To Stay or Go

Look at me, all on schedule and stuff! Okay, not really on schedule, because it's a day late. Oh, well! Baby steps.

 I'm going to start this post by stating again, that I am not a professional trainer. If you are having serious problems with your dog, seek the help of a trained professional (we go here).

 Alrighty, so Mia and I take a walk every night so she can go to the bathroom (she refuses to go at home, but that's another issue) and basically get some of her wiggles out before bed. If you walk your dog on any sort of schedule, you will undoubtedly bump in to the same people and dogs from time to time. Some of them you will become friendly with, and some you will try your hardest to avoid, either because the person is annoying, or the dog is. If you walk late at night, chances are, it's the dog that's the problem. It's not always the case, but if you have a dog who is dog-aggressive/reactive/fearful/excitable etc., it's sometimes easier to avoid a situation where your dog may be triggered. So, you walk really late at night. But what happens when you avoid situations is, you can't teach your dog how to handle themselves appropriately in that situation.

 Every few days, Mia and I encounter two dogs that I'll call "W" and "B". B would probably not be a problem on his own, but W does not deal well when she sees other dogs and gets all worked up, which gets B all worked up and it's loud and horrible to encounter late at night. Even if it's not my dog causing a ruckus, I feel bad for the people trying to sleep. Anyway, back to my point for this whole thing... W's owner does what I used to do years ago when Brynn and Mia would get worked up: she stops dead and tries to get the dogs to sit. It never happens because both dogs are agitated and not interested in listening to her in the least, which makes sense...

 Now, I don't know about you, but if I'm upset, the last thing I want is someone telling me to relax and sit down. This is basically what you are telling your dog to do and it rarely, if ever, works. Instead, keep walking. You must give off an air of leadership in any training situation, so stand tall and speak calmly. Tell your dog to 'leave it' and if they look away from the distraction, reward them! If they keep focused on the distraction, 'pulse' on their leash to get their attention. As soon as they look away, release pressure and reward them. As you get closer to the distraction, angle your path away from the distraction, so you're on a lawn, boulevard, edge of the path or road as long as it's safe, all the while repeating the pulse, reward system. Once you pass the other dog/person/etc., angle yourself back towards the sidewalk or path. Reward you dog once they're calm and resume your walk as normal. If your dog is really reactive, you may need to move further away at first, like crossing the street, but once your dog understands that ignoring the distraction means rewards ( either praise, treats, or play), you can slowly work your way closer. Training tools such as a Halti head halter, Volhard collar, or other training collar can be helpful when working with dogs who are strong or easily distracted. I have used both with Mia and they were instrumental for getting her to walk well on a flat collar.

If anyone has any other tips, tricks or suggestions, leave them in the comments!

HAPPY (belated) NEW YEAR!

  Okay, I get it. I suck at this 'accountability' thing. But with the new year comes new goals; so along with eating less chips (good luck, me), being more organised (yeah, right) and going to gym more (again, good luck) I have come up with a simple scheme to keep myself on track with this whole blog thing (admittedly it does contain some organising, but the rest of my life is still up for messy grabs!). I hear some people call this idea a 'plan'. It's genius really. You lay out everything you want to cover in your posts, set post dates and generally have a freaking clue as to what you are doing. I should have probably done that when I started. Oh, well! No time like the present, right? And speaking of presents.... Look who got spoiled by Santa!

Mia's stocking isn't even in the picture because it's big and has to lean on the couch or else everything falls out...

  Okay, so I'm sure you're dying to know what this amazing plan of mine is, eh? Alright. Here goes.

• Post more
• Be more writing
• Mia
• That's it

  Alright, you caught me. That's not the plan. Well it is, but it was the very first, very rough draft of the plan. Seriously now, the real plan:

• Mia Reads. It's been ages since I wrote a #miareads post on Instagram and I really hate that because I liked doing them, but it didn't seem like the best platform for as lengthy posts as #miareads deserves/requires. So the full posts will go on here, with an abbreviated post on Insta. Oh, and it'll only be once a month, highlighting all the books Mia and I read that month, except this month, when there will be two because it's my blog and I can do what I want! And I wanted to write a post about the best books I read last year. It'll be great, I promise.
• Training Tuesdays. I'm not a professional trainer, nor do I claim to be, but I have picked up some opinions, tips and tricks while working with Mia that I'd like to share with you. You are under no obligation to take my advice (but it would be kinda cool if you were. Brain control via blog post! Muahaha! If it's ever possible, I should definitely not be the person they put in control of it. Just sayin'.), or even agree with it and I'd be super thrilled if you didn't hate me if my tips don't work for you. That'd be great, kthanksbye! Oh, right, timing! I'll do a Training Tuesday post every other Tuesday, because frankly, I'm too lazy to plan one for every week. Who do you think I am! Wonder Woman? Does Wonder Woman even have a blog?
• Motivation Monday. I'll be posting things that motivate me as a dog owner to be the best possible dog owner I can be, and things that make me want to get out and do things with the best dog ever! Sounds great, yeah? This is where it gets tricky. Motivation Monday's will be posted on the second Monday of the month, unless that week is a Training Tuesday week, in which case Motivation Monday will be the third Monday of the month. Simple right? I think I'd better write all this down...
• Hikes and basic life with Mia! This one is easy because the love I have for this dog makes it impossible for me to keep her to myself. I'll schedule these posts around the others so there isn't a huge block of posts and then nothing for two weeks, but really, these are the ones that are the most fun to write. She's so cute and smart and funny and... I think you get the picture.

  Alrighty! There you go! All laid out super simple and easy to follow. Some posts will be short, others will be longer (seriously, this post may be the longest one yet!), some will have tonnes of pictures, some of them won't. I hope you join us on our journey. Here's a picture of Fern, because she's cute and she 'helped' me write this.

Thinks she's a dog. Not really a dog.