No Weird Dogs Puppy Socialization and Training

03/16/2024

03/16/2024

It's literally been ages since I've been on this page. However I think it's time for me to reactivate and start keeping up a little bit better. I am still actively training dogs and if you have a puppy or a dog that needs help with its basic training please feel free to message me I will give you details on all of the training options that I have.

01/17/2023

01/17/2023

01/17/2023

Getting a verbal from the sergeant 😂

01/08/2023

Ashley still has puppies!! Spread the word!

08/11/2022

⚠️ Warning⚠️

Xylitol is now being marketed as Birch sugar. This ingredient is highly toxic to dogs so please check the labels of any human food you feed your pups.

If you think your pup has ingested Xylitol, please call your local vet for further direction ASAP.

06/01/2022

Although we know the new dog or cat is safe in our home, the new dog or cat doesn’t know that.

Not only does it take time for the new dog or cat time to adjust BUT it also takes our own pets time to adjust.

We have to remember that neither the adopted animal nor the animals in our home got a say in their new living arrangements or roommate.

Give it time and ask for help if adjustment isn’t going well.

04/04/2022

In case some of you haven't seen this before, it is important to know when the best time to spay/neuter is to support healthy strong bones.

03/31/2022

Famous animal behaviourist Ian Dunbar says that punishing a dog for growling is like removing the ticker from a time bomb.

Dogs use growling as a way of letting you know that they are stressed or upset. If you punish a dog for growling, you run the risk that they will avoid the early warning procedure and go straight for a bite the next time that they are uncomfortable.

There is a world of difference between temporarily suppressing a behaviour, and changing the dog's underlying emotional state to produce long term behaviour change.

For example, if you were scared of snakes, and I punished you for screaming by shooting you in the leg, you'd probably force yourself to stop screaming. But have I changed the way you feel about snakes? Would you act rationally if a snake got up close and personal with you? Probably not! If anything, I may have made you feel even more afraid of snakes, as you now associate them with the pain I inflicted.

With your training, always think to yourself - is this a quick, short term solution, or will this benefit my dog and I in the long run?

If you have a dog that growls, keep an eye out for That Dog Geek's next video, the first in a series on helping fearful or reactive dogs.

02/10/2022

(This is a repost because the version we posted on Tuesday disappeared from Facebook after a few hours. We have no idea why!)

Behold! The world of dog behavior problems distilled onto a single page!

Admittedly, it’s not perfect. It’s certainly not 100% comprehensive, and it doesn’t go into detail about any of the solutions, but it does cover the vast majority of common dog behavior problems and provide a pretty great big-picture view about how to resolve them. And it fits on one page!

I think we’re actually going to revamp this document soon, so if you have any feedback or suggestions, please let us know!

For those of you who prefer your words organized into sentences and paragraphs, here’s the deal:

There are three main categories of dog behavior problems, which we define by the types of solutions that are necessary for resolving them.

To figure out which category of problem you have, you should answer these questions:

1) Is anyone present when the dog is misbehaving?

If the dog is getting into trouble while they are unsupervised, then you need solutions that will work without anyone actively doing anything with the dog. Your two most powerful tools in this case are confinement and hollow chew toys stuffed with food. When your dog is confined to a crate or playpen, they can’t get into much trouble. But most dogs who have already tasted freedom will not enjoy being confined, so the first step is to teach your dog to ENJOY being confined. This is actually very easy to do using their daily allotment of food. Basically, they only get food inside their crate or playpen. You can toss the food in actively, scatter the food on the floor, or best of all, put it into a hollow chew toy. This will train your dog to enjoy spending time in their crate or playpen, and it will teach your dog to enjoy chewing on their chew toy, which will give them something to do and provide them with a naturally self-soothing hobby. When you are present and able to supervise you can let your dog roam free and then redirect them away from unwanted behaviors.

2) Is your dog afraid?

If your dog is misbehaving because they are afraid, then rebuilding their confidence is an important part of resolving the problem. You can rebuild your dog’s confidence using classical conditioning. Set up a controlled environment where you can expose them to the scary stimulus at a level that isn’t overwhelming, and then help them form positive associations with the stimulus using praise, food, toys, fun, and play.

If your dog is misbehaving because they are afraid, there is another very important question you should ask yourself:

2a) Is your dog dangerous?

