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| Some dogs enjoying the daycare in the play yard |
Doggie Daycare is a wonderful opportunity for lots of working families. Today, people are busy with work and family commitments and sometimes our dogs are left at home holding the ball in their mouths waiting, for some playtime. So it seems like a good fit to get your dog out to the daycare for some exercise and socialization. And it is. But daycare should be used to supplement your dogs' exercise program, not be a substitute. What I mean by this, daycare shouldn't the only time your dog gets to socialize with other dogs. It shouldn't be the only time he gets out and about for his long walks and playtime. Why is that your ask? Because it is missing a key component to the success of your relationship with your dog. It's missing you. Quite often when people start seeing antisocial behaviours in their dogs, they immediately think of daycare as a good way to "treat " the problem. However, they are forgetting about their interaction with the dog and how they affect their pets behaviour. I have seen this first hand with my previous experience working in a wonderful pet resort as the Pet Activity Coordinator. My job was to find appropriate groups of dogs to play together. There was one particular dog that was a challenge and I spent a great deal of time working with him, not only finding the appropriate dogs to play with , but also making sure his level of play was under control. The owners were so happy with his progress throughout the months, that one day they decided to take him to the off leash park. The result was not good. He seemed to still have the same antisocial behaviour as he had before! They were shocked because I had told them that he had been doing so well. What went wrong? Well, during all the time I spent working with this dog, I had developed a relationship with him. He knew what was expected of him when he was with me. Unfortunately this "relationship" is non transferable. This idea is sometimes confusing to owners because with obedience, we teach our dog a command like "sit" and after the dog understands the idea , others can then often get the dog to sit. We can teach our dogs lots of obedience commands and hand signals and after practically anyone can get the dog to perform with much success. That is the differnce: Obedience is often transferable. Relationships are not. You can't teach a dog a relationship and then afterwards everyone has that relationship with your dog. (Golden Retrievers might be the exception to this rule) Your relationship with your dog is personal, unique and always evolving. Every day when you wake up, the things you do, affect your relationship with your dog( for better or worse I might add) . Obedience,on the other hand is often taught, remembered, and unchanged.
Here at
Beyond Obedience we work on your relationship, not necessarily obedience. Don't get me wrong obedience training is very important. It helps to enhance your relationship.
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| Thanksgiving day pack walk |
It is this concept that inspired me to offer the opportunity for people to join me in
PACK WALKS. The pack walk helps dogs work on their social skills while reinforcing their relationship with the owner. During the pack walk, owners get an opportunity to master the concept of the structured walk, and then with the addition of other dogs( usually from my pack) begin to help (fearful or unconfident) or challenge (confident or high energy dogs) their dogs.
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| Tinder waiting to join the fun |
Most pack walks end with some well deserved playtime in the yard. Before entering into the play yard , the owners take their dogs to the introduction area to see how everyone is "feeling" before entering into play with the other dogs ( a concept that should also be incorporated in the off leash parks as well)
Once the dog enters the yard the owners are encouraged to observe their dogs behaviour and monitor their level of play. All of this makes for a better understanding of their dog
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| Owners monitoring play time |
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Pack walks give owners and dogs the opportunity to get out and burn off excess energy, meet other dogs and dog owners, work on their relationship, and have some fun! If you would like more information about the pack walk, please feel free to contact me.
Walk on
Tracy
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