Foxy Dogs Dog Training

Training is change, just like everything in your life when you introduce change, you do it bit by bit. If you flip your day around to try and incorporate blocks of training, you might do it for a day or two, then you are back to doing no training at all. You might have a training plan from a Dog Trainer, it might seem overwhelming, but the best thing to do is get up in the morning and just pick on one or two things you are going to focus on that day or notice that day. Often training is just tweaking what you are doing during in every day life, its being conscious of situations or doing something slightly differently which makes it work.

Dogs get overwhelmed, just like we do. Some dogs get overwhelmed quicker than others because their bucket is smaller than other dogs (depending on their history, genetics), their bucket may have a big hole - which means the bucket empties quite quickly or it could have a small hole so it takes longer to empty. Equally your dog may have a big bucket, it can handle a lot, but fill that bucket to the rim and if the bucket has a small hole so it doesn't empty quickly, it doesn't take much to tip it over, then fill it up again and tip it over. It can take up to 72 hours for a dog to recover from both positive and negative stimulation. If your dog is being a 'naughty boy', consider all the experiences he's had in the last 2 or 3 days. Is it time for some down time, scatter feeding, game playing and training at home instead of going out and facing the big wide world?

Scatter feeding is great and it certainly has its uses. It's awesome to engage a dog senses, especially when kibble is scattered over a grass area, however in the house a scatter feed can be inhaled pretty quickly and all that value is gone in a very short period of time. Try drip scatter feeding on occasion, it lasts a bit longer and the dogs focus is on you. It builds value around you (as the food is coming through you) which has a by-product of helping to strengthen your recall and loose lead walking as well.

Long lines are fantastic to keep your dog safe while you teach recall in environments with more distractions. They do take a bit of getting used to if you are walking with them though, it is a constant 'dance' between your hands and paying attention to what your dog is doing to ensure there is enough slack on the line, but not too much that your dog is getting tangled. They are great to give your dog a bit more freedom when walking but are not for everyone, you could always take your dog to a more distracting environment on your regular lead and snap the long lead on when you get there. Don't forget to attach the long lead before you take of the regular lead.

I sometimes get asked this question, and sometimes people think no treats at all - even in training - is the way to go because they see it as 'bribing' the dog. This is not the case at all. Depending on the behaviour I'm training, I may on occasion lure the dog a couple of times to teach them the action I'm looking for, but generally I am setting up the environment so the dog is able to make a specific choice that gives me a sliver of behaviour I am looking for and then they get a treat to reinforce and reward that choice. We then build skills on top of that sliver, layer by layer, no bribing, just reward, making the dog think and work at giving me what I'm looking for. Even then, sometimes the reward is play and not a treat or access to play with another dog for example. 'Treat' is also interchangeable with 'Kibble'. When I hear my client feeds their dog kibble I get excited - now we can use their daily food allowance for training! Win Win!

Tug is such a great all rounder game that can be useful in a multitude of ways (make sure its 'Tugs with Rules' - see my past post about this). It is possible to grow the love of tug if your dog really isn't into it. Let them win sometimes! This game isn't about dominance or power, its supposed to be fun for both of you. Otherwise, if you really have trouble growing the skill of tug, use another game or activity you can use as a reward, to get their focus back on you or use as a break between training exercises.

Engagement, play and training with your dog on a daily basis also builds your bond, relationship and trust which in turn helps with recall and loose lead walking, it's win win!

A dog/dog greeting goes through predictable steps. Reactivity can occur when one or both dogs struggle at one or more of these steps. If your dog struggles when it sees or senses another dog, it doesn't mean the rest of the chain is broken, it just means we need to work on that bit, then the rest falls into play. Equally, if a dog is fine with the head to head interaction but can't disengage to sniff the other dogs rear, tensions will increase and we might need to step in to help that disengagement at the head. The key is knowing your dog and observation so you know which part of the chain needs to be worked on.

Be conscious of how much you are physically exercising your puppy until their joints are fully formed, as well as physical exercise, make sure they are getting lots of mental enrichment as well. This can tire them out as much as physical exercise and helps to switch their brain on, helping with thinking in both low and high arousal states.