1-1 Dog Training Inverness and the Highlands

Training your dog is important. It's not just about ordering your dog about. It's about helping your dog or puppy to understand you. Once they understand you and you understand them, then your life with your dog will be much happier.

Many people think that puppy training shouldn't start until about 6 months. That's a really old fashioned way of thinking about dog training, and means that training starts after lots of bad habits have been learned. So, not only does your dog need to learn what to do, they also need to unlearn things too - you know how difficult that is!

Pawsability Dog Training is not about training your dog. Well of course that features highly. But would it not be just great if you learned "how to talk to your dog".

Training Classes are great, provided that they use modern methods of learning - reward based training. And provided that your dog is coping in that environment and not being stressed out and provided that you're not going home stressed out too.

Really the best place to train your dog is in a peaceful environment, away from other dogs and distractions. As your dog learns things, then gradually you can start to introduce distractions into the training, to help them to progress with learning.

A 2 hour 1-1 Dog Training session is about educating you, to help you to really understand what you're doing, and to put you in a good position to be able to train by yourself - but also to get more out of the classes that you're going to. If you've already got the basics well practiced, then the socialisation aspects of classes will work far better for you.

The sessions generally cover

• How your dog learns
• How to teach your dog a task
• How to practice that task
• How to progress 

The most common training problems such as

• jumping up
• pulling on the lead
• ignoring you

can all be dealt with. Once your understand the Dog Training Cycle, it will all become clear and you really will be able to 'Talk Dog"

So, please just call Anna on 01863 760004 to set up your dog training education session. Your private session starts from only £25 in the Ardgay Pet Behaviour Centre. All dogs from Inverness to Golspie can benefit from 1-1 training.

Anna does also travel down to Inverness, Dingwall etc, and across to Aberdeen, so may well be able to fit you in for a home visit.

For more information and help with your dog training, please have a look at the web site

How to train your difficult dog

A thought occurred to me this morning as I was practicing guitar. I'm just learning, and it's really quite difficult. I have some great tutors tho including web coach guru  justinguitar.com and folk legend Dave Goulder, and Jas Smith not to mention all the other incidentals that happen to cross my path when learning tunes or at concerts / sessions  / practicing with friends  etc... (many thanks all)

Anyhow, that's not particularly important.....

Here's what is.

Many people have problems getting their dogs to "just get it" and can't figure out why.

Well - have a think about it this way - when was to last time your taught yourself something - or tried to learn something? Cooking? Cake decorating? Music? Golf? a Language? or had to speak in public?

We dog trainers say - dog's don't learn the same way that we do - they need lots of practice in lots of different places. I've used the phrase myself.

This morning, it just occurred to me that my thoughts are flawed.

For me, playing something on the guitar inside the comfort of my own home, is completely different from sitting in the pub folk session, plucking up the courage to play and sing! in front of a (albeit very friendly and patient) - small - crowd. It's tense. It's anxious. Fingers trip over themselves. Words come out muddled and fuddled. Sweaty palms. Heart racing..... (well hi local friends, that's how most of the aaamms team feel - you know that.... well you do now....LOL). Actually it doesn't even need a crowd - just a different place really makes it feel different.

So, why should a dog - especially one that gets emotional in some circumstances - whether that's excitement or fear aggression - be any different? (Yes, they're emotional when they're barking lunging, cowering - no they're not just being bad or naughty!)

It's very very difficult to overcome emotional surges and be able to think straight and act calmly.

Learning progresses best with
- tons of simple repetition - sit/stand/sit/stand (or for guitar - C/D/C/D/C/D)
- then add in one friend - overcome that embarrassment
- then 2 friends
- then go somewhere else and practice the same thing
- then add in 1 new factor, like another new friend, or another place
- and all within your coping levels - ah now am I talking guitar or dog training now....

see - what's the difference?

How well do you need to know something - a speech? a joke? a tune? a language? before you can 'perform' in public?

So to help with your dog training, have a think about that the next time your dogs having difficulty walking nicely on the lead past a cyclist or another dog or person, or even sitting.....

more thoughts and ponderings to come along as they strike me :O)

Happy training......

How to keep your dogs teeth clean and healthy

When was the last time you checked your dog's teeth? Teeth harbour infection and may well cause all sorts of medical problems, as your dog ages.

It's easy to ignore brushing your dogs teeth because when they're young, they seem to manage to keep their teeth sparkling. But when was the last time you looked?

The only way to keep your dogs teeth clean and keep them healthy into old age is to brush them every day from a young age. If you don't , tartar will build up and by the time they're 6 you may well be looking at having to have their teeth scraped and cleaned by the vet; an expensive operation usually, as the dog needs to be anaesthetised.

Prevention - Puppy Teeth cleaning.

During the early socialisation and training phase, get your puppy used to the feeling of getting her teeth brushed by firstly using just your finger, and then moving onto a wee finger toothbrush, or small sized dog tooth brush. Don't bother with tooth past at this stage, you're just getting your puppy used to the process. Do this just for a few seconds each day.

NB - if you're puppy prefers to bite and nip you instead of sitting still, don't be forceful. Remember that you're trying to build up a nice experience for them. Ask your behaviourist or trainer for help if you're struggling.

Gradually build this up and then when they're adult teeth are in and grown, you can start to use the tiniest amount of tooth paste. Please note that this has to be dog tooth paste. There are several flavours out there including beef and chicken. Why not ask your vet nurse for a wee trial at teeth brushing to see what flavour your puppy prefers.

Fixing plaqued up teeth.

The first thing to do really is to contact your vet for advice here - to see how bad the problem is, and whether they feel that it's fixable without scaling.

There are remedial products such as tooth gel and plaque off that can significantly improve the state of your dog's teeth. If you use these to kind of loosen the plaque and then use a nylon bone like a nylabone or dentease bone, then that will further help to remove the plaque.

In addition, however you want to start to brush your dogs teeth on a daily basis. You might need to start to accustom them to this as per the puppy teeth cleaning guide above. Then build up to a daily brushing regime.

There's more information here on how to keep your dog's teeth clean.