Enclosed dog fields for hire or Sniff Spots for the US are fantastic. Whether you have anxiety like me and your worried about the other guardians and their dogs rushing or attacking yours, whether you have an environmentally challenged dog and need a break from training or whether you are just fed up of every walk being Mission Impossible with dog attacks being on the rise in the UK. You hire the field and the field is yours for the hour. Bilsby Dog Field has 50 minutes for you to enjoy the field. 5 minutes to arrive and park up and 5 minutes to leave and lock the gate. Giving you a full hour. Where the field is yours. You can even book it for half an hour or a few hours. Of course very field is different and you have to check their terms and conditions. But it's such a nice relief to enjoy your dogs in peace, you can practice homework, recall, use it as a decompression walk, have a picnic as Claire has said whom owns the field. Fields are a huge relief for a break and an opportunity to just enjoy your dog, peace and quiet in safety. Walking dogs is much like becoming like driving now. It's not necessarily your driving (dog) you have to worry about it's the other drivers (guardians) out there! You don't have to use a field or a sniff spot every day or every week even, but it is a chance to give yourselves a break and for you all to relax!
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Doggy Enrichment Lands is a term coined by Linda Michaels MA, whenever we say utilise a Doggy Enrichment Land because of all the benefits and the improved welfare for dogs the main comment we are met with is space. I don't have much space. But I've shared a room leading straight to the garden for their Doggy Enrichment Land and the garden as their Doggy Enrichment Garden, when we bring a dog into our life we share the space with them. Just like with kids. It's not our space or their space, it's just shared. We're a family unit and it is so important to meet their welfare needs, to have fun with them and enrich their lives as much as possible. You will see in the video how we make the most of "small space", and our garden is partly shared with the half of the rabbits fort! Healing relationships part three In this mini series we have been looking at why people use aversives, contributing factors to attitudes changing and adopting force free practices and welfare for dogs. Now we are going to look deeper into this and the correlation between the use of aversives, behavioural problems and the impact on both guardians and dogs. It's common knowledge in the dog training and behaviour industry that dogs who have behavioural problems suffer through their welfare in a lot of cases. Many dogs are abandoned, relinquished or euthanised due to behavioural problems. Dogs who remain with guardians are known to have poor welfare and quality of life in some cases. (1,2) It's important to highlight that all humans are different and we all handle things differently, for my own experience with Zombie, my youngest who is fearful, I didn't feel overwhelmed or burdened by his behaviour. Because I took a different approach and had a different attitude to begin with. I didn't see Zombie or categorise him as having fearful behaviour or being classified as reactive. Instead, my attitude and approach when describing him was "He has big emotions and he feels a lot of fear, he finds the world a scary place, I do too. He's frightened of x, y, z and I would list off his fears. I also made a point of identifying his strengths. He may have been worried about strangers and other dogs but he also wasn't fearful of Fireworks or thunderstorms. He may have been fearful towards strangers and dogs but he didn't react in the sense of what people normally think when the term "reactivity" is used which is why so many of us are moving away from it. Because Zombie was so fearful he shut down. He would have a panic attack, I related to this and could identify with this and I was very open and transparent about all of our journey. For me I saw a lot of myself in Zombie, my own anxiety and neurodivergence and I spoke to many people and of course I was given lots of unhelpful and unsolicited advice such as euthanizing him and I also got lots of helpful support from colleagues. I'm so glad that I didn't listen. Today Zombie is a happy and well rounded dog, he's playful and makes people laugh, he's boisterous and friends with some people and some dogs. As a dog should be because they absolutely will not be friends with everyone just like us. Researchers found guardians of dogs may experience a form of caregiver burden as found in humans and families due to dogs being seen as a part of the family unit. (3) Through the data that the researchers collected they found that there were four major areas which could be analysed as to understanding the breakdown in relationships and the struggles of behavioural challenges in dogs. Caretaking - expense of the vets, training, behaviour modification, breakdown in relationships, lack of understanding and support from friends and families. Emotions - both negative and positive emotions were reported. Negative included emotions such as anger, fear, frustration, sadness and resentment. Whereas some reported feeling that they had a stronger bond. Coping strategies - seeking help and getting support from trainers and behaviourists as well as some vets and therapists for themselves. Lack of understanding and support - from the general public on walks, friends and family and social media. (4) So when we look at these four categories, the dog isn't actually to be blamed. The frustrations all come down to money and having to spend more money than anticipated originally. Lack of support from friends, family and even some professionals as well as unsolicited opinions from the general public and social media. So here we aren't looking at dogs with behavioural problems as being the problem. We are looking at humans who are unable to deal with negativity from other humans and feeling that this all stems from their dogs behaviour. Guardians are negatively impacted due to other' s opinions. So coming back to part one where I discussed the trainers and behaviourists who have crossed over and their reasoning, this is exactly why people use aversives. People don't like to feel inadequate and some more than others, some guardians like myself can focus on their dogs strengths and support their dog through their anxiety and emotions. People who want the behaviour fixed and they want it fixed now. This is where people turn to aversive methods. Because of their own ideologies, beliefs and lack of understanding of how dogs work, dogs emotions and intelligence. Every single person I spoke to, all crossed over as soon as they learnt better. As soon as a good teacher informed them of how dogs work, where they are going wrong and showing them a different way. A kinder way, but above all, education. As the saying goes. "When you know better, you do better." This series hasn't been about preaching to the choir, this series is about explaining why people use aversives. Because in order to help any guardian and their dog, we first of all have to understand the why of the behaviour. If we want to see more people crossing over, we have a duty of care to educate guardians, to not shout and belittle across social media as the research I have shared highlights. Social media is a part of the problem. Shaming and hating on people is a part of the problem. Showing them, educating them and supporting them is the answer to the problem. It's time to stop people pleasing and using aversives to get a wanted behaviour because it's an emotion and you can only heal an emotion you can't fix an