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10 Reasons to start mantrailing with your dog.

183:714461776 (Katherine Edwards) — Mon, 25 Mar 2024 09:51:50 GMT

Here's 10 reasons why I love Mantrailing

1. It's dog centered, rather than goal centered.

While there is endless progression with Mantrailing, your dog can go at their own pace. There are no goals to meet, no criteria to gain, no rushing them or pushing them on. We up the ante, when each dog is ready. The goal in a Mantrailing session is for your dog to have a fun, enriching and calming experience. Not to win a medal. There is no going wrong for your dog, it is impossible for them to put a foot wrong! While there are assessments and goals you can work towards, they're all optional.

2. The community spirit.

Mantrailing sessions are great socialising for humans too! Everyone there wants your dog to succeed, and everyone celebrates each others wins together. It's an understanding community of dog lovers, who won't judge a dog for their quirks, and will participate to make each session fun for each individual dog. There is no competition, and in fact, uniqueness is celebrated!

3. No obedience allowed!

No barking orders, no yanking, no yelling, no otherwise telling your dog what to do. Mantrailing is a dogs game, they're the experts here. We are simply here to observe in awe, and learn to be a supportive handler.

4. It's incredibly enriching for our dogs.

Tracking is a natural dog behaviour, one they are often prevented from doing. Mantrailing allows them to fulfil their most basic need to sniff, in a fun and constructive way. Sniffing has been proven to reduce stress in dogs and release happy hormones, and is heavily involved in confidence building, forming new memories.

5. It's for any dog!

There aren't many dog sports that all dogs can take part in. It doesn't matter if your dog is old, young, reactive, nervous, over-excited, barky, fearful, un-trained, a lead puller, a bad recaller.. they all fit in somewhere at Mantrailing. Each individual trail can be adapted to suit each dog and handler.

6. It's low impact.

There are many adrenaline fueled, fast pased sports and games that you can do with your dog. However, these things can be very strenuous both on the body and the mind. While dogs get very excited to Mantrailing, sniffing is an intense mental workout which is very tiring. It is also, for the most part, low impact compared to other sports, as all dogs are on well fitted harnesses and leads at all times.

7. It's great fun!

As a mantrailer you get to take part in the whole game, from handling your dog, to hiding for others, and observing. While working with your own dog is great, It is also great fun hearing the dogs approaching you while waiting in your hiding spot, and celebrating with them when they get to you!

8. It empowers your dog!

In most training scenarios, we are showing our dogs the way. In Mantrailing, they are working independently from us, doing something they are experts at. We simply support, follow on, and learn! This is fantastic for confidence building, by teaching your dog to problem solve on their own.

9. It has the power to help nervous dogs!

While working with an anxious dog takes lots of different approaches, Mantrailing is definitely a beneficial thing to do with anxious dogs. While working, Mantrailing dogs can eventually learn to trail around the things that worry them - be it people, dogs, noises or traffic. This teaches them that they can do something fun, and safe in the presence of these things, encourages ignorance and so builds their confidence around them.

10. No commitments!

While you'll progress a lot better by attending regularly, there is no pressure to come to Mantrailing all the time. Some come every week, some come every few months! There is no reason your dog can't pick up where they left off.

Want to get involved? Send me an email training@unleashingpossibilities.co.uk, or look at the Mantrailing UK/ Uk scent sport map to find an instructor local to you!

Is force free dog training permissive?

Wed, 20 Mar 2024 16:14:48 GMT

Why dog training is moving away from pack leader ideologies and towards relationship building. An evidence based article.

After seeing a post warning of the dangers of 'New age behaviorists refusing to punish dogs, and even claiming dogs do not have pack animals in their DNA' I wanted to give an evidence based insight into the subject, sorry its a long one!

As pet owners and canine professionals, it is vital we understand how our dogs communicate and interact socially in order to help resolve behaviour problems. The idea that dog’s form packs with

strict hierarchies, maintained by displays of dominance and submission, is one of the most prevalent theories among dog owners and professionals alike. However, many are now starting to question its accuracy. Some will argue that dog’s form strict linear hierarchies and we must be our dog’s alpha or pack leader in order to prevent every behaviour problem from lead pulling to severe aggression.Others argue that dogs are not pack animals and are instead social opportunists and so we do not

need to be the `pack leader’ in order to prevent behaviour problems, instead, we must simply

understand how to motivate our dogs and how they learn.

Out of interest I wanted a better understanding of the view on this topic from the public compared to professionally educated dog trainers. I completed a short survey which I shared on social media.

In this survey I asked participants their age, if they had ever had any dog training related education, whether they had worked with dogs and if they believed in hierarchy/pack structure and the alpha

dog. My survey revealed interestingly that the older generation were much more likely to believe that pack structure existed and dogs would challenge humans and other dogs in order to become

‘alpha’. Many answered that they believed dogs lived in packs but did not believe they were in a battle for dominance. All of those who had studied canine behaviour at university didn’t believe

dogs formed packs or had alphas. Many who said they did believe in alpha dog’s and pack structure said they had learnt this information from tv shows and interestingly, from professional dog trainers too.

This makes sense considering that during the 1900’s the main theory regarding the social behaviour of the domestic dog was that, when living in groups, canine social relationships are managed

through formation of a linear dominance hierarchy. Pack structure / dominance theory suggests that each individual in a pack holds a rank and that higher-ranking individuals have priority access to

resources, have the right to breed and initiate social interactions ahead of those lower in the ranks . Lower ranking dogs are kept `in their place’ by displays of dominance by higher ranking individuals. Lower ranking dogs may also challenge higher ranking individuals in an attempt to improve their social status within the pack. All domestic dogs are said to have an innate desire to achieve the ‘alpha’ status.

The concept of social ‘dominance’ relationships in animals began with Thorleif Schjelderup-Ebbe’s studies of captive groups of domestic chickens in the early 1920s (Schjelderup-Ebbe, 1922). He found that chickens had a ‘pecking order’ in which the most dominant individuals in the group had the best access to resources such as food, and would maintain their status with ‘dominant’ behaviours such as pecking other birds (Schjelderup-Ebbe, 1922).

The idea that wolves and therefore dogs form packs with strict hierarchies came from the then ground-breaking paper by Rudolph Schenkel (1947) “expression studies on wolves”. At this point,

there was very little / no information regarding the behaviour of wolves the did not live in captivity.

Schenkel studied captive wolves in the Basle zoological garden in 1934, he then extended his research in 1939 to include observations from other canine species in the zoo such as raccoon dogs, and finally domestic dogs (Schenkel, 1947). His studies concluded that the wolves lived in a pack ruled by one male (the alpha) and his alpha female. Violent rivalries occurred between the wolves which existed to maintain the social structure. The alpha dog maintains his status in the pack my regular displays of dominance over the other males in the group (Schenkel, 1947). The

subordinate wolves in the group will fight to raise their social rank and are sometimes, but rarely, successful in taking the position of alpha (Schenkel, 1947).

Scott and fuller (1965) continued with this behaviour model when investigating the behaviour of domestic dogs in captivity, raised independently from humans. They stated that these wild dogs

lived in a pack and defended their territory just like wild wolves would, and that pet dogs display this behaviour too when they defend their home (Scott and fuller, 1965). In their book, they state

“Within a natural social group, agonistic behaviour is reduced to a relationship of dominance and subordination. This may take several forms, depending on the degree of dominance. Some dogs

simply growl at each other and move apart. More typically, the dominant dog places his feet on the back of the other, growling as he does so, while the subordinate one keeps his head and tail

lowered. A still more subordinate animal may roll over on his back while the dominant one stands over him, head-to-head; the subordinate animal rapidly snaps his teeth and yelps. “(Scott and Fuller, 1965). They also noted other dominant or submissive behaviour such as a submissive dog avoiding eye contact with a more dominant dog (Scott and Fuller, 1965). Many other studies reported similar findings. For example, Rabb, Woolply and Ginsburg (1957) Studied captive wolf behaviour and noted dominance and submission behaviour patterns between same sex individuals and the exitance of an alpha male who was the most dominant individual in the pack.

Dr David Mech, citing Schenkel’s work, published his book “The Wolf: Ecology and Behaviour of an Endangered Species,” in the 1970’s, plus hundreds of scientific papers which support the idea that wolves form packs with strict hierarchies, led by an alpha male wolf (Mech, 2005). It was then thought that dogs were likely domesticated when humans captured and raised wolf pups, who were then gradually selectively bred into the domestic dog breeds we have today . Therefore, wolf behaviour was a good indicator of dog behaviour and should dictate how to raise and train our dog’s.

. Supporting this, Bruce Fogle argues that by giving in to our dog’s demands, we may be showing them

that we are weak and this may lead them to challenge our position in the pack (Fogle, 1992).

Dominance aggression, may therefore be a result of not maintaining our position as the pack leader. The alpha roll, first popularized by the monks of new skete in the 1978 book How to Be Your Dog's Best Friend (Monks of New Skete, 1978) is one of the ways we are taught to deal with dominance in

our dog’s, based on the idea that a more dominant dog will force another dog onto their back.

This theory is still very prevalent today. As Ceasar Millan states on his website, dogs are pack animals

who form packs with humans and other dog in their home (Millan, 2020). . He claims behaviour problems in dogs are caused by owners who fail to be their dog’s pack leader. While he is by far not the only dog trainer who used dominance-based training techniques such as alpha rolling, he is the most famous, and one of the main reason's dominance theory is so widely accepted by pet owners.

However, Milan actually has no formal education in canine behaviour as stated on his website (Millan, 2021). He attributes his success to owning dog’s his whole life, like so many others. So, should we really be listening to a man with no qualifications?

In recent years, more and more professional dog trainers are claiming that there is no need to be your dogs ‘pack leader’ and that dominance-based training methods are actually damaging to our dogs.

The first problem modern dog trainers see with dominance theory is that dogs are not wolves. As Shenkar states” when we want to study cats, we look at cat behaviour. When we want to study horses, we look at horse behaviour, but when we want to study dogs, we look at wolves”.

Wolves and dogs diverged from their last common ancestor between 11,000 and 41,000 years ago (Pomery, undated). Although they are distantly related, dogs and wolves are different subspecies, and the two have very different behaviours and physical characteristics. For example, while wolves have a breeding pair in their group, dogs are promiscuous and opportunistic breeders, any male has the chance to breed when the opportunity arises so there is no need for an alpha male (Shenkar,undated).

