180dog

26/04/2024

Emily briefly describes how to expand your dog’s freedom of choice to live a healthier life and as she believes build your relationship and reduce behavior i...

11/04/2024

I LOVE days like today.
This is Beauregard. Today his 'Mom' ditched his prong collar which she's been using for 5 years. Gone. Bobo and his human have learned to walk him on a loose leash attached to a well-fitted harness. Bobo over reacts when he sees other dogs. He is learning to walk by them without lunging or barking. The power of Positive Reinforcement!

12/12/2023

Explore Dog-Friendly Blue Ridge, GA with our local insider's guide! Find the best pet-friendly cabins, trails, and eateries for you and your pet.

09/11/2023

This is Cashew, an energetic teacup Pomeranian who LOVES LOVES to bark. In this training session, I incorporated plenty of enrichment, having him running up and down these stairs looking for little bits of food. At the same time I played knocking and doorbell sounds on my phone, which usually prompts him to explode in fits of non-stop barking when he hears that. He was a little too busy looking for food bits to think about barking - so he didn't bark once.
Next step is I asked him to come down the steps and stand by the door. I played the doorbell/knocking sounds. I knocked on the door myself. And this surprised even me, but instead of barking, he ran up the steps looking for food to find.
I conditioned him to search for food on the stairs when he hears door knocking and doorbell sounds.
Next step is having a person on the other side of the door knock.
Isn't he ADORABLE?

14/10/2023

DISTANCE ASSISTANCE
It’s not easy having a reactive dog. As much as we may feel frustrated, restricted, angry or even ashamed or embarrassed, our reactive dogs are also experiencing a range of negative emotions when they react to something that triggers them.

This reaction is usually caused by anxiety, fear, feeling threatened or frustrated.

These emotions cause high levels of stress and stress prevents both us and our dogs from being able to process information, think clearly or learn a different, more acceptable way of reacting to whatever triggers us.

This is why creating enough distance is so important.

I’m really scared of snakes and even struggle to look at them. The only thing I want to do is run away and create as much distance as possible.

If someone was restraining me, forcing me to sit down and look at the snake while trying to feed me my favourite chocolate (or any type of chocolate!), telling me there was nothing to worry about or trying to educate me about the specific species, it would do nothing to alleviate my fear and would only increase my stress levels.

Doing this at a sufficient distance, where I felt safe would be far more effective and my stress levels would be much lower. I may even eat the entire slab of chocolate!

In time, with patience and practice, I may even be able to get much closer to the snake without having a negative reaction.

The same principle applies to reactive dogs. Creating sufficient distance where they can see the trigger but still feel safe, comfortable and don’t react is the best way of helping them to cope with their feelings.

Some dogs (and people) may never be able to decrease that distance and that’s also okay.

Accept your dog for the unique individual they are, work on the things you can change and accept the things you can’t.

06/10/2023

THE CHOICE TO CHOOSE
WHY DOGS SHOULD BE ALLOWED CHOICE

Imagine every little detail of your life is controlled - what and when you eat, where you sleep, when you’re allowed inside or outside, when you’re allowed to go for a walk and if you’re allowed to stop and explore, who you’re allowed or forced to interact with, what activities you’re allowed to participate in, when you’re shown affection or receive attention, where you’re allowed to be touched etc.

This would create stress and anxiety, a feeling of helplessness, apathy, a lack of confidence and many other negative emotions. The same is true for dogs.

Dogs live in a world where just about everything is controlled by us. Allowing choice, no matter how simple that choice may be, provides so many benefits.

The context and parameters in which we allow choice is obviously important. Safety, boundaries, environmental factors, other people or animals always need to be taken into account.

A very long time ago, when my daughter was going through the “terrible 2’s” or maybe it was 3’s or 4’s, she would flat-out refuse to put on the set of clothes I had picked out for her.

Tantrums and stubbornness would often make us late for wherever we were going. This problem was solved by laying out 3 different sets of clothes and allowing her to choose which set she was going to wear.

These were still within my parameters and were still my choice, but by doing this I had allowed her a choice and the problem was solved, without harsh discipline or emotional fall out.

