http://www.sunnypawsdogtraining.com.au/

Sunny Paws Dog Training, Mount Ommaney (2026)

06/05/2022

Puppies and adolescent dogs go through multiple fear periods where they are suddenly going to be startled and fearful of things that they previously did not care about. Your puppy will act scared, maybe run away or they may start barking and lunging at what is worrying them. These fear periods typically occur in two windows:

➡ 8-12 weeks
➡ 6-18 months

This is a estimate only. Your puppy or dogs behaviour will tell you if they have entered one.

How you handle these situations matter. You will either be building your dog up, growing their confidence and their trust in you. Or you are going to do the opposite.

☝ If your dog does not trust you to make their situation better they will not look to you for guidance and confidence in times of stress.

With the best of intentions I often see over the top and/or harsh handling that in the long term is going to damage your dogs confidence and their relationship with you. Just because your dog may look like an adult at 12 months does not mean they are mentally. Especially for large breed dogs who won't fully mature until they are around 2-3 years of age. So mentally they are still puppies.

In these situations I often like to think about how I would handle it with a small child.

❌Am I going to pick them up and tell them "aww its ok, its ok, you poor thing"? No.
❌Am I going to smack them on the back of the head and tell them to cut it out and toughen up? No.

Unfortunately I see both of these responses regularly.

✅What you do instead is help them to work through it in a way that builds their confidence and trust in you.

🎳 My favourite way to do this is through play and games!

Depending on the severity of response and the environment I will either stay where we are or add a little bit of distance. Then we play games. My go to is usually our 'Get It' game which is just throwing food to chase and eat. Or I may pull out a toy and play. We want to create a positive association and make it fun. If they can't engage with you, that is fine. Just let them watch from a distance until they are comfortable.

🙎‍♀️ If you are ever worried that your puppies behaviour is abnormal get in touch with a professional trainer.

28/04/2022

🤪 Multidog households are not easy. And sometimes they are out right chaotic. And I've been there... the multidog house of chaos.

It doesn't have to be that way! With some structure, training and clear boundaries things can slowly get better.

👇 These are my key tips to reducing the chaos.

👨‍👦 One on one time with each dog.
Make sure you spend enough time bonding with each dog on their own. Dogs will bond much easier to each other than to humans. This can work against you when it comes to building a solid relationship and training.

🧱 Establish clear boundaries and train.
Write down where all the chaotic points in the house are and prioritise one at a time. For example, rambuctious play in the living room, door dashing, counter surfing etc. Pick one, develop a management plan to prevent rehearsals, come up with a training plan and spend 5 mins a day training. Thats all you need to do. When you start seeing improvements add into the mix the training for the next issue.

🛏 Strong place skill.
Place skills are simply sending you dog to a bed or mat. This has been a life saver in my house as it stops pestering guests for food, allows me to clean the house unobstructed and is something I've used extensively to prevent conflict between dogs when I can see a situation escalating.

🚧 Management (sometimes referred to as structure)
Simply put management is changing the environment or controlling the dog to prevent unwanted behaviour. Crates, xpens, baby gates and leashes are my go to for when my dogs are still learning.

Don't forget habits take time to change. How long it takes you to make meaningful progress is a product of:
⌚ how long your dogs been rehearsing the behaviour (the reinforcement history)
🚧 the management in place to prevent rehearsals
📝 your dogs individual learning ability and history
🤹‍♀️ our skills as trainers

☝ Remember training isn't just happening in the 5 or 10 minute sessions we put aside to actively work on things. Behaviours are being learned and rehearsed 24/7. Get in the habit of paying attention to the good choices your dogs are making throughout the day, mark and reward them.

15/04/2022

Got to meet this beautiful girl Charlie today to work on a few things including our leash walking skills. She is a black German Shepherd and as I'm sure you can tell they are my favourite 😍

With some clearer communication using markers, appropriate motivation and movement this girl was beautifully engaged and walking nicely with her owners 🥰

Charlie's owners have done such a fantastic job with her overall and I have no doubt her walking will improve quickly.