emotion, you can either heal an emotion or suppress the emotion through aversives until the emotion blows up. Which it does. Help people with tutorials, signpost to groups where there are expert Moderator and Admin teams. Offer help and support. Teach people about scholarships with force free schools. Be the change. Be the reason someone signs the Shock Free Coalition pledge with the Pet Professional Guild. Be the reason dog welfare gets better, be the reason that aversives are extinct. I have a YouTube channel filled with free tutorials https://youtube.com/@miyagisdogtraining I have a Facebook group for support and help from the community and not judgement or fear. Miyagis Dog Training Community Go to Do No Harm Dog Training for support and for a team of Admin and Moderators who can help advise, guide and support you. Where comments are monitored. Extinct aversives not the emotion. References J.C. New Jr., M.D. Salman, M. King, J.M. Scarlett, P.H. Kass, J. Hutchiso. Characteristics of shelter-relinquished animals and their owners compared with animals and their owners in US pet-owning households J. Appl. Anim. Welf. Sci., 3 (2000), pp. 179-201 E.F. Hiby, N.J. Rooney, J.W.S. Bradshaw Dog training methods: their use, effectiveness and interaction with behaviour and welfare Anim. Welf., 13 (2004), pp. 63-69 V. Braun, V. Clarke.Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qual.Res. Psychol., 3 (2006), pp. 77-101 Kristin Buller a et al. (2020) Living with and loving a pet with behavioural problems: Pet owners’ experiences, Journal of Veterinary Behavior. Available at: https://www.sciencedirect.com/.../pii/S1558787820300356... Image description: A man stands with his head down in front of a door frame that is powerfully lit up. Above the door frame is an exit sign. The text in white reads: Are you ready for the light bulb to switch on?
Healing relationships series part two The most common reason that I have heard that people used aversives in the past is because they thought they were doing the right thing. Even to the point of firmly believing that if we had conversed back then, we absolutely would have argued and they still would have stood by their decision and felt that they were in the right. When exploring why, this is because of ego, not being able or allowing themselves to back down and also feeling hurt at someone pointing out what is wrong and how they are wrong. This is the downfall of humans. When humans make mistakes, after thinking about it at a later date, many people don't just admit that they were wrong or acknowledge deep down they knew that they were wrong, but also feel tremendous guilt and shame. Handling human emotions is a delicate balance for me. Whenever something is pointed out, no matter how respectfully and gently, if the person who is on the receiving end feels slighted in any form, it becomes personal, a criticism and a wound. Can we help how others feel? No of course not, we cannot control how someone will receive or interpret information. Take myself for example, as a neurodivergent person I can get it wrong when I speak to people, I'm the first to admit I can misinterpret what has been said, misunderstand, take things the wrong way and am highly sensitive. To the point where I will ask my trusted person(s) for an explanation of whether or not they think that I'm right in what I think or wrong. The people I seek help from always say that it's not normal to be so concerned and then admit you were wrong immediately when I get their interpretation, if I was wrong. Not all people are built this way, I'm built this way. because I have struggled all of my life with being neurodivergent and with trauma. For other people this isn't the case, whether neurodivergent or not people will understand things the way that they want to understand them at that time. Because we are all entitled to freedom of speech, thoughts, etc. But what about dogs? Dogs are a different species to us and I think sometimes this becomes lost. There is too much pressure and expectation put onto dogs and expecting them to essentially be people pleasers. Many human emotions are attached to dogs and this is where relationship breakdowns begin between dogs and humans. There's definitely a shift with the good old millennials, as we are constantly told in psychology blogs, to the point of surveys and research being performed to analyse the data to such an extent that newspapers also repeatedly share these stories. Millenials are the generation known for calling their dogs "fur babies" which makes sense as our generation during the last couple of decades have seen the vast changes within the approach to dogs and the "force free and holistic movement." "Far from being a selfish generation, millenials work hard to provide for their dogs. Dogs provide millenials with routine, a sense of responsibility and a focus away from themselves." (1) Women's health magazine went another step further to understand the financial side behind millenials and their dogs. If you type in millenials and dogs you will also see the obsession with many financial related blogs and news outlets, obsessed with us millennials spending most of our money on our animals. Women's health magazine found that despite the millennial generation being hit the hardest by the cost of living crisis, (especially as we entered adulthood in 2008 we had the financial crash to deal with). Millennials are willing to make financial sacrifices for their dogs and pets. From a survey of 1,000 participants they found that: 63% spend more money on grooming for their dogs than their own hair. 76% would cancel a date or a night at the pub to spend more money on their dogs. Spending on average more than £31 a month on vitamins and supplements for their dogs and £39 a month on average on grooming. Whilst over 45 year olds spend £9 a month on vitamins and supplements and £12 on grooming per month. Fear free vets conducted their own research and also determined that millennials are leading the way with focusing on preventative care for their pets, that millenials are the most educated generation and due to being the generation of technology, heavily research to make informed choices for their pets and if they don't feel that their pets are being treated well they will go elsewhere and take nothing as gospel, even from vets. I feel extremely called out. Fear free vets also went another step further and referred to a study conducted that determined that: 77% of millennials would have a more favourable view of veterinarians if veterinarians would discuss the health benefits of the human-animal bond with them. 74% of millennials would more likely visit their veterinarian if they discussed the health benefits of the human-animal bond with them. 25% of millennials regularly talk to their veterinarian about the health benefits of pet ownership, more than any other generation. Concluding that millenials are not only seeking the best medical care ever for their pets but are seeking bond centred approaches, gentle handling and considerate approaches. (3) So considering the data and the research it makes a lot of sense that I have been discussing with older people about crossing over to be force free from a traditional dog training background. I've also found speaking to clients of my own generation, and clients of generation Z, that many have used aversive equipment because their parents did, not limited to aversives just for walking. They may have also done aversive acts such as rubbing puppies and dogs' noses in toileting in the home, using crates as punishment and so forth. We also know in the dog world, there are aversive trainers across all generations, not just limited to older generations and