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This is Luna (and her mom, Gaby). Luna is a bit leash reactive and she's also just VERY easily distracted while outside. She LOVES exploring. She's also VERY strong and prone to pulling when on her leash. That's a tough combination and it can make walking her hard. Y'all know I'm a HUGE advocate for letting dogs sniff and explore as much as they want. That said, we do occasionally need our pups to walk nicely on leash, which they need to be taught to do. But Luna's reactivity and near-constant desire to explore make that hard. So what you're seeing here is an exercise I do with easily distracted #dogs. What I did was tell Gaby to start walking with Luna and then just occasionally change direction with no warning. No yanking or tugging on the leash. Just changing direction and getting Luna to follow. And of course, Gaby rewarded Luna for checking in and following her because, as I tell my dogs all the time, reinforcement drives behavior. The idea is that by making the walk unpredictable - rather than your standard walk in a line/turn/walk in another line/turn/rinse/repeat walk pattern - it helps Luna learn to focus on Gaby. That's important because if she's focused on Gaby, she's not as focused on the world around her and there's less pulling. And as you'll see, Luna absolutely CRUSHED this exercise. She's just laser focused on Gaby and we were in Humboldt Park. It's one of the biggest parks in #Chicago and there were a LOT of distractions out and about. If you've got a dog that pulls or is distracted on walks, try breaking up the routine a bit. I bet you'll find it helps! #DogTraining #DogBehavior #LeashWalking #ReactiveDog #HumboldtPark
I've extolled the virtues of chewing often and with much gusto in the past. And that's what I'm going to do again. Look at Sarabi enjoying that @Benebone! She's really going to town on it. And it's really wonderful. Chewing is great for a few reasons. First off, it's really relaxing and that's why I was so glad Sarabi enjoys that toy. She's been doing great as our foster, but it's still a new, strange situation for her and that can make any dog nervous. So the fact that Sarabi was able to really lay into that chew toy and calm herself down is great. But there's more. For most dogs (and especially for Sarabi), chewing is a great form of #enrichment. Oh yes, I'm back on my #CanineEnrichment BS. Sarabi LOVES to explore the world with her mouth. She'll put anything in her mouth - food, sticks, rocks (seriously, a heavy rock she found in our yard her FAVORITE toy), toys. She loves tasting and different textures. And when dogs get to engage with the world that way, it's really great for their brains. And finally, there's the fact that chewing on toys is an appropriate behavior for her mouth. Because Sarabi likes to engage with the world via her mouth, it means she often wants to put her mouth on things it shouldn't be on - namely me and my spouse. I talk a lot about meeting dogs' needs. And that's what this toy is doing. She has a need to use her mouth. But we don't want her to put her mouth on people. So how do we meet that need? Give her something APPROPRIATE to put her mouth on. By doing that, she gets to use her mouth how she wants and my spouse and I remain un-chomped. Long story short - if your #dogs want to #chew, let them chew. But give them appropriate things to chew on. #Chewing #DogBehavior #DogTraining #FosterDog #RescueDog
This is Sarabi. My family and I are fostering her for the Anti-Cruelty Society. She's a total lovebug. Five months old. Not housetrained. A total goober. But so very sweet and softer than velvet. And she loves playing with her food. Mealtime is one of my favorite times to incorporate #enrichment into dogs' lives. Sarabi here is enjoying her breakfast out of one of my favorite toys - the #Kong Wobbler. We feed her half of her breakfast out of the Wobbler and the other half out of a slow-feeder dish. Even though only half of her meal comes out of the Wobbler, she spends 15-20 minutes trying to get it all. Even with the slow-feeder dish, she wouldn't spend that amount of time trying to get it all. So it really slows her down and guess what? She loves it! She loves slapping it around and getting all the little bits out of it. She loves that it makes noise. She loves that she can spin it and pounce on it. It's fantastic! Enrichment is one of those things that is so good for your #dogs and is so easy to incorporate into your daily routines. It's an easy way to work their brains and relax them. We should all be doing more of it with our #pups. Long story short - yay enrichment! #CanineEnrichment #FosterDog #GreatDane #GreatDanePuppy #GreatDaneMix #RescueDog
Holiday gatherings can be overwhelming for your #dog. So here are a few tips to help your #pup feel comfortable and safe while people are over. #Dogs #DogTraining #DogBehavior #Christmas #Hanukkah #Holiday #HolidayParty #HappyDog
#Dog training is a process. You don't show a dog something and then all of a sudden they just get it. And above all, progress is generally neither quick nor linear. That can make it hard for you - the person or people who live with your dog - to see improvement or progress. That's why you need to notice small victories. If you notice those, the whole process will seem less frustrating. #DogTraining #DogBehavior #BigWagsChicago #chicagodogtrainer
Ok, so I've been thinking a lot about the importance of regular #vet visits. Mostly because Chester's had some health worries of late that I never would have discovered if not for his regular vet visits. He's fine, by the way. Anyway, long story short - make sure your pets get their regular vet visits.
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