Dances With Woofs

Dances With Woofs Dog Training and Behavior Counseling

06/09/2024
05/18/2024

As much as we might like hugging dogs, researchers found that dogs don’t like being hugged by humans and display signs of stress like panting, blinking, and nipping.

05/01/2024

This is the only way to pick out your furniture….

05/01/2024

We LOVE this poster and the sentiment that most dogs are “somewhere in between” loving all dogs and being dog aggressive.

When I was doing in-home behavior consulting I received a LOT of calls from people wanting me to help them get their dog to like some other dog, frequently, a single dog at the dog park that their dog just didn’t want to hang out with. Rather than taking their $100+ for a behavior consult and sessions I explained that their best bet would be to just not go to the dog park on Sundays at 11 when this one dog would be there. Some adults just don’t jive. Some children don’t play well together. And, you guessed it, some dogs just don’t like certain individuals or types of dogs. This is NORMAL.

Thanks Every Dog Behavior Training for this great poster.

04/17/2024

STUDY REVEALS THE PRICE OF A GORGEOUS GREEN CHEMICALLY TREATED LAWN🏡 IS A 70% UPTICK IN THE RATE OF CANINE CANCER🔥🐾

Treating your lawn with yard chemicals☠️, allowing your pet to eat or play on grass that’s been sprayed💦, or walking your pet on golf courses⛳️ can negatively affect our dog’s health, according to several studies. In fact, it can impact your entire family, as pets can bring those chemicals back inside!

Dogs whose owners have had their lawns professionally treated have a 70% higher risk of lymphoma, the most common canine cancer 😱.

Here are some scary stats from the studies:

• 76% of dogs tested had herbicide residues in their urine following home lawn chemical application.

• 8 days after application, residues on dog fur were 14 X higher than normal.

• Pets track lawn chemicals into the home, leaving them on the floor or furniture which can end up in you & your children.

• According to researchers, even if you don’t use lawn chemicals be aware of your neighbour’s lawn as wind can cause herbicides to travel up to 50 feet away from the application site.

Our NEW book, The Forever Dog LIFE, focuses on how to raise the healthiest, happiest, long-lived dogs and cats, and in it we teach you how to evaluate your dog’s indoor and outdoor environmental chemical exposure⚠️. We offer you tips like:

• Safer lawn-care options
• DIY non-toxic w**d killer recipes
• Forever Dog Paw Soak Recipe for after walks in parks
And much, much more.

This resource is crucial this summer if you have pets spending time outdoors because even if you don’t use lawn chemicals, it doesn’t mean your dog isn’t being exposed.

The Forever Dog Life is available now for pre-order all over the globe! www.ForeverDogLife.com

If you’ve already pre-ordered, get your free DIY recipes & $200 in free resources gifts available for the next 5weeks only here: The Forever Dog Learning Lab

03/19/2024

Come to think of it, we're all doing the best we can.

03/11/2024

New research finds around a quarter of Labrador retriever dogs face a double-whammy of feeling hungry all the time and burning fewer calories due to a genetic

Fozzie and me at CKC dog show. He got an Owner Handled Group 4 placement on Saturday. Such an adventure.
02/23/2024

Fozzie and me at CKC dog show. He got an Owner Handled Group 4 placement on Saturday. Such an adventure.

02/21/2024

Walks are about more than exercise — for dogs, only hanging out in a backyard is like reading the same book again and again.

02/04/2024
11/03/2023

😆🐾🐾

11/03/2023

Dogs behave the way they do for many reasons. They do NOT do things deliberately to be stubborn or ‘naughty’, nor do they aim to assert control. Outdated mythologies and training methods have detrimental effects on well-being and strain the relationship between a dog and their caregiver.

🧬A dog's breed and genetic makeup can play a significant role in determining certain behavioural traits. Dogs have genetic predispositions and breed-specific tendencies that contribute to their behaviour.
Some breeds are predisposed to specific behaviours, such as herding, hunting, or guarding.

The environment in which a dog is raised and lives can profoundly impact their behaviour. Early socialisation, which involves exposing a puppy to a wide range of people, animals, and environments during their critical developmental period, is crucial for building confidence and shaping a dog's social behaviour to reduce fear or aggression.

Overstimulation can cause all kinds of unwanted behaviours as it overwhelms their senses and can lead to hyperactivity or erratic responses. For example, if a dog is exposed to loud noises, multiple people, and various stimuli all at once, or on a daily basis, they might exhibit excessive excitable behaviour, poor impulse control, become agitated and exhibit behaviours like jumping, barking, or pulling on the leash, as their senses are overwhelmed by the excessive input.

Previous experiences and learning consequences can influence a dog's behaviour. Traumatic experiences, in particular, can lead to fear, anxiety, or aggression.

