Welcome To The Dog Training Blog

Fur Get Me Not often uploads valuable resources and updates to help you connect, train and communicate better with your fur babies.

LickiMats – Why We Love Them

What are they?

A LickiMat (or licking mat) is made of hard plastic, silicone rubber or both. It has a textured surface and is designed for you to spread something edible on so that your dog can spend some time licking at the surface to get all that food out of the different bumps and grooves.

There are a range of different types of licking mats, from flat squares, to bowls that wobble, and even some with suction cups that you can attach to tiles or glass.

Why use them?

Well there are several benefits. One is simply that it occupies your dog. Giving them something to eat spread over a LickiMat will keep them busy for much longer than it would take them to eat the exact same thing from a plain bowl. They have to work at it!

More importantly though, the act of licking itself releases endorphins and dopamine. These are neurochemicals that create feelings of pleasure and relaxation in the body. So licking a LickiMat makes your dog feel nice!

This makes a LickiMat an ideal activity for your dog to engage in at times when you want them to feel happy and relaxed. For example if you:

– are going out and leaving them home alone

– need some calm time while you prepare dinner; or

– if your dog experiences something they find overly exciting or stressful like an unexpected visitor.

What can you put on a LickiMat?

You can put anything that is spreadable and safe for your dog to eat on a LickiMat!

Some ideas are:

– Cream cheese, cottage cheese or yoghurt if your dog can digest small amounts of dairy. Remember to get unsweetened varieties (artificial sweetener xylitol can be fatal for dogs)

– Peanut butter (again, check for artificial sweetener)

– Mashed pumpkin, carrot or banana

– Wet dog food

– Minced meat

– Canned tuna

– If your dog is on a specific dry food diet due to allergies, you can soak the kibble in warm water to create a spreadable food suitable for the LickiMat.

Get creative! Try adding some chopped fruit and veg pieces of dry dog or cat food to your spread for extra texture, or even better, freeze your LickiMat after you’ve spread it to make the licking last even longer.

Note: make sure you supervise your dog with a LickiMat initially to make sure they don’t chew it up or ingest pieces.

Treat Training – What it is and why we use it

At Fur Get Me Not we use treat training as one of the ways to reward behaviours we like from our dogs. We know that behaviour that gets rewarded gets repeated. The more we can reward the behaviours we want, the more likely we are to get that desired behaviour in the future. For example, if we ask Fido to sit, and he gets a reward each time he puts his bottom on the ground, the more likely we will get that behaviour next time we say ‘sit’.

We use treat training in our classes and one on one consults for a number of reasons:

Food is a primary reinforcer

All animals find food reinforcing. We need access to food to live, and it generally feels good to eat a tasty treat. This is the same for dogs and humans. If your dog does not find food reinforcing this may be because your dog is unwell, overly scared, hyperaroused (this means way too excited), or your dog may be closer to another competing reward that is more valuable than the food (for example the potential to chase a bush turkey). In addition, if your dog has had access to too much food in the day, they may be full and food temporarily stops being as reinforcing.

Treat training can be used to quickly teach new behaviours by using a lure

This is where we use the movement of a treat to position our dog’s body. Once they are in the position we want, we give them the treat. Luring is quick and easy, but can be misused if the lure is not faded out within 3-5 repetitions. It is crucial to fade out the lure, otherwise us holding the treat in our hand becomes part of the cue. Often people who say that treat training didn’t work for them, or that their dog will only do the behaviour if they are holding a treat, it is because they didn’t fade the lure fast enough, or they may have never faded the lure.

We can establish a new behaviour quickly using treat training

This is because we can reward a high number of repetitions of the behaviour in a short period of time. We can use other reinforcers such as sniffing, and play, but these may not be suitable for the dog, the behaviour or the situation. These other reinforcers also take more time and skill to implement successfully.

We can use our dog’s response to treat training as an indicator of stress

If our dog is not eating in class or when in a potentially scary situation, this can be an indication that they are too stressed and they may not feel safe. No one wants to eat when they feel unsafe. If you are seeing this with your dog, and you think they may be scared, there may be a more serious behaviour concern going on. Please get in touch with us so we can help.

Used correctly, food can be a tool to help our dogs be calm in certain situations

We want to create calm associations for different situations for our dogs and food is an excellent tool to do this. Read more about this concept in our Dog Yoga blog.

Next week we will be giving you more tips on what to consider when treat training, reach out if you have questions in the meantime.

