Natalie Piper - Dog Training

01/27/2025

🙌

WHOSE WALK IS IT ANYWAY?

Imagine going on a long-anticipated walk, through new scenery and exciting smells after being cooped up in the same place all day, but you have been fitted with a blind fold and are being dragged or yanked along at a fast pace.

I imagine that this is how dogs feel when we don’t allow them time to stop, sniff and explore the environment.

Dogs largely perceive their world through scent and it’s how they collect and process information to help the world make sense.

Taking away an opportunity for sniffing on a walk really isn’t being fair.. As much as physical exercise is important, the mental stimulation that sniffing provides is equally, if not more important.

Allowing dogs to choose when to stop and sniff provides so many benefits – increases self-confidence, promotes calmness, lowers stress and anxiety levels, lowers pulse rates, reduces cognitive decline in older dogs and provides important mental and environmental enrichment.

Make time for a slow sniffing walk when you can, where your dog is allowed to choose which direction to go and allowed time to just investigate, interpret, process the environment and follow wherever their nose leads them.

It may take far more time and patience as we wait for them to finish smelling that particular blade of grass, but the benefits are well worth it – after all, whose walk is it anyway?

01/22/2025

We have availability in our upcoming Puppy Socialization Classes! These classes are tailor-made to suit your paw-fect pal!
Classes begin Monday, February 3rd and run from 4:30-5:40PM right here at the Champaign County Humane Society in our indoor training facility.
Classes cost $120 for a 6-week session (meets once per week). There is a $20 discount for puppies adopted from CCHS or another shelter/rescue.
Please note that payment is due in full in order to reserve your spot in any CCHS dog training class. If you would like to bring your pup for Puppy Socialization Classes, please email [email protected] to get enrolled!

01/03/2025

The best part of my job is working with people and seeing the progress their dogs make. I am so very grateful for the Chambana / surrounding area community! If you want less stress and more joy with your dog this year but aren't sure how to approach your training and behavior goals, I can help you in the comfort of your own home. https://nataliepiperthedogtrainer.com/home/scheduling/

12/27/2024

Enrollment open for a small group dog training class - Advanced Manners! We will meet at dog friendly indoor locations Tuesdays at 5:30 beginning Jan 7th
https://app.acuityscheduling.com/schedule.php?owner=21334651&appointmentType=72369624

12/16/2024

05/25/2024

05/15/2024

05/10/2024

Did you know the way you train, or 'parent' your dog affects their attachment style?? 😮

It has been long recognised that a secure attachment style is the most optimum attachment style for human children, as it allows the child to feel more comfortable exploring and interacting with the world, and in the long term being able to grow into a well adjusted adult. The same parallel has also been found in dogs, and that secure attachment provides the optimum starting place for a well adjusted canine companion!

There is now even research showing that the pet parenting or training styles you use with your dog similarly mirror the parenting styles used for human children, and how they impact whether or not a secure attachment will form. With human children the styles of parenting are separated into several distinct styles including:

🔹Authoritative (responsive to needs, solves problems together, with clear expectations and rules)

🔹Authoritarian (demands obedience rather than working together, punishment based and little care of the child/learners needs or feelings)

🔹Permissive (no real boundaries or structure, indulgent of wants and needs of the child/learner)

And..

🔹 Neglectful/uninvolved (inconsistent boundaries, generally uninvolved and unresponsive to feelings or needs).

It has also been found that the authoritative style of pet parenting (shown through positive training, supportive and nurturing but not permissive) has the best outcome for producing securely attached dogs, and that the dogs were 'highly social, sensitive to social context and were more persistent and successful on the problem solving tasks'. Whereas authoritarian pet parenting (shown through balanced/alpha based training, strong boundaries and punishment based) had a significantly lower chance of producing a dog with a secure attachment. Permissive pet parenting styles (training with little to no boundaries or structure) also were less likely to have a secure attachment style (this research did not cover neglectful parenting styles).

This is further evidence, backed by scientific study, that punishment based training does not produce the most well adjusted canine companions, and that structure and boundaries taught with kindness rather than fear is the way to go! 👍

You can check out the study mentioned in the graphic for yourself here: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36175745/

And learn more about attachment in our previous graphic here: https://www.facebook.com/DogNerdSussex/posts/pfbid02vKQKArqRNLn44TnsCQi7v4ck565piEE8idrT7rA5jEFN1SZvMGKo6aVnn9cz4yTjl

01/19/2024

A few spots open for classes that begin this Monday at Champaign County Humane Society:

4:30pm Puppy (2-4months)

5:45pm Basic Manners

At class we work on skills like loose leash walking, polite greetings, sit, down, stay, leave it, drop it, and more!

To register for puppy please call CCHS at (217)344-7297

To register for Basic manners please follow link below to form:

01/19/2024