GM News - October 2020

Hello Friends
Our big news is that Rodna has resumed in-person one-to-one lessons in the Warringal Parklands for people 5kms from that location. We're hopeful that on 19 October the Victorian Government will end the 5kms travel restriction and that groups of 10 will be possible outdoors. Then I'll be able to do in-person lessons and we can restart all our group programs! Fingers crossed!!!
(Online consults and lessons are available.)

Hoping we can see more of you, more often, soon
Amanda, Rodna, David & Ruth

This is our Special Top Tip Extravaganza Edition

Top Tip - No.1: A Treasure Hunt

Keelie has a great approach to giving her dog, Winston, something positive to do when Winston is alone; a treasure hunt! Keelie pops Winston (pictured below) into his crate and covers it while she puts treats around the house and/or garden. The treasures include healthy options like carrots and cucumber, two of Winston's faves.
Winston has previously shown some anxiety when left alone but Keelie's found the hunt for favourite food treats while she's absent means that Winston is happily occupied rather than anxiously awaiting her return.

Top Tip - No.2: Want a reliable recall? Don't do the following.

Dog Trainer, Glenna Cupp, provides an overview of what NOT to do if you want a reliable recall.

1) Punish them when they finally do come
2) Use your recall cue all. the. time.
3) Always use your recall to leash up your dog and go home
4) Use the same reinforcer all the time
5) Be stingy with reinforcement
6) Rush through the training plan
7) Cue a recall right after letting your dog off leash
8) Repeat your cue over and over

Do the exact opposite.

Top Tip - No.3: Practice!

No skill will work well IRL (aka in real life :-) without practice. Practice at home until you and your dog understand an exercise and then practice more out and about with increasing distractions. No technique can work well in challenging situations unless you and your dog understood the components of an exercise thoroughly. Let's look at "Calm" - sit down at my side and watch people/dog/bike go past without barking or moving - as an example. You and your dog will have practiced in a range of situations and you're both confident about what's meant to happen when you give the instruction "Calm". Now, as the jogger and his dog appear round the corner, you'll ask your dog for "Calm" and, rather than thinking ‘do I really know what I’m doing here?!’, you’ll be coolly thinking ‘if that dog comes closer, I’ll put my Plan B into action’.

Top Tip - No. 4: A calm state of mind is a learning state of mind

Have you tried to learn something when you were agitated, distracted, uncomfortable, nervous (maybe, all the above!)? I bet there's a good chance that afterwards, you didn't remember anything that you were studying. Dogs are the same. Read your dog's emotional state and adjust your training plan accordingly. Don't forget about your emotional state: it's hard to be a good teacher if you're in a fraught mental state.

Top Tip - No.5: When your dog doesn't enjoy the car

Could it be motion sickness or could it just be anxiety about the car?
Consider your dog's experience with the car: has your dog only been in the car to go to the Vet/Groomer or other potentially stressful destinations?
Consider your dog's age: A puppy's inner ear may not be fully developed causing motion sickness associated with the car.

Vets Tammy Hunter and Ernest Ward consider causes, signs and prevention of car sickness in response to the question, 'My dog gets sick when we travel'

Sniffer Dogs & COVID-19 Detection - An Update

This year we've featured the canine nose regularly in GM-News. In the August edition we reported on a German project that showed dogs could sniff out COVID-19. Late in September it was reported in the Guardian that four dogs have been deployed to sniff out COVID-19 in people at the Helsinki, Finland airport. Dogs in this Finnish trial have identified COVID-19 "with nearly 100% accuracy". Another trial is running at Dubai airport. Testing by dog is cheaper than lab-based tests.

Finally, a story of release and recovery

US magazine People has announced the winner of the World's Cutest Rescue Dog Contest, Lamb Chop, a Maltese, rescued from a US puppy mill where she had been a breeding dog. On rescue Lamb Chop's teeth were removed due to dental rot and she required extensive treatment of other conditions due to medical neglect. Find a video, photos and stories of Lamb Chop and the contest runner-ups at 'Meet Lamb Chop'.