Club Meg Dog Training, LLC

20/08/2024

18/08/2024

Don't wait for the bark.💥
I cannot stress this enough when working with reactive dogs.
Unfortunately too many people only react to their own dogs reactivity when there is a bark.
A bark is just an audible sign of a reaction but there are many other signs given before that bark and when we don't recognise those signs, guess what happens ?
Barking, Lunges, Spins, Jumps and a dog unable to control their own emotions.
There is a LOT that is shown before the bark, even if it is very fast, it is still shown.
So why is it so important to know the unique signals and changes in posture and body language your dog shows ?
So you can STOP the escalation....and yes, even stop the barking from occurring in the first place.
Barking is often at the END of a longer chain of events.
First is usually (not always) a hard stare, a fixation.
THAT is a reaction.
It is not audible but it is often the first sign your dog has changed their emotional state, they ARE reacting.

A change in ear position IS a reaction.
Puling harder on the lead IS a reaction.
A lengthening of the neck/leaning in IS a reaction.
A wrinkled face IS a reaction.......use that information!

Remember a reaction is a change in their emotional state.....and those non verbal signs are a reaction.

A bark is just a reaction we recognise more.

Imagine how we can help our dogs with their reactivity if we started to recognise all those other changes and escalations in their emotional states as easily as we recognise a bark.....

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17/08/2024

Kris Whitman Martin

DON’T TOUCH MY STUFF!
Resource guarding – also called possessive aggression

We all guard our resources, it’s a natural reaction to a threat of something we value being taken away.

It’s essential for survival and dogs or other animals would not survive in the wild if they didn’t guard their resources.

We also don’t get to decide what’s valuable and what’s not – different things have different value to different dogs and at different times.

Food is usually the most common, but toys, furniture, different items, places, or even a certain person are all things that may be seen as a valuable resource.

A dog turning their head away, freezing, a hard stare, whale eye, moving away, growling or snapping may quickly escalate into a serious bite in an attempt to protect that valuable possession.

Punishing or forcing a dog to give something up is probably one of the worst things to do.

Resource guarding is rooted in the emotion of fear – the fear of that resource being taken away.

Punishment and force further increase that fear, which only increases and reinforces the need to protect that resource.

When a dog is guarding food or an object, we can change the negative emotion of that fear into a positive one by swopping or trading something that has a similar or higher value than what the dog has.

This is one of the most effective ways to address resource guarding of objects as it works at the root cause of the behaviour by changing the emotional response.

A dog resource guarding a person is more complicated to address. A full history of the individual dog, family dynamics, attachment styles, situation and environment all have to be assessed before planning and working on a solution.

Resource guarding can usually be prevented, managed and addressed and by starting early, understanding why dogs feel the need to resort to this behaviour and doing what we can to prevent it from happening in the first place.

13/08/2024

DON’T TOUCH MY STUFF!
Resource guarding – also called possessive aggression

We all guard our resources, it’s a natural reaction to a threat of something we value being taken away.

It’s essential for survival and dogs or other animals would not survive in the wild if they didn’t guard their resources.

We also don’t get to decide what’s valuable and what’s not – different things have different value to different dogs and at different times.

Food is usually the most common, but toys, furniture, different items, places, or even a certain person are all things that may be seen as a valuable resource.

A dog turning their head away, freezing, a hard stare, whale eye, moving away, growling or snapping may quickly escalate into a serious bite in an attempt to protect that valuable possession.

Punishing or forcing a dog to give something up is probably one of the worst things to do.

Resource guarding is rooted in the emotion of fear – the fear of that resource being taken away.

Punishment and force further increase that fear, which only increases and reinforces the need to protect that resource.

When a dog is guarding food or an object, we can change the negative emotion of that fear into a positive one by swopping or trading something that has a similar or higher value than what the dog has.

This is one of the most effective ways to address resource guarding of objects as it works at the root cause of the behaviour by changing the emotional response.

A dog resource guarding a person is more complicated to address. A full history of the individual dog, family dynamics, attachment styles, situation and environment all have to be assessed before planning and working on a solution.

Resource guarding can usually be prevented, managed and addressed and by starting early, understanding why dogs feel the need to resort to this behaviour and doing what we can to prevent it from happening in the first place.

13/08/2024

Dog peeps: I recommend watching “Inside the Mind of a Dog” on Netflix. Great documentary.

30/07/2024

WHAT THE F?

Recognising stress responses in dogs.

Fight or flight are well known reactions to fear or stress, but these other “F” words are also important to understand and be aware of as they may not always be so obvious.

Freeze, Fawn, Fidget or Fool around are also responses to stress or fear and are also commonly seen in people.

Some dogs may have a genetic predisposition to one type of response while some react based on previous experience - what has worked for them before or what hasn’t. Some dogs have different reactions depending on the specific context.

