I wanted to talk about something a little bit different today and not completely on the nose for predation but aids in a strong foundation for any dog depending on their needs. I recently have had a veterinarian (DVM) come out to do acupuncture on my youngest dog Káosz for these mysterious bumps on his head and eye discharge and to do chiropractic work on my other two, Lucas and Csili. I had acupuncture done on Lucas many years ago to help with his allergies by a different DVM who unfortunately has passed away. Holistic veterinarians are already difficult to find so losing the one I did trust was difficult not just professionally but also personally as we got on very well. Fast forward to this year, at the prompt of a good friend @Katie Schobel, I looked into finding another veterinarian that has this skill set for my middle dog’s, Csili, social/life skill issues. Her biggest obstacle for life skills is being anxious in relation to a vehicle and/or kenneling. I have made a lot of progress with her but we are at a plateau currently so I decided to try chiropractic adjustment for her. She has only had one session so far, and this is by no means the only method of approach I am taking for her, but it is an important piece of the puzzle. I do also have her on some supplements to help relax the overactive part of her brain associated with anxieties. I do try and avoid pharmaceuticals as much as I can which means that the more natural approaches can take longer to go in effect, but, in my opinion, is healthier and therefore worth it in the long run. I can update in a few months on her progress. My oldest dog Lucas is also getting chiropractic work done as well and as he is older he gets them a little more often than Csili does. He so far has had two and I am very glad I had his most recent one done because apparently his ribs were slightly out of place! I suspect this is from slipping on the stairs going up into my RV. I do not use the stairs that come with the RV itself but some wooden ones that @Paul Bunker helped me put together (or rather I helped him). They may just be a little too steep for the old boy so that will need to be upgraded soon. In the meantime, I do help him up the stairs as a guide/catch in case he needs it. I still want him to use his muscles as much as he can and also have the confidence to do stuff. This apparently works because after his last chiropractic appointment I was helping the DVM load up her vehicle and Lucas tried jumping in the back of her SUV! I thankfully caught him and he was not hurt. His attempt was with gusto but I think the vehicle was too tall for him to actually make it in his old age.

When it comes to training your dog whether it is for detection, social skills or predation substitution there may come a time where training just seems to stagnate. Depending on what you are working on and what your goal is this may not be a bad thing per se but generally speaking we want our dogs to be their best and that means challenging them. Challenging our dogs, so they have the chance to improve and learn new skills, must be done strategically. It is important to have a strong foundation for what you need as well, that way, if the challenge is too difficult, your dog has a practiced and approved skill to fall back on. If this occurs just reevaluate and adjust in a way to ensure your dog is successful. Often times this includes setting up the problem different entirely or breaking it down into smaller steps. The other benefit of a strong foundation is that if your dog were to “fail” at the challenge then they are less likely to “fall apart” when the intended end goal is not met. Some suggestions for getting out of the plateau and on to progress would be to try a new area, different time of day, different reward, change the distance or even take some time off and, within reason, allow your dog and yourself to just go somewhere and exist. While dogs are constantly learning, this is true, they also need time to enjoy being outside, going out and just going on a sniffari. Obviously if your dog has a trigger that really gets them I would suggest avoiding areas that contain that trigger as best you can that way you and your dog can enjoy being outside together with very little pressure to perform. If this needs to be done in multiple short sessions throughout the day/week that is ok. What are some things that you have done when you notice training starting to plateau? Feel free to share so we may learn from each other!

In order to understand and identify your dog’s predatory trigger it is highly beneficial to know what breed(s) of dog you have and to know what that breed was bred to do. For example, my Vizslas were bred to locate birds and other small game. Most dogs are not born with impulse control and so it must be taught otherwise they will see a trigger (or what I also call a stimulus) and want to chase after it. The chase part of the predatory motor sequence is only the beginning of the upswing for the undesired portion of the PMS on dopamine, and other feel good hormones. The peak is if they are successful in grab biting. That is when the dopamine and other hormones will start to come down and the dog will start to relax in satisfaction. Depending on what your dog is bred for, prefers on an individual level and personal experience the types of triggers will vary. Some dogs learn to use their eyes heavily to look for that exciting trigger. Some dogs will use their nose to sniff out a critter trail and some will use their ears to listen for a disturbance to bolt after. Many dogs will use all 3 of these approaches but not all at equal levels all of the time. Paying attention to your dog while out on walks (even while on leash) is very important. This is the best and safest way to teach your dog how to be safe and have impulse control around wildlife. So be sure to not be on your phone and if you have to take an important phone call do your best to be in as little of a distracting area as possible while that call takes place (even if you are using Bluetooth or otherwise hands free). So now let’s talk about threshold levels. There are three different thresholds that we should be aware of: under threshold, at threshold and over threshold. You can think of them this way: - Under threshold = green light - At threshold = yellow light - Over threshold = red light Green light threshold, a dog is able to think, be engaged with you enthusiastically and listen to you when you give a command.

Hello y’all! I do apologize for taking so long but I have finally uploaded the predation substitution games from the presentation as separate videos with one of my dogs. We had some funky weather, storms, new dogs arrive, household stuff to catch up and learn the new device I bought to help me with recording. It is a nifty little device and so far I like it much better. Please feel free to leave feedback on the videos. There will be more coming and those will probably be behind a subscription but I will still provide some free content as well. The videos can be found under the Anti Predation Substitution Presentation.

**Before we get into it I do want to make a disclaimer: the information provided will be general information. Breeding, individuality and experience may change how a dog reacts to certain situations. This does not mean the information provided here is incorrect. The exception does not negate the rule. I have always believed that you should train the dog in front of you not how the dog should be trained because they are x, y ,z, but it is important to have an understanding and a baseline to work off of.** Something I hear a lot when listening to dog owners talk about their dogs and wildlife (or domesticated animals such as cats) is that their dog hates them. “My dog hates squirrels”. “My dog hates rabbits”. “My dog hates cats”. When in fact that is not what is happening at all. First let’s define predation and aggression: - Predation: instinctive, biological, behavior to chase, capture and sometimes kill. This is established based on their ancestral hunting instincts. - Aggression: behavior intended to oppose or defend against a threat but does not kill for food necessarily Something to consider when trying to figure out the difference between the two are what is the purpose, behavioral sequence, target perception, outcome and emotional state of the dog. Understanding the difference of these things will help tremendously on identifying what is going on in your dog’s mind and how you can properly address it. So, in the world of predation the purpose would be to obtain food which is key for survival. This drive to try again and again even when the dog fails is so engrained in their DNA that just providing your dog with good quality food at home is not enough. Your dog will not put two and two together that they don’t need to hunt after an interesting critter because you feed them good food at home. Whereas with aggression the purpose isn’t survival it is to eliminate competition or a perceived threat. This could be a threat to their territory, themselves or their pack.