Dogology

26/12/2022

How my dogs spend their Christmas 😂🐾

28/11/2022

Echo and I tried out our first Fun Rally competition yesterday. I was very impressed with his score of 97.5%. Super proud of you my boy 🐾

23/11/2022

Puppy class isn't going to cut it.

Especially not with all the high expectations we have with our dogs. Doing a six week puppy course with your dog is an incredible start, but it is the first stepping stone of many.

Expecting a dog to be able to just do all the behaviours consistently and not miss a beat, is the same as sending your child to pre-school thinking that's enough education to get him to be an engineer.

So start that puppy course. But continue learning. You don't have to go to dog school for the rest of your dogs life, but you, as their guardian need to continue rewarding all the good things, redirect the unwanted behaviour and help them through the bad times. Use life for training. You don't only have to train for a set hour every week, use situations that come about your daily life. If you have people coming over, train!
If there is a thunderstorm, train!
If there is a dog walking past you on the road, train!

Learning never ever stops. So please, don't use the excuse, "the puppy class didn't work" because I can guarentee you it did the job, but we have to continue to practice and work hard.
It builds an incredible bond and it only makes all our lives easier.

08/11/2022

If you have a high energy, hard to settle, anxious, cannot switch off, ball obsessed or reactive dog then you may be interested in how changing some things in your dogs life can help.

Your dogs body can respond the SAME to both psychological AND physical stress and it can respond the exact same way.....by releasing hormones. Cortisol and Adrenaline.
If your dog is either physically stressed or psychologically stressed often then there is a "loop" of these hormones released over and over. Your dogs brain is becoming "stressed" because of the continual release of these hormones.......decreasing can take many hours, days and even weeks as every time your dog has a release of those chemicals, it can set you back again.

The hormones released in the following activities can be exactly the same.
High energy play.....Cortisol and Adrenaline
Obsessive Ball Play......Cortisol and Adrenaline
Reactiveness........Cortisol and Adrenaline.

Your dogs brain reacts the EXACT same way whether it is faced with a snarling dog or chasing that ball again and again.

Often when people see their dogs energy rising, or anxiety creeping up they come up with the same answer....exercise, exercise and more of it to "tire" them out......So the ball is thrown for 20 minutes, the walk may now be a run or they let their dogs play longer at the dog park.......and all these things do is release more of the very hormones your dog needs a break from.
Physically tiring out dogs only physically tires them BUT their brains are STILL under a great deal of stress....and if you expose your dogs again and again to these Cortisol and Adrenaline activities it WILL be a very long time till you see any difference.

How knowing this can help you.
If you have a reactive dog and want to play or exercise....ball play, and play sessions with your other dog may be working against you and not helping the reactiveness.

If you have a highly anxious dog that really loves its ball and you throw that ball for 20 mins.....you may be "feeding" the anxiousness as your dogs brain cannot differentiate the release of these hormones from psychological or physical stress.

Give your dogs brain a rest from all the things that you think can contribute to Cortisol and Adrenaline surging in their brain and body.

05/11/2022

All the Aroha Hills Aussies in Rally free class today 🐾

04/11/2022

25/10/2022

21/10/2022

I am a dog trainer and my dogs are allowed on the sofa.

They are allowed on my bed too. In fact I tuck my staffie into his own blanket on my bed every night and have for 8 years.

They don’t have to sit and wait for their dinner.

They don’t always walk with loose leads.

They bark when the door goes.

They don’t sit when I recall them.

The jump up on me.

Sometimes they get the zoomies in the house and knock things over.

This probably all sounds like I have woefully badly trained dogs but that’s not true. My dogs are trained for my lifestyle. They rest when I ask them to, they recall when I ask them to, they don’t barge out of doors, they love their sports they train and compete in.

Every week I get clients say ‘is my dog allowed on the sofa?’ Or ‘my dog waits before they are allowed to eat is that good?’. Honestly I really don’t care. That’s not to say I don’t appreciate your rules, but your rules are yours and your dog only needs to be as trained as you want and need them to be for your life.

You’ll read online that you shouldn’t allow dogs on your bed or should always eat before them or go through doorways first. At best these rules are weirdly controlling, at worst they are absolute bu****it.

Your rules are your rules and your dog is your dog. Want your dog on the sofa? Cool. Don’t want your dog on the sofa? Cool.

