Sometimes we all need an exit strategy, our dogs included. It’s not about running away from or not facing a problem, but developing a plan to help us or our dogs cope in a situation where we’re uncomfortable.

25/02/2023

Evie enjoying her time on the Accell Therapy Mat🐾🐾😍

25/02/2023

Accell Therapy - Do you want the chance for your dog to try this therapy for FREE - limited spots available in Hawera.

Over the past few weeks, I have been trialing this therapy on my own dogs, friends and family's dogs and homestay guests. They have all loved it!!

If you would like to book a FREE spot, in Hawera, to trial this for your dog, send me a message!

12/02/2023

This afternoon we were lucky to be able to meet with Veronica - Senior Trainer at Mobility Dogs and catch up with our lovely Annie who is ready for placement 😍

23/01/2023

WHAT IS ACCELL ANIMAL THERAPY?

Healthy circulation is vital to optimal health. Stimulating healthy muscles and increasing blood circulation in healthy muscles and body tissue is the primary goal of Accell Animal Therapy to support muscular health and optimise performance.*

Accell Animal Therapy devices use Cycloid Vibration Therapy – abbreviated as CVT – to deliver a therapeutic benefit to all creatures, great and small.

THE EVOLUTION OF ANIMAL THERAPY
CYCLOID VIBRATION THERAPY

Proven to improve local blood flow and lymphatic drainage.
Many physical and emotional discomforts are directly related to poor local circulation, which may lead to dysfunctional metabolic processes in the muscle tissue and inhibit optimal performance and recovery.

ENJOY THE BENEFITS OF ACCELL IN AS LITTLE AS 10 MINUTES, ONCE A DAY!

STIMULATING CIRCULATION AND LYMPHATIC DRAINAGE TO PROMOTE WELLBEING

The Accell Pro Series system utilises unique Cycloid Vibration Therapy (CVT) to improve blood circulation throughout your animal's body and also improve lymphatic drainage - removing waste products from the body. This vibration is non invasive, drug free and 100% safe to use on all living beings. Stimulation of healthy muscle tissue with Accell Animal Therapy can support muscle conditioning, which may lead to more vitality and energy.

DOMESTIC APPLICATIONS
DOMESTIC ANIMALS

Cycloid Vibration Therapy has been used widely by domestic pet owners worldwide for several applications, including improved circulation and improved lymphatic drainage. Accell Animal Therapy provides several benefits with regular use to all types of domestic pets. These benefits include Anxiety and stress reduction, senior wellbeing, improved nutrient and oxygen delivery to essential muscles, and improved toxin and waste removal.

*ACCELL does not provide any veterinary advice or services. This device is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. It should not be used for any purpose other than as described in the user manual. Please consult your own veterinary provider if your animals have any health issues.

22/01/2023

Fun things you can do with your dog!!

Luzelle and I enjoyed a lovely early morning coffee at Public Catering with Una and Ice.

You can do this too, with your dog. Building a great relationship with your dog and helping them to be calm in lots of different situations means that you can take them with you to new places and they will make better decisions.

20/01/2023

So simply said, so very important!

10/01/2023

Bond enjoying his Accell Therapy session ❤️ Bond has spondylosis, which is simply explained as arthritis in his spine. He is on medication to manage his pain and there is no cure but it is so nice to be able to provide this therapy to make him feel good 😍

07/01/2023

We are super excited to announce a new service for the New Year!

10/12/2022

This feels like a proud mama moment. 🥰🐾🐾
This amazing owner has worked really hard with her lovely dog and look at the results 😍 Don't they look fabulous out walking? All of their awesome work has come together, and this is the result. You can achieve this too!! It does require hard work from you, but the benefits are well worth it. Now, this owner and her dog can start exploring other places together ❤️

19/11/2022

This is so true!! We need to be there for our dogs, we need to support them, we don't need to increase their fear and we should never force them into something that they cannot cope with. We do not need to increase their anxiety. They need to be able to trust us and know that we will protect them. It is all about our relationship with our dog.

IN THE FACE OF FEAR
There is a common belief that comforting a dog that is scared, anxious or stressed will just reinforce or encourage them to feel this way. This belief is incorrect. Fear is an emotional response and one that a dog does not choose or makes a decision to experience. We cannot reinforce something that is an involuntary, uncontrolled response.
Imagine an intruder broke into your home, tied you up and took off with your belongings. After freeing yourself and getting help, a close friend arrives to see how you are. Your friend tells you that she can see that you’re really anxious and scared but she’s just going to completely ignore you, is not going to attempt to comfort you, sit with you or give you a hug because by doing that she will cause you to feel even more afraid and upset. Does that reaction make any sense? Dogs experience a range of emotions and the same principle applies to them.
Why then is it still believed that you should ignore your dog? Probably because there is confusion or misunderstanding about the difference between an emotional response - which is an involuntary response and a learned response - which has varying degrees of conscious control.
If we acknowledge that providing comfort and support to a dog that is experiencing these emotions will not reinforce them, do we know that providing comfort will reduce these emotions? Research on this subject is showing evidence that providing comfort and support in stressful situations decreases a dog’s heart rate, salivary cortisol levels, reduces stress responses and increases calm behaviour.

