GM News - March 2023

Welcome to Edition 46 of the Gentle Modern News!

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

The March Heide Market is dog-themed; Hounds of Heide, Sun 26 Mar 10am-3pm. There will be dog-themed stalls, dog-related activity and us! GMSDT will be represented throughout the day. (We'll be offering training advice and teaching simple exercises.) Come by and see us :-)

Heide Markets are held in the grounds of the Heide Museum of Modern Art, 7 Templestowe Road Bulleen

Top Tip - Poisoned Cues

Juliana DeWillems writing for the American Veterinary Society of Animal Behaviour, Quarterly Newsletter [Vol 44, No 4, Fall 2022], gives a clear overview of the "poisoned cue":

"Poisoned cues occur when a dog associates a cue with something unpleasant. This can look like so many different scenarios: pairing a recall word with always leaving the fun park, teaching sit with uncomfortable leash pressure, using petting that the dog actually finds aversive in an attempt to reward a behavior, and much more. When a cue is poisoned, the dog has learned the cue results in something they find uncomfortable, scary, stressful, confusing, painful . . . Understanding poisoned cues is important because . . . it can impact a dog's responsiveness. When a cue is poisoned, a dog can have delayed or incorrect responses. Dogs can show displacement behaviors like sniffing and scratching, or more subtle stress signals. . . .
If you find yourself frustrated by your dog's response to a cue or feeling like your dog is being "stubborn" - try to assess their body language and the bigger training picture. Perhaps there is more going on than you realize."

If you have a 'poisoned' cue, you may need to restart a training process with a new cue (replacing "come" with "to me", for example) to leave behind the prior negative associations.

Body Language

Curious about what your dog is really doing when he licks your face, or she exposes her belly to you? Breanna Norris has information to share in What Do My Dog’s Kisses and Rollover Really Mean? (Cattle Dog Publishing Blog) You may be surprised.

Dogs in the News

Neuroscience Says People With Dogs Get These 5 Big Brain Benefits by Bill Murphy Jr. in Inc.Australia. This research review identifies the following benefits to people with dogs:
1. Slower cognitive decline
2. Increased brain activity
3. Better team building
4. Stress reduction
5. Better overall health

Check out . . . this Book

The Year of the Puppy: How Dogs Become Themselves by Alexandra Horowitz.
Alexandra is a Professor at Barnard College and Columbia University and head of the Dog Cognition Lab at Barnard College. The Year of the Puppy is her newest book. Five key insights from the book:
1. Embrace misbehavior.
2. Your “puppy” is probably a teenager.
3. Dogs are not given a guidebook to living with humans.
4. Your dog is your mirror.
5. Lower your expectations to increase your chances of a satisfying relationship with a new dog.
Intrigued? Check out the Next Big Idea Book Bite for more detail on these insights, and then hit your local bookshop :-)

Your reward for reading to the end

When nature provides you with a fetching hat.