Talk to the Paw

06/17/2024

https://hollingscancercenter.musc.edu/news/archive/2021/10/08/hollings-researchers-studying-whether-popular-dog-foods-are-causing-cancer?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAAR3ANdp8EH6zf0MPSrMrJCgGaaou_kszUqftOWME1j44O4QwUtd3nje5kD8_aem_ZmFrZWR1bW15MTZieXRlcw

Drs. David Turner and Victoria Findlay secured a $228K grant to find if advanced glycation end products in pet food cause cancer.

04/27/2023

TELL ME WHEN I GET IT RIGHT!

Imagine this – You work for someone who continually reprimands you. You never know from one day to the next if there is anything this person is happy with, because the only feedback you receive from them is what you are doing wrong – it’s all just so negative!

You are never thanked for a job well done, never given any positive feedback, recognition or encouragement.

This leaves you feeling demotivated, confused, insecure and unhappy. You have no idea what this person really expects of you or wants from you.

Surely you must be doing something right, some of the time? If only you had more feedback about what that was – you could do more of that and you would both be in a happier place.

We often treat our dogs this way, only focusing or providing feedback on the “wrong” behaviour and neglecting to provide feedback and encouragement for the “right” behaviour.

Rewarding, reinforcing and encouraging a dog for whatever they are doing right is an effective, scientifically proven way to communicate, teach, create trust, build confidence, security and build a strong bond in a positive, force-free way.

Just like us, when a dog does something that results in something good happening, they’re far more likely to keep repeating that behaviour.

Reinforcement or rewards don’t always have to be food or treats – it all depends on what that particular dog finds more rewarding – lots of praise, a favourite toy, playing a game or anything else a dog really enjoys can be rewarding.

Keep telling your dog when they get it right and very soon, they will be doing less of the wrong thing and more of the right thing.

Stop focusing on the unwanted behaviour and communicate to your dog that they are getting it right by rewarding the behaviour you are looking for.

01/17/2023

Learning that your dog cannot be left alone for separation anxiety training can be overwhelming, but there are solutions. Crowdsourcing can be the answer.

01/08/2023

01/06/2023

Another great one from Behaviourist Shay Kelly.

01/04/2023

01/04/2023

My favorite exercise to teach people to work with their dogs! There are so many uses for "find it!"

The Find It Game is great for all dogs. It can be used as a simple game to play in any environment and it can also be super helpful for fearful or leash reac...

01/04/2023

PREDICTABLE PATTERNS AND WHY THEY MATTER
We can help our dogs to cope in our world by providing predictable patterns that they can follow, even when the unpredictable happens. This requires consistency, repetition and patience, but dogs quickly learn what to do when that behaviour creates a predictable, positive result.
Predictability lowers anxiety, allows the brain to conserve energy and creates a sense of trust and security. Like other animals, dogs are experts at finding patterns. They look for patterns in their world and in the behaviour of others and just like we do, feel so much better when they can make sense of a situation rather than feeling confused or anxious when they can’t find a pattern.
When we create predictable patterns, dogs begin to understand what happens and how they should respond when a specific situation occurs. The situation becomes the cue for the behaviour rather than the cue itself. We often get caught up in using cues instead of just showing our dogs that this is what they should do in this situation. Being consistent and following a pattern with our dogs, creates trust, stability and security in helping them to know what to expect.

12/27/2022

BOWLS ARE BORING
Observations show that many animals, including dogs will prefer to forage, hunt and actively seek out food rather than just having it freely available or presented in a bowl.
This behaviour is known as Contrafreeloading and is an occurrence where an animal will choose to put effort and work into seeking out food rather than eat food that is available for far less or no effort.
This may not make any sense to us – why go to all that effort when you could just have the food that is presented to you? Or why make my dog work for a basic need, you may ask? Surely that’s just not fair?
Foraging, hunting and seeking out food are natural, instinctive behaviours which are vital for the survival of any species. Even though our domesticated dogs don’t have to worry about this, this innate need for seeking is still a part of who they are.
In addition to this, seeking out food creates an increase in Dopamine – the feel-good hormone. It’s the pursuit of an opportunity, the excitement, the satisfaction and the sense of achievement and not the actual eating of the food that causes these feel-good emotions.
We control so much of our dog’s lives and in our modern lifestyles and environment many dogs have very little opportunity to engage in natural behaviours. Why not use food as an outlet to provide enrichment and allow them to engage in a very natural behaviour while increasing feel good hormones?
Contrafreeloading may not be true of all dogs. Dogs that are already provided with lots of opportunities to engage in natural behaviours may not gain any additional benefit as those needs are already being met. Some dogs may be really hungry or tired and prefer to have instant gratification. Every dog is an individual, but it’s worth considering the advantages of providing a simple outlet for this natural and instinctive behaviour. It will make your dog feel good!