as a child in the 90's/2k onward I had a book, that I cherished which damned chokers and other aversives, but was outdated concerning nutrition, crates and so forth. So my generation has been lucky in a way in being able to enter a more force free and holistic based dog world as adults. It's also joked across social media and the media that millennials are snowflakes and need mental health days, which now is becoming the norm and not so much a joke anymore, especially post covid. But this desire to respect mental health, promote self care and knowledge is passed onto our pets, especially our dogs. For many of us in the force free/holistic world we can use psychology papers to understand mental health, researchers certainly do and this has created a much wider understanding and knowledge of the needs and welfare of animals. This is how we understand trauma in animals, what causes trauma and how we can heal dogs through trauma informed approaches. Some of us in the dog world are very open about the trauma we may have endured whether this be in childhood or adulthood and through therapies, studying and learning we develop a deep connection and understanding of the trauma that animals can endure due to humans, the consequences, how it affects behaviour and how to understand a traumatised dog in order to help them. This is perhaps why we are so passionate about educating others and sharing how aversives affect dogs in a negative way, why holistic methods are so much better and why holistic approaches for behavioural consults consider the whole dog as an individual to meet the dogs individual needs and positively change their welfare. As a millenial I feel we have a lot to thank the older generations for, as they have paved the way for a force free and holistic movement that we have been able to learn from, expand our learning and apply this to dogs to the point where there is an international recognition in statistics of millennials being the generation to provide dogs with the best lives possible. We also have to remember that it is only through education and showing others why our methods, thought processes and teachings are so much better not only for dog welfare as whole and meeting dogs biological needs but for a better relationship with dogs, to heal dogs from their trauma and aid dogs who are genetically predisposed to fear, anxiety and environmental challenges and that this can not be met with aggression, aversives, pain, fear or intimidation but through a whole being approach, understanding and gentle care and support for dogs. This is the way that light bulbs will switch on for others and we can only support them on their journey to the kinder ways of working and living with dogs. Despite what any aversive based person may say, showing them, teaching them and educating them is the way to turn the light bulbs on. Join me for part three in understanding, living with and loving pets with behavioural problems and how this can be addressed through understanding trauma, what influences environmentally challenged behaviours and how approaches changing to force free and holistic methods will set you up for success, regardless of being a professional or a guardian. References Graham, T. M., Milaney, K. J., Adams, C. L., & Rock, M. J. (2019). Are Millennials really Picking Pets over People? Taking a Closer Look at Dog Ownership in Emerging Adulthood. Canadian Journal of Family and Youth/Le Journal Canadien de Famille et de la Jeunesse, 11(1), 202-227. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.29173/cjfy29454 Davies , E. (2023) Millennials are more willing to spend on their dog’s wellbeing than their own. Available at: https://www.womenshealthmag.com/.../millennials-spend.../ Steve , D. Millennials lead the way in Pet care , Fear free pets . Available at: https://fearfreepets.com/millennials-lead-the-way-in-pet.../ Image description: A man stands with his head down in front of a door frame that is powerfully lit up. Above the door frame is an exit sign. The text in white reads: Are you ready for the light bulb to switch on?
Healing relationships part one I have had the honour of being able to speak to other professionals in the dog training industry recently, who have been in the industry for much longer than I have been. Speaking to different generations is always so insightful and a big learning curve. I have learnt about different perceptions in a different time, before I was born and through my childhood. The expectations and ways that dogs used to be treated and the ways that dogs were trained. It actually still happens now, but is definitely a lot less prevalent. Why? Because so many of these wonderful professionals have crossed over. This means crossed over to a commitment of force free training. To not use any tool that could cause harm, pain or fear (even the threat of fear) to a dog. It makes me sad to listen and I've also learned things I have never considered before such as the ways that particular tools could be used to stop unwanted behaviour. I'm not sharing what it is but the thought never crossed my naive mind. But apparently it's very common for the use of this tool. So what is the upside to this? As well as hearing how things used to be done a certain way, I've also learned how these people asked their dogs for forgiveness, having to forgive themselves, healing trauma in both their dogs and themselves. It can be really hard to educate, educate and throw facts and figures at people, with science which has no opinion, it's just data of the outcome of an experiment. You can't argue with it because it is just data. It's kind of like you can't argue with maths, if you add, subtract, multiply or divide with two fixed figures, there's only one right answer. You may not like the answer but it can't be argued with. I'm very much like this when it comes to friendships and asking for advice. First rule, don't ask me. All of my friends know, you don't ask me for advice unless it's animal centred. Anything to do with human relationships is off limits. I'll always be there for them to support and to listen and to guide them if they ask for it. It's very much the same with dog training, I can share my experiences, how they use that information is up to them. We can put out resources and show them indirectly a better way, a kinder way and deep relationships with dogs via YouTube for example. Such as collaborative care and how wonderful it is to give control back to the dog. This is what works for people and people I have spoken to, by being taught by others, not in their face or calling them out, but by showing them, there is a better way, a kinder way for a healthy and trusting relationship with a dog. When the light bulb switches on this is when the healing can begin, again much like the end of a toxic relationship. You cannot heal from trauma whilst you are submersed in trauma, but once you are out of danger, then you can heal. This is the same for dogs, once someone wakes up and that light bulb switches on, your dog can then predict the pattern of behaviour to expect. For example no more pain from aversives or expectation of fear. Will it take time? Yes. Will your dog trust you instantly? Hell, no! Can you learn to heal together? Hell, yes! If you are interested in joining me on this journey backed by science, I'm going to do a series of blogs on this. I'm going to make it as educational as possible and this isn't just for people who use aversives. It will be beneficial to everyone. Because knowledge is power and with knowledge comes learning, through learning comes healing. Look out for part two next! A white sign reads: Please don’t ask for dog training advice on TikTokPlease don’t go to TikTok for advice.
