Better Dog World

KEEP YOUR DOG SAFE THIS HALLOWEEN MAINTENANCE - Make sure your dog can't easily slip out of the door. Limiting access to the door, by providing them with a quiet, safe room they feel comfortable in, use a gate, take the screen out of the front door window so you don't have to open it (This is not the time to teach sit at the door) COSTUMES - even your own or your children's may be scary even for well adjusted dogs (especially if this is their first Halloween) Puppers ma...y look super cute in his costume but not all dog enjoy being dressed up. Costumes not only can restrict breathing, sight and sounds but we are unable to pick up on our dog's body signals/communication. WALKS - if you can avoid walks, especially after 3pm. Those Halloween decorations that move, make noise, or even just haven't been out on the neighbors front yard before may cause a dog to become afraid If you can allow a quiet, safe place for them to retreat to. Give them a chew toy or interactive puzzle toys, stuffed Kong, this can help keep them engaged and calm GET THEIR ID ON THEM in case of emergency, this is not the time to take their collars off. Enjoy your Hallow's Eve

Animals perceive the world in different ways from humans. Something to remember in understanding dog behavior. #stanleycornen #dogbrain #dognose #dogsenses #dogspointofview #dogsareamazing #dogworld #ccpdt

Behavior ABC’s why does the dog (any animal) do what they do?

RELATIONSHIP FIRST One of the questions we ask clients on their enrolment forms is: What do you hope to get out of training? We ask this, not only because it is... important for us to understand our clients’ needs, but also because it is a good indication of how they view training in general and what they expect, not only from us, but from their dogs. Unfortunately, many dog guardians have been conditioned by decades of traditional ideas about dog ownership to think about training in terms of these actual responses: I want 1. An obedient dog 2. A disciplined dog 3. A social dog 4. A responsive dog 5. A dog who understands commands 6. Control over my dog However, increasingly these days, we are getting responses that show a progressive shift in the attitude of dog guardians to their canine family members: I would like 1. Education for me and my dog 2. To build trust, love and understanding between my dog and I 3. To have fun with my dog 4. To have a time for positive bonding 5. Friendship with my dog 6. A rewarding RELATIONSHIP! Responses like this fill me with joy, because there is a prioritising of the RELATIONSHIP we should have with our dogs, rather than a focus on doing something TO the dog so he or she turns out in a way that we feel is acceptable. Of course, for safety and practical reasons, we all would like to have dogs that are able to respond to cues in as many situations as possible. The more we can rely on our dogs to respond when we ask something of them, the more freedom they can have to enjoy all sorts of activities with us safely. But we are not going to achieve this by imposing a set of rules onto our dogs and forcing them to comply. We are not going to achieve this by practising sit, stay and come all day in the hopes of achieving a robotic response. Such practices will only teach our dogs that we are tedious and unpleasant. We will either end up with miserable dogs, devoid of freedom and choice, living lives of quiet, desperate compliance under duress or dogs that at the first taste of freedom, choose to get as far away from us as possible and find enjoyment in everything, but being with us. So how do we get it right? What should we do to have a dog that we can truly enjoy life with and give freedom and choice to safely? We need to FIRST build a healthy RELATIONSHIP with them. What does a healthy relationship look like? To me, it is a dog that WANTS to be with us. A dog that feels GOOD and HAPPY when they are with us. A dog that TRUSTS that they are SAFE with us, because we will NEVER intentionally frighten or harm them physically or emotionally and will ALWAYS seek opportunities to recognise, understand and fulfil their needs.

