How to impress your (canine) physiotherapist

Summer (Flat Coat Retriever) and Clare recently inspired their fab physiotherapist to dig out her own clicker...

Summer has recently had to start doing some physio exercises (nothing serious to worry about!), so we’ve been working with an amazing new physiotherapist  Frankie from Yorkshire Animal clinic, while our usual physiotherapist Hannah (Theakston Physiotherapy Services) is on maternity leave. 

Frankie has been giving us some specific homework exercise to work on, these exercises include asking Summer to put her feet on a variety of different objects and having her move or change positions. 

Summer absolutely loves doing her physio exercises, and not just because they involve getting lots of treats (though I’m pretty sure that is a significant factor!), putting her feet on different object and moving while she is on them is something Summer has practised since she was a puppy, so for her she’s just playing dog parkour games. 

When Summer was just over a year old, back in July 2018, we attended a Canine Parkour workshop run by our very own Sian. Summer learnt lots of skills that have come in super handy for our physio exercises.

• Two feet on
•  Four feet on
• Confidence on unstable surfaces
•  Self-control  
• Feet in objects 

We think Parkour is not just a great activity for having fun with your dog (which it totally is) but is a really useful way to build your dog’s confidence, in ways that might not be apparent straight away! 

Physio often asks our dogs to move or stand in unusual positions, make use of neglected muscle groups, and cooperate with some pretty weird requests.

Voluntary participation is super important!

Don't forget we're still looking for the best multi-dog Parkour Picture to use as the WCC FaceBook cover - post your submission here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/WellConnectedCanine/ 

Happy posing,

Morag & Clare for Well Connected Canine

What’s going on in WCC Land? 


Weekly classes

Next start date is Wednesday19 Feb 2020 last available class date for three months!

• APDT Good Companion class at 18:30 2 spaces

• APDT Good Companion class at 19:30 1 space

Workshops & Activities

Social Skills for Dogs That Struggle are running in smaller groups, more often! See all your options to the end of March, there's at least four sessions per month now

• Social Skills (click to book)

Parkour really is the activity for all occasions and we have a brand new Parkour Challenge in the Wild workshop in February

• Parkour Skills: Outdoor Adventure: Sunday 23rd February (click to book)

Sniffing School - Getting Started

The short workshop will help you and your dog to sniff together like professional detection teams. Your dog will choose from a food scent or a specially scented toy while you learn how to harness that incredible snozz. Core handling skills, individual feedback and support - there's no better way to spend a Sunday morning!

• Scentwork Foundations: Sunday 23rd Feburary (click to book)

Parkour Variety Pack Challenge

Just for a wee bit of fun, this week I’m inviting you to post your pictures of multi-dog Parkour poses.

You can see Laird demonstrating a 2-up, Freya sitting on the same object, and Bronte sitting on a different manhole cover to the side.

I was trying to get Freya to stand rather than sit for a real variety pic, but it took all my time to keep Bronte from wimbling off!

While Parkour is great for building self-control, proprioception and more, it’s also perfect for those of us struggling to get more than one dog in the same photo.

Don’t worry if you only have one canine in your family, why not take the challenge with a friend or meet up with another Well Connected Canine and their person (feel free to use our FB group to make contact).

The best picture will become the group cover pic for February, so get snapping and submit your entries to the FB group.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/WellConnectedCanine/

A joyful update on the GWP who loves to hold onto things

Laird’s love of holding, chewing and sometimes eating things has been a wee bit of a challenge not least because of the sheer size of his jaws. Clare has been very patient with Laird (and me) in the Gundog Games workshops, and we’ve both had to think in new and interesting ways.

Key challenges

• Laird can and will eat things rather than give them up, and will often eat things just for fun so even ignoring him isn’t always a safe option 
• Laird loves food and toys about equally, and he loves them both A LOT, which makes for lots of conflicted feelings if we try to use one to swop for the other 
• Laird has previous experience of being made to give things up, and is definitely too big for that to work now, and he knows it 
• Laird has previous experience of being bribed or distracted to give something up, so is extra suspicious of being offered something when he has an item in his mouth 
• Laird’s mouth is so big (really!) that if we play games where we reward him for dropping the toy, or throw food near the toy, he often just ends up loosing the cheese or sausage in his jowls. 
• And then when he drops his head to pick up the toy, the food falls out onto it – cue panicked eating and holding of toy at the same time…

It’s fair to say we’ve worked through most of the normal solutions, without really feeling like we were making consistent progress.  Until Clare had a moment of genius. She will tell you it’s nothing of the sort, but I’m convinced! 

Dog training is all about figuring out what our dog really wants, deciding if we can safely give them access to it, and using it as a reward.

There’s no point offering me Xmas cake as a reward for anything, because I don’t like fruitcake and despise marzipan…..

Laird *loves* to play tug games.

But for all the reasons listed earlier, using food rewards as part of tug games hasn’t worked that well for us.

What we have worked on is Laird realising I will let go if he tugs too hard (ouch!), and that he needs to push the toy into my hands to restart the game (no grabbing by me).

So Clare’s brilliant idea was

• Play tuggy as normal, and then pause the game. 
• I stopped interacting and tugging. 
• As soon as Laird responded by easing off his pressure, I said his marker word and then played. 
• Repeat ad infinitum. 

We’re looking for moments where Laird chooses to loosen his grip on the toy, marking it, and rewarding with another round of tug – because that’s usually what Laird wants more than anything.

The proof is in the pudding as they say, and we had no idea if it would work.

Pretty quickly it was obvious that we were getting longer pauses, and then Laird started to release the toy (no cues are being given!).

I’ve played around with the ideas, but truthfully not as much as I planned to.