Studies into wild dog behaviour has not produced the same results as studies into wolf behaviour. For example, Roberto Bonanni et al (2010) looked at free-ranging packs of dogs in Italy and found that leadership between dogs was fluid and varied from situation to situation. For example, in one pack, which had 27 members, there were 6 dogs that took turns leading the pack, but at least half of the adult dogs were leaders, at least some of the time. The dog’s that led the pack were usually the most experienced, rather than the most dominant. Furthermore, Coppinger and Coppinger (2001)

studied feral dogs and found most will live independently or in small, fluid groups. Unlike wolves, when a bitch comes into season, any male is free to mate with her, and she will raise the pups on her own (Coppinger and Coppinger, 2001).

Furthermore, even if wolf behaviour was representative of dog behaviour, the information we had on wolf pack structure was based on captive wolves, and not representative of wild wolf behaviour. The famous study on this subject conducted by Rudolf Schenkel (1947) that we discussed above was done on a pack of up to ten wolves kept in a 200 m2 pen. These wolves were not representative of a wild wolf pack because they were unrelated and in captivity meaning that understandably, tensions would be high and rivalries common. Were we looking, for example, at two captive wild animals fighting over a high value resource such as food or sleeping space, or, were we looking at an alpha wolf maintaining his position through violent displays?

We know that wolves, unlike dogs, are not friendly with unrelated wolves, so surely this behaviour would be expected. As Mech states in the introduction of his study on wild wolves “Attempting to apply information about the behaviour of assemblages of unrelated captive wolves to the familial structure of natural packs has resulted in considerable confusion. Such an approach is analogous to trying to draw inferences about human family dynamics by studying humans in refugee camps. The concept of the alpha wolf as a ‘top dog’ ruling a group of similar-aged compatriots is particularly misleading” (Mech,1999).

Moreover, Mech, who previously supported Schenkel’s findings and published his book about wolf pack structure, has since doubled back on what he once stated as fact and now claims he was wrong. On his website he states that although his book is still available to buy, he is desperately trying to remove it from circulation (Mech,2021). He has learnt a lot since then, and the reality is that wolves do not have strict linear hierarchies maintained by displays of dominance, but rather wolf packs are simply family units, with one breeding pair and the other members being their offspring (Mech, 2021). There is rarely any need for displays of dominance as the other wolves naturally follow the oldest and wisest members. All members eat together, hunt together and sleep together as a family. He also states that young members of any wolf pack eventually disperse to form their own family, therefore forcing them to stay together for many years while studying captive wolves, is bound to cause conflict (Mech, 1999). Mech also challenges the idea that some wolves are naturally dominant or submissive, as is claimed by many dog trainers today, stating any wolf has the chance to lead a pack, all he has to do is breed (Mech, 1999).

If dogs are not wolves, and wolves don’t form linear hierarchies, then why can’t we move on from dominance theory as dog trainers? As the Pet professional Guild states on their website “It is the position of the Pet Professional Guild (PPG) that dominance theory is an obsolete and aversive method of interacting with animals that has at its foundation incorrect and misinterpreted data which can result in damage to the animal-human relationship and cause behavioural problems in the animal”. The dominance model of dog training has its foundations in a number of concepts which

have now been proven to be false (Bradshaw, 2011).

However, the problem is dominance type training can work and can seem to make total sense. While many believe this is because the theory is correct, I believe this is often due to a phenomenon called “learned helplessness”. Learned helplessness was discovered by Seligman in 1967. In short, he discovered that when he repeatedly electrocuted dogs and gave them no way to escape, when they did eventually have a clear escape route, they didn’t choose it and instead stayed put and suffered electrocution again (Kelsing, 2010). The dogs had learnt that there was nothing they could do to improve their situation so even when given an escape, believed they could not take it. Learned helplessness can be seen in dogs who have been trained with harsh dominance type methods. For example, a dog who barks at other dogs to communicate that he is scared may be pinned to the floor by a dominance type trainer. After repetition the dog learns that even though he is scared, there is nothing he can do to improve his situation, so he stays quiet. While many would claim the dog has learned he is no longer ‘alpha’ and so is ‘behaving’ it would be clear to me that the dog is suffering intense emotional distress and is failing to respond to a scary situation because he believes there is no way out.

As stated in Barry Eatons book (2008) much of the behaviours we claim as dominance in domestic dogs are actually human social constructs. For example, at work it would be rude not to open a door for your boss, to allow them to walk through it first. Therefore, we believe that when a dog walks through a door before us, they are challenging our dominant position. However, there are no doors in the wild for dogs to open to allow their ‘alpha’ to walk through. In reality, this behaviour is simply a dog excited to leave the house. Furthermore, others are simply based on misconceptions. For example, the idea that the alpha wolf always eats first, and therefore we should always eat before our dogs, is a myth. In reality, most of the time the whole wolf pack eats at the same time, and, if food is scarce, it is the pups who eat first (Eaton, 2008). Another example would be the idea that we shouldn’t let dogs on furniture, to ensure they are lower down than we are, because a high-ranking wolf is always higher up than lower ranking wolves. This, again, is a misconception. As Eaton (2008) explains, the adult wolves often sleep in a high position so they have a good vantage point to warn off intruders, and the younger wolves would be lower down, where it is safer.

As discussed above, the alpha roll is a common method of ‘training’ used by dog trainers who believe in dominance theory. In his book ‘The intelligence of dogs’ Stanley Coren states “You should deliberately manipulate and restrain your dog on a regular basis, placing it in a position that, for wild canids, signifies submission to the authority of a dominant member of the pack” (Coren, 2006).

However, as Eaton (2008) states, this behaviour in wolves is actually voluntary and can be seen when a wolf rolls onto his back when approached by another wolf, at no point is a wolf forced onto their back by another wolf. Furthermore, while many believe dog’s do in fact display this behaviour McConnell (2002) states that no well socialised dog will pin another dog to the ground. McConnell goes on to say that forcing your dog into a submissive position is a great way to cause them to become aggressive towards you as in their social framework, you are acting like a lunatic (McConnell, 2002).

Unfortunately, the idea of pack structure and dominance has many to believe that physical punishments are acceptable when training our dogs, since this is how wolves would discipline lower ranking wolves. However, according to a new veterinary study published in The Journal of Applied Animal Behaviour, if you use physical corrections to train your dog, you are likely to cause your dog to become aggressive (Yin, 2009)

The study looked at how owners corrected dogs for a number of issues, such as aggression towards other dogs or guarding resources, and how many of these dogs then became more aggressive, or bit their owner. The results are below:

“The highest frequency of aggression occurred in response to aversive (or punishing) interventions, even when the intervention was indirect:

• Hitting or kicking the dog (41% of owners reported aggression)

• Growling at the dog (41%)

• Forcing the dog to release an item from its mouth (38%)

• “Alpha roll” (forcing the dog onto its back and holding it down) (31%)

• “Dominance down” (forcing the dog onto its side) (29%)

• Grabbing the jowls or scruff (26%)

• Staring the dog down (staring at the dog until it looks away) (30%)

• Spraying the dog with water pistol or spray bottle (20%)

• Yelling “no” (15%)

• Forced exposure (forcibly exposing the dog to a stimulus – such as tile floors, noise or people –

that frightens the dog) (12%).

In contrast, non-aversive methods resulted in much lower frequency of aggressive responses:

• Training the dog to sit for everything it wants (only 2% of owners reported aggression)

• Rewarding the dog for eye contact (2%)

• Food exchange for an item in its mouth instead of forcing the item out (6%)

• Rewarding the dog for “watch me” (0%)” (Yin, 2009).

I personally have found this with my own rescue dog too. When I adopted nell at 5 years old, she

was being trained using alpha rolls and physical corrections, and had been for many years, due to her lack of socialisation leaving her reactive. Subsequently, she had gone on to bite her owners, and her behaviour got worse, rather than better. Faced with a very nervous, damaged and unsocial dog, I attempted to train her using positive reinforcement, confidence building obedience and negative punishment such as walking away. Her behaviour in general dramatically improved.

Some would argue against this evidence, and claim that dog’s do form hierarchy-based packs, since many multiple household dogs will fight over resources, and some can see a clear ‘pack leader’ who isn’t challenged. However, this behaviour can be explained differently if you look at it with new eyes.

It is a dog’s natural survival instinct to protect something that is of value to them, and some dogs have been bred to have a stronger desire to want certain things, for example, a spaniel will be much more likely to guard a tennis ball than a great Dane would, due to innate drives.

The Resource Holding Potential model explains why some dogs will guard an object from other dogs and some will not (Bradshaw, 2011). According to this model, when a conflict-of-interest arises, the dog is said to make a decision based on two questions: how much do I want this resource? and, how likely is the other dog to beat me in a fight if we fight for it? (and how much the other dog wants it/ is likely to fight for it) (Bradshaw, 2011). This model can be applied in the place of the dominance model to explain why fights break out regarding resources in the home, or how dogs keep the peace.

Therefore, dominance cannot be a personality trait, but rather something fluid that changes from situation to situation, as it is in humans. There are many situations like this, that could be looked at in a different way, and therefore be explained without dominance theory.

I believe that dominance-based training methods, are often harmful to our dogs, and do not address the causes behind behaviour problems, they merely attempt to control symptoms of behaviour problems.

Study (Vieira de Castro et al., 2020) after study (Blackwell, Twells, Seawright and Casey, 2008) after study (Schilder and van der Borg, 2004) has shown that dogs trained with dominance based techniques are far MORE likely to display aggression, experience more stress and have a lower score on problem solving and cognitive ability tests than dogs trained using positive reinforcement.

Canine behaviour science is new, which means theories are going to rapidly evolve and we owe it to our dogs to keep up. I too, grew up strongly believing in dominance training and have had to unlearn much that I took as gospel.

Bibliography of all studies quoted is available on request.

Is using treats in dog training bribery?

183:714461776 (Katherine Edwards) — Wed, 20 Mar 2024 16:05:32 GMT

Is rewarding your dog bribery?

Using rewards in training was often frowned upon back in the day. Compulsion (force) was the method of choice for dog owners and trainers alike and the common misconception was that we should alpha/ boss our dogs into submission until they behaved. Dogs who couldn't be trained this way, were labelled dominant and often put to sleep.

Thankfully, canine behaviour science has come on a long way since then, and we are learning much more effective and humane ways to teach our dogs new things.

Reward based training, to the untrained eye, may appear to be bribery. However, rewarding your dog is not bribery. It is harnessing the power of operant and classical conditioning, using strategically timed reinforcers to drive the production of behaviour and change negative conditioned emotional responses.

By definition 'a bribe is to dishonestly persuade (someone) to act in one's favour by a gift of money or other inducement.'

Rewarding good behaviour, on the other hand, is pairing something your dog desires with a behaviour you want to repeat, in order to increase the frequency of this behaviour.

In operant conditioning, it is the consequence of the behaviour that drives the behaviour. We are not showing our dog a treat so they do something we like, we are using a treat as a consequence to a behaviour, to increase the chances the dog will choose to repeat it.

