Animal Antics

Let's talk about seperation anxiety. Dogs who suffer from seperation anxiety become extremely anxious and show distress behaviours such as vocalization, destruction or house soiling when seperated from owners. It is important to create distance with your pup to teach them independence and reduce anxiety when you are not around. There are several tips in this video on ways to create distance and build your pup's confidence. Start small and overtime gradually increase distance and duration. We want to create the association that when you are away, fun things happen. Most importantly, be patient with your pup and with yourself.🐾 If you need any help with improving seperation anxiety in your dog, please contact me, I would love to help🌸

This handsome boy is Brodie. Brodie is one of our reactive boys who is reactive to certain triggers, one of which is people or dogs over the wall. What is reactivity? Reactivity is where a dog overreacts to normal situations that other dogs would take in stride. Reactive dogs become overly aroused by common stimuli. It's incredibly important to never punish your dog for reacting to a trigger. You will only create more fear in your dog and increase their reactivity. I did a home consultation and came up with some ways that work for Brodie to assist him with his confidence and decrease his reactivity. In this video, we have 5 different methods. 1 - We provided a blanket that Brodie associates with the Boundary game - when he chooses to come to the front door and lay down & not just run straight outside, he will be rewarded either by a treat or allowed to go outside when the release word is said. 2 - Brodie remains on a long leash at all times and does calm, slow walking around the garden. If he hears any noises and does not bark, he gets rewarded with a delicious treat. 3 - Brodie goes to the corner where he is most triggered. Here, we allow him to hear noises while dropping treats. Creating a positive association for him that this area in the garden is not that scary. 4 - Brodie loves to sniff for treats and food. Here, we will drop pellets for him to sniff every time a dog barks or there is a loud noise. He creates the association that dogs barking equals treats falling from the sky. 5. Lickimat- Lickimats release happy endorphins, which help Brodie to relax in an environment where there is a lot of noise, which he struggles with. This gives him an alternative behavior to choose instead of running around barking. The reason we need to give Brodie alternative options is that barking also releases feel-good hormones and will only escalate if he's allowed to practice the behavior. It also teaches Brodie how to relax himself and therefore be able to make

This is our handsome boy Harry. He is going to show you his progress with his scent training. In this video, he is able to identify by smell, which plant is lavender and which one is rosemary. Scent training is a fun way to explore your dog's incredible smelling ability whilst building confidence and having some much needed fun with your pooch. Scent training can do wonders for behavioral difficulties such as recall, reactivity, prey drive issues and anxiety. It is also great for mental stimulation and calming your dog's anxiety. You will start off by hiding your dog's favorite toys, food or treats around the house or garden and use the go "find it" cue. Let your dog sniff the items out. If you consistently pair this activity with the word "find it" then you can use this cue when you are out and about and you want to distract your dog from another dog or something that is catching their eye. Take your tasty treats or toys on your walk and hide it in long grass. Tell your dog to go find it. If you need your dog to come to you or distract them away from something else, throw the treats on the floor and use the cue "find it". You can start to increase the difficulty by getting your dog to sniff out and identify particular objects, toys or food. Let's get their noses working🐾

Mental stimulation for dogs is incredibly important. It helps with the development of the brain when your dog is a puppy and is a great way of slowing the aging process of the brain when the dogs enter their senior years. Including mental stimulation in your dog's day to day routine will decrease any behavioural problems and assist in burning off some excess energy. It also places your dog in a state of calmness, helps increase confidence, teaches patience (helps frustration tolerance), and problem solving skills . Here is a quick and affordable game for your dog. Take an empty plastic bottle and make a hole on the side of it for the pellets to fall out. You might need to assist your dog at first in figuring out what he or she is meant to do with the bottle. Once your dog has the hang of it, let them have fun while you can enjoy some down time🐾

This is our handsome boy Finn. Finn is scared of his harness and sudden noises. Today, we are going to show two different activities to help build Finn's confidence towards his harness and scary sounds. Video 1 shows how I move backward and allow Finn the space to make a decision to walk towards me while I am holding his harness. I reward him for making the decision to step towards his harness. This will show Finn that his harness is not scary but something that is fun and rewarding. Video 2 is the noise box activity. I have filled this box with items that make noise which includes his harness. I also throw yummy treats into the box for Finn to sniff. This is a great activity to build confidence and decrease fear and noise sensitivity. By putting your dog in control of making the noises and then being rewarded for it by finding the treats, you create a positive association between unexpected noises and treats. Let the games begin🐾

This is our beautiful Raven. She is going to show you how she is learning to stop at the boundary line on her property. In this video, I will show you how to train your dog to stay behind a certain boundary line. It is incredibly important to teach your dog this trick to prevent them from running out of your property if the gate opens. In this video, I have laid down a piece of material as the boundary line. I reward Raven for being on the side that I need her to be on. I then step back and allow her to come to me. If she stops at the line, I reward her for this decision. When she steps over the line, I don't shout or reprimand her. I simply say "oh dear" or "woopsie" and redirect her back to the area where I want her to be. I repeat this exercise and reward every time she stops at the boundary line🐾

Working with these cuties today!!