Please don't go to Tiktok for dog training advice! Don’t get me wrong TikTok is great for learning, I use it as many of you know. It is a great educational tool for learning. What it isn’t, is individual to your situation or your dog, monitored, screened or even transparent. Just like going to the dentist or the vet, dog training and behaviour modification can be costly. But it is also essential to help you and your dog as individuals from highly trained people who are qualified, insured, vetted and assessed by a regulating organisation voluntarily. So if funds are tight where can you go? Do No Harm Dog Training group. How does this work? Join the group like any group, read the rules, agree to the rules and submit your join request. Once you have been approved you can bring your questions to us. Who do you get to speak to? Linda Michaels MA best selling author of the Do No Harm Dog Training and Behaviour Handbook who is also the founder of the group. We have an amazing and highly qualified Admin and Moderator team, who volunteer their time to help people all over the world with their dog training and behaviour questions. With safe, qualified and knowledgable advice, we can also monitor comments from others and keep this a safe place for you to talk and get the help that you need. On TikTok you can be talking to anyone. Especially the profiles with no profile picture or videos. Kids use TikTok. It isn’t a safe place, it’s also not safe for your mental health. Trolls thrive in the world of TikTok, escaping community guideline violations, they are protected by anonymity and they come in droves. Make sure you know who you’re talking to. Many professionals on TikTok have link trees which signpost you to their websites etc. Link trees also cost money so you know how important transparency is to these professionals who use them. Functional rewards for dogs
What on earth is a functional reinforcer. This is so confusing. A reinforcer is a reward. For example a treat, a toy or fuss. So what is a functional reinforcer? A functional reinforcer is a reward your dog chooses. This reinforcer is the reinforcer of all reinforcers, think catnip and cats. Your dogs functional reinforcer could actually be catnip if they do scentwork! Many guardians don’t succeed in the behaviours they want their dog to learn such as recall, because they haven’t yet discovered the power of a functional reinforcer. Functional reinforcers for dogs refer to those that are directly related to the dog’s needs and encourage them to engage in natural and instinctive behaviours. These types of reinforcers are highly effective in strengthening the bond between the dog and guardian, as they help to build a deeper understanding and appreciation of the dog’s unique personality and needs. Being mindful that all dogs are individuals and have individual needs and personalities. This means that no two dogs are going to find the same reward as valuable as perhaps your other dog(s) in the home or a friend’s dog. Finding a functional reinforcer is super easy, you can play the which one game which is super popular amongst guardians https://youtu.be/hONBl1zm7NU Observe your dogs body language as you offer them something, are they excited or are they just complying. Are they chasing a ball and interacting with it or are they just stood watching it? Are they excited to sniff? Are they staying in one spot, frantically sniffing, finding it hard to come away and engage and keeping their nose to the ground. Do they like to watch wildlife such as squirrels? Birds? Do they enjoy people watching? Are they eager to go for a walk or eager to get back home? Do they like to curl up and go to sleep or have snuggles or have a spot in the house they like to retreat to? Do they love enrichment? Games? Training sessions? Or do they love food? What kind of food? Have you tried to offer different kinds of food that aren’t a biscuit? Honestly, when I asked clients if they had cheese, I would have a puzzled look and some would even ask if it was for me! Which is hilarious and we both end up laughing, but jokes aside some guardians simply aren’t aware that dogs can have some human foods. This blog may help you further to understand: The dogs bank account https://www.facebook.com/706073116264853/posts/1816697725202381/?sfnsn=mo Here is a great old post about treats and rewards for dogs https://fb.watch/kLvfI8cZ8N/ Cookie pushers vs the limbic system blog https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=622977069624750&id=100057373879884&sfnsn=scwspmo Some dogs may even find rest and relaxation a functional reinforcer, depending on their needs. Every dog is as individual as humans are, we don’t all like the same things or find value in the same things. Find your dogs functional reinforcer to help you on your unique journey with your dog. You can also check out the podcast I did on the coffee hour, all about play and functionalreinforcers! https://open.spotify.com/episode/7cf7MmB9srWaoZfasbuj6Y?si=KcqduPWoRlKi6yyi5eab5Q My dog won't listen, I need to fix the behaviour now!!!
