How using treats incorrectly in behavioural coaching, causes states of conflict
I want to talk about a very common misconception I see, particularly in those working on behaviours that are related to fear/stress/anxiety: ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ข๐๐๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ญ ๐ ๐๐จ๐ ๐ญ๐๐ค๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐จ๐จ๐ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ ๐๐ฅ๐๐๐ซ ๐ฆ๐๐ซ๐ค๐๐ซ ๐จ๐ ๐๐๐๐ฅ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐จ๐ฆ๐๐จ๐ซ๐ญ๐๐๐ฅ๐. Itโs an easy mistake to make. Weโve all seen it: a dog is near a trigger, we offer aโฆ
Why I Say “No” To Prong Collars
As dog guardians, we all want to enjoy peaceful walks and a calm, happy home life with our companions. When our dog pulls on the leash, barks at other dogs, or seems anxious, it’s natural to feel frustrated and seek a solution. You may have heard about prong collars and been told they are aโฆ
“๐๐๐ซ๐ซ๐ข๐๐ซ ๐๐จ๐ฉ”: ๐ฐ๐ก๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ ๐ฌ๐ก๐จ๐ฎ๐ฅ๐๐ง’๐ญ ๐๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฌ๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐๐ฌ ๐ “๐ฅ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐ฅ๐ ๐๐จ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ง๐ ”
Have you seen your small breed dog doing a little hop with a back leg? It might look like a quick, bouncy skip your small dog does, a movement so brief it’s almost like a little hop. It’s often so quick that the leg is back on the ground and they’re trotting along as ifโฆ
Your Dog Doesn’t “Live in the Moment”
People often believe dogs live solely in the moment, because of their apparent lack of rumination (that we experience as humans), their keen engagement with immediate sensory experiences, and what many people view as being forgiving or not holding grudges. This perception is further fueled by a historical view of dogs having simpler cognitive processesโฆ
Things to look out for in a good dog walker
I am asked for dog walker recommendations a lot. Thereโs a lot of dog walkers around, with so many new ones popping up regularly. I thought it would be more useful for me to share my dog walker “green flags”. There are no regulations for those working in the dog care industry (the only thingโฆ
Letโs talk about slip leads
There is a bit of a rise in use of slip leads as a training tool, due to trends that are being set by social media trainers. I am seeing them more and more. Slip leads are generally advised against as a training tool, by trainers and behaviourists who are appropriately qualified and up toโฆ
Avoiding behavioural suppression
Sometimes I am the first person my clients consult about their dogโs behaviour, but not always. They may have got advice from other sources. I specialise in reactive behaviour, some people prefer to use the word aggression to describe this. Here are some things that some of my previous clients have been told about theirโฆ
What do you think – am I in pain?
Here’s some context to a week day with my family. During the day I had: Walked with my dog Run around after my 18 month old all day Gone for a walk as a family for about 1.5 hours involving walking about 6 miles, about 50% uphill. I pushed a pram for some of that.โฆ
“I need help. Today my dog bit my child out of nowhere.”
This post is a bit blunt but I need to share it. I don’t share this so bluntly to lecture people, I share it because I really care about dog and child safety, and it breaks my heart whenever I read about a child getting bitten, or I see a preventable situation being filmed andโฆ
Looking after your dog’s physical health – rugs, rugs, rugs!
Why do we have a massive door mat at the bottom of our stairs, over our lino? Over time, dogs can experience micro-injuries to joints that can progress in to longer term joint issues. My dog goes up and down our stairs, and to prevent slipping at the bottom (he is a bit top heavyโฆ
Researching where your dog training advice is coming from
Please be careful where you take your dog training or behaviour advice from. Even if that person says they’re a dog trainer. I cannot tell you how many times I have worked with a wonderful new client who wants to do right by their dog, that have seen multiple people in the past, but beenโฆ
Livestock guardian breed dogs
An informational post about a breed group that I am seeing much more of recently: Livestock Guardian Dogs. This will be a big post, but an informative one. Examples of different livestock guardian breeds include the Anatolian Shepherd, the Great Pyrenees, the Kangal, the Caucasian Shepherd, the Komondor, the Romanian Raven Shepherd, the Spanish Mastiff.โฆ
What is trigger stacking?
What is trigger stacking? Letโs say your dog struggles with other dogs in their environment. Youโve been making progress, your dog is doing well, and on Wednesday you see a black Labrador over the road on your walk. Your dog doesnโt react. Awesome! But on Friday, you see the same black Labrador, and your dogโฆ
Is it safe for your dog to be out of sight?
Letting your dog disappear out of sight, and staying out of sight is it safe? First up, I will start by noting that accidents happen and sometimes we can sometimes be caught off guard. But here’s something to think about. Is knowingly letting your dog disappear out of sight a safe thing? (I’m not talkingโฆ
Why does my dog stop on walks?
There are several reasons dogs will stop on a walk, some of the common reasons I will summarise below. I’m not talking about stopping to sniff (normal, let them do it) or stopping because they want to play with the dog over the road. I mean showing reluctance to walk. The key thing is thatโฆ
Creating emotional change: the weighing scales analogy
โThe Weighing Scales Analogyโ. I’m full of visual analogies! This is one I use with a good chunk of my clients when discussing how we achieve emotional change, so I thought Iโd post about it. Iโm going to use a dog that barks and lunges at other dogs due to being anxious around them, asโฆ
“Sit”
Sit. Today, I went somewhere new to me. It was busy, with a lot for me to get my head around. I’m not a city girl but the guy I was with insisted that I sit down whilst he looked at his phone. I tried my best to get out of there but I couldn’tโฆ
Pacing (gait): what do dogs do this?
๐๐จ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐๐ฏ๐๐ซ ๐ฌ๐๐ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐๐จ๐ ๐ฐ๐๐ฅ๐ค๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ญ๐ก ๐๐จ๐ญ๐ก ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ข๐ซ ๐๐ซ๐จ๐ง๐ญ ๐ฅ๐๐ ๐๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ข๐ซ ๐๐๐๐ค ๐ฅ๐๐ (๐จ๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ฌ๐๐ฆ๐ ๐ฌ๐ข๐๐ ๐จ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ข๐ซ ๐๐จ๐๐ฒ) ๐ฆ๐จ๐ฏ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐ญ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ฌ๐๐ฆ๐ ๐ญ๐ข๐ฆ๐? That is called pacing. In a normal four-beat and two-beat gait, dogs will lift the opposing foreleg and hind leg when walking. See the photograph pictured below.โฆ
Proximity doesn’t always mean your dog wants to be stroked
There is a common misunderstanding that if a dog comes and sits or lies near you, they want you to stroke them. Lots of dogs enjoy closeness and even contact without actually being stroked. Misreading this is a common reason that dogs will start to give off stress signals, which if ignored, may escalate toโฆ
โHelp! My dog growls at me if I try to get them off the sofa when theyโre asleepโ
Have you heard the phrase โ let sleeping dogs lie? That does have some relevance. I have never been physically removed from a sofa or bed when I am asleep or tired (and I hope you havenโt either!) but I know that if somebody did this to me, I would be unhappy, and it wouldโฆ
What happens when we let our dogs watch
There’s a lot to be said for letting dogs watch and take things in. We humans are very quick and very busy. We don’t make a lot of time for taking in things (big or small) and don’t always consider that our dogs need to do this. This can mean we hurry our dogs onโฆ
Know Your Dog 