How a dog is trained and educated by their caregiver or handler can significantly affect their behaviour. Consistent, positive reinforcement-based training can lead to desired behaviours, while harsh or inconsistent methods can result in confusion or fear.

A dog's health, including their physical and mental well-being, can influence their behaviour. Illness, pain, or discomfort can lead to changes in behaviour.

A dog's emotional state, including fear, anxiety, and excitement, can affect their behaviour. For example, a fearful dog may display unpredictable defensive reactive behaviours or might avoid any encounters and run away trying to hide. While a confident dog may exhibit playfulness and a relaxed demeanour.

A dog can become frustrated and destructive if their mental and physical needs are not met. This dog, full of pent-up energy and boredom, may become frustrated and exhibit poor impulse control. In their frustration, they might resort to destructive behaviours, such as chewing furniture, digging up the garden, or incessant barking. This destructive behaviour is often an expression of their frustration and an attempt to alleviate their built-up energy and mental stress.

The type of diet a dog receives can significantly influence their behaviour, with high-quality nutrition promoting better energy levels, mood, and overall well-being, while poor diet choices can lead to issues like irritability, hyperactivity, or digestive problems.

As dogs age, they may experience canine cognitive decline, which can manifest as changes in memory, learning, and behaviour. This condition can lead to increased confusion, disorientation, and altered social interactions in older dogs.

It is really important to understand that each dog is unique, and their behaviour can vary widely, even within the same breed. Dogs use body language, vocalizations, and other forms of communication to express their needs, emotions, and intentions. Understanding a dog's communication cues is essential for interpreting their behaviour.

08/08/2023

This morning I witnessed an interaction between two of my dogs that I realized a lot of pet owners mishandle a lot of the time.

My 5-month-old Swedish Vallhund puppy, Rune, was eating her breakfast. My (almost) 9-year-old Bull Terrier, Armani, was very interested in the food as well (many of you have heard stories about Armani - this dog, even at her age, lacks all sense of boundaries) and walked up to stop about 2-3ft from Rune and her bowl of food, then just casually stared. Not a hard stare, nothing overly concerning in body language, just rude behavior.

Rune gave a quick glance at Armani and subtly raised her lip then went back to eating. Seemingly not very concerned but wanting to communicate regardless. Saying: “go away”. She did not snap or truly snarl, just a very naturally socially in-tune puppy giving another dog a warning. Her breakfast is for her. It is not to share. We definitely agree there.

Armani, as she does as a dog who has never been socially well tuned, continued to just stand and watch. She did not take the warning as it was and did not move away. This was not to challenge Rune in this case - just a dog who is genuinely oblivious to boundaries. Harmless, but rude nonetheless.

Now I get involved. I gently grab Armani’s collar and guide her away. I tell Rune she’s a good girl.

Most people would have seen Rune’s actions as potential aggression - or, gasp, - is this resource guarding?? And punished her for it.

STOP doing this. Stop punishing the one that gives warnings or even fair corrections. Your dog is setting boundaries and advocating for themselves - if YOU don’t advocate for them, who else will but themselves?

Rune communicated a boundary with Armani and I advocated for her by removing Armani from the space. Armani was in the wrong for ignoring a warning. Rune was in the right for communicating clearly and in a fair manner. Had I not intervened, a situation like this could potentially escalate to further, more serious action being taken by Rune in order to get her point across. She is learning that she does not need to go this far. Mom always has her back 💪🏻 As I do for all of them.

Punishing Rune for this would quickly create a puppy who feels she has nobody advocating for her and isn’t even allowed to do so for herself. Do you know what this results in? Dogs that SKIP the warning and go straight into HEAVY corrections, most often leading to a dog fight.

Don’t take the warnings away. ALLOW fair and appropriate warnings and dogs who communicate well. They DO NOT need to tolerate every little thing in this world and I’d rather my dog can warn / correct / communicate confidently than to be a dog who is afraid to do so and as a result tends to go way overboard when they’ve finally had enough.

Bottom line: stop punishing the punisher. Correct the one who isn’t respecting boundaries!

06/05/2023

Whole Dog Journal‘s mission is to provide dog guardians with in-depth information on dog food, training, behavior, health, and more.

I’d add to this. Restful naps in quiet places.
06/02/2023

I’d add to this. Restful naps in quiet places.

Fact: Puppies have a developmental need to bite. Here’s a plan for directing and fulfilling that need – with your skin intact!

05/26/2023

The easiest time to teach a dog to enjoy being handled is when they're a puppy. if you have a puppy now, or you know someone who does, PLEASE, take the time to proactively teach them to LOVE being held and handled by humans.

If your pup already seems comfortable being held and handled, don't take it for granted! Keep it up, and be sure to handle their entire body, using lots of food and praise to help them form a positive association. Don't forget to get your pup comfortable being handled by family and friends as well.

