Strong Bonds Canine Training & Behavior

11/22/2024

Great information for puppy owners!!

08/16/2024

This is a great example of what happens when you put in the time and effort to help your dog succeed!

The dog on the left is Buzz, my dog, and the dog on the right is Maya. Maya belongs to a friend of mine and has struggled with being around other dogs. I remember a time when Maya’s mom had to make sure no other dogs were around before bringing Maya out. Look at her now!

Maya has reached the point in her training where her mom felt she was ready for closer, careful and controlled interaction with other dogs. She has started meeting up with friends who are good at reading dog body language, and their dogs, to walk Maya with. We were happy to help and witness the fantastic results of all her hard work and dedication!

07/16/2024

Are you providing your dog with enough mental stimulation?

Here are some examples of ways to mentally exercise your dog!

• Puzzle toys (store bought or homemade)
• Nosework/scent work activities
• Trick training
• Sniff walks

05/12/2024

Great information!

Here’s a PSA on behalf of all dogs.

Stop correcting your dog for sniffing.

Stop it. Please.

How would you like it if I corrected you for looking around a room? Imagine if you raised your head to look around a new place and I popped you or shoved you or said “HEY! PAY ATTENTION” You’d get pretty upset pretty quickly I’d imagine.

Dogs don’t smell because they are ignoring you or being stubborn. We humans primarily depend on sight, but dogs use smell AND sight to assess their surroundings and communicate. People spend more time interpreting visual data than olfactory information. Dogs are just the opposite.

Dogs devote lots of brain power to interpreting smells. They have more than 100 million sensory receptor sites in the nasal cavity as compared to 6 million in people, and the area of the canine brain devoted to analyzing odors is about 40 times larger than the comparable part of the human brain. In fact, it’s been estimated that dogs can smell anywhere from 1,000 to 10,000 times better than people.

Scent gives information. Smelling is normal. Smelling is necessary and natural. Smelling is relaxing. Air scenting is HUGE for recovering reactive dogs. LET YOUR DOG SMELL!

Correcting a dog for sniffing is one of the worst things I watch people do. It’s another example of how controlling we try to be in our dogs lives. If you don’t want your dog to smell, teach him to focus on you instead for part of the time, and then give other ample times to smell. If he’s pulling you to smell, use a different tool that inhibits pulling but still allows for some nasal exploration. Even better work on collar pressure work too so your dog learns to smell when there’s less pressure! Walks on a long line on a dirt road or in a field for your dog to zig zag back and forth on to smell is MUCH healthier and more tiring for them as animals than trying to keep them within 6 feet of you on a neighborhood walk.

Please accept that smelling is normal and work WITH your dog on it, rather than just trying to suppress it. Just because that blade of grass or tree isn’t interesting to YOU doesn’t mean your dog deserves a correction. Who cares if you don’t walk the extra block - spend those 5 minutes on that one tree if you need to. Your dog doesn’t complain when you watch YouTube videos of kittens for hours or read the news or binge on Netflix, so let him get his scent binge in to.

Happy smelling pups!

05/07/2024

01/27/2024

This is Lulu, a 6 mo old little mixed breed dog. Today, her people worked on Lulu being able to maintain focus on them while around other dogs and polite greetings with dogs. You can’t see him, but Buzz played training prop and was sitting next to me while I took this photo. Lulu did awesome!

01/26/2024

I’ve heard the argument time and time again that the use of harnesses for anything other than medical reasons and dog sports/draft purposes should be avoided. I recently saw a post in agreement with this argument and while I’m not going to share it because I don’t want to perpetuate false information, I will address the reasons against the use of harnesses that were made by a sharer of this post.

1. Teaches the dog to pull.

- Harnesses do NOT teach dogs to pull. Pulling is a normal side effect of dogs’ naturally faster pace paired with being attached to a 6ft leash (and a slow human). Being successful at pulling reinforces the behavior of pulling.

2. No control.

- The leash and collar/harness are NOT a steering wheel, they are more like a seat belt. There for safety. If you’re struggling to keep your dog with you and walking loosely on leash, further training is needed. That includes training around distractions!

3. Long-necked breeds, like Danes, can sn**ch up something way before the owner can react.

- This seems like an odd point as it would be true regardless of whether you use a collar or a harness. This has more to do with the handler’s reaction time and attention to the dog than with the equipment being used. This is also a training issue, not a harness issue. If your dog struggles around certain things (e.g. strangers, other dogs, etc), this needs to be addressed with proper behavior adjustment training.

4. Can cause injury to front assembly.

- I can agree with this when it comes to harnesses that inhibit movement. This includes some harnesses that are advertised as “no pull” harnesses. These harnesses tend to cut across the shoulder, thus affecting how the dog moves its front legs. This can cause changes to the dog’s normal gait and lead to injury. A properly fit harness that allows for normal front limb range of motion should not cause injury.

Regardless of whether you choose to use a harness or collar to train your dog in loose leash walking, it is YOU who trains your dog, not the collar or harness.

Video: my dog, Buzz, doing some lovely loose leash walking in a harness.

01/26/2024

Love this!

01/20/2024

Mental stimulation is what’s for dinner tonight!

01/16/2024

Today is the kind of day that’s perfect for relaxing in your PJs! 😌

01/03/2024

There is a common misconception that if we just drill concrete skills (aka Obedience Skills) hard enough, or often enough that it will prevent behavior problems. This is not how behavior works. At best drilling a dog through obedience skills might mask the problem, but it doesn't change their underlying emotional cause of the problem. A dog who is reactive and behaving aggressively in response to their fear, discomfort or perceived threat will not suddenly stop feeling those Big Feelings because he's been demanded to sit, or down through them. A dog who starts a conflict with another dog due to over arousal or frustration , or even redirection, will not suddenly stop feeling all those overwhelming feelings simply because they are drilled in a heel for ten minutes. Concrete skills can have their place, and their uses. But they are not skills for behavior change. They provide a mask for behavior that can cause a false sense of security in terms of whether or not the dog has truly experienced an emotional change towards the stimulus. That can be pose significant risk in terms of aggression presenting behaviors, as it will appear the dog's sudden snap came "out of no where."

When your dog is experiencing a behavior concern, it is because they are having an emotional problem in response to certain stimuli. This is not personal, and it is not a problem that can be resolved by simply drilling the dog to sit more frequently. Under going genuine behavior modification takes time and an effort to address the underlying emotional cause of any behavior disruptions your dog is experiencing.

12/25/2023

We’re wishing everyone a Merry Christmas!

12/21/2023

Here’s a video of my dogs, Liam and Buzz, playing. I love watching them play because they’re a good example of how dogs that communicate well interact during play.

If you listen carefully, you can them both making snorting sounds. This is their way of letting each other know they have playful intentions, thus maintaining a friendly atmosphere. You can also see how Buzz stops play, probably feeling things getting a little more serious than he’s comfortable with, by turning completely away from Liam, and they both have a nice shake off.

They actually continued to play after taking a few moments break, which is an important part of play. When play is nonstop, there is a higher risk of arousal levels reaching a point where scuffles or fights happen.

12/19/2023

I’ve been participating in Mountain Dreams Dog Training’s Holiday Bingo Challenge with my dog, Buzz. This is our submission for the “getting ready for the holidays” spot on the bingo card, costarring my niece as “obnoxious beautician.”

Big props to Buzz for showing so much patience!

Keep training fun!