It is important to heal a dog's emotions instead of focusing on fixing their behaviour because behaviour is often a symptom of an underlying emotional issue. If a dog is exhibiting unwanted behaviour, it usually means they are feeling anxious, stressed, frustrated, or fearful. Simply correcting the behaviour without addressing the emotional root cause may lead to temporary improvement, but the underlying emotional issue will remain. This could result in the dog developing other unwanted behaviours or the original behaviour resurfacing in the future. This is also like someone correcting you for a fear of spiders or feeling anxious about a situation. It isn't humane, so it isn't right to do this to a dog. When you do this, your dog will either go into shut down, learn you are not a support system and feel that they have to escalate themselves. Leaving them in a state of learned helplessness. Healing a dog's emotions involves identifying and addressing the underlying emotional issue. This can be done through learning about healing the emotions, desensitisation and counterconditioning, creating a positive and safe environment, and providing the dog with plenty of exercise and mental stimulation. By addressing the emotional issue, the dog will naturally begin to exhibit positive and desirable behaviours. Ultimately, healing a dog's emotions not only helps them feel better and lead happier lives, but it also creates a stronger bond between the dog and you. When a dog becomes over threshold, it means that they have surpassed their threshold for stress and arousal. At this point, their emotional state has taken over, and they are no longer able to process information and respond to cues. From a holistic perspective, this can be explained by the complex interactions between a dog's physical, emotional, mental, and well-being. When a dog becomes over threshold, their sympathetic nervous system takes over, triggering the "fight or flight" response. At this point, the dog's body is flooded with stress hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol, which can impair their cognitive function, cause physical changes such as increased heart rate and blood pressure, and limit their ability to focus and learn. Their body is also becoming physically drained at this point and something not often considered or widely known is that your dog can become poorly and need medical care due to being in situations which cause their body to go through so much stress. Which is why it is so important to move away from the ideology of fixing the dog and instead healing the dog. To prevent a dog from becoming over threshold, it is important to understand their individual triggers and manage their environment and emotional state. This can involve creating a calm and predictable routine, providing plenty of exercise and mental stimulation, using positive reinforcement training methods, and avoiding situations or stimuli that are known to trigger stress and anxiety. Overall, a holistic approach to understanding and managing your dog's behaviour includes considering their physical, emotional, mental, and well-being as interconnected and vital to their overall health and happiness. By addressing all aspects of a dog's well-being, it may be possible to prevent over threshold responses and help them learn and respond to cues more effectively. Guardians, listen to your dog's communications because it is the only way to truly understand your dog's needs and emotions. Dogs communicate in a variety of ways, including body language, vocalisations, and behaviour. By paying attention to these communications, guardians can develop a deeper understanding of their dog's personality, likes and dislikes, and needs. Some common dog communication signals include tail wagging, barking, growling, displaying teeth, licking, yawning, and avoiding eye contact. For example, a dog that is wagging their tail while their ears are pressed back and their body is stiff may be communicating anxiety or fear, rather than happiness. Similarly, a dog that is growling or displaying their teeth may be communicating discomfort or aggression, rather than being "mean". By learning to read their dog's communication signals, you can better meet your dog's needs and avoid situations that may be overwhelming or stressful for your dog. This can help build a stronger bond between you and your dog, and lead to a happier and healthier relationship. Additionally, listening to a dog's communications can help reduce the risk of dog bites or other aggressive behaviours. By recognizing when a dog is uncomfortable or anxious, you can take steps to prevent a situation from escalating and avoid putting yourself, them or others in danger. In summary, listening to a dog's communications is essential for understanding their needs and emotions, building a strong and healthy relationship, and reducing the risk of unwanted behaviours. Understanding that your dog doesn't need fixing, they need healing. This is the first step in truly understanding your dog and their needs. If you work on healing your dog, the rest will follow. Image description: cream background with Wolfdog puppy asleep, held in the arms of a person with a purple hoody in the centre. To the left is a title underlined which says: fix the behaviour Underneath this is a paragraph: Fixing dog behaviour has an attitude of the dog needs "fixing" creating a negative environment and connection. Under this is a checklist with the title: Fix the behaviour why? The checklist has red crosses in each box. Bothered what others think Don't like the behaviour Don't understand the behaviour There is red underlining underneath this. To the right of the image: The title: Healing the emotion for better welfare with a checklist with green ticks reading: Healing the emotion for better welfare Understanding of species behaviour Understanding the expression of a behaviour Understanding their emotions Healing focused The final text on the bottom right reads: Identify the need of your dog and why you want to "fix" their behaviour with green underlining. Classical conditioning and habituation
What do these words mean and why does my trainer/behaviourist insist I practise at home? The problem isn't at home. If you have a dog who struggles with their emotions in any context, the answer is simple, we change the emotion related to the trigger. How do we do this? Classical conditioning and habituation. If your dog is struggling it's no good trying to teach your dog a new concept outside. Why? Because of the language barrier. You will just be barking cues at your dog, setting you both up to fail, your frustrated, your dogs frustrated and your dog doesn't understand what on earth you're asking. Working indoors means that you can teach your dog a new behaviour. Such as look at that by Leslie McDivett of Control Unleashed https://youtu.be/1kulQ0AGj3w You begin with an inanimate object, why because you want your dog to learn the cue and the behaviour and pair the word with the cue of the behaviour. This becomes a simple way to communicate with your dog with no stressors. You and your dog have begun a conversation. When your outside and your dog is feeling overwhelmed they cannot learn or process anything you are asking right now. They have one agenda and that is to retreat to safety or go into fight