This butterfly obviously approves of my Eagle Rock Werkshop leggings #Butterflies
Ziva might not want to she her age but some things are a little harder than they used to be and that includes getting in and out of the car.
So like any good dog mom I bought her a ramp. She investigated inside, walked back and forth over it to get used to the surface and practiced walking on it at a lower angle before coming out to the car.
Now in all honesty I’m pretty sure Ziva would have gone right up it into the car because she did agility and was used to dog walks and see saws but I wanted to do it properly.
This is nice and light but still sturdy, can fit in the back seat and has a nice grippy surface.
We have so many devices to make our own life easier as we age and there’s no reason why we can’t do it for our dogs!!
#yourdogmoreyears #seniordogsrock
#seniordogs
#thebryisdogtraining
#supportyourdog
#workingcockerspaniel
#ziva
#thebryisdogtrainer
#dogramp
We are soaking up the sunshine this afternoon before putting on our PJ’s and hanging out on the sofa with the pups tonight!
How are you spending New Years Eve?
You probably all know Nell is a bit of a rock star when it comes to ignoring the deer in our neighborhood. This didn’t happen overnight and I make sure and regularly reinforce her great choices so that she keeps on making those awesome decisions.
You see ignoring the deer isn’t a natural choice for her. Going and investigating and even chasing is something she VOLUNTEERED to do in the past. We all have those things we love to do and would volunteer for and dogs are no different. Yeah those things, the things you love enough that you’ll do without pay!!
Having a quick look at the deer and then checking in with me or completely ignoring them isn’t something she would volunteer for: so that makes it a job and what do we get when we do our jobs? That’s right we get paid. So I pay Nell with play, food and verbal praise when she does her job and I will keep paying her because I don’t know about you but if my boss stopped paying me for my job I’d probably go and find something else to do with my time!!
Today the deer were being helpful and we played some coin game to reinforce that it ignoring them pays out. Many times we as a society expect our dogs to act in a certain way that has absolutely no intrinsic value to them without any reinforcement. So I find explaining it in terms of volunteering and working makes it easier to understand.
If I had a dollar for every time I asked someone ‘Would you go to work if you weren’t being paid? Then why expect your dog to do it?’ I’d be a rich women😉
So tell me what things does your dog volunteer for or do without pay and what things/behaviors do you now think you should be paying them for!
I think the treats are a hit🤣
It’s always interesting to see what a really high value treat can do to your dog’s behavior!!
Danae is finding staying still hard becasue she wants the treat so badly, there’s a little frustration barking, she overshoots the bed becasue she needs to get back for more TREATS!!
Is it messy? YES
BUT and this is IMPORTANT
✅ look at that drive back to her bed and me
✅ look at the speed of her return
✅ look at how much she wants these treats!!
This is what we mean when we talk about high value rewards!!
You need to find things that literally light up your dog so that when you’re training something new with them or boosting an existing behavior the Reward/Reinforcer matches the Effort put in by your dog.
If we don’t work for free why should our dogs?
Played the coin game at the vets this morning with Ziva while we were waiting for the vet. When she looked at me towards the end I signaled her to go back and find the coin but my cue was to close to what it looks like when I toss her a treat hence the little jump and open mouth as she predicted a different outcome!!
As an aside this is the perfect example of our dogs predicting certain outcomes.
Then she sees the vet tech come in with vet, looks up a bit goes back to the coin (good girl) and I stop the video to speak with the vet.
She got her shots, had her hips and knees manipulated, blood draw and had FNA on 5 lumps (just as a precaution). One in her chest, two on her side and two on her belly. I had to hold her up so the ones in her belly could be done and although it was uncomfortable she was a little trooper!!
She got cuddles, some of her breakfast and was happy with the world!! I know I am extremely lucky to have such a bombproof little dog when it comes to vet visits.
When we came back out to reception we did paws on my feet in middle and she put her feet up on the reception desk front wall to see if she could she the receptionist behind the desk.
Seriously so proud of my girl and how she has the ability to make everyone smile!!!
Now keeping everything crossed the results come back looking good.
If you need help making vet visits lees stressful for your dog send me a message today!
When you are videoing some scatter feeding and Nell decides to close off her multi tasking skills of peeing and eating 😂🤦♀️😂
Winning makes playing tug lots of fun says birthday girl Ziva❤️❤️❤️
Popped into ALDI USA Today and spotted the pet sham my towel. Can you guess what I thought it would be great for?
Check out the video below!!
Anyone living in an area with deer typically knows that mamma deer will leave their fawns, when they are very young, in a safe spot and only come back periodically to feed and move them.
However, many deer are now navigating this in suburban areas and sometimes they may not pick the safest of spots. There is also the chance that for whatever reason the baby deer may move: they shouldn’t but then again they haven’t read the rule book.
So what’s this all to do with dog training? Well at this time of year you may come across a baby fawn when out with your dog so it’s important they are on a leash.
No matter how friendly your dog is, you do not want to be around a young fawn when it’s mother comes back. They are very protective mothers and could pose a safety threat to you and your dog.
So if you live in an area with deer, keep your dogs close when out on a walk.
Stay safe everyone!!
Regsiter now for the Follow Your Nose Online Course!
⭐️Online Registration Now Open⭐️
This really is one of my favorite courses to teach!!
Being able to give you games to play with your dog that:
✅satisfies their natural instincts
✅gives you a better understanding of how your dog ‘sees’ the world
✅strengthens your relationship with your
✅can be included in behavior modification programs
✅can be modified so every dog can have a go
makes this something I wish everyone could do with their dog.
If you have a sniffy dog this course is for you and your dog!
If you want to try out a new sport this course is for you and your dog!
If you are looking for something for your senior dog to try then this course is for you and your dog!