This will make it much easier to keep them safe and clean, and it will help them feel comfortable if they ever need to go to a groomer or get examined or cared for by a veterinarian. Dogs that are anxious about being handled will suffer much more if they ever need medical treatment for an illness or injury.

If you have an older dog who is already fearful or hand shy, you can definitely still teach them to enjoy being held and handled, but you'll need to proceed much more slowly and carefully, so you don't push them too far, too fast. If you take your time and use lots of treats you can build their confidence gradually, so that they can enjoy life more, with less anxiety.

Learn more here: https://dunbar.info/puppy-handling

If you have a puppy, or you know someone who does, we have an extra-special offer for you!

For the next few days, we're offering our Essential Puppy Training Course for 50% off AND we've just launched a new optional upgrade for our Essential Puppy Course Students. It's called the Premium Puppy Support Plan and it includes 3 months of personalized puppy training advice and assistance from us, the Dunbars, so you can give your pup the best education possible, make sure you and your pup are on the right track, and rapidly resolve any problems you might run into with your pup's training.

We're really excited to get to know some of our puppy students better, and have an opportunity to really help them train their pups with more personalized support.

If you know of anyone with a puppy, please tell them about this special offer!

Learn more here: https://dunbar.info/pup50

Address

Golden, CO
80401

Telephone

+13032719210

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Dances With Woofs posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Business

Send a message to Dances With Woofs:

Videos

I wanted to share one of my personal training accomplishments. I entered the show dog world almost 2 yrs ago an I vowed that Fozzie had to be happy with every step of the process for me to compete. This involves a lot of grooming. Here is what we have accomplished. The talented dog trainer and wonderful friend, Julie Parker, edited this amazing video for me.

Had to share.

Our toothbrush training is evolving.

I’m dabbling with training Fozzie to allow me to brush his teeth with an electric toothbrush intended for babies. He’s such a good boy.

Nail care day. Neither of us dred it. It’s possible.

I’ve put some valuable effort into teaching Fozzie to like the blower. Repurposing the mask to keep hair off my face.

“The best time to teach us to accept ear care is when we don’t need it. “ - Kirby. 😉

My favorite enrichment activity. Finding treats in piles of leaves!!

I’ve posted sessions like this before, but it’s so worth doing again. It’s important to me that Fozzie feel safe with all aspects of his grooming. The game here is that if his feet are on the block it’s a start button for me to go ahead with the blower. If he steps off the block it’s an cue for me to stop and I point the blower away. He is well into this training. Way before I started this I worked with him liking the blower. This starts and stop gives him a say in if he is overwhelmed. So proud of him.

I’m introducing a Teagan to a Happy Hoodie. It’s a noise reducing cap for dogs. She is afraid of the sound of Kirby’s snort. It’s good for many noise issues as well as the sound of a grooming blower. The intro is going well, but she has a lot of experience with wearing thing on her head for treats. 🤞🏼this helps her.

Low Stress grooming. I had this Treat & Train in a closet for years and barely used it. Today I’m using it to get mats out of his tail and hocks without him objecting or me needing a second person. This can be done without the Treat & Train, but it does make it easy. Joe will be happy that grooming won't take 2 people. The process we used was for me to say "good" and for Joe to treat at the moments when I thought Kirby deserved a treat. We did this when we had difficult things like mats or parts of his body that were hard to groom like the tail and back legs. Most grooming I could do without an additional person. The treat and train keeps me from needing extra hands. Dogs can be groomed while they are unhappy, but if they can be happy while being groomed why wouldn’t we choose that!?

My next training goal is having Kirby and Fozzie comfortable being groomed on a grooming table. We did a short session today where they went up on the table on their own. I reinforced them with a remote trainer that can be set to treat them on an interval. Today I set it to a high rate of reinforcement and very light grooming. They can leave the table on their own if they are uncomfortable or unhappy by getting off using the bed.

This morning I did his nails and brushed Fozzie using a Treat and Train. A Teat and Train is a training tool that dispenses food when I press a button. It has a few different features. There is a lot of training that goes into make nail grinding a safe and comfortable thing for dogs. It's not quiet as easy as a treat dispenser and a dremel. But this is what can be achieved with a bit of training.

A while back I shared Fozzie’s dryer training with his front feet in a book as consent to start and his feet off a stop switch. Here is a video of Kirby and Teagan practicing . Although Teagan struggles the most she has come the furthest. She was very scared of most grooming and vet practices. I’m so proud of her.

Practicing head handling for husbandry.

It’s possible to have your dog enjoy the nail care process. Wether it’s a dremel or a clippers it is possible.

Tilly learning to have her teeth brushed.

Shortcuts

Share

Category

Other Dog training in Golden

Show All

You may also like