Ahimsa Dog Training

06/08/2024

Thank you for your post Heal the Dog

06/08/2024

Thank you for your post Heal the Dog

*Image used is to emphasise the point of the post, and is in no way an endorsement of such tools.

05/08/2024

Thank you for the post Dog Behaviour Clinic

If it is possible to prepare a wild animal to accept a procedure such as nail trims or blood draws, why then do we expect our dogs to be able to tolerate these things without any prior training or that they will simply accept these things if we offer them food?

03/08/2024

Optimism

01/08/2024

Anyone going to the Agricultural Festival in McNab this Saturday..... 🐷🐖🐷🐖🐷🐖🐽🐽🐽

30/07/2024

About this... Dogs need time to chill to feel their best

26/07/2024

Modelling calm behaviour for our dogs, another teaching tool

Thank you for the post Calvert Canines

The often forgotten "training technique": modelling.

We've all heard of positive reinforcement as an excellent way of training our dogs to perform a certain behaviour. Some of us may even be familiar with the various ways of reaching that goal behaviour - shaping, luring, capturing or moulding.

MODELLING is a "training technique" often forgotten but it is incredibly, incredibly powerful and our dogs are doing it far more than we realise.

Whilst settling in Lily I've been using modelling as my primary technique. She has struggled with agitation and restlessness (hardly surprising) and some may say: "teach her to find calm reinforcing! Do some mat training! Pay her for being calm! Don't forget to capture it too!"

This wouldn't have worked for Lily and in fact I'd argue has limited success in most dogs. Because most dogs find learning something through offering reinforcement activating rather than calming. For Lily food is LIFE. There is no such thing as "low value" in her world. (Except vegetables, yuck). If I sat down with treats she wouldn't be able to offer me calm - it'd be "tell me how to get that now!!!!". Even if she offered a lay down it wouldn't be relaxed.

So like I said, instead I've been modelling. A lot. I've taken a bit of time away from work the last few weeks because if I want her to find her chill during the day I need to show her how to do that. We've spent many many hours just chilled out together in various spaces of the house. If she gets up from rest and starts asking the question "what are we doing now?" I simply reply: "this". In other words I STAY MODELLING THAT RELAXATION. So she takes herself back to her chosen spot and with a sigh goes back to dozing. (I might finally get a book written if I keep this up!).

As long as her needs have been met and she has been adequately exercised and fed and toileted etc I am setting her up to find relaxation "feel good" aka reinforcing. Not because I'm paying her to do it, but because she's able to appreciate the way it feels.

The picture is her current position as I write this (at 7.10pm). 7-8pm is her worst hour for agitation. I don't know why but she would literally lose her head the first week of adoption in this hour. All I've done is repeatedly model calm during the day by being calm and relaxed myself. Literally - feet up on the sofa listening to chill music. It's doing both of us good I think! It's slowly spread to this - a chilled out dog even in her tricky hour.

It's really hard to not just keep offering them walks and play and things to do when they are restless. Really hard! But no amount of physical exercise will teach a dog that it's ok to chill out and just REST. And no amount of food is going to teach the dog that either.

We've all heard the very typical phrase now "to calm a dog get them chewing, licking or sniffing!" and yes, that CAN BE true, up to a point. But what if it's even easier than that? What if it's simply a case of showing them, with your own body and mind, what you want them to do? 🐾💜

23/07/2024

Wakefield Quebec

22/07/2024

It's never too late to work on your loose leash skills

22/07/2024

Using 'corrections' to alter behaviour only tells the dog what not to do. It gives no information on what to do instead, and doesn't take the reasons for the dog showing that particular behaviours into account. In particular it suppresses the emotions that have prompted the behaviour and, while it seems to have worked as the behaviour stops, the emotions are still there.

Those emotions can then lead to fallout later, with the potential for much more serious issues than the original behaviour their humans wanted to stop.

When we focus on building a connection, understanding our dogs and their behaviours and why they do the things that they do, we can see the 'why' of the behaviour and take any action necessary to remove the need or reasons for that behaviour.

Whether there is something the dog is struggling with in that situation or if they need a bit more reinforcement history or help to understand that the cue we are asking them to follow means the same thing out in the world as it does when we first taught them it at home.

