Waggin' Tails Dog Training

03/07/2023

To all my friends with reactive dogs!

Reframe your thinking.

❌ Society dictates that dogs who bark, lunge, or growl are ill-mannered.

💡 Dogs that loudly react to something are communicating that they are uncomfortable.

💡Most dogs communicate quietly and subtly, but most humans are unaware, miss, or ignore these signals. This leads to loud communication.

💡Study dog body language with tools like Dog Decoder or Doggy Body Language by Doggie Drawings by Lili Chin - what you think and what is actually the case may differ!

Be patient and be gentle, they depend on you for everything in their whole entire world 🥺❤️🐾

03/07/2023

🙏Thank you, Puppy Culture, for this great article on potty training and the thought process behind it all!

💡Remember, puppies don’t do anything out of spite.

💡How you react to your puppy having an indoor potty accident can affect your puppy's potty behaviors.

💡Learn your puppy’s pre-potty signals.

💡If you are not actively engaged with your puppy, they should not have free run of the house to help prevent accidents.

💡 Set alarms on your phone, Alexa, Google Home, etc., at 30 min, 45 min, 1 hr, 2hrs, or whatever interval stage your puppy is at with potty frequency. Life happens, and we get busy, so use technology to help you remember.

Would you like us to email you occasionally with Madcap University news?

03/07/2023

Hugh T. Duty says that I must abide by this. Thanks a lot Thoughts of Dog!

😳 Unfortunately in this photo he caught me….

01/31/2023

Thanks Off the Leash Perth for this excellent cartoon!

I know for a FACT that Hugh T. Duty has already read and mastered:
“the art of the silent fart”
“1000 ways to get more treats” and
“how to make their bed your bed”

01/27/2023

Great flow chat! Teaching your dog to sit in the house, but then wonder why they can’t do it very well in other places?

Dogs don’t generalize well- meaning just because they know it in one place doesn’t mean they understand how to do it everywhere -YET

Going from very little distraction to STIMULATION OVERLOAD in one step makes it difficult for a dog to be successful!

Little by Little, add in small amounts of distraction!

🧡

01/27/2023

Learning dog body language is so important. It goes beyond what you might think unless you’ve really learned to look at details!

01/23/2023

Responsible pet ownership is really important!

But the items this joke mentions are just the bare minimum!

Pets need and deserve more!

01/21/2023

01/20/2023

Great informative read!

I like to keep in mind that pets have very little choice in what happens to them. So, as much as possible give choice to help the dog learn!

The Association of Force Free Dog Trainers and Behavior Consultants

01/20/2023

Yes! Figure out why a behavior is happening! Sometimes we get emotionally wrapped up in a dog’s behavior that we forget to think about why the behavior is happening. It’s necessary to take a step back and separate your emotions about the behavior to see why the behavior is happening!

Lots of worried parents call me to find out how to stop their dog from doing something unpleasant around their children.

But this is often a mindset issue. Instead of asking how to stop a behavior, such as growling, we need to ask ourselves why the dog is growling in the first place.

The BIG question is how we can help to make our dogs comfortable. The end result is usually happier dogs and safer kids.

Grab my free action plan for parents: The ABC's of Growling - what every parent needs to know https://poochparenting.net/abcs-of-growling/

01/19/2023

Learn doggie body language!

Be a Dog Detective!
Learn to look for the clues:
https://doggonesafe.com/Dog-Detective

01/15/2023

PART 2!

Getting ready for some biking adventures with Hugh T Duty - in his new convertible!

He has some hip dysplasia, so he can’t run and hike as much as he would like and as much as we like. So, we are adding/adjusting our lifestyle to include biking, where he can rest in a bike dog trailer between some activity.

But first, we must train/condition him to be comfortable there - in small steps!

Thanks Burley for this awesome Bark Ranger bike trailer!

01/15/2023

When you show up to your client’s house and they tell you that in the last week the dog’s behavior has really turned around! 🎉🥳🎉👏👏👏

They reported that they:

✅ Reward the behavior they want to see in abundance!!!

