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Puppy Socialisation during COVID crisis

Most caregivers are aware of the importance of wide-ranging positive socialisation experiences during the sensitive socialisation period in a dog’s development.

This period starts at around 3 weeks of age and ends around 12-16 weeks depending on the breed.

The first part of socialisation is learning about your own species by interacting with your siblings and your mother and perhaps this part…

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#buyer beware #COVID 19 puppies #dog socialisation #fearful puppy #Puppy behaviour #puppy farms #puppy socialisation during COVID #scared puppy

What to look for, and what to avoid, in sourcing a dog trainer...

What to look for, and what to avoid, in sourcing a dog trainer…

Every second week I have the pleasure of teaching final year veterinary students about canine behaviour and canine mental health disorders. They are eager and enthusiastic students, but just like the regular dog owning population they too have bought into dog training myths and need direction about what to look for when recommending a dog trainer.

Here is my advice:

read between the lines –…

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#bootcamp #buyer beware #dog aggression #dog behaviour #dog training #dog walking #modern dogs #positive communication #positive reinforcement #punishment #reactive dogs #rescue dogs #rescuing dogs #scared puppy #training

How the Dog came to be...

How the Dog came to be…

photo by Dr Nicole Laing

Dog domestication remains a controversial topic among researchers.

Some facts are becoming clearer, but many theories still exist and much is still to be nailed down. The popular belief for sometime was that early humans stole wolf pups and then these tamer animals became the founding animals for a species that was to become the domestic dog. But researchers today, who…

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#dog behaviour #dog breeds #dog domestication #domestication #modern dogs

Anxious dogs - what's really going on...

Anxious dogs – what’s really going on…

Anxiety and anxiousness are words that are thrown around a lot. Most of us have a pretty good idea of what it looks like in humans (fidgety, heart racing, nail biting, worrying thoughts) and we can extrapolate that to dogs. But when is anxiousness a disease state? When should you be seeking help for your pet for suspected anxiety?

It might be somewhat normal to express some worry in a new…

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#anxiety signs #anxious dogs #dog aggression #dog behaviour #dog training #fearful dogs #medicating dogs #neuroplasticity #positive communication #punishment #reactive dogs

Revisiting Barbara Arrowsmith Young

(originally published in 2013 for The Chook House when I had only recently started on my dog behaviour journey, but still reads well today)

It is a winter’s night, but not cold.

Barbara Arrowsmith Young tells us of her usual winter’s night in Canada where temperatures hover around minus forty. I wonder if she is speaking Fahrenheit or celsius. Either way it is nothing I can imagine.

But Perth…

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#brain #dog behaviour #dog training #neuroplasticity #training

You can take the dog out of the outback but you can't take the outback out of the dog...

You can take the dog out of the outback but you can’t take the outback out of the dog…

When humans take on the role of rescuer they can feel they are giving a dog a better life. I get it. We all think our life is the one to be aspired to.

If you are an outback dog chances are you have developed some pretty good survival strategies. You are probably pretty good at holding on to your resources and keeping others away from them – maybe you have had to, to get enough to survive. But…

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#anxious dogs #dog behaviour #reactive dogs #rescue dogs #rescuing dogs #scared puppy

Why Not Pass The Puppy?

In this image a trainer demonstrates conditioning a pup to being handled – no force is used.

Recently I read the responses a client had given in her Behaviour Q (which is the basis to the history taking ahead of a behaviour consultation) and noted how during puppy class her pup was often put in the “settle pose” for behaviour that was considered unwanted as well as the pup’s perceived comfort…

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#anxiety signs #anxious dogs #do no harm #dog behaviour problems #dog training #fearful puppy #positive communication #positive reinforcement #punishment #Puppy behaviour #scared puppy

Thinking about Enrichment

Recently I felt like I needed a break from the internet and scrolling through my instagram, or Facebook. I was yearning for something from an older time. I find it difficult to switch off and find that my thoughts are forever returning to my caseload.

I thought of a jigsaw puzzle. I had remembered loving them when I was a preteen – when the holiday season was long. The school books had been…

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#canine behaviour #compulsive behaviours #dog behaviour #dog enrichment #mental health disorder in canines #nosework #SEEKING

Socialisation - what it's NOT and how important is it...

