GM News - July 2023

Thanks for being a subscriber! Welcome to the July edition, No. 49.
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Amanda, David, Rodna, Ruth
Gentle Modern School of Dog Training

Top Resource - Fenzi Dog Sports Academy

Although the focus of FDSA (brainchild of Denise Fenzi) is dog sports, FDSAoffers education on so much more.

Courses, e.g. Joy of Heeling - Rock it like a Freestyler! with Julie Flanery
Webinars, e.g. Better Vet Visits... Through Chemistry! Pre-Visit Meds for Anxious Dogs with Jennifer Summerfield, DVM [scroll down, third on the list] - Date: Thursday 13 July 13th, 2023
Workshops, e.g. Beep, Beep: Back it Up with Laura Waudby
Conferences, e.g. High Drive Dogs! One-Day Online Conference
Podcast, e.g. E319: The Truth About High Drive Dogs - an honest conversation about the best and worst parts of living with and training high drive dogs (audio and transcription)
Blog, e.g. 6 “Magic” Dog Training Tricks by Julie Symons

Top Tip - Be prepared to call it quits

That dog-friendly market, that charity walk for dogs and humans, the beer garden where you can take your dog . . . places and activities that sound like fun for you and your pooch. Except it might not turn out to be fun from your dog's point of view. If you get there and your dog is scared or uncomfortable [see Body Language below], head home. Staying longer won't improve your dog's experience, and - if it's an activity that you passionately want your dog to be able to do - prolonging the negative experience will make it that much harder to do the slow, incremental work to build your dog's confidence for the particular situation.

Body Language - 10 ways dogs say Nope!

From the Victoria Stilwell Dog Training Academy Blog
Watch for excessive or odd (e.g. panting when cold) behaviours or combinations of behaviours like the following:

Lip Licking
Yawning
Turning their head away or avoiding eye contact
Whale eye (whites of their eyes showing clearly)
Hard eye contact
Shake off (dry dogs may shake their fur to shake off tension or stress)
Drooling
A tucked tail
A wagging tail (stiff high wagging tail can indicate tension, slow wag can be caution, fast wag can be an aroused dog)
Panting and sweating paw pads

Dogs in the News

Roomba is trialling a treat-dispensing robot vacuum cleaner!

Your Reward for Reading to the End

Check out the Canine Houdini liberating his pals at the Battersea Dogs Home