#dog training

[elvenferretots]

First Novice leg! I try to share what I can, even if it's not perfect. And this was certainly not perfect. I lost her on the off leash heeling and had to recue. Her performance was a bit flat. But a Q is a Q! And the mistakes show us what to work on next time.

[orcinus-veterinarius]

Learning anything about marine mammal training will make you re-evaluate so much of your relationship with your own pets. There is so much force involved in the way we handle domestic animals. Most of it isn’t even intentional, it just stems from impatience. I’m guilty of it myself!

But with the exception of certain veterinary settings where the animal’s health is the immediate priority, why is it so important to us that animals do exactly what we want exactly when we want it? Why do we have to invent all these tools and contraptions to force them to behave?

When a whale swam away from a session, that was that. The trainer just waited for them to decide to come back. If they flat out refused to participate in behaviors, they still got their allotment of fish. Nothing bad happened. Not even when 20-30 people were assembled for a procedure, and the whale chose not to enter the medical pool. No big deal. Their choice and comfort were prioritized over human convenience.

It’s almost shocking to return to domestic animal medicine afterwards and watch owners use shock collars and chokers and whips to control their animals. It’s no wonder that positive reinforcement was pioneered by marine mammal trainers. When you literally can’t force an animal to do what you want, it changes your entire perspective.

I want to see that mindset extended to our domestic animals.

[nefja]

Saw this as a challenge on Instagram and well

[3liza]

concept I'm rotating in my mind palace: for an autistic person dog ownership and specifically social acceptability training of the dog can be a way of literally externalizing and literally embodying in the Other all the frustration and trauma of not knowing how to behave in social settings as a human. the dog's range of behaviors and expectations is much narrower and easier to systematize. the ease and facility with which the animal-empath/Beastmaster autism subtype (the "Temple Grandin Autists") trains and cares for a dog and creates a socially-acceptable creature is immensely therapeutic to the social shame injury of childhood rejection, while simultaneously acting as a social and physical shield from the judgment of other humans: if there is a dog in the room everyone is looking at the dog and not you, and judging you by the dog's behavior, not your own. this is localized to North America I think and probably mostly for white people, Americans really have a weird and unhealthy relationship to pet dogs but autistic people can really benefit from leveraging it

[refugeed-kim]

YES YES I NEED THIS SIGN IN EVERY SINGLE PARK PLEASE

This is my daily struggle, I had so many arguments with people with off-leash dogs (in a mandatory leash area!!!). Thanks to this behavior I'm struggling with Kim being anxious/aggressive with other females as she often gets involved in unpleased interactions with free females while on leash. And every single time that I ask for the dog to be at least recalled, I'm being called names and insulted of course.

Also 9 out of 10 their dog isn't really that friendly at all.

[darkwood-sleddog]

What the fuuuuck:

I’m sorry but comparing force free dog training to neglect because you aren’t willing to accept that not all dogs are behaviorally stable enough to live with people is so asinine.

The “balanced” folk will literally say anything negative against R+, force free, and other positive reinforcement heavy training methods but always they fail to do anything about actual abuse, heavy handedness, and actual aversive trainers parading themselves around as “balanced” (like I cannot take these folks seriously as balanced until they are actively doing something and speaking up).

My dogs aren’t “force free”, I’m LIMA (Least Invasive Minimally Aversive) trained but I believe heavily in R+ and that if R+ methods are what animal behaviorists are using for tigers, hyenas, and other dangerous non-domestic animals for cooperative care behaviors that this can AND should apply to dogs as well.

Dogs do not languish in shelters because of R+ and/or force free training methods. They languish there because many rescues are hoarding situations, because “adopt don’t shop” has done irreparable damage to people’s perception of ethical dog breeders, because so many dogs in shelters are BEHAVIORALLY UNSAFE for the average person, because we view euthanasia as a cruelty instead of a necessity to reduce behaviorally unstable dogs from society or a kindness from a cruel and scary life. There are worst things than dying. All the “balanced” training methods in the world will not change those things.

