MnM Dog Services

11/08/2024

09/08/2024

AUG 13, 2024: PLEASE CONTINUE TO SHARE AND WATCH FOR LAIKA IN THE VANCOUVER AREA. SHE IS STILL MISSING!
AUG 9, 2024: PLEASE CONTINUE TO KEEP YOUR EYES OUT FOR LAIKA. SHE ISN’T HOME YET!
VANCOUVER: HAVE YOU SEEN LAIKA???
PUPPY MISSING!
LAIKA: Female Golden Doodle is missing from Coal Harbour in Vancouver since August 7, 2024. Was seen running east through traffic on Burrard and Hornby, and last seen at Cambie and 1st. She is dragging her leash. Laika is beige, medium build, and 9 months old. She is extremely skittish and scared. PLEASE DO NOT CHASE. If sighted or found, CALL PETSEARCHERS AT: 604-339-5680 or 604-825-6913.

03/08/2024

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗗𝗼𝗲𝘀 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗴𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗟𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗟𝗶𝗸𝗲?

For everyone out there who is struggling with their animals’ behaviour REMEMBER

🐴🐶Progress is NEVER linear
🐴🐶 We ALL have bad days and so do our animals . Sometimes life is overwhelming and there are going to be multiple contributing factors to this for example :
-A bad nights sleep,
- The weather making things difficult or for our animals for example the wind potentially making the world noisier or making trees or other objects move making everything more stimulating
- Other stressors at this time of year for us as humans finances or tensions with family and for our animals fireworks from our human celebrations or changes in routine as the clocks go back
- Pain or feeling under the weather
- Other factors unique to us and our animals’ as individuals and our animals too including developmental stage adolescence is HARD or past experiences
This is not an exhaustive list . All of these can lead to trigger or stimulus stacking reducing coping, lowering thresholds for stress and increasing emotional reactivity (for us and our animals!).

🐴🐶 Cut yourself some slack tomorrow is another day . Spend time with your horse or dog just hanging out. Get a cup of coffee and a biscuit to warm you up as it’s cold if you are outside

🐴🐶 Change takes time. Take baby steps and prioritise emotional state over the behaviours you want.

🐴🐶 Revisit any needs that may not be being met including physical, social and emotional

🐴🐶 Break it down into smaller chunks.

🐴🐶 Get support for yourself as well as your animal . If in doubt reach out.

🐴🐶 Find your horse or dogs strengths and celebrate those. Accept them for the amazing individuals they are .

🐴🐶 You are doing your best

©️Jessie Sams Animal Behaviour and Trauma Recovery Service

31/07/2024

Happy Tuesday everyone. I am looking for someone to do one one one parallel walks with. I generally do my walks at Riverview because of fewer dogs there. I’m good for daytime or evening walks. Let me know if you are interested.

16/07/2024

11/07/2024

Hi everyone. I hope you and furry friends are staying safe.
I changed the name of my dog business to honour my two best friends: Mak who passed away at 15 in 2022 and now Mylo who is living a great life and being a great companion.
I will be offering dog training services in the near future and currently I have been making 10 and 20 foot leashes by hand. These are very high quality leashes made from the best materials I could get. Check them out on Facebook Market Place. The are very reasonably priced. Have a great summer everyone.

10/07/2024

MT. CURRIE/PEMBERTON: HAVE YOU SEEN DAISY???
DAISY: Female border Collie x Pitbull is missing from the old festival grounds, Hwy 99 and Kwetsa Road in the Mt. Currie/Pemberton area since June 22, 2024. Daisy is 1 year old, microchipped, spayed, 55lbs, black and white with roan spotting on paws, black face with white mark in middle of forehead. She is wearing her purple and grey harness with a tractive device and a name tag with Daisy on the front/ contact information on the back. Daisy is reactive towards men in hats but in an “approach you” way. She will not bite, she will come to her name being called, she loves women. She is an indoor pet but is walked off leash often and grew up outside on the Squamish Nation reserve. If sighted or found, please contact: (604) 213-5285 or (705) 716-4596

10/07/2024

HOME SAFE!!
SOUTH SURREY: HAVE YOU SEEN STELLA???
STELLA: Female Aussie Shepherd escaped the sitters at 30 Ave and 136 Street in South Surrey, on July 8, 2024. Stella weighs 40 lbs and is wearing a collar. Last seen at 7:00pm July 8, heading south on 140 and 28th. Do not chase! If sighted or found, please contact PETSEARCHERS at 604-339-5680

10/07/2024

ROSIE IS SAFE!!!
Within minutes of arriving to the YVR area, Parker at Petsearchers Canada spotted Rosie running frantically on the busy road. He carefully lead her off the road and forced her into a fenced lot. After securing the area so she couldn’t get out with some help from some bystanders, we successfully caught her. Thank you YVR staff for the assistance and we are so happy she is safe out of this busy area and out of this heat!

