Savannah’s Pet Services

09/07/2024

Checking on Rico and Draco for the weekend 🐶 cute puppies

08/20/2024

Flash almost fell asleep during his shave down 🤣 this is what happens when you train a dog from a puppy to tolerate grooming and handling. Flash is 3 and knows the routine.

08/11/2024

Pawpi chulo is being a bit dramatic here

06/26/2024

Geno!! We missed you buddy. He’s going to be staying with us for a few days.

06/22/2024

We’re so excited to be boarding Laffy Taffy the ball python with us!

06/20/2024

Muzzle training on a walk from a couple weeks ago!
Unfortunately, I’m going to have to announce that I will no longer be offering dog training services until further notice. Since my car accident leaving me disabled, as well as sharing a vehicle because I don’t have one, traveling has become difficult for me. I have also expanded my other business, Motor City Menagerie which leaves me with a tight schedule between reoccurring doctor’s appointments.
I’m still offering sitting/boarding services within 5 miles of Roseville (except drop offs).
I will still try to attend this business page with training tips and If you’re a previous client of mine I’m more than happy to answer any training related questions.

04/14/2024

Watching Toby for the afternoon 🥰 he found a spot near the window that he liked

04/10/2024

Just a few photos from yesterday.

04/08/2024

As of today we are increasing our rates for dog boarding, sitting, and training services. All owners must agree to my TOS. If we are currently training or boarding before I made this price change, your fee doesn’t change.

04/07/2024

An extra big biscuit for an extra big girl 😁

04/06/2024

Toby just puts a big smile on my face because he’s so adorable and so small!

04/02/2024

Life hack: the price of dog plush toys is ridiculous! They are all some fabric and cotton.

So guess what, we get marked down holiday kid’s toys from the grocery store or we go to the thrift store. Both of these plushies were under $5 each and I actually prefer that they have no squeaker 😂

03/30/2024

Little Toby 🐶

03/30/2024

Sometimes when we dog sit, the pup in our care is not very interested in eating because they are confused or nervous about being outside of their home. They can go over a day without eating. Sometimes when dogs go long periods without eating, they throw up bile from an empty stomach. So a good way to prevent this, is by sprinkling a little bit of Parmesan cheese on their food. The cheesy aroma usually does the trick and makes them eat! I learned this trick after working in a kennel.

03/27/2024

Article: When to Stop Using Food Rewards in Dog Training

The answer to this question is NEVER.

Really good trainers will never stop using food rewards. What they do is manage how often they use food in their training.

When people train with food rewards, they will always meet people who say how foolish they are for training with FOOD TREATS.

They say it’s only a matter of time before we ask our dog to do something and we don't have food with us, then what will you do?

This is the reason why it is so important to understand exactly how we reduce the use of food rewards in our training program.

When we start reward-based training, our dogs are put on a continuous reward program. The dog is rewarded every time it performs a behavior correctly.

In fact, we often jackpot rewards by giving the dog several food rewards in a row. Jackpotting helps maintain engagement after the behavior.

When we start teaching a new behavior, we often reward the dog for just TRYING to perform the behavior. That’s called successive approximation.

Successive approximation during the learning phase builds the dog's drive to figure out what we want. As it gains accuracy, we gradually wean the off successive approximation and back to rewarding when the dog performs correctly.

There is a fine line between using continuous rewards and weaning the dog off the reward....

Read Full Article: https://leerburg.com/when-to-stop-food-rewards.htm

03/24/2024

Hero is a bit of a nervous nelly, so we’ve been giving him the space he needs. However, his owners do an excellent job of training him, like crate training. Hero actually prefers to be in his crate because it’s his safe space. This is why we recommend crate training every dog.
He has been a bit explorative today 🪴🐾

03/23/2024

Hero is not too happy to leave his mom and dad, but we are happy to be able to have him here with us. 🙂 He doesn’t leave his home very often but he’s being a good boy.

03/23/2024

This is cute little Toby! He’s so small and cute, but small dogs need training too! We are going to cover all the puppy basics in the next several weeks.

03/16/2024

Someone recently asked me, “isn’t Zar dog aggressive?” Yes, she is. There is different degrees of dog aggression and it goes back to genetics. 🧬

Zar is a livestock guardian dog 🐑 , whose purpose was to ward away natural predators from their flock. Natural predators often include wild canines (wolves). So it is their natural instinct to ward off strange canines.

Zar is very territorial and does not like stranger dogs. She will attack a strange dog she does not know.

However, through proper introduction, these dogs are excellent pack animals, as they work together best as a team against a pack of wild canines. 🐺 They need to know that a new dog will not be a threat, and they follow their owner’s instructions.

Reactivity, territoriality, same s*x aggression, and dog aggression are all different forms of aggression and must be managed differently. You will never out train these genetics, only manage and guide behaviors.

Primitive breeds, bull breeds, and livestock guardian breeds are more likely to have a degree of dog aggression.

03/14/2024

Just because a dog has high prey drive doesn’t mean they have to be out of control! 🙂 Zar definitely wants to eat these bunnies.

03/12/2024

“PLAY” drive vs “PREY” drive

What is it?

