GM News - April 2026

Happy Easter!

In this issue, we review the risks Autumn and Easter can pose for our dogs (the eggs in our cute Easter illustration are ceramic of course :-) along with our regular features of Canine Body Language and Top Training Tip.

Amanda, David, & Ruth

Gentle Modern School of Dog Training

Season Risks

Grass: Australian Dog Lover has highlighted a nationwide surge in grass seed injuries. Recent rain and still-warm temperatures have led to a burst of grass seeds that can penetrate the skin and burrow in, sometimes travelling well into the body from the point of entry. Steer clear of long grass. Also, we're nearing the end of snake season, but snakes can still be active in April - another reason to avoid long grass!

Easter (for more info, see Easter Food Dangers for Pets: A Vet's Guide by Dr Carla Paszkowski)

Chocolate is poisonous to dogs and cats. The darker the chocolate, the higher the toxicity. Take care that every egg hidden for an Easter Egg Hunt in the garden is found by humans.
Hot Cross Buns - The risk of toxicity from hot cross buns comes from the consumption of sultanas and raisins. Grapes and their dehydrated versions can cause irreversible kidney failure in cats and dogs.
Easter Lilies (Lilium longiflorum) are a traditional symbol during the Easter holiday period as they represent purity and innocence. All lily species - leaves, stem, flower, pollen, vase water - are highly toxic to cats and poisonous for dogs. If you are giving a floral gift to a friend with pets, ensure it does not contain any lilies. "species in the Lilium and Hemerocallis genera (including Easter, Tiger, and Day lilies) are the most dangerous."
Macadamia Nuts - poisonous for dogs and cats
Beware of your dog consuming Easter decorations or getting into the rich celebratory foodsyou may be serving human guests.

Parasites: Protection against fleas is recommended year-round these days. If you're travelling north, ticks can still be a risk through Autumn.

Body Language - Putting a Paw on You

Does your dog touch you with their paws - perhaps resting a paw on your arm, or patting your arm or thigh with their paws when you're seated?
For some dogs, it's a natural action and one you can put on cue as "shake" . Some dogs who've learnt "shake" become a bit obsessed with offering the behaviour - they'll dial it back once they realise the action won't be rewarded if it hasn't been cued!
Some dogs will place their paw on you to get your attention or to seek reassurance.

"If your dog is paw-touching you to communicate, value her communication efforts and try to figure out what she is trying to tell you." [Quote from Why Does My Dog Put Their Paw On Me? by Pat Miller]

Top Tip - Identify what you really need your dogs to do to reduce friction/stress and to maximise harmony

"We've created a society where dogs are expected to act like computers - perfectly programmed, respond with 100% accuracy and not susceptible to environmental changes, life experiences, genetics and plenty more. This is a completely unreasonable expectation for any living creature, and puts an enormous strain on the dog-human relationship.
The reality is, for most pet dogs and their owners, there's really only a handful of basic skills that are truly important." Kate LaSala, American Veterinary Soc. of Animal Behavior, Quarterly Newsletter Vol 46 No 1, 3/2026 (Free subscription to the Newsletter)

The author of this quote, Kate, has the following as her basic or core skills for dogs: Recall, Leave it, Drop it, and Stay.
My core skills are Recall, Exit/Enter (front door, car door, gate) on Instruction, Steady (slow down), and Wait.
David's core skills are Recall, Leave it, Give. (David also nominates Cooperation and Problem Solving: "Cooperation and problem solving are not really 'skills', they are more attitudes that we need to develop in our canine companions. They underlie all the other training we do.")
Ruth's core skills are Recall, Wait until released at the gate and in the car, Calm around joggers/bikes/cars/horses, and Loose Lead Walking.

Identify your must-have-skills and direct most of your energy and effort there. When the core skills have a strong foundation, you can broaden your dog's repertoire for fun and challenge.

Your reward for reading to the end . . .

Stanley Coren provides a fascinating review of our understanding of dogs' dreaming during sleep in Do dogs dream? This is what scientific study has told us about dogs and dreaming

"Data from measurement of the neural activity in dogs revealed that during sleep dogs’ brain wave patterns follow much the same time course and go through the same stages that we find in humans. During one of those stages, if we awaken people, they normally report that they were dreaming. Since dogs also go through that same stage of sleep, this would be consistent with the idea of that dogs might dream." Quote from the article