I got to take this handsome boy on an adventure today Jake is a dog who is very worried about new people and dogs in his environment. Because of this, Jake disp...lays a lot of threatening or 'distance increasing' behaviors when he sees either trigger: barking, lunging, growling. He can be pretty intense. Something common I hear with dogs like Jake is that "he just needs to be socialized more." But I disagree. This dog does not simply need to be 'socialized' to solve his problems. Jake already knows how he feels about dogs and strangers. He does not feel good about them. More exposure to these things is not going to change what he's already learned about them. What often happens with this mindset, is that the owner increases the dogs exposure to the triggers - maybe they take him to a park to spend more time around strangers, or arrange a 'play date' with a friend's dog. What ends up happening is that the dog gets flooded with these triggers, which usually makes the problem so much worse. This dog does not need socialization. He needs space. He needs patience. He needs reasonable expectations about who he is, what he wants, and what that might look like. He needs humane training, thoughtful training, to help him feel safer, and more comfortable around the things that really freak him out. Today Jake and I trained outside of a shopping mall. He didn't bark, growl or lunge at a single person. He didn't react, because he didn't have to. I ensured he was at a safe distance from the people, and we practiced all the skills we have worked tirelessly at home. Jake was able to happily 'show me' people getting out of their cars, in exchange for a treat. He was able to turn around and move away from people if they got to close. Jake was successful not because of socialization, but because of training. . . . #dogtrainingtips #dogsofcanada #dogoftheday #gooddog #successstory #gooddog

From the Archives: Our dog's history gives us important information but it does not define who our dog is or how far they can progress. Be careful of the stori...es you tell yourself based on your dog's past. You may be making assumptions that are limiting their future. Janet (reposted by Alison)

Happy Henry is ready for his family!! This 3 year old husky mix recovered well after his amputation and is available for adoption Henry has lots to say and tha...t’s pretty normal for a husky mix. He is a fun loving dog with a ton of personality!! He likes his doggy friends. He is a social boy that loves to be around people He came to us with a sore leg, and after some x-rays we found out that he would need surgery. Sadly, he ended up needing a full amputation. We’re still unsure of what happened, but our best guess is that he was hit by a car and his leg healed poorly. He’s a resilient boy and is adjusting so well! Our adoption fee includes Vet check, vaccines, DHPP and Rabies, microchip, spay/ neuter, free bag of dog food donated by Pet Valu Ponoka. $395.00 We are located 17 km east of Ponoka, highway 53 and range road # 235 ~ Owens road. Visitors by appointment only, give us a call. 403-783-7447 Open 7 days a week, 9.00 am till 5.00 pm

Behaviour we find as unacceptable is perfectly acceptable to the dog. Misbehaving is your dogs way of saying something is wrong. Instead of correcting him try u...nderstanding him. We bring them into our life’s, it’s our duty to make a good life. Photograph courtesy of Pocket Fox Photography

In order to change a dog's association from a negative to a positive, we do need to expose the dog to that stimulus. However, there is a right way and a wrong w...ay to do it. It has to be done with thought and a plan. We need to know when to increase the difficulty to the training and not move the training too fast. Moving the training forward before the dog is ready can have a negative impact and set your dog back. Flooding is a popular, outdated, training method that is unfortunately still being used by some people in the training industry. Flooding involves exposing your dog to the thing that is causing them stress until they are "ok" with it or "get used to it". Often you will see a trainer point out that the dog is now ok because there is no longer a reaction of barking, lunging, trying to get away, growling, etc. In these cases dogs are not magically ok. What has happened is the dog has given up because they have had no choice. They are helpless in the situation and there is nothing they can do. They have given up. Giving up and shutting down should not be confused with being ok with something. The scientific term for this is 'Learned Helplessness". It's actually cruel to do in the the name of training. Here's an example. Let's say a dog is afraid of big trucks. Your dog pulls on leash and tries to run away whenever she hears one. Maybe she barks. Maybe she lunges. She is telling you it's a scary situation. To "fix" this "bad behavior" using this outdated method a trainer would council you to hold the dog closely on a short leash or hold the dog down as big trucks go by. (Are you mortified and cringing?). Now, you keep holding your dog in this position until she no longer is reacting. This might take several sessions. Eventually your dog may lay down and no longer display the trying to escape, lunging, and/or barking behavior. At which point the trainer will tell you that your dog is now relaxed in the presence of big trucks- all fixed. Are you envisioning someone doing this to your dog and how cruel that would be? That is the wrong (and inhumane way) of training a dog. There actually isn't any training going on so I don't even know if I can call it that. In order to help the dog who is afraid of big trucks you would need to find the distance the dog notices the big trucks, is aware, but not overly concerned. There is no lunging. There is no barking. There is not trying to escape. This means the dog is under threshold and is now in a position to learn that trucks aren't so scary. You work at this distance doing counter conditioning and desensitization. You work at this level until the dog is happy and is ready to move closer. You move closer, but only about 1 foot (we would have to determine this. 6 inches might be good for one dog. 1 foot or a little more might be good for another). Then you work at this distance. You gradually and systematically close the gap all the while changing the dog's association from a negative to a positive. There is more to this process and it takes time. There are no short cuts when it comes to helping a dog from having a negative response to a stimulus and changing it to a positive. There are no quick fixes with behavior modification. If a trainer promises and easy fix this should be a red flag.

