I donāt particularly like the term āsocializationā when talking about puppies, as itās often misunderstood as simply getting them to interact with as many dogs and people as possible, when in reality, that is only a TINY portion of what proper socialization should entail.
True socialization is about gradually exposing your puppy to a variety of new stimuli and experiences, while helping them form positive associations with these things. The goal is to help them grow into confident, well-rounded dogs who can thrive in everyday life with humans.
This goes beyond just interacting with other dogs and people; it includes helping your puppy feel comfortable with various sights, sounds, smells, environments, and situations. Any experiences or situations your puppy will need to handle confidently as an adult dog should be introduced early in their puppyhood. Do you plan on having young kids visit? Ensure your puppy is exposed early to both different kids and the toys they play with. Will your puppy need professional grooming? Start bringing them in for regular puppy grooms asap. Want a puppy that can go anywhere with you? Start taking them to lots of different environments from the start.
Proper socialization is key to raising a well-adjusted and confident dog. Itās not just about meeting new people or dogs, but about exposing your puppy to a broad range of experiences that will help them handle anything life throws their way. By providing these experiences early, youāre setting your puppy up for success and ensuring they grow into a dog that can thrive in any situation.
Need help with your new puppy? We offer a variety of services that help set your puppy up for success from the start, and are here to guide you on your puppy journey!
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Confused? To the untrained eye and without more context, these dogs may look like theyāre all having a blast together. Why is this not good play?
Everest (B&W Aussie) does not like when Charlie (large brown dog) and Cashew (puppy) play together. He and Cashew were playing great, but when Charlie tried to join in, Everest immediately got between him and Cashew. This is called Splitting, where one dog gets in between the other dogs to interrupt their interaction.
Everest continues to block Charlie from Cashew, while also getting in his face to tell him to back off. Afterwards, Everest starts biting at the dirt, a clear sign for him that heās having big feelings. In the second clip, you can again see Everest getting in Charlieās face as he attempts to join in with the play.
Notice that I initially did not interrupt the interactions. As long as I didnāt step in, yell, or try to grab collars, I knew there was a slim chance of things escalating to a fight, and if it started to head in that direction, I could easily call them all to me to interrupt the interaction, so I let things play out out for a bit before getting their attention. Later on, when Charlie and Cashew started to play again, I called Everest over to me and rewarded him frequently for watching them play without interrupting. After a few minutes, I called Charlie to me so I could end their play while Everest was still being successful.
Cashew is still new to our family, and I just, within the past week or so, started letting all three of them hang out together, so theyāre all still figuring things out and getting used to the new dynamic, and I am always right there supervising and managing to ensure things go smoothly.
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Struggling with the dynamic between your dog and new puppy? Weāre happy to help!
www.triedandtruecanines.com
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Today is National Peanut Butter Day! Did you know that licking can lower your dogsā heart rate and helps to relieve stress and anxiety?
Give your dog a special Lickimat, Kong, or other treat with peanut butter today to celebrate!
Not a fan of peanut butter? Try some of these alternatives!
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Cream Cheese
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Applesauce
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Puree Pumpkin
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Whipped Cream
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Cottage Cheese
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Plain Greek Yogurt
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Mashed Banana
ā¼ļøDISCLAIMER WITH PEANUT BUTTER: Some peanut butter brands contain xylitol (AKA birch sugar or wood sugar), which is extremely toxic to dogs. Remember to check the ingredients of your peanut butter before feeding it to your pups!
#PeanutButterLoversDay #PeanutButter #DogEnrichment #DogTraining #PositiveReinforcement #DogTrainer #PittsburghDogTrainer #Dogs #PittsburghDogs
Similar to how we tell people to āshake it off,ā dogs will literally shake it off after a stressful or arousing event. The shake off is self-soothing for dogs, and helps them to regulate their emotions by releasing built up tension and/or excitement, lowering their heart rate, and helping them to reset.
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Charlie may only be about 8% border collie, but he got a lot of the BC personality, including a strong desire to chase moving vehicles. That, paired with his young age and getting zero training or socialization as a puppy was a recipe for disaster.
Charlieās chasing behavior was intense. He barked, lunged, and would build up so much frustration that he would then turn and bite whatever was closest to him: the air, my other dog, or in many cases, my leg, in attempts to release that frustration. He started taking solo walks without my other dogs, and wearing a basket muzzle because, though I tried my best to manage him and avoid triggers, I didnāt want to risk my safety in the case that he started reacting to a car and redirected onto me.
