Bentley's holiday plans include going to China 🇨🇳 ...
🤣🤣🤣
One year has flown by since you got here with your fancy hairstyle. I wouldn't give you up for the world my Jackal boy❤️
ZOE PRACTICING RECALL TRAINING WITH SENSHI USING A WHISTLE
As Senshi has a hard time focusing on Zoe while in public, one of the skills she is working with him on is recalls. This is one of the ways of improving their relationship and communication in general while building a life saving skill of "come when I call".
Zoe opted to use a whistle due to the distinctive sound. This will ensure that Senshi responds as he equates the sound with a treat and will come racing. Once they get the hang of practicing this in every room in the home and yard, using a long lead, they will practice out on the road when it is quiet, in a local park (when quiet) and other random places. But for now, it is just the start...
Tips for Recall Training:
1. Use a distinctive cue like a whistle or a clear verbal cue. Start by pairing the cue with a lovely treat...charge up the whistle in this case. This may take a few short practice sessions. Once the cue equates to the delivery of a treat, you can really start to have fun with your dog. I prefer a whistle as it's loud enough to help with distance and I look less insane shouting for my dog in a public place.
2. Use a clicker to mark the action or behaviour that you want. This is not critical but it can assist in the dog understanding which action brings the reward
3. Always have exciting, high value treats on hand. Match the treats with the environment distraction
4. Give lots of praise when the behaviour of returning is offered
5. Start indoors
6. Add distance...stand outdoors and call or whistle while the dog is indoors
7. Call from different rooms or upstairs
8. Always reward a return even if the dog takes a while to come back
9. Use a long lead in public spaces as it is illegal in South Africa for your dog to be off lead
10. Start in a low distraction environment and slowly advance to new environments
11. Practise daily or twice a day for between 8-10 minutes at least. More practice is always better
12. Be consistent by using t
KIT AND LEERA - ON THEIR WAY TO BEING FRIENDS
Kit and Leera's guardian has been working with them since September and is finally noticing positive changes in their relationship. Kit, the car park abandoned, 1 eyed, runt of the litter spent his life hiding from Leera while Leera picked on him mercilessly, causing him to withdraw even more. The more he ran from her over the years, the more she chased and swatted him. Now, despite their relationship and Kit's confidence being a work in progress, there is hope. The video below was sent earlier this week by their guardian with the testimonial below:
"I started this journey with one very anxious kitty and one extremely energetic, bored kitty. Once Koven came in and did her assessment, she made it clear to me what the issues were between my cats and provided clear advice on how to improve the situation. After the first month of implementing changes I saw a pretty dramatic change in my anxious cat, he gained confidence and spent more time doing things he enjoys as opposed to constantly looking over his shoulder in fear of the the other cat. My crazy cat, on the other hand, had more ways to release her energy, which has made her less interested in bothering her brother. Although they still have a long road ahead of them, I can say that there have been definite positive changes, and things seem to improve more and more as we continue with the techniques Koven taught me. On occasion, I am lucky enough to witness the two of them even play together, which is so heartwarming to see. I am hopeful that eventually, the two of them will learn to love each other and live in harmony. Thank you Koven for all your help 😃"
Their guardian is still working with me virtually to guide her when things regress as it takes time to improve confidence and emotional resilience in a cat like Kit.
Thank you, Nicole, for sharing your journey with them. Your persistence and patience is evident in this video. They are lucky cats as you believe in
ZOE TRAINING SENSHI ON DOOR MANNERS
This is my virtual client Zoe and her dog Senshi. Senshi had a habit of being overly excited when going for a walk and dragging Zoe out the door and all the way down the road behind him. Needless to say, no one was enjoying that walk!
This is Zoe teaching Senshi how to focus on her and be calm when the door is open. In the video, you can see Senshi is not interested in bolting out the door despite it being wide open! Senshi is still on a lead for safety reasons and will remain so even though lead length may differ. When Zoe started training him, the door was closed and the lead was shorter. Next week, Zoe will go out the door with Senshi and train him there and slowly progress to the road itself.
The ultimate objective is for Senshi to go for a calm walk with Zoe while looking to her for guidance and direction. Well done Zoe! I have never before seen such a dedicated 'student' and a virtual one at that!
Watch this space for their progress. Zoe is also working on recalls using whistle training with Senshi. Will post their progress on this one tomorrow...
Who knew a crazy young bully could be this calm?🤭
#smartpetbehaviour
#choicebasedbehaviourmodification #ethicalbehaviourist
#coapequalifiedbehaviourist
#ForceFreeTraining
#positivereinforcementdogtrainer
Another cat case successfully closed🙌🙌🙌
"Koven is an absolute professional!.
Very pleasant,knowledgeable and able to sort out my cats without much fuss..
I would recommend Koven with confidence to anyone who needs assistance with pets behaviour." Aaisha Saloojee, Houghton, Johannesburg
Leo and Milo sitting calmly near each other👇
#catbehaviourconsultant
#coapequalifiedbehaviourist
#forcefreebehaviourmodification
#smartpetbehaviour
#choicebasedbehaviourmodification
#ethicalcatbehaviourconsultant
#UnderstandingCats
My 17 year old client Sebastian is playing with his young brother Billy like a puppy. I've never seen such an energetic old man. His mum focuses on mental stimulation, good food, and excellent medical care, which helps with his longevity
Bella and Cooper enjoying some well deserved, supervised daily enrichment...
Cats need more than a soft bed and food to feel happy. They, like dogs, also need daily enrichment to enact their innate behaviours.
#enrichment
#CatEnrichment
#catbehaviourconsultant
DOG INTEGRATIONS
Last week, I had the opportunity and pleasure to work with 5 month old rescue Peter (Dog's Trust) and his older siblings. Peter had just arrived from neglected township circumstances and was weary of the world.
His older siblings (ages 8 and 10) were not too impressed by Peter so the task was to get all of them to relax around each other and not see Peter as a threat. We also had to work on building Peter's trust in the older dogs and not be afraid of them.
I received this video on Monday from their Mum...they were all relaxing together. There have been no issues and all the dogs are slowly getting used to each other...no pressure.
Janine is also working on separation training with Peter as he is struggling to be away from her even for 1 minute...not unusual for a dog who has experienced such neglect in his short life.
Well done Janine! You are a star! Thank you for letting me share Peter's story🙏
