Understanding Dogs

Thursday beach gang. Posing and then running towards the liver treats. Ha ha
Charlie doing his treasure hunt.
Wednesday group at the rock.

That's me off on holiday for a week now. See you soon.

Beach day today with some funny action shots. Kinda like it when they are a mess. Catching the dog walking in it's true spirit 😂

Dramatic skies. Archie visiting the pack.Logan getting teeth out. Bailey getting muddy. 😂 Week complete.

That's me off on holiday now until the 30th August.

Lovely summer pics of the gorgeous faces.

Happy Monday everyone! 🌞

Here is the 4th and last challenge of my better together challenge.

Eye contact is a great way of connecting with your dogs besides the lead between us.

A check in being offered rather than asked for means it was easy enough for your dog to do so. When you then mark and reward it, your dog will offer these more often.

Eye contact helps to disengage from distractions and helps them regulate more using you as their anker. A check in also means they are able to then follow any cues you want to give them as they are more present.

If your dog gets easily excited or stressed when out and about, try this for 3 days straight. Bring along small but tasty treats. Use Yes as the marker for the moment they look at you.

Have fun and leave a comment below afterwards.

Happy Monday everyone,

Hope the last 2 challenges have shown you something new about your dog, and yourself.

The third week's challenge is Sniff Walks.
Sniff Walks are a bit different from normal walks as we do tend to want our dogs to walk in again when sniffing for longer as we usually have a set time and want to finish a certain route to get back on time. You might also play or train your dog in between.
You could do this for the full walk or just part of it. It I would recommend trying it for the full walk for 3 days only.
Meaning you do not prompt your dog to walk on, or even engage too much otherwise. Obviously if you're working on triggers, keep that up. But otherwise just give your dog all the time they want for sniffing. They might sniff aong time and often. Let them. You can pick a shorter 20 min walk or the big 1 hour walk. Doesn't matter. It's worth seeing what changes.
Most dogs do tend to be calmer afterwards as sniffing makes tired, is a great mental stimulation and has a calming effect. When you throw balls, your dogs gets very aroused and takes a while to calm down. Snifftis tiring without the excitement first. You might find they are better emotionally regulated afterwards.

Let me know what you see in your dog after 3 days.
Happy sniffing 🌺 ☀️

Sunny summers day

Hello everyone,
Here is the second challenge from the Better Together Challenge.

Ditch The Bowl!

Our dogs only spent minutes eating their meals from their bowls these days. Roaming dogs were studied to be spending around 4hrs a day around food- gathering, hunting, eating chewing, digging, hiding etc. No wonder our dogs aren't satisfied since there is little stimulation around food.

Here are some ideas of what you can use instead.
I'm sure you get more creative each day.
Your dog will be thankful.
Give this a go for 3 days and see what happens.

For dogs that aren't good eaters, moving the food or even feeding outside can sometimes really help.
Some dogs only get appetite after exercise too. Not everyone is a fan of breakfast, they might prefer lunch and dinner.

Reach out if you want some ideas.

Have fun.

Happy Monday everyone!! 🌞

This is my new little challenge for everyone to take part in.
I will post a new 3 day challenge every Monday for 4 weeks.
These are here to show you other ways to bond with your dog and learn about them (and yourself).

The first one is about consent and attention.
Pick the 3 easiest days for yourself and you can put posted notes up as a reminder because old habits die hard. 🤷🏼‍♀️

Try this: only pet your dog when they come up to you! Don't go to them or call them over for cuddles. Let them decide completely. 🐕

Exceptions are when they grab something dangerous for them and you need to get it off them, getting them ready for their walks and no greeting at the door when they are highly aroused. Let them calm first.
Really just for cuddles during the day.

And you can also try and only touch the body part they present to you, by having it closest to you. That's them usually letting you know where they want to be touched.

These little challenges are meant to help you bond more and have a happier dog with small changes. Trying them for 3 days is a little insight of what's possible and not a huge change for too long.
But you may find you want to layer them all up over time.

Have fun and leave a comment below once you have given this a try. Let's share with others our experiences. Every dog is a unique personality and they might respond differently to these challenges.

A few photos from our summer walks recently.
I also got to take some doggies along on trips.
May this summer last a while. But in pleasant temperatures. ☀️