Summertime enrichment
Scratch board
My dog needed to eat dinner anyway so I let her earn her meal and trim her nails at the same time since she won't be walking in the heat today. Here is a quick introduction.
What does healthy dog play look like?
I chase you, you chase me
I tackle you, you tackle me
Slow down and check-in
Not all dogs play the same way
Some are are loud, some are gentle
These two are house mates and can play rough. As long as space is given when asked and breaks are taken they play great together. I stepped in once and asked them to take a break at the end and they did.
Olive did a great job in reactive class. She is working on not charging people and being less reactive around dogs. She also got to have a great time doing it!
Everything your dog does perfectly in class or the house may not be perfect outside. Today is a great day to take it to the yard and see where your dog needs some extra help with distractions. It doesn't have to be anything fancy just practice what your dog already knows, and have some fun with it!
The Pac-Man walk is something to use when you're leash training or when you're walking past scary things/triggers with a reactive dog.
Last night in class while teaching place a helicopter flew over the building. The dog I was demonstrating with became very stressed. This is a good video to see that stress quickly build through body language. I had to end the exercise but he was able to calm and continue again later in class. When you are working with your own dogs be mindful of triggers like this. We couldn't plan for it, but we dealt with it as it happened and gave him a break.
You don't need 20 minutes or more to train. Keep your sessions short and fun. We got lucky today with some beautiful weather and I used all the left over leaves for my dog to be able to tire herself out looking for the treats.
Our first night of reactive classes learning about some body language with people reactive dogs. Juniper did an amazing job.