Helping Hounds Working Dogs Alberta
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Helping Hounds Working Dogs serves marginalized and underrepresented individuals and communities in accessing working dogs. June is a retired racing greyhound.
09/30/2024
Pooka and Birdie spent some time downtown today! Our mission: feel comfy in the chaos of downtown. We did lots of sniffing and snuffling. Getting the olfactory system involved helps release calming hormones. We played pattern games to give them a sense of predictably in an unpredictable environment. We watched people, bikes, scooters, busses,
pedestrians and other dogs. We practiced some barkour to feel confident in navigating this new space. We ended our session with a quick trip to the pet store to pick out some goodies for all of their hard work! Training is so much more than rehearsing obedience skills, and today was a huge success. Very well done Pooka and Eris! And thank you Birdie for being a stellar role model for our young friend.
05/08/2023
Almost exactly 2 years after bringing sweet Birdie home from Jule Acres, she successfully passed her Government of Alberta Public Access Test!
Thanks for taking such good care of me Birdie, I can’t wait to see what adventures are in store for us! 💜💖💜
04/17/2023
🎉 Thank your dog for growling! That’s right, you heard me!
👉🏻 Growling doesn’t make for a bad dog.
🐕 The misconception is that bad dogs growl.
💟 We should thank our dogs for growling.
‼️ Growls are an important communication behavior for dogs.
✔️ Dogs who growl aren’t bad. Dogs who growl are desperately trying to tell us that they are stressed in that moment.
✅ Dogs who growl are doing their best to not escalate to a bite. The growl is a warning signal that they need more space from what’s stressing them.
✅ If growls are ignored a snap or even a bite is the next step for a dog to try to get out of a stressful situation.
‼️ Never punish your dog for trying to communicate what’s causing them to be anxious.
⚠️ Punishing a dog for growling may stop the growl, but all you’ve done is take away their warning signal. Now you won’t know when they are stressed. Instead of warning you they are stressed, they will go right to biting.
⛔️ A dog who no longer growls is like having a fire alarm in your house without batteries.
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