Dogs that are allowed some control over their environment and how they respond to situations are more confident, more emotionally balanced, better able to cope with stressful situations, less anxious, less stressed and have fewer behaviour problems.

Look for simple, safe ways to provide more choices for your dog. Improve their wellbeing and quality of life in a world that seeks to control them.

17/09/2023

It can be confusing trying to figure out all the different training styles. Pat Miller describes them.

Clicker training, positive reinforcement training, balanced dog training. . . . What do these terms mean, and what’s the best way to train your dog?

30/08/2023

PREDICTABLE PATTERNS AND WHY THEY MATTER
We can help our dogs cope in our world by providing predictable patterns that they can follow, even when the unpredictable happens.

This requires consistency and repetition, but dogs quickly learn what to do when that behaviour creates a predictable, rewarding result.

Predictability allows the brain to conserve energy which lowers anxiety and creates a sense of trust and security in knowing what to expect or what comes next.

Like other animals, people included, dogs are experts at looking for and finding patterns.

Being able to find a predictable pattern, not just in an environment but in the behaviour of others, helps to make sense of a situation, rather than feeling confused or anxious when no pattern can be found.

When we create predictable patterns, dogs begin to understand what happens and how they should respond when a specific situation occurs.

The situation becomes the cue for the behaviour rather than the cue itself. We often get caught up in using cues instead of just showing our dogs that this is what they should do in this situation.

Pattern games or training a behaviour by using patterns is a really effective tool to use with dogs that are reactive, anxious, fearful or lack confidence.

They’re simple and quick to teach and provide predictability when a situation may be unpredictable.

To find out more about Leslie McDevitt’s different pattern games from the Controlled Unleashed ™ program, have a look at Tanzi Leary’s (CDBC, CPDT-KA, PMCT1, SAPT, FFCP) website - https://www.dogcrazylady.com/post/pattern-games

29/08/2023

28/08/2023

POOCHES DON’T LIKE SMOOCHES!

Should we be hugging and kissing our dogs because it shows our dogs just how much we love them?

After all it’s how we as people show our love, affection and provide comfort to one another.

But dogs are not people and we can’t just assume that they enjoy this or understand what we are trying to communicate.

But my dog enjoys being hugged and kissed! Yes, there may be some dogs that do, or some dogs that have learnt over time to tolerate this invasion of their personal space because they have learnt there is no escape. They are trapped, confined, immobilised and helpless.

The majority of pictures of people hugging or kissing dogs clearly show many signs of stressed body language.

It’s so important to be aware of how our dogs are feeling by learning basic body language. It’s the way our dogs communicate and we owe it to them to understand their language.

Respect a dog’s personal space. Provide a choice. Seek consent. This is what builds relationship and trust.

Save your smooches for the people in your life that enjoy them!

24/08/2023

https://phys.org/news/2023-08-dog-brains-tuned-dog-directed-speech.html?fbclid=IwAR3OIqG0lj_PWhhVmjacAokEpAUy730aSURhOyhCleWehMoPff9fhs2xZbU

Dogs show greater brain sensitivity to the speech directed at them than to adult-directed speech, especially if spoken by women, according to a new study in Communications Biology.

23/08/2023

Ever wondered why most free living dogs (dogs that belong to no one) seem to get on with most other animals and people? They don't have separation anxiety or destructive behaviours? They read each other's body language really well and may avoid conflict better than our pets?

This could be due to CHOICE - something that pet dogs don't seem to have much off while sleeping on our King size beds and having plenty of soft toys.

Free living dogs have the following choices:

1. Where and when to sleep
2. What do eat
3. Who to be friends with - humans and dogs
4. What activities to engage in
5. When to play
6. To reproduce or not
7. To not be on a lead and be free to roam
8. To sniff everything and anything
9. To roll in stinky stuff
10. To bark
11. To dig holes
12. To chew stuff

Yes, they may lack the fabulous medical care that we provide our pet dogs, limited access to food and their longevity may be less due to other risks but their short lives seem happier than our captive pet dogs.