*pic in the comments*
RICHMOND: HAVE YOU SEEN ROSIE???
PUPPY MISSING
ROSIE: 7 month old Cocker x Poodle is missing from Richmond since July 8, 2024.
Last known coordinates were at 5980 Miller Road, YVR area. Rosie is very skittish and new to the area. PLEASE DO NOT CHASE. IF SIGHTED OR FOUND, CALL PETSEARCHERS: 604-339-5680

06/07/2024

HOME SAFE!!!
RICHMOND: HAVE YOU SEEN DINO???
DINO: Male mixed Husky is missing since July 1, 2024 from the No. 7 Road area of Richmond. Dino is 6 years old, neutered, and he is skittish.

04/07/2024

HOME SAFE!!

PRINCETON: HAVE YOU SEEN DANNY???
DANNY: Female dog is missing from the 2200 block of Princeton Summerland Road in Princeton since June 27, 2024. Danny is tattooed, and wearing a collar with contact information on it. She is friendly but can be shy.

29/06/2024

Pro tip: 😄 🐶

29/06/2024

🚩RED FLAGS🚩

Yikes, lately I have seen so many ads for dog training services, tools, and courses that make me absolutely cringe. If you didn't know, dog training and dog behaviour consultancy is UNregulated. So although there are certifying bodies out there that offer some assurance, there are a huge array of competency levels and anyone can "set up shop" and call themselves whatever they want (professional, expert, behaviourist...) even with no education, experience, or humane practice.

That puts a lot of the honus on canine caregivers to find someone who is, indeed, professional, knowledgeable, and skilled. And without the RED SEAL of approval by one large overseeing body who test and police their members, it can feel like wading through sludge for the few gold coins at the bottom of the well.

Here are my RED FLAGS (things that should make you think twice):

🚫 The person is offering a "fix." Dogs are living, reacting, emotional animals like you and me. They do not need fixing, they need to learn skills, feel safe, be set up to succeed, and learn alternative ways of behaving.

🚫 Ad offers guarentees. Nope, impossible. Behaviours can be managed. We can improve the environment. We can weaken and strengthen the chances of behaviours occuring. We can set the dog up for success. We can strengthen the relationship, increase feelings of trust, help them to feel safe and understood so that they do not feel the need to behave in ways that served them in the past. But we cannot guarentee the behaviour or reaction of another being.

🚫 The ad says "You will achieve X behaviours in just Y days!" For example, I saw an ad yesterday saying, "Have an obedient dog in just 10 days!" No. Just no.

🚫 The ad uses dominative terminology, like "obedience" or "command." This is super outdated which makes me question just how outdated their practices might also be.

🚫 They say they have X years of experience but they don't have certifications. This one is tricky because some people who do not have certifications are great. Some people have certifications but those certifications are pretty terrible. To me, however, education and qualifications are important. So take a moment to read about the certifying organisation from which they received their credentials.

🚫 They are not transparent about their methods. Lots of people will say they "use positive reinforcement" to train, which they likely do. But what else? What equipment do they use? And how about dealing with unwanted behaviours? What do those strategies look like?

🚫 Gimmicky type marketing, like, "sign up for this free e-book or this free 7-day challenge!" Teaching dogs is not a challenge, it is about building a great, communicative relationship and it's worth investing in someone who is qualified to give you the right advice.

🚫 Claiming that the use of "e-collars" to teach a dog a behaviour (another name for shock collars) "does't hurt" or it is "only on vibration" so it's harmless. Even if the setting is low or on vibrate, even if the dog isn't THAT uncomfortable with the stimulation it delivers, this is a good indication that this person doesn't understand learning science properly which is concerning. These tools are literally designed to work as negative reinforcement or positive punishment (both requiring an unpleasant or aversive stimulus). At best, it doesn't work, at worst, well...