Whether the root cause is fear, frustration, confusion, pain, or any more of a list of possible underlying causes, having a strong connection and understanding of our dogs will let us see what they need and how we can work to provide it for them.

22/07/2024

It's never too late to work on some loose leash walking skills

20/07/2024

I'm so grateful to all the teachers who came my way 🐾🐾

17/07/2024

Or... What will happen to the hoomans who refuse to pay their dogs in a species specific currency....... Food...... I have heard it is being withheld while teaching dogs much needed skills🐾🐾

16/07/2024

Not respect, just compliance to avoid negative repercussions

Thank you for your post Heal the Dog

16/07/2024

More on dogs and pain

Thank you Parker and Pooch

So, off the back of last week’s post - let’s say that you’ve now got that little niggling thought in your head: “Maybe my dog is in pain…?”

So what do you do now?

Your first port of call is probably going to be a visit to the vets for a full vet check, but let’s hold fire for one second.

The vets can be a stressful place for a lot of dogs, and if that’s the case for your dog - as I mentioned before - adrenaline and cortisol will be coursing through their bloodstream, overriding any sensation of pain.

So the underlying cause of pain will still be there, but in that setting they won't be feeling as much, or even any pain. And so they're unlikely to show many physical signs of pain, even if thoroughly assessed.

Which means it can be really difficult for your vet to be able to see that anything is wrong, much less be able to diagnose the root cause of chronic pain in a 10 or 15 minute check up.

[Now you might be thinking… well what's the point of going then? 🤔 But the next step to identifying what's going for your dog is probably going to be one of three things: a pain trial, a referral to a veterinary physiotherapist, or some sort of imaging scan ie x-rays, CT etc. And none of those are going to happen without an initial vet visit]

So, help your vets out… the more prepared you are for your appointment, and the more specific you can be about your concerns, the more they can help you.

✅️ Take videos or photos of your dog, to capture anything you've spotted in terms of how they walk, how they hold themselves etc. You can show these to your vet to illustrate how your dog moves naturally when they're not in a stressful environment.

(And before you ask, yes, I have taken a video of Alice pooing before now. And no, the neighbours didn't ask what I was doing. They know me as the crazy dog lady already 🤣)

✅️ Keep a diary to track symptoms, be that behaviour or physical changes. This can help your vet to get a wider view of what's going on for your dog.

✅️ Make a list before you go of all the things you want to cover. I know from personal experience that it’s very easy to know exactly what you want to say in an appointment, and then for your mind to go completely blank when you get in there 🙈

So write down all the little quirks that are creating your suspicions about pain, all the questions you want to ask, and what you want to get out of the appointment ie your next step.

✅️ You can even email some or all of the above to your vets ahead of your appointment, so you can make the most of your time with them.

Now I said your first port of call is “probably” going to be a visit to the vets, rather than “definitely” going to be a visit to the vets.

Because it might be that you can’t even contemplate taking your dog to the vets 🫣 They’re too scared or stressed. Maybe the last time you braved it, it was a complete car crash, and you really don’t want to put your dog and yourself through that again.

If this is the case, speak to your vets and see how they can support you:

▶️ Can they see your dog in the car park?

▶️ Can they make adjustments so that you can get into the building: Can you come in via the back door so you avoid the waiting room? Can you have an appointment at the quietest time of day? Can you wait in the car park until the vet is ready and you can go straight into the consulting room?

▶️ Can you build up to an appointment gradually? By first getting your dog used to the car park, then entering the reception area, just hanging around eating treats, and gradually work your way up to an actual appointment?

Even if it’s still a no go with all of the above, don’t worry - you still have options!

▶️ You can have a phone call appointment. Or you could attend an appointment without your dog. Either way, you can share videos and photos of your dog, and discuss your concerns with the vet.

Your vet will probably still need to see your dog afterwards, but either of these mean that you can have a good discussion and get all your points across, without also having to worry about how your dog is coping.

▶️ Or something else to consider is a Dynamic Dog assessment. This is completed entirely hands off, and so can be done virtually. It's a thorough analysis of gait and posture, with consideration of behaviour and daily activities of your dog.

