Bark Vader Dog School - May the force free be with you

Home
South Africa
Pretoria
Bark Vader Dog School - May the force free be with you

We are a force free dog school in Pretoria east. We can help with dogs all sizes, ages and breeds.
(70)

15/09/2024

Someone is very happy about puppy class😏

13/09/2024

Chilli is a very unique and interesting breed, anyone have any guesses as to what breed Chilli is?

12/09/2024

The gift of the GROWL

I love growling, because if you respect a growl, and listen to the more gentle ways of dogs communicating, you're not going to get bitten.
Growling ALWAYS needs to be respected and not punished. If the growl gets punished, it disappears and the bite will come first, which will make a dog bite very unpredictable.
If dogs learn that the gentler ways of communicating get ignored, the degree of communication escalates into things that MUST be listened to.

There will be a lot of dogs that growl and vocalize when playing. The growling I'm talking about will differ to this because the body language will be stiff, and usually accompanied by other stress signals such as whale eye, lip licks, avoidance body cues, head lowering etc.

Make sure that you appreciate the gift of a growl, and contact us if you need any help regarding how to help your dog through their growling.

11/09/2024

Just have to give a shout out to (Bakehouse Hazelwood) for this very cute little biscuit when we took Sparta there. Peanut butter and pumpkin biscuit♡

10/09/2024

One thing that really bothers me, is the general public will see these dogs as well behaved.
And while they are 'obeying' commands, they do so out of fear. I see this with SO many dogs who have been trained using these methods.
We need to do better in educating people about stress signals in dogs.

09/09/2024

Such a good special! Take advantage of this!

Value Veterinary Clinic Hazelwood offers its customers personalized service to support the Primary A

09/09/2024

It might come as a suprise to a lot of you, but dog trainers do not train your dog for you.
We train you, to train your dog.
I saw a video on Tik Tok yesterday with the caption saying "This is what 8 private lessons got me with my dog" with a video of this person's dog pulling a lot on lead and clearly over aroused on his walk.
I had a past client of mine tell me that the puppy course didn't work at all because her dog is crazy and has so many behaviour problems.
That's what the problem is these days when it comes to dogs.
People want a well trained dog, but they don't have the time to be consistent with the training they do with their dog.
It would be like doing a few sessions at the gym, and blaming your personal trainer for yoi not being in tip top shape.
It's up to *you* to do the hard work with your dog. I can coach you, I can be there for you, I can support you, I can train you and I can advise you, but if you don't put in the time and effort with your dog, you won't be seeing a difference.
Having a well-mannered dog who can adjust well to situations, takes an immense amount of hard work.
So please be prepared for it.

08/09/2024

This is Phillip, he's a borderdoodle, and he's just waving to say "Hiiii"

07/09/2024

Sade is one of our beautiful Chewbarka pups. She started off in our Woofiewoks quite anxious, but has since bloomed and become really confident. We're so proud of all the hard work her parents have put in!

06/09/2024

Look how tiny little Evie is?
Evie is in our Tuesday puppy class, which is especially for small breed puppies. They have a safe environment to socialize without the fear of being trampled by large boisterous pups.
If you want to enroll your small pup in our puppy class, make sure to visit our website.

05/09/2024

We're proud to announce we will be stocking bone broth from Broth Buddies. There are two options, Duck + Cinnamon, and Ostrich + Tumeric.
Bone broth is a fantastic addition to your dogs diet and can be used ln a lickimat for enrichment or as a meal topper for fussy eaters.
The packets are R50 per packet.
Only available on collection at Bark Vader.

04/09/2024

Your dog's health will affect their behaviour more than you realize. If you notice any behaviour changes in your animals, your vet should be one of the first people you talk to. Running some blood tests could be a big help in figuring out why your dog is acting strange.
When we do behaviour consults, a thorough vet check is usually recommended by us, because if there is a medical issue why your dog is acting up, no amount of training or behaviour modifcation will fix it.

03/09/2024

GIFT OF THE GROWL

Not all growling is a sign that a dog’s unhappy. Some growls may be part of a particular play style, seeking attention, from frustration, excitement or other reasons. They may all sound a little different and may be unique to that particular dog.

This post is not about different types of growls, but about reactive, aggressive or early warning growls.

When a dog growls, especially when it’s directed at us, our natural human response is to feel offended and maybe even angry.

Surely dogs need to learn not to growl, growling is bad, it’s not acceptable, it’s a problem that needs to be stopped or punished so a dog learns that it’s wrong, disrespectful and unacceptable, right?

This couldn’t be further from the truth! A dog that growls has just provided us with very valuable information.

In their way, they have just told us how they feel about a situation without escalating to a bite.

Dogs use growling in an attempt to avoid having to resort to biting, not to initiate it. They could just as easily not have even bothered to growl and gone straight to a bite.

A dog that growls is trying to communicate how they feel. Ignoring or punishment only suppresses this communication. Punishment increases fear, anxiety and stress.

A dog that bites without the warning of a growl is a far more serious problem than a dog that growls but doesn’t bite.

