Elisha's Positive Training

11/03/2025

DOUBLE TROUBLE
The challenges of raising two puppies together.

The problem behaviours that are commonly seen in dogs that are raised together is often mistakenly called “litter mate syndrome”, but these behaviours are not specific to dogs from the same litter and can occur with any 2 dogs that are raised together.

The problems that may develop have nothing to do with sharing similar DNA or coming from the same litter, but depends on how the pups are raised and how their environment is managed.

Problem behaviour is usually a combination of relational dynamics, poor socialisation, habituation, a lack of separate experiences and no individual resilience or self-confidence building.

Many people believe it’s a great idea to get two pups at the same time. They’ll be able to keep each other company when left alone, they won’t be bored; they’ll have each other to play with; they will always have a friend; both children in the family can have one; the breeder said it’s a good idea, you just couldn’t bear to leave the other one behind….and more, but this can lead to long term problems if there is no awareness of how to prevent potential problems.

Relying on the relationship between the dogs to fill the missing pieces of responsible pet parenting is setting the stage for the development of problem behaviours.

Although sibling pairs or 2 pups together may come with unique challenges, pups raised together can absolutely form healthy human bonds and develop into well-adjusted, confident dogs as long as their care givers are aware of what could go wrong and are prepared to put in the work to raise them.

04/03/2025

I STILL NEEDED MY MOM

THE CONSEQUENCES OF TAKING PUPS TOO YOUNG

The early life experiences of a puppy are so important and have a significant influence on how that pup develops - emotionally, mentally, socially and physically.

There are still many so-called “breeders” that allow pups to be taken away at 6 weeks.

Uninformed people just accept this without question and are often unprepared for the consequences.

Just because a puppy may no longer physically depend on mom for food doesn’t mean they are ready to cope emotionally, without the security of their family unit, in a strange new home.

A 6-week-old puppy is still very reliant on mom and their littermates to learn appropriate play behaviour, impulse control, frustration tolerance, bite inhibition, self-confidence and develop the social skills that will help them grow into well-adjusted adults.

Although 8 weeks is the bare minimum that a reputable breeder will allow their pups to leave, some will keep their puppies until 10 or 12 weeks of age, but also make sure that proper, age-appropriate socialisation and habituation is provided.

Habituation is getting a puppy used to different things in an environment in a positive way, at the right developmental time. This could look like introducing different objects, noises, sounds, smells, different textures, places etc, so the puppy learns that these things are not something to be afraid of.

However, we don’t live an in ideal world and having to care for or rescue pups much younger than 8 weeks is often unavoidable due to different circumstances.

In these cases, we need to do what we can and hope for the best.

This post is not about this kind of situation, it’s about spreading knowledge, creating awareness, understanding and encouraging people not to support unethical, irresponsible breeders that allow their pups to leave too early, with no regard for their wellbeing or development.

18/02/2025

WHY LOVE ALONE IS NOT ENOUGH

This is a very belated Valentine’s related post, but still falls within the month of love!

Dogs need so much more than just our love.

I would presume that we all love our dogs, but just loving them is not enough.

Love is far from just the name of an emotion or feeling – a noun.

Love is a verb – a “doing” word.
It’s the doing word of building relationship, trust, understanding, patience, acceptance, communication, consent, respect, nurturing and a commitment to ongoing wellbeing.

Love is asking – What can I do to meet my dog’s needs? Instead of asking - How do I make my dog behave? When a dog’s needs are met, behaviour problems often solve themselves.

Just like one person loving another, loving a dog is a “doing” word, not just something that we feel.

14/01/2025

Listen to the whispers

Whispers are soft, subtle and so easy to miss in our often busy, hectic lives, but making an effort to listen to them can prevent situations from escalating, resulting in reactive behaviour.

A dog’s attempt to communicate is so often misunderstood or completely ignored.

Body language is one of the only ways that dogs can let us know how they are feeling. When we know how they’re feeling, we can intervene, help them feel safe and prevent those emotions from boiling over.

Body language can be subtle and fleeting, but with careful observation and knowing what to look for most of us can learn to recognize and understand what our dogs are saying.

It’s always important to look at the context, the situation and especially what the rest of the body is doing when deciphering their language.

Being able to understand a dog’s emotional state through their body language helps us to predict behaviour, prevent potential problems or simply allows us to just enjoy observing what they are feeling.