Recognising and taking note of situations or circumstances where these responses are seen is important in understanding how our dogs are feeling.

When we recognise a fear or a stress response, we are able to intervene and advocate for our dogs.

30/07/2024

I miss my husband. 💔

21/07/2024

Water intoxication in dogs results from drinking too much water leading low sodium levels, or ingesting seawater leading to high sodium levels

17/07/2024

16/07/2024

Update: Archer found his forever home! We have one last boy available!

Archer is the sweetest boy and needs a loving family. He is crate and doggie door trained has all his puppy vaccinations, dewormed, microchipped, comes with limited AKC registration and 30 free pet ins. He has basic house manners and has been raised around dogs and children. He is still a puppy but going to be very easy to raise from this point with his amazing start! He has no health issues or bad manners. We can’t understand why no one has shown interest in him.

12/07/2024

I've received 100 reactions to my posts in the past 30 days. Thanks for your support. 🙏🤗🎉

10/07/2024

What temperature is too hot for dogs?

10/07/2024

Karol Thurston

06/07/2024

02/07/2024

ANTHROPOMORPHISM

THE GOOD / THE BAD AND WHERE TO DRAW THE LINE

This hard to pronounce and complicated sounding word – (anth-ro-po-morph-ism), means assigning human qualities, characteristics, emotions, feelings or motivations to our dogs (a non-human entity).

Advancements in canine neuroscience have revealed remarkable similarities between human and canine brain function, particularly in areas related to emotional processing.
This has given us far more understanding of canine cognition and emotion.

Although this is a great thing, it’s so important not to take anthropomorphism too far by assuming that our dogs experience emotions in exactly the same way that we do.

Dogs experience a similar range of emotions that would be seen in a 2 to 2 ½ year old child but are currently not thought to feel more complex emotions like guilt, shame, remorse, spite, pride or contempt.

Here is a link to a graphic that shows where a dog’s emotions are thought to stop in relation to the age of a child - bit.ly/canineemotions

Here are some examples of taking anthropomorphism too far:

“My dog knows exactly what he’s done – look how guilty he looks! No, your dog is reacting to your body language, tone of voice or remembers your previous reaction – this is fear, he is trying to appease you, calm you down, diffuse the situation.

“My dog chewed the couch just to get back at me for not taking him for a walk “ - No, your dog was probably bored, frustrated, lonely, had separation distress and was looking for a way to self-sooth or entertain himself.

“My dog pees inside just to spite me” – No, there could be a host of reasons, but spite is not one of them.

“My dog is just so stubborn” – No, find what is motivating, rewarding for your dog, are there too many distractions?

“Look at how proud my dog looks for winning the competition, graduating from a class, after being groomed etc” - No, your dog is reacting to your emotional state.

Instead of assuming that your dog is feeling “adult human emotions”, learn about body language and notice the context of the behaviour. This will provide a far more accurate idea of how dogs are really feeling.

Anthropomorphism is an essential tool in recognising a dog’s emotional state and allows us to have compassion, empathy, understanding and connection, but taking it too far is detrimental and undermines relationship.

02/07/2024

July 4 fireworks 🎆 🎇 are coming soon. Here’s some helpful advice from the folks at Dogs Disclosed. If there’s not one individual idea that helps your pup, try a combination.

And please secure doors, fences, harnesses and martingales if there’s any chance of booms while your dog is outdoors. 😣 Prevention is key here.

02/07/2024

02/07/2024

The is almost here, so keep your this holiday! 🎆🐶✨Here are some quick and reminders when this !

🐾Join the Aging Project and share your dog’s unique experience at dogagingproject.org.

27/06/2024

27/06/2024

Starting off the week with what may be a little controversial. But your dog does not benefit from large playgroups of 20, 30, 40, 50+ dogs. And in most cases they're harmful. Now, I am a fan of small group social play in dogs for dogs who like dog-dog play. Well paired playmates can be great, it can give your dog a social outlet if they enjoy dog- dog play. But once we get in to extra large play groups of dogs the risk of injury, overwhelm, chronic stress, and behaviour fall out becomes great. (behavioural fall out like reactivity, decreased frustration tolerance, increased fear response, rapid escalation in aggressive responses) Nothing about large play groups are natural or beneficial to our pet dogs. They are popular amongst many day care providers simply because they are profitable. Charging $30-40 per dog per day requires several dogs to cover the expenses of running a day care operation.(it's expensive y'all!) Your dog should not be forced in to small quarters, and transport situations with dozens of dogs, they should always have space to opt out of social interactions, and play mates should be with dogs your dog enjoys spending time with. Not ones merely tolerated. If you need day care be sure to vet your provider, ask about group size, space to play, rest opportunities as well as dog to handler ratios

26/06/2024

Credit: Scott Metzger Cartoons 🐈‍⬛🥰🐾