Butterfly Effect Dog Training (2024)

13/03/2021

⁣🎾 FETCHING 🎾 - part III.⠀
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SHOULD YOU USE FOOD TO REWARD FETCH? 🍖🔄⚽⠀
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Many people disagree that food should be used as a reward for fetch because in this case the dog wouldn’t fetch for the game itself but for the treats. I can agree and disagree at the same time. ⠀
I wouldn’t start to teach fetch rewarding with food, because then it would be very hard to get the treats out of the game later. If you have a ball addict dog (like my border collie) then he won’t care if you give him a treat or not. He will pick up the ball and bring it back to you. ⠀
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As I mentioned it previously, Merlin can lose his interest in this game if he’s not rewarded (keeping him in motion constantly is also a reward because he can run at full speed). So, when I don’t have two balls at hand, I use food to reward him. ⠀
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I would not say this is the example you have to follow, but I accepted the unique nature of Merlin that he doesn’t like to fetch as other dogs. And this is OK. ☺⠀
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So, if I really want to play with him or I want to reward him, I use tugging. ⠀
By now I use fetch only as a workout for him. 💪 We don’t have a garden, so fetching is a good way to get him exhausted easily. Since fetch is more like a workout than a game he loves, I decided to use treats to reward him for every ball he retrieves. ⠀
If you see that your dog enjoys the game and can’t wait until you throw the ball away, do not use food as reward. There’s no need. But if we are in the same boat, try the mentioned methods, maybe your dog will show more enthusiasm towards the game. 🍀

10/03/2021

⁣🍪 Crunchy, grain-free, easy-to-make 🍪⠀
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🌰 2 cups almond flour⠀
🥥 1/2 cup coconut flour⠀
🌾 2 tablespoons ground flax seed⠀
🔸 1 teaspoon ground ginger⠀
🥜 1/2 cup peanut butter⠀
💦 1/2 cup water⠀
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👩‍🍳 Preheat oven to 350ºF (180ºC) and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.⠀
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Combine almond flour, coconut flour, ground flaxseeds, and ground ginger. Whisk together.⠀
Add peanut butter and water. Mix together. Knead the mixture until it forms a dough ball. Using a rolling pin, roll dough ball out to approximately 1/4 inch (0,5 cm) thick and use a cookie cutter to stamp out biscuits.⠀
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⏲ Bake for 18-20 minutes. ⠀
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Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 weeks or in the freezer for up to 3 months.

09/03/2021

😈

08/03/2021

“Don’t count the days. Make the days count.”

27/02/2021

⁣🎾 FETCHING 🎾 - part II.⠀
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If you taught your dog to fetch with a ball with a handle typed toy, your dog is enjoying the game because it ends with a reward - playing with you. If this is out of the picture (with a regular tennis ball you cannot play tug-of-war) or your dog is not a ball addict, he may lose his interest in the game. This happened exactly with us. ⠀
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To my border collie I can throw a plastic bottle, a remote control, simply anything, she would fetch it happily because she loves holding things in her mouth. ⠀
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It took me several months to show my husky that fetch is a fun game. When I found the right toys from that moment it became easy. ⠀
As he enjoyed fetching more and more I sometimes tried with regular balls, too. It was more convenient to take a walk with one ball what fit into my pocket than with the big tug toys. ⠀
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I found two ways I can reward Merlin for fetching a ball and keep him interested in the game: ⠀
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1. Flow ⠀
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Before he actually arrives to me with the ball, I already throw another ball (this means I have to have at least two balls with me) to keep him in motion. ⠀
He enjoyed running and chasing the balls and he didn’t have to stop, wait for me to pick up the ball and throw, etc. Keeping the flow helped me to show him the game of fetch can be exciting even by itself. ⠀
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2. Food – will talk about this topic in another post.

24/02/2021

⁣Ice cream recipe for dogs 🍦⠀
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Blend, pour the mixture into ice trays and freeze. Wait a couple hours and it's ready to be served to your dog.⠀
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As a rule of thumb treats should make up no more than about 10% of your dog's daily calories.