Your Dynamic Dog Practitioner will provide you with a detailed report that you can share with your vet, and they can then support you through appointments and help you advocate for your dog. (I’ll pop a link in the comments for where you can find out more about Dynamic Dog).

Hopefully, based on all your input, your vet is going to take your concerns seriously and recommend one of the following:

⭐️ Further investigation via x-rays, CT scan etc, depending on the suspected condition

⭐️ A pain trial: This is where your vet prescribes pain medication for a period of time, so you can monitor whether there is any change to your dog’s symptoms/signs once they’re on pain relief.

This needs to be longer than a week or two, 4 to 6 weeks as a minimum. Sometimes painkillers can take time to build up in the dog’s system and to take effect. Also, if a dog has been in pain for a considerable amount of time, they may continue to hold themselves or move themselves in compensating ways even after the pain has gone away, because that’s what they’ve become accustomed to doing, to minimise the pain.

Keeping a diary during the pain trial can be really useful, as it means that you can be more objective about whether the meds are making any difference or not, especially when the symptoms were subtle to begin with.

Also, it’s important to note that just like in humans, different medications target different types of pain. Typically anti-inflammatory meds would initially be prescribed for a pain trial, but just because your dog doesn’t respond to the first meds you try, that doesn’t mean they’re not in pain. Perserving with further trials with different types of pain relief might be what's needed to find out what's actually going on.

⭐️ Or referral to a veterinary physiotherapist: a physio assessment is far longer than a vet appointment and therefore they can explore and investigate more thoroughly than is possible in a vet check. A physio will check joint motion, gait and posture analysis, muscle mass, and much more besides.

So what do you do if you don’t get a satisfactory response from your vets?

❌️ what if your vet says it’s a training or behavioural issue, not a medical one?

❌️ what if your vet prescribes behaviour medication, not pain medication?

❌️ what if your vet says the things you’ve noticed are normal for your dog, or their breed?

❌️ what if your vet won’t try a pain trial, won’t give you a referral to a physiotherapist, or won’t consider further investigations?

❌️ ultimately, what if your vet says your dog isn’t in pain?

If you're not happy with the response from your vet, you are absolutely entitled to seek a second opinion. You could ask to see a different vet at the same practice, or you could see a vet at another practice.

If you are working with a trainer or behaviourist, they may be more than happy to accompany you on a vet visit to help you advocate for your dog.

Legally, only a vet can diagnose a medical condition in a dog (or any other animal). But a vet cannot diagnose that a dog ISN’T in pain. Only the dog knows whether they’re in pain or not.

And unfortunately they can’t tell us in words. But if they’re telling us in other ways, it's essential that we listen to them ❤️

15/07/2024

Thanks for the post Good Guardianship

"He needs to get over it!"

"Leave her, she'll get used to it."

We so often hear these words used when talking about dogs who are scared of something. That it's just something they have to get used to and, if we make them stay close to it for long enough, that they will realise there is no danger and learn to accept it.

There is a logic there - after all, this is how immersion therapy for phobias works with people. In a controlled setting the person is exposed to the source of their fear while the therapist helps them to remain as calm and grounded as possible. And so, with exposure, they come to be less terrified, less likely to have that immediate instinctive reaction that screams at them 'Danger, RUN!'

Here's the thing - that doesn't work with dogs. They will not just get over it, or suddenly realise that they are safe. Rather than helping, forcing a dog to stay in proximity of something that scares them can make things a whole lot worse.

This technique of making the dog stay close to the source of their fear is called flooding. And yes, it can work well with people in certain cases and used carefully. So why not with dogs?

Humans have a much more developed pre-frontal cortex in the brain than dogs, and this is where reasoning takes place. Dogs simply are not equipped to carry out the same level of reasoning as humans. Much more of their brain proportionally is involved in processing instinctive responses including fear responses when they feel they are in danger.

This means they are not capable of the thought processes that exposure therapy relies on because they cannot reason that they are in a controlled environment and nothing bad is going to happen to them.

What flooding is far more likely to do in dogs is lead to them shutting down. They can’t escape from the thing that is causing their fear and, especially when they have tried to get away in the past but have been prevented, they give up and just wait for it to be over.