And then this afternoon Laird snuck into the kitchen and stole one of Bronte’s old training toys.

Sheepskin on a bungee with a tennis ball – that really is the holy grail.

My current meditation practice is all about turning difficult situations into opportunities to practice, so I took some deep breaths and in a cheery voice asked Laird if he wanted to play….

Ten minutes later the toy was still intact.

Laird had played beautifully, and chose to give the toy up several times.

When we finished and put it away, there was no jumping or snatching or grumpiness.

I am so proud of my big lad, and so grateful for Clare’s suggestions.

What have I learned today?

• Go back to basics, and listen to the dog in front of you 
• An outside perspective can and will help you make progress 
• Be grateful for the training opportunities as they arise, no matter how annoying the timing! 

Don’t forget to send in your Parkour Variety Pack pictures before the end of January,

All good wishes

Morag

What’s going on in WCC Land? 


Weekly classes next start date is 19 Feb 2020
 

• APDT Good Companion class at 18:30 FULLY BOOKED

• **extra** APDT Good Companion class at 19:30 Book here (max 4 places)

Workshops & Activities

Gundog Games workshops with Clare run monthly AND you can buy three workshops at a discounted rate, so long as you use them within 6 months

First session for 2020 is Sat 25th Jan at 13:30
 

• Games for Gundogs Book Here
• Games for Gundogs Multibuy Gift Certificate: Buy multi session certificate here

Social Skills for Dogs That Struggle are running in smaller groups, more often! See all your options to the end of Feb, there's at least four sessions per month now: Book Here

Parkour really is the activity for all occasions and we have an introductory session in January plus a brand new Parkour Challenge in the Wild workshop in February
 

• Parkour Fundamentals: FULLY BOOKED
• Parkour Skills: Outdoor Adventure: https://app.acuityscheduling.com/schedule.php?owner=13187434&appointmentType=12264316

When is your puppy not learning?

Hey, it’s Clare, I’ve taken over the puppy blogs!! 

I’m going to use my experience, what the research shows us and input from our amazing clients to give you regular tips to help you with raising your puppy or preparing for a new addition. 

 Question: When is your puppy not learning? 

 Answer: NEVER…even when they are asleep their tiny brains are processing everything they’ve just learnt. 

 What does that mean for you as your puppy’s guardian? 

•  It means you’ve got to plan ahead and know what you want your puppy to learn, if you want them to greet people with all four feet on the ground you need to know how and when you're going to practice 

• You'll need good management strategies, remember your puppy is learning all of the time, make sure it's the stuff you do want them to learn. 

• You’ve got to know what floats your puppy’s boat, you need to be able to reward them for making those good choices 

Week 3 in our Puppy Foundations class is all about helping your puppy to learn good manners. One of the biggest problems new puppy owners bring to class is that their puppy wants to jump up at people to greet them and they would like their puppy to keep 4 feet on the ground, because it’s more polite and much safer! 

In last week’s class Juno the Labrador puppy was learning that she was much more likely to get attention or food rewards if she sat in front of people rather than jumping up at them. While her dads were learning how to manage situations so that Juno wasn't practising the unwanted behaviour.

Calling all Puppy Class graduates...


Are you a recent puppy class graduate and keen to discover your pups hidden talent? Could they be a Super Sniffer? a budding Agility Addict? a Parkour Ninja that loves climbing on things? or a Canicrosss Champion? 

Our 10 week Canine Activity Foundation Class gives you and your dog an introduction to a variety of different dog sports, teaching you some of the key skills required and discovering what you are going to enjoy doing together. 

 Classes start on Monday 21st January at 7.30pm 

 Book Canine Activity Foundations  

Having trouble with manners, recall or lead walking? 

Our three week intensive might be for you! 

These short focused courses allow you to practice on the one thing your dog struggles with, so rather than trying to learn lots of new skills all at once we'll just give you what you need to work on the main thing you need help with. 

 Book your class  


Happy Training 

Clare 

"Hi Clare, I need to go into hospital today, can you look after Laird for a couple of days?"

"Hi Clare, I need to go into hospital today, can you look after Laird for a couple of days?"

Those words initially filled me with dread, not because I don't love the giant GWP goofball that is Laird, but because I didn't know how Spencer, my reactive German Shepherd, would cope with a strange dog in the house. 

"Yes, of course, that's fine, no problem" 

was my response, though inside I was slightly panicking!!

I knew my other  dogs would be fine, Poppy and Summer would just ignore him and Scout would just want to follow him around, imagining he was herding him. 

Spencer was my big concern, he's fine meeting tiny puppies but introductions to new adult dogs are done over several session usually taking a few months. 

I'm pleased to say that all my panicking had been for nothing and Spencer coped amazingly well with his new giant cousin, even having a few sneaky sniffs here and there! 

And here's the proof by day 2!

Spencer made me feel very proud of how far he has come and that all our hard work has paid off!

One of the things that really helped our training was being able to practice our skills in  real life situations, having set-ups that allowed us to progress and build Spenders confidence in a safe environment.

Clare and the slightly less scaredy GSD Spencer

Rehab Sessions

Our Rehab sessions give you the chance to practice your skills around other dogs in a safe environment, with additional coaching and support. 

Choose from Tuesday afternoon or Sunday morning sessions, in York (with Morag) or South Cave (with Clare)

*NEW* Scentwork for Reactive Dogs    Sat 2nd February 2019

Does your dog struggle to be calm around people or other dogs? 

This half day workshop introduces scentwork and how it can benefit your dog, including practical coaching, individual coaching and looks at how you can incorporate searches into your training and walks. 

Held at the Paw Park, Sand Hutton, York.  Please note, dogs will need to be able to settle in cars when not working.


Book Sniffing School for Reactive Dogs