Rose's Puppy School

23/04/2025

UPDATE: Saturday class almost full. We still have space on a Thursday!

Ola! Our next 8-week Agility Foundations Course is starting in May! Thursday classes starts 8 May, Sat classes start 10 May. Bookings are open. Please contact us for further details.

08/04/2025

https://www.facebook.com/share/1QaUaaHm2o/

Terminology Tuesday ~ Cue VS Command

Did you know that the way you speak to your dog can impact the way your children treat animals and people?

There’s a big difference between giving a cue and barking a command—and our dogs AND kids feel it!

Cues invite cooperation with calm, respectful communication. It’s like asking our dogs a question!

The word “command” is often associated with “I am telling (commanding) you to do this and if you do not listen, I will make you.

Our children are always watching and learning how to speak to animals (and people) based on the way we interact daily!

Let’s model kindness, not demands!

04/04/2025

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1ACdgBkAXG/

This week there was a post from a well-known dog influencer claiming that "dogs don't need enrichment" and that we should focus on their "real needs" instead.

I'm not sure if this statement was made simply to create controversy and get a rise out of people, or if it reflects a genuine belief. Either way, it fundamentally misrepresents what enrichment is and why committed dog owners invest time and effort into it.

Let's get something clear: Enrichment IS meeting our dogs' real needs. It's not some frivolous extra - it's acknowledging the reality of who our dogs actually are.

At the end of the day, our dogs are animals living in captivity. Yes, they're domesticated, but we still ask them to live in ways that are profoundly unnatural to them.

Think about it:

❌ It's not normal for dogs to stay inside houses 22+ hours a day
❌ It's not normal for dogs to walk slowly on leash without pulling, sniffing, or interacting with their environment
❌ It's not normal for dogs to ignore other animals they see
❌ It's not normal for dogs to not forage, counter-surf, or dig up your garden

Our dogs actually make very big efforts to fit into our human world with all its arbitrary and weird rules. The least we can do in return is fulfill their natural needs as much as possible.

That's what enrichment really is: providing opportunities for species-specific behaviors like sniffing, chewing, licking, digging, shredding, and foraging.

In all my years working with clients, I've NEVER encountered a dog owner who spent "too much time" on enrichment. In fact, I've found the opposite - the more intentional enrichment a dog receives, the happier they are, the easier training becomes, and the better the relationship gets.

Why?
Because enrichment acknowledges dogs for who they are. We humans don't have innate needs to sniff, dig, shred things, or forage - but our dogs absolutely do.

When we don't provide appropriate outlets for normal canine needs, our dogs find their own solutions - which we often label as "bad" behavior.
The dog who shreds your couch cushions, digs up your flowerbeds, chews your baseboards, raids your garbage, destroys toys within minutes, or counter-surfs is actually just acting according to their natural needs. Enrichment helps bridge that gap by providing appropriate alternatives.

With my own dogs, I ensure they have several types of enrichment every day - chewing opportunities, licking activities, daily sniffing adventures, appropriate digging spots, and chances for shredding and de-stuffing.

To be clear, enrichment doesn't replace exercise, training, or social interaction. It's ONE important piece of a fulfilled dog's life.

The next time someone suggests that enrichment is unnecessary or superfluous, remember: It's not about mindlessly throwing toys at our dogs or creating Instagram-worthy snuffle mats.
It's about honoring their true nature within the constraints of our human world.

It's not a way to DISCOUNT what they need. It's a way to ACKNOWLEDGE who they truly are.

(BY the way: I am writing this as my own dogs are all eating their breakfast in the form of frozen slow feeders 😄)

Happy Enrichment!

17/03/2025

Cute little Brandy cooling off in puppy school. #

02/02/2025

4 little puppies learning to love their beds, encouraging calm and rest, with the bonus of a happy management tool for the humans to use.

25/01/2025

Do you want your puppy to experience novelty to increase their confidence and socialisation skills while learning basic cues and developing their relationship with you? Rose's Puppy School can help!
A new course will start this Wednesday 29 January at 5.15 pm. DM for further information.
Pups need to have had at least their first vaccination and be under 4 months at the start of the course.

16/01/2025

Saying it again and again and again:
"Searching "vaccinations and socialisation" in my posts on this page this morning, I found I have written so many articles on this subject, because sadly it comes up again and again.
And bizarrely, it seems to be getting worse... we now have vets telling people not to take their puppies out of the house until not only parvo, but rabies vaccinations are complete, which ends up being around 4-5 months of age. I could honestly cry. I don't understand why we are moving backwards in terms of balancing physical and emotional risks and what vets think is going to happen with all these unsocialised puppies as they mature with a vital piece of their developmental puzzle having been thrown away.