12/27/2022

12/27/2022

𝗕𝗮𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗱 𝗗𝗼𝗴 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴

Recently, I’ve been asking clients what they thought the phrase ‘balanced training’ might mean and the answers included…

“a mix of training & play”
“not expecting perfection”
“working to the individual dog’s strengths and weaknesses”

Which perhaps isn't surprising since 'balance' is a word which has positive connotations. Balanced diet. Work/Life balance. Strike a balance. It suggests stability & equilibrium.

𝙃𝙤𝙬𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧....
..in the context of dog training what the term actually means is training which uses both positive reinforcement AND the use of punishment in the form of physical force, fear and intimidation. And, in many cases (at least as far as I can see), the use of positive reinforcement is often far scarcer, and comes far later in the process, than the use of punishment*.

The term "balanced training' is a euphemism for the use of force & physical punishment and a smokescreen to lure unsuspecting owners into trusting trainers who use compulsion based methods to teach.

So, the next time you see someone described (or describe themselves) as a 'balanced trainer' you'll see it for what it truly is.

* 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳…𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘥𝘰𝘨𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘩 𝘶𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘥𝘦𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘦𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘰𝘯 𝘥𝘰𝘨𝘴’ 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨.

𝘙𝘦𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴:
1. 𝘚𝘎 𝘍𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘥𝘮𝘢𝘯, 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘞𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘞𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘗𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦? 𝘌𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘕𝘰𝘵 𝘌𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩, 𝘈𝘗𝘋𝘛 𝘑𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘩/𝘈𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘭 2010
2. 𝘔 𝘚𝘪𝘥𝘮𝘢𝘯, 𝘊𝘰𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐𝘵𝘴 𝘍𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘶𝘵 (𝘳𝘦𝘷 𝘦𝘥), 2000
3. 𝘎 𝘡𝘪𝘷, 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘥𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘥𝘰𝘨𝘴 - 𝘢 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸, 𝘑𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘝𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘉𝘦𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘰𝘳 19 (2017) 50-60
4. 𝘈 𝘊𝘢𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘢 𝘝𝘪𝘦𝘪𝘳𝘢 𝘥𝘦 𝘊𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰, 𝘋 𝘍𝘶𝘤𝘩𝘴, 𝘎 𝘔𝘶𝘯𝘩𝘰𝘻 𝘔𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘰, 𝘚𝘵𝘦𝘧𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘢 𝘗𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘳, 𝘓 𝘥𝘦 𝘚𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘢, 𝘈𝘚 𝘖𝘭𝘴𝘴𝘰𝘯, 𝘋𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘥 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳? 𝘌𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘨𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘪𝘷𝘦-𝘣𝘢𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘥𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘥𝘰𝘨 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘧𝘢𝘳𝘦. 𝘗𝘓𝘖𝘚 𝘖𝘕𝘌, 2020; 15 (12)
5. 𝘈𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘝𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘚𝘰𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘵𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘈𝘯𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘭 𝘉𝘦𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘰𝘳 𝘗𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘯 𝘏𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘦 𝘋𝘰𝘨

12/21/2022

How to have a better dog walk for you and your dog.

11/23/2022

https://truthaboutpetfood.com/hills-response-to-fda-warning-vitamin-d-recall/

11/21/2022

https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=137725159056592&set=a.136107859218322&__cft__[0]=AZXu08lYA_YzHz3FCKi509qczSmMfAGSxAWzbKAPiNEwizqhg2Y2DK0CKKhTD-Qq8ooWHSFKForefDFTLeXvKAvxbRvBtg1XRFYNXSl7QbrfrauY7olIXeVn3INAAIdTjwZ622rLfpfrTP9Q4jKsxVReNLdWaRFKr5GiZqQhIuloifT2tj6ULqHElY7ayyEutzPyFkk0RngyNbiM0PRcDAI6&__tn__=EH-y-R

10/22/2022

https://petsummits.com/nutrition/

Online & Free I Limited Time

10/15/2022

https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=500661572074757&set=a.467224288751819

08/30/2022

I've witnessed the danger these can cause.

A retractable leash might seem more convenient, but are there some reasons you shouldn’t use them? Read on to learn more about why retractable leashes might not be a good choice for you and your dog.

08/22/2022

https://www.whole-dog-journal.com/behavior/for-better-dog-behavior-training-pretend-your-dog-is-a-tiger/?utm_content=buffer0e394&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer&fbclid=IwAR2TktogHTWUetcKaaTgaPwn1skXxKTZMGarsq40IvBwSku7y0coMtFThEg

Frustrated with your dog? Then manage and train him as if he’s a captive animal out of his element – because he is!