Mischief Managed

10/02/2022

We have lost count of the number of times we hear:

‘If I put a harness on my dog it will make them pull more’

This is simply not true.

Harnesses help to distribute the weight of the dog, taking pressure of their sensitive necks.

Walking your dog on a collar doesn’t make them pull less. Often they can pull more to try to get away from the discomfort they feel from the collar, not realising that by pulling they create the pain.

Do your dog a favour, switch to a harness!

08/26/2022

Mischief Managed is happy to announce that Ally is expecting her first baby this fall!

Our pack is busy preparing and training for our new arrival. Please be patient with us as Ally is no longer taking new clients during the week and it is taking us longer to answer emails and text messages. Our availability will be limited for the remainder of 2022.

07/24/2022

05/21/2022

A muzzle can be a life-saving (literally!) piece of equipment that we feel every dog should be trained to wear comfortably! You never know when a situation will arise where your dog is required to wear a muzzle- likely during a high stress situation - and prior exposure and training to the muzzle will prevent your dog from experiencing additional and unnecessary stress.

05/18/2022

This week's terminology is: Competing Motivator.

A competing motivator is a stimulus or situation that causes conflict between what the animal desires and what the human is asking the animal to do.

A competing motivator can be a stimulus that causes a favorable or unfavorable outcome for the dog. Some examples:

-A dog with a reliable recall is asked to come when it first arrives at the dog park. The competing motivators in this situation could include playing with other dogs and people, sniffing new smells, exploring a new environment, new toys, food that other owners may be carrying, and a plethora of other things.

-A dog with a reliable recall has been hiking in the heat and is asked to recall from a body of water. In this situation the competing motivator is the comfort of the dog (ie. being able to cool off in the water vs. returning to the owner and remaining overheated).

-A dog with a reliable recall is asked to come to the owner and greet a stranger wearing a scary Halloween costume. The competing motivator in this instance is the dog's fear of the stranger.

All three examples listed above explain why a dog with a reliable recall may fail to do so in different circumstances. In dog training we must always strive for our personal relationship with the dog - trust, reinforcement history, etc. - to be the ultimate motivator that trumps all other motivators. However it is unrealistic to expect every dog to obey in every circumstance. That is why it is important to recognize competing motivators when working through behaviors in different environments.

05/15/2022

Come see us at the Dawg Gone Walk and Fiesta 12-2:30 at Deer Run Park in Nashville

05/14/2022

05/11/2022

This week's terminology is the Premack Principle!

The Premack Principle is the theory of reinforcement that utilizes a favorable behavior as a reinforcement for a less favorable behavior.

For example, say your dog loves to meet new people on walks but they are so excited to do so that they pull you towards the person and start jumping at the sight of a new person. Using the Premack Principle, you begin require that your dog walk nicely and on a loose leash up to the person before they are allowed to interact with them. In this way, the less favorable behavior (greeting someone on a loose leash and in a calm manner) is reinforced by the favorable behavior (the opportunity to meet new people on a walk).

Utilizing the Premack Principle in your training teaches your dog that they can still do most things that they want to do, but there are rules that must be followed in order to do it (impulse control)! Additionally, the dog in the example above will have learned to enjoy walking on a loose leash as good things happen when they are walking with a loose leash that do not occur when they are pulling on the leash.

Learn more about the Premack Principle:
https://www.thoughtco.com/premack-principle-4771729
https://www.akc.org/expert-advice/training/what-is-the-premack-principle-in-dog-training/

05/08/2022

Happy mother's day to all of the mothers out there!

Moms- show us a photo of you and your fur babies!

05/04/2022

Come see us at the Dawg Gone Walk and Fiesta next weekend!

05/04/2022

We're starting a new weekly post explaining different dog training terminology and vocabulary. This weeks terminology: Trigger Stacking!

Trigger stacking is the terminology used when your dog is exposed to multiple stressors or stressful events simultaneously, or within a short period of time of each other.

Some dogs require longer periods to recover from a stressful interaction. Trigger stacking can occur in a matter of seconds, or over a period of several days.

If your dog is having a "bad day" it may be explained by trigger stacking. Take a second to really think about the environment your dog is in/was in over the past several days and identify possible stressors.

Trigger stacking is a common culprit for a set back in behavior modification.

10/27/2021

Time to celebrate ! Our resident Bagheera brings nothing but love and laughter into our lives, not bad luck! Share a photo of your kitty with us (even if it looks like you just took a picture of The Void) 🐾