Clicker SA

20/12/2023

04/08/2023

Why do dogs lick?

07/12/2022

THAT “GUILTY” LOOK
“My dog knows that he’s done something wrong, just look how guilty he looks!" This is something that we hear so often.
People are amused and entertained through social media and even dedicated websites where pictures of “guilty” dogs are uploaded. The “guiltier” the dog looks, the more popular these posts are and the funnier people find them. I find this really sad because it’s a complete misunderstanding of a dog’s body language.
Dogs may look guilty, but they are not feeling guilty. That “guilty” look is actually a dog showing the body language of fear, stress, anxiety or appeasement. The fear of being punished, the stress and anxiety of hearing the person’s tone of voice, demeanour and noticing the person’s body language, the appeasement behaviour in an attempt to calm the angry person down to avoid punishment.
As people, it’s natural for us to want to believe that our dogs feel guilt and remorse about whatever they’ve done wrong. Maybe thinking that they really do feel guilty somehow makes their behaviour more acceptable and is a form of an apology to us.
Dogs are capable of a wide range of emotions that are similar to that of a 2 to 2½ child, but it’s highly unlikely that they feel more complex emotions, like guilt, regret, remorse, shame or pride.
Guilt is a complex emotion and defined as an unhappy feeling that you have because you have done something wrong or think that you may have done something wrong. It’s a feeling of shame, regret or remorse. The feeling of guilt requires an understanding of cause and effect and is relative to time.
Do dogs spend the day feeling guilty, waiting for you to come home to find that chewed up couch or shoe, or are they waiting excitedly for you to come home because they really missed you and are looking forward to some attention?
For the emotional wellbeing of our dogs, let’s seek to understand them more and focus less on how we believe they should feel just because it makes us feel better.

24/06/2022

The critical socialisation period is not about playing with other puppies. It's the time when we mindfully inoculate puppies to possible stressors while the puppy is still fearless and curious. This part of their development, stops at around 16-weeks of age. As the dog gets older, it becomes more challenging to help them adjust to new people, animals and environments.

When a dog have reached adulthood, he can not be 'socialised' anymore. He can be taught to tolerate the stressors for a realistic time frame.

There is no age limit in which dogs can learn, or be taught. It's never to late to train with your dog.

24/04/2022

24/04/2022

Ever noticed those slits at the sides of a dog's nose? Why do dogs have them?

Once again, nature proves her elegance in the design of our dogs. When we humans inhale and exhale, air comes in the same way it goes out. Any smells that come in through our mouths are forced out as we exhale, if we exhale out our mouths.

When a dog exhales through his nose, however, the exhaled air is released through those slits and off to the side so that nice, smelly air going into the dog's nostrils doesn't get diluted with the outgoing air. Put another way, the slits allow the dog to avoid smelling what he just exhaled.

The slits help the dog hold scent particles in the nostrils even as exhaled air passing out the slits creates a swirling air turbulence allowing interesting odors to be inhaled directly into the centre of each nostril. Since dogs breathe faster when trying to sniff a certain smell, they widen their nostrils to pull in more air which makes it possible for a dog searching for smells to have a steady stream of air coming in for up to 40 seconds, maybe even longer.

The slits also allow dogs to wiggle each nostril independently which gives them the ability to know which nostril a smell entered. This is how a dog can pinpoint where a smell is coming from, and why a dog searching for smells on the ground will weave back and forth as he follows a trail.

We all know the superb smelling abilities of dogs, but let's use an analogy between scent and sight to really put it into perspective: If our eyes were our nose, what we as humans can see at a third of a mile, our dog can see more than 3,000 miles away and still see as well.
Just wow.

Author - Susi Szeremy

23/04/2022

24/03/2022

FACT - humping/mounting other dogs, toys, pillows, etc. can be exhibited by spayed and neutered dogs as well, and can be a response to stress, anxiety, boredom or too much excitement.

It's not necessarily sexual and certainly not a dominate act. Your dog may need more mental stimulation or environmental changes to lower his/her excitement, anxiety, boredom or stress levels.

