Real-world solutions from puppies to seniors
Re-Cycling – Travis vs Bicycles I knew that it was only a matter of time. Herding dogs are notorious for chasing joggers and bicycles and Travis has just joined the club. The behaviours that we have selected for in herding dogs are highly desirable when they are actually herding livestock but become maladaptive when directed […]
Getting The Wind Up Wind presents some of the biggest training challenges for dog handlers. Like many other animals, dogs are sensitive to the changes in barometric pressure that herald windy weather. They also react to subtle changes in temperature and humidity. Some owners can tell by their dog’s behaviour changes that a storm or […]
Not To Be Sniffed At As puberty progresses, Travis is getting more interested in scents out on walks. Whilst he hasn’t quite given up trying to snarf litter at every opportunity, his nose is increasingly leading him on. Sniffing is vital for dogs and should be scheduled as part of their daily enrichment opportunities. Unlike […]
Jumping For Joy Does your dog appear to be made of springs? Mine does. It can be hard for little dogs not to jump because they are so far below our eyeline. Poodles and their crosses also have a tendency to be very bouncy. Dogs also jump because they want to lick our faces. This […]
Gone But Not Forgotten The transition from puppyhood to adolescence is probably the most challenging time for dog owners. Both the body and the brain are developing and, as with training, progress is not always linear. Today, Travis seemed deaf to almost every cue. The world seemed especially distracting even though we weren’t doing anything […]
Finding The Off Button can be a challenge for a puppy like Travis. As well as getting the balance between stimulation and exercise right, it is important to ensure that dogs get sufficient rest and good quality sleep. Teaching a settle is a “foundation behaviour” that tended only to be taught by traditional trainers as […]
Cueing Up – The Watch(ing) Dog Never underestimate how much your dog watches you. Dogs spend a lot of time studying humans as they try to predict what will happen next. However much we speech-orientated humans think that our dogs are listing to our verbal cues, the chances are that they are watching for visual […]
Counting Our Blessings and Accentuating The Positive Being told to count one’s blessings can be incredibly irritating; the sort of thing one’s parents say when what one actually needs is some help with a problem. On the other hand: You’ve got to accentuate the positiveEliminate the negativeAnd latch on to the affirmativeDon’t mess with Mr […]
Trick and Treat And Going Out With A Bang As Travis approaches his first birthday, the nights close in and the pumpkins appear… and so do the fireworks. I always said that I wanted a dog born in firework season so that he would be inured to bangs and flashes and I got my wish. […]
Travis Gets Sheep-ish – Urban Herding It’s time to start working with Travis’ genes and start some herding work. Whilst it’s wrong to make deterministic decisions based on a dog’s breed or type, genes do count. Humans have exercised selective breeding for generations and different herding breeds are selected according to the type of livestock […]