This is truly an awful situation to contemplate, a dog who feels all they can do is shut down and wait for the trigger of their terror to go away. Even worse, this can be mistaken for calm and good behaviour by people who are unaware of what flooding does.

A lot of what I do involves ‘reactive’ dogs who are reacting to something in their environment due to fear or anxiety. Some trainers, who either don’t know better or do not care about the emotional state of the dog, may put aversive equipment on the dog such as prong or shock collars. The dog learns that, if they react, it hurts and so they stop reacting.

This leads the ignorant or unscrupulous trainer to claim the dog is ‘fixed’ when in fact the dog knows they cannot escape and, if they try, it will hurt, and so they shut down and wait. It’s heartbreaking when you realise what is actually going on in these situations. There is also the massive damage that is done to the bond and trust between the dog and their people.

When a dog is scared of something they need distance from that thing and, if it’s something that we need them to be more comfortable with, a careful programme of helping them to feel better about that thing.

And, if your dog is scared, it’s absolutely fine to comfort them – you will not make their fear worse. What you will do is reinforce to your dog that, if they are scared and they come to you they will get comfort and help to feel safer in that moment.

How could that ever be a bad thing?

13/07/2024

Dogs and pain. It isn't always obvious, can be difficult to to diagnose and has a huge impact on your dog’s behavior

Thank you Parker and Pooch

So let’s talk about pain…

I preface all this by saying, no-one wants to think that their dog is in pain.

But it’s better to know and be able to do something about it, than be unaware as to what might really be going on for your dog.

I know this first hand, from us not realising for a long time that Alice was in pain - hers was muscular pain, tense overworked muscles in her hindquarters, from having to compensate for her missing front leg.

She came to us already three-legged, and when we first worked with a trainer, they suggested she might benefit from regular physio to mitigate any issues that might arise over time from her amputation.

Unfortunately our vets at the time told us this wasn’t needed, and she’d only need physio as and when she was struggling.

Sadly, this information was incorrect, and she should have been having maintenance physio from the get go.

Years later, the same vets also said there was nothing wrong with her, even after I began to suspect that there was something going on for her in terms of pain/discomfort.

Isn’t hindsight a wonderful thing? 🤷‍♀️

I share this story not to vet bash, but to explain that I know exactly what it’s like to a) be oblivious that your dog is in pain, and b) struggle to be taken seriously when you do start to have a niggling doubt that everything is ok.

So… first, we need to make a distinction between acute pain and chronic pain.

⚡️ Acute pain usually comes on suddenly, often through injury or illness. It’s usually of short duration, and is often resolved when the body heals itself. (But it can also leave lingering effects, and become chronic pain)

⚡️ Chronic pain is long lasting, it’s caused by an underlying issue, and can often gradually get worse over time. And it’s usually harder to identify and diagnose.

That’s not to say that acute pain is more painful than chronic, or vice versa. It depends on the specific pain.

The experience of pain also depends on the individual - some dogs can be incredibly stoic about even a very high degree of pain, whereas another dog with exactly the same condition might show us more signs that they’re in pain.

🗣 “She can’t be in pain, she’s not limping”

Reality: Dogs will often let you know about acute pain, but they’re usually masters of hiding chronic pain. A lot of the time, the only signs of chronic pain are behavioural, and potentially some subtle physical signs.

🗣 “He can’t be in pain, he still loves running after his ball”

Reality: Adrenaline and cortisol both mask pain. Dogs are often happy to continue with activities they enjoy and find exciting - such as fetching a ball, playing with doggy friends, or chasing wildlife - even though they’re in pain, because those activities stimulate the release of hormones which override the sensation of pain.

(And that also means it can be very hard to diagnose pain in a veterinary setting, because a lot of dogs are already stressed simply about being at the vets. Increased levels of adrenaline and cortisol can again easily mask any pain and therefore no physical symptoms are exhibited.)

🗣 “She's always moved like that / behaved like that, so it can't be a sign of pain.”