✅ Keep the puppy under management (playpen) when not able to tend to them.

✅ Are more aware of reasons for puppy nipping and respond accordingly!

⭐️ clients!!!

It’s amazing what can happen when you are persistent!

👨‍👩‍👧‍👦👨‍👨‍👧‍👧👩‍👩‍👧‍👦 they are a family with small kids so it’s really important to them that the puppy learns good manners and how to control itself right from the start!

01/14/2023

Getting ready for some biking adventures with Hugh T Duty - in his new convertible!

He has some hip dysplasia, so he can’t run and hike as much as he would like and as much as we like. So, we are adding/adjusting our lifestyle to include biking, where he can rest in a bike dog trailer between some activity.

But first, we must train/condition him to be comfortable there - in small steps!

Thanks Burley for this awesome Bark Ranger bike trailer!

01/06/2023

This👇🏻

01/05/2023

Great details about how the “click” or “yes” functions in dog training! Thanks R+Dogs!

01/05/2023

Sleep is so important!

🎉 January is National Train your Dog month! We couldn't think of a better reason to celebrate!

Stay tuned each week as we bring you new inspiration and insight every Tuesday this month.

✅ Tip # 1 Puppies need SLEEP!! 😴

Good quality sleep is essential to brain health. Insufficient sleep inhibits neurogenesis (the creation of new neurons), and disturbed sleep impairs communication between the brain areas needed for emotional regulation. Sleep plays a part in energy conservation, brain waste clearance, immune system modulation, cognition, performance, disease, and psychological state. Ensuring that puppies have access to a comfortable place to sleep supports brain health and behavior. 🧠

Puppies can sleep anywhere between 18-20 hours per day. And because puppies are quickly developing during their first year of life, sleep is vital. It's during sleep that puppies consolidate information, such as where to eliminate, what to chew, and what behavior you taught them. Puppies need a nap after playing, learning, if they have just been out for a walk, or have just eaten. The important thing is to observe your puppy and provide what they need; when your puppy chooses to sleep, let them be. It’s especially important to teach your kids to let sleeping dogs lie, as the old saying goes. 😉

There are periods during the day when you might experience a puppy that seems wilder and more excitable–like an overtired child who is more emotional and/or physically disruptive, a puppy can seem overwhelming, biting, barking, zooming around simply because they are overtired. This is a perfect opportunity to place your puppy in a puppy-proofed, quiet space for sleep. 🐶

01/03/2023

Yes! We make these accommodations for humans! Dogs deserve the same!

01/03/2023

Yes! Often people fail to notice the subtle signs because they don’t understand dog body language!

If you do know, don’t dismiss these signs!

Yes, they love you, but you can help lower their daily stressors by just making a little change yourself and telling others where your dog likes to be petted!

Most dogs don't enjoy when you reach over their heads or pat them on top of the head.

Instead, teach your kids other places on a dogs' body where they may prefer to be touched, such as the chest or shoulder.

Please note - in this image, the dog has her ears back, the jaw is tight and the dog is leaning away - all of this demonstrates discomfort. Back away slowly and give this dog some space.

Next time, invite the dog to you instead.

01/03/2023

🥰

This image pops up on my timeline regularly. And there’s no logo or copyright so I have no idea who to credit for creating it. But, whoever you are, thank you. (EDIT: thank you to Elspeth Rose Design for this beautiful image)

Our dogs have no choice who they live with.

It’s the luck of the draw whether they find themselves with someone who understands that they are a dog, and that they need to do (& should be allowed to do) dog stuff. Someone who understands their dog is doing their best with the cards they’ve been dealt.

Or with someone who wants their dog to suppress behaviour & obey ‘commands’.

When a dog has a human who has empathy they automatically become a ‘good’ dog.

01/03/2023

01/03/2023

This! For anyone with young children!

01/01/2023

That was me! But out of town camping to avoid the 🎆 🎇 scaries as my neighbor likes to set things off all night and sometimes a few nights before and after!