Using rewards can also change conditioned emotional responses, these are usually negative/fearful behaviours in response to stimulus that have been learnt, such as a fear of other dogs after negative experience with them. Sticking with this example, When we reward good behaviour around other dogs, due to a process called classical conditioning, our dog also learns to associate a reward with a situation they may have previously found scary, for example seeing another dog, and therefore becomes happy on sight of another dog, anticipating a reward.

If we were to instead only punish our dogs negative behaviour around other dogs, classical conditioning would ensure that our dogs strengthens their negative conditioned emotional response to other dogs, by learning another dog always equals a punishment.

Studies have shown that punitive training increases the likelihood of aggressive behaviour down the line, reducing confidence, causes the release of stress hormones that hinder learning and reduces a dogs confidence.

Rewards aactivate the dopamine reward system in the brain. This is the area of the brain that tells the dog to repeat this behaviour. Dopamine is rocket fuel for learning, so where we can, harnessing the use of rewards will massively speed up the learning process.

Furthermore, by using rewards we are building our dogs confidence, and their bond with us. Bond is so overlooked in dog training, but the best behaved dogs in the world are the ones who have the strongest bond with their owners.

What an onlooker may see, is someone bribing their dog to ignore another dog with a treat. What we see, is a dog choosing to ignore another dog after many weeks of practice, instead of reacting fearfully towards it, and being rewarded for this choice, so they are likely to repeat it in the future.

Good trainers will effectively use intermittent reward schedules to ensure that the behaviour we want to teach will be practiced wether a reward is present or not.

So don't think of rewarding your dog as bribery, think of it as payment. If you go to work, you expect to get paid, if your dog does something you like, they are much more likely to do it again if this is rewarded.

Reward based training is not being passive, it is not bribery and it is not ignoring bad behaviour. These are just common misconceptions for those who don't understand basic canine psychology.

Our aim is to not let our dogs misbehave, and ply then with treats so they will listen, instead we have a great understanding of the complex motivators that drive unwanted behaviour and how to effectively unravel and rewire these.

Are aggressive dogs badly trained?

183:714461776 (Katherine Edwards) — Wed, 20 Mar 2024 16:04:02 GMT

Why reactive dog's are labelled as untrained and why this should change.

Does well trained = not aggressive?

NOPE!

If you have owned a dog who barks / growls or otherwise displays space creating behaviours towards other dogs or humans, you've probably heard someone shout something along the lines of " get that thing trained!!"

Dog behaviour is massively misunderstood by the general public, unfortunately hugely due to the popularity of hocus pocus dog training TV programmes.

Here's the thing, the most obedient dogs in the world can still dislike other dogs.

Training tricks, obedience and sports for the most part is pretty easy. It might take time, and it might depend on the natural drives of your dog, but most dogs can reach a high level of obedience with time.

Behaviour ' problems' ( I use that word loosely, as actually these behaviours are completely normal for dogs, and only an inconvenience to humans) are not the same as tricks. When a dog struggles to cope on the presence of other dogs/ people/ traffic, this is often a conditioned emotional response. Similar to how you react when a spider falls from a ceiling and lands on you. Conditioned emotional responses are survival techniques, hard wired in the brain to keep us safe. They ensure when we see a certain stimulus (for example, spider) we react with space creating behaviours ( screaming & running) in order to avoid being hurt. They are often learned from a negative experience.

CER's are very difficult to overcome and take lots of time, patience, love and understanding. Working with a trainer will help you to know how to do this safely & effectively, but it will not make the behaviour go away in a few weeks. In fact, when reactivity is caused by isolation or trauma during the critical learning period (0-4 months of age) the dog is likely to suffer with reactivity in some way or another for life, due to the way their brain has developed.

I personally know some insanely well trained sport dogs, who are dog/human aggressive ( but you wouldn't realise, because they are managed very well). On the flip side, I know plenty of dogs who have not had a day of training in their life, who don't struggle with aggression.

As long as the owner Is keeping others safe to the best of their ability, and doing their best to help their dog, they do not deserve any abuse!

So please don't be that person who shouts "get that dog trained!" Be the person who shouts " Dont worry, I'll cross over !" Or " That's okay, I'll wait here while you pass!".

There are three problems with that statement.

1. Training a reactive / aggressive dog takes months or even years. Some never fully recover. It's not as easy as " just get them trained".

2. That person probably has a much higher level of obedience training than you do, and could be working with a rescue dog.

3. Well trained doesn't always mean emotionally sound!

What is mantrailing?

183:714461776 (Katherine Edwards) — Wed, 20 Mar 2024 16:01:35 GMT

Mantrailing is a dog sport that teaches you and your dog to find a "missing person" by following their scent. It is the most inclusive of all dog sports and is suitable for nervous dogs, reactive dogs, old dogs, young dogs, friendly dogs, excitable dogs, dog's without basic training, dog's who cant recall and everything in-between!

Do you want to?...

Build a great relationship with your dog.
Increase your dogs confidence.
Spend time having fun outdoors.
Attend a fun social activity on a regular basis.
Give your dog a Job.
Do more with your dog.

Mantrailing is a low impact sport, which unlike some sports means there is less pressure and stress on your dogs joints. As well as providing physical exercise, Mantrailing also engages your dog's incredible olfactory senses, giving them an intense mental workout. Providing your dog with a job is fantastic for their mental well-being, and mantrailing can assist in building your dog's confidence in unfamiliar situations. We go at your dogs pace, using only positive reinforcement. There is no pressure for dog or owner, all Mantrailing qualifications / assessments are optional and you can attend for fun, or to earn your Mantrailing grades.

Most importantly, its fantastic fun for both you and your dog.

Man-trailing sessions will last 2-3 hours and take place in various locations around Scarborough. Dog's are worked one at a time, so this sport is suitable for dog-reactive dog's and trails can be adapted for human reactive or nervous dogs too. Our booking form will allow you to provide us with all the information we need about your dog.

Progression is endless, and we can challenge our dog's to do amazing things! For example, we have had dogs complete trails which are hours old, contaminated by other people and dogs. We have had dogs trail from bitten food, to find the person who ate it! We have had dog's complete split trails, where multiple people walk the same trail before spliting off, challenging the dog to follow only the right one.

All participants must complete an introduction workshop before attending regular training sessions. This is to ensure the foundations and safety aspects of training are covered in detail.

Introduction workshops are now available to book, and regular sessions are available too.

Follow the link bellow, or contact me directly, to secure your space!

https://bookwhen.com/unleashingpossibilities

How to tire out your dog every day?

183:714461776 (Katherine Edwards) — Wed, 20 Mar 2024 15:58:36 GMT

You don't need to physically exhaust your dog every day.

You do not need to physically tire your dog out every day!

Many people are under the belief that a tired dog is a happy dog, and that the purpose of a walk is to run your dog into the ground until he can barely breathe.

While that will likely make your dog sleep once he gets home, it will also increase his stamina. Every time you run your dog to exhaustion you are increasing their fitness and therefore making them harder to tire out. You end up with a canine athlete, who is impossible to tire and very easy to excite/ frustrate.

A dog can be physically tired, and mentally the complete opposite. In fact, games like fetch are extremely exciting and frustrating, meaning they are likely to leave a dog mentally frustrated/ pent up.

The main purpose of a walk, contrary to popular belief, is mental excercise - not physical exercise.

Socialisation, sniffing, seeing the outside world, learning and exploring are extremely mentally tiring and release a huge array of happy calming chemicals, leaving your dog relaxed and mentally exhausted without building stamina.

Providing your dog with an outlet for mental stimulation every day, is actually much more tiring and much more beneficial than running them to the point of physical exhaustion daily.

So don't worry if you dog is still not tired at the end of his walk. Try doing some scatter feeding, licky mats, food puzzles, trick training, sniffing games, chewing games, digging or any of the many forms of mental enrichment we can supply our dogs with. Then, on those days you do want to really tire your dog, it'll be much easier to do!

Don't take this to say dogs don't need a walk. Just like you need to leave your house, your dog needs to see the outside world in order to maintain good mental health. Socialisation/habituation can be temporary, so spending a long time inside can cause phobias and fears to develop towards things such as cars, people or dogs. A walk is your dogs only real chance to be a dog.

For reactive or fearful dogs, walks can be very stressful. For those dogs, less walks are actually much better for them, to keep stress levels low.

However, spending that walk sniffing, seeing new things and exploring, with a small controlled game of fetch and maybe some tricks is much more beneficial than spending an hour running up and down a hill until he physically can't do any more!

A shift towards a focus on mental enrichment for our dogs is hugely beneficial for their mental health and wellbeing.

Keeping your pet safe from blue green algae

183:714461776 (Katherine Edwards) — Wed, 20 Mar 2024 15:56:13 GMT

The dangers of fatal blue green algae after the heatwave

Blue green algae isn't actually algae, it is a type of bacteria which exists in still bodies of water. Long spells of hot weather cause this bacteria to bloom. In high numbers, the bacteria releases toxins into the water which are fatal to fish, wildlife and dogs. They are also harmful to humans too.

There is no antidote, and in most cases of blue green algae poison dogs will unfortunately not make it. If you suspect your dog could have come into contact with blue green algae, immediate veterinary intervention is the only way to give them a chance of survival.

Swimming in lakes and ponds with algae ( the plant) is not harmful, and there is no need to worry about algae or other water plants growing in the water. Blue green algae, the bacteria, causes a green and sometimes foamy scum on the surface of the water. There may be a foul smell and the water will look dirty. It is not always immediately obvious, and can sometimes look like brown foam, or green colouration around the edges of water.

This website shows all the UK's confirmed or suspected cases of blue green algae blooms. With pictures so you can better identify them. In Popular areas, water is tested for this toxin so always check for signs before entering the water or allowing your dog to swim.

https://irecord.org.uk/bloomin-algae-app-summary

If in doubt, stay out!

What are puppy blues?

183:714461776 (Katherine Edwards) — Wed, 20 Mar 2024 15:53:57 GMT

Is it normal to regret buying your puppy?

PUPPY BLUES

Have you heard of them? No one tells you about puppy blues when you plan on bringing home a new puppy. And many feel alone/ ashamed. Puppy blues are the feelings of sadness and regret that most puppy owners go through at some point in puppy hood, including us professionals.

Puppies are adorable, we fall in love with them instantly. But unfortunately this does not make up for the intense and difficult period of puppyhood where they are mentally and physically draining.

You are not alone!

It is completely normal to feel overwhelmed, question your decisions and feel uncertain about the future with your puppy. It is completely normal to feel like you're not enjoying puppyhood like you should be.