So what can we do to enhance the lives of our pet dogs (captive dogs)? I believe in giving my dogs, and those of my clients, more natural behaviours and as many safe CHOICES as far as possible:

1. Choices regarding toys
2. Choices regarding activities to engage in
3. Choices regarding snacks
4. Choices as to where to sleep
5. Choices regarding friends
6. Choices to go for walks or not
7. Choices to go in the car or not
8. Choices to be touched or not
9. Choices to engage with guests or not
10. Choices to engage in natural behaviours like sniffing, foraging, hunting, chewing and licking
11. Choices to wear a jersey or not
12. Choices re crate usage
13. Choices to be groomed in emotional and physical safety

I used to feel sorry for the dogs I saw roaming around the international cities that I went on holiday to or the local townships when I didn't know better. But now I realize how happy they all seemed, without being behind gates and walls with material goodies while being subjected to human whims and fancy.

I am not advocating for all pet dogs to be set free as it is too late for that, in addition to being impractical and dangerous, but we can seek ways to enhance and enrich their lives by giving them choices where possible.

What choices do you give your dogs to enhance their lives?

Edit - re procreation, if you keep unsterilized dogs or cats in captivity and don't allow them to fulfill their natural reproductive urges, please consider that this may be cruel. Rather sterilize them at an appropriate age as it's humane and in line with welfare objectives.

11/08/2023

Remember to praise and reward seconds after your dog eliminates and throw a 5 second puppy party both outside when when you come right back inside.

08/08/2023

WOW! Not only is this remodeled river-front cabin gorgeous, it has its own private dog park, nearly an acre. Coolest feature I've seen yet in any vacation spot. Not to be missed if you're in the Blue Ridge area in Georgia!
https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/752808958496275992?source_impression_id=p3_1691512132_mVCSskjoAxIfGmiE

04/08/2023

Fear is the easiest things to condition in dogs and the hardest to resolve. Fear can come from many places, many of which we don't control. This infographic is my most downloaded and shared resource. Download your copy here: http://rescuedbytraining.com/fear-in-dogs-infographic/
and for a deep dive into each of these, read the accompanying Fear In Dogs blog series here: https://rescuedbytraining.com/tag/fear-in-dogs-series/

02/08/2023

DON’T FORCE ME TO BE SOCIAL!
Do we like everyone we meet? Do we all enjoy socialising and spending time with lots of different people? I certainly don’t and refer to myself as a “caninetrovert” – a person that much prefers to spend time with dogs rather than people. Maybe I’m a little different to the “norm”, but be that as it may, we are all individuals with different personality styles and social preferences.

Some of us are extroverts, gaining energy from interacting with people; some of us introverts, who find people draining and need alone time to recharge our social batteries and some of us are somewhere in between.

If we acknowledge that we are all different in this way, we also need to acknowledge and accept that our dogs are similar.

They could be overly affectionate or fiercely independent, approachable or nervous, energetic or laid back, confident or cautious, sociable, tolerant, selective or reactive.

We may be really disappointed when our dogs turn out not to be the socialite we expected them to be.

Some may even see this as a behaviour problem that needs to be “fixed”. Sometimes it can be improved, especially if the cause is from a negative experience, but genetics, breed tendencies, individual personalities, health and age all contribute to tolerance levels and sociability.

Accept your dog for who they are, allow them to choose whether they want to be sociable or not, respect their choices and never force an interaction that your dog is not comfortable with.

07/07/2023

I received this message today. Not only did it make my day, my week, it gives me hope and keeps me going. Thank you Lisa from Lake Worth! Look at that relaxed face on Sheba, a gorgeous Malinois. This is the power of Positive Reinforcement put to practice. Not balance training. Not correction-based training. Positive Reinforcement training in the 'right' hands, in the hands of a practiced, knowledgeable, certified canine behavior consultant, can be life changing.

