Savvy Canine & Equine Training

13/02/2025

Adolescence is a challenging time for both the dog and the human.

12/02/2025

The cold weather and ice have excited my pup. Not uncommon for her to get the zoomies

Oh those Zoomies !!!!!⏪⏫⏩⏬
What if you are a "target"?😲
Should you just let them be ?
Can you lessen them ?
Before those questions are answered, it is vital that we ensure all our puppies and dogs needs have been met.
Over tired ?
Under stimulated?....over stimulated ?
Should you do anything about them...yes and no. ✅❌
On the whole the zoomies are natural and normal, BUT when YOU become a target, it can be an issue.
If they are predictable....after baths, after dinner, before bed etc, you can try and lessen them by doing some training games, getting that nose working on finding something and pull out some enrichment puzzles or make them yourself....but it isn't the time for food in a box that they can destroy as that can ramp up that energy again.
Think more along the lines of, a rolled up towel with rewards scattered through, lickimats, snuffle mats and plastic cups so you can play "find".
There is a video in the comments about how to start find...SO helpful to calm a dog and on days when you need to tire them out but it's perhaps pouring with rain.
This dog training graphic is available from https://www.abcdogsnz.com/product-page/abc-dogs-nz-the-zoomies?srsltid=AfmBOopH5SVfasdLy3Pfo5J9CF7Ir0VCJuNDjwpCOo7JAJQ3Zd4GnwNb

11/02/2025

Be safe

: Valentine's Day is next Friday! If your Valentine has pets, check ASPCA's Toxic & Non-Toxic Plant Guide before buying flowers to keep their pets safe!

ASPCA Guide: https://www.aspca.org/pet-care/animal-poison-control/toxic-and-non-toxic-plants

Learn more about Valentine's Day pet dangers: https://aercmn.com/valentines-day-dangers-for-pets/

10/02/2025

My dogs are always rifling through my coat pockets …. Most of them are torn!🤣

lain Welch
Art & de sign
iainwelch.co.uk

08/02/2025

Behavior is just behavior. Not good not bad but information.

07/02/2025

I am not a nutritionist but I know the importance a good diet plays in behavior. What we feed our dog has an impact in how they feel. And how they feel is displayed in their behavior.

This Sunday, get ready for part 2 of our highly anticipated ⭐️2025 Pet Food Review⭐️! These reviews are designed to give you the right tools🔧🧰 for choosing the best pet food in 2025, no matter what your budget!

On this week’s live episode, our panel of veterinary nutritionists, pet food formulators and industry experts are reviewing the top-selling gently cooked, dehydrated, and base mix brands for dogs and cats. From Farmer’s Dog to Nulo, Honest Kitchen, Smack, SmallBatch, Stella & Chewy's and many more.

Here’s what you’ll learn:

🥩 Are base mixes nutritionally complete - We’ll show you why protein choice matters.

🤔 Shelf-stable Gently Cooked foods - Are these truly "fresh" or just clever marketing?

🔎 Do company claims hold up - We’ll scrutinize the top brands and see if their bold claims are legit.

🔥 Are Gently Cooked foods truly 'gently' cooked - The temperatures and processes behind these brands.

We hope you'll join us this Sunday at 12pm EST live on the Inside Scoop.

Plus, there’s even more to come! We’ll be reviewing freeze-dried, toppers, canned, and raw pet foods in the upcoming weeks. And if you missed it, be sure to check out our previous episode where we reviewed dry food brands — it's all available for you to watch!

Comment SCOOPERS and we'll message you the link to join Inside Scoop, a Planet Paws monthly subscription group. All live podcasts are recorded and available to watch later. You’ll also be able to watch over 5 years of content including: past live podcasts, interviews, ebook downloads, and more!

06/02/2025

I do however allow my dog to be a dog and make sure I meet and provide for their innate behaviors. If they like to dog I provide a space for that. If they like to shred I give them opportunities to do it safely.

05/02/2025

I NOSE HOW YOU FEEL
One of the most incredible things about dogs is their ability to recognize and respond to our emotions, but just how do they know how we’re feeling?

They may not understand the emotion we are feeling, but their brains are wired to understand whether that emotion makes them feel safe or not.

From an evolutionary perspective; for their survival, it was and still is, important for dogs to know which humans were safe to be around and which were not.

Dogs recognize the different chemical scents we produce through our skin or breath, our facial expressions or body language and our tone of voice.

Although we’re not aware of it, we emit different scents when experiencing positive emotions compared to when we experience negative emotions. Dogs have an amazing ability to recognize these different scents.

A dog's sense of smell is incredibly powerful and far superior to ours. Dogs have +/- 300 million olfactory receptors in their nose, sometimes more depending on the breed, compared to +/- 5 to 6 million in humans. In addition to this, the part of their brain that processes scent is around 40 times bigger than ours.

Dogs also recognize our facial expressions and body language. Just like we might stay well away from or not want to interact with someone who looks really angry and be more drawn and responsive to a happy, relaxed looking person.

Tone of voice – more info on this in my previous post.

Dogs can be such a comfort to us when we need emotional support or aren’t feeling well, but some of our emotions many have a negative effect on them.

Working with or interacting with a dog when we’re feeling angry, stressed, frustrated or having a bad day is not a good idea. It’s far better to wait until we feel more relaxed and calmer.

Dogs have rich emotional lives – just as we should try to be aware of their emotions, also be aware of how our emotions may affect them.

04/02/2025

Dog’s are not stubborn. There is always something driving the behavior

03/02/2025

Credit
Scott Metzger Cartoons

01/02/2025

Adolescence is one of the most challenging time for dogs and their humans.

30/01/2025

This is so true especially for recall. So often we get angry when the dog ignores the recall cue so we started getting louder and S often back fires causing our dog to avoid the person calling them. Would you eagerly run to see someone yelling and seething in anger?

SETTING THE TONE
The tone of voice we use when speaking to a dog matters!

When someone is talking to us or asking us to do something, are we more likely to respond and want to connect with them if they’re using a specific type of tone than if their tone is harsh, shouting or domineering?

The more we use positive tones of voice with our dogs, the more they will want to connect with us and be more interested in doing what we are asking.

Some examples of why tone matters –

Calling your dog to come back to you in a happy, excited, high-pitched tone is far more likely to work than using a stern, loud, angry tone. Would you want to return to someone who sounds really angry?

Yanking on a leash and shouting at a dog for reacting to another dog or situation is far less likely to work than saying “lets go this way!” in a happy tone and creating distance to where a dog feels comfortable.

Saying “Yes!” when a dog has done what you ask will increase the behaviour you’re looking for instead of yelling “No!” in an angry tone when they don’t get it right.

Although these examples are based on positive reinforcement training, a study has also shown that dogs respond and pay more attention when we speak with a higher pitch and more variation, similar to how we would talk to a baby.

Given that a dog’s emotional capability is similar to that of a young child, this all makes sense and fits together, in my opinion.

Here’s a link to the study if you’d like more information -

https://www.nature.com/articles/s42003-023-05217-y

27/01/2025

Today's Funny!

credit: Mark Parisi offthemark,com

25/01/2025

Your dog is not broken. They are struggling.

Don’t have a perfect dog or get frustrated with training? I’m sharing why to stop fixing your dog’s behavior and how better starts with a plan.Transcript:The...