Happy Howl-o-ween
Happy Hoooowwwl-o-ween from our PEACE Daycare dogs! ๐ Today has been a party day full of fun confidence building Halloween activities:
๐งป TP mummy wrap
๐ Treat bucket snuffle
๐ฆด Graveyard bone stomp
๐ป Ghost Limbo
๐ โฆand others not shown
*please note that these activities should be done under supervision only and many of them we started building confidence for earlier than today. Not all dogs love costumes, so please respect your pet ๐งก
#doghalloween #dogtraining #happyhalloween #utahdogs #positivereinforcement
Ice fun on a hot August day at PEACE Daycare ๐พ๐ง
Mister Fig rocking his walking leave it training ๐ช
The two girls of Tuesday PEACE Daycare. I love their matching tails ๐ฅฐ
Itโs been 364 days since I got the key to my Training Studio - here are just some of the cute furry faces that have supported me in 2022 ๐
Synchronized Papillon agility ๐ฆ๐ถ
Team Romeo playing an awesome game of Funder tonight in our Gamers class ๐คฉ
#utahdogs
Myles is playing a confidence building game to get used to putting his adorable little face into small spaces. Besides confidence, this is also a good skill building base for muzzle training. Mylesโs human does a great job using a strong rate of reinforcement and keeps up the positive feedback to help make this a game rather than a chore or a negative experience ๐
Check out these fun tricks with Dugger and Kenny ๐ช
What we donโt see in this video is all the practice that went on behind the scenes. Way to go Kenny ๐
Confidence & Connection Drop-In Classes 8
Our first Confidence & Connection drop-in classes start on Saturday ๐ฅณ
Skill Drop-In Classes
Skill drop-in classes are now up and running ๐
Dogs love patterns and the predictability those patterns bring. In this video, Team Max is demonstrating a paper plate pattern game.
Hereโs how it goes:
๐ฝ Set two plates on the ground. These act as a visual cue that the game is in process and provides a structured setup for both human and dog.
๐ฝ When your dog looks at you, mark and put a treat on a plate.
๐ฝ Wait patiently for your dog to make eye contact on his or her own.*
๐ฝ Once eye contact is made, mark and reward on the other plate.
๐ฝ Repeat until you end the game by putting the plates away.
When first teaching this game, start in low distraction places and build distractions in slowly.
*You may, just a few times, need to make a slight attention noise for eye contact to teach your dog how to play the game. Once he โgetsโ the game, then no prompting is necessary because we want the dog to control the pace of the game.
For Max, this game is teaching auto check ins and will be used out and about to keep him engaged with his owner rather than hyper focusing on the environment.
Isnโt Team Max doing great?
Two great resources for pattern games: the Control Unleashed programs by Leslie McDevitt and the games courses by absoluteDogs.
Hope you are all having a wonderful and safe Fourth of July ๐บ๐ธ
Scatter feeding in the grass can be a fun, low cost, and easy way to work your dogโs nose and give him or her some mental exercise.
Here is a time lapse of Lucy eating part of her dinner in the grass.
A few things to keep in mind:
๐ฑ Depending on your dog, you may want to start practicing with scatter feeding on a hard floor before moving straight to grass.
๐ฑ You can then extend that skill by tossing 1-3 larger treats in the grass and build up from there.
๐ฑ After youโve introduced it appropriately, watch for frustration - if your dog gives up easily, whines, seems overly frantic, etc. then maybe this isnโt the right enrichment activity for him or her (but there are plenty of other options out there!).
We want to create opportunities for our dogs to express natural behaviors (like foraging) while also respecting their individuality ๐พ
#dogtrainingtips #enrichmentfordogs #positivereinforcementtraining #positivedogtraining #positivedogtrainer #labradorretriever #sniffingdog #scatterfeeding #snufflemat #letdogsbedogs