When dogs are afraid, they can act out aggressively, so it’s important to consider what your dog might do if they were scared. The best way to predict what they might do in the future is to consider what they have done in the past. If your dog has ever bitten someone hard enough to cause an injury, then they could very well do so again. Your dog is dangerous and you should really consult a professional who can evaluate your dog one-on-one. If your dog has never bitten hard enough to cause an injury, it is unlikely they will do so in the future. This is true even if they look and sound very scary when they bark, lunge, snap, or even bite. In fact, if your dog has bitten people, and actually put their teeth onto another person or dog’s skin, and they didn’t cause an injury, it’s a good sign that your dog has good bite inhibition and is not dangerous, which means you can try rehabilitating your dog knowing it is unlikely (but not impossible) that you, or someone else will get seriously injured.

If your dog is in your presence, and they’re not scared, but they’re still doing something you don’t like, there’s one last question to ask yourself:

3) What do you want your dog to do instead?

So many dog owners focus on what they DON’T want their dog to do, and give little thought to what they DO want their dog to do. But it’s much easier to teach your dog to DO something, than to NOT DO something. So teach your dog to do something that, if they do it, they will be unable to simultaneously do what you don’t want them to do. For example, if they’re jumping up, teach them to Sit-Stay. If they are sitting, they’re not jumping up. Of course, teaching your dog to Sit-Stay on cue is just the first step. The real work is practicing this skill in different situations, including in the presence of exciting distractions, or when your dog is at a distance, or when you’re carrying a bunch of bags, or lying on the couch. If you don’t practice in these sorts of situations, it’s not going to work when you need it to.
Sit-Stay is a wonderful skill that can resolve a TON of behavior problems but there are plenty of other skills. Some of our favorites are Get Your Chew Toy, Go To Your Bed, Settle Down, Shush, Come, and Heel to name a few.
Teach your dog to perform these skills on cue, practice them in a variety of challenging situations, and integrate training with play, and make use of life rewards to motivate your dog so they actually want to do what you ask.

If you want to learn more, join us tomorrow (Friday Feb 10) for a live Q+A at 5pm Pacific Time. Or, even better, join the Top Dog Academy where you will get instant access to all of the info you need to resolve all of the most common dog behavior problems.

https://dunbar.info/legacy

12/27/2021

I am taking new clients at this time! I am doing online training exclusively for the remainder of covid. We meet through Google meet so almost everybody has access. Classes run about a half an hour to 45 minutes and feel free to contact me for pricing. We cover a basic puppy program which is: come, sit, down, stay, touch, leave it, place, and heel. I also can help with potty training, puppy biting, and other common problems that come with having a new addition to the family. Classes usually last six to eight weeks depending and I am happy to help and get anyone started!

11/28/2021

Thinking about adopting a puppy? You might want to think about that a bit longer.

We did not write this, but it made us chuckle because it is so accurate.

"Before you buy your first puppy, take this test to find out if you can cope with living and looking after your puppy
Best taken in the autumn or mid winter.
1. Buy a lead and tie it to a big stone, walk around dragging the stone behind you.
2. Get up at 5am, go out in the pouring rain and walk up and down a muddy path, repeating good girl/boy, wee wees...poo poos, quickly please
3. Stuff your pockets with plastic bags and pick up all the poo you can find, obviously not your dogs as you have not bought it yet 😊
4. Start wearing your shoes indoors, especially during muddy times
5. Collect leaves off the ground and spread them on the floor
6. Carry sticks and branches indoors and chop them up on your carpet
7. Pour cold applejuice on the rug and floor....walk barefooted over it in the dark
8. Drop some chocolate pudding on your carpet in the morning and then try to clean it in the evening
9. Wear socks to which you have made holes using a blender
10. Jump out of your favourite chair just before the movie ends and run to open back door
11. Cover all your best clothes with dog hair, dark clothes with blond hairs and light clothes with dark hairs
12. Tip all just ironed clothes on the floor
13. Make little pin holes in all your funiture, especially chair and table legs
14. When doing dishes, splash water all over the place and don't wipe it.
15. Spread toilet paper all over the house when you leave the house and tidy up when you get back home
16. Forget any impulse holidays and/or breaks
17. Always go home straight after work or school
18. Go walkies no matter what the weather, and inspect every dirty paper, chewing gum and dead fly you might find
19. Wake up at 3am. Place a correct size bag of flour on top of yourself and try to sleep, whilst wiping your face with a dishcloth, which you have left next your bed in a bowl last week."
Repeat everyday over 6 months and if you still think getting puppy sounds like a good idea, Congratulations, you might be ready to get your puppy.

