Freya V. Locke - Dog Behaviourist | Author | Blogger. Issue 19, 2024
Hi Gang
Apologies for being a day late with this newsletter. We were rather busy driving from Suffolk down to Shaftesbury for a little break with my partner, to see his Dad and to go do some “car stuff” at a SAAB meet.
A couple of years ago, when Twyla was a puppy, she was CRAZY. I, even as a dog professional, had been completely unprepared for the level of energy that she has.
She is very friendly and good natured. However she wants to play with EVERYTHING and is that dog in the park, who wants to annoy the other dogs, and so she generally must stay on lead.
Taking her out to places was always a lot of hard work rather than enjoyable, and she would be over aroused, and pulling, and desperate to chase anything that moved.
Being a reward based trainer is often mistaken for being soft and simply letting the dog do as they please while giving treat after treat. But there is so much more to it. Had I have used a lot of aversive and punishment with Twyla, her over arousal could easily have led to her becoming stressed and eventually, through associating triggers with punishment and negative events, reactivity and fear.
Instead, a good trainer knows when to manage an issue, to prevent rehearsal (What we practise, we get good at) while teaching alternative behaviours. This in turn means the dog is learning to do the things that are appropriate instead of getting really proficient at things that are not.
Twyla's training involved staying on the lead, slowing down and sniffing, scatter feeding, and playing attention and focus games. We go out to play, rather than trying to do pavement pounding walks, and we often have dinner while we are out playing. We go and sit in places like town, or recently at a service station, where she can practise being calm around many triggers.
Today, we took her out to the SAAB meet up, with hundreds of car owners, dogs, a miniature steam train, lots of children, a pond, birds flying around and a ride in a convertible to get there.
Before she learned how to be out with me, not despite me, today would have been impossible. But this was our lunchtime, with her friend Louis, in the pub:
We didn’t even need to tell them to lay down, they just chilled out. I am so proud of the brilliant dog I always knew she would become. More so, I am proud that we achieved this level of wonderful behaviour without punishment.
Fun Not Fear® Journal
This week I had a chat with Ana and Teddy, over at their You Tube channel “Pet Talk With Ana And Teddy.”
You can catch the replay here:
Separation Anxiety has been a theme among some of my discovery calls recently. Here is a link to an article I wrote explaining how you can help your dog with this common struggle.
Spotted and sharing.
One-Minute Facts: The Penguin With a Knighthood
My other posts - because I write about other stuff too!
Facing The Future After Domestic Abuse.
Handy links.
Tomorrow, we are off on a Ferry to the Isle of Wight, where are you off for your holidays this year?
See you next week!
Freya