Take the pressure of yourself and your dog. Train what’s important to you. For me I want my dogs to be indifferent to people and dogs. To be confident and happy in novel environments. To recall when I ask. To not chew my house. To not pull my arm out of its socket. To not affect members of the public when we are out and about. That’s all I want from my dogs and they are pretty cool to live with.

Stop reading arbitrary rules on Google and choose your own (within reason!). Your dog is your dog. Your life is your life. Train your dog to suit your life and no one else’s. It will immensely improve your relationship and both of your mental well-being!

28/09/2022

PREDATOR PARKS

I wonder whose idea it was to put a bunch of domesticated predators together in one area, who don’t know each other, and call it a good time?

While many dogs do enjoy the company of other unknown dogs, it’s important to understand that most do not. It is completely normal for dogs to socially mature and no longer desire to engage with other dogs outside of their immediate circle or household.

So when someone comes to me with the complaint of “my dog started to become aggressive to other dogs at the dog park” and their goal is to “take their dog to the dog park” I make sure to tell them that their dog is normal, while predator parks are not.

Altering expectations to encompass normal dog behavior vs human projection is always priority.

25/09/2022

How humane is our interaction with dogs?

Dogs show their body how they feel. They bark to tell you they are scared of what they think is going to happen or to avoid conflict. They growl to let you know you are invading their safe space.
Domesticated dogs express their emotions to protect humans.

Unfortunately, some humans consider themselves dog professionals, have high expectations, make negative assumptions, are biased, wait for dogs to make mistakes so they can inflict pain or fear, and put dogs in inhumane situation to change a behavior because theyre afraid of pain or losing their lives.

Dogs are sentient beings. They have the right to safety and to live without the fear of pain or having their safety taken away. That's non-negotiable.

Do no harm is more than a training concept.
It’s the ultimate expression of humanity toward the environment.

Suppose you see injustice towards an animal or a person; if you see an animal being forced into a choice between pain or no pain. You have a human obligation to intervene and intercept.
That makes you humane.

This is my personal opinion.

15/09/2022

For some dogs the presence of other dogs is totally irresistible. They don't think twice than to run over to them to greet and play.

Have you ever stopped to think why?

For these super friendly dogs who are just looking for a good time, other dogs are routinely a source of that. Other dogs bring no demands, no commands, no obedience. It's pure fun.

Recall can fail when you try to mix other boring obedience with coming back to you. If you had to choose between going to a friends house for a party or staying home and doing maths, what would you more likely choose??

Please don't call your dog back and immediately ask them to 'sit' and 'stay' so they are forced to watch the party over there and pretend they don't care to join in.

Of course they want the fun. That's what a dogs life is about... Finding the fun!

Bring the fun to your feet. This lovely lady has guardians who can't offer the typical "run with me instead!" reward that works so well. So today we brainstormed and had the treats giving the chase instead. She needs more than just a food reward. She needs fun with it too. So we found a way to offer her that.

Recall is one of those life skills that could save your dogs' life. It is worth all the excitement you can muster to keep them wanting to come back, day after day after day.

Give your dogs a reason to choose you over another dog. BE THE FUN! 🐾💜

15/09/2022

Everyone loves enrichment toys!! Let’s see your collections 🐶

11/09/2022

So proud of this girl! First place in the Novice Rally show this weekend, qualifying with 98% 🐾✨

26/08/2022

Happy birthday my sweetheart ❤️

24/08/2022

Who says old dogs can’t learn new tricks? Training and enrichment helps keep their minds active, resulting in a happier dog 💚🐾

15/08/2022

I saw something being shared on facebook the other day that really stuck with me. It was a meme generated by a highly compulsive trainer, who has had significant success (if you want to call it that) in his venue of expertise (dog sports.) He posted a bastardized version of a football coach's quote relating it to dogs. But the very first part of it was the assertion that we should be holding dogs "accountable." And that dogs with behavior, or training concerns, were the result of not being held accountable to their actions. And it bothered me. Because holding someone, or in this case a dog, accountable for their actions implies their actions are a result of a moral decision making paradigm.

Dogs are amoral. This means they have no moral decision making paradigm. They do not understand right or wrong. They have no concept of good or evil. They merely understand what is successful, and what is safe. And in opposite what is unsuccessful and what is unsafe. It is damaging to training and behavior modification to consider behavior from animals anything but what it is: an animal's best effort towards being safe and/or successful.

