Minglewood Kennels

09/04/2024

Happy Birthday Berry ~ we love you forever!

04/22/2024

03/10/2024

I'm not sure when growling became so vilified.

When did we decide that dogs weren't allowed to have an opinion unless it aligned with our own?

That they weren't allowed to express their displeasure, their fear, or their anger? That they just always had to agree with what we were asking of them?

When did our expectations become "put on a happy face?" And "grin and bear it, dog?"

Let me tell you this, IT IS FINE IF A DOG GROWLS. Growling is just a form of communication. Communication is ALWAYS a good thing. It's when communication stops that we are all in trouble. (And if we know they are feeling a particular way, we are better positioned to help them).

IT IS OKAY TO VALIDATE YOUR DOG'S FEELINGS. Any feelings. Their happy ones, sad ones, and yes, their angry ones, fearful ones, anxious ones, or worried ones. And growling can happen in all of those situations, too.

If your dog growls, THEY ARE TELLING YOU SOMETHING: "That thing is scary," "I don't want to be touched right now," "I need space," "I hurt," "I am worried," "That startled me."

And while you might say, "my old dog never growled at me," know that some dogs use growling to communicate more than others. They are not bad dogs, they are good communicators!

03/04/2024

Wiggly nostrils, anyone?

We humans smell and breathe through the same airway. The air we are smelling is pushed back out when we exhale. Dogs, on the other hand, separate those functions: one nasal path for smelling and one nasal path for breathing. About 12% of the air inhaled goes to a specific area dedicated to smelling – while the rest goes to the lungs. And when dogs exhale, the exhaled air leaves through the slits in the sides of a dog’s nose. This arrangement not only allows for better odor identification, it lets dogs sniff nearly continuously.

Did you know that dogs can wiggle their nostrils independently? They can also determine which nostril took in a certain odor, which is part of how they locate where smells are coming from. Can you see your dog’s nostrils wiggle when they are on a sniffari?

The above information was found in this article.
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/article/dogs-sense-of-smell/

01/19/2024

I’M NOT GUILTY!
Dogs might look guilty, but that doesn’t mean that they feel guilty.

“My dog knows that he’s done something wrong, just look how guilty he looks!" This is something that we hear so often.

People are highly amused and entertained on social media and even dedicated websites where pictures of “guilty” dogs are seen.

The “guiltier” the dog looks, the more popular these posts are and the funnier people find them.

I find this really sad because it’s a complete misunderstanding and lack of knowledge of a dog’s body language.

That “guilty” look is actually a dog showing the signs of fear, stress, anxiety or appeasement.

The fear of being punished, the stress and anxiety of hearing the person’s tone of voice, demeanor and noticing the person’s body language, appeasement behaviour in an attempt to calm the angry person down.

As people, it’s natural for us to want to believe that our dogs feel guilt and remorse about whatever they’ve done wrong. Maybe thinking that they really do feel guilty somehow makes their behaviour more acceptable and is a form of an apology.

Dogs are capable of a wide range of emotions that could be compared to that of a 2 to 2½ child, but it’s highly unlikely that they feel more complex emotions, like guilt, regret, remorse or shame.

Guilt is a complex emotion and defined as an unhappy feeling that you have because you have done something wrong or think that you may have done something wrong. It’s a feeling of shame, regret or remorse. The feeling of guilt requires an understanding of cause and effect and is relative to time.

Do dogs spend the day feeling guilty, waiting for us to come home to find a mess or a chewed-up couch or shoe, or are they waiting excitedly for us to come home because they really missed us and are looking forward to some attention?

For the emotional wellbeing of our dogs, let’s seek to understand them more and focus less on how we believe they should feel just because it makes us feel better.

12/21/2023

12/10/2023

Dog Sociability

I want to talk about the expectation we often have on our dogs to get along with all dogs despite breed, age, gender, and play style.

It is important to realize that this expectation is a rare reality.

It is also important to realize that this expectation can also affect your relationship with your dog.

Please understand that it is NORMAL for dogs not to get along with all types of other dogs. Just like it is normal for you not to get along with everyone you meet.

You need to accept that your dog may not want to be a social butterfly. Hey, I have!