"I wanted to reach out and tell you about something that happened yesterday. Sheba had a drop off vet appointment, and you may remember how bad her leash reactivity is. On the way to the vet I could feel my anxiety getting higher and higher the closer we got, anticipating her lunging, barking and being generally scary for strangers to deal with. When we arrived there was a woman outside with her dog, so I waited until they went inside to get Sheba out of my Jeep. We went inside, and I waited off to the side where Sheba couldn't see the other dogs. I got us checked in, and then went off to a separate area. That is when people started coming in with their dogs. "Oh boy, here we go" I thought... only this time, Sheba had a surprise for me. Would you believe NO BARKING, NO LUNGING, NO NOTHING! I was quite literally in shock!

I really couldn't believe what I was seeing at the vet. Like REALLY couldn't believe it. The process of such short sessions, the micro walks, felt so simple that I couldn't imagine it was doing much of anything.

This is thanks to you and your methods that I have been practicing with Sheba in very small doses. I have been building her confidence with games. I take her on "Micro-walks" as I call them, randomly exposing her to other dogs from a distance while praising and rewarding, and then walking her away from their direction, and playing the "look at that" game you taught me. I keep everything very brief so she doesn't have an opportunity to fail at the exercises.

Look at the dog in the upper right and all the slack on Sheba's leash! I am over the moon and now instead of keeping her mostly isolated from the world, I am so excited to take her out (again in small doses for now) to practice this amazing behavior! Thank you thank you thank you for everything you taught me!! 🙏"

01/07/2023

I did not write this, but I concur 100%

22/06/2023

PESKY PULLERS

Why dogs pull on leash

This is a really common problem and one that often causes us huge frustration.

It can make walks really unpleasant or we may even stop all together because our dogs pull so much.

Understanding why dogs pull is important. They don’t pull because they are trying to be the Alpha, be the top dog, trying to dominate us or take over the world.

Getting out for a walk is a really exciting, stimulating time for our dogs, especially if they’ve been cooped up in the same place for hours or days at a time without anything to do.

Pulling is normal, natural behaviour. Having to walk slowly, calmly, stuck to our side when the only thing our dogs can think about is pulling forward and exploring the environment requires a huge amount of impulse control that may be just too much for many dogs to master.

Yanking the leash, using choke collars, prong collars, slip leads or similar types of tools in an attempt to control this natural impulse is not the answer.

They may provide us with a feeling of being in control but leave our dogs feeling even more frustrated or they pull even harder in an attempt to make us move forward.

Do we really need to have our dogs walk calmly stuck to our side? Is this being fair to them?

Learning and practicing loose lead walking, using a long line when it’s safe to do so, taking your dog for a decompression walk where they can choose which direction to go and when to stop and sniff, booking a sniff spot or a walking area, driving to a safe, open area where they can explore, rewarding them for checking in with you are all ways to meet their natural needs and might even result in a dog that stops pulling.

16/06/2023

Puppy Socialization class in Boynton Beach
Kindergarten obedience and introduction to Life Skills
Fear prevention
Leash Walking
Cooperative Care and body handling

24/05/2023

Thanks to .center for this awesome graphic. Study it, then put it into practice.

18/05/2023

5 freedoms of animal welfare - freedom number 4 - freedom to express normal behaviour

How do our dogs behave normally? Do you know what those normal behaviours are?

If someone stands too close to you and you don't have the option of moving away, is it normal human behaviour to ask them to move back? Yes, of course. If they don't, is it normal to ask them a little more forcefully? I'd say so, or at least maybe.

Do we allow our dogs to do the same? Probably not as much as we might. Yesterday I saw an incident in the park where an adolescent dog was a little rude to another dog. Dog number 2 gave a low growl, a "back off, more space" kind of thing. The owner of dog 2 then gave their dog into trouble for around 20 seconds, presumably because she was embarrassed.

Growling, barking, running, chasing, digging, tugging are all normal dog behaviour. I'm not suggestion we allow our dogs to chase sheep or deer but if they want to, give them a chance to run and chase you holding a tug toy and give them a game.

If they growl at a dog or person, train them to call away to you so that you help them get the space they need.

Learn what dogs do. Build those opportunities into your daily interactions with your dog.

We need to stop suppressing our dogs' normal behaviour in order to completely fit in with our human lives. What a miserable existence that would be.

Love and peace.