mode to protect themselves. Keeping arousal indoors at an optimum level means that your dog is going to be excited to learn. You do this with their functional reinforcer. This is the high value reward your dog communicates to you is their reinforcer, not what you choose. If you don't know here's a test, grab a toy, grab a piece of chicken. See which one they go for, repeat to see if it was a fluke. No food or toy drive? No problem, go to Tug-E-Nuff - https://www.tug-e-nuff.co.uk/ every purchase comes with a free play guide! High quality tug toys which are super high value for your dog, whether learning the mechanics of play, puppy mouthing redirection or predation substitute training. This shop is amazing! Discount code - Miyagis I haven't met anyone yet whose dog has not been obsessed with the fur chasers from Tug-E-Nuff. You can also try troubleshooting games for play. https://youtu.be/jzawF6AA5FA https://youtu.be/aeccuja_pBY https://youtu.be/BXsaVri15zQ https://youtu.be/cP-e2jLHWSg Your dog's functional reinforcer becomes their reward system for your conversation. This is just step one. Then you begin to work on the new cues indoors and open a conversation and move to the garden and so on. Yerkes- Dodson law explains through the inverted graph that we need eustress, good stress to learn simple tasks. Anything beyond that curve of the highest point is where learning cannot take place, too low arousal also means there is simply no arousal or interest in learning. “As the difficulty of discrimination is increased, the strength of that stimulus which is most favourable to habit-formation approaches the threshold” (Yerkes and Dodson, 1908). If you constantly force a dog to face anxiety, for example make them go for a walk even though you know that you will both become frustrated or anxious, they will begin to predict and expect anxiety every time you grab the harness and lead. This means your dog is at the far side of the u graph and unable to learn. We want a bubbly and excited dog ready to go for a walk and engage with the environment, so they can engage in normal behaviours and process their environment whilst remaining in the optimal area of the u graph. We know this from (Mendel et al, 2010). They formed a correlation of discrete emotions and core effect. How the dogs emotional state affects behavioural output. Which then means we can measure the welfare of the dog and begin to compare their emotional state learning indoors vs outdoors. This enables us to then better your dogs welfare through assisting you. We don't want to use operant conditioning where the dog is punished for expression of an emotion or withdrawing something pleasurable because of an emotion. We need to recognise the emotion, meet the need and help our dogs by bringing arousal back down and helping our dogs to have a neutral emotional state to other dogs, traffic or people for example. We cannot do this if we attempt to teach a new behaviour outdoors with no previous conversation and learning. This is why it is so important that we learn about our dog. We learn about what gets them excited and motivated, what makes them calm and sleepy, what drives them and also what causes them to be in a state of distress (bad stress) and unable to communicate. Our learning is developing all of the time as an industry. It's important to learn about your dog, meet their needs, offer them rest and recovery time and work with them within their optimal learning states. Not as and when it suits us. It's also not ok to punish an emotion. This is why we ask you to practise at home, open that conversation, set yourselves up for success. It's a marathon, it's not a race. Enjoy the learning journey and meet your dog. References Yerkes, R.M.; Dodson, D.D. The relation of strength of stimulus to rapidity of habit-formation. Psychol. J. Comp. Neurol. 1908, 459–482. Mendl, M.; Burman, O.H.P.; Paul, E.S. An integrative and functional framework for the study of animal emotion and mood. Proc. R. Soc. B: Biol. Sci. 2010, 277, 2895–2904. https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/3/2/300#B28-animals-03-00300 Image description: inverted U graph. White background. Title: Yerkes - Dodson law in black open dyslexic font. The graph has the title on the left of performance and the bottom line has stress. The colour of the inverted U is separated into: pastel pink and orange with the title over the colours in black open dyslexic font: inactive, laid back, too little stress. The next colour is blue with black open dyslexic font with the title - optimum stress. The next colour is green - to the far side to the right the title in black open dyslexic font says: exhaustion. The next colour in bright pink - to the far side in black open dyslexic font says - burnt out. The final colour is red - in black open dyslexic font the text says - anxiety/ frustration. The text at the bottom of the graph says - Optimum stress is where learning can take place before frustration,hyper arousal or anxiety - before the height of the curve. Second image description is a black and tan and cream infographic. The top is black. In white open dyslexic font the title reads - Classical conditioning - Ivan Pavlov. The next row is tan with black open dyslexic font which reads - Learning of association between two previously unrelated stimuli to change behaviour. The next box is cream and has a bone with the text underneath in black open dyslexic font which says - food then in the centre equals and a golden retriever puppy paying attention with the text underneath which reads salivation. The next cream box is a golden bell, with bell written underneath and then equals in the centre and the golden retriever puppy with his back to the screen with his head over his shoulder looking disinterested. The text reads - no response. The next light tab box has a golden bell and a bone with the text - bell and food then equals salivation with the puppy showing interest again approaching the screen. The final darker tan box then has a golden bell and the text bell underneath, then equals in the centre and the golden retriever puppy facing the screen again, showing interest. Fear and fear relapses in dogs Lots of people don't understand why their happy go lucky puppy becomes fearful as an adolescent and why fearful behaviours suddenly develop without a negative experience. We have discussed this before in previous blogs, as well as trauma incidents that can take place without being aware of the incident at the time. 1.https://www.facebook.com/Miyagisdogtrainingandbehaviouristservices/posts/733493378573118 2.https://www.facebook.com/Miyagisdogtrainingandbehaviouristservices/posts/719448776644245 3.https://www.facebook.com/Miyagisdogtrainingandbehaviouristservices/posts/683802623542194 4.https://www.facebook.com/Miyagisdogtrainingandbehaviouristservices/posts/670293268226463 The mothers experience during pregnancy can affect fearful behaviours developing through unborn puppies, the DNA can alter due to fear, or genetically be passed on trauma. And still a previously fearful dog was selected for breeding. Behaviour has a major genetic component and many traits are both phenotypically and genetically related. Salonen, M. et al. 2020 (1) So when we ask if the parents were seen and how the parents appeared to be in their behaviour, potential puppy