Ignoring a dog’s emotions because of misinformed advice that this will change the behaviour is not helpful. Recognise the emotions for what they really are and be there for your dog.

06/10/2022

It’s ok to say No.....

Training with your dog will always have its ups and downs. We all want to have a good relationship with our dog and teach it what we want it to do. Training has changed a lot over the last few decades. We have all learnt that working on our relationship with our dogs and rewarding their ‘good’ behaviour creates a foundation of trust.

I am sure that a few years back there was a culture where we were told that we must be the dominant party in the relationship. These days, we have come so far, and we understand that teaching a dog what we do want is a far better way of doing things and creates a greater level of trust between us and our dogs.

As with many things, this move to purely positive training has huge advantages and creates happier dogs that are willing to try and to problem solve and to work with us. However, we must also remember that a dog cannot stop doing something that we don’t want it to do if we don’t tell them that is not the behaviour we want. It seems that now we are avoiding setting the boundaries and telling dogs what we don’t want.

I often relate training dogs to taking care of children as there are some similarities. Think for a moment, you are walking along a pavement with your child, it goes to dash on to the road. What are you going to do? What are you going to say to make sure that your child knows that this is not a good choice and is in fact dangerous. While you are a kind and caring parent, I am pretty sure that you are not going to respond in the moment with a ‘darling that is not a good idea, it is dangerous for you’ you are most likely to say ‘No’ and perhaps ‘Stop’. This signals some urgency and makes the child aware that whatever their purpose and action was intended to be, you consider it important to convey to them that they should not continue.

This is absolutely the same with training dogs, if your dog is trying to jump on someone, or race off to chase something, we need to tell them ‘No’ so that they know that their thought and action are something that we don’t want. Yes, of course, we will have done work on training them so that they know what a good choice and a good action is and what we want in these circumstances, and we will of course continue to practice the behaviours we want. However, if we don’t also convey to them that this action is wrong, how are they expected to know? It is our responsibility to tell them and give them the opportunity of making a good choice.
We are not going to harm our dogs by saying ‘No’, we are going to provide them with a learning opportunity, a chance to learn what is acceptable and what is not. We don’t have to punish them for making a bad choice, but we do have to let them know when they do make a bad choice, so that they know what we don’t want. Of course, we also need to give them a chance to choose to do the action that we do want.

So don’t be afraid to say ‘No’ as it is all part of their learning journey. Dogs like to know when they are doing good things, how can they know if they are doing something we don’t want unless we tell them.

30/09/2022

Does your teenage pup think your instructions are just suggestions?

Are you struggling to go for walks with your dog because it barks and lunges at every dog it sees?

I can help you with those things. Let me help you build a better relationship with your dog, so you can enjoy spending time together.

Group class starting in Hawera on Thursday 20th of October 2022 at 5.30 pm – Indoor venue.

The class runs for six weeks and following the completion of the class, I will do a one to one session with you and your dog.

Classes are strictly limited to six dogs so that I can provide you with a better service.

If you think that this might be the right programme for you and your dog, please PM me with your email address and I will send you more information and an application form.

Hurry, only four spaces left!!!

26/08/2022

Let’s just be......

I cannot recommend enough, just being with your dog.

Take some time and sit with your dog in different places. Why? To let them have the chance to observe the world. No pressure, no stress, just watch the world around them. Let them learn to be comfortable just being.

I often recommend to people that I am working with, that they sit somewhere, in the park, outside a shopping centre, in a carpark etc. and let their dogs watch the world go by. We want our dogs to be able to see new things in a low pressure state of mind. To become comfortable with other people going by, other dogs walking past and any other distraction that may occur.

The trick in this exercise is for you to be calm. Don’t feel that you have to have your dog’s attention on you all of the time. Yes, if your dog starts to focus too much on something, distract him or her. Get them to look at you, but let them look back at whatever it is too. If they relax a little that is good, if they are still increasing in anxiety or stress, distract them again. Make them understand that, yes, things happen but they don’t need to be worried or concerned and no they do not need to control the situation. Be the guardian for your dog, make it ok for them. Don’t feel sorry for them and don’t start to get anxious yourself.

I know that it seems easy to say, don’t get anxious, yes you may have an increase levels of hormones making you feel stressed, but be a good actor, project a calm relaxed state to your dog, even if you don’t really feel that calm. Dogs are super perceptive; if they think you are feeling anxious, it lets them know that they are right to be concerned. If you appear confident, they will think, ok, you have got this, I don’t need to worry.