Here are some tips to help you through puppy blues:

Mantras! Tell yourself " This will pass, puppyhood is not forever, you can do this!".
Crates, Pens / baby gates. Get your puppy accustomed to being penned from a young age. When you need some peace to get a bit of coursework done or have a cuppa, having somewhere safe for your puppy to go is a godsend.
Puppy proof! If your puppy is chewing the rug up. Roll it up and take it upstairs. If your puppy is constantly stealing books, empty the lower shelves. Give yourself a break! Prevention is better than cure, yes you can redirect your puppy from things they shouldn't have every two seconds or you could just, where possible, remove it entirely.
Remember your puppy doesn't have to be perfect. No dog is!
Remember puppies can overcome many behaviour problems. This isn't forever.
Enlist the help of a professional dog trainer, they will help you understand what is and isn't normal, and how to deal with any problem behaviours properly.
Nap time! Puppies need a ton of sleep. Overstimulated puppies are horrible. Tired puppies are horrible. If your puppy is acting out, they probably need to do less, and they probably need putting down for a nap, even if you have to enforce it.
Mental enrichment for example: Trick training, sniffing games, carrying them around busy places. Are all great ways to interact with your puppy in a healthy way, and encourage them to take a nice long nap.
Enlist the help of friends and family. An afternoon off can make a big difference.

Puppyhood will fly by, try to enjoy as much as you can

Avoid bad dog training advice online.

183:714461776 (Katherine Edwards) — Wed, 20 Mar 2024 15:51:47 GMT

Why tiktok isn't the best place for your training needs.

Suppressing behaviour isn't fixing behaviour.

You'll see lots of videos, particularly from " tiktok" dog trainers of dogs seemingly "cured" of dog or human aggression to the untrained eye.

It's easy to forget but dogs are not computer programs you can wipe clean and re-write. A dog with aggression issues, is likely to be suffering a lack of confidence and frustration issues linked to lack of socialisation or a lack of experience. They are then displaying a well practiced response to certain triggers that will take months or years to overcome.

Punish the dog severely enough, for example with an electric shock however, and this behaviour, for some dogs, will look like it has stopped. The dog will walk past triggers without displaying natural space creating behaviours as he did before.

What you have done here, is mentally shut the dog down and turned them into a ticking time bomb. You've punished out their communication, so they stop communicating, but they have not stopped being fearful or aggressive. When the threat no longer is present, aggression will resurface and be much more severe.

Study after study has shown that dogs trained in this manner, are much more likely to display aggression of all kinds later in life, particularly aggression towards the handler. But these trainers don't care, because they've got your money and your " results" at the dogs expense.

Remember, no qualifications are required to be a dog trainer. Anyone can go out tomorrow and call themselves a professional, damaging dogs left right and centre and making a killing doing it. Choose your trainer wisely, and ensure they are fully qualified ( not with a £13 dog course they got on Facebook) and don't do anything to your dog that makes you feel uncomfortable.

There is so much more to "fixing" a dog than punishing the behaviour, it's much more complex than that, and those qualified will do this properly with lasting, realistic, results with the dog and your welfare in mind.

It's about time this industry was regulated, because the videos of "trainers" are very worrying.

Punishments and reactive dogs.

183:714461776 (Katherine Edwards) — Wed, 20 Mar 2024 15:49:34 GMT

Sharing this great post by @doberacademy.

Why I don’t use punishment or aversives whilst training a reactive dog.

( Sharing this wonderful post written by @doberacademy)

1. They don’t teach an alternative behaviour

Aversives or punishment doesn’t teach my dog what to do instead. You can't change a behaviour, without teaching an alternative behaviour you want... It doesn't happen. It doesn’t teach my dog to engage with me in a more relaxed and reinforcing manner. It doesn’t build trust or relationship and definitely doesn’t build a partnership between us.

2. They teach negative associations.

I don’t want my dog’s behaviour to become worse around his triggers. I don’t want him to become more fearful when he sees another dog. This would mean he has double the stress & fear! That of the other dog and what happen to him if he reacts! I don’t want to make him feel like that. Punishment and aversive tools & techniques will re-enforce that there is plenty to fear around other dogs and may even make the behaviour worse.

3. Punishment & Aversives suppress natural body language, signals and warnings.

Punishment works in the moment and suppresses our dog’s emotions and feelings. It may make us feel better having dealt with the situation and controlled our dog but in reality what training have we achieved and how does our dog feel having suppressed his emotions in order to avoid pain in the situation?

Remember we are dealing with what our dog is feeling - not his obedience.

Why can’t my dog just sit and chill?

- If that worked there would be no reactive dogs

Forcing your dog into a sit (if indeed they can even manage that in a situation) only serves to increase the stress/frustration level, the kindest thing to do for your dog is move him quickly away from the trigger whilst you are in the process of teaching him alternative ways to cope and behave.

Can my dog “get over it”?

Reactive dogs can be taught to feel differently about their “triggers” with their owner’s consistent patience, help & guidance. We may not always be able to completely eliminate the fear or stress of a trigger but we can definitely help our dog to learn to cope better and teach him more appropriate behaviours around them.

I prefer my dog to trust me and feel safe in my presence knowing that I will take good care of him and show him the way.

Anxious dogs and anxious humans.

183:714461776 (Katherine Edwards) — Wed, 20 Mar 2024 15:47:29 GMT

Similarities between canine and human mental health.

New research has found, that dogs who display anxious behaviour ( eg excessive barking, fear, reactivity, tactile sensitivity, fear aggression) have measurable differences in their brain, similar to those in humans with anxiety disorders.

I've been saying for years, there are huge similarities between anxious dogs and anxious people, drawing links with phobias, generalised anxiety and even autistic behaviour (For example, dogs who can't touch certain floor surfaces or wear certain harnesses).

It's already known that many of the causes of anxiety in humans ( premature/ traumatic birth, stressful pregnancy, isolation, trauma) also cause anxious behaviour to develop in dogs. We know that reactive behaviour has similar effects in the brain as panic attacks do in humans.

Many of us have suffered anxiety, or know someone who has. Knowing that, how can we justify how we treat our anxious dogs?

Would we strap someone with agoraphobia to an electric shock collar, and drag them through a train station, electrocuting their signs of fear? Would we ever consider that to be helpful?

What people, and dogs, who suffer with anxiety need is support. We teach them how to cope, we build confidence, we work on coping mechanisms for fear. We manage their life to ensure they feel safe. Over the process of many years we improve on their anxiety. We look at their diet, excercise and lifestyle to make sure it is meeting their needs. We don't expect them to be cured, because it is not possible to give a living, thinking being a new brain!

We used to force people with phobias to encounter hundreds of the things they were scared of, called flooding, in an attempt to cure them. Realising that didn't work, we now take a much more gradual approach. We used to electrocute people with anxious behaviour too. Thankfully we have come a long way from that, but not for our dogs. Anxious dogs are shoved into terrifying situations, expecting them to either cope or be severely punished. It's traumatic, abusive and wrong.

It is a dog trainers ( therapists) job, to find the cause of your dogs anxious behaviour, and take many approaches to help them to cope.

Check out this new research on the topic.

https://www.sciencealert.com/anxious-dogs-have-measurable-differences-in-their-brains-that-are-simil...

Dogs in Yellow.

183:714461776 (Katherine Edwards) — Wed, 20 Mar 2024 15:45:11 GMT

Happy #dogsinyellow day!

What’s a Yellow Dog?

Yellow means = I NEED SPACE! (Or nervous)

Yellow dogs may be nervous, reactive, in recovery, in training or just prefer to be left alone. A dog with a yellow lead, collar, jacket or harness doesn't want to be approached. Put your dog on a lead and give them space, as requested!

Yellow can be a warning that this dog will not react well if forced into a greeting with a stranger or dog, it is in the best interest of them, and you, to stay away.

Yellow equipment can be bought from many places online eg Amazon/ the yellow dog campaign.

The yellow dog campaign was created to help those dogs and their owners to communicate while out and about that they wouldn't like to be approached. While it is fairly old, it is still not that well known, so spreading the world can help those yellow dogs to feel safer outside.

10 reasons why I love mantrailing!

183:714461776 (Katherine Edwards) — Wed, 20 Mar 2024 15:42:33 GMT

Here's 10 reasons why I love Mantrailing.

1. It's dog centered, rather than goal centered.

2. The community spirit.

3. No obedience allowed!

4. It's incredibly enriching for our dogs.

5. It's for any dog!

6. It's low impact.

7. It's great fun!

8. It empowers your dog!

9. It has the power to help nervous dogs!

10. No commitments!

Want to get involved? Send me a messege, or look at the Mantrailing UK website, or uk scent sport map to find an instructor local to you!

Resource guarding.

183:714461776 (Katherine Edwards) — Wed, 20 Mar 2024 15:39:55 GMT

How to prevent, and treat resource guarding in dogs.

Resource guarding is a natural survival instinct in dogs, it does not benefit any animal to loose their food or high value resources to another animal or person. While it's more common in some breeds, many puppies will show resource guarding to some extent.

A lovely analogy I heard by Dogsthat trainer Susan Garat really made sense to me:

" Say you've just saved up and got yourself a brand new, very expensive, mountain bike. You take it on a ride to the shop and leave it outside ( let's forget that locks exist). You see a man approach your bike and within seconds, it's gone. Never to be seen again!

You're really upset, but in time save enough for another bike. Again you leave it outside a shop and you see that someone approaches it. How will you react? Probably, you'll run outside all guns blazing to protect your bike. The onlooker asks you " hey, can I have a go on your bike" you snap back " absolutely not!".

Now imagine the same scenario happening again, but instead of the first man taking your bike, he comes to tell you how cool it is. He then offers you some cycling gear for free, that he had got himself but can no longer use.

Next time you see him, he asks how you're getting on with the gear, and shows you some great cycling tracks you can use nearby.

You see this man again, and he asks "Hey, can I take your bike for a spin?!" You say " Of course! Feel free!".

This is a relationship built on trust!

And it's the same with our dogs.

Resource guarding is like an ember in all dogs, barely noticeable, however, taking something from your dog is like pouring petrol on the fire. Things like genetics, and early learning in the littler will effect how strong this flame is to start with.

Instead, we teach our dog that when we approach their things, more good things appear. We never take anything from our dogs ( how would you like it if someone stole your food?) And instead, teach a reliable drop, leave and/ or call away from resources.

Over many repetitions, your dog will learn to trust you around their things. If you needed to then take something and there was absolutely no other option to swap/distract ( rare) ... You could do it safely.

Ember, our collie pup, showed some mild resource guarding behaviour at 8 weeks old. From that day on, I haven't taken a single thing from her, without swapping it for something of higher value ( and this is a puppy who picked up everything). I practiced with lots of different food, treats and chews, approaching and providing something even better. I taught a reliable interrupt cue, to distract her from grabbing things she shouldn't or call her off something that she already had. Fast forward to today, Ember has absolutely no problem with me being around her food, and chooses to bring her food to me to eat next to me! A relationship built on trust. And guess what, I've never messed with her bowl while she's eating. Doing this to your dog does not prove anything, and is likely to trigger guarding behaviour that wasn't there before.