[coffee-mage-sans-caffeine]

My wife's service dog in training, Matilda, is trained to be super annoying at specific times of day. This is because my wife's executive dysfunction does not allow her to 'unfreeze' and therefore she gets 'stuck' in places/doing things long after she needs to move on to another task, room, etc. This isn't some arbitrary 'you should only play video games so long' type of thing. It's 'If unattended, my wife will not eat or sleep because moving from one thing to another is very hard'. Eating and sleeping are necessary things for survival, so moving to these tasks is necessary for survival. Matilda has therefore been taught things like 'ten pm is bedtime'. In order to help Matilda with this, her feeding schedule is on a pretty tight timeline as well--this way her internal body cues are lined up with the schedule of the day. For example, Matilda is fed between 8 and 830 pm (usually at about 810 pm, as it works out). She poops at 830 pm after dinner and she will throw a WHOLE FIT if she is not let out at this time. Daylight Savings has Happened to Matilda. She's only just a year old, so she does not remember Daylight Savings last year (she was two weeks old, roughly) and she does not remember the spring time change, either, as she was a fairly young puppy at that time and therefore not trained to a schedule like this. She is BEREFT. We're making her wait an hour for dinner. We're making her wait an hour for bedtime. She knows she needs to go out at 830, but it is not time for her to poop yet, which is BAFFLING. This poor dog. I'm sure she'll adjust in a week or two, but poor Matilda. We need to outlaw Daylight Savings. For Matilda.

[abirddogmoment]

You’ve probably heard it before: “Working dogs need working homes.”

It’s a phrase that gets repeated a lot, especially when a dog is struggling in a pet home. But it ignores the reality that not every dog bred for work is suited to it. Some are too anxious. Some don’t have the drive. Some are injured, aging, or simply not a good fit for the pressures of a working environment. And the truth is, there just aren’t enough working homes for all the dogs who need them.

Right now [in the USA], there are over 8,000 Australian Cattle Dogs and mixes listed on Petfinder. There are 4,500 border collies. Not all of them are cut out for working homes. Not all of them need one. Not all of them would fail in pet homes. And there likely aren't enough working homes for all of them.

If it were true that all working dogs had to be in working homes, how is it that so many are thriving in pet homes right now? Not just surviving. Thriving. Doing scentwork in the city, hiking local trails, learning tricks, competing in sports, building relationships with the people who adopted them. Pet homes aren’t always the problem. Sometimes they’re exactly what the dog needed.

I've said it recently in other posts, but we also see gatekeeping around these breeds. There's a certain appeal, for some people, in owning a dog that’s seen as tough, intense, and too much for the average person to handle. But that kind of thinking doesn’t help the dogs. It creates unrealistic expectations and pushes away the very people who might be willing to learn and do the work.

We also tend to blame pet homes when don’t go perfectly. They’re told they didn’t do enough research, or that they don’t have the right lifestyle. But many of those same homes are the ones stepping up and taking in the dogs who weren’t placed by breeders, who aged out of working roles, or who were surrendered when things got hard. They’re filling the gap in a system that isn’t working well for anyone, least of all the dogs.

That doesn’t mean every pet home is a match for every working dog. Some dogs simply aren’t a fit for certain homes. But that also doesn’t mean there isn’t one of the 8,000-plus heelers and mixes out there who would be a match. With the right support, the right expectations, and a little honesty, a lot of these dogs could succeed.

Dogs bred for work don’t necessarily need a job in the traditional sense. What they do need is engagement. They need outlets for their brains and bodies. They need to move, sniff, solve problems, and learn new things. That might be scent work, trick training, hiking, food puzzles, or play that taps into their instincts in a safe and healthy way.

That kind of engagement can happen on a farm. But it can also happen in a backyard, a townhouse, or a city apartment with someone who’s paying attention and putting in the effort.

