Doggy Dilemmas

08/05/2025

This is a difficult post, my darling Leo crossed the bridge on Tuesday, he was Doggy Dilemmas, I qualified 10 years ago as a behaviourist, and not long after decided that another GSD was important in my life and work.
Leo bought with him his own behavioural challenges, which brought me to better training methods, and a deeper understanding of a dogs needs, he grew with me as I developed into my behavioural role, my social walks started because of him, and that's how many of you, who joined me on those, will have known him.
At home he was loving and gentle and had an understanding of what I needed from him emotionally.
I could teach him anything as he was super smart, though he never got over his need to protect me, yet we found a way to manage that, and the beach, with his ball on a rope, was his most happy place where all his worries and fears were forgotten.
I am still unable to say when I will return to my behavioural work, and with the loss of my wing man, Doggy Dilemmas will be suspended for the foreseeable.
Always happy to point you in the direction of those I know who can help.
Take care everyone and make time to enjoy every moment with your dogs, they are not here long enough.
Leo Wells 9/10/2015
6/5/2025 run free over the bridge my friend, il see you at the beach 💔

02/05/2025

12/03/2025

Im teaming up with another local business delivering this new course for children.
Message me or laura for more information.

15/01/2025

Olfaction - a dog's primary perception of the world!
Too many of us miss the point when it comes to teaching dogs. We tend to treat them as though they are less intelligent people! We teach them as though they are small slow children, patiently SHOWING them the ropes but what if they really need to SMELL the ropes?
A dogs olfactory system is their major sense - it links straight to memory and emotion, and this means that a simple odour evokes feelings, it links straight into the endocrine system producing hormones that relate to mood and behaviour.
It is the single most important sense going if you are a dog.
We see a person or scenario unfold and glean information about it through observation first, we see a staggering man at the pub making a bee line for us and realise he's drunk and feeling chatty, then maybe we tack on some sounds and smells to this afterwards helping build an accurate picture of an intoxicated person.
A dog smells the information first and THEN tacks on associations to this. He can smell the chemicals associated with mood as well as the smell of alcohol or to***co.
Where we see a tennis ball, they smell it, and not only that, they smell where it has been and when - they can track it through time and space by the scent 'footprint' that is left behind in the coat pocket or a drawer, and by the scent on the ball of your sweat and the field up the road. They understand how long ago ago the ball was moved and from which place it came.
Now that's a completely different operating system - not merely a lesser version of our human operating system.
Imagine if you could not only see your dog, but also see his trail from the garden, could see where he stopped to p*e and where he fell sleep in the kitchen before making his way to you, like a GPS footprint with a time stamp! Now imagine you could also see his mood in each of these places...
It boggles the mind. When we stop trying to teach dogs to understand in our human way we make greater progress, faster.
Think about scent next time you want to teach a new behaviour or remove an embedded one - think 'dog' first and you may just make a breakthrough.
Yes you can counter condition based on the sight of a trigger, but what if you counter conditioned based on the scent first? Imagine pairing the scent of the dog next door with a delicious Kong each day well-before introducing the counterconditioning to sight or meeting? This takes eyes out of the equation - and we know that eyes are usually the first part of an escalation: of reactivity.
Scent on the other hand is the first part of social behaviour and understanding and it engages thought and learning.
Pair a scent with something amazingly rewarding and the association changes passively, without drama. This sets you up to succeed later when eyes come into play.
Think dog - think olfaction first.

05/01/2025

RIP Karen Pryor, 92 years, an amazing life 🙏
Author of 'Don't shoot the dog' and many more ❤️

https://karenwpryor.com/?fbclid=IwY2xjawHnOGtleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHVZ10RW7n6ZygLpWX_HHAqA_c0SmnHI_SzKhgziXIR4gWstrGqJA-1DflA_aem_N8PWEZbLdtalgePxf8ZDJg

About Karen Pryor Karen Pryor, publicity photo for Oceanic Institute, about 1968. Karen Pryor had many interests. She was an observer of the smallest detail (as a child she studied butterfly anatomy) but what made her life’s work exceptional was that she also saw the big picture. It would have bee...