I have said it many times over the years but I will say it again here: behavior is not personal. Your dog's behavior is not driven by a need to personally affront, or insult you. Your horse's behavior is not driven by a need to personally offend, insult or challenge you. Behavior is not personal. And treating animals like their behavior IS somehow personal is both anthropomorphizing and devalues their emotional/sentient lives. To reduce the behavior of animals to a moral failing is a dirty trick, and serves no one to better shape the animal's behavior going forward.

10/08/2022

There is never any excuse for using pain , threats or coercion in training 🐾

For safe , modern and up to date dog training advice , hit the “visit group” button at the top of this page .

Our book is also available on Amazon , and is currently free with Kindle Unlimited :

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B09ZCL5PN9

05/08/2022

When a client is struggling to get the same results that I am with their dog, it's not because of my magical pack leader energy.

https://www.serenitycanine.com/post/5-habits-of-professional-dog-trainers

There will probably be a Part 2, since I will think of 5 more as soon as I post this!

03/08/2022

One of the biggest triggers for anxious dogs is novelty in the environment. Especially when that novelty "appears" suddenly. I refer to this concept as "surprise reactivity" when a dog is faced with a novel stimuli to his environment and he overreacts to its presence. A good way to help our dogs deal with novelty in the environment is to announce when something is changing. To create a cue your dog can use to understand that "something is going to change, it will be okay." This goes a long way to helping dogs who find novelty really overwhelming more predictable. Dr. Susan Friedman once said "Control is the ultimate reinforcer." And nothing feels more like being in control then when things are predictable.

15/07/2022

Behavior Modification takes time- whether we are talking going to the gym as something we do 5 times a week and making it a 'habit', or whether we are talking about changing your dogs emotional response to something.
Often your dog has rehearsed this for a while, and is really good at the undesired behavior you wish would 'just go away'.

It is tempting to reach for 'quick fixes' to these behaviors.
I truly understand.

Thats why it's tempting to sign up for plastic surgery, do a crash or fad diet rather than embark on a lifestyle upheaval commitment of diet and exercise!
Not many of us want to do it the hard way- and we want results 'now'!

But a lot of the 'quick fixes', that seem to work at first, are not always what they seem. There are things that affect the dog deeply. And it can often take time, maturity, the 'right' (or wrong) environment or releasing stimuli (and many other factors) that will show us the long term affect of some of these 'quick fixes'.

We have often not just suppressed the behavior (which is why they seem to work so fast- super attractive for us in society today!), but we frequently have fallout to deal with.
And often, it is not good. Often, it is very dangerous.

Sometimes quick fixes are too good to be true.

Just like 'getting fit and leading a healthier life', canine behavior change takes time, effort and commitment to working with your dog.
And both of those things are often achieved with a qualified trainer on a carefully laid out, personalized plan.
Your dogs behavior is as individual as you are!
Sometimes you can achieve what you are wanting with consistent use of short sessions and quickly, just like 8 minute abs! But you need the whole plan to achieve goals- 8 minute abs wont work if you are consuming 5 chocolate sheet cakes a day...

So , just like the grapefruit diet won't lead to longterm health and wellness, using aversive tools probably won't lead to longterm mental or behavioral wellness with your dog.

Choose carefully.

08/07/2022

🐾💜

08/07/2022

It's the owners fault, they spoilt the dog too much.

In varied forms, I hear this statement alot and my heart sinks when I do. Showing affection, empathy and compassion is not spoiling an animal, it's knowing how to support another being when they need it.

Loving our dogs does not make them needy, letting them feel unsafe does.

The only time I see this statement being true, is when a dog is not allowed to be a dog. We can spoil them by:

Not allowing them to sniff and forage.

By not allowing them to explore.

By not allowing them to process their environment.

By forcing them into situations they feel uncomfortable in.

By ignoring them when they are crying or stressed.

When we are inconsistent and unclear in our communication.

We are NOT spoiling them when:

We share our food.

When we snuggle up on the sofa with them.

When we let them sleep with us.

When we comfort them when they are scared or stressed.

When we put a coat on them because they are cold.

When we listen to their needs.

When we take them to the vets for regular check ups or because we are worried about something that appears tiny.

When we pick them up because they are terrified.

Dogs will not become unruly or try to dominate us because we are being kind.
Dogs become unruly when they are feeling unsafe, confused or frustrated.

So keep that love coming!! Love and empathy does not make any animal badly behaved. The opposite does.

01/07/2022

Beware the self-proclaimed expert – especially those offering to board and train!