What to do if your dog has a panic attack | Dog Anxiety

Dog anxiety is such a huge issue and needs the support and treatment of a qualified team that includes a behaviour vet and behavioural trainer. This article is just a taster of what you can do to help your dog in the moment if they are experiencing fear or anxiety.
If you have ever had a panic attack yourself or been around someone who has, you can get a sense of how terrifying the feeling is. As human beings, we can at least attempt to rationalise what we are experiencing. Unfortunately for our dogs this is not the case. They have no way of knowing or understanding the discomfort and physiological responses happening to them. This means it is our responsibility to comfort them and help them through it. Most importantly, to get the help you need to treat the underlying issues.
What does dog anxiety look like?
Firstly, let me clarify that I am not talking about a diagnosable anxiety disorder that should be treated and diagnosed by a behavioural vet. I am talking about the emotional and physical response a dog can have to a known or unknown trigger. This can be any of the following: panting, vocalising, barking, lunging, growling, howling or showing any signs of stress. If we see any of these signs, we should respond in a way that is kind, comforting and supportive. Even if we do not understand what they are feeling. Remember, dogs are not like humans. They are not motivated by the same things; they do not have the ability to plot revenge, or have any evil or sinister thoughts or plans. Their behaviour is simply a response to how they are feeling in the moment.
What can you do to help in the moment?
Do whatever will decrease your dog’s fear or anxiety. This can be different for every single dog, but generally speaking giving them distance from what is making them uncomfortable is a good first step and re-direct them to an activity that promotes a zen like state. This includes long lasting chews, Kongs, Lickimats etc.
Before you jump to asking if this will reinforce their fear, let’s go back to the human panic attack analogy. Imagine you are a good friend of mine and you are with me when I am having a panic attack. You are probably going to get me a warm cup of tea and share comforting words and perhaps rub my back. You do this because you want to lessen my symptoms and help me through it. A cup of tea and some kindness is certainly not going to cause me to have more panic attacks. It is no different with our dogs: you can not reinforce fear or anxiety.
What to do next
Contact a qualified behavioural trainer that has been certified by the Pet Professional Guild of Australia. Please don’t delay getting help. Not only is fear and anxiety an awful thing to live with, but the longer you leave it the harder it may be to treat. Having said that, it is never too late to seek help. You should also avoid triggering this anxiety or fear response again until you get help. Repeatedly exposing them to what makes them uncomfortable will not mean they will “get used” to it. All you are doing is filling the bucket further with negative experiences that will be harder to undo later on.
If you need help with your dog, we offer Behavioural Consults that can be face to face across Brisbane or via video anywhere in Australia.

Why we don’t do puppy play in our classes | Puppy School

puppy play | puppy school

Why we don’t believe that puppy play has a place in puppy school

It may be surprising to you, but puppy play is not an integral part of your puppy’s learning and development. You are not alone if you thought it was. I hope that this article will help you to understand that there are far greater skills that need to be focused on first.

Puppy School is a place for puppies to learn. If we introduce puppy play in a class, not only is there significant risk but we are not teaching our puppy the most important skill, which is to learn to be calm and focused on their own family in the presence of other dogs and people. If we want dogs to not be hyper-motivated to greet people and dogs on a walk or when coming to the home, then why would we imprint their first experiences with direct interactions and play.

Socialisation is so much more than puppy play

Socialisation is teaching your puppy how to feel when in proximity or when experiencing same or other species, surfaces, sounds, objects and more! Imagine if your first experiences of meeting someone was that they ran up to you very excited and hugged you and licked your face. It doesn’t sound like a positive experience, does it? Or maybe you did like it (stranger things have happened). If you did enjoy it, then when this person is around you will struggle to focus on anything but them. Not exactly conducive to learning, is it?

We do introductions slowly, when everyone in the room is comfortable, and after you have bonded with your human and learnt to listen to them. This way you are surely more likely to have a positive and safe experience, all the while setting you up with many more skills and knowledge to raise a resilient and calm dog.

Let’s talk about the risks of puppy play

We see so many dogs in our behaviour consults that have been imprinted with fear and anxiety due to attending an inappropriately run puppy school during their critical socialisation period.

Even being in the room with other puppies playing can be overwhelming for some pups. A lot of movement and excitement for a nervous or shy dog can be overwhelming and start to teach them to feel scared when in the presence of other dogs. Not only is fear a risk, over-excitement is, too. An overstimulated puppy is more likely to have less control of their mouths and bodies and more likely to injure themselves or others as they do not have the ability to think in an overstimulated state.

Playgroup and playing with others

Puppy play is not a necessity during socialisation. Once they have learnt to be calm, confident and have some impulse control, polite play will follow. We do offer playgroups for those pups that will find it a positive experience and we do keep it nice and calm and controlled but just like some people, parties or group situations are not for everyone.

