Thinking of taking your dog to doggy daycare? 🤔

Daycares can be a great environment for dogs, no matter their breed or size, but there are a few things you’ll want to think of, to keep things positive and safe for your pooch. After all, the more they want to return there, the more you’ll both get out of it!

1. Think of doggie daycare the same way you think of a nightclub.

That’s right.. a nightclub! That’s an environment you probably associate with a lot of people present, moving around, loud music, constant engagement and overall having a good social time (for the most part!).

But we can also agree that nighclubs require you to be in a particular mood, but more importantly comfortable with not only your friends but also brand new people being really close to you. If your dog is comfortable with novelty, fast paced settings…

Just curious, but how do you get a dog to grow their confidence? I don’t want my dog to be fearful/reactive.

That really depends on the environments where she doesn’t feel that way.

But if you mean in general, it’s no different than building in confidence in you!

It’s a matter of time, successes and positive experiences. You can very much start at home and with mental, physical and social enrichment activities together where you both feel good about every inch of progress you make. :)

That said if you’re worried about reactivity, it can be completely unrelated to your dog’s confidence level, and more so associated to what your dog is comfortable with.

Meaning you’ll want to tailor the environments and manage the exposure to those triggers to start, in order to prevent further escalations as you work your way up!

Hello! I have two 9 week old schnoodles.. Any tips on training two pups at a time? I’ve only had them for a week now. They still don’t know their names but one learned how to sit while the other just wants to play all the time.

For now I’d focus more on you listening to them than the other way around.

By that I mean get to know their individual needs and limits, not only as a pair. This is extremely important as no two dogs are the same.

If you spent 20-30 minutes with them together, try also spending that same amount of time separately.

I say this because your attention is naturally going to be split when you’re with both, and at this age they need as much guidance as you can give them.

One of the best things you can do with them, which will help…

All of a sudden my dog getting a little jerky when he meets people (men). He’ll bark and growl and people are afraid. This is new. What can I do to curb this?

Listen to him and help him walk away as his main solution. Dogs who know they can remove themselves from an uncomfortable situation will not hesitate to do that, but when they can’t or feel like they can’t, their bark and growl is the hope that others will remove themselves instead.

Practice walking near men (at whatever distance your dog is comfortable with) that won’t care or expect an interaction and then walk away, mark and reward.

Your dog will want to learn that men = space, time and absolutely no pressure. Unfortunately I know most people might think that they’re good with every dog and that every dog should just be comfortable with them.

But just…

Tips on getting my puppy to walk? She just sits down, I have treats, and she'll come forward for the treat, then stop and sit again.

Listen to her :)

1. Find very quiet and calm areas to walk in. The less distractions and noise the better.

2. Stop when she stops. Sit with her. Let her take it all in at her own pace.

3. Pick her up as a way to reward progress but also as a way to give her breaks, especially when you can tell that she’s reaching a limit or you’re going to walk somewhere she’s not yet ready for.

Any advice to keep a 1-year-old puppy out of your garden beds? I can't dig in my garden without doggy seeing and thinking he's going to help. Especially after I've gone inside.

1. Prevention: Prevent by fulfilling the need your dog has in other ways. Digging is a normal and common need. Provide them with a box that has towels inside, or with their own digging area. If they are not provided with an outlet, they are far more likely to then feel the need to seek one out themselves to fulfill that need. 🤷🏻‍♂️

2. Management: Manage by using a leash. We don’t trust babies around the house so we baby-proof it until we can trust them years later. Your dog is showing you that they can’t currently be trusted, with or without you there.

A leash allows you to prevent the repetition of the unwanted behaviour altogether.

Our 9 month old dog has suddenly developed a fear of going into our kitchen. He was fine until he slipped once when running too fast. No he won’t step foot on kitchen tiles or any hard flooring. Will only walk on carpet. No amount of treats or bribery works.

It’s now getting to point where we are having to carry him to get outside for toilet as he just sits there crying and barking.

We have tried treats, ignoring and even put carpet runners down providing a clear walkway to his food and back door. Still won’t step foot on it.

Any suggestions?

Your dog needs exactly what you and I need when tackling any fear which is time and no pressure.

You will need to continue to carry him for now because bathroom breaks cannot wait.