I can only imagine how easily this would have turned into a dangerous, and escalating situation if I attempted to punish, and bully this behaviour out of her, following the advice of tiktok " dog trainers".

If you're unsure about any behaviour your dog is displaying, before acting please contact a qualified veterinary behaviourist for advice. It could save you decades of avoidable trouble.

What is co-oprative care?

183:714461776 (Katherine Edwards) — Wed, 20 Mar 2024 15:36:03 GMT

And why you should be practicing it.

Do you practice Co-operative care with your dog? - if not, you should be!

Co-operative care involves training techniques to allow us to train our dogs to be comfortable and willingly receive treatment, handling and grooming. It is always the FIRST thing I work on with any new puppy- before anything else, I teach puppies to enjoy handling of all kinds.

The possibilities are endless, and there are some fab groups ( eg. take the grr out of grooming) that offer cooperative care techniques for all sorts of things. Check out this link :
https://cooperativecarecertificate.com/rulebook/overview-level-1/

Pinning our dogs down, and forcing them to endure anything they find unpleasant is not only unfair, but dangerous. Many dogs who repeatedly experience unpleasant handling may be driven to show defensive aggressiveness when being touched. Forceful grooming will harm your relationship with your dog and lower their confidence. Our dogs are living beings, and deserve autonomy over their own bodies.

While sometimes it is necessary to force a dog to do something they don't want, when treatment can't be avoided and training can't happen, in an ideal world we would be prepared enough that this would never happen. At the very least, we can practice Co-operative care regularly so that we can be prepared for many different eventualities and your dog is already comfortable with a range of common treatments.

Co-operative care will make things such as nail trimming and picking off ticks, so much less stressful for everyone involved. And can be achieved easily in short regular training sessions.

As with anything, we start off very small and build it up, provinging lots of rewards along the way and watching for sings of discomfort. For example, to introduce nail trims, I spend the first few training sessions just touching the dogs paw very briefly with the clippers. If this is a dog that already doesn't like the clippers, I'll offer to teach to use a sandpaper board instead, or start off even smaller by just picking up the clippers and not actually bringing them anywhere near the dog for the first few sessions. When the dog is comfortable with the first step, we can very gradually add little steps until the dog is happy to sit and have their nails clipped.

Here are some examples of cooperative care that can be trained :

Having feet, ears, back end, tail and mouth handled/ touched / examined.

Giving injections.

Taking a blood sample.

Trimming nails.

Removing ticks.

Bathing and grooming.

Stethoscope.

Eye drops

brushing teeth.

Visiting vets ( Many vets will welcome you to do this).

Co-operative care is often overlooked, but considering the amount of dog bites that are directly caused by handling/ grooming of this kind, I would say this is the most important training you can do with your dog!

If you'd like to know more about Co-operative care go and chat to your local reward based dog trainer, or look for groups online.

Skilled trainers, don't need punishment.

183:714461776 (Katherine Edwards) — Wed, 20 Mar 2024 15:29:28 GMT

Punishment seems to work really fast, it seems like a success story. I gave my dog a few tellings off, more control, showed them who is boss, and look - they're cured!

The thing is, the dog doesn't actually feel any better. And the harsh training will actually be making them feel worse, while encouraging them to not communicate how they feel. They will learn to associate scary things with punishment, slowly feeling more and more worried about them.

Later down the line, your ( for example) "cured" dog reactive dog stumbles across a dog on a walk, and he attacks without warning.

Positive reinforcement doesn't produce quick fixes. There are no fancy before and after videos " in just one hour we have wiped this dogs brain and re wired it, like magic".

What it does is build confidence and trust and resilience, and therefore real outcomes. The dog doesn't just learn how to cope, they feel much better about the thing they were fearful of, and therefore when you stumble across a dog in the woods years down the line, it's all fine! Positive reinforcement isn't just about training, it's a whole lifestyle! Because we look at all the dogs needs, how we can make them feel better, work out any pain or diet or lifestyle issues and build a stronger than ever relationship with them.

Check out this great post by Jodie Forbes for more information.

https://www.facebook.com/100057398141588/posts/802279431695321/

How to choose a muzzle.

183:714461776 (Katherine Edwards) — Wed, 20 Mar 2024 15:27:04 GMT

Not all muzzles were created equally.

What should a muzzle look like?

It's important to remember that dogs cool themselves down, and de-stress, by panting. Any muzzle worn for an extended period of time, must be big enough for a dog to hold a full pant.

It breaks my heart seeing so many dogs being walked in muzzles which are far too small, walking outside. In hot weather this can prove fatal!

To measure your dog for a muzzle, measure around their mouth while they have a ball in their mouth! This is a great way to choose a size which allows a wide open mouth.

You'll find your dog is much more tolerant of a lightweight muzzle which doesn't hold their mouth closed.

Added note : for short periods such as vet visits, smaller muzzles are safe and effective.

( I do not own any of these pictures)

Should you play fetch?

183:714461776 (Katherine Edwards) — Wed, 20 Mar 2024 15:25:33 GMT

Why fetch games may not be the best choice for your dog.

Why we avoid ball chasing!

Some dogs will keep bringing the ball back to you until they keel over if not stopped. Have you ever wondered why this is?

The answer is in the hormones released. Chasing and catching a ball taps into the dog's predatory sequence, and causes the brain to release adrenaline for a prolonged period of time. Too much adrenalin has been known to result in heart damage, insomnia, and a jittery, nervous feeling. Alongside this, cortisol is released, the stress hormone, which increases the heart rate and has a negative impact on physical and mental wellbeing. Because it is so rewarding for the dog, a high ball drive dog will continue to perform over and over (even if they're in physical pain). Dogs are known to ignore injuries and thus make them progressively worse while playing fetch. The constant supply of adrenaline is very addictive, and dogs who play fetch a lot will can learn to seek this adrenaline all the time. You will see a dog who is hyperactive, seeks out adrenaline driven behaviour and struggles to settle or engage in calm behaviour. While adrenaline building games are physically tiring, they're mentally exciting. If you look at, for example, mantrailing or scent work, these games release feel good - calming hormones as well as being mentally and physically tiring, in a way that is gentle on the joints.

Effects on the Muscles.

Where the ball goes after being thrown is unpredictable. In response, dogs quickly break, twist, and land in ways that can result in stress and strain on muscles that aren't equipped to handle. To make matters worse, high speeds increase the force generated in the muscle and increase the chances of injury. The most dangerous part of ball chasing is breaking. The movements necessary to stop running often result in shoulder injuries. Dogs are equipped to chase down and catch prey, once. Not over and over and over day in, day out. Contrary to popular belief, we should not physically exhaust our dogs every day- imagine if we ran and jumped to exhaustion ever day- it's not good for them!

Effects on the Joints.

The repetitive twisting, jumping and running during fetch micro-trauma to muscle and cartilage which can progress to long-term damage of the joints. Slipping on landing is common, and while dogs get up unscathed, they are actually ignoring the pain and damage caused by the fall, which again can lead to long term issues.

How to Prevent the Negative Effects of Ball Chasing!

It's okay to play fetch with your dog sometimes, if done as safely as possible and kept to a minimum. Try providing a warm up first, to reduce the risk of damage. Don't throw on surfaces which are slippy, and keep your throw to waist hight to avoid jumping. Better yet, use fetch as a training exercise, by teaching your dog to stay put whole the ball is thrown, meaning they are learning to relax around moving objects and chasing a ball which has already stopped. Find the ball or scent games with the ball are also a great alternative. Make fetch games a small part of your walk, and allow your dog to sniff and " be a dog" for the rest of it. If you have a dog who compulsively fetches, try removing balls from sight. Our border collie has all the toys she fetches away in the cupboard! Dogs can't resist if they can see them!

Dog sports for nervous dogs.

183:714461776 (Katherine Edwards) — Wed, 20 Mar 2024 15:23:42 GMT

Why mantrailing is great for nervous dogs.

Do you have a nervous dog? A dog who is worried about strangers, other dogs, noises or traffic?

Here's some reasons why Mantrailing is wonderful for nervous dogs!

Dogs work 1 at a time - for reactive dogs this means they don't have to work around other dogs.
Builds confidence - Reactive dogs often learn to trail around things that worry them, encouraging them to choose ignorance and build confidence in situations that worry them.
Understanding community - our Mantrailing community is very welcoming to all dogs. Some dogs don't like strangers, some don't like other dogs, others are worried by traffic. They're all welcomed, and everyone wants your dog to succeed.
Experienced trail layers - For nervous dogs, we use experienced trail layers who are able to reward the dog without creating any fear.
Positive experiences - Mantrailing creates positive experiences with new people, which can be hugely beneficial for nervous dogs.
Mantrailing is calming - Reactive dog's struggle with an over excitable, quick to fire brain. Mantrailing is low arousal and encourages calm behaviour.

Mantrailing is the most inclusive sport out there. There is no reason why any nervous dog wouldn't be able to attend! If your dog is too worried to trail for new people, there is no reason they can't trail for someone they know first.

Does your dog over-react?

183:714461776 (Katherine Edwards) — Wed, 20 Mar 2024 15:18:42 GMT

Do you wish your dog would stop OVER-REACTING?

Maybe they freak out when a stranger is in the house, or when they hear a firework. Maybe they bark at other dogs.

Over reacting, being a brat, acting out.. are all words loved by un-qualified dog trainer's and TV personalities.

For many, the response would be "Stop being silly, it's nothing to be scared of!" Unfortunately, this mentality often pairs with punishment for the behavior, with the belief the dog is overreacting and just needs telling off.

Even if it seems silly to us, dogs react to the physiological changes inside their body, in response to the stimulus they see, hear or smell. They have no control over this, just as we can't control the way our heart races when we suddenly jump from a loud noise.

Next time you think your dog is over-reacting, place your hand on their chest. You're likely to feel their heart pounding 200mph!

Their behavior might be inconvenient and embarrassing for us, but the dog is feeling real fear, frustration or excitement that they are struggling to contain.

A bit of sympathy and understanding goes a long way. Let's instead look at why the dog might be behaving this way, and how we can make this better.

Can we manage the environment to ensure they're not put in this situation again, remember just preventing the behavior stops the dog from practicing it - and becoming an expert at it. This is a vital part of training which is so often missed.

Can we look at counter conditioning? With the help of a qualified canine professional, can we change that negative conditioned emotional response to a neutral or positive one?

Can we teach our dog an alternative way to deal with this situation?

