Spring has finally spung in Calgary and it's peopley outside! We're using scatter feeding to help Cooper experience the joy of neighbors at play after a quiet winter. Volume up, this is magically uneventful 💕🐾
I had the opportunity to take two of our ARF Alberta - Animal Rescue Foundation residents- Sheba and Thumper- out for a sniffari at Play Unleashed with my friend Carrie Karpoff today. It's hard to say whose mental health benefited more. There is nothing better for the heart than seeing dogs sniffing in an enriched environment 💕🐾 https://arf.ab.ca/animal/5507m-thumper/
https://arf.ab.ca/animal/5254f-sheba/
Today was enrichment day at ARF Alberta - Animal Rescue Foundation - which means that all dogs got an extra one to one, with time to decompress using ACE Freework, practice pattern games, as well as any specialized skills that they are working on to support their successful transition to foster or adoption. If you are local to Calgary and considering fostering or adopting, reach out to ARF. The standard of care is unparalleled 💕🐾
Meet Scooby! I had the opportunity to work with Scooby yesterday, along with my ARF pal Carrie Karpoff. Scooby is an excellent example of why understanding a dog’s L.E.G.S. - learning history, environment, genetics and individual self factors- matter. Scooby came to ARF with little formal L (learning history) and lots of E influence, having lived in a rural environment as a free roaming dog. He has some important G contributions, likely genetics from a variety of working breeds and some important S factors, most notably his teenage boy self! You can see in this video progression how much progress he is making in watching and processing his environment, checking in with his humans and staying regulated. I absolutely love this boy. Scooby is looking for a foster or adoptive home who can keep working with him on his life skills: https://arf.ab.ca/animal/5550m-scooby/
Sheba, Carrie Karpoff and I earned some adventure points today. Four things happened. We met "Mr. Dogs Love Me and My Off Leash Dog is Friendly" while exploring the river, Sheba responded with an appropriate startle as he popped out of nowhere on his bike, she redirected quickly and joined me for a frolic in the river, and after they moved on, she shook-off and recovered to enjoy the rest of her walk. Three things were working in Sheba's favor - a sense of safety with familiar people, connection (she has a strong relationship with number of ARF volunteers), and recovery skills (she could shake off, seek affection and engage in sniffing to re-regulate). This girl is amazing! https://arf.ab.ca/animal/5254f-sheba/
Kim Brophey's Family Dog Mediation model invites us to consider the intersection of human and canine characteristics as they relate to the overall wellbeing of the interspecies relationship. Specifically, Family Dog Mediation concerns itself with the learning history, environmental influences, genetic contributions, and individual self factors for both ends of the leash.
In our family’s journey with Cooper this understanding has been foundational to his success and has changed both our understanding of him and the language we use to describe his needs. This week we visited a private off-leash park as a family with both of our dogs- Cooper and Conway. Since puppyhood Cooper has presented as sensitive to traffic noises- a self characteristic. When we arrived at the field, we realized that it was bordered on two sides by busy highways, meeting at an intersection. Conway jumped out of the truck and confidently explored the field with my two children. Cooper, jumped out of the truck, scrambled low to the ground looking for somewhere to hide, then jumped back into the truck. Historically, this would have felt disappointing. I would have told myself a story about Cooper overreacting, a story about the facility owners needing to advertise their field transparently, maybe a story about how little progress Cooper has made in relation to his noise sensitivity- my own self factors taking center stage. Instead, I closed the doors of the vehicle that were adjacent to the roadways, opened the doors that allowed Cooper to watch everyone exploring the field, sat with him quietly and made sure that the traffic noise wasn’t too loud inside of the vehicle and let him observe the family’s activity from a vantage point that felt comfortable for him. I returned to the vehicle intermittently, sat with him and chatted with him, offered affection- no pressure, prompts or lures. A more sensitive and flexible response to his sensitive self factor and a shift in my agenda dr
