🐾 Teaching your dog this could save their life🐾 Teaching your dog’s behaviours such as call offs or emergency stops could be a behaviour that may save their life. I always like to say it’s better to have a behaviour and not need it, than to need it and not have it. Behaviours around safety are exactly for that purpose. Emergency stops and call off’s are behaviours that I teach and proof thoroughly. I ensure that I (every now and then) test their effectiveness. It’s not something I train every day as it could certainly be disadvantageous to my training overall if the dog anticipates this cue often. But I practice it just enough for it to be strong and consistent. When teaching these behaviours the biggest mistake people make is wanting the final product immediately. This is a behaviour that needs to be taught in steps and built up upon. Starting in lower states of arousal then increasing those difficulty levels in bite sized successful increments. Stop and call off a chase is a behaviour all of my dogs know. Which applies to any and all activities. It’s there incase I ever need it. Does your dog know any emergency cues? #dogtrainer #dogtraining #malinois #obedience #stop

🐾 Are you unintentionally making an unwanted behaviour problem worse? 🐾 We humans are often so focused on behaviour ’problems’ that we forget to consider the ‘why’? Focusing on the problem only won’t change the what caused the behaviour to happen in the first place. That’s where we focus on our ABC’s…and not the fun children’s song. A: Antecdent- the thing that happens before a behaviour B: Bevaviour- what behaviour is being shown C: Consequence- what is the consequence of that behaviour. Only focusing on B will never change the driver of the behaviour. Focusing on A does. Focusing on A allows us to teach and alternative B which ideally still have the same impact as C. The dog still gets what they want in that moment, except by displaying an alternative preferred behaviour in its place. It’s much simpler said than done for sure. But instead of just anticipating situations presenting themselves. Create them so you can work directly on that behaviour change from a point that works in your advantage. #dogtrainer #behaviour #reactivedog #dogtrainingadvice

🐾’Reward based trainers let dogs make poor choices and only reward good ones’ 🐾 Using rewards in training isn’t simply about throwing treats. If that was the case no behaviour problems would exist nor would there be a need for trainers. HOW you implement those rewards is the most important. It’s not about letting the dog do the unwanted thing then reward when they stop. Otherwise we just create patterns of behaviour. Understanding what the antecedents are in any behaviour training is vital. What triggers this behaviour and why. In this example this dog is very fearful of people. People are the antecedent. Why? He is extremely anxious. Knowing these two things gives me a starting point. He has learned that decreasing space and barking makes scary things go away, but why doesn’t it make him feel more confident then? Simply because it doesn’t always work and when he is in this state of mind he is rehearsing and confirming his fears every time and has learned to bark, shout and decrease space is the way to get the thing to go away. But my job is to show him there are also other options, ones that are not going to come naturally to dogs that have been forced into uncomfortable situations both deliberately and accidentally with leashes. I don’t let him have every choice on the table. But all the choices I offer are ones that are beneficial to him developing confidence which as a bi-product creates predictability around strange people and allows him to feel less afraid of people each time. Many people attempt this type of method but employ poor training practices. It’s not easy, it’s a skill. Understanding body language is vital too. Also a skill. Poor training practices will not change behaviour. It runs the risk of making it worse, even when using rewards if incorrectly timed, applied and distributed. #dogtrainer #DogTraining #reactivedog #anxiousdog #fear

🐾 Why life is harder for some border collies than others 🐾 Border collies have been bred for centuries to work alongside their farmer to collect sheep and herd them back home. These ‘gathering’ genetics are extremely powerful and can be seen expressed in a very young age. It’s also these very same genetics that makes them very biddable but also struggle when things no longer make sense or are predictable. They thrive in patterns, routine and stability. They also require a place for these genetics to be expressed. Should owners fail to understand how to fulfil those genetics appropriately, border collies will find other ways to meet those needs. Especially in chaotic environments where movement is everywhere, such as urban environments. This constant chaotic movement will activate those genetics. So before getting frustrated at your border collie, ask yourself this. Are you giving appropriate outlets for those needs? How old is your dog? What type of environment do you live in? How to you mentally and physically stimulate your border collie? #bordercollie #reactivedog #reactivity #dogtrainer #dogtraining