Fluent Dawg - Dog Training & Workingdogs

26/07/2025

🐾 Dvergschnauzer – liten hund med stor personlighet! 💥

Passet nylig på de her to!

Dette er artige hunder å jobbe med.

Opprinnelig avlet som rottefanger og gårdshund i Tyskland, har dvergschnauzeren beholdt sin årvåkne, modige og livlige natur🐀

Dette er den minste av schnauzervariantene – en forminsket utgave av schnauzeren, men heldigvis av den sunnere typen småhund uten dvergpreg. Robust, frisk og full av energi! 💪🐶

De er smarte, sta og fulle av meninger – en perfekt match for deg som liker å trene med hode og hjerte. Her får du mye personlighet i en liten kropp.

Obs! De har også en del lyd i seg og varsler og jager gjerne 📢

Treningen bør være konsekvent, variert i metode og belønningsbasert for å få det beste ut av dem. 💡🎾

Har du en dvergschnauzer, eller vurderer du en?

27/06/2025

Hadde han her kjekkasen på besøk forrige helg. Helt fantastisk type👌Vi hadde det veldig kjekt sammen. Velkommen tilbake.

27/06/2025

Menneskers ønske om å «forbedre» hunder gjennom avl – primært basert på utseende – har ført til alvorlige helseproblemer hos mange raser!

Mange mennesker har en dyp trang til å endre på naturens design, som om det ikke var godt nok.

Dette har ført til raser som:

❌er for små eller for store

❌har flate ansikter, overflødig hud eller lange rygger

❌har dårlig syn, pustevansker eller bevegelsesproblemer

Mange eiere ser ikke at det de synes er «søtt» faktisk er resultatet av usunn avl.

Estetikk prioriteres fremfor dyrenes helse og livskvalitet.

Ansvaret ligger hos menneskene: så lenge folk kjøper hunder basert på utseende fremfor helse, vil oppdrettere fortsette å produsere dem.

WHY CAN’T HUMANS STOP MESSING WITH DOGS?

Today our breed expert Carol Price looks at the harm we have done dogs in our constant desire to ‘improve them’

Recently I came across this picture, from The Brain Maze (a scientific site) highlighting how much the anatomy of the English bull terrier had changed, over the past century, as a direct result of human genetic selection.

“In the early 1900s”, they said, “(English) bull terriers had proportionate skulls, lean bodies, and long legs—traits suited for agility and function”. Whereas “modern bull terriers, bred for show standards, now display an arched "egg-shaped" skull, shortened snout, thicker neck, deep chest, and a stockier build. These changes, driven by aesthetic preferences, have introduced health issues like dental misalignments, breathing difficulties, and skeletal stress. The transformation is a clear example of how human-directed breeding can reshape a species' biology, often at the cost of functionality and health.

WHY?
There is nothing new about the changes so many pedigree dog breeds have undergone, over the past century, in order to better suit some arbitrary human preference of the time. But the question that has always fascinated me is WHY do we do it? Or what deeper impulse in humans makes them believe that the basic original design of a dog, as decreed by nature – and stress tested through countless past millennia – was simply not good enough as it was. And thus had to be constantly ‘improved’?

Because this is the impulse that has taken us down the road to where so many dogs are today with their myriad health issues. Dogs bred too small. Dogs bred too big. Dogs bred with squashed up faces and huge hanging folds of skin. Dogs with over-long backs. Dogs who can’t see properly. Dogs who can barely breathe. Dogs who can barely walk.

One of the best accounts ever of what had gone wrong in pedigree dog breeding appeared in Jemima Harrison’s 2008 ground-breaking TV documentary, ‘Pedigree Dogs Exposed’, which lead to significant changes in the way both the UK Kennel Club, and breeders, amended their approaches to canine welfare. More on the documentary here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pedigree_Dogs_Exposed

THE BLIND SPOT
The extent to which different dog breeds have been ‘ruined’ by human genetic selection can be a highly emotive subject, not always grounded in fact – as certainly some pedigree dog breeds still remain intrinsically a lot healthier than others. And much can depend on the care with which different people breed them.

