Part 2 of my method has been added to the website at lookafteryourdog and deals with the issue of claiming everything that your dog comes into contact with! Toys, chairs, beds, anything! You own it, you brought it and if you make it clear to your dog that it doesn't have any rights to anything without your say so, then you will have a calm and happy dog that knows its place and doesn't feel the DNA animal need to compete for resources!
Cheers
Steve
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Tuesday, 14 February 2012
George update
George has gone home and was really excited to see his owner who felt the same way! It was interesting to see him come out of his shell and to find some of the reasons why he is like he is!
Mia his sometimes companion has been around since he was a pup and I believe that she has had an effect on his confidence due to her character, which is quite dominant towards him and has meant that he has not been free to find his own feet without her putting him in his place!
He needs to be encouraged to express himself without being too cocky as he is liable to bark at people and dogs and snap at any excitable dog. Having an anxious nature means that they try to act tough but are usually just trying to keep everything at bay!
I've asked Georges owner to try a different method around his unpleasant habit of eating other dogs half digested poop which then leads to diarrhoea When George usually sniffs it 99.9% of the time he is only sniffing like any other dog and he is not going to eat it! Georges owner cannot tell sometimes what he is going to do and because the consequences of him eating it are bad, he gets quite upset by it and it usually leads to a stressful walk.
Plan B is to allow him to smell anything he likes but as he turns away from it he can be recalled to a treat to show that sniffing and not eating gets a reward and if he stops when he was about to eat some, then he is called and praised with a good reward to encourage him to seek his food from the owner rather than the poop! The video shows him intently smelling some poop which he may have normally took a bite at, by watching him and encouraging him when he chooses not to eat it, we can encourage him to make a better decision and should start to smell it and come to us for reward which we can harness in the short term, until the habit dies away!
Its a work in progress as in this video so we will see how he gets on!
Cheers
Steve
He needs to be encouraged to express himself without being too cocky as he is liable to bark at people and dogs and snap at any excitable dog. Having an anxious nature means that they try to act tough but are usually just trying to keep everything at bay!
I've asked Georges owner to try a different method around his unpleasant habit of eating other dogs half digested poop which then leads to diarrhoea When George usually sniffs it 99.9% of the time he is only sniffing like any other dog and he is not going to eat it! Georges owner cannot tell sometimes what he is going to do and because the consequences of him eating it are bad, he gets quite upset by it and it usually leads to a stressful walk.
Plan B is to allow him to smell anything he likes but as he turns away from it he can be recalled to a treat to show that sniffing and not eating gets a reward and if he stops when he was about to eat some, then he is called and praised with a good reward to encourage him to seek his food from the owner rather than the poop! The video shows him intently smelling some poop which he may have normally took a bite at, by watching him and encouraging him when he chooses not to eat it, we can encourage him to make a better decision and should start to smell it and come to us for reward which we can harness in the short term, until the habit dies away!
Its a work in progress as in this video so we will see how he gets on!
Cheers
Steve
Thursday, 2 February 2012
My Method Update - Be the Boss!
I've published another part of my method on lookafteryourdog This section called be the boss touches on how we should view our relationship with our dogs and why it is important!
Please feel free to have a look and I will add be adding all the other parts over the coming weeks and months and hopefully it might help someone to change their relationship with their dog for the better!
Cheers Steve
Please feel free to have a look and I will add be adding all the other parts over the coming weeks and months and hopefully it might help someone to change their relationship with their dog for the better!
Cheers Steve
George the not so brave!
George was walking behind me on the first day which I find very disconcerting as it indicates a dog that lacks confidence. I prefer a dog to be happy and confident and running forward to smell all the exciting scents that should captivate a dogs attention! I like to walk in Sutton Park when I have a dog like this because it allows the dog to experience a variety of smells and encourages the dog side of them to come out. They also meet lots of other dogs and as long as each encounter is managed and goes well, this too gives confidence to the dog!
I don't speak to the dog unless it is for a specific reason! Calling them to you, playing with them or encouraging them is fine, but too many people talk continually to their dogs and this tends to switch them off and makes them less likely to respond to an urgent command! Talk less and then speak to your dog and you will see that you can get their attention a lot quicker!
It is also important to be a leader to the dog to take away their feelings of having to protect you and help you. It is important that you are in charge and that they feel confident that you can deal with any situation.
George is settling nicely but will be a work in progress for his owners for sometime due to his nervy nature!
Cheers Steve
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