Look for any other early warning signals that may precede a growl. Learn to recognise body language and specific situations that trigger it.

Be grateful for the gift of a growl – this is a non-violent early warning signal that we need to acknowledge, understand and respect.

It's a gift of clear communication that allows us to intervene, advocate and prevent escalation to a bite.

03/09/2024

Oakley is just popping in to make everyone's day with his smile❤️😍

28/08/2024

A big part of this week's lesson is getting our pups confident with vet exams, grooming and health procedures. We get pups used to vaccinations with syringes, eye drops, ear drops and having their teeth cleaned.
If your pup is healthy, this is the perfect thing to start practicing!

26/08/2024

I've heard it, you've heard it, we have all heard the phrase "it's all about how you raise them."

I've been told so many times that dogs who struggle with reactivity or simply displaying normal breed traits, for eg. Guarding, are dogs who have not been loved enough.

The other common saying is "Dogs become like their people." Another big myth that is just not true.

While HOW you raise your pets is extremely important, raising your dog in an environment with a flood of love will not guarentee you a "perfect" dog who never displays normal dog behaviour.

Nature and nurture are both huge components in making up a dog's personality and being.

Instead of focusing on, "was this dog loved enough" as the reason for a dog displaying normal behaviour, ask yourself "what is this behaviour showing me?" "What is the reason for this behaviour?" If a behaviour is displayed, it usually means that the behaviour has been successful at communicating your pets needs in the past, what need was that behaviour communicating?

This is also why it is extremely important to research the breed you are interested in and finding out if that breed is correct for you. This is also why, if you are wanting a pup from a breeder, you make sure that breeder is doing all the health tests, breeding for temperament and you make sure you meet the parents and find out what behaviour issues they have. If you are planning on rescuing a pup, make sure you find out as much as possible about how their behaviour has been at the rescue and if possible, their history.

Here are some other factors that can influence your dogs behaviour.

26/08/2024

Happy national dog day!
Tell us below why dogs are your favourite ♡
My reason, they just love unconditionally ♡

22/08/2024

We have three spots left in our new fitness class starting on Saturday 21 September at 15 30.
If you would like to join, please pop me an email at [email protected].

21/08/2024

We had our graduation for our fitness class! We are so proud of these folks as it was a challenging course for them, but they nailed it!

20/08/2024

Our Monday Woofiewoks class♥️

13/08/2024

LAST CALL!
We have very limited spots available for next week's start dates, more in the Monday class. If you would like to sign up, make sure you are on the list asap!

12/08/2024

On Friday we had the advanced class do a public outing class at our favourite place,
They did tremendously well and we are so proud of them!

07/08/2024

Little Miss Cassie graduated! And boy did she just take over with confidence. I love our Tuesday class, the perfect safe environment to help the tiniest of puppies♥️

06/08/2024

Monday chewbarka class💃
Our next chewbarka class is starting soon, so make sure you're on the list before we are full.

03/08/2024

The pups all had such a great obstacle week😎

02/08/2024

DID YOU KNOW? 🐾

Did you know heart disease is 1.5 times more common in male dogs? Ensure your male pup's heart is healthy with a free cardiac consultation this August.

The FREE cardiac consultation (worth R1146) includes:
💙 Heart murmur check
💙 Radiograph (chest x-ray)
💙 Vertical Heart Score Test
💙 Blood pressure reading

To schedule an appointment, please contact reception at 📞 012 111 0073.

Address

Tipperary Road
Pretoria
0081

Telephone

+27833012790

Website

http://barkvader.co.za/

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Bark Vader Dog School - May the force free be with you posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Videos

I'm doing a shout out to my sister, Tanya, for doing an incredible job at raising these puppies. It has been so interesting for me, as a behaviourist, to see just how much goes into raising puppies, especially when you do it correctly. Tan is following the puppy culture syllabus which I can confidently say makes a phenomenal difference to the puppies behaviour and welfare. These puppies are confident, have impulse control which is already impressive for almost 9 week old puppies and their behaviour is fantastic for pups of such a young age. In the video, I was prepping their lunch. The pups are calm. There isn't whining, jumping, scavenging. They're calm and patient. When you put down the bowls, each puppy has their individual bowl and we prevent them from stealing/sharing. This makes puppies feel safe when they eat and prevents resource guarding and fighting/competing for food. Little things like this, are actually huge things for me. The art of raising puppies can make or break a puppy for life, and Tan is definitely only making them succeed by putting in so much effort here. Well done Tan. I am so proud of you! P.S Anyone breeder bashing will just be blocked. I support ethical breeding as much as I support ethical rescues. . . . . . #dogs #dog #puppy

The Dogi Wan Kenobi class absolutely rocking their down stays tonight. A big shout out to Maya, Freyja and Toffee who did a 5 minute stay, Moesie, Wagyu and Gina who got to 4 minutes. Pretty impressive! The whole class made me very proud♡ . . . #dogtrainer #puppies #puppy #positivereinforcement #dogtrainingtips #Dogbehaviour #dogs #dog #dogtraining

