Bloemfontein DOG Training CLUB

10/06/2025

No, it doesn't mean they want to dominate the world and all who inhabit it 👽
Though to be fair it can be a way to establish social status.
Or from frustration, or attention...and actually for a plethora of reasons.
Male or female, spayed or neutered, hu***ng is still possible.
Heightened energy?
Yup...
That energy has to go somewhere and play mates can be a target.
Favourite object, other dogs and even us.... we can all be be "love hugged".

10/06/2025

Just like human children.

09/06/2025

Another wonderful offer. Thank you to VetHealth.

🐾 SPAYATHON JULY 2025 IS HERE! 🐾
📅 Mark your calendars! All month long, we're hosting our biggest Spay & Neuter Event of the year – and your pets are invited! 🐶🐱

💙 Why join the ?
✅ Help reduce pet overpopulation
✅ Improve your pet’s health & behavior
✅ Prevent unwanted litters
✅ Affordable pricing

🎯 When: July 1 – July 31, 2025
📍 Where: VetHealth Animal Clinic
🕘 Appointments required – spots are limited!

📞 Call us today at 051 522 7686.

Let’s work together to create a healthier, happier pet community this winter! 🐕🐾🐈

📢 Spread the word – tag your fellow pet lovers & share this post! 💌

09/06/2025

They are quite strict with these rules and should be, too.

Lees en share. Ek glo dat die reëls nie onnodig is nie. Of te streng is nie.

09/06/2025

09/06/2025

Hackles refers to the line of hair that runs along the spine of the dog, from the back of the neck to the top of the tail. In certain situations, these hackles will be raised, also known as piloer****on (pilo meaning hair and er****on meaning raised).

It is commonly thought of as a sign of aggression. While raised hackles can be a warning sign that the dog is bothered by something and may resort to aggression, hackles can raise for a number of reasons. The real definition of why raised hackles occur is a rise in arousal levels.

Arousal in behaviour terms relates to the level of interest, excitement, or reaction that the dog is experiencing. An over-excited dog who is bouncing around, jumping up at people, maybe mouthing their hand is over-aroused. The dog who is trying to run away from something that scares them is over-aroused. The dog who displays aggressive behaviours towards something that they feel is too close to them is over-aroused.

Hackles are a good sign to look for to judge how relaxed your dog is in a situation, together with the rest of the signs and signals they are showing at the same time. You can find more information in this article from my blog: https://www.goodguardianship.com/post/can-you-tell-how-your-dog-is-feeling

It's so important to take time to familiarise yourself with canine body language and, in particular, how your dog's body language appears.

09/06/2025

If a dog receives every meal from a bowl it may mean missing a great opportunity to add some interest into their daily lives. In the past, the dogs and their ancestors would have spent a proportion of their time searching out food, and we can use this to include interest and give opportunities for them to carry out natural canine behaviours.

There are many food toys available for purchase, but they can be very expensive on a limited budget. The good news is that offering food-based enrichment doesn't have to involve spending a lot of money!

Three simple food games require no spending and are very simple to prepare, so they are easy for anyone to carry out.

Scatter some pieces of food or treats along the length of a towel/tea towel or some other piece of cloth and roll it up so the dog needs to unroll it and find the food as they go.

Scatter a portion of your dog's daily ration around the garden for them to sniff out. If you don't have a garden, you can hide the food around the house for them to find.

Keep carboard boxes and safe packaging materials like paper from any deliveries and hide food in the bottom of the box and scattered among the scrunched-up pieces of paper for the dog to hunt out.
The added bonus here is also that dogs who love to shred things can then also destroy the box and paper and the only inconvenience for us is the clearing up afterwards. (It is important to note that dogs who may attempt to eat the packaging materials should not be allowed to carry out the destruction phase as this could be dangerous.)

Not all dogs enjoy working like this for every meal - one of my dogs is fine to have one meal a day that he needs to search out but gets hangry and grumpy if it occurs more than once a day. As with many things, it's important to find out what works for your individual dog and keeps them happy.

09/06/2025

What scares your dog, may not seem scary to you.

How many times do we see someone say not to comfort a scared dog because it will reinforce their fear? This is an incredibly damaging myth, and one that will not help your scared dog at all.
Fear is an emotion, not a behaviour, and it cannot be reinforced in the same way as a behaviour can. That's not to say that how we respond can't have an effect on the dog's fear - it's important to sound and remain calm and soothing - but emotions cannot be reinforced simply by offering comfort to the scared dog.

Behaviours that we reinforce to encourage them and make them more likely to happen are the result of a conscious choice by the dog. That is how positive reinforcement works - the choice to do a particular thing results in something good, something the dog likes or wants. That could be an extrinsic reward like treats, fuss, or a toy, or an intrinsic internal reward such as being able to carry out a natural behaviour that is self-rewarding for the dog.

Emotions like fear are not based on conscious decisions. Fear is not something the dog chooses to feel. Something has triggered the dog's survival instinct, their survival mechanism, and the dog's body and brain leap into action to protect the dog from this thing.

It doesn't matter if the thing the dog is scared of is a real threat or not - for the dog it is perceived as a threat and it's important for us to help them, whether that is getting them more distance from what has scared them, or providing comfort and attempting to help them to feel safer if more distance is not possible (for example fireworks, thunder, or gunshots) or we can't see what is triggering the response.

A scared dog is not being silly or trying to be awkward. They are scared and in survival mode. They need empathy and understanding, and it's up to us to provide those for them.

25/05/2025

I've attend Pup School and my dog and I thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

Next puppy class starting on 31 May. Open for enrollment. For more information contact Christa on 082 928 7574 or email [email protected]

25/05/2025

Loose lead walking is an important skill as there are times when it is absolutely necessary that our dogs are close beside us. As the image text says, near roads, or where we are navigating around other people in a small space, for instance.

Outside of those times, dogs can still be walking on a loose lead but given a lot more room to explore their environment and proceed at their own pace.

Using a longer lead (the one I'm using in the picture is 15 feet) means we can give our dogs a much wider area to explore, even when for some reason they are not able to go off lead.
It can take a little getting used to working with a longer line but with some practice most people become good at letting out or shortening the line as needed.

Working with a longer line and more freedom for the dog means that they can reach the places they want to investigate easier so there is much less reason for them to pull, making walks more enjoyable and less stressful for us both.