PSA: Be kind to your veterinarians and their staff. This week, 2 veterinarians (3/6/21: ETA: 3 veterinarians and 1 technician) took their lives, leaving behind ...family, friends, colleagues, and clients. Veterinarians are 2-3.5 times more likely to die by suicide than the general population. Why? We get to play with puppies and kittens and foals all day, right? Some of the identified reasons for this phenomenon include: - Demands of practice such as long work hours, work overload, and practice management responsibilities. - Ever-increasing educational debt-to-income ratio. - Poor work-life balance. - Access to euthanasia solution used for animals and the training to calculate a dose that could also be lethal in people. What can you, as a client and pet owner, do to help? - Be kind. This should go for life in general, but realize that veterinarians face extraordinary demands beyond what you see. In the closed exam room, owners demand to know what is wrong with their pet but don't want to do any diagnostics. Owners don't follow through with treatment recommendations but then blame the vet that the pet didn't get better. They complain about prices when the vet may not have any control over the pricing. And even if they do, it's a business. We are one of the few professions that gets chastised and bullied for trying to make a living. In most cases, you have choices of where to go for veterinary care. Call around if you don't like the cost of doing business at your chosen vet clinic. Did you have a good experience at your vet clinic? Show it! Leave a review, write a note, refer a friend. Did you have a bad experience? Discuss this with the practice manager, the owner of the practice, or the veterinarian directly. If you have concerns over the treatment of your pet, consider speaking to the state veterinary board. While veterinarians may shudder at this, this is the best method to have a non-biased evaluation of the veterinary care your pet has received. Taking it to the Court of Public Opinion (i.e., Facebook) leaves only one side of the story exposed. As much as we would like to respond, we are limited by client confidentiality laws. Imagine if you had something said about you that was possibly partially or even completely untrue and you were unable to defend yourself? Allow the state board to investigate both sides and determine if malpractice occurred. - Plan ahead. Have an emergency pet fund. Accidents happen, pets get sick. If you have a horse, it's inevitable. The veterinarian should not have to foot the bill for your horse, dog, or cat. We usually have enough of our own to take care of. Be up front with your financial limitations. Look into pet/horse insurance. There are affordable options out there. Do NOT put this financial burden on your veterinarian. Guess what, you're not the first or likely the 5th person to ask to make payments on their bill THAT DAY. And if a vet doesn't allow payments, it's likely because they've been burned by people who promised to pay back the money owed. - Stop bothering your vet/vet friend/vet family member/vet acquaintance you used to know in grade school on Facebook messenger or text message, especially out of hours. Let the vet rest. The vet may respond kindly, but know that they do not appreciate these messages. We all need time to wind down, leave work behind, and decompress. - Realize that the pandemic has changed veterinary practice. While you may be frustrated at curbside care, don't argue with it - this is a choice veterinarians have made to keep their staff safe. If you do not like it, find another veterinarian that suits your needs. Curbside has added extra demands on the vet and staff - instead of being able to talk to you through the exam, they need to call to go over findings. Do you know how many people don't have their phone on, are on a phone call, or don't answer their phone when called about their pet's exam, despite being asked to be prepared for a call? This adds time to the vet's day (and then they often get yelled at for not calling! What?!?) When asked to stay in the parking lot, people often leave for errands. This adds to the day even more. If the person bringing in the pet is not able or allowed to make decisions on the care of the pet, this should be made clear immediately so the person in charge can be contacted directly, versus having to have the same conversation twice. Realize that, although considered essential workers and open since the beginning of the pandemic, veterinarians are still not considered high enough in the ranks to be vaccinated in many states. Isn't that a kick in the pants?! There are many more reasons why a vet's day can be overwhelming - these are just a few of the big ones, in my opinion. Ask your vet how they are doing. Offer support if you are concerned. Some further information: https://www.nomv.org/in-the-news/ https://time.com/5670965/veterinarian-suicide-help/ Some resources to share with your veterinarian or their staff if you have concerns: https://visp.caresforyou.org/welcome.cfm https://www.betterhelp.com/nomv/ https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/ If you are interested in QPR training (Question. Persuade. Refer.), see here: https://qprinstitute.com/