Reality: (and remember, I preface this by saying, no-one wants to think that their dog is in pain. Much less that they’ve always been in pain, and that we didn’t know about it). Sadly, if she’s always done that, it might be because she’s always been in pain to some degree.

So if chronic pain is so hard to recognise and identify, what can we do about it?

There are actually lots of physical signs of potential chronic pain in dogs, it’s just sometimes they’re quite subtle:

❎️ GAIT… there is a “correct” way a dog should move - regardless of breed - at different speeds (i.e. walk, trot, canter, and gallop) in terms of how and when they move their legs, which order and which legs move together. Abnormalities or adaptations or to this can indicate that something is going on.

This could be something like bunny hopping or skipping. Or pacing - where a dog moves by lifting their two left limbs at the same time, and then their two right limbs together - this isn’t a normal gait in any dog, and is usually an attempt to offload weight from a painful part of the body.

❎️ COAT PATTERNS & DISTURBANCES… a dog’s fur can be affected by tension held in the body. This can manifest itself as differences in texture, colour, and/or direction of fur.

(When Alice’s muscles in her hind legs were particularly tight, eg after exercise, the fur directly above those muscles wound themselves into little curls and other crazy patterns - I’ll pop a photo of this in the comments for anyone that’s interested)

❎️ POSTURE… how a dog holds themself, in different stationary positions (such as sitting or standing) and while they’re moving, can also give clues. Conformation (which means how they’re put together as a dog) varies by breed, but in principle, dogs should be symmetrical.

They should be equal weight bearing on all four limbs (unless they’ve only got three 🥰), not favouring one side or the other. And those four legs should be square and parallel to each other - if you’re looking from behind, whether they’re stood still or moving, you shouldn’t be able to really see the front legs, because they should be directly in front of the back legs.

Believe it or not, how a dog holds themself while toileting can be a big red flag! It’s not something that many people would consider, but for example, an inability to hold position while pooing, i.e. pooing on the move rather than staying in a stationary squat, or doing lots of little poos at different times can indicate that keeping still in that position is uncomfortable.

❎️ OTHER MOVEMENT… difficulty or hesitancy in navigating changes in height can also be an indicator - this could be jumping on or off furniture, jumping in or out of a car, or going up or down steps or stairs.

Or the opposite can also be true - hurtling up or down stairs can be a telltale sign that they’re not able to do a controlled slow ascent or descent, because it would hurt to do so.

❎️ EARS… and another little known sign is that tension in the ears can often indicate tension in the hindquarters. If one ear has a tendency to stay more rigid and flops less than the other, this can correlate with tension in one side of the hindquarters.

(This was something I’d noticed with Alice but not realised the significance. Now, I find it fascinating to watch - her left ear will be held tighter first thing when we head out on a walk and she’s stiff, and it gradually relaxes and gets more floppy as she loosens up.)

There are also lots of behavioural signs of potential chronic pain, that again can often be subtle and therefore easily overlooked. Here’s just a few:

❎️ Avoidance of being touched, or sensitivity to being touched, maybe to only certain parts of their body

❎️ Sensitivity to noises… this might mean they startle when they hear a sound that doesn’t seem that loud to us, or might be full blown panic at certain sounds

❎️ Hyperactive, restless, an inability to settle… if you're in pain, it's hard to get comfortable

❎️ Moving away, or even growling, when you sit on the sofa or get on the bed next to them… growling in this instance might make some people’s minds immediately jump to resource guarding: “they’re being possessive about the sofa / the bed”.

But sitting next to them disturbs the soft surface that they’re lying on, which means they get moved out of position, which could cause discomfort if there’s underlying pain. And if this happens a lot, then they will anticipate pain as soon as someone even approaches the sofa or bed, and react accordingly.

❎️ “Stubborn” or “naughty” behaviours… refusing to do something - especially something they have previously been taught, or previously were happy to do - can actually be a reluctance to do something that is going to cause them pain, rather than that they’re ‘misbehaving’ on purpose.

Phew! Well done if you’ve made it this far, that turned out to be a far longer post than I originally thought it might be 🙈

So. That’s not to say that the existence or occurrence of any of the above definitely means your dog is suffering with undiagnosed pain.