13/04/2022

Boundaries are the rules we set in life with our dogs that we want them to follow. It is important that when we bring a puppy or dog into our home that we think about these and start establishing them from the start.

Some of the boundaries I establish with my dogs include:
❌ No door dashing (all doors in the house through to the doors on the crate and xpen)
❌ No chasing the cat
❌ No stealing food off my plate or off counters (I do allow my dogs to sit next to me while I eat)
❌ No pestering other household pets
❌ No jumping on guests
❌ No intense play in the living room (you can play quietly on your own but any escalation will be interrupted)

👉𝗪𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗲 𝗜 𝗮𝗺 𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘀𝗲 𝗺𝘆 𝗽𝘂𝗽𝗽𝘆 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗳𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗱𝗼𝗺 𝘁𝗼 𝗿𝗲𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘀𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗶𝘀 𝗮𝗹𝘄𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝘀𝘂𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝘀𝗵𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗶𝗻 𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗻 𝗼𝗿 𝗰𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲. 𝗦𝗵𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗮𝗹𝘀𝗼 𝗮𝗹𝘄𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗵 𝗮𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝗺𝘆 𝗰𝗮𝘁, 𝗱𝗼𝗴 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝘃𝗶𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀 𝗜 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗺𝘆 𝗵𝗼𝗺𝗲.

In this video my 12 week old puppy is demonstrating the boundary I have established for the side gate. I have been building this from day 1. This did not happen over night. Initially it was a brief sit and an immediate release as I opened the gate. Slowly I have grown this to now be sit while I open the gate completely and release on her word 'ok'.

☝ 𝗥𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝗯𝗲𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗶𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗶𝘀 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝘁 𝘀𝗹𝗼𝘄𝗹𝘆 𝗶𝗻 𝘀𝗺𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗽𝗶𝗲𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘄. 𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗯𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗰 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗱𝗼𝗴𝘀 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗶𝘆 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗹𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹 𝗼𝗳 𝗲𝗱𝘂𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗲𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗱 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘆𝗼𝘂.

In general for puppies your expectations should be low and the behaviour built slowly.

12/04/2022

I've had my puppy for over 4 weeks now and guess what? We've only had 5 toileting accidents in the house! And the last accident was over 3 weeks ago...

🤯 You want to know the secret? Management! In fact this is the secret to solving most challenges you will encounter over the lifetime of your dog.

❓ So what is management? Management is about removing choice from your dog or puppy if there is a wrong choice they are likely to make.

You do this one of two ways:

➡ changing the environment
🔸putting up baby gates to restrict access to certain areas
➡ structuring them
🔸putting them in a crate or xpen
🔸putting them on a leash

☝𝗜𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗽𝘂𝗽𝗽𝘆 𝗼𝗿 𝗱𝗼𝗴 𝗰𝗮𝗻'𝘁 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗴𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗶𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗱𝗼𝗺 𝘁𝗼 𝗱𝗼 𝘀𝗼. 𝗚𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼𝗼 𝗺𝘂𝗰𝗵 𝗳𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗱𝗼𝗺 𝘁𝗼𝗼 𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗹𝘆 𝗶𝘀 𝘀𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺 𝘂𝗽 𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝗮𝗶𝗹.

They will learn to:
💥 jump all over your visitors
💥 steal food from the counters
💥 pester other dogs in the household
💥 chase the cat
💥 chew and destroy valuable items

‼️ 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗳𝗲𝘄 𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗸𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘀𝗼 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗿𝗲𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗽𝘂𝗽𝗽𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝗲𝘁𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗲 𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗸𝘀 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲𝘀. 𝗜𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗳𝗲𝘄 𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗸𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗹𝘆 𝘆𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝗰𝗼𝗹𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗿𝗲𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝘀𝘂𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿.

I love the first puppy stage because they are soo much fun and with proper management you can too. Don't get me wrong, there will always be moments where you want to pull your hair out but these will be minimal.

👉 𝗚𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝘀 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗯𝗮𝗱 𝗯𝗲𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗶𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘄𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗴𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝗯𝗲𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗶𝗼𝘂𝗿.

𝗡𝗲𝘅𝘁 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗱𝗼𝗴 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗮𝘀𝗸 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘀𝗲 𝘁𝘄𝗼 𝗾𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀:

✴️ How do I prevent this behaviour from being rehearsed?
✴️ What do I need to train my dog to do instead in these situations?

