Trails and Tails
Mobile Business Owen Sound, ON, Canada

Happy Howlidays

How can a puppy buyer know if they are dealing with a reputable, responsible and dedicated Preservation Breeder? We've shared some things to look for on #TheDish: https://www.ckc.ca//Marc/How-To-Spot-A-Responsible-Breeder

Shared with permission from Bronte Pet Services

The Sago Palm is a house plant toxic to pets.

Tick season is here. Checking dogs all over their body is wise, with a particular focus in these areas.

Const. Dan Berube and his police service dog, Jynx, helped find a missing three-year-old girl in Musquodoboit Harbour, N.S, on Monday.

Please do not allow your dogs in or near the Pottawatomi river in Owen Sound until more is known.

Dackel sind einfach grandios ;)

Susan Garrett is a world renown dog trainer and top agility competitor and she is offering her expertise for free right now.

Good for a smile

For anyone with a puppy at home right now

At Pet Valu, our priority continues to be the health, safety and care of you, your pets and our employees. Effective Friday March 20th, we will be limiting the ...number of customers that can enter the store at any time, the ways in which we handle products and how we tender transactions. Please see the latest message from our CEO Richard Maltsbarger for additional information and precautions. https://petvalu.com/covid-19-and-your-safety-a-message-fro/ See more

A basic overview of the sport of agility. Lots more complexity in how the obstacles are taking at the higher levels than what is covered here, but a great introduction piece.

If you plan to rescue a dog, its important to understand the difference between reputable and non-reputable rescue. By going with a reputable rescue, you will be helping stack the odds in your favour of finding a good match for your family, and minimizing unnecessary stress on dogs in need. You will also be helping fund programs directed at reducing the number of homeless animals, not perpetuating the problem for profit. https://islanddogsrescue.com/ethical-vs-unethical-rescues/

I am seeing quite a few in our area as well. Please be sure your pets have protective immunity against the disease.

There are a lot of misconceptions in the dog world. Assumptions abound surrounding dogs who listen vs those who don't. Are some dogs, such as terriers really n...ot trainable? Is the Border Collie really born with that amazing attention and drive to please? What are the real facts surrounding off-leash control? How do you convince your dog to choose you over the running squirrel at the park? Is there a magical solution to getting your dog to listen? Here's the truth: it's not magic, it's training! Read more to find out what skills you should train to create a great listening dog whether they are ON or OFF leash! The BIGGEST Mistake You can Make First, I would like to address the biggest mistake people make when trying to attain off-leash control and that is the rush to allow freedom. Don't do it! As eager as you may be to allow your dog to romp on an off-leash hike or at the park, do not unclip that leash until your dog is capable of listening. Obviously, the main reason is keeping your dog safe. Allowing them freedom with no ability to control the outcome is extremely dangerous and could end in disaster. Just look at all of the lost dog postings that float around Facebook. Another extremely important reason to keep them on leash is your relationship. It can be very damaging to your relationship with your dog to either: a) allow them to ignore you when you call or b) get frustrated or angry with them and start hollering when they don't listen. It's unfair to expect them to listen when they haven't been taught how to listen. Both of these scenarios will work against your long term goal of off-leash control. The biggest reason to keep them leashed, besides keeping them safe, is rehearsal. Rehearsal predicts behaviour, which means that if your dog rehearses great reinforcement and fun for recalling to you, they will learn to listen. If, on the other hand, your dog rehearses ignoring you to self-reward, that will become their habit. Please, before you remove the leash and make your life EXPONENTIALLY harder in the long term, ask yourself this: Do you have good control of your dog ON LEASH? If the answer is anything other than a resounding YES, you are NOT ready to be thinking about taking them OFF LEASH yet! If your control is not impeccable on leash, it will be far worse off leash. Training Wheels We can't say it enough! Until you have reliable skills, your dog should be on a long line or leash all of the time. This will give you the necessary physical control you need until your dog is under reliable voice control. Think of the long line like a good set of training wheels. They are designed to allow confidence in their task bit-by-bit until they are no longer required for the end result. Your long line should initially be very long - I usually start at 20 feet. When I'm happy with my dog's responses on the 20-foot long line, I might cut off a few feet. When I'm happy with my dog's responses while dragging the slightly shorter long line, I will cut off a few more feet. I will continue this until my dog is off-leash and still under control. This weaning process will go a long way. Dogs are quickly able to identify the difference between being on leash and off leash. This is called being "leash-wise" and it usually happens with a dog who is afforded freedom too quickly. If they don't have a history of reinforcement for listening, they'll look for self-reward opportunities instead (like sniffing the ground or visiting others at the park) and will figure out when you can get them and when you are powerless. These are the dogs who learn to play 'catch-me-if-you-can'. Keep the reinforcement value for listening high and wean off the long line to prevent this leash-wise scenario. What to Practise Off-leash control is not just about a recall, although that is a crucial skill that should be at 100% before you unclip the leash. There are many things you can teach your dog to help you with overall off-leash control. Preemptively teaching your dog to listen on leash and then transitioning to leash or long line dragging will go a long way to teaching your dog to focus and listen for instructions from you. Make sure you put in the work first and with high value rewards. When you have great control on leash, you'll have a much easier time transitioning to off-leash. Here are a few more skills that I will not allow my dog's freedom without. Response to Name When I say my dog's name, I want them to orient their attention towards me so I can give them further instructions. If I were about to give my dog a sit or down cue and they were focused elsewhere, their response to name plays a definite role. I may use it as an extra attention-getter before I call them to "COME". I work hard on teaching my dogs to always respond to their name call. If I don't yet have a reliable response to name on leash, in any situation, with distractions present, I will not allow my dog to be off-leash yet. Stationary Control This is another must. People often underestimate the importance of stays and stationary control. DON'T! They are very important and should be a huge part of your training program. Building emotional control into a dog starts with stationary behaviour. For example, if your dog can't stop themselves from leaving a sit to investigate a distraction, that's feedback for you that they won't be able to listen when contending with a similar distraction while they are in motion. Work with your dog on stationary control exercises like sit and down stays. Start with a boring, white-room type of situation where nothing is happening and reinforce your dog for holding position. If they break position, put them back! This will give them clear information on both sides of the coin. Systematically add distractions into the scenario and work consistently to teach your dog to be able to contend with them. Attention This ties in with stationary control as again, the golden rule is that if you can't call on your dog to offer attention when they are stationary, there's no way you'll be able to get their attention when they're on the move. We've got a fantastic (and FREE) attention workshop that you can sign up for. Just visit our website for details on our free workshops! Work on the skills of attention and teach your dog how to respond to an attention command before you consider allowing them off-leash freedom. Random Stop One further skill that I insist my dogs have before I will allow them freedom off leash is a random stop of some sort. I tend to use a down command as I find it easy and rewarding to teach. Basically, I want to make sure that I can stop my dog on a dime wherever they happen to be. A recall is not always needed, but you may want to stop forward motion if there's a distraction you've not noticed. I've actually published a previous blog post on this potentially life-saving skill. Tricks I know, this one seems out of place. How can tricks help with off-leash control? Glad you asked! Tricks help with everything!!! They will help your dog learn to enjoy learning with you. They will help your dog figure out how to read you. They will get your dog used to the idea that working for you is fun and rewarding. Tricks go a long, LONG way! Find out more in this previous post, The Power of Trick Training. Being patient and putting in the extra time and effort will make all the difference in how your dog listens for the rest of their lives. This extra work to make it happen will be a drop in the bucket when you reflect on the years of good listening your dog will give you. Take your time and be honest about your dog's progress. If they're not ready to listen without their training wheels, keep them on and keep working towards the freedom you crave. It will be worth it! As always, Happy Training! ~Shannon