While I prefer to focus on the positives in my posts, occasionally something is brought to my attention which is too concerning to ignore. While dog training and behaviour modification remains an unregulated industry, sadly there will always be those who take advantage of the unsuspecting public and do untold harm to dogs and their people. Frighteningly, most of these experts are not deliberately deceiving the public – in fact they tend to have enormous faith in their abilities, and I honestly believe that many genuinely suffer from severe delusions of grandeur.

In the long run many of these “dog gurus” crash and burn as horror stories from their former clients spread throughout the dog community, but new ones unfortunately always pop up and by the time their popularity wanes, too many dogs have suffered irreparable harm. So, after hearing again this week of one of the most troublesome local “experts” partnering with an equally delusional individual to open a “board and train”, I felt I could no longer remain silent and needed to write a brief “warning” post which will hopefully give dog guardians some danger signs to look out for when seeking help:

1. Credible, qualified trainers do not need to boast about their popularity or status. If you come across an advertisement claiming NUMBER ONE BEHAVIOURIST IN SA, SA’s TOP DOG SPECIALIST or TOP AGGRESSION EXPERT, I can absolutely guarantee you that nothing could be further from the truth. Qualified, reputable trainers allow their credentials and their client history to speak for itself. They have no need to make grandiose claims and are not trying to impress anyone.

2. Reputable trainers and behaviour practitioners will have some form of qualification or certification and they will belong to some professional body, which requires them to hold to a code of conduct. INDIVIDUALS WITH NO EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND, THOSE WHO DALLIED BRIEFLY WITH STUDIES AND THEN DECIDED THEY KNEW BETTER AND THOSE WITH NO TIES TO ANY PROFESSIONAL BODY OR SOCIETY WHICH REQUIRES PROFESSIONALISM AND CERTAIN STANDARDS of practice are usually operating in isolation for a reason.

3. Credible, professional trainers and behaviour counsellors will be able to explain their approach to helping dogs and their people in terms of learning theory, emotionality, physiology and ethology. ANYONE WHO RELIES ON VAGUE NOTIONS OF LEADERSHIP, DOMINANCE, PACK THEORY OR “ENERGY” IS MAKING IT UP AS THEY GO ALONG and likely using punishment without even understanding what they are doing.

4. CREDIBLE DOG PROFESSIONALS NEVER GUARANTEE RESULTS – in fact you will often hear us say “it depends” …. Behaviour is complex and there are no quick fixes. Dogs are individuals and we have to move at their pace an accommodate their needs. We cannot simply “whip them into shape” with our brilliance or charisma.

5. DON’T MISTAKE GOOD MARKETING FOR EXPERTISE – many self-proclaimed experts are supremely confident (arrogant) and are happy to sell themselves shamelessly to the public. They may be very good at this side of things and easily convince people that they know what they are doing, simply due to presentation of advertisements etc. Just remember that you are hiring someone to help your dog, not market a product of yours!

Finally, to address the “Board and Train” issue – please remember that your dog is a family member and whatever is happening with them is in the context of your family, your home and your relationship with them. Removing the dog to a new environment away from everything they know is immediately going to change how they feel and how they behave. Behaviour and training issues need to be worked through holistically in the context of your dog’s life with you – a dog is not a computer who’s hard drive needs cleaning or an appliance with a button that needs fixing and which can be sent away for repairs. It really doesn’t work like that. Your relationship with your dog and how you fulfil their needs must be central to working through any behaviour issue and this won’t happen if you are not there.

Even more concerning is that in handing your dog over to someone else to “fix” you have absolutely no idea what may be done to your dog and what lasting consequences this could have on their emotional and behavioural health. If you are told your dog will go away for a night or two and come back transformed, what do you imagine might be happening during that time? I guarantee it is nothing good. You would surely not hand your toddler over to some “expert” for a couple of days to be “sorted out”, so PLEASE don’t do this to your dog!

01/07/2022

“My dog is unpredictable with other dogs… It’s time to get him neutered!”

That must be really frustrating!

Interactions with other dogs involve an interaction chain - a successful interaction involves your dog moving from one step to the next step seamlessly.

See The Other Dog -> Approach the Other Dog -> Nose-Nose Interaction -> The Move to the Rear -> Play or Disengage!

The thing is, a successful interaction can only occur with three skills:
1. Confidence
2. Disengagement (seeing value in moving away from the interaction)
3. Calmness.

