Happy Tails Dog Training Calgary

Feeling sad today, as I've decided to end the 16 year journey of operating Happy Tails Dog Training in Calgary. I'm proud of the strong reputation we have built in the dog training community and I am happy to have met and helped so many dogs and people over the years. I will miss the business, but it is the right decision for me at this time. Take care, and "Happy Tails to you, until we meet again"!

Cheryl

Help – I have a puppy and we are in a time of Social Distancing.

You may be overwhelmed, concerned and worried about how you will socialise your puppy, especially where vets aren’t able to carry out routine vaccinations. But there are things you can do, and there has never been a more important time to train your puppy.

Whilst we aren’t able to socialise with other dogs, and various people we can start to give them problem solving exercises, confidence building exercises and training.

We can:

• Get them used to different sights, sounds and scents
• Get them used to harness, collar and leads
• Get them ready to be groomed
• Prepare them for being left alone
• Prepare them for the vets
• Help to build their confidence through training and play
• Teach them to use their nose
• Learn their body language

Having a well thought out plan will help you with this, and where you live will also determine how to go about your socialising.

Get them used to different sights, sounds and scents

First things first:

Think about the area you live in, what on a daily basis going forward your puppy is likely to see, hear and smell. For example if you live in a built up area then they are more likely to need to get used to traffic, lorries, children playing, smell of fuels, people other animals etc.

Write down a long list.

People
Children
Dogs
Lorries
Buses
Cars
Aeroplanes
Horses
Cows
Etc

Then think about how you could get them used to some of the above, but taking your time. For at least the first week let them have the first week at home with you, help them to feel safe and secure.

You could take pup for a drive in the car to open spaces, open your car door with pup on your lap near to where there is other traffic.

Use your one exercise a day to go for a short walk with pup in your arms. Be careful as people will want to ask you about pup.

There are industrial estates where there will still be people working, safely park up and sit with door open (use your once a day).

If there are kids playing in gardens get pup in garden, scatter feed some high value food so they can hear the children at the same time they get the good stuff.

Sit with pup in your arms and your front door open so they can observe the traffic going past. Feed some nice high value treats, if they look worried go back in.

You could play noises in the background on Youtube while you play/train with your pup so they get used to the noises.

Get them used to harness, collar and leads

For a lot of puppies having equipment put on them is punishing, and they will often cower, run away and in some instances show aggression when having equipment put on. Now is the perfect time to get them used to the equipment, please don’t wait until we are allowed out and then just put a harness on them for the first time:

Get the equipment out for a few days, let pup sniff the items, if they grab them with their mouths, that’s also fine, encourage them to drop by offering a high value treat.

After a few days, when they are nicely tired from training, grab some treats attach collar, feed, remove collar, feed.

With their harness, first of all work out how it goes before putting it on your pup, use a cuddly toy to see, then set up a plate of something yummy they can lick, cream cheese, dog peamutt butter etc, gently put their harness on, do up, feed and remove. Do this for a few days before doing up and leaving on. Once they are used to it, put harness on every day before a training, play session or a walk so they get used to it. Take your time.

Get them ready to be groomed

Certain breeds need to be groomed more regularly than others, if you have a dog that will need grooming in the future then the time is to start getting them used to it. Have a look online for the best tools to buy, I recommend you give them something to lick or chew while you do groom, watch for signs they are uncomfortable: Tongue Flicks, whites of eyes, yawning. Use a hair dryer in the back ground while playing with pup and gradually move it towards pup. If you bath them always use warm water, do it slowly and gradually.

Prepare them for being left alone

Lots of puppies struggle to be left alone, and when you first get pup the best thing to do is to help them feel secure, by allowing them to follow you around. After a week or so though, I would look to start to get them used to being alone.

Wait until they are tired (not over tired)
Give them something to find (food on floor), lick (food on floor) or a chew
Walk into another room
Return
Do this a few times a day so it becomes the norm.
If pup is going to be left alone when you go back to work, then aim to build up in small increments to the time they are going to be left. If they seem to go backwards, give them a few days and then go back.

Prepare them for the vets

We can help prepare them for the vets, get them used to having various parts of their body touched, whilst pairing it with a high value food. For example:

Say “Ear”, touch ear and feed. Only do this when they are not over tired and bitey.

Help to build their confidence through training and play

Playing with our pups is super important, it releases all the good stuff in their brains and helps them to bond with their owner, it also helps with confidence. To find out more we cover this in our online puppy course.

Training – Super super important to train while their brains are still young and like sponges, leaving it to adolescence means training is a lot harder. It also helps with frustration, as it gives your pups an outlet. Recall training is a must.

Teach them to use their nose

When dogs use their noses, its mindfulness for dogs, they are able to completely focus with no distractions in the environment. When a dog uses their nose it helps to tire them out, 20 mins of sniffing can be the equivalent to an hours walk. Start by encouraging them to find treats. We also cover this in our course.

Learn their body language

Learning your dogs body language, how they feel and what they are trying to tell you is extremely important.

MYTHBUSTING MONDAY: Myth - Positive training for reactivity is limited to "distracting" a dog with treats when another dog appears.

If you've tried distracting your dog with treats when he sees another dog (or bike, car, jogger, etc.), and he completely ignores the treat and you, here's why.

STRESS

When an animal (including humans) reaches a certain level of stress, an important change takes place in the brain, which starts the processes necessary for fight (aggression) or flight (avoidance), including the activation of the sympathetic nervous system. When that happens, pupils dilate, respiration increases, heart rate increases, and digestion shuts down.

Why? Because if you're being chased by a bear, your body doesn't need food in that moment, it needs to be fast and agile. Food can come later, but if you don't survive, the nutrients you get from food won't help you.

When a threat passes, the sympathetic nervous system is disengaged, and we return to a normal state of "rest and digest." Hopefully, where you are right now.

What does this have to do with your dog passing your neighbor and her Corgi?

Because whether or not your dog's reactivity is rooted in anxiety, fear, frustration, or excitement, the same process is taking place. It doesn't matter that her dog poses no real threat to your dog. What matters is that your dog's stress level has reached the point that digestion has shut down.

One other important thing happens at this point. Your dog is now focused on only the things necessary for survival (remember, this is about the dog's perception, not ours). Sort of like trying to focus on a crossword puzzle while a bee is buzzing around your face. So, trying to do any training at this moment is pointless.

Unfortunately, this is the point that most people attempt to "distract the dog" with food. But, as you now understand, it's too late.

This is why trainers talk so much about staying "under threshold." The threshold is the point at which the dog tips over into that fight or flight mode.

Where that threshold is depends on your dog, but changes depending on the proximity and intensity of the trigger, as well as duration of exposure.

For example, let's go back to the bee. If the bee is busy on a nearby dandelion, it might not bother you while you're gardening, but a bee buzzing around your face might be more concerning. If that bee is only there for a second before flying off, you might not move, but if the bee persists for 30 seconds or more, you might get up to avoid it. Multiply that to 100 bees buzzing around your face, and you're probably switching into serious fight/flight mode. See how slight changes can make a big difference in your stress levels?

While every dog is different, they all have a point where they can focus and learn and take treats, and a point they can't. If we want to maximize learning and behavior change, we keep them under threshold, gradually increasing the proximity, intensity, and duration they can tolerate.

Behavior modification for reactivity using non-aversive methods is not about distracting a dog with food. It is about using food to change associations to the things that trigger reactivity and to reinforce previously taught behaviors. To do this, we need to work at a distance, level of intensity, and duration that keeps the dog below threshold.

It's not that positive training doesn't work. Your dog just needs you to make a few changes so that it can work for them.

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