If you don’t want to train your dog every day I have good news for you… You don’t have to 😮
Now, before you throw out your treat pouch I want to be clear that training your dog is always a worth while investment of your time AND training shouldn’t be a chore (if it is, get a new trainer) however I understand that life is busy we sometimes we get caught up.
On the days you don’t get around to training, management is your best friend! Make sure you’ve got some management strategies in place so your dog can’t practice the undesirable behaviour that you’re working so hard to change ⚡️ #bkind
Want to improve your dog’s ability focus on you? The auto engagement game beautifully demonstrated by Martha the adolescent Kelpie x is a really easy exercise to get started.
Place some food on the ground, wait for your dog to look up and you, mark and reward back on the ground when they do, and repeat!
You can level up by moving around between reps or practising in new environments such as the front yard or park. #bkind
“I’m still amazed the amount of people I see waking their dog along concrete paths when there is a grassy verge to the side. Walk on the grass people! That is where all the fun stuff for the dog takes place.” - @louise.glazebrook, The Book Your Dog Wishes You Would Read and @keeping.up.with.flynn, probably.
Daisy dog did such a wonderful job in our Teach and Train session last week! 🌼
She’s learning a brand new (more appropriate) response in the presence of unfamiliar dogs and her little humans pram.
There are a few things we’ve used to set Daisy up for success in this session
1️⃣ We’ve chosen to work at an on lead dog park
2️⃣ She’s wearing a “give me space” vest and I’ve made sure we are working at a distance where she’s able to disengage from the dogs
3️⃣ We’ve established some well rehearsed cues to prevent her from practising undesirable behaviour such as an emergency u turn in a number of sessions prior
4️⃣ I’ve made sure her needs are met FIRST. We’ve had a sniff of the area, played some games and made sure she’s had opportunity to drink/toilet as it was a warm day!
Daisy has a wonderful family committed to her progress and I’m looking forward to watching her continue to succeed 💫
Recalling away from distractions 🐕💨
Recalling away from distractions 🐕💨
We had been working on Iggy’s recall, engagement and lead skills over a number of sessions. These aren’t microwave results. Getting Iggy to eat food out of the house was our first challenge, so having him recall away from the birds he used to lunge toward for food was a big win!
Some recall tips when working with distractions
1️⃣ Consider using an attenuated trigger. Meaning an easier version of the thing that usually distracts your dog. Stationary birds < birds in flight
2️⃣ Start from a distance and keep duration your dog is observing the distraction short. Decrease distance and increase duration according to your dog’s success, keeping a close eye on body language
3️⃣ Ain’t no shame in a long line game! If your not confident about your dogs recall use a long lead as a bit of insurance
4️⃣ Practice, practice and practice some more!
“Dog reactive” is a label that gets thrown around in training circles. Generally we understand it to mean dog that barks and lunges in the presence of another dog. However, it’s important to keep in mind that “reactive” means showing a response to a stimulus.
My aim with these dogs isn’t no response or ignoring other dogs but instead, learning a more socially acceptable, less intense response through systematic desensitisation and counter conditioning.
Kai the shep and Chai the sos are doing a beautiful job demonstrating the outcome of lots of hard work in this short clip ⚡️#bkind
B Kind is relocating to Hobart, Tasmania! ✈️
I’ve been overwhelmed by lovely messages and gifts from my clients and colleagues over the last few weeks and am going to miss my Perth pups and their humans very much! 💕
Billie and I are almost ready for our exciting adventure, so stay tuned for Tas updates 😬💫
Believe it or not, I tried not once but TWICE to get a video of Frankie pulling on the lead to demonstrate an exercise that helps turn tension on lead into a cue to return to handler. As soon as the camera was rolling all Frankie would give me was a lovely loose lead walk with lots of check ins 😪😂
Billie is a pretty “drivey” dog, as are most shepherds. We didn’t really work on birds early in her life and as I started to seek professional help, bird chasing was quite frankly the LEAST of our problems.
For context, Billie wouldn’t eat food outside of the house (or in some days) she liked to shout A LOT, struggled to rest or sleep no matter how much or little exercise/stimulation she had that day, and could hardly be handled for care tasks like baths or nail trims, so birds were the bottom of our priority list! ⬇️🪶
Geeeez we’ve come a very long way! A few months ago we started working on birds with no real goal in mind. I was so shocked the first time I was able to mark one that was mid flight and have her disengage 😂 My dog chose food over a bird??? No!? My dog who has refused roast chicken and steak in the past just chose Prime100 over a bird??? I couldn’t believe it 🤭
We’ve built on that first mark/reward to this… it’s a 14 second clip, and a dog responding to whistle. I know it’s no big deal! But it’s also a little piece of success in a much bigger 5 year project that I put every single thing I have into, and I wanted to share 😊
WORKING WITH DISTRACTIONS + CHOICE
