The Key to Effective Counterconditioning to Help Fearful Dogs

One of the most important techniques available to us, particularly when working with fearful and reactive dogs is counterconditioning. Doing it correctly means the dog’s response to the thing that is worrying them changes from a negative reaction to a positive one. Doing it incorrectly will either not improve the situation or could even make the situation more complicated.  

The Secret to Successful Socialisation

If you have added a puppy to your family at any point in the last few years, the chances are that you have seen something like a ‘socialisation checklist’. A whole collection of different objects and long lists of types of people guardians must introduce puppies to as soon as possible, beginning immediately on getting them home. However, does sticking to these types of lists guarantee that a puppy will grow up to be a well-adjusted and well ‘socialised’ adult dog? To consider this question we must start by asking another.

Pick Out Positives to See Your True Progress

 

I have never been a believer in sharing only the good when talking about life with my dogs, my complex and sensitive ‘reactive’ boy most of all. He has been doing really well in the last few months, and I probably shouldn’t be surprised that we ended up having one of ‘those’ walks last week.

‘Those’ walks can happen to all of us, no matter how knowledgeable and experienced we may be. We can do our best to avoid getting close to triggers but, in all honesty, as soon as we step out into the wider world, there are factors that are beyond our control. This happened to us the other day, and resulted in Finn having a mini meltdown.

Because We Always Have is Not a Valid Reason

I was reading a post the other day on empathy and consideration in dog training, following the growing movement towards recognising and acknowledging the emotional capacity and experience of dogs. I’ll admit it is something I have become passionate about myself, especially since encountering a dog who has such a need for the people around him to understand how he is feeling in any given situation. This particular dog’s needs have set me to learning how best to support and work with dogs, and discovering the ways that give dogs the best and kindest experience of life with us.

Behaviour Suppression vs Behaviour Modification

We see posts from time to time (ok, far too often in reality) from the ‘balanced’ trainers, the ‘pack leader’ and ‘alpha’ theory followers. These trainers frequently say things about humans needing to be the boss in the household or their dogs are going to dominate them. They make glib comments about using ‘all the tools’ available to them and that their methods work, and work fast.

But do they? Do they really?

The Privilege of Trust

I have talked before about how in some ways my reactive dog has been the best thing to ever happen to me. I owe my current career to a complicated, complex, sensitive soul, who has needed me to learn (and keep learning) as much as I possibly can about dogs. I have talked before also about the emotional impact that living with and loving a reactive dog can have, the things that become tricky because they take so much more thought. It’s safe to say that, over the course of my writing, I have mentioned both the ups and downs of life with a dog who needs so much more from the people around him.

The Magic of Management

Something I’m sure my fellow canine professionals will no doubt hear a lot from clients is ‘How do I train my dog to stop…’ or ‘How can I train my dog to not…’ Often these things are normal and natural dog behaviours that don’t really fit in to human societal expectations of how a dog should behave.