Although dogs each have their own unique personalities and distinct way of communicating, there are many common signs that can give us insight. We just need to take the time to learn and then notice them. I believe dogs would be so grateful if we make the effort to learn their language.

Here are some resources and links to learn more about body language -

On Talking Terms With Dogs - Calming Signals, 2nd Edition by Turid Rugaas
https://www.dogwise.com/on-talking-terms-with-dogs-calming-signals-2nd-edition/?srsltid=AfmBOoqj8ruQJx5bCP7qWb03TqCyAGfmAvCj988UuWk_L1_UHbYcZsES&fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAAR0AaDd_wwhSC4JEUqkvQmOG9lU5bNdbAOEeHQb0st7P_DXrdAOR-utY_-k_aem_cqU0VLHHyjrKbce9ddT84g

The Veterinary Behaviour Centre
https://www.heska.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/TVBC-Canine-Dog-Body-Language-handout.pdf?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAAR3mKGykzNJr7_yFf1_e6mc2sRHjNvjEok2GLvKTw-OMtTxEfjtlxM6vk4I_aem_B-YAlekmE0eV03c_1x8cyw

05/01/2025

This year has started off pretty awful for me. I lost my Hopey, traumatically and suddenly, on the 3rd after rushing her to the ER on the 1st.

Today I learn of the passing of someone very pivotal in the positive reinforcement world. While I don’t known Karen Pryor personally (I never got the privilege) I know she’s been a big part of my passion for humane, ethical, evidence based training practices for what will be 22 years this year. Her contributions to the field, and to the world in general, have been nothing short of wonderful.

29/12/2024

FEROCIOUS FIREWORKS
I’ll be spending New Years Eve at home, in my pajamas, cuddled up with my dogs, as I always do.

Fireworks are something I dislike intensely. They are not only terrifying for so many different animals but are also dreaded by caring people, who have to watch, often helplessly as their dog suffers through the deafening bangs.

Shelters become overrun with lost dogs, dogs are knocked over by cars or go missing in their attempt to escape, they jump through glass windows, over high walls, have heart attacks, seizures or worse.

As there’s very little we can do to prevent other people from doing what they do, the best solution is to do all we can to minimize the impact this has on our dogs.

All dogs are different and there’s never a guarantee that these methods will work. Some dogs are just the way they are because of genetics, their experiences, learning history, health conditions, age etc.

Here are some helpful links if you’d like more information on some ideas that may help –

1. Counterconditioning / desensitization
https://illis.se/en/cc/

2. Noise of fireworks for desensitization training –
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7FANXaanG4

3. Thunder phobia and sound sensitivities - Patricia McConnell
https://www.patriciamcconnell.com/dogs-and-fireworks/

4. Dogs and fireworks (30+ proven techniques to eliminate noise phobia) – Karolina Westlund, PHD
https://illis.se/en/eliminating-firework-and-thunder-phobia-in-dogs/

5. Calming dog music – Pet Calming Maestro, Lisa Spector (Lisa’s music helps me relax and fall asleep quicker too!) https://lisaspector.com/dog-gone-calm/

6. Thundershirt / anxiety wraps
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pmwgw2actJg

Wishing you and your dogs a calm, peaceful, uneventful beginning to 2024

05/12/2024

"If they say to you that your dog, quote unquote, has to be corrected, or that electric shock doesn't actually hurt, or that it's just a tap on the shoulder, run away. There are better alternatives."--Jean Donaldson, author of The Culture Clash and director of The Academy for Dog Trainers speaking at Bark! Fest, the book festival for animal lovers, this past September. If you missed it, you can listen to the recording on The Pawsitive Post in Conversation wherever you get your podcasts or watch it on the Companion Animal Psychology Youtube channel.

05/12/2024

The holidays, a busy time of year, are quickly approaching! This time of year can be stressful for everyone, including our pets.

05/12/2024

FELINE FRIDAY

This week's Feline Friday is also 'Fun Fact Friday' ...

Ever wondered why cats have whiskers above their eyes? 🤔

You're welcome!
🐈‍⬛🐈💟

Image credit: www.catbehaviorassociates.com

05/12/2024

For anyone wanting to nerd out on some behavior fun. :)

26/11/2024

Some foods are safe to share with your pets, some are not. If in doubt, leave it out. There are tons of resources online about which foods are not safe and which are.
Keep in mind, you may not be the one to give these things to your dogs. If you're having guests over, ask them not to feed anything to your pets. Be sure the trash can is secure and out of reach. Keep counter surfers out of the kitchen/eating area. You can offer an appropriately stuffed Kong or other treat/chewy while you eat, if you don't want to leave your dog out of the festivities.

