Dogs that struggle with life

Do you have a dog that reacts negatively to things in the environment?

Unfortunately the world is a scary place for dogs that are reactive and everything fills their bucket - good or bad.

This activates their fight or flight response and you end up with a dog that is like a slippery fish on the end of a line flipping around and trying to get free. There is nothing you can do to get their attention and focus at this point, it is too late for that and you just need to manage the situation.

Have you ever looked at another dog parent calmly walking their dog down the street or maybe in the pet store, are you a bit jealous of the cool pet parents that get to take their dogs to the breweries with them? Well I totally understand your sometimes deflated feeling of being stuck with a dog that you can’t take with you anywhere as they react to everything and I am here to help you!

What if interactions with your dog could be different?

Would you try games based concept training to help your dog learn that novel things in the environment, that stimulate their fight or flight response, can be a more neutral if not positive event.

What can games based concept training teach your dog?

• that novelty isn’t scary

• how to deal with new things in the environment or new events occurring

• problem solving skills

• that different and challenging situations are fun

• to look on the bright side, transforming a pessimist to an optimist

• confidence

• self control 

  We like to shape dogs brains by training concepts to our dogs. These 3 concepts will help your dog to positively grow their response to novel or scary events or things in the environment.

1. Calmness

2. Optimism

3. Self control

To training these concepts we play games that are specifically designed to help your dog use their brain to make smarter choices. This helps to grow their skills and be better prepared to handle whatever crazy event the world will throw their way.

First concept :

Calmness

Reactive dogs are often running at full speed all the time. Always on alert for any danger, or invader ( like a bug LOL) and they will have a hard time relaxing enough to get a good nap in the daytime. This means that they are basically throwing things into their bucket constantly throughout the day, meaning that over flow is a given, this creates the negative reactions you will see.

Dogs that are constantly “on” will not get enough rest to empty their bucket and therefore you could come home and want to go for a walk and 2 minutes into the walk your dog is acting like the floppy fish and you are left puzzled as to why when they have been home “sleeping” all day.

So let’s teach your dog how to be calm!

Scatterfeeding - Do you know that 20 minutes of sniffing for your dog is equivalent to an hours walk in term of enrichment! Isn’t that amazing! So let’s let our dogs sniff and get their meal. Scatterfeeding is all about using your dogs food and enriching their meal with sniffing and interaction with their human. You can use a snuffle mat or rolled up towel if inside or in nicer weather take it out to some nice grass and scatter the food and release your dog for the hunt! I call these Sniffari’s (sniff safari) and this is a game that I play with Indy all the time. Indy has some trouble with meeting other dogs and this game helps keep her bucket level low so if we meet another dog she is less likely to over react.

Second concept:

Optimism

Reactive dogs are often pessimists and this creates a muscle memory that quickly takes over when put into situations that are scary, new or challenging. Once your dog starts to feel these pessimistic feelings their brain quickly turns those feelings into actions to save themselves and you end up with the floppy fish affect.

The good thing about brains is that they can be shaped to think differently and that is where games based training comes into play. Once you realize your dog is a pessimist you can start to play games that build their optimism and change the way they think and react to scary, new or challenging events.

Let’s learn how to grow optimism in your dogs brain!

Noise box - I love this game and have used this to feed Indy for many feeding sessions( especially when I worked in dentistry for 10 hr days). This is one of the cheapest ways to enrich your dogs meal AND get them to grow their optimism. Grab a box or small tote ( no taller than your dogs elbow -which is the “armpit”) and gather a couple empty water bottles or pop cans, toss them into the box and then scatter your dogs meal into the box. This is a great way to show your dog that noisy, moving objects aren’t bad or scary and that you can get a tasty reward for being brave enough to hunt through all those items.

Third concept:

Self Control

When dogs get scared their brain goes into fight or flight response and this is not a good headspace to be able to make rational choices. So we need to teach our dogs to think instead of react. Teaching your dog that good things happen when they learn to control their energy and make good choices is going to set them up for success. Self control isn’t something that comes naturally to most dogs- they love to seek out pleasurable things so waiting for the delivery of food is hard.

This is where self control comes in handy; here is a great game to help your dog start to use their brain to get the outcome they are hoping for, food.

Lets learn how to teach your dog self control!