guardians are seeing either mother in her own safe home and not in the world and possibly a photo of father or they see both, but again in the safety of their own home. So it can be hard for the guardians to fully understand this information or lack of and correlate their dogs behaviour with that of their parents. This can be distressing for guardians, many guardians feel embarrassed or don't feel equipped to help the dog and feel lost. Many guardians who work really hard with their dog can feel emotional and some even disconnected from their dog, due to feelings of pressure from onlookers or feelings of being overwhelmed. These are all very normal and valid feelings, as humans we can contextualise this and say lovely and supportive things. When we flip this and apply this feeling and reassurance to a dog and say "Hey, I get it, anxiety sucks dude, wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy. Yes, it is a scary world out there. But you've got this and I'm going to support you." But be genuine and not use toxic positivity. Essentially that's what we're doing, we are supporting our dog and validating their feelings. I've actually had deep conversations with my youngest around his anxiety and he's made more progress than myself with my own anxiety! It's OK to have a nervous or fearful dog, it's OK if they relapse, so if they suddenly become fearful again, they are not alone. Many humans can go through fear relapses, myself included after prolonged therapy treatments. So it makes sense that a dog can too. It doesn't mean you have failed, it just means that fear is so powerful that it is life changing as it changes the brain and DNA of a dog and us. Secure attachment, having a loving and secure relationship with your dog goes beyond just obedience. It establishes a bond of mutual trust and understanding between you and your dog, which ultimately leads to a much healthier and fulfilling relationship. Securely attached dogs have been shown to show less fear due to feeling secure in their relationship and of course for rescue and adopted dogs this secure attachment has to be built slowly. Vieira de Castro, A.C. et al. 2021 (2) This is why we encourage guardians to stick with behaviour healing and remedies through learning, I recently said in one of my recent blogs, how we take information from human psychology and apply this to dogs. Here we are again. Researchers found that people with a severe fear of flying by the end of their treatment were able to fly without feeling fearful, however once they stopped attending therapy and had to face flying again, they became fearful again. Craske, M.G. et al. 2014 (4) This can also be dependent upon changes within the environment such as moving home (relocation stress and loss), or the environment becoming stressful and the dog feeling like they cannot escape the stress. In humans we see this too whereas in stressful situations the person feels that they can control slightly and shows less impaired function. Hartley. T et al 2013 (5) This is why within holistic and positive reinforcement it's important that we are careful in how we help to modify the behaviour and address the emotions of a dog who is fearful. When we change the context from the dog being reactive, to let’s break down the emotions and find out what emotion is driving the behaviour we can much better support the dog, reactivity as a label is far too large of a spectrum to label a dog and can be unhelpful. When we fully attempt to understand the emotion, we can better support the dog. Instead of saying “reactive dog” we can say my “dog struggles!” So let’s talk about the methodologies that have been applied to dogs with fearful behaviours, we know that we learn from human psychology and apply this to dogs which means that we as humans have also experienced these methods, within therapeutic settings. We can also reapply what we have learnt from dogs to humans within psychology. We know extinction isn't helpful for humans or dogs overall, exposure therapy can be extremely harmful to both humans and dogs and has been found to typically cause a fear relapse. For example, would you do something that would terrify you for an amount of money? The incentive is the financial reward, not the removal of the fear. As well as being harmful and causing further frustration and emotional distress in dogs and doesn't actually address the emotion of the fear. Extinction can also fall foul to renewal, where many of us say that training in one place such as a board and train facility does not address the fear in the dogs natural environment, so when they go home the fear is renewed because it may have been extinct at a facility away from home. So we see upset guardians who feel even more frustrated as well as the dog as the emotion has not been addressed. You may or may not have heard the term "spontaneous recovery" which is such a misleading term used by psychologists as with the word recovery, we would typically associate this with recovery. This term however means spontaneous recovery of the fear. The human or dogs fear has naturally returned. Because fear is a powerful thing that alters the brain and DNA structures. A great example of this is trauma. Due to dogs also having memories and nightmares just like us they may go through fear relapses due to the memories coming back to them of the training that they went through to become conditioned to the fear. These terms are known as reacquisition and reinstatement. Goode, T.D. and Maren, S. 2014 (6) So what can we do to help? Holistic behaviour modification through healing, focused on helping the dog from a team of professionals to support you and your dog. Coming back to the blog series of "Considering your dog holistically" looks deeply into the team that would support your dog as well as helping them through their biological needs to address emotions. https://www.facebook.com/Miyagisdogtrainingandbehaviouristservices/posts/674992084423248 https://www.facebook.com/Miyagisdogtrainingandbehaviouristservices/posts/675783994344057 https://www.facebook.com/Miyagisdogtrainingandbehaviouristservices/posts/676485464273910 https://www.facebook.com/Miyagisdogtrainingandbehaviouristservices/posts/677148814207575 https://www.facebook.com/Miyagisdogtrainingandbehaviouristservices/posts/678032940785829 https://www.facebook.com/Miyagisdogtrainingandbehaviouristservices/posts/678844610704662 https://www.facebook.com/Miyagisdogtrainingandbehaviouristservices/posts/679682080620915 Guardians can also: 1. Secure attachment: Having a loving and secure relationship with your dog establishes a bond of mutual trust and understanding between you and your dog, which ultimately leads to a much healthier and fulfilling relationship. A secure attachment with your dog means that your dog feels safe and comfortable when they're around you, and they trust you to take care of them. This trust and security leads to a healthier relationship with your dog, as and a secure basis for them meaning they're less likely to exhibit fearful behaviours. 