Tips to keep everyone safe and happy this holiday season.

24/11/2024

19/11/2024

ARE YOU MANAGING?
Are you managing your dog’s environment to prevent or improve unwanted behaviour?

As people, we tend to prefer and look for the more complicated solutions to problems. This tendency is termed “complexity bias” - the tendency to prefer complicated explanations and solutions instead of looking for the simpler ones.

Surely a complicated, time consuming, detailed solution has to be more effective, superior, impressive, or correct?

Complexity bias is so relevant when it comes to changing a dog’s unwanted behaviour. We often get so stuck on trying to modify behaviour through counter conditioning, desensitization or detailed training plans when sometimes the simplest solution to the problem lies in simply managing the environment.

Dogs will do what dogs do – when an opportunity arises to help themselves to food left on a table, to bark at the gate at anyone passing by, to have a drink from that big water bowl at the perfect height, that we call a toilet, to running off with irresistibly smelly dirty underwear, to rummaging through bins in search of anything that may or may not be edible, to running out an opened door in search of adventure - the list is long - dogs will be dogs.

Parents of little children use management all the time without giving it much thought. Baby locks on cupboards, covers on electrical sockets, valuable or dangerous items put far out of reach, fences and locks around pools, etc.

We wouldn’t just train a toddler not to stick their fingers in an electrical socket, not to open cupboards, not to touch a hot plate – it’s far safer, simpler and logical to first manage the environment, to prevent potential incidents.

The same principle should apply to managing a dog’s environment to prevent unwanted behaviour.

The more a behaviour is practiced the more difficult it is to prevent. The more a behaviour is rehearsed the better dogs become at it.

Preventing the behaviour from happening in the first place by using management is the logical, simple and effective way to address it.

Be a good manager – it’s far less stressful, for both us and our dogs.

13/11/2024

TRIGGER STACKING – WHEN BEHAVIOUR HAPPENS “OUT OF THE BLUE”

We’ve all had those days when nothing seems to go right and one frustrating thing after another happens to us, leaving us feeling wound up, stressed and ready to explode at the next unsuspecting person who dares to ask us something.

This “unsuspecting” person may think we have a serious behaviour problem or need anger management therapy, when the truth is that we’ve just had a really bad day or even a few bad days and don’t usually behave like this at all.

Dogs are no different and a behaviour that seems completely out of character or happens “out of the blue” is often caused by “trigger stacking”.

A trigger may be anything that increases a dog’s stress levels and has a negative impact on their emotional, mental or physical state.

These may be small things that we may not even notice or seem insignificant to us, but they are all adding to an increasing “stack” of events that may culminate in out of character behaviour.

When stress levels reach a certain point, the next stressful event, however small, may cause an explosive reaction that is completely unexpected.

Instead of just focusing on a particular behaviour and seeing it as a problem that needs to be prevented, take a step backwards, look at the bigger picture, look at events, circumstances or environmental factors that may have played a role leading up to that behaviour.

Being aware of potential stressors and allowing your dog time to decompress, relax and unwind for a few days will often mean the difference between “normal behaviour” and a behaviour that seems completely out of character.

10/11/2024

With the Holiday season upon us for Thanksgiving this month, we wanted to ask you…

Will your kids be around dogs this Thanksgiving? 🤔

Our upcoming Dogs and Toddlers Webinar is on November 16th, which is just in time for American Thanksgiving! 🍁

This webinar is the perfect way to get prepared for family events and how to keep your toddler AND the dogs in your life safe and stress free!

We only have 4️⃣ spots remaining for this upcoming webinar, will we see you there?

The link to register is below ⬇️

🔗 https://familypawsbooking.as.me/schedule/1450ac5a/?appointmentTypeIds%5B%5D=19391069

We hope to see you there to help you become more dog aware 🐶

08/11/2024

For those with storm fearful pets, please take the time now to contain, medicate, put on Thundershirts, etc. Fortunately, this doesn’t look like it will last long or offer much in the way of severe weather.

Friday, 10:30 AM:

Today's cold front and broken line of rain & storms is running ahead of schedule...

Estimated time of arrival to western Bexar County now trending towards the *early* afternoon... possibly as early as 1-2 pm

Monitoring to see how well it can hold together!