Ask around, check websites and socials to view pictures, (what are the dogs wearing for equipment, and what is their body language saying), check credentials and visit the websites of those credentialling organisations, sit in on a class, and ask questions.

You will be happy you did and so will your dog!

29/06/2024

DOMESTICATION LIMITS DOGS' EMOTIONAL FACIAL EXPRESSIONS COMPARED TO WOLVES

A new research paper by Dr Sean Twiss and Elena Hobkirk (2024, University of Durham) has identified the first measurable evidence that domestic dogs are limited in their ability to produce the same emotional expressions as their wolf ancestors (link in comments). Due to the vast array of domestic breeds in circulation, breed morphologies ( cephalic index) were also considered. An interesting technique warranted application for this research; the use of slow-motion footage to read wolf facial expressions, compared to domestic dogs, whose expressions could be detected without slow-motion technology.

This study examines the impact of domestication on the ability of dogs to convey emotions through facial expressions, comparing them with their wolf ancestors, and concluding that selective breeding has altered the facial morphologies of dogs, limiting their capacity to produce the same range of affective facial expressions as wolves. By analysing facial movements in wolves during social interactions, researchers identified nine distinct emotional states. However, dogs, especially those with non-wolf-like features, showed reduced predictive power for these states, often confusing positive and negative emotions. This limitation in facial communication can affect both dog-human , and dog- dog interactions, though they suggest dogs likely compensate with vocalisations . The findings highlight the social communicative limitations bred into domestic dogs and emphasise the more complex emotional expressions of wolves. Breeds with brachycephalic faces or flopped or semi-flopped ears, such as in bully breeds were identified as being the most limited in their expression.

A 'confusion matrix' was used to map data, showing the affective state that caused the most confusion in dog facial expressions was fear, with 31% confusion between fear and anger. The affective state that caused the least confusion in dog facial expressions was friendly, with a precision of 75%. Interesting differences that were observed: wolves used the 'ear forward' movement in the context of anger 30% of the time, and domestic dogs only 12%. Bracycephalic and Mesocephalic breeds traits were most associated with confusion. The key conclusion, however, was the substantial confusion between positive and negative affective states for domestic dogs, with fear being misread as friendly, especially relevant in dog- human interactions.
The data suggests that domestic dogs only in part produce facial expressions with a limited range of affective states compared to wolves. The muscles around the lips, muzzle, and noses of both brachycephalic and mesocephalic dogs have much less space to develop and are too small to produce the full range of movements required for robust facial expressions.

The impact on domestic dog welfare due to these limitations cannot be understated, but the consideration of the human impact due to dog bites is equally important. The constraints on dog-dog communication issues are significant also, as it is well established that the risk of conflicts between dogs can increase due to certain morphological differences. Many dogs might display fear when encountering dogs that resemble wolves, or conversely, some dogs might play more vocally or animatedly with certain breeds.

Even for dog professionals, it can be challenging trying to read body language or affective states in some dogs, especially those with more neotenised features. The increase in 'doodle' breeds in populations has had an impact also, as due to their fur, muscle movements, especially around the face, can be challenging to spot. There are also impacts to consider in multi-breed dog households, day care facilities, training environments and much more.

Some examples below:
Bracycephalic breeds: American Bulldog, Boxer, Mastiff, Pug, French Bulldog, SharPei, Cane Corso

Dolichocephalic breeds: Schnauzer, Greyhound, Saluki, German Shepherd, Doberman, Standard Poodle, Many terriers, [Wolves , Coyotes]

Mesocephalic breeds: Border Collie, Belgian Malinois, Most Spaniels, Retrievers, Husky, Beagles, Setters, Vizla [ African wild dog]

The study also highlights the need to better understand vocalisations, and as this might well be breed dependent and the importance of secondary communication features observing body movements and olfaction (particularly in the cases of dog-dog). i.e dogs struggling to read the language of another might pause more frequently to smell the other.

The need for educational photos and video footage on affective states across breeds has become really important.
Opportunities for safe encounters between breed demographics, and the ethical use of 'helper' dogs, which many dog professionals are now utilising , are crucial in improving the welfare of both dogs and humans.