One of the best ways to keep your anxiety levels low is to do something that is a bit distracting for you. Read a book, send an email on your phone, watch some funny tiktoks or whatever else you need to do. Yes, you need to scan your horizon and check to see what might be coming in your direction but also be aware that sometimes things just pop up without any warning.

I would recommend that you start doing this exercise quite a distance from distractions. This is being kind to yourself and your dog. We don’t want to set either of you up to fail. As you do this more often, you will become more confident. Remember, every success will help you and your dog be more relaxed. As far as how long, I tend to sit until the dog has calmed a little and is coping better with the environment. For each dog it is different. Some dogs really couldn’t care less and will lie down with a bored expression and watch. Other dogs are so wired that they are almost jumping out of their skin and in this state, cannot accept treats or respond to their name. If this is the case with your dog, move further away from the distractions and sit somewhere else. Don’t move completely away, as this can be seen as a signal to your dog that yes, they were right, there was much to be concerned about. If you have surveyed the environment and are comfortable that you are in a safe place and your dog is not going to be exposed to any actual or perceived threat then you are in a better position to support your dog and you can feel more confident in your ability. It is always good to position yourself so that there is no immediate risk of a dog coming up behind you. If your dog is hyper vigilant, work with them quietly, encourage and praise them and look for the smallest improvement, it may be that they respond to their name or a clicky noise or maybe they will take a treat. This is a win, move on. The next time you try it; they have a positive previous experience and will be a little quicker to get down to that point where they can respond to you. If things turn to mud, calmly walk them away. It is not a failure. While they did not get to a point where they could relax a little, it showed them that you had the situation under control; you were a good leader that was not going to let anything bad happen to them.

Just sitting and being is a good thing. Far too often we create a frenetic state for our dogs. Our busy lives mean that we are always on the go, ready for action at any time. We easily transfer this to our dogs as well. We are excited to see them, we build on their excitement. We play with them, hyping up their energy levels, we train with them, often again bringing their energy levels up. We take them places that increase their excitement; pretty soon our dogs are living in a state of permanent arousal. As we know, this is not good for humans to live at a higher level of stress; it is also not good for our dogs.

Let’s think about dogs for a minute, we know that their forebears were wolves. Yes, the dogs we have now live a much different life to their ancient forebears and the dogs themselves have been physically altered to suit us and our purpose for them but there are some things that we should think about. We provide food and shelter for our dogs; they have no need to hunt to exist. We provide a safe environment; there is really no need for them to have to be aware of the next predator that may take their life. However, many of the traits that are genetically inbuilt remain as part of their makeup. If you think about this and how their wolf ancestors lived it provides some perspective for what dogs need.

If your dog had to hunt for its food, it would not be frantically searching all day, it would soon run out of energy and not be successful. A calm, steady approach is much more energy efficient. Yes, they would have to cover a lot of ground, but this would be done with purpose. Crashing around from place to place would mean that they would burn too much energy, alert any prey that might be in the vicinity and also alert any predator that might think that they would be a good meal. They would explore their environment while they worked; they would use their amazing ability to scent to work out what had happened in that environment both historically and in the present. They would be aware if there was in danger. Mostly, they would avoid danger; it is a threat to their life. They would not unnecessarily put themselves or the rest of their group in a position where they were in danger. They would stick with their own family group; there is safety within the group. They would not have an urge to socialise with others from out of their group. They would also follow the leader and respect that leader because that leader will keep them out of trouble.

Most of their communication would happen in silence, eye movements, body posture etc. It would always be in their best interest to pay attention to the one that is the leader, silly behaviour would not be condoned, it places the others at risk. A confident leader in the group would be able to convey their message to the others simply by a look; at most, a slight lift of the lip, there would not be any need for aggressive behaviour. Aggression amongst the group weakens the group. Yes, sometimes some of the members of the group might indulge in play activity, providing it is not impacting on the entire group and it is not forced on those that don’t want to play, this would be tolerated. It is usually the younger, less mature members of the group that are involved in this. It would be monitored by the others and would be stopped if it was getting out of control.

Another very important thing to happen is that the group would take breaks to rest. While they would still be aware of their surroundings, they would relax and release some of the tension so that they could be refreshed and ready to move on when needed.

So how does this relate to spending time with your dog just being? It gives you and your dog the opportunity to spend time together in a relaxed state. It helps build the relationship between you and your dog. It also builds trust between you and your dog, your dog will understand that you have got the situation under control and all they have to do is follow your lead. It also is good for you just to take time out of your busy day to watch the world go by in the company of your best friend.