08/04/2022

When you are selecting a dog or puppy to bring into your home you need to research & understand the breed. Dogs are a predatory species & as a result have what is called a predatory sequence of behaviour:

𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝘁 ➡ 𝗲𝘆𝗲 ➡ 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗸 ➡ 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝘀𝗲 ➡ 𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗯-𝗯𝗶𝘁𝗲 ➡ 𝗸𝗶𝗹𝗹-𝗯𝗶𝘁𝗲 ➡ 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝘀𝗲𝗰𝘁 ➡ 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝘂𝗺𝗲

👉 𝘞𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘰𝘨𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘦𝘹𝘢𝘨𝘨𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 &/𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 100𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴.

Some of the most popular breeds of dogs are working breeds. This means they will have amplified traits in this sequence that are going to be present from a very young age & can make them challenging dogs to live with.

Following are some popular breed choices & what we have amplified:

🐶 Border Collies ORIENT-> EYE-> STALK-> CHASE-> grab-bite -> kill-bite -> dissect -> consume

🐶 German Shepherds ORIENT-> eye -> stalk -> CHASE-> GRAB-BITE-> kill-bite -> dissect -> consume

🐶 Jack Russel Terriers ORIENT-> eye -> stalk -> CHASE-> GRAB-BITE-> KILL-BITE-> dissect -> consume

❓ 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗺𝗲𝗮𝗻 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘂𝘀 𝗮𝘀 𝗼𝘄𝗻𝗲𝗿𝘀?
👉 𝘐𝘵 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘸𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵 & 𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘥𝘰𝘨𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰 & 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘢𝘯 𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴.

😵 To add further nuance to this are behavioural differences within breeds based on the breeding lines. Different lines will give variations in drive, arousal, energy & hyper-vigilance to movement. This will impact their suitability in a pet home.

Can working breeds make great family pets? Absolutely... BUT this is contingent on meeting their biological needs.

‼ So if you live a sedentary lifestyle don't get a German Shepherd from military & police breeding lines. Don't get a Border Collie from parents that work sheep all day. These breeds need their mental & physical needs met every day. When there is a deficit they become neurotic, frantic and anxious dogs. This is when we start to see serious behavioural issues manifest.

30/03/2022

𝗔𝗻 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗽𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱/𝗼𝗿 𝗳𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗳𝘂𝗹 𝗱𝗼𝗴𝘀 𝗶𝘀 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗽𝗹𝗶𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗴𝗲𝗿𝘀. 𝗧𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗴𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗰𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗼𝗿 𝗳𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗳𝘂𝗹 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗽𝗹𝗮𝘆.

👉 𝘚𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘨𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘷𝘰𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘴𝘦𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘶𝘥𝘪𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘶𝘢𝘭 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴. 𝘐 𝘨𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘺 𝘯𝘰𝘸 10 𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘬 𝘱𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘺 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘢𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘰𝘳 𝘪𝘯 𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯.

To split you simply move behind a visual barrier and add what ever distance you need. This is where you start to build your positive associations with the trigger using what ever fun but low key activity your dog loves.

When your dog is comfortable you can then introduce the visual component. Depending on the severity of your dogs behaviour this may be in one session or over a number of days, weeks or sometimes months.

In this video you will see Akame:

➡️ 𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘴𝘯𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘰𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘳
➡️ 𝘧𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘻𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘳𝘶𝘯 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺
➡️ 𝘣𝘦𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘈𝘍𝘛𝘌𝘙 𝘸𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘥𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘨𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘥𝘨𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘶𝘢𝘭 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘳

When we came back to the original spot we played some games to loosen her up:

🍖 𝘍𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘺 - "𝘎𝘦𝘵 𝘐𝘵" 𝘨𝘢𝘮𝘦
🏃‍♀️ 𝘗𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘺 - 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘨𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘴
🧸 𝘛𝘰𝘺 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘺 - 𝘵𝘶𝘨

🍽 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘴𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘐 𝘧𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘬𝘧𝘢𝘴𝘵.

As you will see she was comfortable, midly curious and readily able to engage with me.