Any weakness in these will lead to unpredictable (or very predictable!!) breaks in the chain. Now when this chain has a break in it - we might see some unpredictable and inappropriate behaviours! It might be that your dog unpredictably snaps when having a nose-nose interaction. It might be that your dog stands over another dog and raises their hackles. It might be that your dog charges and barks at other dogs upon the approach.

I’m sure we can all relate to a time in our lives where we’ve had a fail in one of these departments and had a bad interaction with someone (maybe a partner….) - it didn’t come from overconfidence, it came from all the rubbish that went on at the office that day and your sore back!

Success isn’t about trying to correct, inhibit or STOP a behaviour. What we need to do is grow the skills needed to behave effectively and go through the world feeling great!

Neutering won’t achieve this and might reduce your dog’s confidence further. Testosterone is valuable as a hormone from a behaviour perspective. In multiple species, it has been demonstrated to be closely associated with confidence. Testosterone mediates increases in the thresholds at which an animal experiences the emotions of fear and anxiety in the amygdala, the threat detection area of the brain.

The good news is we can absolutely teach the skills your dog needs to carry out an interaction chain, and not by neutering and, should neutering still be wanted, there are now reversible castration options meaning the effects can be trialed first by placing an implant.

Here’s some first aid advice:

Confidence
Confidence is grown first of all by avoiding bad experiences with other dogs. This means we need to keep him on lead while working on this - even though he is worried, dogs are inherent gamblers by nature and will put themselves in situations they aren’t comfortable with! Then from a distance that they are not reacting, feed your dog some of their daily food allowance when they see other dogs; this will help them link dogs with positive outcomes at same time as stopping any negative outcomes.

Disengagement
We can teach value in moving away from things too. We’d recommend a behaviour consult to review his life overall and then share and demonstrate specific strategies to teach value in moving away from other dogs. It absolutely can be taught! And this will repair his conversations with other dogs.

Calmness
Calmness training often starts before you even leave the house. How is his arousal level at the point he realises he’s going for a walk? Start by promoting calmness here first by popping his lead on and working on promoting calmness by calmly feeding to the floor, mixing things up by going and sitting down and rewarding him on his bed or popping his lead on and giving him a long-lasting chew or filled Kong to remove the walk anticipation and arousal spike!

Should you still be struggling, we can arrange a behaviour referral…… we see these cases on a daily basis!

Behaviour Consultation
You can enquire about a behaviour consult and get all the information here: https://www.beha.vet/contact

We can come up with the complete plan, communicate it and demonstrate it through a Zoom consultation. We do direct claims with Pet Plan, Kennel Club and Agria in the UK and non-direct claims with many others and ensure maximum consult wait times of 5 weeks.

01/07/2022

My dogs know their place.

Every year, I hope the people spewing nonsense about being pack leader, about being the alpha, about how you need to show the dog who’s boss, will disappear. Every year I’m hopeful that they will pick up a book (that isn’t written in their little echo chamber), do a course worth its salt, or even just watch the most basic YouTube video explaining why they are wrong.

Every year I am hopeful that I won’t see any more dogs wearing prong collars, e-collars, being strung up on a slip lead, being yanked back, alpha rolled, pinned to the ground, shaken, prodded, hissed at, kicked. Dogs that are just babies, dogs that are traumatised, dogs with behavioural problems that, whenever they ask for help or reassurance, are punished. Dogs that are petrified of something scary, only to be told “Stop crying!” as the thing they’re phobic of is drawn closer and closer to them.

Every year, I’m disappointed.

It’s 2022. The basis of this training was debunked DECADES ago. Why do people still feel it’s acceptable to treat dogs this way? To lazily slap the word “dominant” or “stubborn” on their foreheads and take that as an excuse to now treat them however they like.

Do freaking better.

“Oh, but my dog is a German shepherd/ Rottweiler/ staffie and they need a strong hand”

No. If you are incapable of handling a powerful dog without beating the crap out of it and walking it with ligatures, sometimes spiked ligatures, constricting their throat, seriously consider getting a smaller breed. It doesn’t make you look like a tough man, walking an incapacitated large breed dog, it makes you look like a coward. Nothing screams “I’m an incompetent trainer” like somebody reliant on choking their dog just to get them to walk nicely.

One day, we will look back as a society on the people who treat their dogs like this, and be totally repulsed. We will think “how did they get away with it?” I hoped, by 2022, we would be at that point already. But clearly not.

Yeah, my dogs know their place. It’s right beside me.

TLDR: you’re not the alpha, you’re insecure.

30/06/2022

Thank you Stephanie Presdee...