Odie had just received his new shell on on of the hotter days this week! Do you think he's enjoying it?

Morning all, took me some time to wrap me head around this and let you know.... Last Saturday we lost a Animal Antics fur-members - Jessie the German shepherd!! 😭💔💔💔 Please keep Mel in your thoughts and prayers. 🙏🏻🐾💐 I first met Jess in 2015! She was an incredibly special dog, with a momma bear personality. She was also had a very discerning palet (aka Super fussy! Lol) and so, she has helped me to be a better trainer and think outside the box! She will be dearly missed by all who knew her. It has been a privilege to have her in my life so, I thank Mel for that.

Brodie is one of our special reactive boys. Brodie's mom reached out to me over a year ago when Brodie had started displaying leash reactivity. He was lunging and barking on lead every time he would come into contact with another dog. He is a very nervous and anxious dog who is fearful of most things. Brodie is a loving boy who needed a positive outlet in order for him to better manage his reactivity and anxiety. We have spent a lot of time using positive reinforcement to work on Brodie's reactivity, lots of mental enrichment games and attending the social classes to build his confidence because a confident dog does not feel the need to react. 2 days ago, Brodie was unfortunately bit by an unfriendly offleash dog, resulting in Brodie sustaining stitches on his face just below his eye. Brodie's owner has been extremely concerned that this incident would set back all the training and hard work and amplify Brodie's reactivity towards dogs. Today, Brodie attended our social class, which was his first social setting with other dogs since he was bitten. Brodie has had an amazing bounce back! He was his normal, social, confident self because the training and positive reinforcement has provided Brodie with the tools to manage his stress and successfully control his reactvity to negative situations. We are so proud of Brodie. He has truly come such a long way🐾

It is important to have a calm dog before commencing with a walk. If you have an overly excited dog before the start of a walk, this can lead to behavioural issues whilst on the walk such as excessive barking, lunging, nipping or jumping on people. It's important to teach your dog calm behaviour and reward them. If your dog has a trigger such as its harness and it goes bonkers when you pick it up, then start training with your dog without leaving the house to go for a walk. In this video we are working with Koda and Kallie. Kallie is an anxious dog and therefore, it's very important to keep her calm before a walk to avoid her going above her threshold and reacting. When teaching your dog to remain calm, you can start by putting your dogs harness on and sit down. Wait for your dog to display any behaviour that is calm. Whether that is sit, go on their bed or lay down and reward that behaviour. Repeat this over and over until your dog has realized that when you pick up their harness, they need to be calm before they leave the house. It is important to set your dog up for success.🐾

Let's talk muzzle training. Today we are working with our handsome boy Odie. So often, we associate muzzles as being negative or scary or feel embarrassed that our dogs have to wear one. Some dogs are reactive. This does not mean they are aggressive, it just means they are scared and need a little extra layer to protect both themselves and other dogs from injury in the event an off leash dog runs up to your dog on a walk. Or maybe your dog likes to scavenge and eat everything in site while walking. Muzzle training can be a fun, exciting way to work with your dog. Today, we are going to remove the stigma surrounding muzzles and talk about the benefits. Muzzle training, when done correctly, is a slow, beautiful process. It is excellent for your dog's mental exercise as it gets their brains working. It's a great relationship building tool. When you make muzzle training fun for your dogs, it means your dog is having fun with you! It's a great way to be able to take your dog to more places without your dogs space being invaded. It works as a great deterrent and communicates with other people that your dog needs space. Most importantly, your dog can still do everything it can do without a muzzle. It can breathe perfectly fine, can sniff around and still take treats. It is a helpful tool to keep everyone safe while you are working towards improving your dog's social skills or trying to manage aggressive tendencies. Wearing a muzzle allows you to walk your dog in a stress free environment, especially if you have a reactive dog. Both of you can get back to enjoying your walks and building your bond🐾 If you need any guidance or assistance with muzzle training, please don't hesitate to contact me🐾

Meet our handsome boy Toast. Toast is going to show you that he knows how to "leave". Here is a game I play with dogs when teaching them how to "leave" it. I place a bunch of toys all over the floor spread out from each other. I walked through the toys and allow the dog to sniff. Once he sniffs, I say the word leave it. If he leaves it and makes contact with me or comes to me, I mark with the word yes and reward. If your dog can't help itself and picks up the toy and won't drop it, then ask your dog to bring the toy to you. Offer another toy to your dog and when your dog drops the toy, mark and reward. Don't try and grab the toy from your dog as this can create resource gaurding as your dog does not trust you not to take things away. If you need any assistance in teaching your dog basic commands, I offer classes using positive reinforcement training.