23/02/2021

Original siberian... 🐕

22/02/2021

🙏

20/02/2021

⁣🎾 FETCHING 🎾 - part I.⠀
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Retrieving (or playing fetch) is a game where your dog chases an object you threw, picks it up and brings it back to you. ⠀
For some dogs retrieving is a natural behaviour (retrievers, most hunting dogs), for huskies it is not that much..⠀
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Some dogs will chase after the toy but then won’t bring it back, while others simply look at you with a confused expression, wondering why you repeatedly throw the toy away! 🐶❓⠀
Helping your dog learn to love retrieving can be as simple as finding a toy he really likes or as complex as training the entire sequence of chasing, picking up and bringing it back.⠀
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🔹 Why is it useful though to teach this to your siberian?⠀
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Because fetching is a great source of exercise which dogs love from the moment they realize its essence. 10 minutes of fetching helps to let your dog’s pent-up energy off.⠀
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Fetch is played with balls most of the time. If your dog is not a ball-addict you must create value towards the ball first. ⚽🏈⚾🎾⠀
Use a ball with handle or clip a hole in it and run through a rope so it becomes a tug toy.⠀
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🔹 WHAT KIND OF BALLS TO USE?⠀
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When I switched to a regular ball from the ball with handle, Merlin lost his interest in the game. He’s not a very ball driven dog, so he didn’t find the fun in the game without tugging. ⠀
If this is the case with your dog as well, you can try JW Hol-ee Roller balls, they worked well for us. Those are ball shaped elastic toys made out of rubber and they’re big enough to tug.⠀
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Merlin wouldn’t play with heavy or too firm balls, it took me months and several balls 😀 to find the ones he likes. So, if your dog wouldn’t want to play with one certain type, don’t give up, keep changing the toys to find the adequate one for your dog.⠀
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Chuckit balls are soft enough to squeeze and they bounce well, I recommend trying a few types of them.⠀
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If your dog likes tennis balls, buy the ones specially designed for dogs with non-abrasive material. Regular tennis balls can damage your dog’s teeth! Kong, Tuff Balls products are great for this.⠀
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Always use appropriate sized balls for your dog to avoid ingestion! ⚠

17/02/2021

⁣The most treats balanced on a dog's nose at one time is 29 and was achieved by George and handler Dima Yeremenko (UK) at the London Pet Show at ExCel Centre, London, UK on 09 May 2015. 🦴🦴🦴⠀
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George is a Husky cross breed. He was a rescue dog.

16/02/2021

True 😬

15/02/2021

“One man cannot make a team.” - Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

14/02/2021

Will you? 🥰🌷

10/02/2021

⁣Siberian Huskies were bred to be endurance runners. A team of dogs can run for hours and cover about 150 miles in one day. ⠀
Racing dogs can run for as much as 11 hours per day. ⏱⠀
Of course, they are highly trained and conditioned working dogs running in cold temps. 🥶

09/02/2021

I wish... 🥺

08/02/2021

⁣“I’ve always loved the idea of not being what people expect me to be.” 🐺

06/02/2021

⁣✋ HAND TARGET 🤚⠀
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The hand target is one of our foundation games. There are tons of uses for this core behaviour, it is really an essential and useful exercise for both of you. ⠀
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🔹 It helps keeping your dog focused on you rather than distractions and vice versa it can be used to distract your dog during fearful or uncomfortable situations. ⠀
🔹 Hand targeting is a great way to help prevent or solve unwanted behaviours such jumping up - it can help your dog to learn to approach and interact politely with people. ⠀
🔹 It’s useful for teaching tricks, perfecting a recall. ⠀
🔹 Hand target is a fun and quite an easy game to most dogs, so it comes handy when you need to build your dog’s reinforcement rate up. ⠀
🔹 It’s also useful when your dog gets overexcited and you have to „reboot” him. :)