Itās been a long journey with lots of hurdles to get to where we are today. He still reacts at times when a car passes in close proximity to us, but his reactions are much less intense and his frustration levels are much lower, meaning he no longer feels the need to redirect onto things around him.
No punishment was ever used to get to this point. This was accomplished using games that I teach all of my clients working with their reactive dogs. Games that work by changing the emotional response and therefore the outward behavioral response of seeing triggers.
Are you struggling with your dogās reactive behavior? Iām happy to help!
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āWhat is Scatter Feeding?
Scatter Feeding means simply throwing your dogās food onto the ground. It can be done inside by scattering the food across the kitchen floor, but doing it outside in the grass gives the added challenge of not being able to easily see the food, requiring more sniffing and foraging to find it.
āWhat Benefits does Scatter Feeding have for my Dog?
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Slows down speed of eating
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Mental stimulation ā Sniffing engages the brain. Your dog will be more tired after sniffing out their food compared to eating out of a bowl.
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Reduced stress and anxiety ā Sniffing aids in lowering your dogās heart rate, increasing dopamine levels, and helping them feel relaxed.
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Confidence ā Sniffing can help boost confidence in your dog
āShould I Always Feed my Dog in this Way?
You donāt have too! But it can be a great way to change up your dogās regular feeding routine from time to time and give your dog the added benefits listed above.
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Mila REALLY wanted us to go on a walk, so I used her desire to run towards to road to practice her recalls, and she did FABULOUS, especially with this only being her second sessionšš
(Also isnāt she just the cutest thing??š)
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Things I hear a lot as a dog trainer:
āIs it okay that my dog _________?ā
āI know my dog is supposed to _______, how do I teach them that?ā
āIāve heard that my dog should_________, so Iāve been working a lot on that.ā
Hear me out: Society doesnāt have to determine what is acceptable and not acceptable for your dog, thatās up to you! If youāre okay with your dog pulling on the leash or walking in front of you, great, so am I! If youāre okay with your dog jumping up on you, then itās okay for them to keep doing that! If you enjoy your dog sleeping in bed with you and are okay with them begging at the dinner table, thatās all fine as well!
You donāt have to conform to societal standards when it comes to how you raise and train your dog. Yes, some people may judge you for your dogās behavior, but thatās their problem, not yoursš¤·āāļø
#DogTraining #PositiveReinforcement #PositiveReinforcementTraining #DogTrainer #PittsburghDogTrainer #ClickerTraining #Dogs #PittsburghDogs
My job as your dog trainer is not just to train your dog. A big part of my role is teaching you, as the guardian, how to work with your dog and communicate with them, as well as teaching you how to listen when your dog communicates to you.
Dexter struggles on walks to stay engaged and maintain a loose leash. But by making some small adjustments to what his mom was doing, such as switching to a hands-free leash to avoid yanking it, we were able to get more engagement from Dexter and have a more successful walk.
Is there still learning that needs to happen on the dog-side? Absolutely! But making adjustments to how our human learner communicates can help our canine learner be more successful in understanding the criteria.
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Did you spot it??
Everest has hip dysplasia, and whipping his head towards his hip to give it a quick sniff is a common indicator of pain for him, especially with his left hip where the dysplasia is worse.
Everest struggled on this walk. Twice, he barked at people as we were walking on the path, something he used to do as an adolescent teenager in his fear stage, but rarely ever does now. He also struggled seeing a dog from a relatively far distance off, farther than his usual threshold.
If I didnāt know what Everestās pain indicators were, I could have easily gotten frustrated or upset with him because of his seemingly ābadā behavior. But because I can spot the more subtle signs, I was able to recognize that Everestās behavior was not a result of him choosing to act out and make my life harder, but because he was struggling physically, which in turn affected him emotionally, making him more irritable and less tolerable for things around him.
So many dogs go through life with unrecognized pain, and itās often a contributor to behavioral issues that we see in them. Animals communicate pain in so many subtle ways other than the classic limping or yelping, and learning how to spot these signs could mean the difference in how you go about working through your dogs āissues.ā Everest never limps, yelps, or hobbles on 3 legs, but he shows his pain in other ways through hip sniffing, increased irritability in the house and on walks, handling sensitivity at the vet and during grooming, changes in coat pattern, favoring his ādownā behavior over a sit, reluctance to run and play for long periods of time, and more. I could easily pass these things off as him needing more training, being lazy and stubborn, having low drive, needing stronger leadership, etc. instead, Iām able to recognize each of these as him being in pain, and Iām able to support Everest and help him feel more comfortable.
(Also yes, we are practicing āleave itā with the remain
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