20/12/2024

I would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year 🎄🎅🎁🥳
It's been a whole year without my social, training walks and behaviour consultations, and I continue to walk my regular dogs twice a week, so you're likely to see those photos now and then, and I continue to study, while I am off work.
You'll notice Sacha did not wish to join in the group photo lol, he has his own "special issues" that I am trying to work through with him, he is still very young, so I am sure we will get there eventually, anything new, like wearing a Christmas jumper adds stress, and he doesn't manage it well, this means that just because I would like him to do something, I have to consider how he feels about it above how I do, I will not 'force' him to do anything he finds uncomfortable or upsetting. Like anyone, I get frustrated with the restrictions this imposes, but if I push too hard, he tends to go into a meltdown and nothing is achieved other than us having to go back to the start.
When he is relaxed enough for a photo, I will add one, but it will be when he is ready, not just because I chose this morning to do this.
Next year I hope to get back to work, but I realise like Sacha's progress, it might not happen, so I will take it one day at a time, it is reliant on Andrews health, and if 2024 has taught us anything, it's to not make plans, when we have a good day we make the most of it.
I wish you all a Happy and Healthy 2025 and as always I will keep you updated on any Doggy Dilemmas news 🎄🎅🎁🥳🎉🎊

21/10/2024

It's a lazy morning here, but I thought I'd check in and let you all know that we are all okay, just doing different things.
While at home this past year I have been catching up with course work, lots of learning going on here, helping those that have adopted through rescue, and I've been arty and crafty, painting and making clay models.
Of course I am still looking after Andrew, so have only been giving advice for behaviour over the phone, his recovery is slow and complicated, never knowing quite how he will be each day, means there are no plans for a return to work for either of us as yet, but we are both hopeful that will happen at some point.
I hope you are all keeping well, and I will continue to let you know how things are, as and when I can.
Take care
Kathy 😊

18/10/2024

ITS FREEEEE! TOTALLY FREEE CPD. Please share because if I get enough sign ups I’ll do another one for free.

www.thejrhacademy.co.uk/rfr-free
:)

15/10/2024

Alison is one of the best trainers I know, and the work she is doing is brilliant, if you have a group that would benefit from the knowledge she has to share, I definitely recommend her and Jive 😊🐾🐕

Jive and i are looking out for opportunities to visit charity or school children’s clubs to deliver our safety around dogs talk and therapy dog introduction.
I have enhanced DBS and Jive is certified and highly trained.

01/10/2024

I hope you find this helpful, it really is the very best advice 😊

Firework Fright?
It is knocking on to that time of year again, bangs and flashes and celebration for all...except of course for those dogs with fear and phobia, and the owners that don't want to leave their dogs alone due to anxiety. So what can we do to banish the heebie jeebies? There are counter conditioning and desensitisation programmes that can help a great deal but commitment is required! If you are up for the challenge then there are some things that you can do to prepare.

1/ Begin desensitisation right now, today. Go onto you tube and find some firework videos - long ones are best - and play them in the background at a low volume. This should be audible but not causing distress. The volume should be increased gradually until the dogs begin to screen the sounds out as non-threatening stimuli even when at a high volume. This is possible because dogs are extremely adaptable.

2/ DON'T reassure your dog(s). When we use soft words and touch we are rewarding the behaviour with a reward and associating the emotion of fear and anxiety with the sounds - this is an extremely powerful way to condition a dog to be afraid as it uses both operant and classical principles in a big fat double whammy, so hands off! When we cuddle a fearful dog we are being selfish and making ourselves feel better - but we are not helping the dog one bit. During desensitisation continue as normal about your daily routine and be 'no-nonsense', so no staring at them anxiously to see if they are coping or talking to them with worry in your voice - they value our confidence in times of uncertainty and will learn through observation that there is nothing to be concerned about - if the dog(s) seem a little on edge this is OK and will pass within a very short time as they adapt, but if they are genuinely afraid then you have moved too fast too soon so reduce the volume a little and go more slowly.

3/ Do this every day at least once for half an hour minimum. Perhaps during preparation of food and feeding time - if the dogs can eat then they are not unduly worried, this also associates the food to the sounds.

4/ Desensitisation alone is very unlikely to make a huge difference (sorry but it's true) so DO NOT stop there, this is where most people slip up, but the sound on a playback is not the same as the actual event when the air is buzzing with celebration and the sound and smell is ever present - the same goes for storms and thunder etc. the dogs can feel the atmosphere and sense it well-before we can. At the point when the sounds can be played loudly with a neutral response this is when we bring out the big guns! Classical counter conditioning!