Is your dog having it's need met? Is their stress being kept at a low, manageable level? Are they having enough rest days? Are they getting enough sleep?

Are we 100% certain the dog is not suffering any form of pain or discomfort? Joint pain, muscular pain, nerve pain, digestive issues, itching, tooth pain .. just to name a few. 80% of all behaviour concerns in one study were found to be the result of, or influenced by, a medical condition! As a side note, this is why all serious behaviour concerns should be approached by a degree qualified veterinary behaviourist first.

Punishing problem behavior does not change the dogs emotional state, in fact, all it does is add fuel to the fire, causing the dog to become MORE emotional, and to have less trust in you to protect them. Emotional brains can't learn, and while you can suppress some behaviour by punishing it, as soon as the threat is gone the behaviour will resurface and be much worse.

No, your dog is not over- reacting. They're simply reacting, in the only way they know how.

An underqualified, inexperienced " dog trainer" will take your money and show you how to prevoke your dogs fear, take a quick before video, and then punish it, taking an after video when the dog is too tired to react anymore, and call it done. Leaving your dog with no behaviour change and a big negative experience. A qualified behaviourist, will first answer all those above questions, look at the whole picture, and then implement a plan to help your dog learn to cope. They will never ask to see or film your dog in distress!

Remember your dog isn't giving you a hard time, they're having a hard time!

Dominance theory debunked

183:714461776 (Katherine Edwards) — Thu, 20 Jun 2019 19:54:22 GMT

The theory so damaging, it's founder is trying to remove it from circulation

The biggest myth in dog training- Your dog is being dominant.

This is so important.
This is one of the worst myths in dog training, and the cause of thousands of dogs being put to sleep. Science has come a long way since the dominance theory was created, but unfortunately for the dogs many people haven't. Most people, including me, have had this theory ingrained in them from the moment they owned a dog.

In the 40's, Dr rudolph schenkel, an animal behaviourist, studied a group of wolves in a zoo in order to publish the then groudbreaking paper " expressions studies on wolves". These wolves were unrelated individuals taken from the wild and placed together in a fened in paddock at a zoo. Wolves in the wild are family groups, not strangers, so this was the first huge mistake he made, the wolves fought aggressively over resources, which is understadable considering that wolves are not friendly to strangers. The second mistake, was studying wolves in captivity and not wild wolves, these wolves they were not displaying natural behaviour.

The wolves in his study fought over food and space. Schenkel Identified the 'Alpha' of the group as the leading male in the group, who was the first to reach food and the wolf who occupied the most space.He noted violent rivalries occured in within the group as the wolves were desperate to take the alphas position as leader. He then drew similarities from this behaviour to dogs in our homes who were in reality fearful, untrained or just being dogs. This remained the sole source of resarch on wolves for decades.

In the 60's , Dr david mech, a huge fan of Schenkel, studied wolves in a national park. Mech's book echoed Schenkel's findings. He stated wolves were in constant battle to dominante each other, with one 'alpha' male using aggresison to control the others. Mech's book was a huge hit, it was published in 1981 and still is availible to this day (much to Mech's dislike). This was the driving force for dominance theory. Thousands of trainers, tv presenters and memebrs of the public have echoed this theory on a huge scale.

Why? because its an easy explanation. And an excuse. With dominance theoery, you don't need to spend hours teachign your dog right from wrong, you just need to be 'alpha' by displaying aggresion.

In 1999, many behabiourists, including mech, spent tmie observing wild wolf packs. It is hard to let go of everything you've been taught, especially when that something is the defining moment of your scintific career, but Mech did. His new paper "Alpha status, dominance and the division of labour in wolf packs" was published in the canadian journal of zooligy. This paper is considered the turning point in animal behaviour science ( although to this day people are still teaching the debunked theories!). He explains in his paper that his findings were wrong and so damadging to so many undeserving dogs. He explains wolves do not have an alpha, but actually have a farther and mother who are the breeding pair of the group. The rest of the group memenbers are their cubs and siblings. No one has to 'win' their space in the pack. The family work as a unit, resources are shared and the mother and farther, being the oldest and wisest , do not need to show aggression for their family to listen. An aggressive wolf is not respected and is likely to be exciled from the group.

Here is a video of mech discrediting his own findings. https://youtu.be/tNtFgdwTsbU

Not only was the theory itself flawed, but the way we applied it to our dogs ( who are a completely different species to wolves anyway ) is too. Dominance is not a personality trait. Dominance, as it is in humans, varies from situation to situation. For example, you may have dominance in a room full of children, but at work your boss has dominance. over you. And, it's the same with dogs.

Firstly,we now know dogs are social opportunits and not pack animals like first thought. Dogs are not wolves after all , in the wild dogs generally do not form groups and are mostly solitary other than a few family memebers on occassion. They will stay with a dog, or a human, because it is rewarding for them in terms of more food or company. How many times have you seen a stray dog on holiday, all on its own? This means they are not in competition with you for control, never have and never will be. There is no hierachy.

Secondly, the things we classed as dominance were all human social constructs. Take the above few examples. Sitting in a school assembly, the children would maybe sit on the floor, with the most respected adults on seats. At work, you would open the door to allow your boss through before you. So, we decided that when our dog is sat on a sofa, he is being dominant. We decided when a dog is walking in front of us, he is being dominant. We decided that when a dog is going through doors before us, he is being dominaint. And the worst one, we decided displays of aggression ( or communication as i like to call it) is a dog being dominant.

This lead to the notion that these things must be punished. So we started to pin our poor dogs down by the neck when they found a comfy spot they didn't know they wern't allowed on. We shouted at and poked our dogs when they walked through a door before us, having never been taught not to, because they were excited for a walk. We punished our terrified dogs when they tried to communicate with us that they were scared. We harshly threw puppies to the ground when they showed early signs of possessive behaviour.

This is not training. This is emotional and physical abuse. The dog has absolutely no idea what is happening or why. He becames terrified of you, the world and of communicating how he feels. Some dogs react to this by emotionally shutting down. These are the dogs who are 'cured' using dominance training. Dogs so emotionally damadged, they stop trying to communicate with us. Many, many dogs have felt unsafe and ignored by this training and so resorted to more severe communication when scared in the form of bites and attacks.

Take this real life scenario of my own dog, nell, for an example:

This is the story I was told by someone who had owned her before, and im sure the story for so many dogs.

I came in from work and Nell was on the sofa. She knows she isn't allowed ( theres that first myth again!). I asked her firmly to get down. She didn't listen. This is a challenge of my dominance. She even yawns, pretending to be too tired to move.She is trying to take my place as leader by taking higher ground over me and refusing to move. I approached her and shouted down at her. She stayed put, staring me out and planting her head on the sofa too. I reached down to pull her off and she growled and snapped at me. She finally backed down and jumped off then. I won.

After then, I spent months teaching nell not to become scared when someone came near her while she was lying down.

Here is what happened then from her point of view:
Nells owner comes in and immediately looks angry. This is worrying for all dogs, but nell in paticular knows the consequence of anger is shouting and a stick waving through the air. She licks her lips and yawns, a very clear sign she is uncomfotable. She is ignored. Her owner approaches her and angrily says "down". Nell knows down. Shes already lying down. She doen't understand what her owner wants or why they are getting in her space like that. She pinnes her ears back, shows the whites of her eyes and goes completely still. Clear communication she is scared and needs space right now. Her fight or flight response has started, her heart rate quickens, cortisol levels rise and she is feeling trapped and unable to flee, backed against a sofa. Her owner reaches over her head to attack, completely unprevoked, Nell snaps as a final warning ( this was not a missed bite) she spots a chance to escape and goes for it, backing off into the corner of the room. Her owner scowls and shouts at her more. She is terrified.

I could do this for so many scenarios. The dog is reactive, the dog is begging, the dog is guarding food. None of these things deserve abuse. They desverve clear, up to date understanding. They deserve training. They deserve an owner who has learnt to speak their language, since they are trying so hard to understand ours.

Why does my dog bark all the time?

Fri, 14 Jun 2019 12:53:58 GMT

Behaviour problems are symptoms of a wider issue.

I had two dogs yesterday of similar age, same breed, kinda the same lifestyle but complete polar opposites:

Dog 1 is a dog i have been working with from 8 weeks of age, shes so well mannered. Walks perfect on and off lead, waits in doorways, goes to bed when asked, doesn't beg, doesn't jump up and is pretty much a dream to own.

Dog 2 is a dog who is owned by a first time dog owner and has never had any previous training. She drags her owners around so bad they can barely hod her. She barks at people passing by. She demands attention in the house by barking and biting. She is destructive in the house , 3 sofas down, and she barks at every little noise inside. Her owners can't sit down on an evening and relax without her scratching and biting them half to death until they pay her attention.

What is the difference between these two dogs?

Most would assume dog 2 is a bad dog. That's not true at all, shes a lovey dog. What she is is deeply unhappy and stressed.

Too many people believe a great way to show your dog love is to let them do whatever they want. Dog 2 has no rules in the house or outside, she has never been trained ,she has been allowed to run up to ever person and dog she sees, she plays fetch none stop most of the day and she has never had to work for anything.

dog 1 however, has strict rules to follow in the house. She must wait until given permission to go through a doorway, she must wait until given permission to eat, she must earn her food/toy rewards by performing simple tricks or completing a food puzzle, she must walk past people and dogs in the street, she must go to her bed and stay there while her owners relax.

Which dog is the happiest do you think?

100% dog 1.

Dogs are not children , they do not want complete freedom. They want to feel secure in knowing they have rules and those rules are always the same.

All Dog 2's issues are stress related issues caused by a compete lack of basic training and 0 rules.

We need to look at behaviour issues as a symptom of a problem and not problems themselves. Symptoms have causes, address the cause to fix the behaviour completely, attempt to fix the symptoms alone and you will have temporary relief followed by a return in the behaviour.

When you start to look at behaviours as symptoms rather than problems, you will start to succeed in training. Behaviour modification involves piecing many different components together . It always does involve working on the behaviour itself, but it mainly works on all the underlying reasons this behaviour exists. Is it being accidentally rewarded, does your dog not understand what you want, is your dog stressed, is your dog under exercised.. ect.

Reactivity to other dogs, for example.

The behaviour itself is barking and lunging at passing dogs.
You try to punish that out and you will get nowhere since you haven't addressed the cause of that
Behaviour which is fear or frustration as well as the contributing factors of lack of engagement, hyperactive behaviour, lack of impulse control, lack of physical and mental stimulation as well as lack of social skills.

Once you have found and addressed all the causes, then will you make progress.

Find me on facebook - Unleashing Possibilities-dog training and walking.
Find me on instagram - Unleashing_possibilities.

How to train in a way your dog understands

Fri, 14 Jun 2019 12:50:51 GMT

Obedience training made simple

Dogs don't speak English.