Mouse - Place a few treats on the floor, make a cage with your hand over the food. Don’t let your dog get to the food. When your dog backs off from your hand/takes their attention off of your hand, flick out a piece of food for them. Reset your hand over the food and the game begins again. If they really struggle with self control this may take a while till they “back off” a bit. Don’t nag or say anything just let them use their brain to figure out what you want.

Life with a reactive dog can be tough. Seeing your dog so unhappy and fearful is distressing, and the smallest things can trigger “the floppy fish affect” and that makes huge withdrawals from your Relationship Bank Account. But by playing games and using concept based training, you can change your dog’s life and transform the life you live together. 

Training is a lifestyle not a season, there is always something to learn .

Gamefy your life!

Please follow the link to book your free phone consultation

Setting your puppy up for success!

Have you ever hear “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure”?

Well this is true for raising a puppy too!

If you want to “dodge” a bullet when it comes to the puppy stages and craziness then you need to be prepared. I can help you out with that! I have created a brand new program that is geared to guiding new pet parents through all the stages of puppy hood.

There are so many ways to support your puppy throughout their growing phases and being prepared with different ways to handle them is going to prevent a lot of negative behaviours from even happening at all.

I know how hard and tiring it is to raise a well behaved puppy and I want to provide you with the support and knowledge to minimize the stress and unknown so that you can grow the puppy you have dreamt of into the dog that you have always wanted.

I love to be able to share this special time with new pet parents. With all the information at our finger tips with google and social media we are often flooded with programs, classes and well meaning but antiquated information. I continue to grow my skills and knowledge to provide my clients with up to date, relevant, games based science backed training.

This way I can be confident that I am sharing knowledge and training advise that is going to not only set your puppy up for success but also give you the knowledge to be confident is your training and choices for your new BFF.

So how do you grow a confident, happy, optimistic puppy ?

With games of course!

I will provide you with a full range of games to grow skills in your puppy that are going to set them up for success by arming them with all the skills to navigate this crazy world. Things like calmness, confidence, optimism, proximity and disengagement. These will grow many desired behaviours like fast recall, bang on ability to disengage, able to meet new people, dogs, bikes, scooters, ect without the need to force them to sit and “face their fears” and teaching calmness is a total game changer for enjoying time with your dog. You will grow your relationship in a trusting way that promotes value in you.

If you want the guidance from an educated trainer at your fingertips and to learn about the best and most fun ways to grow your bond with your dog while getting amazing behaviours then this is the program for you!

Book a free consultation call to see if we are a good fit for training together.

I am so excited to learn more about you and your puppy.

Training is a lifestyle not a season, there is always something to learn .

Gamefy your life!

Please follow the links to book your free phone consultation or to jump right into training

Why Boundaries are important

As we bring a puppy or new dog into our home and lives we need to consider what we want our life to be like with our new addition. A puppy has specific needs that need to be met and is like bringing a new baby home whereas a dog that is fully matured (around 2 yrs) will have less needs that need to be met. Both ages of dogs are very receptive to training and this is a perfect time to start to plan for the training road ahead.

What do you want your puppy/dog to know about their new house?

There is no right or wrong way to lay out the game plan for your dog. Some people love to have their dog on the couch or bed, others do not and that is totally okay, you are able to show your dog the pathway you want them to take in a gentle but firm approach that gains you respect and grows your relationship.

Like any relationship you will have in your life you need to earn and gain trust and respect, it is no different with your dog and the best way to do this is by giving your dog CLEAR instructions to follow.

Before you decide to add a furry addition to your home it is best to all agree on the boundaries and rules that you want to maintain. This is going to make it very clear to everyone in the house how to interact with the puppy/dog and maintain a consistent pathway to guide them into a harmonious life with you.

I love that we all get to personalize this pathway to suit our own needs and wants but don’t forget that our dogs may not want the same things that we do so try to read and respect their body language and choices.

One way to be able to create a calm, happy, relaxed dog is to teach them how to maintain on a bed or boundary. This is such a valuable behaviour to have and can easily be taken out into the '“real world” and used when hiking, at the beach, picnics, park dates, sport events, ect.

To be able to teach a boundary you need to grow the value in the place that you are wanting to contain your dog to, this is going to make them want to go to this spot without any cue at all (you can definitely add a cue later though).

