A-Z of needle felted dog breeds - pug

Return to A-Z needle felted dogs

A-Z of needle felted dog breeds - Poodle

Return to A-Z needle felted dog breeds

Bulldog

Return to A-Z needle felted dogs

Rewards

Oh I have neglected my blog so badly!! Promise I will try and be better (yeah I know I have said that before) So today a quick little dog training tip

 Rewards

A reward is anything that the dog finds rewarding
If the dog finds it rewarding then they will be more likely to try and do the thing again that caused the reward to happen
The most obvious is food - but of course not all dogs are motivated by food - and not always the same food all the time
Toys and playing are another great reward
A pat on the head works for some dogs at some times as does praise (although I strongly believe that a dog has to learn what praise is by either it being associated with something nice - or (sadly) the end of bad things)

But think outside the box - what does the dog love
I have a friends dog who loves to dig and he sits shaking with excitment waiting to be told he can go dig
Even going to the tiolet can be a reward!! Not that I use that but thats how it works out. My dogs pull on the lead to get to a good place to go to the loo
As I didnt want to restrict their toiliting I let them pull on the lead
So of course this was reforced by them getting to go to the loo
and now my dogs are trained to pull on the lead to go to the loo!!

Needle felted Cheetah

Another new feltie - with an added background to hide the dull dull Scottish weather

Cesar and Allan

When I heard Cesar Millan was to be on the Allan Titchmarsh show I was initally worried
I was actually so worried I was amongst the many many people who wrote to his production team complaining and sending loads of videos and quotes from people about the cruelty in Cesar Millans methods.
I wasnt hopefull thinking this would just be a interview about how great CM is
But I was very very surprised! A hard hitting interview that really had Cesar on the back foot
Enjoy

Stag

Messing about with different backgrounds for my latest fuzzies. This red deer stag is infront of a snap I took of the highlands several years ago.
Just a bit of fun but it does brighten things up when I cant get enough natural light in my fotos

Wolfhound / deerhound

Return to A-Z felted fuzzies

Fuzzy gonk dogs

Ages since I have made fuzzy fotos of my two - looking down on them while they are sitting
Childish but cute :)
Would love to see yours - post a link to them in your blog - or mail me if you want your dogs (cats, rats hamsters...) featured on here :)

Cesar Millan - Gizmo

Another clip from Cesar Millans new show - and another bite for him

Granted this owner has made quite a few mistakes but Gizmo is actually really tolerant of what for him is a pretty confusing thing
Cesar is just looking for confrontation - Gizmo even backs off and sits, which would be a perfect time to let him get the food - but it seems that Cesar just wants to push the dog until he bites to make things look 'good' for the TV

Dogs guard food because they dont trust that they are safe to eat unmolested
Teach them that you are a trustworthy person and your hands bring them nice things
Teach children to leave dogs alone when they are eating
Noone needs to be bitten

October sunshine

The weather the past few days has been almost better than our summer! I have taken advantage of that with the dogs - here are a few snaps of the fuzzies in the sunshine

Cesar Milan - How not to deal with food guarding

It seems the dog abuser is back for a new series.
I know loads of people love him and will be totaly up in arms with me calling him an abuser - but please take the time to watch

In this clip Cesar confronts Holly, a food agressive dog. He is called in because the family have a new baby and are justifiably concerned.
Cesar right from the start is spoiling for a fight, his crouched position and staring hard eyes are really aggressive to a dog but Holly tries to eat.
He then tries to put his hand in the bowl and she snarls at him.
At this point any decent trainer would have seen all they need to - she guards food an could bite if pushed
But no - Cesar has to push it further. His instant response is a punch/slap to the side of her jaw
(the camera jerks at this point so it is difficult to see if its a punch or one of his hand jabs - but its full force)
Agression leads to agression - causing pain increases adrenaline and makes a dog more likely to want to attack
He advances on Holly, she backs up - she is showing her teeth at him but also backing up and licking her lips - all her trying to comunicate with him that she is uncomfy and feeling trapped.
If she was agressive she wouldnt warn him - but she does - lots - and he keeps pushing her
Eventually she lies down and is turning her head away - she is trying to diffuse the situation. He puts his cupped hand onto her nose - I am not sure if he thinks he is patting her at this point - but she sees it as an attack and responds the only way she knows how - she bites him

Compare this with how another dog trainer deals with a similar dog

 

Victoria can see the dog is likely to snap and so keeps everyone safe. She teaches the dog that people being close to his bowl is a good thing - there is no showdown, no 'man verses beast' just calm training that anyone can do

Unfortunatly for Holly there is no happy ending. Cesar decides Holly is now to agressive for the family and moves her into his 'pack'

Watching him interact with these dogs is so very sad. The dogs are not well behaived not jumping on him and greeting him - they are frozen stressed statues. Lip licking is very much a sign of stress, as is the fixed 'grins' on the dog
Poor Holly, another dog failed by Cesar, a problem that is fixed daily by many behaviourist and trainers all over the world - in the hands of Cesar this poor girl lost her home and has a bite history on her record

Pekingese

Return to A-z of dog breeds

Beginners agility training

Sadly I had to step down as Phoenix Flyers beginners trainer.
I have totaly loved working with all my beginners and they have come along great this summer
Here is a video of one of my beginners running their first full course on one of my last training times with them

Cola, I am very proud of how far they have come
and  a photo from my Tuesday night class - great group of dogs

But as one door closes :) although I am sad to be leaving these guys it has very much given me a boot up the backside to get an exciting new project underway. May take a little while to get off the ground but - watch this space

A-Z needle felted dog breeds - Miniature Schnauzer

<< this book was the thing that got me into needle felting in the first place. The little felted Schnauzer caught my eye, it dropped into my shopping basket and from that moment I was hooked.
Every now and again I have a go at making Schnauzers because they always make me smile









Return to A-Z dog breeds index

A-Z of dog breeds - Border Collie

Here is a little collection of all the border collies I have felted over the years

 Thats a whole lotta collies :D remember and have a look in my shop if you like these

Return to A-Z of needle felted dogs