2. Create a calming environment: dogs are sensitive to their environment; therefore, creating a calm environment by reducing loud noises, using calming scents, and providing adequate lighting can help ease tenseness and anxiety, as well as Doggy Enrichment Lands which is a couple of blogs down that prevents dogs from being woken or disturbed by traffic in the home. 3. Nutrition, a healthy digestive system is the foundation of well behaviour. A dog's behaviour is not only controlled by the environment, but also by genetic, cognitive and physiological factors. Miklosi. A, (2014). Physiological factors in turn can be affected by nutrition. Bosch. G, et al, 2007 (7) The brain is full of an amazing communication system and within this communication are neurotransmitters and hormones and both of these components can be affected by the nutrition that a dog receives and when the brain is affected negatively or positively we can see these effects manifest through behaviour. In looking at the dogs welfare this is why it is so important to ensure that our individual dog is receiving the best possible nutrition that they can receive. The gut microbiome is the most important area of looking at the dogs diet as this area is needed to remain as undisrupted as possible, a healthy guy microbiome means that the brain communication system should be working well. When the gut microbiome is affected, the healthy balance is disrupted and many changes can occur such as inflammation, infections and the production of serotonin 90% of which takes place in the small intestine can be affected. Tizard. I. R, et al 2018 If you are concerned about your dogs nutrition, speaking to a nutritionist can really help to identify your dogs individual needs. 4. Use natural remedies: There are several natural remedies for calming dogs, including chamomile, lavender, and valerian root. These can be given as supplements, or used as aromatherapy or in diffusers. Pet remedy is a fantastic natural remedy for fearful dogs and Andrew Hale of Dog centred care is the behaviour consultant for pet remedy. You can go straight to the website here and see exactly how it works, https://petremedy.co.uk/how-it-works/ if you would like to learn more about Pet Remedy, you can send an email directly to gill@petremedy.co.uk 5. Exercise and physical activity: Physical activity and exercise are essential for dogs to maintain good mental health. Playing and walking your dog daily can help release stress and anxiety. When we look at physical activity and play it's important to be mindful that walks are based on sniffafaris rather than a human centred walk around the block or going places that dogs can find stressful such as social gatherings, markets and shows. Physical activity can also be enrichment within the home too! 6. Identify triggers: Identifying the dog's triggers and avoiding such situations may help mitigate fear responses. Rather than subjecting the dog to flooding or working through the behaviour. When guardians view a dogs fear like this, this is disabling the dog and causing the fear to become worse, show signs of shut down, learned helplessness or feel that they have to defend themselves. Working with a gentle and positive approach and focus on healing within a behaviour modification programme is going to be the foundation of helping your dog with their fear and recovery. 7. Integrative support: If the fear is severe, medication may be necessary or supplements. Consult your holistic or integrative vet for appropriate treatment that suits their needs. Integrative and fear free vets have a fantastic understanding of fear and addressing the emotions of the dog and how to help them within a multidisciplinary approach seeing the dog as an individual. Combining a multidisciplinary approach both at home, in your daily lifestyle and working with a multidisciplinary team can guide your dog to feel supported and secure in their attachment to heal the fear. In conclusion, remember that your dog hasn't failed if they do have a fear relapse, it's normal. Remember if you cannot place a trigger or a trauma to identify the fear, genetics can contribute. Work with a certified behaviourist to help you and your dog, remember holistic practitioners focus on a multidisciplinary team for supporting your dog, it isn't about ripping you off by sending you to all of these professionals but it is about helping your dog in the very best way possible to address their individual needs and support them. This will set you both up for success and offer long term support and recovery with less risk of a fear relapse. References Salonen, M. et al. (2020) Prevalence, comorbidity, and breed differences in canine anxiety in 13,700 Finnish Pet Dogs, Nature News. Nature Publishing Group. Available at: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-59837-z Vieira de Castro, A.C. et al. (2021) “Improving dog training methods: Efficacy and efficiency of reward and mixed training methods,” PLOS ONE, 16(2). Available at: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0247321 Hiby, E.F., Rooney, N.J. and Bradshaw, J.W.S. (2004) “Dog training methods: Their use, effectiveness and interaction with behaviour and Welfare,” Animal Welfare, 13(1), pp. 63–69. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1017/s0962728600026683 Craske, M.G. et al. (2014) Maximising exposure therapy: An inhibitory learning approach, Behaviour research and therapy. U.S. National Library of Medicine. Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4114726/ (Accessed: April 23, 2023). Hartley T; Lever C; Burgess N; O'Keefe(2013) Space in the brain: How the hippocampal formation supports spatial cognition, Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences. U.S. National Library of Medicine. Available at: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24366125/ (Accessed: April 23, 2023). Goode, T.D. and Maren, S. (2014) Animal Models of Fear Relapse, Academic.oup.com. Oxford Academic . Available at: https://academic.oup.com/ilarj.../article/55/2/246/642875... (Accessed: April 23, 2023). Bosch, G., Beerda, B., Hendriks, W.H., van der Poel, A.F.B., Verstegen, M.W.A. (2007). Impact of nutrition on canine behaviour: current status and possible mechanisms. Nutrition Research Reviews, vol. 20, pp.180-194. Tizard IR, Jones SW. The microbiota regulates immunity and immunologic diseases in dogs and cats. Vet Clin North Am Small Anim Pract. (2018) 48:307–22. doi: 10.1016/j.cvsm.2017.10.008 Image description: titled if your dog is having a rough time. Light blue background with a spider web of text in white bubbles which reads… Breathe: Calming yourself and breathing can help you to equip yourself to help your dog Evaluate: Evaluate what's going on, any triggers or changes, use a multidisciplinary approach Rest & recovery: Allow them time to rest and recover, depending on the individual dog this can be a few days to a week Seek help: It's OK to ask for help and seek a professional, it doesn't mean you have failed. If needed seek help for yourself too! Make a plan: Forming a plan can be the best way to battle your own anxiety moving forwards Top right hand corner a girl with brown plaited hair cuddles a grey dog. The girl is wearing a green top with orange trousers. In water colour style. The left hand corner has a boy with black hair cuddling a black small dog near his lap. He is wearing a blue green t-shirt and has red trousers and black shoes. The bottom left hand corner is the same style watercolour, with an arm and hand with the flat to the dogs paw which is brown on a side view. |
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