Then we have the new trend of breeders keeping puppies until they are 11 or 12 weeks old, claiming all sorts of benefits which I have yet to see actually pan out in ANY puppy homed at this age. What I do see is puppies that have stayed in the same environment around the same people and dogs for most of their socialisation period and who appear "fine" in that environment, but who fall apart emotionally when they are suddenly ripped from everything they have known at the very age when social attraction is waning and hazard avoidance is overtaking it. New puppy parents in this case have a week or two
(unless they have a GSD or other breed who has already exited the sensitive period at 10 weeks) to try and grab what's left of the socialisation window and get out and about, but because the pups are often not in a great space, a week of that is spent just trying to settle them at home and before they know it, the opportunity for easy assimilation into the outside world has shrunk to almost nothing.

This has to stop. (From Kommetjie Canine College ,with thanks)

14/01/2025

Little Skye only joined her family today, so we'll meet her next week. Lots of sharp teeth and cuddles ahead!

05/01/2025

https://www.facebook.com/share/1JdzGXSKs9/

20/12/2024

If you still think Cesar Millan uses anything as gentle as a whisper to 'train' dogs, please read this. Research, science, and the personal experiences of hundreds of dog trainers and behaviourists around the world have shown that all dogs from the smallest puppy to the most reactive dog can be helped without stress and pain. https://www.facebook.com/share/1E6UdseQYn/

I mean, are we even on the same planet?! 😵‍💫

Cesar Millan is a well-known figure in dog behavior, but his methods often rely on outdated dominance theories and aversive techniques, such as corrections and aversive tools.

He's not a single entity, unfortunately, there are many people who go on to work with dogs learning directly from him in his mentoring programs or indirectly from the amount of publicity he has been given.

Not to mention the repercussions of the misinformation that he has communicated to the public.

And although he has had many opportunities to correct his path, he has yet to pivot.

The mark of any decent kind person is to try to correct the wrongs that they have made, especially when they are as catastrophic as the ones that he has contributed to the dog human relationship.

While his methods may yield immediate compliance, they can suppress behavior, often leading to fear or stress in the dog - until they submit to what he wants them to do.

In a twist of incredibly sad irony, HIS methods dominate dogs who are, in fact, not dominant - they are just animals trying to figure out the way the world works.

Kindness in working with dogs is about fostering trust, addressing their emotional well-being, and teaching through positive, evidence-based methods.

Modern research shows that fear-based approaches can cause more harm than good, while positive interactions strengthens the dog-human bond and promotes confidence building, among many, many other benefits.

Kindness isn’t about control.

Kindness is about creating a safe, collaborative environment for our dogs to thrive in.

It's about having an understanding of dogs.

It's about cultivating empathy.

There is absolutely no identifiable way that anything his methods bring are related to kindness.

I can't see it.

What are your thoughts?

04/12/2024

Take note!

04/12/2024

This llittle sweetie came for an individual class so we could work with him and his 12 year-old person. They both did so well, starting to build understanding and trust.

12/11/2024

Great thinking from Nerina Napoli from .
https://www.facebook.com/share/15dAf2ALp4/

Why do we train our dogs? When I ask my new students this question, it is often met with the phrase, "so that they obey us."

This horrified me as the last thing I want is a scared slave of a dog behaving in a robotic manner. So that begs the question, what do I want to achieve in training so that we can enjoy an enriched life together?

These are the life skills I would like to help my students instill in their dogs at the very least.

1. The ability to interact with other dogs and people in an appropriate manner. This means your dog has manners and is welcome at pet friendly places.
2. The ability to move with their owner on a loose lead. This means you can enjoy safe walks together and you won't injure yourself being dragged about.
3. The ability to switch off and settle quietly. This means your dog can accompany you places.
4. The ability to stay connected to their owner when off lead. This means the owners trust to allow freedom of movement and enriched off lead walks.
5. The ability to return to their owner when called. This means a lot more freedom to enjoy off leash walks.
6. ⁠The ability to play and have fun with their owner but calm down immediately if required. This makes it fun to take dogs on outings to exciting places but able to cope with more stimulating environments.
7. The ability to move confidently through the world. This means you have socialised your dog correctly and they are able to cope with many everyday noises, smells and experiences.

Training is not a chore, it’s a partnership, an enrichment journey, and a way to get enjoyment out of life with your dog.

At the Wag Way, these are the very basics we make as our priorities.