I still struggle to understand, however, the ‘blind spot’ that exists in so many people, where they simply cannot see that the ‘cuter’ or more novel appearance that exists in their dog has been created at the expense of its health and life quality and, so often, longevity too.

One of the things that most attracted me to pedigree Border collies, many years ago, was that they were one of the less ‘messed about’ breeds, originating from a far wider gene pool. Though there are some who believe that is already changing, with too much emphasis being placed on the aesthetic look of a dog (i.e. for showing) or its potential for different working/competitive functions when choosing breeding stock. Rather than the more intrinsic physical, mental and temperamental soundness those dogs carry in themselves and their lines.

But ultimately people themselves do not understand their own power. For breeders will only stop producing less healthy dogs when they stop buying them.

All text © Carol Price/Collieology 2025

29/03/2025

Anbefaler på det sterkeste å lese denne her. Viktige nyanser og avklaringer 👇

There is a question I get asked constantly:

“Bart, should I play fetch with my dog every day? He LOVES it!”

And my answer is always the same:
No. Especially not with working breeds like the Malinois, German Shepherd, Dutch Shepherd, or any other high-prey-drive dog, like hunting dogs, Agility dogs, etc.

This answer is often met with surprise, sometimes with resistance. I get it—your dog brings you the ball, eyes bright, body full of energy, practically begging you to throw it. It feels like bonding. It feels like exercise. It feels like the right thing to do.

But from a scientific, behavioral, and neurobiological perspective—it’s not. In fact, it may be one of the most harmful daily habits for your dog’s mental health and nervous system regulation that no one is warning you about.

Let me break it down for you in detail. This will be long, but if you have a working dog, you need to understand this.

Working dogs like the Malinois and German Shepherd were selected over generations for their intensity, persistence, and drive to engage in behaviors tied to the prey sequence: orient, stalk, chase, grab, bite, kill. In their role as police, protection, herding, or military dogs, these genetically encoded motor patterns are partially utilized—but directed toward human-defined tasks.

Fetch is an artificial mimicry of this prey sequence.
• Ball = prey
• Throwing = movement stimulus
• Chase = reinforcement
• Grab and return = closure and Reward - Reinforecment again.

Every time you throw that ball, you’re not just giving your dog “exercise.” You are triggering an evolutionary motor pattern that was designed to result in the death of prey. But here’s the twist:

The "kill bite" never comes.
There’s no closure. No end. No satisfaction, Except when he start chewing on the ball by himself, which lead to even more problems. So the dog is neurologically left in a state of arousal.

When your dog sees that ball, his brain lights up with dopamine. Anticipation, motivation, drive. When you throw it, adrenaline kicks in. It becomes a cocktail of high arousal and primal intensity.

Dopamine is not the reward chemical—it’s the pursuit chemical. It creates the urge to chase, to repeat the behavior. Adrenaline and cortisol, stress hormones, spike during the chase. Even though the dog “gets the ball,” the biological closure never really happens—because the pattern is reset, again and again, with each throw.

Now imagine doing this every single day.
The dog’s brain begins to wire itself for a constant state of high alert, constantly expecting arousal, movement, and stimulation. This is how we create chronic stress.

The autonomic nervous system has two main branches:

• Sympathetic Nervous System – “Fight, flight, chase”

• Parasympathetic Nervous System – “Rest, digest, recover”

Fetch, as a prey-driven game, stimulates the sympathetic system. The problem? Most owners never help the dog come down from that state.
There’s no decompression, no parasympathetic activation, no transition into rest.

Chronic sympathetic dominance leads to:
• Panting, pacing, inability to settle
• Destructive behaviors
• Hypervigilance
• Reactivity to movement
• Obsession with balls, toys, other dogs
• Poor sleep cycles
• Digestive issues
• A weakened immune system over time
• Behavioral burnout

In essence, we’re creating a dog who is neurologically trapped in the primal mind—always hunting, never resting.

Expectation Is a Form of Pressure!!!!!!

When fetch becomes a daily ritual, your dog begins to expect it.This is no longer “fun.” It’s a conditioned need. And when that need is not met?

Stress. Frustration. Obsession.

A dog who expects to chase every day but doesn’t get it may begin redirecting that drive elsewhere—chasing shadows, lights, children, other dogs, cars.
This is how pathological behavior patterns form.

