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Training Tips and Guides

Dogs bite. That is a fact of life. This guide explains why and what you can do to make sure your dog has good mouth manners.

Safety on the trail, whether you are running, walking or riding a bike. This guide talks about how to protect yourself from dogs who may present a problem.

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This is a short, but very important article about how stresses can build up in your dog, just as they do with you. Keep your eyes open for signs of trigger stacking in your pets.

Very good article on dog behavior, development and hand sign training. If you are experiencing any behavioral issues with your dog, this article can be a big help.

Before you take your dog to the park, learn the proper etiquette, know how to see signs of danger or stress and keep your dog, other dogs and people safe.

This is a PSA.

Your dog does NOT have to be social to be happy!

I specialise mostly in dog to dog reactivity. I adore working on our nervous, fighty, bitey, spicy dogs and I have two of my own who can be a little spicy when they want (the other is a clown who wouldn’t know spicy if it punched her in the face). I ask many questions at an initial consultation but possibly the most important one is ‘what are your long term goals with your dog?’. Invariably this is replied to with ‘I want my dog to play with other dogs’ or ‘I want my dog to be able to meet others in my busy local park without being aggressive’. This is fine and for a select few a very attainable goal, but this is, in reality, a super low percentage.

A more realistic end goal is to be able to pass other dogs calmly, to be able to take your dog to busier places and them cope with it (emphasis on the word cope, we can’t always teach them to enjoy), to be able to recall your dog from others etc etc but ultimately to teach your dog to ignore others, and not meltdown or bite if an unfortunate situation arises such as being approached by another dog. The goal of your dog playing with others I’m sorry to say is a selfish goal.

So, how do you then make your dog happy?? By doing more of what they love. That means sports such as agility, scentwork, flyball, schutzhund, IPO, tracking, mantrailing, tricks, heelwork to music etc etc etc.

So I offer you this idea. Instead of training your antisocial dog to play with others, teach them to ignore what they don’t like and substitute your desires for your dog to be your perfect dog and instead consider what they may consider a perfect life.

Sponsored by;

Dog selective Elsie who would rather most dogs left her alone so she could play more Agility.

Dog selective Trevor who loves some close friends but would rather do obedience and scent detection.

Dog social clown Peaches who would still rather do tracking.

Dog social Jac, the rare percentage who WOULD like to play with all the dogs

Saving Dogs 4 Paws at a Time has developed training guidelines for all of our rescued dogs. This is document describes our training requirements and methods.

Bringing a new dog home? This proven, step-by-step guide will help you to make sure your dog is not over stressed and is comfortable with you, your family and friends and other pets in your home.

Do you have trouble getting good pictures of your dog? Take a look at these tips from Saving Dogs 4 Paws at a Time's photographer.

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