🤜 𝗗𝗼𝗻'𝘁 𝗯𝗲 𝗮𝗳𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗮𝗱𝗱 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗶𝗲𝗿 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗱𝗼𝗴 𝗶𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗺𝗲𝗱. 𝗠𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝗮𝘁 𝗮 𝗽𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗸𝗲𝗲𝗽𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺 𝘀𝘂𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗳𝘂𝗹.

28/03/2022

It's important when we are trying to build reliable behaviour in our dogs that we take a step back and consider things from their perspective. Sometimes what we think is reinforcing may actually be punishing.

Consider the following examples:

➡ Example 1:
You are on an offleash hike with your dog and you want to practice recalls. So you are calling your dog to you on a regular basis and giving them a pat on the head before releasing them again. Do you think the constant calling back to you for verbal praise AWAY from an enriching environment they don't often get access to is reinforcing or punishing? Too many repetitions from high value activities can be punishing.

➡ Example 2:
You have a dog with incredibly high prey drive, let's say a Jack Russel Terrier or similar. You are out with them, they spot some wildlife and start pursuit. You recall them and when they come back you hand them a piece of food. How do you think that piece of food compares to the act of engaging in predatory behaviour? What if instead of food you engage in a game of chase and tug? Try delivering a reinforcer that more closely mimics the very behaviour pattern your dog was just about to engage.

Strategic use of positive reinforcement to build behavior is:

🤑 𝙫𝙖𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙩𝙮 𝙤𝙛 𝙧𝙚𝙞𝙣𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙘𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩 - 𝘵𝘰𝘺𝘴, 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘺, 𝘧𝘰𝘰𝘥 and food play, 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘣𝘢𝘭 𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘴𝘦

🛍 𝙫𝙖𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙩𝙮 𝙤𝙛 𝙫𝙖𝙡𝙪𝙚 - 𝘤𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘷𝘴 𝘬𝘪𝘣𝘣𝘭𝘦, 𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘷𝘴 𝘵𝘶𝘨 𝘵𝘰𝘺

🎞 𝙗𝙖𝙡𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙞𝙣 𝙧𝙚𝙥𝙚𝙩𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 - 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘢 𝘣𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘯𝘢𝘨

🎭 𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙥𝙚𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙢𝙤𝙩𝙞𝙫𝙖𝙩𝙤𝙧s - 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘷𝘢𝘭𝘶𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘷𝘪𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘥𝘰𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘷𝘢𝘭𝘶𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘦𝘵𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘪𝘵

☝ 𝗥𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿: 𝗿𝗲𝗶𝗻𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗰𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗶𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗱𝗼𝗴𝘀 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗱𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝗶𝗻𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗰𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺.

‼️ A lot of dog training challenges are a motivation issue. Not a stubborn, recalcitrant or dominant dog.

25/03/2022

𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗼 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗲 𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗶𝗲𝗿 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝗽𝘂𝗽𝗽𝘆!

One of the main contributors to puppy frustrations such as toileting in the house, chewing inappropriate items, over stimulated biting and harassing other household pets is too much freedom. This is where crate training or the use of an exercise pen is a game changer! I can't imagine raising a puppy without one.

Benefits of crate training:

➡ 𝘚𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘶𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘱𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘺 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘶𝘯𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘳 (𝘪.𝘦. 𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦, 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘵, 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘥𝘶𝘭𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘨, 𝘵𝘰𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘦).

➡ 𝘐𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘱𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘰 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘷𝘦𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘺.

➡ 𝘊𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘴𝘦𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘬 𝘰𝘧 𝘶𝘯𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘵𝘩𝘺 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 (𝘪.𝘦. 𝘢 𝘥𝘰𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮 𝘰𝘳 𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦).

➡ 𝘚𝘢𝘧𝘦 𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘭𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘢𝘵 𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵.

➡ 𝘗𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘣𝘪𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘫𝘶𝘮𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳. 𝘏𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘱𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘢 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘵 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘰𝘯𝘦.

It is much easier to set boundaries and expectations from day one through preventative methods then it is to undo bad habits in an adolescent dog that has been rehearsing them for months.

👉 𝘽𝙚 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙫𝙚.

Sunny Paws Dog Training

06/05/2022

28/04/2022

15/04/2022

13/04/2022

12/04/2022

08/04/2022

30/03/2022

28/03/2022

25/03/2022

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