GM News - June 2022

This edition of GM-News is all about tips for indoor exercise options and 'homework' you can do from the cosiness of your couch.

Stay safely warm Peeps and Pups!

Amanda, David, Rodna & Ruth
Gentle Modern School of Dog Training

Top Tip 1

Enjoying time in the outdoors a little less now that it's freezing?! How about adding indoor agility into the exercise mix?

Get creative!

A dining chair with a towel draped over can be a short tunnel.
A coffee table with a blanket draped can be a longer tunnel.
Old couch cushions can be obstacles to navigate.
A row of rolls of paper towel can be weaving poles
Large Cardboard boxes can be tunnels, narrow boxes could be jumps.

Safety first:

Never force your dog to participate.
Only progress to more challenging activities when dogs have mastered the 'baby' levels.
Make sure anything they might go over or under is stable and that they have enough room to move comfortably.
Keep jumps low (no high leaping and heavy landing).
No slippery surfaces.
Jumps must give way if your dog hits them and anything that your dog climbs must be designed to support their weight.

Top Tip 2

Another great option for indoor exercise is to make your own Rally-O course in the house.
Rally-O is a course made up of a series of stations. Each station is a different activity. For example, you and your dog would heel to station one which might be Sit and Drop - after doing that you would heel to the next station which might be Heel Fast Pace, and so on.
We invited participants in our recent Play+Train session on Advanced Rally-O to devise their own course, working out what activities would provide them and their dog with achievable challenges.
Search "Rally-O" on Google Images for some ideas, but don't feel limited to those. What other actions could your dog do as part of your course? - "Spin", "Shake", "Hi-5", "Weave" through your legs, etc. Make up your course - aim for ten stations - write down each activity on a separate sheet of paper and spread them around the house.
The idea is to stretch both your skills and your dog's skills by putting a number of actions in sequence.
After running your course you can tweak it (make it simpler or harder) and run it again. It's all about mental stimulation! :-)

Dazzle your housemates with a showcase of skills!

Brush up on your Body Language Knowledge

It really can't be overstated how important it is become as fluent as you can with canine body language. Developing this familiarity will help interpret your dog’s emotional state - e.g. stressed, anxious, over-the-top, relaxed – and help you judge the intentions/emotions of other dogs around your dog. See the Canine Body Language section of our website for some excellent guides.

A new resource with great video and descriptions is Dog Body Language: Understanding Canine Communication Signals And Emotions Episode #157 Susan Garrett, Shaped by Dog podcast on YouTube. 22 Minutes (closed caption). Highly recommended.

What's New on our YouTube channel

Like a refresher on hand signals? Check out the new videos on GMSDT's YouTube channel
Sit in Front
Sit at the Side and Stand
Sit in Front, Drop, and the Release