Still have questions? Feel free to reach out to us at any time.

– Written by Cassandra Roland

How to leave your puppy home alone

We all want our puppy or adult dog to be comfortable hanging out at home alone. We want our dogs to feel relaxed with us leaving the house, and us being away from the house. During the course of pandemic, most of us have had extra time at home with our dogs. While this has been delightful for both the human and dog, this does mean that our dogs have had much less experience in practicing being alone.

This blog is written for those who want to learn how to leave your puppy home alone for the first time. It is also written for all dog owners who are looking to transition their dog back to being home alone more of the time.

This blog is general information only. If you think your puppy or adult dog may be severely distressed at you leaving or attempting to leave the house, please contact usfor specific support.

Leaving your puppy home alone is not normal

Canines are social creatures. They are not designed to be alone for long periods of time and if left alone for too long too often, behavioural issues often occur as a result. Keep this concept in mind when starting to leave your puppy home alone. It is easy for us to get frustrated when our dog barks or whines as we leave, or if the neighbour tells us our dog was barking. Instead of getting frustrated, we need to respond to what our dog is telling us, which may be that they don’t feel ok alone.

We need to help our dogs feel safe and relaxed being alone. Once we change how they feel about this situation, their behaviour will change. You can help your dog feel comfortable being alone.

Meet your dog’s needs before practicing home alone time

We want our dog’s emotional and physical needs met before we start practicing alone time. Give your puppy some mental stimulation in the form of training or sniffing or foraging; and some physical stimulation of play, walks, digging or chewing. You can also practice some doggy yoga to leave them in a calm state before practicing puppy home alone time.

Cover the basics and make sure your puppy isn’t in pain, isn’t hungry and doesn’t need to go to the toilet when you start to leave your puppy home alone.

The picture below of a dog’s emotionalcupgives a good idea of how we want our dogs to feel. If you have a situation which empties your dog’s cup, don’t choose these days to practice leaving your puppy home alone. For example, your pup may be having a particularly bad teething period where they are in pain, or they may be feeling a bit over stimulated due a busy day. These feelings are not conducive to your puppy being calm when left alone.

Build up your puppy’s home alone time gradually

Ideally we want our dogs to be bored with the idea of us leaving. This means we need to practice leaving our dogs alone so many times that our dogs get bored with each of these potential triggers of us getting ready to leave including: showering, dressing in particular clothes, putting shoes on, packing a bag, picking up keys etc. We then also need to practice the alone time as well where we aren’t at home.

More importantly, we need to practice at a level of intensity where our dog is not worried or distressed. If you are extending the duration and your dog is distressed, they are creating an association that you leaving is distressing. The right duration will vary depending on your dog. For some dogs, five seconds of you being out of sight will be distressing for them, for other dogs eight hours will be their limit. If your dog is getting distressed, reduce the time frame so you are always practicing at a duration where they are not distressed. Remember, we want them to be peaceful ambivalent with us leaving. Depending on your dog, this may mean that you are walking out the door for literally five seconds before turning around and coming back in again. As your puppy feels comfortable with this, you can then slowly increase the duration.

There are a variety of camera options to choose from so you can check in how your puppy is going home alone. We like Alfred as a free option.

Pair your puppy’s home alone time with something nice and relaxing

Give your puppy a puzzle food toy, a lickimat or a chew to be engaged with while you are introducing puppy home alone time. The activity of chewing and sniffing will help calm them down, and the tasty food will be a nice association with you leaving. Whatever type of food puzzle or chew you leave your puppy with, make sure it is one they will not choke on accidentally.

How do I leave my puppy home alone right now if I haven’t practiced?

Hopefully you are reading this before you are going back to work outside of your house full time so you have the opportunity to build up the alone time gradually.

Without the practice, it can be a bit daunting for you and your puppy to transition to 8-10 hours of alone time. To help with this transition you can get neighbours, family or friends involved in providing some much needed human contact. You can also look into hiring a pet sitter to come and visit in the middle of the day.

While dog day care may be an option for some pups, we find that most puppies become over excited in these places. While this is usually a ‘good’ form of stress, this continued experience of heightened stress can lead to long term issues such as an inability to settle or regulate emotions and general hyperactive behaviours.

Happy practicing everyone!

We’d love to hear your success stories! It can be daunting at the beginning if your pup or dog is unhappy with you leaving for even a few minutes. I remember when we first got our second dog Henry. At the start I thought I’d never be able to leave the house again. But with practice we got there.

As noted above, if you think your dog is extremely distressed when you leave the house please contact us for specific support.

Tara Ross – Blog author and Fur Get Me Not Trainer

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