Meet our beautiful girl Raven. Raven is fearful of plastic bags and today she is going to show you how brave she has become. Dogs can develop a phobia or fear towards unfamiliar objects, people or sounds. It's important to introduce your dog to something they are fearful of by using positive reinforcement when they approach the object. You can play a game with your dog by placing the object on the floor and allowing your dog to sniff it. If the object is immovable, then slowly walk your dog over to the object and allow them to examine and sniff in their own time. Once your dog sniffs or makes contact with the object, mark with the word yes and reward with high value treats. Every time your dog approaches the object on their own, mark and reward their "bravery." Don't throw treats towards the object as if your dog has a high food drive, they may run to grab the treat and get a fright as they didn't see the scary item. Your dog will slowly start to realize that this object is really cool because when I go near it, I get treats, which is pawsome! If you have a fearful or anxious dog, I offer courses designed to build confidence in your dog, reduce anxiety and assist your dog in navigating their fears in a positive way.

This week I got Christmas early when I received my Certificate for this ILLIS Animal Behaviour Courses. It was not only incredibly interesting but, I learnt invaluable skills as an Animal trainer!!

Does your dog become nervous, tense or scared when you pick up its harness? There are a number of reasons why your dog may be wary of its harness. Your dog could have negative past experiences, anxiety around loss of control or scared of the sound of the clasps being snapped open and closed. Lets create a positive association between your dog and their harness. Today, we have our handsome boy Finn🐾 You will start off by placing your dog's harness on the floor. Every time your dog sniffs or touches the harness, you will reward with delicious treats. You will keep repeating this several times. Other positive ideas are to play the "go find it game". Every time your dog finds the harness, you mark with the word yes and reward them. You can also keep your dog's harness on every time they eat, during play time or even during training time. This way, they associate fun things when they see their harness. Having your dog feeling calm, confident and happy when they see their harness will help them overcome anxiety and reactivity during a walk🐾

Today, we have Maxie and Bella. Maxie loves her toys and in this video she is resource gaurding them when Bella comes near. We want Maxie to feel confident with her toys around Bella. We are going to use positive reinforcement to encourage good behavior. Every time Bella comes closer to Maxie and Maxie does not growl, she gets a reward for this behavior. As Bella moves closer and Maxie does not react, she continues to get rewarded. This reinforcement needs to be repeated to build confidence in insecure and anxious dogs. They will start to associate that every time their sibling comes near their toys, they get rewarded. This creates a positive experience that will reduce stress and the need to defend their valuable items. It is incredibly important that in moments like this, you do not scold your dog for growling or being vocal. It is important to allow dogs to communicate and let us know when they are feeling uncomfortable. If we scold or punish them for communicating and tell them to stop growling or being vocal, they will however, this will result in instances going forward where our dogs won't give any warnings and will just go in for a bite.

The importance of the word stay. Does your dog try and rush through the door the moment it opens? There are so many benefits to teaching your dog to stay. Today we have our beautiful Bella and Maxie and they are going to show you how good they are at stay. First, you will grab a handful of some delicious treats. You will have your dog sit on their boundary bed. You will open the door and if your dog immediately tries to run out, you will close the door and place them back on their bed. You will attempt this multiple times. Keep opening the door slightly and if your dog does not attempt to move forward, mark with the word yes and reward. Once the door is entirely opened and your dog has remained on their bed, you can add movement. Open the door, take a step towards it then return to your dog and mark with the word yes and give them a treat. This will prevent your furbabies from running out the door/gate into the road or barging through the door to jump on guests. This also allows your dog to remain calm before leaving the house. If your dog is overly excited and is trying to push through the door at the start of the walk, you will have a very disengaged dog during your walk. If you need any assistance with training your dog, we offer basic obedience courses🐾

Is your dog resource gaurding certain items? Resource gaurding is when your dog becomes protective over an item that is of value to them because they perceive a threat to the item in their possession. This could be food, toys, or even sometimes their human. Whilst resource gaurding can be alarming to us humans, it is a natural dog behavior that can be managed in a positive way without punishment. Today, we are working with our handsome boy Odie. You can see that Odie is resource gaurding his bone and starts to growl and nip whenever somebody approaches him. Through positive training, Odie has made incredible improvement. The video will show where Odie started to now where I am able to pick up his bone without aggression by using positive reinforcement. Some important tips when working with a dog who is displaying signs of resource gaurding are: 1. NEVER snatch the item from your dog. 2. Always offer something of higher or equal value before taking the item away. This will result in your dog not feeling the need to defend the item. 3. If your dog is trying to communicate with you through growling or body language that they do not want you to take the item, please listen to them. They are not being "naughty" or "bad". They are displaying a normal dog behavior and punishing them, snatching the item or shouting at them will increase their anxiety and make the behavior worse. 4. Place your dog on their boundary bed or in their crate with their bone and allow them to enjoy their treat whilst being left alone. This is a "no touch" zone for them. All dogs need a safe space where they know they can relax and nobody will approach them. When they are in this space, no approaching and no touching until they move away from it. If you need any help with resource gaurding, I can work closely with your furbaby using a fear free approach 🐾

URGENT HOME NEEDED! Meet Odie, he's a very energetic and intelligent boy. For more info please contact us and share!!