But it’s enough to consider exploring and investigating further, to start observing your dog a little more closely, and see if you spot any other potential indicators of pain.

The next post is going to cover what to do next when you do have a sneaking suspicion that there might be something going on for your dog in terms of pain or discomfort.

But in the meantime, if you want to know more about anything I’ve mentioned, or reading this has created a little niggling thought in your head - feel free to message me and we can have a chat about it ❤️

12/07/2024

Children represent a massive proportion of reported dog bite cases.

These pictures, selected from a massive library of similar stock photos of children with dogs, show some of the reasons for this.

Humans like physical contact. We're generally huggers, particularly with a gorgeous animal like a dog - that soft coat and gorgeous faces just look perfect for a hug, especially to a child.

Dogs are definitely not like us in this way. True, there are some dogs who may enjoy cuddling up with their people, and even like or don't mind hugs. One of my dogs is very much in favour of physical contact. Importantly, however, it is only with the people he chooses. The ones he knows and trusts.

Kids often cannot read canine body language. The signs are here in the photographs used of a tense and unhappy dog, but the children in these pictures can't see and interpret them.

It's up to us as adults, whether parents, dog caregivers, or both, to make sure that we are educated on canine body language and can see the signs of stress.

That we make sure to advocate for the dogs so that they are not put in this position.

To make sure that the children around us are educated and taught about the likes and dislikes of dogs.

To stop putting children and dogs into potentially dangerous situations for the cute photo or video (the videos of babies propped up against dogs make most behaviour professionals shudder because that is so not fair on either species!)

Let's be fair to both dogs and children and use education and understanding to keep children and dogs happy and safe together.

30/06/2024

Here are some helpful tips for anyone whose animals are frightened by fireworks or thunderstorms

Fourth of July is right around the corner, which means the dreaded sky booms are coming. Fireworks season can be such a terrifying time for dogs who struggle with noise phobia or similar sound sensitivities. Trembling, cowering, hiding, pacing, panting – these are among the common signs. As for pu...

29/06/2024

Slow down. Take time to smell the flowers with your dogs.

27/06/2024

Things that Sedric likes to do

17/06/2024

PUPPY K CLASS

I'm offering a young puppy class. We will focus on socialization and building engagement with your pup as well as learning new skills such as: loose leash walking, sit, down, recall, trade, etc… We will cover strategies to help with puppy nipping and mouthing, and the witching hour!!!

We will teach using reward based training techniques and games. Reward based training will help you strengthen your canine human connection and earn your pups' cooperation. This will help them learn new stuff and build confidence.

Instructional documents are provided to enable you to follow through working with your pup on these skills.

Come on out and have fun working/playing with your pup!

Pre-Requisites: None
Age: 12 to 16 weeks
Vaccinations: 1 x DHPP (or a letter from your vet)
Class Format: 5 x 45 minute classes
STARTING DATES: July 9, 2024, 6 pm
Place:Outdoors in Village Wakefield
Please email to register for the classes

Class cancellations/changes: please note that we reserve the right to change the location and/or date and/or time of the class if operational needs require it (ex: inclement weather, class size, illness, etc.). However, we will do our best not to make these changes unnecessarily.

17/06/2024

I'm offering a Basic Skills class for people and dog friendly dogs aged five months and over. We will focus on building engagement to enhance your human canine connection and help your pup learn new skills such as; loose leash walking, heeling, recall, sit stay, down stay, impulse control. We use games to enhance learning, and build a strong foundation for all your training.
Reward based training will help you build a strong relationship with your dog and earn their cooperation.

Instructional documents are provided to enable you to follow through working with your pup on these skills.

Come on out and have fun working and playing with your pup.

Basic Skills
Starting Date: Tuesday July 9th, 7:00 pm

Age: 5 months and up
Vaccinations: DHPP, rabies
Or a note from your Veterinarian
Pre-Requisites: None
Class Format: 5 x 45 minutes classes

Place: Outdoors in Wakefield Village

Email [email protected] for registration information

Class cancellations/changes: please note that we reserve the right to change the location and/or date and/or time of the class if operational needs require it (ex: inclement weather, class size, illness, etc.). However, we will do our best not to make these changes unnecessarily.