Socialisation – what it’s NOT and how important is it…

Socialisation is not taking a small puppy to Bunnings and have it bombarded with attention and pats.

Socialisation is not taking an adolescent rescue dog down to dog beach to “play” with all and sundry.

Socialisation is not taking a fearful pup to a cafe and asking people to greet your pup while is cowers in your arms.

In a natural setting socialisation takes place when the pup, with mother near…

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#anxious dogs #buyer beware #dog behaviour #dog socialisation #Puppy behaviour #puppy farms #reactive dogs #scared puppy

Why I don't suggest Boot camp...

Why I don't suggest Boot camp for dogs...

Have you heard it said that when your car needs fixing you send it to a qualified mechanic and therefore when your dog has problems it makes sense to send him/her away too…

The problem with this analogy is that a dog is not as simple as a car. A canine is a biological organism and an emotional one at that. A better analogy would be to consider your relationship with a dependent and ask yourself…

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#bootcamp #do no harm #dog behaviour #dog training #fearful dogs #positive reinforcement #punishment #reactive dogs

Shut Up! Barking behaviour explained...

Shut Up! Barking behaviour explained…

Firstly, the caregiver needs to know that barking is a natural behaviour of dogs and one that they have been selected for throughout history. A dog’s barking has served the humans who live with him/her to be alerted to intruders and to announce the arrival of visitors. So some barking is normal!

Of course there is a time when barking behaviour, because of the frequency, intensity and duration of…

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#Barking #dog training #positive communication #separation distress #shock collars

Let's walk the dog

Let’s walk the dog

What do I think a dog walking with their human should look like?

Not like what I so often see – that for sure!

My house looks over a dog park and the beauty of this means that I can view from my kitchen window a large array of dogs and their caregivers. What I often see however frustrates me.

What I see is:

humans looking at their screens, or with their ears plugged into their headphones –…

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#dog play #dog training #dog walking #reactive dogs

Say No to Punishment

When it is suggested to caregivers to use a shock device they are often told “it won’t hurt the dog.” This is knuckle headed in so many ways.

Sometimes sellers of these products even claim they “tickle” just enough to get the dog to stop what they are doing.

Some owners may have tried the device on themselves and claim they can hardly feel it. If that is the case then why use a device like this…

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#ban shock collars #do no harm #positive reinforcement #punishment

Canine Cooperative Care

Every dog can benefit from learning how to comfortably handle a routine examination and the common veterinary procedures they may have to face during their life time, conscious.

To be honest most veterinary procedures are not painful (and for those that are then an anaesethetic should be used), but for some animals, even simple things have become a source of panic and fear. Some dogs may be so…

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#canine cooperative care #dog training #fear free #low stress handling

Canine Body Language

The caregiver should look at the WHOLE dog, in context, but sometimes an observer can break the dog into body parts and over a few minutes take note of the following.

This list can help caregivers recognise stress, and I suggest caregivers get familiar with these signs in their own dogs and note the triggers that cause these reactions:

Mouth/Expression – look for

Tight brow, furrowed – ear…

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#anxiety signs of dogs #anxious dogs #canine body langauge #dog behaviour #dog training #fearful dogs #reactive dogs #reading dog signals

Preparing Anxious Dogs for Christmas

Preparing your anxious dog for Christmas.

The upcoming holiday season can pose many problems for caregivers of anxious dogs.

At this time of the year anxious pets may have deal with an increased exposure to their triggers, without being probably prepared to handle them.

Their caregivers may have changed focus to creating special moments for family and friends and have forgotten the difficulties that having an anxious pet adds to this…

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#anxious dogs #Christmas and dogs #dog bite prevention #dog training #dogs and children #reactive dogs #scared puppy

A case of Food Bowl Aggression

A few weeks back I had an interesting case of a canine with food bowl aggression. This patient has other anxiety issues but his food bowl aggression was something his caregivers needed to deal with on a twice daily basis, and hence it was really something that could no longer be ignored.

It had got to the point where the diminutive Shiba Inu, I am going to call Manny, would hold his caregivers…

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