When we have enrichment week for the Chewbarkas, and Nilea with Chloe hits the creativity mark😅 Happy voting day! . . . . #dogs #enrichment #forcefree

Co-Operative care has been a very big love of mine for a few years now. This year we have added a big chunk of this in to our puppy classes and we have seen both the people and the pups enjoy it. If your pup is healthy, then that means it's the perfect time to start this training. . . . #dogs #dogtraining #puppy

We love our desensitization week, and we really love our texture walk. A very easy exercise to do at home, no matter the age of your dog and fantastic for cognitive development and confidence building. Here we have OG who thoroughly enjoyed all the textures. . . . #dogs #dogtraining #puppy #puppies #forcefree

Some of the Dogi Wan Kenobis showing off some of their tricks. We are fine tuning some skills and working on fading out lures, hand signals/verbal cues. . . . #dogs #dogtraining #tricks

Redirecting unwanted behaviour to a behaviour that you want, teaches your pup what to do in certain situations. Well done for using "place" and "leave" for counter conditioning Oakley's counter surfing. Now just for consistent management. Charna taught this in the Chewbarka class, and I couldn't be prouder! Well done😎💃 . . . #dogs #dogtraining #dogbehaviour #forcefree

Our advanced class, Dogi Wan Kenobi, went to @bespoke_cafe for a public outing lesson. They made me unbelievably proud as every single pup could settle down and chill in a public space with distractions. We did some tricks, leash walking, deep pressure therapy and stays. Well done folks! And thank you to Bespoke Cafè for letting us use your venue. They are one of our favourite places to take our dogs😎 . . . . #dogs #dogtraining #dogfriendly

We had such a good desensitization week! This week is filled with vet exams, co-operative care, exposure to different textures and objects that they might come across in their lives. We have had great feedback from these classes and look forward to keeping on with them. . . . #dogs #dog #puppy #puppies #dogclass ##dogschool #puppyschool

SPIN is such a great trick to improve limb awareness and to give that back a nice stretch. Tricks are fantastic at building confidence and creating a nice bond between dog and human, so we love adding tricks into all our syllabi. #dogbehaviour #dogs #dogtraining #puppy #puppies #positivereinforcement #positivereinforcementdogtraining #dogtraining101 #positivereinforcementworks #forcefree #dogschool

Desensitization week continued! We got pups used to being on the vet table, stethoscopes, scissors, nail clippers, ear clipping and so much more. We believe in prepping pups for life in our puppy classes! All Desensitization is taken at the puppy's pace, we never force them into situations. . . . #dogs #dogtraining #dogbehaviour #puppyclass #puppies #vetcare #Desensitization

At the beginning of the year we had a syllabus meeting and decided that we are centering our puppy classes are "life" a lot more this year. This week we had desensitization week which was a huge hit for the humans the pups. We got all the pups used to obstacles, textures, exams, vet and grooming products in a positive way. Here is a short clip of some of the obstacles our pups encountered.

This may seem boring to so many people, but there was a time, correction, most of the time of the past few years, I never thought this would be possible. Titan was MY first dog. The dog that taught me everything I know. I never socialized him with cats because I didn't think of it. And then I met my, now husband, who has three cats and when we moved in together, merging three cats and one highly driven rottweiler, was a task that still challenges us. It's been just over three years of us living together and Titan can sleep next to Baggy, the cat that triggers him the most since he is the most nervous. It has taken three hard years of consistent hard work, management and low expectations. My expectations are still low, I still have management in place, catios, fences, doors and leashes. I would never trust the two of them alone together and that's absolutely fine. Trying to modify behaviour is never going to be quick. That's the biggest difference between behaviour and training, training is quick, teaching a sit, down, tricks etc. That's quick. Behaviour is long, complicated, intense and requires so much management. If I had expected Titan to get used to the cats in two weeks, he would be considered a failure in so many people's eyes, but in reality, he's just a dog being a dog struggling with his environment. I'm so proud of him. He's the best dog❤️

FITNESS CLASS! Our next fitness class is starting soon, and you could learn how to strengthen your dog's core, hind legs, better their proprioception skill and so much more! These skills are vital to learn and can reduce your dog's chances of getting injured. Start date is Tuesday 13 February. Please email [email protected] to join.

I'll shout this from the rooftops. #dogs #dog #dogtraining #dogbehaviour #dogbehavior #bullybreed

When Wagyu is hungry and I'm late to feed him he really lets me know what he thinks😬

We are so so so excited! We are one of the first in SA to stock the new LickiMat South Africa product which we will launch at our pet fair! After that, they will be available on our online store. Lickimat SA has outdone themselves with these new products and we know they will be FLYING off the shelves😍 This XL slo mo might just be our new favourite thing for huge dogs😍 The Yogipot will be perfect for frozen treats on a hot summers day, and who doesn't love a limited edition Halloween coloured lickimat😍 #dog #dogs #forcefree #positivereinforcement