In fact, dogs very rarely speak at all . A dogs primary source of communication is an extensive range of body movements and expressions. This means, when listening to you, your dog is very likely listening to your body- not your voice.

Ask your dog to preform a trick with your hands behind your back and stay completely still. Chances are, they will look at you like you're asking them to do something they have never done before. Why? Because you have accidentally taught a subtle cue using your hands/eyes or other body part and not a verbal cue. You won't even realise you're doing it.

We can teach our dogs to respond to a verbal cue by saying the cue ( eg Sit) , performing the action you have taught as the cue ( eg. point up) , and then rewarding the behaviour. Your dog will, after repetition, then form an association between the word and the movement you accidentally taught. Once done successfully a verbal cue will work reliably. I will explain this more below.

Dogs primarily learn through association -This thing brings this outcome, this word means do this movement. They also learn through reinforcement - An action that is rewarding to the dog will be repeated.

and that's it.

It's that simple.

A dog will do whatever brings them most rewards in that moment - remember this! They are not complex beings like us and are actually very simple to manipulate if you know how. They are not stubborn , naughty or guilty. A dog who isn't listening either doesn't understand ( the above paragraph on verbal cues is a common example of this, the dog isn't understanding because you haven't actually taught the verbal cue) or is being rewarded more by something else in the environment ( maybe you're outside and your dog thinks sniffing the floor is more fun than listening to you! Or maybe you are rewarding your dog with a bit of kibble and they don't find this rewarding enough).

So in basic terms to teach our dog something we need to create an association between a verbal or physical cue and an action , while keeping engagement up so the dog finds listening to you very rewarding.

Marker Training.

This is the foundation behind everything you will teach! You need to choose a word that communicates to your dog that they have done what you asked them and the reward is coming . This word MARKS the behaviour. So you say it as our dog is doing the exact thing you want . Whatever your dog is doing when they hear this is what you are encouraging- so be careful with timing .

There are 3 words we use in training.

'yes' - This is the reward marker. This means you did the thing I asked and a reward is coming.
'good'- This is the continuation marker. This means you are doing good, but you're not getting a reward yet. This can be used to praise your dog without s reward and encourage duration.
'no' - This is the no reward marker. This means you didn't do what i asked and the reward isn't coming. This must only be used after the behaviour is taught and is not said angrily . Remember we need to keep our dogs motivated to listen and if you start shouting at them all the time, especially if they're trying to learn, is really going to put them off and make absolutely anything but you interesting.

You can change these three words to whatever you want. A lot of people use a clicker as a reward marker for example, but they must always stay the same. Your dog will have no idea what they mean at first , but since dogs learn through association all you need to do is use them. Your dog will associate yes with a treat and no with you turning away or not delivering the reward.

Some important things to note to not confuse your dog:

Shaping may be necessary for many behaviours. This means rewarding small steps towards the desired outcome. You can't go straight from dog stood still to dog learnt to weave through your legs, for example. You first need to teach each small step towards this. Plus , the more tiny steps you reward, the more fun your dog will find learning because he keeps getting it right, so the more likely he is to want to listen.
Choose a cue and stick to it. Sit always means sit - sit down, what do you do and go on do not mean sit. Down means lie down, it does not mean stop jumping on me or get down off furniture, these should have separate cues. Be careful your are not using the same cue for various different behaviours or changing you cue in any way.
Your r eward marker is always the same and it always means the behaviour has been completed and always equals a reward. It won't work otherwise.

I'm going to use teaching a 'Down' as an example of all this.

1. Drag a treat down from your dogs nose , when they go to follow it and bend down a bit mark and reward this. This is shaping - taking small steps towards the desired outcome. We are teaching a physical cue here ( hand going down).

2. Repeat in small increments until your dog gets all the way down, mark and reward this and give an extra reward - we want to make this really rewarding because we got what we want.

3. Say your cue 'Down' then drag your hand down, then mark and reward. In order for an association to happen your dog must first hear the cue and then see the cue after , if you say down and drag your hand down at the same time, your dog will just listen to the physical cue and the association won't happen.

4. After repetition, slowly fade out the physical cue completely.

How not to teach Down.

1. Say down and drag a treat to the floor straight off...Your dog has no idea what you want or what that word means yet. Saying down while shaping the behaviour is going to teach your dog that down means bend down. We want to add the verbal cue once he is going all the way into a lie down position.

2. Get frustrated when your dog just bends down a little and doesn't lie down... Your dog is learning now that trying is scary and listening to you isn't fun.

3. Not reward your dog at all because he hasn't done what he has been asked...Your dog doesn't understand English , the word down has no meaning to him. By not rewarding steps towards the behaviour you are soon going to make your dog loose interest and confidence.

4. Mark yes after your dog has moved his head down and then sat back up...The marker word must occur at the same time as the behaviour you want to reward, not after. If you mark yes once your dog has sat back up, you just rewarded him for sitting up. Then when you ask for a down and he does exactly as been taught and sits still, then gets told no , he will become frustrated and confused.

Marker Training is so successful because it is a technique created entirely around classical and operant conditioning which are fancy words for how dogs learn through association and reinforcement.

Dentastix - the equivalent to cleaning your teeth with sweets

183:714461776 (Katherine Edwards) — Mon, 08 Oct 2018 11:45:55 GMT

Dentastix, among with many other shop bought dog treats, are full of nasty additives and fat. Not to mention SUGAR. You can imagine, cleaning your teeth with something full of sugar isn't going to be very effective. Instead , use bones or brush your dogs teeth !

Pedigree and bakers are well known for putting harmful additives in their food and treats.

Advertising this crap , as a healthy teeth cleaning treat is ridiculous! Making your own treats is so easy, simply blend up some meat , roll it into a thin sheet and bake it until cooked. I like to use fish and turkey mince, blended into a paste and cooked. For chews and teeth cleaning i use beef ribs and tails. I also make my own jerky with meat or sweet potato , by simply cutting it into thin slices and baking it for 3 hours or using a dehydrator.

I don't never give my dog shop bought treats, just like i don't never eat crap myself. But i keep it a rarity.

The other end of the leash

Fri, 10 Aug 2018 11:33:13 GMT

Okay , so that is a title of a really good book which you definitely should check out but its not what i'm talking about right now. you can be completely clued up on training your dog but fall short on managing your self around the dog.

Tense lead- tense dog.

First of all , if you've got a dog that pulls on the lead and also has issues with other dogs/ people when on lead . this is why. If you have a puppy that pulls , nip this in the bud now.

Loose lead walking isnt just about obedience. When the lead is tight and tense , so is the dog. and if the lead is tight every time a dog/person/cat appears , that stress is going to cause them to become reactive to that thing.

If you yourself , reel the dog in and hold the lead tight when you see another dog or person , you are creating a bad response to this trigger ! if your dog is greeting another dog NEVER hold the lead tight. keep it completely loose, even if they might snap. A tight lead in this situation is asking fr trouble.

if your dog is already reactive be mindful of your reaction to the trigger because in many cases the owner is the cause. relax , dont hold your breath and dont change your grip on the lead. your dog will notice and assume you are stressed by whatever it is.

Never train in a bad mood.

no one is happy all the time (apart from my dog)

If you're in a bad mood , don't bother trying to train your dog. Dogs are great at picking up on our moods and will only listen to people who are calm , stable and happy because that is what state they aim to be in. If you are angry , training is not only boring but you will find behaviour modification just does not work because the dog is immediately stressed. Just go for a walk and chill until the next day.

Your dog is not guilty.

183:714461776 (Katherine Edwards) — Sun, 20 May 2018 16:19:00 GMT

anthropomorphism is damaging our dogs.

We know that dogs feel human emotions such as love , joy , grief , fear and pain. But they do not feel logical , complex emotions such as pride , jealousy or guilt. Don't believe me? look it up.

Imagine this all too common scenario , you come home to find your dog has eaten your shoes . You spot the shoes and he immediately cowers. 'look how guilty he is!' you think , and punish him for it.

What actually just happened is your dog reacted fearfully in response to your body language . That fearful body language looks very much like guilt to humans . The dog is not capable of knowing what he had done wrong , so basically you came in cross and punished him for being scared.

What happens then is that your dog thinks you are unfair , and doesn't bother listening to you as much.

Dogs live in the present , so if he ate that shoe 10 minutes ago and you punish him for it now , he will think he is being punished for whatever he is doing right now. Also , dog's don't understand the concept of punishment , they understand that certain actions give out certain results through associative learning . So they learn when you look at the shoe and gasp , they get screamed at.

Even if you have never shouts at your dog or punished him , he can still show fear because he doesn't understand why you are angry.

To fix chewing you need training that the dog understands.

How big dog food brands are killing our dogs.

183:714461776 (Katherine Edwards) — Sat, 14 Apr 2018 11:46:46 GMT

Pedigree, royal canin and other big brands are worse than Mcdonalds

When you look at the back of dogs food, you probably look for the ones with meat listed first as the main source of protein.

Dog food companies are marketing experts , they know exactly what to put on the bag to make people buy it.

But the marketing companies that sell kibble know you’re looking there, so that’s the first place they think of to trick you into thinking there’s more good quality protein in the food than there really is.

Ingredients are listed by weight , so the first ingredient is the one that brings the most weight to the food.

The weight of the ingredient is measured when it’s added to the food – not in the final product. And that’s the difference between meats, like chicken or beef, and meals, like chicken meal or beef meal. Meats contain water, which is very heavy, and meals don’t.

And no ingredient is affected by water weight more than protein. A food with chicken as the first ingredient might look great, but chicken is 70% water. And since dog food is dried, in the final product , a food with 40% chicken would only have 12% chicken. .

So how do these foods provide our dogs with enough protein ?! Plant protein in the main source of protein in most dog foods. For example, corn meal and brown rice in food and is put there to boost the protein in a cheap and unhealthy way. This is lacking in essential minerals and amino acids which are then added as additives to the food to make it complete. Anything starting with “L” and ending in “ine” is a synthetic amino acid.

Additives and chemicals can affect your dog’s behaviour and have serious effects on their long term health. Not to mention the lack of animal protein. In the wild, dogs would have had protein rich meals consisting of muscle meat , organs and bones. Now they get powdered amino acids, soy beans and 12% meat. And we wonder why our dogs get sick.

Some foods are about as nutritious as a McDonalds is. And this is our dogs entire diet.

Feeding a raw diet is hands down the best way to feed your dog , but lack of convenience and high costs involved put a lot of people off. Second best to raw is a high quality complete food , with real meat and bones used as treats instead of over the counter additive filled dog treats.

Orijen and Wellness core are two I would Recommend , although expensive I see it as an investment in your dogs future health. Core is cheaper than hills, royal canin and other big less quality brands.