03/02/2021

⁣ ? ⠀
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In 1989 Paul Guitard was training his husky dog-racing team in the forests of Ontario, Canada when a black bear attacked, spilling him to the ground. 🐻⠀
As the bear savaged Paul, all of his dogs ran on – except one. His lead husky, Grizzly, raced back to battle the bear, giving the badly-injured Paul the chance to escape up a tree. But bears can climb trees, too.. ⠀
For 7️⃣ hours!, Grizzly fought against the bear’s repeated attempts to reach Mr. Guitard.⠀
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The dog had only a small gash on his nose where one of the bear’s claws had caught him.⠀
Paul, however, had a gash on his right arm and the calf of his right leg was cut open. And he found out later that he had broken his left ankle from kicking the bear in the nose.⠀
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Grizzly was credited with saving the life of his owner and got into Purina Animal Hall of Fame. 🏅⠀
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This is how Paul tells their story:⠀
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“...I looked over and saw two cubs on the path — we’d come between them and their mother — and I thought, Uh, oh. I’m in trouble! Then, all of a sudden, the bear pulled me right off my bike. The dogs went on a hundred metres or so and I thought they were gone. ⠀
I was kicking her with my other foot, trying to make her let me go, and she was pulling me back down the tree, Then Grizzly went at her again and started biting at her, so she let me go. I climbed up to the top of the tree fast!”⠀
Grizzly stationed himself at the bottom of the tree, between me and the bear. ⠀
Every twenty minutes or so the bear made another rush for the tree, and each time Grizzly fought her off.⠀
It was Grizzly who saved me. I can honestly say, and I’ve said it a hundred times, I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for that dog. I’d be dead. That bear would have killed me.”

02/02/2021

🥰

01/02/2021

“The best view comes after the hardest climb.”

29/01/2021

⁣➰TUG-OF-WAR ➰⠀
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Does your dog play with you? What’s his favourite form of play? Chasing, tugging, wrestling? Playing can be any kind of activity during you two are having fun! 🎾⠀
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Different rewards have different effects on the dogs, food usually creates more control, tugging encourages more drive. ⠀
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🔹Tugging is an easy way to get your dog’s focus on you near distractions, and it will help him to learn no matter how excited he gets chasing a cat or having fun with another dog, he must always listen to what you want him to do. ⠀
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🔹Tugging is far more personal than fetching balls, it connects the reinforcement back to you thus improves your relationship with your siberian. 💞⠀
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🔹With the help of a tug toy you can purposely create that overexcited state of mind in your dog where he wouldn’t listen to you (the typical husky zoomies 😊) and teach him how to behave anyway. And for last but not least, most dogs can really enjoy this form of play. 🐕

27/01/2021

⁣The unusually large direwolves who portray loyal protectors of the Stark family on the Game of Thrones series don't exist, but they do resemble Siberian Huskies. 🐺⠀
Due to the show's massive popularity many people have bought husky puppies without doing any research on the breed. Unfortunately, a lot of these dogs wind up in shelters when people realize that owning a dog - especially a siberian - is a lot more work than watching one on TV .⠀
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Peter Dinklage who plays Tyrion Lannister asked fans to stop buying huskies after the number of them being abandoned started to rise.⠀
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“Please, to all of Game of Thrones‘ many wonderful fans, we understand that due to the direwolves’ huge popularity, many folks are going out and buying huskies. Not only does this hurt all the deserving homeless dogs waiting for a chance at a good home in shelters, but shelters are also reporting that many of these huskies are being abandoned—as often happens when dogs are bought on impulse, without understanding their needs. Please, please, if you’re going to bring a dog into your family, make sure that you’re prepared for such a tremendous responsibility and remember to always, ALWAYS, adopt from a shelter.”

26/01/2021

Which pill would you take? 🧐💊

25/01/2021

“Happiness is a state of mind.” ❣️

22/01/2021

⁣🤲 HAND FEEDING 🤲⠀
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I highly recommend you to hand-feed your dog for at least 3 months from now. If you do so, you will notice that your dog's attention and willingness to focus on you increase greatly. 📈⠀
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My dogs got every meal of theirs like this until they turned 1 year old. More than 700 times I reinforced my dogs that food is coming from me and it's a good thing to get my attention. ⠀
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Prepare your dog's food as usual but this time don't put it down, instead leave it on the kitchen counter. In every few seconds offer your dog a piece of kibble or meat - whatever he eats. Feed the whole portion like this. 🥩🥣⠀
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Later you can sit on your couch or on the ground with the bowl in your lap and do the same process. If your dog gets too crazy from the sight of the bowl and wants to steal food, then bring it back to the kitchen counter and wait a little. No need to say "No", your dog will learn that if he acts out of control the chance of getting the food faster will reduce.⠀
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Slowly you can try to sit again with the bowl and start to feed him. If he's still nuts about the food, take the bowl back again and feed from the kitchen counter as before. You can try to grab some food in your hand but not the whole bowl and sit down. 🧘‍♀️