11/08/2021

A walk doesn't always have to be a "walk", but a way to explore. Author is https://m.facebook.com/Dogkindtraining

11/07/2021

10/26/2021

09/08/2021

Truth!

Please don't expect every dog to love every other dog!

09/07/2021

08/25/2021

⚠️ TUESDAY BOXER BRIEFS - BIRCH SUGAR IS THE SAME AS XYLITOL AND XYLITOL KILLS DOGS… ⚠️

We all know about how toxic Xylitol is for our dogs correct??? It can be derived from birch trees so it can also take on the pseudo name of Birch Sugar…. but be assured they are one in the same.

The most common source of xylitol toxicity in dogs has been sugar-free chewing gum, however, this has changed with the many new sources of xylitol.

Xylitol has gained great popularity in the human market because if its various properties. Xylitol is a sugar alcohol nearly as sweet as sugar but with fewer calories which promotes its addition to various flavored, sugar-free or low-calorie products. Xylitol has humectant properties, which means it can help retain moisture, which encourages its use in many skin and hair care products. It also has antibacterial properties which can diminish skin problems and dental plaque promoting its use in various skin care and dental products. These features have led to the development of xylitol-containing products including ice cream, breath mints, chewing gum, cough drops, gummy vitamins, dental care products, shampoos, moisturizers, deodorants and much more.

Scientists are researching even more possible uses of xylitol including its potential to increase skin collagen production which may be important in anti-aging, its role in wound healing, and as an antibiotic.

⚠️ SO KEEP AN EYE OUT FOR XYLITOL OR BIRCH SUGAR ALSO IN THESE PRODUCTS ⚠️

🚽 HUMAN TOILETRY PRODUCTS THAT MAY CONTAIN XYLITOL:

Facial care products including tinted moisturizers and foundations, facial cleansers and scrubs, facial creams including moisturizers, illuminators, skin pigment reducers, facial toner, make up remover, body butter
Oral care products including toothpaste, mouthwash, dental rinse, breath sprays, throat lozenges
Flavored lip balm
Shampoos
Essential oil products
Deodorant
Hand creams

🍪 HUMAN FOODS THAT MAY CONTAIN XYLITOL:

Cookies
Pudding snacks
Ice cream
Pie filling
Peanut butter
Sugar-free cake mixes
Non-fat Greek yogurt
Chocolate
Sugar-free chewing gum
Chewing gum (sticks, wads or car cups)
Low calorie baked goods
Sugar-free honeys
Various sweeteners
Sugar-free jam preserves
Sugar-free syrup
Various condiments including sugar-free ketchup and BBQ sauce
Flavored water and electrolyte drink mixes
Protein powder and protein bar
Meal replacement mixes
MEDICATIONS AND SUPPLEMENTS THAT MAY CONTAIN XYLITOL:

💊 Oral liquid prescription products (for example Children’s Allegra Oral Suspension®)
Oral disintegrating medications (commonly referred to as “Meltaway”) such as alprazolam.
Cough drops
Chewable and gummy multivitamins, chewable and gummy supplements
Antacids
Stool softeners
Enemas
Nasal sprays
Other medications and supplements include clonazepam, mirtazapine, toviaz, melatonin gabapentin and many more
The concentration of xylitol can change and varies greatly between products and companies often do not share the exact amount of the artificial sweetener with consumers. Generally, xylitol will be listed in the ingredient label under “Other ingredients”, “Inactive ingredients” or “Supplement facts”. Some companies list xylitol as an ingredient while others list “sugar alcohols” which may include xylitol. This makes it very difficult to determine the amount of xylitol a dog may have ingested.

Pet Poison Helpline has the most up to date information on these products. We recommend that all pets that eat xylitol seek consultation with their family veterinarian, emergency clinic and/or the Pet Poison Helpline or the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center (APCC).

Prior to making the call, it is important to know the weight of the dog, the exact product, amount, and time the xylitol product was ingested. If the ingestion is considered toxic, the client should immediately come to your clinic or closest emergency clinic. If the client has contacted a poison control center, be sure they bring the case number so you can follow up for further treatment recommendations. There is a fee to contact the Helplines.

Given that xylitol is in so many products, it is recommended that dog owners read package ingredient labels before giving any product to their dog and carefully reviewing package labels after accidental ingestion of any product.

Here is a comprehensive list of sources of xylitol that may be useful:

http://www.preventivevet.com/xylitol-products-toxic-for-dogs

Article adapted from PreventiveVet.