Little Papaya is learning to wave 💙
Stormy and Pusheen! 💙
From their owner-
"Honestly, Elaina is a miracle worker. I have male/female sibling cats who have lived together for six years but the male started wanting to go outside and became very territorial w his sister, to the point she was terrified of him and peeing all over the house as he chased her! Our vet recommended Positive Solutions and I reached out to Eliana not expecting much but all of her recommendations that we used worked. The kitties couldn’t be around each other in the same room for two months and as she slowly worked with then, they are now loving on each other again!! We are thrilled! I highly recommend Elaina for your cat behavior problems!"
*SOUND ON*
Having a bird feeder outside a window can be very enriching for your cat to watch. If you are able to allow your cat into a screened porch or catio so they can sit and watch the bird feeder that's even better. It will help engage many more senses such as smell and sounds which makes it even more enriching for them.
Chickpea loves her enrichment!
For small dogs and kittens- you can use an elastic cord. Nail it in firmly above a door frame and tie a toy to the bottom. Make sure they are able to grab the toy so they don't get frustrated. Supervise them to make sure they don't chew threw the elastic. Otherwise they will have lots of fun!
I love concept training! This concept is called match to sample where Frankie has to identify the matching object to my sample.
Gibbs is showing off how pretty his claw covers are!
His owner got new furniture so he is wearing claw covers to ensure that the furniture stays protected and doesn't get scratched.
Guess who learned to lay down?
Chickpea did!
She learned to go down in seconds but she wanted to pop right back up but she soon figured out how to stay down. She is so smart!
The puzzle may be 3 times as big as Chickpea but that doesn't stop her!
Observational learning can be very useful! Chickpea is learning to walk on the leash and she hasn't made too much progress on her own so we decided to call on Frankie to help out. By Chickpea observing Frankie walking on the leash she was able to readily follow behind.
Chickpea who is only 13 weeks old melts my heart when working with enrichment for her meals. She is a picky eater but eats better when her food is used as a reward for training or in enrichment Most dogs prefer mental exercise with their meal as opposed to eating from the bowl which can be boring for them.
Struggle giving your dog a bath? Try pairing bath time with some delicious food smeared on a lickimat.
Corale loves his treat dispenser!
If you have a thunderstorm and firework phobic dog like me and they have been dealing with days of back-to-back "booms" please do them a favor and get them out in nature and let them sniff!
It is important after stress-inducing events that you help your dog decompress. Sniffing is a great way to help them decompress as research shows it lowers the heart and pulse rates which bring down their cortisol levels, it provides lots of mental exercise which can help reduce anxiety, and requires almost as much energy as running.
Let them sniff as long as they want!
Buster lives in an outdoor pen that was just expanded to three times its original size. She camouflages well so finding her for her meals has been difficult. So instead of working harder I decided to work smarter and trained her to come to her food dish.
Do you have a thunderstorm phobic dog like me?
Can you get your dog to relax like this during a storm?
I filmed this as I was getting dangerous storm and lightning alerts. With the closest strike 0.6 miles away. Frankie wasn't stressed at all!
Puppy playdate! (2 of 2)
Then we took breaks so they didn't get too rough and could take a little time to settle.
Puppy playdate! (1 of 2)
Charlie and Dulce just had their first playdate with someone their own age and it went great!
First they took turns playing hard.
Enrichment can be anything that is added to an individual's life to enhance it.
Today Biscuit's enrichment was hanging out in the catio where he was able to pick up new smells and sounds while he was exploring.
My mom taught me when I was a teenager with a very high energy Dalmatian that you get up first thing and get your dog out to the woods so you can manage their behavior the rest of the day. A walk like this is so much more beneficial then playing fetch as this type of walk provides tons of mental exercise along with physical exercise which will leave most dogs satisfied and help them settle throughout the day!
What in the world is Harbor doing?
Harbor is petrified of the vet and new people. Today we worked at the vet hospital before their appointments started to help desensitize her to the environment. She is wearing a calming cap which helps reduce the visibility (she can still see) of "scary" triggers which can help lower her stress level. She also spent part of the session sniffing out food from an activity mat because sniffing lowers the heart rate which in turn lowers a dog's stress level.