Many people use fetch as a shortcut for physical exercise.

But movement is not the same as regulation.
Throwing a ball 100 times does not tire out a working dog—it wires him tighter.

What these dogs need is:
• Cognitive engagement
• Problem solving
• Relationship-based training
• Impulse control and on/off switches
• Scentwork or tracking to satisfy the nose-brain connection
• Regulated physical outlets like structured walks, swimming, tug with rules, or balanced sport work
• Recovery time in a calm environment

But What About Drive Fulfillment? Don’t They Need an Outlet?

Yes, and here’s the nuance:

Drive should be fulfilled strategically, not passively or impulsively. This is where real training philosophy comes in.

Instead of free-for-all ball throwing, I recommend:
• Tug with rules of out, impulse control, and handler engagement

• Controlled prey play with a flirt pole, used sparingly

• Engagement-based drive work with clear start and stop signals

• Training sessions that integrate drive, control, and reward

• Activities like search games, mantrailing, or protection sport with balance

• Working on “down in drive” — the ability to switch from arousal to rest

This builds a thinking dog, not a reactive one. The Bottom Line: Just Because He Loves It Doesn’t Mean It’s Good for Him

Your Malinois, German Shepherd, Dutchie, or other working dog may love the ball. He may bring it to you with joy. But the question is not what he likes—it’s what he needs.

A child may love candy every day, but a good parent knows better. As a trainer, handler, and caretaker, it’s your responsibility to think long term.
You’re not raising a dog for this moment. You’re developing a life companion, a regulated athlete, a resilient thinker.

So no—I don’t recommend playing ball every day.
Because every throw is a reinforcement of the primal mind.

And the primal mind, unchecked, cannot be reasoned with. It cannot self-regulate. It becomes a slave to its own instincts.

Train your dog to engage with you, not just the object. Teach arousal with control, play with purpose, and rest with confidence.

Your dog deserves better than obsession.He deserves balance. He deserves you—not just the ball.


Bart De Gols

18/03/2025

🎉 E-resept for legemidler til dyr blir en realitet! 🎉

Nå er utviklingen av en ny, digital reseptløsning endelig i gang – en fantastisk nyhet for både veterinærer, apotek og de som har dyr.

Dette vil gi:

✅ Tryggere og enklere reseptprosess
✅ Mindre papirarbeid for veterinærer og apotek
✅ Raskere og sikrere tilgang til medisiner for deg som dyreelsker
✅ Bedre kontroll på legemiddelbruk

– Dette er en etterlengtet modernisering som vil gjøre hverdagen enklere for alle, sier David Persson, president i Veterinærforeningen.

Gleder meg til å se e-resepten bli en realitet!

https://www.vetnett.no/nyhetsarkiv/e-resept-for-legemidler-til-dyr-blir-en-realitet-enklere-og-tryggere-for-alle?fbclid=IwY2xjawJGHGNleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHXq4CX1qPDn7SHpC534W94YQqIvHmfVbXD8iU9QlkmVY-NmRwjcJEHvv7g_aem_crBtk1KkO1Hl5CYYBLXEMg

Veterinærforeningen og Apotekerforeningen er svært glade for at det nå er enighet om å starte utvikling av en e-reseptløsning for legemidler til dyr. Når løsningen er innført, vil det bety et stort skritt mot en mer moderne og tryggere løsning for både veterinærer, apotek og dyreeiere.

08/10/2024

Dette 👇

https://www.facebook.com/share/CP9qdZQrxe7u6h8Y/

When dogs are afraid, it’s really worth using reward-based methods to rehabilitate them as quickly as possible. Chronic fear and anxiety cause real suffering so if you can rebuild the dog’s confidence quickly, it’s so very worthwhile because it means they can get back to enjoying life that much sooner.

If you want to build a dog’s confidence and help them feel comfortable, one of the most valuable tools you can use is food. If a stimulus is paired with food frequently enough, the dog will start to associate the stimulus with food and this will cause the dog to feel better about the stimulus. Luring a fearful dog with food can be a very powerful technique that really accelerates rehabilitation BUT YOU HAVE TO BE VERY CAREFUL that you don’t push the dog too far too fast.

