Dog Sports

Posted on May 14, 2013 by katarina
Probably the best dancing routine I have ever seen, the quality isn't great but prepare to smile.

Probably the best dancing routine I have ever seen, the quality isn’t great but still worth watching. Click the picture and prepare to smile.

There are so many sports available to dogs and their owners these days. You and your dog will probably do best at the sports that use your dogs’ natural bred talents, the best part of this is that your dog gets to do what he absolutely loves which will help make him much easier to train and live with. Often, dogs who have a job are much more content and easier to manage.  Check out the list below for more information on some of the more popular sports and find one for your dog. Continue reading →

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Posted in Becoming Dog Savvy | Leave a comment

Shutdown

Posted on April 28, 2013 by katarina
The best kind of shutdown

The best kind of shutdown

Dogs become distracted just like us when something particularly good or scary is around. They can get totally caught up in a moment where everything else simply disappears, us included, this is called shutdown. There are many different degrees of shutdown from mild distraction right to off the scale reactivity. Understanding how to recognise shutdown and work through mild distractions will help you manage your dog more effectively.

Shutdown is characterised by intense focus on the distraction, the dog will usually be exhibiting the following behaviours. Continue reading →

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Shops And Cafés With Our Dogs Part II

Posted on April 14, 2013 by katarina
Dogs I photographed in Split, Croatia.

Dogs I photographed in Split, Croatia.

In part one of this series I focused on the fact that some dogs do not enjoy visits to the café and being tied in front of shops, in these cases such activities often only serve to perpetuate poor behaviours and fears. If you would really love to have your dog participate in such excursions with you they need to be adequately prepared.

Teaching your dog to tolerate these activities begins with a strong foundation of socialisation. If your dog is a rescued dog who has not received appropriate socialisation you should begin with basic puppy socialisation training. Continue reading →

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Shops And Cafés With Our Dogs Part I

Posted on April 1, 2013 by katarina
Dogs left unsupervised are at risk. This dog is clearly not comfortable with me approaching, lucky I know enough about dogs to stay away, but the next person may not.

Dogs left unsupervised are at risk. I can see this dog is clearly not comfortable with me approaching, but the next person may not see what I can see.

Our dogs love us so it stands to reason that they would want to engage in as many activities with us as possible right? Wrong. Many dogs struggle with the expectations we place on them by taking them to certain places we find enjoyable and assume they would enjoy too.

Activities that include visiting the café and being tied up outside of the shops (or other places) can all be forced on a dog. Quite often dogs are taken to such places to ‘kill two birds with one stone’, a person can get some of their jobs done while at the same time taking the dog for a walk. Problems occur when a dog Continue reading →

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Is Your Dog Playing or Fighting?

Posted on March 17, 2013 by katarina
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Make sure you allow your dog to spend time with other dogs who play ‘by the rules’

When dogs play they are engaging in mock combat and there are certain behaviours that dogs use to tell each other that what they are doing should not be taken seriously. Dogs are usually aware of these signals but we are not and some people mistake dogs for fighting when in fact they are playing. Let’s look at how to tell the difference. Continue reading →

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