We often get asked by clients, “How do I get my dog to stop barking?”
Our response is usually….”Why?” Dogs have endless ways of communicating, and vocalizing is an important one. Vocalizing is a normal, natural behavior for our dogs and should be acknowledged as such. Many of our dogs have been purposefully bred for their vocal abilities. Dogs use their “voice” to alert to things, express joy and frustration, tell us they are afraid, communicate pain and discomfort, and much more. Understanding the context in which your dog is vocalizing is key to helping them.
Instead of suppressing the bark, what if we embraced it and reassured our dogs they have communicated to us beautifully? In an instance of alert barking, we can tell them they did their job and we can move on by comforting them, engaging in a fun game, or redirecting with a scatter feed.
Have a Happy Monday, friends!! 🐶
Video: Bowser barking at a human’s voice coming from the other side of the privacy fence. He can’t see the people and doesn’t know the voices, so he reacts with barking (likely alerting and/or frustration because he can’t see where the strange noise is coming from). I let him get his few barks in and reassure him he’s done his job very well and it’s ok to stop alerting now. I’ve also built in a quiet cue for Bowser that is primarily utilized in moments of arousal because it’s a cue he knows and can get his attention and is always followed by a treat. 🤤
Junie and I play with her harness as an ongoing project during her working lunch program! She has some handling and harness sensitivities and used to avoid me and the harness the minute she would see it in my hand. I love seeing this spunky girl every week 🤩
Happy Leap Day, from Two Brothers! 🐾
Here are a few FFD team highlights from the Every Dog Nosework Sniff & Go yesterday!
It was a great day full of fun searches and feedback for us to take home and continue to work on building up these incredible teams! 🤩
Our sniffing superstars Moose, Simon, and Lovey had a great morning at drop-in! 😍
You can learn about our drop-in program (and other services!) at forcefreedale.com ⭐️
Our small and sensitive little friend, Junie, has been learning nosework at home during her midday sessions over the last ~month and was introduced to a few containers this week! 🤩
We met this cute little baby shepherd-y mix (Arizona) today and got to work on some integration with Ash @ My Sidekick Dog Training and her other dogs.
This baby has incredible social skills and it was very fun watching her match each dog’s energy. I’m very happy she’s trying to become a permanent resident with Ash because then I’ll get to play with her without having the “I need to bring you home this minute” thoughts 🤣
Here’s her baby Fox face enjoying some scratches 🥹
Check out Miss Junie rocking her second nosework session! 🤩
Junie Girl is the sweetest little sport dog prospect that is working through some typical herdy-dog stuff, and we get the absolute pleasure of seeing her throughout the week to play and learn fun stuff and get some midday yayas out!
Good girl, Super Star Junie! ✨
This is Swishy Girl’s post-sniffy snooze 🤣
Swisher is a regular ol’ superstar at our drop-in sniffy program and nosework has improved her confidence SO much!
We recently started pairing Swishy’s food-based “hides” with our target odor tin at home and she has been problem-solving her little heart out! Of course, the nap rocks, too.
Enjoy what is purposefully a very boring 60 second clip of “training”: Buddy’s first encounter with horses! 👀
Some things that I believe made this setup successful:
1️⃣ Buddy had 20 mins of sniffing, getting on/off objects, and just general engagement with me prior to this, so I had an idea of his mental state prior to putting him here and felt confident in his abilities to handle himself.
2️⃣ Buddy is very familiar with eating food scattered in the grass. This is a skill that was learned outside of this setting.
3️⃣ Horses were still and behind barriers. Had we run into horses being loaded into a trailer or being ridden by people, we’d have a different plan.
4️⃣ Buddy is able to disengage on his own. He shows interest in the horses (ears forward, mouth closed, body still) and is able to watch them and process on his own before going back to his activity.
We stood here for 4-5 mins then continued on our way. Good boy, Buddy!
We officially have some FFD #sniffy teams taking their skills out on the road! 🤩
Alyssia and Moose got some searching in yesterday afternoon after a hike through the woods. Check out his confidence and that sourcing!
We are so proud of our little group of “intro” teams 🥹 seeing these dogs and their handlers learning together is something magical!
Franklin is busy doing his Morning Work - nobody bother him! 🤓
One day, he’ll be able to scratch the drawer open himself. Today, though, he’s learning that scratching the board makes treats appear! Good working, Franklin the Shepherd Dog! 🐾
Who else uses a scratch board out there?? Franklin is making Buddy want to try giving himself a pedicure! 💅
Max & Tiny Twig: A Story About Friendship 🐾
Yesterday I was tasked with letting two little bulldozers out to potty midday. One of them wouldn’t stop stalking me… 🤣😍
#bowser #whattheheckisthat #verygoodboy
Extremely rare footage of a SnuffaluffaGUSTY caught in his natural habitat this morning 🤣
Sniffing for treats in the grass (and acorn piles) is one of our favorite ways to make walks more enriching for our dogs. Gusty approves!
Our leash is from High Tail Hikes - use code ‘forcefreedale’ for 10% off your purchase!
We were reunited with Vera over the weekend and it was like we were never apart! 🎉
Love this crazy GSP girl!
