Happy Hounds Center

Mia is learning a new gymnastics game. I love that she shows a lot of the stages of learning in this video from confusion to distraction to understanding. She also shows how a small change (the leash coming off) starts the learning process over again.

This video shows the Tillie doing a stalking behavior when Cosmos went off to sniff something else. She was doing a lot of biting and holding (not hard enough to break skin) as he ran by. This is a common behavior of dogs who are overstimulated in play. I stopped the video so I could correct that behavior by putting her on leash and settling the play.

In this video you will see acceptable rough play. They are wrestling with open mouths and play/fake biting. Cosmos is doing a lot of behaviors to change the play. You will see him spin, run and disengage or body block Tillie when she bites at his legs. At the end Cosmos was thinking about humping to show her he was in charge but I stepped in to disrupt and settled the play so Cosmos doesn't learn the humping habit.

In this video Cosmos is tired and doesn't want to run anymore. You will see him deescalate and correct Tilly when she offers inappropriate play advances, such as spinning when she bites his back legs, lifting his head and avoiding her when she bites at his face and walking off to sniff. Tilly gets the message, shakes off which lowers her heart rate and joins Cosmos in sniffing.

Working with reactive dogs takes a lot of self awareness and self reflection. Coregulation is a powerful tool when modifying anxious behaviors like reactivity. Here is a 5 minute video of what I work on with every dog and what I teach all of my students.

Demand Behaviors: Demand Barking How many of you have dogs that bark at you, jump on you, bite at you/leash/clothes, take things theyvare not supposed to have or offer other obnoxious behaviors to get your attention? If you do you are not alone! Would you like to learn how to modify those behaviors into something more desirable and teach your dog more impulse control and patience? In this video is Demand Barking and how to start modifying the behavior. Ernie has a lot of feelings about waiting to be let in. (He has been alone for less than a minute while i brought another dog in) I will ignore the behavior and wait until he offers a behavior I like before I move. When he is quiet and stops scratching at the gate for even a second I mark it with "Yes" and start moving forward. If he barks or jumps again I stop and wait. This takes time and consistency and practicing in lots of different areas before it becomes a habit.

Appropriate play serise: Jaw Sparring A common form of play for young dogs but controversial form of play for owners and trainers. This is a normal style of play that stems from fighting instincts. Some people do not like it because it is a form of aggressive play but if both dogs are engaged, relaxed and enjoying it there shouldn't be a problem. While playing you will hear a lot of play sneezes which is how dogs let the other kniw they are not serious. There is no sneezing when it is not play. When it becomes a problem is when one dog doesn't want to engage and the other continues, one or both dogs are stiff, showing hard stares and dominant body language or growls are deep and guttural. One dog will not let the other dog up or has them cornered and the cornered dog looks fearful or trying to escape. Here is a video of Carlos and Ernie jaw sparring. I will disrupt this after a short time to make sure they keep taking breaks and stay relaxed. I will usually disrupt when I see one dog getting annoyed and sending subtle ques that the other is not reading or after a minute or so. Turn the volume on to hear the sneezes, play and frustration noises. In the video you can see Carlos give a few corrections and try to disengage and Ernie stop for a second but keep going back to it. The little barks and growls are from Ernie showing some puppy frustration. After a few corrections from Carlos that didn't end the game I disrupted it with a kiss noise and verbal que. Then rewarded when they came out of play.

Making friends with a dog who is fearful. This is step two. The first step was having him in an enclosure and tossing kibble over the fence everything I walked by until he associated me with his food and started to look forward to seeing me. In this step I am sitting near him where he has the option to leave if he wants and offering food by hand. He gets a treat whenever he looks at me and doesn't react. Next step will be walking in his enclosure and continuing to throw kibble away from me any time he comes near while staying very neutral and basically ignoring him.

Appropriate play series: When to let dogs figure things out on their own Here is a good video of dogs working things out on their own. I didn't have to step in because Lilly was doing a good job of showing RB what she liked and deescalating the play as needed. RB took her ques pretty well. This is something I would watch and see if RB got better or kept pestering Lilly. As they played they got more relaxed and went on to sniff and laydown together which is ideal. Can you see the body language being displayed by Lilly and RB? Do you have any questions on what you see?

Trade is a great game to teach dogs and kids for safety and to keep your dog from running off with items they are not supposed to have!

Working on Tillie's off leash skills, focus and desire to choose me over other distractions by rewarding when she chooses to work with me and letting everything else get boring.