Spitfire is a canine athlete extraordinaire!

If you plan to rescue a dog, it's important to understand the difference between reputable and non-reputable rescue. By going with a reputable rescue, you will be helping stack the odds in your favour of finding a good match for your family, and minimizing unnecessary stress on dogs in need. You will also be helping fund programs directed at reducing the number of homeless animals, not perpetuating the problem for profit. https://islanddogsrescue.com/ethical-vs-unethical-rescues/

Too cute not to share another year! Merry Christmas to all of our wonderful pups and their families!

Best Halloween costume ever!

This is a great guideline and tool to assess your dogs body condition and physical fitness. I will add, although not included as "ideal", "fit" is most certainly ideal for many working and/or competitive sports dogs. This infographic is targeted for pet owners and pet dogs for whom "fit" may not be necessary.

Meanwhile, in the world according to dog....

Put the work in, and reap the immense benefits of the results.

Best Hallowe'en costume ever!

This is a great guideline and tool to assess your dog's body condition and physical fitness. I will add, although not included as "ideal", "fit" is most certainly ideal for many working and/or competitive sports dogs. This infographic is targeted for pet owners and pet dogs for whom "fit" may not be necessary.

Happy National Dog Day! Although, that is every day here at Trails and Tails. We celebrate all things dog, every day of the year!!

Not as bad as they were calling for today, but still toasty!

Please be sure the child-dog interactions you create or witness look nothing like the ones featured in this video compilation. Our dogs and our children deserve better.

Lots to consider when choosing a new family companion. Make sure to do your research. Dog ownership is a two-way street! Be honest about your needs, and what you are able to provide your new friend to ensure their needs are met. Set your new relationship up for success!

For your viewing pleasure! Stunning!

There really is no "one size fits all" answer. Here are lots of things one should consider when deciding on your own house rules. Rules and priveleges should always be well defined and clearly communicated. As well, they can be subject to change when necessary.

We are excited to announce, we are expanding on our current services!

What an amazing program that provides the opportunity for inner city kids to experience the thrilling world of horses.

This is what "socializing" a dog is really all about. Essentially learning to ignore or become indifferent to potentially exciting things in the environment, and seeing their owner as the provider of all things good and wonderful in their world.

Mushing is an amazing activity for healthy, sound dogs who love to run. Whether purely recreational or as a competitve sport, mushing and joring can be enjoyed by many. All should not be demonized because a few make a bad name for the sport.

Wonderful information on the basic skills every pet dog and owner should have, ESPECIALLY for anyone who wants to enjoy a dog who is going to allowed off leash.

A behind the scenes look at what donations to OVC Pet Trust help to build and accomplish.

This is the exciting sport of flyball! These dogs were competing at Crufts Dog Show going on now in the UK. The dogs love it!