WHY WE DON’T OFFER GROUP WALKS OR SOCIAL GET-TOGETHERS FOR ADULT DOGS We get a lot of requests for socialisation opportunities for adult dogs. The reasons fo...r these requests seem to be the following: 1. The dog has little or no socialisation history so the owners want to try them with other dogs e.g. the person has taken on a rescue dog they want to take out or decided to start walking a dog that hasn’t previously been off the property 2. The dog is reactive towards other dogs or has poor social skills and it is thought that this can be fixed by letting them mix with a group of dogs 3. The dog plays with other dogs at every opportunity and tends to be hard to manage around other dogs, so the owner wants to provide more opportunities for the dog to play to fulfil this apparent need in a safe way. I guess I do understand why people make these requests. They make them, because they see celebrity dog trainers taking a dog that has shown aggression towards another dog and putting them in a big group of dogs where the dog magically stops reacting and doesn’t cause any trouble. They see adverts from dog walkers offering to pick your dog up and take them for pack walks that are marketed on the premise that running around like a lunatic with 20 other dogs is the true essence of what it means to be a dog. They see friends taking their dogs to dog parks or walking in big groups with other dog walkers and think that the dogs seem to be having so much fun as they race around, barking and chasing each other isn’t their dog missing out if they don’t have the chance to do this? So, why don’t we provide these kinds of services? Why don’t we get groups of dogs together and let them play for an hour or two? Wouldn’t it do them all the world of good? Wouldn’t the nervous dog learn to have fun, and wouldn’t the reactive dog be sorted out by the other dogs in the group and learn to behave? Wouldn’t the inexperienced dog learn great social skills, and wouldn’t the super playful dog have the time of his or her life? Well, let’s have a look at the likely outcome for the dogs listed at the start of this article 1. The dog with little socialisation history: We have no way of knowing how this dog might react. They might be completely overwhelmed at first and not do much at all (the stress will manifest later) or they may be so emotionally aroused by the situation that they respond with fight or flight. If they flee and the other dogs run after them, even to play, their fear will escalate to terror and the experience could be so traumatic that one trial learning takes place, creating a phobia of other dogs. If they respond with aggression and they survive the situation, they will learn that using aggression is a good option when confronted with other dogs. Neither of these outcomes is desirable. 2. The reactive dog or the dog with poor social skills: Again, if this dog is reactive due to fear, they might initially be overwhelmed and shut down which looks like success to the trainer or dog walker who does not understand body language and does not take emotionality (how the dog is feeling) into account. Often though, as these dogs get more used to the situation, they will revert to using aggression to cope and the reactivity will return and the dog will have plenty of opportunity to rehearse the behaviour we actually want to avoid. If, on the other hand, the dog is reactive, because they tend to become over-aroused in play or when there is any excitement happening around them, this will be the perfect situation to increase their arousal even further and escalate the reactivity definitely not what you want to be doing! 