24 Jan

To hit your dog?

By Nicola Training hitting, corrections, correcting, bad behaviour, vocal corrections

To hit your dog or not to hit your dog, this question is asked of me often when I am out working with clients as to a possible solution for correcting bad behaviour.

In my experience over the years (even from when I was a little girl and grew up with dogs, caring for neighbours dogs, volunteering with rescue dogs and lots more right through to recent years working through various behaviour problems), it is better NOT TO HIT YOUR DOG. There are various reasons for this -

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3 Jan

Extreme heat and your dog

By Nicola Exercise summer, heat, water, dehydration, health and wellbeing of your pet

Well it's summer here in Australia and at the moment many of our states are experiencing hotter than average temperatures and this will affect your dog and your pets. There are some simple things you can do to ensure that your dog and other pets have enough fresh water and shade during the heat of the day.

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2 Jan

Young toddler with a dog?

By Nicola Behaviour toddler with dog, children with dog, baby with dog

So, you have a young toddler with a dog in your household? Or maybe you have two or three young children and a new puppy or a new dog that you have adopted from a shelter or foster carer setup and now need to settle everyone in so that there is harmony in the household. Here are some great tips on what you can do to help ease the pain of bringing these two ever changing things together!

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21 Nov

Dog Toileting inside?

By Nicola Behaviour dominance, toileting inside, dogs toileting, puppy toilet training, adult dog toilet training

Oh boy, we've had this problem numerous times! This is actually quite easy to fix.....it just takes consistency, it takes repetition and it takes commitment.

BUT we can get there, toileting inside (making sure all medical issues are cleared), is clearly a dominance issue and needs to be addressed, the number of clients that I have come across whose rugs, carpets etc. have been ruined because of their dogs toileting all over them over and over. Expensive rugs, new furnishings, all destroyed because they don't know what to do when their dog toilets over it all.

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16 Sep

"What's Your Dog Telling You?" by Martin McKenna

By Nicola Behaviour behaviour, puppies, dogs, ABC books, Martin McKenna, canine body language, canine communication

Trainer Nic has just read this book by Martin McKenna and found it be very resourceful when it comes to learning about basic dog body language and how to understand what your dog is telling you!

Having learnt from growing up and living with stray dogs, Martin has learnt a lot about how they communicate, their heirarchy and how it works and how clear rules in the dog world need to be listened and adhered to or else there will be problems in the pack.

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7 Jun

Separation Anxiety in your dog

By Nicola Behaviour separation anxiety, anxiety, veterinarian, illness in dogs, anxiety symptoms, separation anxiety in your puppy

Trainer Nic deals a lot with separation anxiety in dogs. It is a very common issue and most dogs are actually experiencing anxiety without the owners realising it. Some of the symptoms are -

Your dog follows your everywhere, stuck to you like a piece of tape!

Your dog steals precious items that are personal to you or the household.

Your neighbours complain about your dog constantly whining and barking when you are not home.

Your dog bites or licks at itself constantly and causes problems with its skin and coat.

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22 May

obedience with your dog

By Nicola Training Dog Training, puppy obedience training, Obedience training

When undertaking obedience with your dog, simply ask your dog once. Don't ask your dog over and over to sit or drop. When you communicate simply and clearly with your dog you will get clear and quick results.

Don't expect too much of your dog.

Don't ask your dog to do stuff that is simply too hard for your dog.

Things include, asking your dog to sit and relax right outside a dog off leash park when your dog is so excited and will simply fight against you when all he or she wants to do is get in there and run around.

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21 May

Offleash Dog Parks

By Nicola Playtime Dog Parks, Recall, dog socialisation, offleash dog parks, dog fighting

As a Trainer and Behaviourist, I am constantly asked about how owners can control their dogs in offleash dog parks.

These areas are HARD WORK! You can't just expect your dog to come back to you in an offleash dog park. When there are many dogs and smells, you have to be MORE interesting than any of these stimulants and that's pretty much impossible.

Offleash dog parks are a place that combines the chance to have your dog mingle with other dogs and also you get the change to mingle and socialise and make new friends. The problems that occur though sometimes outway the benefits.

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5 May

Crate Training tips

By Nicola Training crate training, dog crate training, puppy crate training, crate training tips, crates

Here are some more crate training tips for you and your dog!

Start with having the crate in an area that is fairly communal, so the dog feels like it is part of the family and the crate isn't anything to be scared of.

When your dog sniffs the crate or goes near it to check out what it is, reward your dog by praising him vocally and he will feel like when he displays this behaviour he gets attention and rewards so therefore he will want to repeat it again and again.

The more he goes near it, start encouraging him into the crate without forcing him at all.

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31 Mar

Crate Training

By Nicola Training crate training, dog crate training, puppy crate training

Crate Training can be really easy for you and your dog, it is a great way to settle your dog down and get them sleeping really well as long as you do it the right way and teach them that the crate is a really safe, positive place for your dog to retreat to!

Follow these basic steps to help you along your way -

Praise your dog LOTS when he/she goes near the crate.

Feed them their meals in the crate so that they are busy thinking about eating instead of the environment they are in.

Put their favourite toys in the crate so that your dog wants to go in there and play with them.

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