20/01/2021

⁣The top speed for a siberian husky is 28 miles/hour (45 km/h). 🏎

19/01/2021

Am I right, ladies? 💁‍♀️

18/01/2021

“Hard times teach us valuable lessons.” 🙏

15/01/2021

⁣⁣🐶THE COLLAR GRAB GAME 🐶⠀⠀
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🔹How does your siberian respond when you reach for him? Is this the same response at different locations or when different people, dogs or other distractions are present?⠀⠀
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🔹Most dogs learn that coming back to you and held by collar is a bad thing therefore they try to avoid this because it leads to loosing their freedom ( = fun is over.) This is a pattern and dogs are great at recognizing this. ⠀
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🔹You may have noticed the side effects of this with your dog when he’s not fully coming all the way to you and staying a few feet away or even running away when you try to reach him. This game is a great tool to counter-act this behaviour.⠀⠀
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🔹The goal of this game is to teach your dog that touching his collar is a good thing and something great will happen when you grab that collar. ⠀⠀
It also builds value for being close to you because the dog’s reinforcement is happening right next to your body.⠀
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🔹This is a quite simple exercise, yet it’s also a very important one. It can save your dog’s life once!

14/01/2021

?⠀
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A siberian husky’s howl can be heard up to 10 miles. 🐺🔊

12/01/2021

At least this one is true 🙏

11/01/2021

“Dreams and dedication are a powerful combination.” 💫- William Longgood

08/01/2021

👀The eye contact game 👀⠀
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Gazing into your siberian’s eyes can increase your bond with your dog according to a Japanese scientific study. The research says mutual gazing between a dog and its owner increases the bond, this process is mediated by the hormone oxytocin known as the love hormone. ❣️⠀
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Some breeds for example herding dogs don’t need to be taught this exercise because they keep their eyes on their owners all the time. They do what they’re bred to do, they’re natural gazers. ⠀
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📚Akitsugu Konno’s recent study suggests that the more closely related to wolves a breed is, the less often it will make spontaneous eye contact with humans. ⠀
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„Since other breeds are generally successful in using human gaze signals, ancient breed performance appears 5 to lie somewhere between that of wolves and other dogs. This suggests that a dog’s ability to comprehend human gestures is associated with genetic closeness to wolves.” 🐺⠀
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Since the siberian husky belongs to ancient breeds it’s one more reason to teach this game to your dog!⠀
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With this exercise your dog will learn: if he wants something, he should make eye contact with you first. If he’s calmly watching you, the chance for reinforcement will be very high. ⠀
Your dog will learn to focus on you and you’ll learn to focus on him. ⠀
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It’s always easier to train a dog whose attention is on us and soon you’ll notice that your dog is watching, checking in with you and asks for your guidance a lot more often. 👌

07/01/2021

⁣⠀
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Some universities have the Husky as their mascot. 🏈⠀
Namely: University of Washington, Northeastern University and the Houston Baptist University.

05/01/2021

Husky Anatomy 💙

Illustrator:

04/01/2021

New year.
New goals.

➡️ What are your training goals for 2️⃣0️⃣2️⃣1️⃣?

02/01/2021

Bye bye 2020.. 🥳

24/12/2020

Merry Christmas! 🎄❤️

22/12/2020

21/12/2020

⁣Does your siberian like his crate? Do you use it as a dog training tool? 🐕⠀
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A crate can help you to⠀
🔹introduce distractions⠀
🔹teach self-control ⠀
🔹and patience to your dog⠀
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A crate can also be a place where your pup can⠀
🔹relax⠀
🔹travel safe and secure