How epi-genetics affect behaviour.

183:714461776 (Katherine Edwards) — Fri, 06 Apr 2018 18:13:20 GMT

ggression in itself, Is not a genetic trait . But a dog with a Aggressive parent is genetically predisposed to be Aggressive themselves. A dog with excitable or sensitive parents is likely to be excitable or sensitive themselves, and tiny mistakes by you can lead to a reactive dog. Dogs like this need much more socialisation and are extremely sensitive to and bad experience.

The role of epigenetics , can create a dog that is fearful of people , cars , other dogs or anything else without a bad experience. I am not a geneticist , and a geneticist is a lot better equip to explain this but my basic understanding is that epigenetics are add ons that animals can attach

to their genetics in order to increase the survival of their offspring.

A long time ago , back when things like this were legal , a group of scientists showed this in rats. They exposed a group of rats to a very particular smell and at the same time , electrocuted the floor they stood on. Over repeated exposures the rats began to run and hide if they smelled that particular smell.

Whats interesting about this experiment

, and what made it very useful to modern behavioural science , is that when they allowed these rats to breed their offspring reacted the exact same way to the smell. Even though these baby rats had never experienced the smell and had never been electrocuted. Somehow, their parents passed on a gene that made them genetically prepared to respond to this danger.

How much excercise does my dog need ?

183:714461776 (Katherine Edwards) — Fri, 06 Apr 2018 18:10:01 GMT

Some dogs are bred to work for humans, such as Labradors, border collies and spaniels. This means that they have high energy levels . Unlike humans, dogs cannot deal with pent up energy and must get it out somehow. When left under stimulated , this then leads to destructive behaviour, aggression, fence guarding , barking on the lead and other behavioural problems which soon become bad habits that are very hard to fix.

One of the most important parts of owning a balanced dog is to get rid of that morning burst of energy. In the wild dog’s travel on a morning long distances to find food, we can replicate this by giving our dogs a walk BEFORE they have their breakfast. A walk not only physically tires out the dog but mentally gives them the stimulation they need by smelling and scent marking. On a morning, 10-20 minute of structured play as part of a walk is very highly recommended for physical and mental stimulation. This can include games such as fetch or find it.

A dog that has had its morning exercise will be a lot less likely to ‘misbehave’ and be a much happier dog. Not only that, but a solid routine is so important in creating a confident dog, especially in working breeds. Dogs love knowing what is going to happen and when, the more stable the routine the more stable the dog!

An important thing to remember is that whatever you do now is what the dog is going to expect in the future. If you start walking him 3 times a day now and then cut down to once or twice later he will get frustrated which can cause many behavioural problems such as lead aggression.

Feeding after exercise greatly reduces the chances of gastric torsion which is often fatal in dogs.

I recommend feeding in food puzzles, not a bowl. This stimulates the natural hunting behaviour of a dog because he must work for his food. Furthermore, if he dog is being left alone after his walk, food puzzles are a great way to keep him entertained and mentally stimulated.

Does your dog hate having his collar touched?

183:714461776 (Katherine Edwards) — Fri, 06 Apr 2018 18:05:09 GMT

Does your dog snap/growl when you touch their collar?

This is actually pretty common , even in puppies. It's often caused by being roughly handled , pulled away from something they want such as a scrap of food or pulled into something they dont like , such as the car or a crate.

An association develops between you touching the dogs collar and something bad happening which creates a fearful response.

All you need to do is change that association back to good , but go slow enough to not stress the dog out in the process.

The first session would involve touching the collar for just a second, clicking (while my hand is on the collar because that what I want to associate as being the rewarding thing ) and rewarding with a high value treat.

The next step would be to start touching other places on the collar , I find over the head is the hardest , and then start adding duration.

This simply changes the association of the collar being touched from bad to great. The clicker is being used to mark the moment that I want to be rewarded so it is clear touching the collar is good , not taking my hand off the collar is good ( which is what would happen without the clicker because the dog would be getting the treat because you took your hand away ) A marker word such as yes can be used instead of the clicker.

Once the dog is not showing any signs of stress with the collar being touched , start to tug on the collar a tiny bit , remember to take it slow and go back a step if the dog gets stressed.

Slowly build it up until the dog is comfortable with you touching the collar form all places , tugging the dog with the collar forward and backwards and holding them back with the collar.

This makes for a much easier situation when the dog is about to run out the door or grab something they shouldn't because you can now freely use the collar to restrain them without causing fear and without getting bitten!

Brief overview of dog evolution.

183:714461776 (Katherine Edwards) — Mon, 02 Apr 2018 21:57:42 GMT

▪ Dogs evolved from wolves but they are very far from wolves, dogs are very much domesticated pets.

▪ wolves’ self-domesticated. Previously, we thought humans took wolf pups from the wild and raised them to make them tame but when this was tested by wolf park, although the wolf pups were tamer than wild wolves, when they had offspring they were just as wild as normal wolves. What Really happened Is wolves benefited from food and waste on human settlements. The wolves who dared to eat here had a short flight distance (tolerated closer proximity to humans) were more likely to survive and the gene for flight distance also connected to genes for dog like characteristics such as light colour, floppy ears, play styles and barking. So, every generation of surviving scavenging wolves got increasingly dog like.

▪ This was discovered accidentally by Belyayev 1979, who was on a fox fur farm running a project to breed tamer foxes together in the hope future generations would be easier to handle. What happened was, every generation of tamer foxes was increasingly dog -like, in both their looks and actions. Even though they only chose foxes for their tameness. This was named the silver fox experiment and you should check it out, it’s incredible!

▪ Wolves are pack animals, but they do not form strict hierarchies as previously thought and are more like family units. Dogs do not tend to form packs but are social opportunist and will travel with other animals for benefits such as company. The man who came up with the pack animal idea is the same mad who is desperately trying to remove it from circulation because he realised that he had made a mistake and is wrong! The studies for this were done on un-related captive wolves which does not at all represent wild wolves or family pet dogs.

▪ Between 10 and 20 thousand years ago dog and man began their relationship.

▪ Dog breeds were created when man started using dogs for jobs such as hunting and guarding

How to keep your dog busy while you're out.

Mon, 02 Apr 2018 21:49:34 GMT

The importance of mental stimulation.

A lot of behavioural problems are caused by lack of Mental stimulation . Most people , walk their dog enough. But SO many don't offer their dog enough brain games to keep their mind busy too.

A great way to keep your dog mentally stimulated is a bit of training every morning. Another great way to keep them mentally stimulated and keep them busy while you are out is to stop feeding in food bowls and start using food puzzles. I never feed my dog in a bowl , it's not natural for a dog not to have to work for their food. Plus, if your dog gets used to working for food , food motivation goes up making them easier to train.

These are the best puzzles I have found that are decent , not flimsy and enjoyable for the dog. I personally own all of these and my dog loves them !

If you have a kong , mix your dogs food with water and freeze it in the kong ! A great long lasting food and great for teething. Peanut butter, wet dog food, sardines and baby food all work well.

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Why does my dog bark at other people/dogs?

Mon, 02 Apr 2018 21:20:56 GMT

Why do you do this!? WHY?!

Sound familiar? You just don’t understand why your lovely dog turns into the actual spawn of Satan when he is put on the lead? You plead with him to just be normal and look at all the other dog owners with calm dogs in envious rage.

The first thing to remember is that your reactive dog is not giving you a hard time, your reactive dog is having a hard time . They didn’t choose this, and it isn’t their fault they are this stressed all the time.

Real aggression in these cases are very rare. I see maybe 1 case of real aggression in every 100 dogs. Real aggression is unmissable, your dog sees another person or dog and at whatever distance snarls, barks for real (not the yappy , stressed barking of a reactive dog), foams at the mouth , bites his tongue in the process but doesn’t notice. This is a dog that loves nothing more but to fight. This kind of aggression needs attention form a very qualified behaviourist.

The two main causes for this reactive behaviour are fear and over excitement . I had an email just the other day titled “help, my dog wants to kill everything!”. That exact dog, was let off its lead with another dog in our first session (Not every dog can do this!) and played beautifully! Although it looks bad, your dog is just experiencing a high amount of stress. Since dogs can’t deal with stress like we can they must get it out somehow. Barking, lunging, spinning, and snarling are all displacement behaviours that occur when your dog experiences stress. Barking has been scientifically proven to slow down a dog’s heart rate and relieve stress. Not only that, but it also releases Dopamine – A hormone related to the reward based system in the brain. This makes it addictive to dogs and soon becomes a bad habit.

Fear based reactivity is often a longer fix than over-excitement. This occurs when a dog is uncomfortable about an approaching dog, person, car or whatever else. This can happen for many reasons; They got attacked by another dog, they were not socialised, something has scared them, or they are not used to being on lead. Remember that a polite way to greet a dog is to walk in an arch, so something coming head on (especially for a nervous or socialised dog) can be terrifying! The dog sees the approaching trigger and gives calming signals to ask the thing to politely move away because they are feeling uncomfortable. These signals include lip licking, turning the head away, looking away, yawning, sniffing, lifting a paw up and lowering the body. Obviously, the on-coming offender completely ignores these signals and carries on approaching. Your dog is getting seriously stressed now, in a normal situation the fight or flight response would be activated. However, trapped on lead your dog has nothing to do but accept his fate. When the trigger gets to a certain distance, your dog flies over threshold (I will talk about threshold in more detail later) Barking, lunging, and going crazy on the end of the lead. You then shout at your dog, confirming to him that he should be scared! After all you are both yelling now! You drag your dog away, or the trigger simply passes, and your dog thinks “oh, that worked”. The desired behavior is for the scary thing to go away, and every time he reacts that’s exactly what happens.

Over excitement reactivity occurs often when a puppy has been allowed to greet passing people and dogs nose to nose. People greet your puppy excitedly, cuddling and playing with them, and dogs do the exact same. The problem with this is, you’re teaching your puppy that new people and new dogs are so exciting! Every time they see someone they go into a very high state of arousal “OMG A DOG!”. Now fast forward a few months, when you have a large/medium sized dog and you don’t want to get dragged towards every passing thing that excites them. But your puppy has always been allowed to do that and he just doesn’t understand why we can’t go over because that’s where the most fun in the world happens. This tips them over threshold, so they bark, whine, lunge and even snarl at passing dogs or people. Many owners diagnose this as aggression and stop socializing their dog with other dogs. As you can imagine, this makes the problem a hell of a lot worse and you can end up with a fear reactive dog because of this.

After repeated encounters a pathway develops in your dog’s brain. When he sees the trigger, he reacts. It becomes a bad habit that’s hard to break. Not only that, but it has long term effects on the dog’s stress levels. And the more he reacts, the more stress he experiences, the lower his threshold becomes, making reactions happen more often.