23/08/2022

Beautiful Mendota slip leads arrived today!! I highly recommend these leads, great quality and nice and soft on your hands 😃 Handcrafted in USA 1/2" x 6ft 🙂🐾🐾

20/08/2022

Today I walked a dog that had a full on meltdown – was it pretty? No!!! Was it avoidable? Maybe.

It was an interesting exercise and definitely some learning will come from it.

So to provide some context, I was working with a dog that is having some reactivity challenges. He is a lovely boy but he can be apprehensive about some situations that he sees as unusual.

We had had a good walk, we had seen lots of things that can trigger his reactions and he had coped really well. Giving him the opportunity to look at things and assess the situation really helps and supporting him to show him that he does not need to be worried, really reassures him that all is ok.

It was the walk home that went down the toilet. We were approaching a house where there are two dogs. We could have crossed the road and maybe on hindsight we should have. However, the dog I was walking was mildly interested and was still responding to his name and taking treats. The two little dogs were behind a high gate with a gap underneath that they could look under. They obviously think that it is ok to voice their opinion on what is going past their gate and set off on a long yapping tirade.

The dog I was walking became anxious, so we turned and walked away from the gate. As there was another person approaching us on the footpath, I moved myself and the dog onto the grass berm, which is fortunately very wide. I could see the owner of the dogs heading to the gate trying to retrieve his dogs, which were not taking any notice of him. Good, I thought to myself, he will stop his dogs nutting off at the gate and I will get the chance to settle my dog and walk away. No.......the owner came to the gate and said, your dog just wants to play with mine. I did my best to ignore the owner, as I continued to try and calm my dog. Not satisfied with his theory that my dog just wanted to play with his dogs, he opened the gate and let his dogs out. That was helpful – not!

As the whole scene turned to chaos, with my dog trying to choke himself, cars whizzing by on the road, the owner trying to round up his dogs which were totally ignoring him, I glanced around to look for an exit. All exit points were cut off. The road behind me with traffic passing, one dog going round and round the tree in front of me with the owner in pursuit, the other dog on the footpath in front of the gate, there was no safe exit for my dog.

My focus was keeping my dog close to me; he was past the point of reason. While I do not think he would have harmed the other dog, it was not a position I wanted to put him in. I also did not want him to get loose and run on to the road.

Eventually the owner managed to round up his dogs and get them back in the gate. Still not content with the drama that had unfolded, he kept himself on the outside of the gate and decided it would be really good to come and have a conversation with me. I was polite, I passed some pleasantries but I think he got the point that I was not interested in a conversation and went back to his property.

Wow, was that good for the dog I was walking? No. It definitely gave me a lot to think about. Could it have worked out differently? Perhaps.

I work a lot with people who are trying really hard to support their dogs in difficult situations. I always tell them, the only dog that you can control is your own and that is still correct. Yes, I could have walked up the other side of the street, keeping distance from the house with the dogs. Did I know the dogs were going to be there? No. I do now.

One of the most frustrating things that I notice when working with people and their dogs that can be reactive is that the biggest problems are caused by other people and their dogs. I can be working with a dog that has struggles and they are doing really well and then along comes a person, with a dog not on a lead, that runs up to the dog that I am working with, the person yells it’s OK, my dog is friendly. Well good for you – your dog may be friendly but it is being rude. It is not approaching correctly and is putting too much pressure on the dog that is learning to cope better in the environment. What about the person walking along with their little dog and yes I am discriminating, but all too often I see people walking little dogs that are pulling to the end of their leash and yapping. That is not ok, sort your dog out. It would not been seen as acceptable if it was a Doberman or a Rottweiler, why do you think it is ok if your little dog does it. These dogs are being rude and they need you to stop them doing it. Your dog is actually triggering other dogs and you are so self absorbed you don’t even notice.

Yes, my experience today was a good learning curve; I will do things differently next time. In the meantime, I will go back a few steps and work a bit more with the dog I was walking to help prepare him for the next difficult situation that we find ourselves in because that will help him cope better. We cannot foresee what our challenges will be on our walk but the important things are that we keep ourselves and our dogs safe. We will remain calm and we will be confident so that our dogs know that we have got every situation under control and they don’t feel like they have to start making the decisions.

The sad thing is that people start keeping their dogs at home because they feel embarrassed and stressed when their dog has a meltdown in public. Keeping dogs at home does not help the dog learn to cope with the world and in fact, by keeping their world so small, the problem actually gets worse. Dogs don’t want to be reactive and feel insecure, they are not doing it to make you feel bad, they are not coping and need help. If you see someone struggling with their dog, don’t be judgemental, those people are working hard to show their dogs that the world is a safe place. If you are one of those owners that allow your dog to run up to other dogs, bark at other dogs etc. then think about what you are doing, your dog may very well be the problem in the situation.