Jenga doesn't particularly like English Staffordshire terriers, American Staffordshires and Kelpies. Some of these breeds she doesn't particularly like due to previous trauma from incidents and others just from the other dogs natural breed behaviours.

It doesn't mean that she can't go for walks in public. It just means that I have to manage her distance from some of those dogs or do some desensitization exercises with her during their approach.

I observe her body language and then make adjustments to make her feel safe and let her know that I have her back.

What I don't do is put her into situations where I know she will feel uncomfortable like going to an off lead dog park or off lead dog beach.

It is OK to have a dog that is dog selective. Know your dog. Observe their body language and implement training tools so you can still enjoy a walk.

If your dog is selective with other dogs and you would like to find out how to make walks more enjoyable for both of you, please book a one-on-one training session. 😊

Thank you to everydogaustin.org for such a wonderful image explaining dog sociability.

08/13/2023

Those who know me know I used to be an army dog trainer. I learned two things while I was in the army working with dogs, both are still a daily part of my life.

First: you always sort your dog out before you sort yourself out.

Are they thirsty or hungry? Do they need anything at this point? Every day without fail, I follow this rule that I learned so many years ago. Dogs’ can’t just fill up a water bowl, they can’t stop a griping hunger in their stomach on their own, but we can. So I choose to meet their needs before I work on my own, and I always will.

Second: you always move at the slowest man’s pace.

This lesson taught me everything about living with older, slower dogs. As dogs get older, they run less. Older dogs sniff more. They sniff everything. Senior dogs might be stiff and achy and need to cover less ground, but they cover that ground at a slower pace.

Please consider their needs and go at their pace.

It’s not fair to leave them behind or pull them along.

08/11/2023

08/10/2023

🔑 THE KEY TO SUCCESSFUL LEASH WALKING!

🛑 Stop waiting until your dog has already pulled you out the door and down the sidewalk!

🙈 This is when most dog owners start to do what they call “training.” But that usually consists of jerking the dog when he pulls or something else that isn’t actually training at all!

✅ Instead train your dog indoors to start.

1️⃣ First with no leash, reward your dog for walking next to you in your kitchen, then your living room, et.

2️⃣ Then attach a leash & repeat steps above.

3️⃣ Now walk to the door.
🚪 Only open it if your dog is walking on a loose leash!

4️⃣ Walk outside, ask your dog to turn around & pay attention to you once she walks out the door.
✋🏼 I like to have my dog do a hand target.

👶🏼 Take baby steps.

👣 Each step your dog walks next to you, reward him.

🧀 Make sure your rewards are valuable enough to be highly reinforcing once outdoors!

🐢 Go slow. Stay on your sidewalk & master that first.

🏠 🏠 Next go 2 houses down. Then go down 4 houses.

🚧 Work up to going down the street.

👌🏼 Practice makes perfect!

⏱ Make the training short but successful each time.

🙋🏼‍♀️ 🙋🏽 🙋🏾‍♀️ 🙋🏻‍♂️ Raise your hand in the comments if you want to learn how to get good leash manners!

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Stacy Greer, CPDT-KA
📧 [email protected]
Copyright© 2023

06/16/2023

Happy 7th Birthday Natalie ~ we love you!

06/07/2023

Happy 2nd Birthday 🎈🎂🎈 Ewan ~ we love you!

05/03/2023

04/11/2023

We often refer to dogs as our pets. An animal that the kids can play with. A captive friend whose fur we can cry into on a bad day. We often hear them called ‘it’ and expect them to fit into a little set of rules to be a good family pet. And if they don’t meet our expectations or stay enthusiastic and trouble-free housemates, we have cultivated a belief that we must train them, and then they will behave better.

But what about what the dog wants?

Or how they feel?

And what about all the lessons we can learn from them? What if we stop trying to impose our will onto them? Imagine if your dog could do so much more than being a good family pet.

I urge you now to give pause on the idea that your dog might just need more training and instead step back and watch them better, learn their language, question their beliefs, and improve their agency.

Dog training has been the go-to response to the family dog simply showing us their needs for too long. It’s time to rethink the place of dog training.

It’s time to have a much better and more enriching relationship with our dogs, where creating different responses and behaviour through training is a small part of the bigger picture -and not the whole canvas.