If a dog is very food motivated, you can lure them too close to something that makes them feel very scared, and this can be a dangerous and counterproductive situation. If the dog is too scared they might take the food and then react aggressively as soon as the food is gone, or they may simply be so scared that they are unable to form a positive association from the food.

On that note, you should not use this exercise (or any exercise you read about on the internet!) with a dog that is dangerous. If a dog has bitten a person hard enough to cause a serious injury, it means they are likely to do so again. This dog needs help from a professional dog trainer who understands how to read body language and use positive reinforcement methods to safely rehabilitate the dog.

Fortunately, most fearful and reactive dogs are not dangerous. They bark, they lunge, they snap, and they may even “bite” but their bites don’t make contact with the skin, or they don’t break the skin. These dogs have learned bite inhibition and they are safe to work with and you can use this technique to quickly rebuild their confidence.

Yes, this technique involves using food to lure the dog to approach you (or some other stimulus that makes them uncomfortable) but you don’t lure them so close that they are overwhelmed with fear or in danger of reacting aggressively and that makes all the difference.

As they approach, they get high-value treats, reinforcing them for approaching and helping them form a positive association with you (or the scary stimulus). But then, you use a lower value treat to lure the dog further away again. This low value treat is still providing a Classical Conditioning effect, helping your dog form a positive association with the stimulus, but it’s also providing a contrast to the high-value treats that the dog received during their approach.

Crucially, the dog is now back to a very comfortable distance again so when you toss high value treats to lure them to approach, they are moving towards you, but they’re comfortably far away.

Luring a dog to approach a scary stimulus like this is a very powerful and useful technique that can really accelerate the rehabilitation process, so long as you don’t push the dog too far too fast. And as you repeat these steps, luring the dog to approach and retreat repeatedly, the dog is going to get much more comfortable about approaching and being near you.

You can test this at any time by pausing the exercise and seeing what the dog does and where they go when there are no treats offered. At the beginning, a fearful dog will stay quite far away, but after a few minutes of this exercise, there is a good chance that they will readily come closer to the person, even without any food to lure them.

Be patient, watch your dog’s body language, and keep luring the dog back to a very comfortable distance to reset and this technique can work wonders.

If you do this long enough, you will get to the point where the dog will come right up to you without you offering a food lure. If the dog comes right up to you without you tossing a treat to lure your dog, and the dog looks comfortable, you can now try offering a treat directly from your hand. When you do so, you should keep your hand down by your side and you should always have multiple treats in your hand. When you get to the last treat, either toss it to lure the dog away from you, or withdraw your hand before you feed the last treat because an empty human hand is much scarier than a human hand with treats in it.

If you do this enough, it won’t be long before the dog happily takes treats from your hand. At this point, you can feed the dog an entire meal by hand and they will quickly start to feel comfortable around you, and the dog’s life will be much more relaxed and happier as a result.

Again, you should not do this with a dog that is dangerous, and you should be very patient with this exercise. Don’t rush it. Keep luring the dog back to a comfortable distance and it won’t be long before this dog loves approaching you and being near you.

Wow, did you really read all this? Amazing! Do you have or know a fearful dog? If so, tell us about them in the comments.

If you’d like help rehabilitating a fearful dog, you should join the Top Dog Academy, which you can do now for free with a 1-month free trial. We can help you rehabilitate your fearful dog with methods that are easy, gentle and also quick and effective. We want to rebuild your dog’s confidence as quickly as possible!

https://dunbar.info/oct2024TDA

Sign up now and you’ll get instant access to lots of great resources. We’ll be available to guide you through the process with personalized training advice. In one month, you could resolve their fearfulness and be back to enjoying a fear-free life together!

And if you’d like to download a PDF version of this document, or if you’d like to learn more about it, go here: https://dunbar.info/retreat-with-honor

14/09/2024

Alltid kos med besøk av andre sine hunder! Takk for besøket 🐾

21/08/2024

ER HUNDETRENING ØDELAGT?