Play drive is a dog’s motivation to play (attack, bite, retrieve, or chase toys) 🧸
Prey drive is a dog’s motivation to attack or chase prey. 🐰

They are often thought of as one and the same; however I can tell you that they’re not. This dog (my dog Flash) will chase a raccoon tail on a flirt pole, play fetch, and pull tug toys, and chase. Yet, when presented with a live animal he is very patient, docile, and shows interest in “play” as another dog as he will dig and bow in attempt to “play” with small animals. He has never once attempted to bite at my small animals.
WARNING ‼️ I do not, under circumstance, recommend to do this without fully knowing your dog and being adept at reading body language. Prey animals can also be more defensive than you’d think.

All dogs have different degrees of play drive to prey drive. My other dog, a livestock guardian dog, has more prey drive than play drive.

Why do dogs have these traits? Well of course, it comes from their ancestors 🐺 Your dog’s individual play and prey drive is going to be mainly directed by their GENETICS 🧬 a primitive breed will be more likely to have prey drive with low play drive; a retrieving or terrier breed will have both high prey and play drive. Sometimes you have wild cards. Raising the dog properly around prey animals will help direct them to an extent, but it will always come down to genetics and job that the breed was performed to do.

Prey drive and play drive can be a good or bad thing in training. A dog with low impulse control will be distracted by their drive, however you can influence good behaviors with rewards that engage with their play or prey drive.

03/06/2024

ARE YOU WORTH COMING BACK TO?

I often cringe when I watch people trying to get their dogs to come back when they call.

They call and call and get increasingly angry and frustrated as their dog keeps ignoring them.

When their dog eventually does come back, or has been chased and "captured” by the now really angry person, they get screamed at, yanked about, smacked or punished in some way for taking so long and not listening.

Why on earth would a dog want to return to someone who does this to them!

Genetics may play a big part in this when an environment is far more stimulating and exciting.

Coming back to you is often the last thing a dog may want to do when genetic instinct is triggered.

An exciting scent or seeing something to chase can all override a response to recall.

Genetics aside, the most common reason that dogs don’t come back when called is because it’s not a positive experience.

Make coming back to you worth it by always making it a rewarding experience and keep practicing this throughout a dog’s life.

Have a little patience if it takes longer than you would like, let your dog finish what they’re doing before calling them, practice in different locations and environments and never reprimand or punish them for coming back.

There is never a guarantee of a perfect recall each and every time, but making it a rewarding experience will greatly improve the rate of success.

03/01/2024

Can a dog have TOO MUCH FREEDOM?
Yes, they can. When dogs are allowed to have too much freedom without any downtime, it can result in many problematic behaviors. Overstimulation, reactivity, compulsivity; just to name a few. Luckily these can be solved with added structure and routine.

Tucker often stays with us just for sitting visits, and we crate him during his down time. Tucker is an amazing guy! However, he has been too socialized. He never gets any time to relax. He’s started to accept that whenever he comes to visit, he gets this important time to do that. At first, Tucker rejected the idea, but now he does AMAZING!! You can tell how relaxed Tucker is in this photo.

02/27/2024

Introducing my newest client, Hero the old English bulldogge! We’re working on overcoming some issues like resource guarding and compulsive behaviors. Very happy to try to help Hero along this journey.

02/16/2024

We have been expecting to have some baby rabbits at our rabbitry and they’re finally here. Give my other page a follow! We currently are raising rabbits, Guinea pigs, fancy mice, and fancy rats.

We had another litter of rabbits born today. That makes a total of 14 kits this season so far. This litter is mini rex, the sire is pedigreed.

02/09/2024

Tucker and Sophie went home today aver their 4 day stay. Some of you who know me personally know what Zar is dog aggressive, so how do we dog sit? Well it’s just a matter of careful crate & rotate. They essentially take turns going outside and getting to spend time with us. It’s absolutely imperative to not slip up, thankfully the only people that live in our home is my boyfriend and myself who can adjust to this routine.

01/19/2024

Got a new camera recently and snowy photos are the best photos! Sophie has grown up quite a bit since we last sat her. 😁

10/08/2023

Flash and Zar working on behaving themselves around company! Flash has a pretty solid place even though my mom is one of his favorite people. Zar also really likes my mom, she gets a bit too overexcited! We’re reinforcing good manners through the use of a leash to have more control, and she gets lots of pets and treats for behaving!

10/05/2023

This is my other page for anyone interested

10/05/2023

Do dogs “love” us?

“Dogs have surges in oxytocin when they attach with other dogs but, crucially, they also have the same oxytocin surges around humans. In fact, when dogs and their human companions look into each other’s eyes, oxytocin levels in both species rise dramatically. In one study, just half an hour of loving glances between humans and their dog companions was all it took to see levels of oxytocin more than double.”

https://www.sciencefocus.com/nature/does-my-dog-love-me?fbclid=IwAR2PVzrzTYi8X8VoLGMAs6HVBxhs0pcdsZKn_NnX0y74KDPPpm6frnIxeKw

Sure, they wag their tails to greet us and are happy to snuggle up and watch TV in the evening, but are our beloved pooches actually experiencing the same love for us as we feel for them?