3. The compulsive player: What about the dog that just LOVES playing with other dogs? Shouldn’t they be given as much opportunity to do this as possible? The problem with the compulsive player is that adding more play does not decrease the need for play instead it tends to create even more of a desire to play at every opportunity, to the point where it can become a type of addiction that supersedes the relationship with the owner, breaks down training skills (especially recall) and eventually leads the dog into trouble i.e. on-leash reactivity as a result of frustration when they see a dog, but can’t get to them to play or trying to play with the wrong dog and getting into a fight. So, is it wrong for friends to walk in groups with their dogs? Is it a mistake to allow your dog to play with other dogs? That is not what I am saying at all. Play with other dogs can be a great and joyous activity for dogs IF they are ALREADY COMFORTABLE with other dogs. Walking with other dogs can be a great activity to fulfil social needs, IF your dog ALREADY LIKES being around other dogs. HOWEVER, even then, which dogs you allow your dog to walk with and play with should be something that is decided very carefully. You need to be able to answer yes to these questions for a social walk to be a GOOD experience for your dog: 1. Does my dog enjoy the company of ALL my friends’ dogs in this group? 2. Does my dog still respond to me when around these dogs? 3. Does my dog interact well and rehearse good social skills around these dogs? 4. Does everyone in the group take responsibly for their own dogs and manage them appropriately when encountering members of the public? 5. Am I still making enough time to do one-on-one walks with my own dog, where the focus is on my relationship with my dog and not my dog’s relationship with other dogs? On the other hand, if you answer yes to any of the following, then this is not the right social group for your dog and this situation should be avoided: 1. Is there any dog in this group that my dog actively avoids? 2. Is there any dog in this group that my dog tends to bully? 3. Is there any dog in this group that my dog gets bullied by? 4. Does my dog become over-aroused and non-responsive when around these dogs? 5. Does my dog join in with any of these dogs to practise anti-social behaviour towards other people or other dogs outside of the group that we meet while on a walk? 6. Is my dog quieter or more withdrawn than usual when walking with this group? It is really worth taking the time to honestly answer these questions. Don’t feel pressured by friends or a social group to put your dog in situations that they are not comfortable with or where they will learn behaviours that will be detrimental to their long-term behavioural health. Protect their emotional and behavioural wellbeing by saying no when a situation is not in your dog’s best interests. And what about the inexperienced, reactive or over-the-top player dogs? If group activities are not the answer for them, then what is? I strongly believe that building a strong bond with their humans and enriching their lives with non-dog related activities should be the priority, rather than arranging for them to be around other dogs. This is the foundation that has to be in place for a dog to be happy and healthy and to stand any chance of gradually and carefully being introduced to some other dogs, if it is necessary and appropriate.

We have been busy and forget to post some of our wonderful, cute, fun, sweet, smart pups enjoying learning at class...

What is a sociable dog, is ‘friendly’ enough?

#dogtraining #houstondogtrainers #onlinedogtraining #askmemore #behaviormanagement #behaviorchange #behaviorconsultant

This always, set yourself and your dog up for success and joy

Give your dog a minute to think! Reposted from @theacademyfordogtrainers Often dogs get labelled things like stubborn because we expect that they "know" what w...e want and so, should do it immediately. But what if she doesn't really know? What if we slowed down a bit and embraced the idea that sometimes dogs may be processing information and trying to determine the best response? Slowing down and giving a dog time to think can provide us with more opportunity to reward the correct response, rather than jumping in prepared to punish - and one of the benefits of this is that if we are timely in our reward delivery, response time will improve and we'll begin to see more of what we want and with more enthusiasm. See more