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I always tell my students “ If I put you in an empty room you would be bored in a second and want to leave, but if I gave you a tv, couch and mini fridge you would be happy to relax in that room”. Well why would it be any different for our dogs? They are always actively seeking things that make them happy (hence why they are always happy!) - note taken.

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To begin your journey on growing boundaries with your dog you need to think about a few things:

• where in the house do you want your dog to have access

• how do you want to be able to progress as they get older ie: to be “free” in the house, crate trained, ect

• do you want to be able to take your dog most places (that allow dogs)

• are you a weekend warrior that loves to take adventures every weekend and wants your dog to come along

• are you content to stay close to home and visit local dog friendly places

• are you wanting to train a service dog for yourself

• happy, calm and confident pet dog

• a water confident dog that will boat, sup or kayak with you

The possibilities are endless and having a clear idea of what you want and how to guide your puppy/dog to get there is an important step. I can help you set up a plan for training, management and coaching through all stages of your dogs development to be able to get you to the place you want to be with your dog.

Training is a lifestyle not a season, there is always something to learn .

Gamefy your life!

Please follow the links to book your free phone consultation or to jump right into training

Creating Calmness

Everyone has seen THAT dog out and about.

The one that is so calm and chill when there are kids, dogs or noises all around them. We all look on with envy and think “WOW, they sure got lucky with their dog”. But in reality they probably worked with their dog to teach him/her how to be calm.

YES! you can teach a dog to be calm! Isn’t that so cool.

We have discussed your dog’s bucket in a previous blog post ( if you missed it head back to the first post for more bucket information) and now we will talk about the benefits of teaching calmness in relation to the bucket.

Teaching your dog to have calm default behaviours, a calm existence, a generally calm way of being, keeps that bucket empty as a matter of course.

Then, when an exciting, arousing or challenging event happens, the bucket doesn’t overflow; it tops up a bit and then, because your dog’s brain knows how to be calm it empties right back down again. And because your dog has some great go to calm behaviours, they recover much more quickly when the inevitable exciting, arousing or worrying things happen in their life.

I tell my clients that one of the best ways to create a solid bond with your dog and be able to REALLY read their body language is to start by teaching calmness.

This can be a really fun way to grow your dogs skills and your bond!

Calming games help your dog to use their brain to figure out what we are asking of them. We can also learn if they are a “thinker dog” or a “doer dog” and adjust to their needs to help them succeed. One of my favorite parts of games based dog training is to see your dog blossom when they start to use their brain and “ace” the games we are playing with them. They are so proud of themselves and they start to grow their confidence in their decision making and interactions.

There are also ways to teach calm that aren’t so involved. I like to call them calming zones:

• entertainment zone

• calmness capture zone

• the chill zone

  
  Each of the three zones provide their own unique opportunity to grow calmness. Being able to grow calmness in any situation will help your dog to gain the confidence to make smart decisions, aid with thinking while excited, grow disengagement and also help to empty your dogs bucket after exciting, scary or difficult events.

  With all the ways to grow calmness you will be able to show your dog that being calm, cool and collected is where they feel the best, have the least amount of overflowing buckets and can really use their brain to make smarter decisions.

  If you are interested in finding out more about games based training and growing calmness in your crazy best fur-friend then don’t wait to schedule your free phone consultation today.

Canine Well-being

Have you ever thought about what makes your dog happy?

This is an important part of learning about your dog and how they see the world. This will help you to grow your relationship, learn each others quirks and also be able to help guide your dog in the right direction. Their well-being includes physical, mental and emotional states.

How to figure out what your dog likes (or dislikes) can be tough as sometimes body language is misinterpreted and it isn’t always as cut and dry as we want it to be.

Figuring out what your dog likes will ultimately be the icing on the cake when it comes to training as you will be able to use these “likes” as rewards and also refrain from the dislikes as some dogs find this punishing.

I know Indy loves massages and I get to use this as a training reward so when she does something that is amazing I can reward her with a cuddle and a quick massage.

How great is that!

I will also massage her daily to continue to grow our relationship but also to keep a close eye on her physical well-being. This means that I can easily check her nails, look for ticks, make sure her ears are clean and her teeth are healthy and free from plaque and tartar, there are no swollen areas or lumps to worry about, often I am removing thorns from her adventures in the woods LOL, but most importantly I am showing her that we can relax, share this experience together and I can take care of her without fear or pain.