Let’s stop saying all working dogs need one specific kind of home. Let’s start asking what the individual dog actually needs and who’s in a position to meet that.

A repost from a suggested page that popped up on Facebook, Wild at Heart Dog Training and Behavior Consulting (x)

[stinkybrowndogs]

Dog training

[elvenferretots]

Are you considering hiring a dog trainer or going to a dog training "academy"? Ask some questions first.

What education have you pursued as a trainer? Do you have any third party qualifications or certificates? Do you learn under other trainers? This doesn't have to be an academy, but a trainer should be open to continuing education through sports, shadowing, or being mentored. Even high level trainers usually learn under higher level trainers or peers.

How many dogs do you typically work with a week? Do you typically work with a variety of breeds? Do you have breed preferences? This gives an idea of your trainer's style and how flexible they are. Some great trainers work with very small numbers, but the answer to this question will often include why.

What are your personal specialties (🚩"just pet obedience" or "manners" with nothing else🚩)? What accomplishments and titles have you achieved with your personal dogs? What third parties do you use to title or certify your dogs? If not, why not? If your trainer is not certifying or titling their dogs through a legitimate organization, it's very likely they have gaps in their training or knowledge they don't see. The exception to this is service dogs, but even a service dog with acceptable public access skills should easily be able to pass all levels of CGC testing. Sometimes with aggression/anxiety rehab dogs, the answer will be "they aren't ready". The follow up question is how long they have had the dog. If you're not okay with your own rehab taking that long, find another trainer.

Dog Training is an unregulated industry. Anyone can claim they're a trainer or a school for trainers. Only their work can speak for itself.

[local-hellhound-steals-spaghetti]

Jfc so many TikTok dog trainers push this idea that giving your dog attention when they ask for it, getting excited when you come home and letting your dog sleep in you bed causes separation anxiety.

It doesn’t. Research has shown that separation anxiety are caused by factors like genetics, trauma, sudden environmental changes, moving house and other usually completely out of control factors.

Your dog is a goddamn social animal. Social sleeping is natural behaviour, big excited greetings is natural behaviour and seeking social support and interaction is NATURAL BEHAVIOUR. Because you have brought a social living breathing animal into your house and you are their social group.

Withholding attention and being unpredictable or conditional about interacting with a social animal makes you kind of an asshole. Sure, you should set boundaries and your dog doesn’t have to live in your skin either, but don’t let unqualified so-called “professionals” shame you for loving your dog how you choose to love them.

Let them sleep in your bed if you want them to, revel in the joy of an excited dog greeting you when you come home, give your dog pats and cuddles when they seek you for them.

And don’t let anyone tell you that giving social support to a social animal is going to cause them anxiety. Because that is not how anxiety works at all.

(I have a Bachelor degree in Canine Science and am a Certified Professional Dog Trainer)

[connorskeepers]

Please if anyone could donate or even reblog if you can’t , Morgan is my Seizure and cluster headache alert dog and she tore her CCL and I could use all the help I can get as I’m limited income (though I’m trying to make full time working happen through social security programs)

[fayeandknight]

As a dog trainer I don't think there's a greater moment than when I help show someone how awesome their dog can be.

This mostly comes from agility training as that's one of my specialties. But I just adore those moments when the person asks their dog to do a thing and the dog goes all in. Especially in the beginning - the person is stunned and proud and giddy. I sing their praises and remind them that this is made possible by all the work they've done to create a good relationship between them and their dog.

I love watching people fall in love/be impressed with their dog.

[abirddogmoment]

It drives me crazy how people will label independent thinking dogs as slow or stubborn. It's a different flavour of intelligence, not less.

[theadventurek9]

Please hold while I scream.

The dog who would shut down and had no resiliency. Who got so stressed with training that he would hide from me. Who would leave training sessions.

Just did his first trial day and got a 199 in Rally Novice and a perfect 200 in Beginner Novice. Both runs done with a wagging tail and confidence. He enjoyed being in the ring and remembered all of his things!