Saffron Dog Training

17/09/2021

DOGS ARE SO SMART

26/08/2021

11/04/2021

What you should look for in a well-run dog daycare. (Hint: It's definitely not the mere presence of a whole lot of dogs running around.)

06/04/2021

What a wee stunner! Jett did amazingly at training yesterday, working on his reactivity and focus while another dog is around 🐾

06/04/2021

Social sessions like these are so important for a dog's development. It helps them to understand that being around other dogs is not a big deal. If dogs do not get the opportunity for this type of training they can become reactive, stressed, over-confident or under-confident.
These sessions help dogs to realise that ignoring other dogs and focusing on their owner is more rewarding than the meeting itself. This is important as not every meeting with another dog can be as controlled as this one. There is no guarantee how the other dog will behave and this can be dangerous.

06/04/2021

Sadie did amazingly during our socialisation session today, working on controlling her impulses and reactivity around other dogs 🐾

06/04/2021

Golden hour with this ray of sunshine! 🐾

06/04/2021

First session on Saturday with Archie, a lovely wee cockerpoo 🐾 Archie is going to be working on his recall, loose lead walking and refining his basics training 🐾

06/04/2021

Absolutely love this photo of Nessie playing with her mama! Dog days are the happiest days!

31/03/2021

Bob is a seven-year-old French bulldog with all the characteristics of that breed: wide-set round eyes, squashed nose and bat-like ears.

30/03/2021

The Scottish SPCA received more than 136,000 calls about unwanted animals in the past year.

29/03/2021

Pepper working amazingly yesterday with triggers nearby, paying attention to Rebecca and choosing to break her attention from the other dog.

29/03/2021

Heel walking! This is a great exercise to work on with your dog as it builds the positive association with sticking to your side - on or off lead. By doing this they begin to automatically start to walk by your side and it makes walking a more pleasurable experience for everyone as well as keeping her safe near roads.

29/03/2021

GO FIND!
Understanding your dog's breed can really help in their training and developing your bond. Mac Dubh is a spaniel cross which means he has a lot of gun dog instinct. Playing games like Go Find is a great way to stimulate his brain and get him to use those gun dog sniffing skills. We throw a treat and tell him to "go find" then mark and praise when he finds it. This game can develop using toys and making it harder by hiding them, challenging him to improve on his abilities.

29/03/2021

Look at that beautiful little face! A great session today with Sadie! Working on her recall and her heel walking she did amazingly!
When training recall It's important to remember that a dog's senses are extensively heightened compared to ours. When they are outside there are millions of pieces of information for them to process through smell alone so let them take that time to process that information before getting frustrated over their not coming immediately. Over time and as the dog gets used to understanding the world around them their recall will develop better and better.

28/03/2021

It's OK, my dogs are friendly!

The old adage 'oh it's ok, my dog(s) is/are friendly' is the bane of the life of a behaviourist working with over-reactive dogs. If I have heard this once I've heard this a thousand times!

Let's look at this - you are trotting along with your over-reactive dog, on a lead, front and back clip on, harness you have checked and all good, dog is calm, you and dog are chilled as you have been working with your behaviourist to reduce the 'reactions/explosions' on seeing, passing another dog or dogs. You and your dog have been doing your homework!

Yep, you have this, you had it last week and progress with Fidorina is going so well. Those tiny wins have built up into today's success! Get in!

Then along comes a person with either a dog or group of dogs and there is either no attention to the dogs being off lead - on phone, chatting, daydreaming - or they have failed recallers as dogs. (I know someone that can help with that!).

These dogs see you and Fidorina coming along the path, you are restricted on where to go, however, there would be sufficient room keeping Fidorina's threshold low if they were on lead and walked past (as you have done this for three weeks now and know your metrics). Their ears prick up they start running over and you can feel Fidorina seeing this and starting to do her check-ins 'What do we do Mom/Dad?'. You shout to the wo/man to get their dogs back and on leads as yours can be a bit funny around dogs. Very clear communication I'd say!

Before you have had chance to change direction, the dogs are around your dog, with the wo/man shouting 'IT'S OK MY DOGS ARE FRIENDLY'.

Meanwhile, back in Dog City - Fidorina is getting stressed, you can see that she is not coping well and then one of the dogs that is supposedly friendly, obviously senses the rising anxiety in Fidorina decides to have a pop at her. DefCon 6 ensues with the other owner screaming at you to control YOUR dog. Fidorina can be this wayed' over to the side and is still on the lead. Fidorina retaliated due to the number of dogs and decided to nip back at the dog, coming out with a mouthful of fur (no blood thankfully).

The owner then proceeds to get their dogs on their leads finally, you manage to prevent yourself from balling your eyes out. However, the owner isn't done! You are subjected to a barrage about getting YOUR DOG Fidorina under control. At this point, I think all that training is now burnt! and to prevent a 'monk moment by Jason Latham' I do some deep breathing.

In the past in these situations I used to walk off, now I just give them the facts - well-rehearsed and I wonder why?

*Fact 1 - I inform them of the law - causing harassment and distress or a nuisance is now covered under the Dangerous Dogs Act.
*Fact 2. Your dogs are NOT under control Sir/Madam and therefore are liable if any damage was to occur to my dog but also to your own dogs through your failure to comply with a simple request.
*Fact 3. Your dogs being friendly of which they are not, is not my issue, the issue is MY dog who was on a lead and under control is not good around dogs that are not under control and now I have wasted 4 weeks of work for your failure to comply with a simple request
*Fact 4 - your dogs being friendly is GREAT, truly it is, but does not give you the right to impose your dogs on every dog that they meet.

