I'm addicted! Frisbee Freestyle RocKS!

It's so much fun especially when my pups are the ones who come up with inspiration for new tricks!

I'm hoping others in Squamish will want to join our little club, just for fun!

I've got your back

I'm always on the look out for behaviours which are kind and respectful to reinforce. One important behaviour that I see all too many people overlook is the "look away".

The second I see one, I'm always checking to see what the other dog/person does in response to it. If there's any indication that they're not going to respect it, I intervene and try to time it so that the sender of this "look away" is reinforced for not following through with a more overt display. At the same time, the receiver also is reinforced for not pushing the interaction further.

The "look away" is one of the benevolent signals that should be respected. It can be as subtle as the eyes flicking away in the opposite direction or as overt as the complete head turning away.

Here's my own crew doing a great job....

Keegan my Aussie is so cheeky but from day one, I knew as a puppy that he'd grow to be 4times George's size so I have always been around to reward being respectful and it's paying off. Kee still has some growning up to do but atleast he's on the right track. I think it's sweet to see him give it his best shot...but even sweeter to respect another dog's request for space.

Holding something

Inspired by Sylvia Trkman's shout out for videos on variations of "holding" an item. How canine/people teams problem solve. I thought it would be fun to give a whirl with my guys.

We're just in the early stages, and I was surprised how much fun and cute this was to teach.  It's not at all something a dog does naturally holding something in this manner so the learning curve was a challenge to come up with ways to lead the dog in the right direction.

Here's our first session:




Here's Kee's second session a few days later:



This is the first behaviour that Keegan has gotten the hang of before Daizy!

Dr. Karen Overall's Relaxation Protocol to help wth CGN

For Shadow's mom...

As promised, here's Dr. Karen Overall talking about Behaviour Modification where she mentions her Relaxation Protocol.




Here's Roxanne Hawn's blog, Champion of My Heart, with a link to the written work and created mp3's of Dr. Karen Overall's Relaxation Protocol. She does a wonderful job of sharing her experience with it.

Although it's really beneficial for reactive dogs, it also does a great job with young or worriers who just need a bit of help making sense of the busy world or when "life" happens.

*my only note is that I do not use a NRM or  a correction like "no".  I'll either redirect letting them know what I'd prefer they do instead or just wait until they reset themselves.

My beaglish rockstar at 9yrs old!

I posted this to Fresh Start but wanted also to have it here for my scrapbook.

I'm so proud of Daizy my 9yr old beagle; our communication skills, her zest for life and learning.

There was a person in my puppy socialization class who mentioned something to the effect that they wanted their puppy to be better behaved than their other dog.

Here we are in a class at Dogsmart.ca recently.



I don't think age plays a really huge factor when you teach using EM/ clicker/ Lure Reward training methods. I believe positive reinforcement training (w/o any intimidation et al) promotes freedom to think and NOT having to be afraid of the consequences. I think that is one of the biggest factors that keeps the stream of communication fresh and exciting.

Behaviour is fascinating. The subtle things we can do to communicate more clearly is forever bringing a smile to my face.

Sniff n Playdates

Sniff n Playdate with Quila :) 

One happy, happy, fun, fun, patient, playpal at a time helps George overcome his fears of being rushed, rolled and attacked by other dogs.

 Thank you Taquila Rose and Alice (dogsmart.ca) !

You do not know how relieved I am after a year or so now of off leash dog attacks and rushes, we've worked very hard on turning George's fears (lunge, machine gun bark to keep dogs away) around and George continues to bounce back.  We've got our groove on :)

A few Frisbee Tricks!

We had so much fun today!

A great distraction from my work! Playing with my pooches and learning something new :)





We had the jump and spin down pat but this other trick was inspired by Kikopup's video
 The Most Amazing Dog Frisbee Tricks


Can't wait to see what we come up with next!

What you THINK your dog understands...isn't always....

Keegan surprised me the other day when I blurted out "okay" thinking out loud "that's gotta be annoying" as he went to charge after Daizy who was in retrieve mode chasing her favourite Air Kong ball.

To my surprise, he stopped on a dime, spun and with a happy, happy face b-lined back to me and sat front.



"Okay" is usually my reorienting word when we transition into a new exciting space. I learned this from Leslie McDevitt's work "Control Unleashed". The mechanics of the cue are EXACTLY what Kee did but NOT in the usual context.

Anyways...it made me think... just because we THINK we're teaching our dogs a cue to mean one thing to us....it is wise to NOTE what it actually means to the dog :)