EDIT - STERILISATION ON IT'S OWN WILL NOT RESOLVE THE BEHAVIOUR

21/03/2022

31/12/2021

05/11/2021

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21/10/2021

13/08/2021

SHAKE IT ALL OFF AND LET IT GO
Dogs constantly communicate through their body language. A “shake off” is one of the many types of body language and is one of the easier ones to notice. The shake off can provide us with important insights as to how our dogs are feeling.
Besides being a very effective way to get dry- (Dogs can remove up to 70% of water on their fur in one single shake off), the shake off is also often seen just after an event that a dog finds stressful. It’s their way of saying “Phew, I’m so glad that’s over, now I can put it behind me and move on”. It helps the brain to calm down, reset and is actually a very positive way to cope with stress. Maybe people could learn this method from dogs and begin practicing shaking it all off and letting it go!
The shake off may also happen just after waking up as a way to get blood pumping and the brain stimulated, a way to clean grass, debris or bugs off their fur or may sometimes indicate pain or discomfort.
If you notice a shake off, look at what has just happened beforehand. This will provide a clear clue as to what it is that your dog is finding stressful. Appreciate those shakes for what they can communicate. Your dog will appreciate your understanding of their language.

30/07/2021

When you get your 8 week old puppies, please keep these images in mind. Their bones do not even touch yet. They plod around so cutely with big floppy paws and wobbly movement because their joints are entirely made up of muscle, tendons, ligaments with skin covering. Nothing is fitting tightly together or has a true socket yet.

When you run them excessively or don't restrict their exercise to stop them from overdoing it during this period you don't give them a chance to grow properly. Every big jump or excited bouncing run causes impacts between the bones. In reasonable amounts this is not problematic and is the normal wear and tear that every animal will engage in.

When you're letting your puppy jump up and down off the lounge or bed, take them for long walks/hikes, you are damaging that forming joint. When you let the puppy scramble on tile with no traction you are damaging the joint.

You only get the chance to grow them once. A well built body is something that comes from excellent breeding and a great upbringing-BOTH, not just one.

Once grown you will have the rest of their life to spend playing and engaging in higher impact exercise. So keep it calm while they're still little baby puppies and give the gift that can only be given once.

By Patricia Crespo
Photos Veteriankey.com @62 days

*Many Bones are not fully fused until 13mo of age.

18/07/2021

TEACH CHILDREN TO BE DOG FRIENDLY
This is a subject that I feel very strongly about and I cannot stress enough how important it is to teach children how to behave around dogs. I often see children treating dogs like soft toys, jumping on them, pulling them, poking, kissing and hugging, screaming and running around them, encouraging dogs to chase them and then tears and stressed owners when the dog nips them or worse.
It’s usually the dog that gets the blame when this happens and it’s not the dogs fault! I am so often asked “How do I make my dog more child friendly?” The question really should be - “How can I make my child more dog friendly?”
Dogs do not come with a built-in ability to know how to interact with children and it’s up to parents to teach their children how to interact with dogs. If children were taught from a very young age how to interact and respect a dog’s space there would be far fewer incidents of dogs biting children. Many dogs are afraid of young children because they move around erratically; they can be unpredictable, noisy and inconsistent, they chase them around and treat them like toys or touch and pull them around roughly.
Children often want to show dogs love by hugging, kissing or leaning against them; this is the human way of showing affection, but most dogs find this stressful and frightening. This normal “human” behaviour could easily lead to a dog bite, which is why it’s so important to always supervise young children around dogs. When a dog is feeling stressed or frightened and their attempt to communicate this through body language is ignored, they often see no other way to make the scary situation go away than to snap or bite.
Teach your children that dogs don’t like being hugged, kissed or leaned on. Teach your children that dogs like quiet, soft, calm voices and that shouting and screaming scares them. Teach them never to disturb dogs that are sleeping, eating or chewing something. Teach them that dogs are not toys and don’t like to be jumped on, pulled or pushed, chased or teased. Teach them to respect dogs as one sentient being to another.

11/06/2021

You don't work for free so why should your dog?
If dogs AND humans were not food motivated, they would become extinct so bring out the food rewards please...

Credit - LotsDogs

28/05/2021