If you are a dog geek and just want to learn more this course is for you and your dog!!
If you have a dog and want to boost your relationship this course is for you and your dog!!
If you want to learn how amazing your dog’s nose is then this course is for you and your dog.
You’ll have lifetime access to the information and support and lives via a Facebook group!
Course starts June 6th!!!
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1CIbzP1G2Jk8wDaVz4gzTbPH4sjMxxTE5gjiYmiEl9Q4/edit
As temperatures rise here in Texas here's some tips for your dog walks
#thebryisdogtrainer #thebryisdogtraining #thewoodlandstx #dogwalking #dogwalkingsafety #dogsafety #dogwalks #dogsofhouston #dogtraıner #dogmom #PetSafety
Learning to hold an egg
I had so much fun last week during #perfectlyposingpups 5 day challenge.
One of the games needed up with me accepting the challenge to get one of my dogs to hold an egg (yes it was uncooked)! I’d done this in the past and decided to give it a go with Danae.
She has a lovely little hold so here’s my first session introducing her to the egg. I think she knocked it out of the park especially as this was an impromptu session and I hadn’t really planned it out🤦♀️
Every walk can’t be a sniffy walk but you can still give your dog some choices on other walks.
It really doesn’t matter if we turn left or right at the top of our street so Ziva gets to choose.
She pulls ahead once she’s made her decision and then once around the corner she stops pulling and checks back in with me!
She gets a treat when she checks back in like this and I call it ‘the check in treat’. It’s reinforcing the choice of being close to be and giving me attention when it isn’t asked for.
She’s on her back clip and doesn’t have to be right beside me BUT if that’s what she decides to do I’m definitely going to Reward/Pay her for that choice.
Do you take a toy or food rewards on a walk? If you don’t why not consider taking some so you can reward your dog when they make those awesome choices.
Want to know more about check in treats and stress free walks?
Then click on the link below, join my trainjng group and check out the FB live in stress free walks and distractions!
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1514787018903975/
Are your neighbors as crazy and unpredictable as mine?
Do you dream of the day your dog can ignore their crazy antics?
If the answer is ‘YES’ head on over to my training group where I’ll be focusing on games to help your dog ignore distractions and be able to focus and engage with you on a walk!!
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1514787018903975/
Today I was playing Gotta have Faith with Nell and Forest. Nell was off leash but Forest isn’t at that level if we are in an unsecured area so he was on the leash.
He can struggle in our drive at times because a neighbors dog is often out and tends to bark at him. This is a trigger for him so today I thought while the weather wasn’t as nice I’d go out. My thinking was that the other dog would more likely be inside.
Of course he wasn’t!! I decided that we’d give it a go and I’d up the rate of reinforcement because this had become a harder job and I needed to pay him appropriately. A few times he didn’t eat the thrown food as he saw the other dog. I let him look, I let him process and we had a party when he turned away.
I gave him the opportunity today to make the right decision, I didn’t rush him and he did a great job.
It wasn’t exactly the exercise I intended to do and I could have encouraged him to find the thrown piece of food BUT I didn’t. I saw he was working out what to do about the dog across the street. I saw him make the decision NOT to bark, I saw him make the decision to TURN BACK towards me and be able and want to eat and follow the food. Of course he was also being reinforced with more distance from the other dog.
This told me so much about his arousal level, his ability to think in arousal, to disengage and make good decisions and GUESS WHAT even though this wasn’t what I’d planned, I’d take that training session any day of the week if someone said that’s what we would achieve before we started!!!
Here’s Forest’s video: it’s messy in places, it’s not perfect and we are both learning and that’s exactly what training is: LEARNING TOGETHER!
I could show you Nell’s off leash session but I honestly thought showing you Forest, who has struggles, is way more valuable. I maybe a dog trainer but I’m also a dog mom with my own struggles and anxieties.
I may not know exactly what you’re going through,
Did someone just walk over me? I didn’t notice I had my tennis ball❤️
Being a pet professional is never dull and that’s why I love being able to combine my roles as a dog trainer, manager and pet sitter🙂
Today while I was wearing my pet sitter hat a very sweet senior lab decided to go for an impromptu swim.
Once she got out I started to dry her off. I put my phone on the ground and in no time she was standing on it!
I quickly picked it up and turned it over to protect the screen not realizing she had managed to set it to time lapse and turn it on🤣
So this is Jaz’s video: I’m not sure if she has a career as a film director but she definitely made my day❤️
#lifeofapetsitter
#petsitterlife
#springbreak2022
#thebryispetsitting
#thewoodlandspetsitting
#goldenlabrador
#labradorretriever
#labs
#thewoodlandstx
#dogsofthewoodlands
I may be a little bit strange but I have a weird fascination when my dogs have a food puzzle. I could literally watch them for hours as I find it extremely relaxing and verging on hypnotic.
These are two of my favorite puzzles as they can be used on any surface and being a softer material don’t sound like they are knocking the walls down like some of the other puzzles they have😉
Everyone one is so eager and keen to get their puzzles and once finished they all tend to find a soft spot and go for a nice little nap: it’s so peaceful apart from the odd snore😂
So tell me am I the only one that finds this relaxing? Plus let me know what your favorite food puzzles are: my guys say the need to test out some new ones!!
Food trails!
Food trails are fun, simple to do and encourages your dog to use their SUPER POWER✅
What’s their Super Power?
Well it’s their nose and they literally can ‘see’ a world that’s invisible to us.
So today Ziva has to follow a food trail to find her tasty supplements!!
She was using her nose to do this but not only was she following the food trail she was also tracking the path I took.
Have you tried food trials with your dog?
They are great to do either inside or out.
Post a video below if you’ve tried them or head over to our training group we’re you can check out ways to advance from food trails to more challenging food searches.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1514787018903975/