The next part is fun but requires more time commitment - but first lets look at the way that dogs operate. The reason that fireworks are difficult to deal with is because they consist of sporadic unpredictable bursts of noise with long silences in-between, this is difficult because dogs think and learn in two ways;
Firstly the basis that if a stimulus is present for long enough, and if nothing life threatening happens during it, then they habituate to it and accept it as non-threatening, this is adaptation and an evolutionary advantage to accept everything that is safe.
Secondly what is rewarding is repeated and what is non-rewarding is not.
So fireworks are difficult for two reasons; firstly because the dog never has the opportunity to habituate and adapt to the noise - it is not constant so the dog is in a roller-coaster of anxiety and relaxation instead of maintaining the anxiety for a finite amount of time and then accepting it as non-threatening - this is compounded by the fact that they only occur once a year so they can't adapt properly. It is self rewarding because the automatic response is to use flight and run from the 'potential threat'. When a dog runs from a threat - or even feels like running from a threat - and then the noise stops (fireworks and intermittent so this happens constantly) then a flood of chemicals and relief will reinforce the fear - again an evolutionary advantage geared towards avoiding hazards! I went into flight mode, the noise stopped, I remained safe, must repeat! Although this is not a conscious decision and is passive and maintained through association it is an extremely powerful reinforcement for fear and flight. So back to counter conditioning...

6/ Counter conditioning relies on passive learning so this means that if we present the problematic stimulus along with something that elicits a positive response enough times, then the stimulus alone will elicit the positive response. We know that feeling sorry for the dog touching and stroking don't work well - so what can we do instead? Well we can use a very smelly treat, and preferably movement and activity to associate the bangs as a really fun experience. So for example we play the soundtrack and every time there is a particularly loud bang or fizzle we celebrate! Lots of 'Hooray' and happy dances around the house, smelly treats cascading from the air, throwing a ball, running a lap around the garden - whatever your dog loves most that engages the emotion of curiosity, excitement and fun!! Then go back to completely ignoring the dog again until the next loud bang. This makes the process quicker - we want the dog to get the point that the bang brings the goodies, no bang = no goodies. Loud bang = celebration! If you put a word in such as 'bingo!' or 'noisy' every time you jump up with treats or toys at the sound of the bang too then this will be better associated when the fireworks are real and there is extra pressure on the dog(s).
With commitment this can work really well but it will all go to pot on the day if you don't set up your dog for success, so walk his or her legs off well-before the noise starts, then feed a big meal with some carbohydrate to put the dog in a sedate and relaxed frame of mind - a poultry based meal is best as this contains lots of tryptophan to promote serotonin production that calms and relaxes the dog. Carbohydrates hurry the absorption and give the dog that 'after Christmas dinner' feeling when all they will want to do is sleep. Making a 'den' that is in the family room can help for residual anxieties, putting chewable items in there is a super idea as chewing is an excellent self-help mechanism for stressed dogs. If the dog is calm enough then puzzles and mental work toys are brilliant because if they are thinking then they are not going to slip into self-preservation or 'instinctive' mode as easily. Having a movie night and watching TV with the volume up and the curtains closed will also help a lot. If there is a particularly loud bang then you can use your cue 'bingo' or whatever you choose and throw a really high value treat in their direction - if they have to engage the nose to find it then even better.
This will really help but commitment to prepare in advance is essential for success! Another possible tactic would be having a dog party and inviting some dogs and owners along - this can be powerful - if the dogs on the guest list are unworried by the noises then your dog will learn through observation that everyone is having fun, drinking wine (not the dogs obviously) and that the other canines are happy and relaxed.

OK off you go, find a you-tube play-list and get started! If you put in the commitment and a little time then firework fright can be a thing of the past!

28/07/2024

Good morning everyone ☺️
What a gorgeous Sunny Sunday.
Leo and me have been out for a lovely beach walk, he's not usually one for wanting to go into the water, even though the beach is his favourite place to be, but today he kept pulling me into the water to paddle, we both enjoyed the cool water on our toes 😀
We saw a salty sea dog having a rest, of course we kept our distance and just zoomed the camera in 😁
I hope you all have a lovely day, and I don't need to remind you to keep your dogs cool while we enjoy this sunshine 🌞
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