Boo Blackhurst, CDBC

27/06/2024

TINA — the New LIMA: Totally Invasive; NON-Aversive. Check out my Dunbar Academy blog (Since 2007). I have always thought that 'Minimally Aversive' was a cop out. Good to see that things are changing. However, I so want to see routine objective evaluation of the EFFECT of Training: Did it work? How well? and How quickly? rather than subjective views regarding the NATURE of Training — the Nice/Nasty debate that has cleaved the profession into two opposing factions. We're all trying to do the same job and we were more effective when we helped each other learn and work together like we did in the 90s. Remember, rewards, punishments, and training are all defined by their EFFECT on behaviour and not by their NATURE, i.e., whether they are pleasant or unpleasant. Also, I don't think that 'invasiveness' of training (education and companionship) is necessarily a bad thing. I always want to intrude into my dog's brain to better understand their feelings, preferences, emotions, and motives. just as much as I relish my dogs 'intruding' in my brain, and remaining there long after they've died. Kind of like a doggy Vulcan mind-meld. We need more togetherness, not less.

27/06/2024

MISSION: ARE YOU MISSING ME???
DOG FOUND: June 25, 2024 - Found walking across Cadebar in Mission. This little one is safe with finder. Please contact: 778-839-0371 WITH PROOF OF OWNERSHIP

24/06/2024

JUBIE IS SAFE!!!!
Jubie has been on the run since yesterday, and in total covered over 30kms in distance. He was lost near Byrne Creek, this morning was sighted in Vancouver, around noon he was sighted near Confederation Park, and this evening sighted around Burnaby Lake. Parker at Petsearchers Canada got a tip that Jubie was sighted on a trail in Burnaby Lake, and got there right away. He scanned the whole area with their Thermal Drone and finally spotted him in a trail and going out onto a road. He was followed with the drone until he stopped moving, and took a rest in an empty gravel lot. His owners, fosters, and previous rescuers from Taiwan surrounded him and we safely captured him. Without the Thermal Drone, we definitely wouldn’t have been able to spot him through the dense trees! He’s safe, just before nightfall, and is going to enjoy a much needed rest!

*picture in the comments!*

BURNABY: HAVE YOU SEEN JUBIE???
NEW RESCUE MISSING!
JUBIE: Male brindle orange/brown dog is missing in Burnaby since June 22, 2024. Was last seen at Burnaby Lake area. Jubie is small/medium in size, weighs 38-40 lbs, and is a new rescue. VERY SKITTISH DO NOT CHASE. If sighted or found, call PETSEARCHERS 604-339-5680

20/06/2024

UPDATE: JUNE IS SAFE!!
UPDATE JUNE 20: June is still missing! She’s believed to be in the same area, please keep sharing and keep your eyes out for her!
VANCOUVER: HAVE YOU SEEN JUNE???
JUNE: BRAND NEW RESCUE dog, female, is missing in Vancouver, Shaughnessy area near Laurier and Selkirk, missing since June 18, 2024. June is 7.5 kg, and about 1.5 years old. She is very skittish, please do not chase. If you see her, contact PETSEARCHERS at 604-339-5680.

16/06/2024

Humans like to touch, hold, comfort and soothe with physical contact. Dogs prefer to sniff and use expressive body language to communicate. Hugging and holding dogs regardless of their requests and feelings is disrespecting their natural communication and may even cause trauma for them.

16/06/2024

Everyone is entitled to their opinion.

But it’s facts and evidence, not personal opinions that do matter, especially when you are a professional who teaches others.

With positive reinforcement there is an abundance of evidence that it’s the most effective, ethical and comprehensive approach. I happily provide such evidence to any of my clients who wish to broaden their knowledge.

So if someone tells you to use force, dominance, fear or pain (that includes the use of prong, choke or e collars) ask them to give you scientific evidence that states that those are absolutely necessary to train a dog.

They can’t? Well, there’s a surprise …

16/06/2024

Dogs pulling on the lead is a common issue faced by many guardians, rooted in a variety of emotional responses such as stress, fear, anxiety, and excitement. It's also often simply because they haven't been taught otherwise.

Addressing this behaviour effectively requires a deep understanding of your dog's underlying motivations and emotional state. Successful and ethical training methods prioritise this understanding, offering solutions that respect the dog's feelings and needs.

By focusing on why dogs act the way they do, we can develop strategies that are not only effective but also strengthen the bond between us and our dogs. Ready to learn more? Get your free loose lead walking webinar today - comment for the link.