"Problemene med en del av dagens hundetrening er mye dypere enn folks aversjon mot aversiv straff. Faktisk tror jeg at det er mangelen på å bruke positiv forsterkning til maksimal effekt som svikter hunder og hindrer dem i å lene seg med lysets hastighet.

Årsaken er åpenbar, snarere enn å bruke "effektiv praktisk trening av hunder" som en veiledning, så sverger mange trenere er til århundregammel, credal teori om datamaskiner som trener rotter i bur, som selvfølgelig har tvilsom relevans for folk som trener hunder i bånd hjemme eller i parker. Når vi trener, må vi ofte spørre 'Dr. Phil spørsmål som: "Fungerte det?" og "Hvor godt fungerte det?"

KVANTIFISERING er avgjørende for at hundetrening skal utvikle seg gradvis som en vitenskap."

Det siste tiåret har sett en massiv oppblomstring av problemer som ødelegger livskvalitet, slik som:

1. Frykt og aggresjon mot mennesker;

2. Hund-hundreaktivitet;

3. Separasjonsangst;

4. Hyperaktivitet, uoppmerksomhet og mangel på kontroll når du er spent (ankommende gjester) eller stresset (ukjente hunder).

Veterinærer uttrykker økende bekymring for hunder som er vanskelige å håndtere. I utgangspunktet er vi tilbake til de samme bekymringsfulle problemene som vi hadde på 70-tallet.

"At det igjen kommer en vekst av disse vanlige, forutsigbare og forebyggbare atferds-, temperament- og treningsproblemene reflekterer mest sannsynlig nylige endringer i hundetrening, spesielt at vi neglisjerer teknikkene som i stor grad eliminerte disse problemene fra 1982 til 2015." - Ian Dunbar

https://www.dunbaracademy.com/pages/dog-blog-is-dog-training-broken

13/08/2024

Forskerne understreker at det er viktig å forstå hvordan menneskelig stress påvirker hunder.

– Det er en viktig kunnskap når man skal trene selskapshunder og hunder for arbeidsroller, som for eksempel hjelpehunder. Førere av arbeidshunder forteller ofte at de kan merke stress som forplanter seg gjennom hundebåndet, men vi har også vist at det kan spres gjennom luften, legger Rooney til.

Forskerne så at en negativ følelsesmessig tilstand utløste en mer pessimistisk respons.

– Responsen kan muligens være en måte for hunden å spare energi og unngå skuffelse på, foreslår forskerne.

https://www.forskning.no/dyreverden-hjernen-hunder/lukten-av-menneskers-sinnsstemning-pavirker-valg-hunder-tar/2394624?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR3VY3a0OXY5sO6lgzRYqSLeLfartymZRcWuwKcbUCXPJ0e_EyeXX434HJ0_aem_n-Fyzw_IMqQSAT5vdXvaI

Hundeeiere vet det godt, men nå har også forskning bekreftet det: Hunder kan lukte når mennesker er stresset, og de blir negativt påvirket av det.

15/05/2024

17.mai råd til hundeeiere. Vær så god! 🇳🇴

1: Vær bevisst på at ikke alle hunder takler feiringen.

08/04/2024

https://www.enevighet.no/lingeloftet-a-snu-den-siste-stenen-erlend-forteller/?fbclid=IwAR12twFQ44Q6VaMPPhZYIgoIpVETKapSypNQ3FVzS7S0gIP1hLXZz2tw3wE

Lingeloftet: Å snu den siste stenen - Erlend forteller Han har tjenestegjort i Hæren, Luftforsvaret, Sjøforsvaret og Spesialstyrkene, hele tiden med hund i fokus. Som marinejeger tjenestegjorde han i Afghanistan sammen med FSK, og opplevde flere dramatiske hendelser som kunne kostet ham livet. De...

27/03/2024

https://www.spleis.no/project/366254?fbclid=IwAR1_64WXzqDhCAEQkkCRXrC6XDGfNShGICchQvq93TzsxMauhyk1j1kM8XI

Enhver donasjon vil gå til å dekke medisinske kostnader og behandling for Erlend. Hvis Erlends liv ikke kan reddes under behandlingen, vil resterende penger som er/blir samlet inn gå til å sikre en økonomisk trygghet for familien og barnas framtid.