Blue Creek Canine

12/21/2024

Murphy was on the job yesterday, helping a young dog feeling more confident in a new environment … and of course we had to play with the “decorations” 😂

12/18/2024

The dogs got a bit of extra enrichment today 😁

12/16/2024

Here are the upcoming group classes with Blue Creek Canine.
Group classes provide the perfect environment for learning new behaviors and proofing established behavior. Your dog will have a chance to learn, and practice, self-control and focus even in the presence of other dogs and people.
If you are interested in attending a class, please go to https://www.bluecreekcanine.com/online-shop.html to sign up. This will ensure your working spot in the class.
Limited working spots available.

Looking forward to seeing you in class :)

12/16/2024

A great reminder of what your dog will go through in his/her adolescence and the importance of understanding this, so you can be fair in your expectations AND offer your teenage dog the support and guidance he/she needs!!!
If you need any help and guidance, always feel free to reach out to me 😊

When people get a new dog, everyone talks about puppyhood, the does and don’ts, how to deal with specific puppy issues. People will prepare themselves for the first few challenging months with a puppy.

The mess, chaos and sleepless nights are generally overshadowed by the cute fluffy cuddles and the expectation that it won’t last for too long. Your eager little puppy will start to master toilet training, sleeping through the night, basic skills and even recall, but then adolescence hits.

For some it hits like a bus, but very few people talk about adolescence.

Adolescence is a really hard and trying time for both dog and owner. For owners, it can be really frustrating, as your puppy that was making loads of progress can suddenly stop, and even regress in some areas. Some of the behaviours that were adorable as a tiny puppy, become annoying and rude by a dog who is a lot bigger. With the largest number of dogs being placed into rescue during adolescence.

From roughly 5-6 months until around 18-24 months, your puppy is no longer a puppy, but rather a teenager. This can look very different in different dogs. Some may become more anxious, or fearful, some more reactive to things, others over confident, and for some lucky owners their dog will remain easy going and steady.

For the dog, adolescence is a really difficult period to navigate through, there are so many changes with hormones, genetic drives, even the brain structure and a second fear period, all happening simultaneously.

Hormones play a bit part into the development and sexual maturity of a dog. For female this may be a season and potential subsequent phantom pregnancy, this may result in dramatic behaviour changes. For males, they have the highest level of testosterone in their body, than at any other time in their life, even adulthood, and you may find your adolescent male starts to become more aggressive particularly toward other entire male dogs.

You may find that certain innate behaviours get “switched on” and become more easily triggered. So with Collies you may find that your dog starts to herd more things, and becomes more reactive to things.

Your dogs behaviour may also change, there are a number of behaviours associated with adolescence such as:
- Increased independence, some may label this stubbornness.
- Decreased responsiveness to trained cues
- Increased impulsivity
- Increase in energy
- Gender specific behaviours (i.e scent marking)
- Exacerbation of existing patterns (i.e Destructive behaviour, reactivity, fear based behaviours, excessive barking, compulsive behaviours etc)

During adolescence the brain structure changes and develops into a mature brain. New neural pathways are made, and others are lost, even ones that you use regularly, infuriatingly. Your dog may become more reactive, the reason for this is that the inhibitory neurons of the amygdala don’t fully mature until the end of adolescence, these help to dampen down emotional responses. You may find that they become more sensitive to things, and remember negative things more than previously, this is because extinction memory is impaired during this period, which means your dog is more likely to create fear memories due to a bad experience. The training you do with your dog may feel like you’re taking one step forward, but two steps back, this is because there is a decrease in the communication between the frontal cortex and amygdala, this is a key component for skills training.

It is important to try have patience and compassion, for both your dog and yourselves, as you guide and support your dog through this sensitive developmental period.

12/15/2024

Lara has her new group class schedule up and ready for you to sign up for.
Contact her directly at [email protected] for any questions and to sign up for one of her classes.

12/15/2024

A few pictures from today’s Rally Obedience class 👏

12/08/2024

There will be puppy play groups today !!! See you soon 😊

12/03/2024

SUch a good boy 👏👏💪🩷

12/01/2024

Lots of fun in today’s BAM class introducing the dogs to new obstacles and challenges… and they
all did great.
If interested in attending a BAM class to work on your dog’s body awareness , confidence building and focus in movement, a new class will start in exactly two weeks.
To sign up , go to https://www.bluecreekcanine.com/online-shop.html

11/30/2024

Reminder: No puppy play groups tomorrow Sunday, December 1st!
We will start back up again next Sunday.

11/29/2024

Just FYI: Dee-o-Gee has some great deals today. For example : buy 1 bag of ziwi peak treats and get 1 for free ( that’s the treats I’m using ) !!! Also $15 off Open Farm dry food . Worth taking a drive there today 😉

11/27/2024

Congratulations to the latest CGCA (Community Canine) team in town 👏👏
They aced it 💪

11/26/2024

If you are looking for some tips and ideas on how to prepare your dog for the upcoming Thanksgiving, please take a minute to read my latest newsletter.
Happy Thanksgiving 😊

Thanksgiving is right around the corner, so in today's newsletter I have included some tips and ideas on what you can feed your dog from the Thanksgiving dinner table, and how you can help your dog make better decisions and stay calm, when visitors come over.  When celebrating Thanksgiving wit...

11/26/2024

It’s cold today and I have been fighting a migraine all day, so my dogs have gotten very little physical exercise today. Instead I will add additional enrichment activities tonight, so they will have to work a bit harder for their dinner - and they absolutely love it 😍

(This is after they searched for some of their food outside)

11/25/2024

Last two classes of the year :)
We might have to skip a week due to the upcoming Holidays, but I will teach all sessions.
Remember, that if you find yourself extra busy in the upcoming weeks and need an extra hand with your dog, I do also offer Day Training. Very limited spots available, so if interested, let me know asap.

To sign up for class, visit https://www.bluecreekcanine.com/online-shop.html

To inquire about Day Training, message me or send me an email to [email protected]

No puppy play groups on this coming Sunday , December 1st.

11/24/2024

There will be puppy play this Sunday morning … drive carefully!

11/24/2024

Just a quick reminder of what your dog can eat and shouldn’t eat for this upcoming Thanksgiving 😁(save the photo )