Dogology

26/12/2022

How my dogs spend their Christmas 😂🐾

28/11/2022

Echo and I tried out our first Fun Rally competition yesterday. I was very impressed with his score of 97.5%. Super proud of you my boy 🐾

23/11/2022

Puppy class isn't going to cut it.

Especially not with all the high expectations we have with our dogs. Doing a six week puppy course with your dog is an incredible start, but it is the first stepping stone of many.

Expecting a dog to be able to just do all the behaviours consistently and not miss a beat, is the same as sending your child to pre-school thinking that's enough education to get him to be an engineer.

So start that puppy course. But continue learning. You don't have to go to dog school for the rest of your dogs life, but you, as their guardian need to continue rewarding all the good things, redirect the unwanted behaviour and help them through the bad times. Use life for training. You don't only have to train for a set hour every week, use situations that come about your daily life. If you have people coming over, train!
If there is a thunderstorm, train!
If there is a dog walking past you on the road, train!

Learning never ever stops. So please, don't use the excuse, "the puppy class didn't work" because I can guarentee you it did the job, but we have to continue to practice and work hard.
It builds an incredible bond and it only makes all our lives easier.

05/11/2022

All the Aroha Hills Aussies in Rally free class today 🐾

04/11/2022

25/10/2022

21/10/2022

I am a dog trainer and my dogs are allowed on the sofa.

They are allowed on my bed too. In fact I tuck my staffie into his own blanket on my bed every night and have for 8 years.

They don’t have to sit and wait for their dinner.

They don’t always walk with loose leads.

They bark when the door goes.

They don’t sit when I recall them.

The jump up on me.

Sometimes they get the zoomies in the house and knock things over.

This probably all sounds like I have woefully badly trained dogs but that’s not true. My dogs are trained for my lifestyle. They rest when I ask them to, they recall when I ask them to, they don’t barge out of doors, they love their sports they train and compete in.

Every week I get clients say ‘is my dog allowed on the sofa?’ Or ‘my dog waits before they are allowed to eat is that good?’. Honestly I really don’t care. That’s not to say I don’t appreciate your rules, but your rules are yours and your dog only needs to be as trained as you want and need them to be for your life.

You’ll read online that you shouldn’t allow dogs on your bed or should always eat before them or go through doorways first. At best these rules are weirdly controlling, at worst they are absolute bu****it.

Your rules are your rules and your dog is your dog. Want your dog on the sofa? Cool. Don’t want your dog on the sofa? Cool.

Take the pressure of yourself and your dog. Train what’s important to you. For me I want my dogs to be indifferent to people and dogs. To be confident and happy in novel environments. To recall when I ask. To not chew my house. To not pull my arm out of its socket. To not affect members of the public when we are out and about. That’s all I want from my dogs and they are pretty cool to live with.

Stop reading arbitrary rules on Google and choose your own (within reason!). Your dog is your dog. Your life is your life. Train your dog to suit your life and no one else’s. It will immensely improve your relationship and both of your mental well-being!

28/09/2022

PREDATOR PARKS

I wonder whose idea it was to put a bunch of domesticated predators together in one area, who don’t know each other, and call it a good time?

While many dogs do enjoy the company of other unknown dogs, it’s important to understand that most do not. It is completely normal for dogs to socially mature and no longer desire to engage with other dogs outside of their immediate circle or household.

So when someone comes to me with the complaint of “my dog started to become aggressive to other dogs at the dog park” and their goal is to “take their dog to the dog park” I make sure to tell them that their dog is normal, while predator parks are not.

Altering expectations to encompass normal dog behavior vs human projection is always priority.

25/09/2022

How humane is our interaction with dogs?

Dogs show their body how they feel. They bark to tell you they are scared of what they think is going to happen or to avoid conflict. They growl to let you know you are invading their safe space.
Domesticated dogs express their emotions to protect humans.

Unfortunately, some humans consider themselves dog professionals, have high expectations, make negative assumptions, are biased, wait for dogs to make mistakes so they can inflict pain or fear, and put dogs in inhumane situation to change a behavior because theyre afraid of pain or losing their lives.

Dogs are sentient beings. They have the right to safety and to live without the fear of pain or having their safety taken away. That's non-negotiable.

Do no harm is more than a training concept.
It’s the ultimate expression of humanity toward the environment.

Suppose you see injustice towards an animal or a person; if you see an animal being forced into a choice between pain or no pain. You have a human obligation to intervene and intercept.
That makes you humane.

This is my personal opinion.