So, folks, IT'S OK MY DOGS ARE FRIENDLY - is NOT OK....when they approach either a dog that is on a lead. All it takes is MANNERS and COURTESY and RESPECT! Ask the question, have a conversation, perhaps stand a distance and have a chat - help that dog, or it might be that the dog loves to run off, so is on a lead, it may have a health problem so is on a lead - again - all it takes is a chat!

As an owner of an 'over-reactive' dog - please get your dogs on leads when asked - just until I get past!

As a behaviourist when working with a dog that is reactive - please get your dogs on leads when asked - just until I get past!

As a behaviourist when working with clients that are working with their over-reactive dog - what do you need to do....yep you guessed it - please get your dogs on leads when asked until we all get past.

Please don't undo sometimes weeks and even months of training with the excuse that 'IT'S OK, MY DOGS ARE FRIENDLY' as in this situation, I become a professional that is very unfriendly due to the general lack of respect/courtesy and manners of other dog owners.

C'mon people it's hard with these over-reactive dogs - let's help them out with positive experiences, not by subjecting them to over threshold moments through your lack of attention or lack of training input into your own dogs.

The collective fur family can help each other!



©Catherine Phoenix Hallam 27.03.2021
If you need support with your over-reactive dog then please get in touch via WhatsApp on 07813621947 giving a brief outline of your dog and their behaviour and I'll schedule you in for a free 15 minute Discovery Call to make sure I'm the right person for you and you are right for me too :-) and see if my programmes can support you and your dog going forward.

Photo not mine so here's the link :-)
https://i1.wp.com/3lostdogs.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Canva-Photo-Of-Dog-With-Leash-1.jpg?resize=600%2C400&ssl=1

22/03/2021

First time on the long line for Mac Dubh this weekend! He was so excited about it that there were a few tangles!
Recall is so important to start training really early on and long lines are the perfect tool. They keep your dog safe as well as others and should be used until their recall is at a point where 8/10 times you know they will come back.

22/03/2021

Another great socialisation session at the weekend with and .parr
Understanding your dog's behaviours are so important to helping them learn. After my first session with Sadie it became quite clear from her reaction to other dogs that were off the lead and coming over (not cool people, practice your recall) that she was actually quite a nervous dog and didn't like her space to be invaded. She displays this in spinning and while often this is just seen as total over excitement it's actually her way of trying to expel that anxious energy and keep her space safe. This session was great for both dogs as it helped Sadie to feel more comfortable with being closer and closer to another dog without feeling like her space wasn't safe and for Pepper to practice her impulse control.

22/03/2021

Introducing the newest member of the Saffron Dog Training pack! Sadie is a golden labradoodle and such a wee gem 🥰 can't wait for more training sessions with her!
Find her on Instagram

20/03/2021

19/03/2021

Every spring, countless baby animals are “kidnapped” from their parents by well-intentioned individuals who believe they are in need of help.

19/03/2021

Today Nessie has been working on loose lead/heel walking as well as focussing her attention while near lots of distractions.
Nessie is wearing a Perfect Fit Harness and lead which attaches to the front and back. These harnesses are a brilliant tool that I cannot recommend highly enough. By attaching the double ended lead to her chest and back this corrects any pulling by drawing her chest around and redirecting the energy she would normally have in only the back clip. As you can see in the video she is comfortably walking by my side with the lead loose. This comes from a lot of work on positively reinforcing her desirable behaviour and correcting her pulling using this method of the two harness clips.

19/03/2021

Who's a good girl? Nessie is a 20/10 good girl - in my totally biased opinion.

19/03/2021

16/03/2021

15/03/2021

Introducing the newest little sweetheart to join the Saffron pack 🐾 Mac Dubh is a little cockalier spaniel and such a cutie!

15/03/2021

Luna did SO well working on her walking to heel training today. This type of training is really important for things such as reactivity to other dogs and desensitisation, loose lead walking for comfortable walks for everyone and keeping focus on her owner.
It's such a pleasure coming to each session and watching the dogs' progressions.

13/03/2021

Had another AMAZING session working on desensitisation with Nessie and Pepper 🐾 both are fairly reactive to other dogs when out and about but this session is designed to train the dogs to understand that they can be within each other's space without the need to say hello. They understand that they get positive rewards whenever they break their attention of the other dog and bring their attention back to their owners. The two started off on opposite sides of the play park and gradually got within a few feet of each other, barely reacting and focussing on their owners.

08/03/2021

HOW ADORABLE IS THIS

08/03/2021

It's so important to understand why there are stigmas that surround certain breeds such as german shepherds and dobermans. The dogs seen in these videos appear aggressive and violent because they are trained to be controlled with these reactions. The trainers at Protection Dogs Worldwide are specialised trainers for protection dogs and this type of training should only be undertaken by trainers like this who know what they are doing.
Any dog can become aggressive and most dogs have a reactive side. Obedience and manner training is the most important training to do with pets to ensure they are given the structure and routine that they crave.
Dog breeds seen in this video get this reputation of aggressive because they show the ideal training traits that these trainers look for. This does not make every dog aggressive. However this is never an excuse for slacking off on training a pet.