Whizz, Bang, Catch!

Hello Dog Owners!

Is it just me feeling tired just recently, or are the darker nights and mornings affecting you too?

I thought this time to focus on a few points that aren’t strictly training. I was going to write about how to create a training plan for your dog, but other things seemed more important all of a sudden.

It will have to wait until next time!

There are a few events coming up over the next few months that seemed to be more pertinent to cover, these being firework night, Christmas and New Year.

All of which are big things for a dog or puppies’ first time!

The other thing I want to touch on is the relationship between us and our dogs and how that can have a massive influence on training and behaviour.

After watching somebody else work with my dog as part of our agility training, it very quickly became apparent how much is able to be achieved by working at a much slower pace than I am used to and how taking more time to get things right and being more purposeful in our approach to training, can produce significant results very quickly indeed.

Finally, my apologies for this issue reaching you slightly late. Technical issues have thrown a spanner in the works!

A good opportunity though to reschedule the newsletter for a Tuesday. Something I wanted to do from the start, but I accidentally started sending it on a Sunday – go figure!

Anyway, let’s get to it…

HOW MANY PEOPLE ARE TRAINING THEIR DOGS?

I’m quite observant when I’m out and about and I do a fair bit of training with clients dogs (mainly German Shepherds) in a variety of environments and situations.

Out of all the people with all the dogs that are walking around each and every day, it is very rare that I see anybody doing any significant training with their dogs and of the training that I do see people do once in a while, is always using distraction techniques and clickers when walking along the road and when out and about.

In fact, it’s amazing to see just one person a week working with their dog!

Is it that the majority of people don’t really want to have an obedient dog that can walk nicely on-leash, behave itself appropriately in cafes and bars, come back when it’s called and not bark or lunge at people or other dogs?

When holding conversations with people about their dogs, I always here the same comments:

“He pulls like a train…”

or

“She hasn’t got very good recall. She ignores me most of the time!”

People offer this information up-front without being prompted, which tells me that the two most common problems that people need to address are loose-leash walking and recall.

Although it is more common to see people attempting recall, it is very few and far between and I have never seen anybody spending time working on loose-leash walking in two entire years!

This needs to change.

It would be nice to see people work more with their dogs, training them, engaging with them and enjoying them, rather than fighting to control them, shouting at them to stop barking, running after them when they run away and moaning about their reactivity issues each time their dog barks at another dog.

Perhaps next year…..?

In the meantime, why not help to change the way people interact with their dogs and get out and about amongst the crisp (or soggy) autumn leaves and put into practice some of the hints and tips I share in the newsletter?

Even better, why not opt for a class that keeps you warm and dry out of the rain during the Winter months?

There may be some news on classes coming up in the next newsletter, so stay tuned!

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GETTING READY FOR FIREWORK NIGHT

With the up-coming fireworks due at any moment (in actual fact they’ve probably already started), along with Xmas and New Year, it’s important to have a plan a to how you will handle this with your canine companion.

For our dogs, Whizz! Bang! and Screeches can literally translate to the end of the world and all the terror that that entails.

We cannot explain to them what these noises and flashing lights are and that there’s no need for them to be afraid and that it will all be over soon.

If you have a puppy under 16 weeks, then this can be a great time to get them used to all of this noise and commotion – from a distance. Combining training, play and food along with all the noise that’s happening outside can go a long way to desensitizing them to fireworks, bangs, screams, loud noises and the like.

However, if you have a dog over 16 weeks, then things can be very, very different indeed.

For those of you who have been training their dogs for a while now and have regularly played firework sounds at an increasing volume over the course of the past few months while at home relaxing (there’s loads of videos on YouTube), you may be over half way there.

If you have children that play around the house with guns (toy ones, of course!) and make loud noises a lot of the time, then this could have been a brilliant resource for your puppy to get used to loads going on.

If your dog isn’t used to fireworks or bangs, then you (and they) will be having a completely different experience. So how can you help your dog to get through these times with the least distress possible?

NOTE: I’m not a fan of drugging or sedating dogs so these options will not be discussed. However, for those dogs that are super-stressed in these conditions, it is a viable option for some owners.

Here’s some things you can do:

1. Stay indoors. Close curtains, blinds & windows. Put on all the lights to minimise the outside flashes and turn the telly, radio or other music up as loud as needed to drown out outside sounds as much as possible. If this is your plan, then start doing this now each night for an hour or two, slowly increasing the volume each night so that your dog gets used to the new routine.
2. Get a fresh meaty bone or something your dog can chew for a while that has the ability to take your dogs focus away from what’s happening outside and focus firmly on decreasing their radius of attention to the end of their nose!
3. Carry on as usual and don’t make a big deal out of things. If you act differently to what you normally do, then your dog will notice and may get stressed if you are slightly on edge. Keep routines the same. Feed them at the same time and do everything the same way as you usually do. Routines help both us and our dogs cope with unexpected situations.
4. If your dog is responsive towards you, then play a game of tug, fetch or catch. Anything to focus them on something enjoyable and rewarding while the firework noises blast away outside.
5. Go somewhere quiet, if you can find it. It is unlikely these days as fireworks can be heard for days either side of the actual event day. But if you can get both you and your dog away for a few days somewhere where you are guaranteed not to see or hear a firework, then this would be ideal if you have an extremely nervous dog.
6. DO NOT comfort your dog. It is important for you just to act normally and not to reinforce the behaviour that your dog is exhibiting. By comforting your dog when it’s fearful, you are more than likely praising it for acting in that way, making them think that this is the way to be and encouraging them to continue that behaviour both now, and in the future. It is normal human response to comfort another when in fear, but we will be doing our dogs a huge dis-service if we do.

Whatever you do keep things calm and as normal as possible. Start conditioning your dog to be used to fireworks using online video resources where possible and increase the volume of your TV or radio over the coming days.

Create a new environment for your dog that is all set up to drown out things as much as possible, but keep firmly in mind that a dogs hearing is far, far greater than our own – if we can’t hear it, they likely still can.

Let us know what your plans are for the upcoming whizz, bangs and screams of the upcoming fireworks events.

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RELATIONSHIP AND FUN

One of the most important things that will be a massive influencer of absolutely all of our dog training activities, is the relationship we have with our dog.

Why would they want to do things with us if we are mean to them? Why would they want to spend time with us if we aren’t much fun to be around and why would they ever want to come running back to us if all we do is nag and shout at them?

Making yourself a valuable resource to your dog and creating a solid positive relationship with your canine companion is vital if you wanting them to respond well to training.

Any activity that is totally enjoyable, fun and involves both you and your dog working together, will go a long way indeed to developing the relationship between you.

Activities such as fly-ball, agility, working trials, toss & fetch (Frisbee’s) and Rally Obedience can build extremely solid mutual respect between you and increase the success of your obedience training, as your dog will actually want to work with and for you.

Why not take some time to look into some of the things you can do with your dog and give them a try?

See you on the other side of all the commotion!

Until then,

Happy Training!

It takes two to Tango!

– Stuart