These are important for keeping up with a preventative lifestyle and making sure that I can catch any issues early to keep her free from pain and disease. By doing this regularly I am able to get familiar with what her healthy body feels like and notice any abnormalities quickly for assessment with my vet.

This is something I wholeheartedly believe in and wish to share with all of you.

I also love the benefits that massage has on your dog like:

• improving their circulation

• promoting calmness

• reducing anxiety

• boosting their immune system

• being more flexible physically and mentally (with the routine of physical touch)

• reduce aches/pains and inflammation

If you are wanting to learn more about happy fear/force free handling I am able to cover this in any of our session. This is also great to assist your vet if your dog is nervous at the vet as I can give you ideas and tips on how to prepare your dog for their vet trips and handling.

Being a strong confident advocate for your dog and taking THEIR well-being into account is one of the privileges of being a pet parent. I can help you to gain the confidence that YOU need along with your dog to be able to confidently handle whatever this crazy world throws at you and your dog.

I strive to grow a community of like minded, supportive dog lovers that want to celebrate each others “wins” and support each other through tough times or training struggles. There is no reason why anyone should feel alone with a dog that is needing support. I hope that if you need help, advice or just a friend that you can lean on me (and hopefully some of my community here) to help you through.

Dogs are complex, emotional beings that we need to support and train compassionately. I can guide you to get results and learn how to easily change your lifestyle to create a harmonious relationship with your dog.

Gamefy your life!

Please follow the links to book your free phone consultation or to jump right into training

A Dog’s Bucket

Do you know that all dog’s have a stress threshold similar to humans?

If you think of this as being visualized as a bucket you will be able to understand that,

like humans who have different tolerances for stress, dogs have different sized buckets too.

The size of the bucket is NOT determined by the size of the dog.

NATURAL STATE OF THE BUCKET

This is the baseline. Some dogs have a full bucket as a baseline, while others have an emptier bucket.

WHAT PAYS INTO THE BUCKET

What fills the bucket? Both positive/exciting and negative/ frustrating and/or frightening things impact the bucket.

SIZE OF THE BUCKET

Big or small and varies in size for every dog.

HOLE IN THE BUCKET

Where the bucket empties, varies in size too.

Some large, strong dogs have thimble sized buckets and we all know a chihuahua that acts like a doberman (don’t we? LOL)

This is because their bucket isn’t determined by their size it is determined by the skills they have that shape their brain to think certain ways.

This is where the magic of games comes into play!

These games are built on concepts ( there are many different ones-18 to be exact!)

which we can use to shape your dog’s brain into more positive pathways.

This is how we can train at home in your dog’s safest place instead of traditional training which is forcing your dog to be IN that stressful situation being flooded with all those stress hormones.

(no one learns well under stress)

By creating this safe environment for your dog to learn in you are fostering a trusting relationship

and growing your bond together as a team.

Who doesn’t want that!

Being aware of “bucket fillers” that affect your dog will help you become the best pet parent,

so let’s think about your dog’s lifestyle and think of some things that fill your dog’s bucket.

There are many things that

pay

into your dog’s bucket

excitement (positive stress)

scary things (negative stress)

pain, itchiness,

and tummy issues

are just some of the common bucket-fillers.

Some of these will be a major contributor to filling your dog’s bucket ( like a fearful event could overflow the bucket)

while other events may add small amounts multiple times a day ( like an upset stomach or itchiness).

Let’s think about your dog’s current bucket.

Where is their baseline?

Do they have a bucket that is more naturally full, or are they pretty chill and it’s on the emptier side?

What about the size of the bucket and the size of the hole that empties their bucket?

The awesome thing is that buckets grow and change as you continue your training, so assessing your dog’s bucket often means you are truly working with the dog in front of you!

Taking the stress bucket into consideration is going to help you to always be focused on your dog’s current mental state (train the dog in front of you) and working with them to provide the best learning outcome.

This is going to grow your relationship, trust and communication while creating a happy, harmonious lifestyle together.

Training is a lifestyle not a season, there is always something to learn .

Gamefy your life!

Please follow the links to book your free phone consultation or to jump right into training