AVA...The Angel or Diva?

Ava gets her Angel wings... I mean, of course, her ears as they have now stood in up "Pure Chihuahua" style!

Sometimes she is a real Angel, other times she becomes a complete "Diva" when she struts around showing off a toy! She does this with complete confidence as she shows the other dogs, or us, her "toy". As she struts she makes a sound like "ooohooowoo", which starts low in tone then raises to a "hoo" then lowers again!

At feeding time she has now joined the small dog pack (small in size not in energy or rank!) This is when she can become the "devil puppy" as she is making clear communication that her bowl is hers! When she does this little "growl" I correct her with a "psshttt" and a touch so she stops immediately - possessive behaviour is not allowed at feeding time!

Each day we make progress with feeding time, just today she waited for her food giving me space to prepare it, then sat for me before I gave her the bowl. I also give her a boundary - using my arm I block her from going over to another dog's bowl - she would steal their food if she could do so as a "typical puppy", no dominance behaviour allowed in my pack either!

Ava is naturally a very high ranked dog, energetic as well she could become dominant, but here she cannot as there is no human she can dominate and all dogs are all equal followers to me, so no animals to dominate either!

At only 4 months she has now joined the "Big Walk". We began with small regular walks during the day as we socialised her to the walk experience and taught her how to walk on the leash. Today she joined 8 of my pack which includes the Dobey, Gt Dane, Setters and a few of the smaller dogs too. This "Big Walk" is on and off-leash here at the beach for over an hour - Ava did great, my Chihuahua is a "Big Dog" now!

So if I want more of "Ava the Angel" than "Diva the Devil" - I need to keep up this new exercise routine, "YES" she is a Chihuahua yet she is also a "Dog" and needs to walk/run/play too. Discipline is going to be an absolute necessity with Ava, as much as it is for the rest of the pack to live as contented canines, if any of my females even senses a vacancy for Pack Leader one would try to take over then we would be in chaos here!....And that "one" may just be Ava!

"Exercise and Discipline before affection" is the way

to fulfil our dogs - it works for Chihuahuas too!

Cat is in the Pack!

Meet Socks, the cat, who proves Cesar's point that all species are "animal" first then species, as animals they can indeed unite as one pack!

When dogs "howl" they do this to stay in touch with the pack and their leader! Howling is not a protest or an "alerting" behaviour like barking.

I go out to feed the small animals in the front garden each morning and, though I am only a few feet away from my pack, they howl...little Jack starts this with his tiny voice and then all the dogs join in!

Now .....the other day Simon was here when they howled to me and he said there was one very strange howl...it came from the room the dogs do not go into - "cats room"! Socks, our cat, was joining in the "pack howl" - sat on his chair head tilted he was copying his pack mates the dogs with a howling noise..."cat style"!

So even though Socks the cat does not share the same home space as the dogs, he is still a pack member according to him! The reason he lives apart is because the Terriers' instinct could not be trusted around this furry animal, but this said he is a very dominant cat who has stood his ground when the dogs pass-by him on a walk! I never leave cat and my dog pack alone unsupervised...prey drive, remember, is one thing we cannot control unless we leaders are very close-by to do so!

Actually, Socks is supposed to be an outdoor cat, but at times he prefers the comfy life in his own private room! When he is out and about he does not fear dogs, he fears the chickens here yet sits happily with the rabbits!

The other day Socks sat in the road and refused to move for a passing car, I had to go move him as he tried to swipe the driver who went over to him! - Here it is "beware of the cat"!

Ava, our Chihuahua puppy, touches noses with Socks the cat! She likes him and he seems to be OK with her as he has not swiped his paw...yet...but I think Ava senses this grumpy cat and moves off quickly after their greeting!

Dogs are Dogs...Cats are Cats...YET all are

ANIMAL FIRST so can be "One Pack"!

Max Saved a Life - Cesar's Way!!!

My story of Max protecting Jack clearly shows how Cesar Millan works to help many dogs into recovery - by using the "inter-species" language called energy - Calm Assertive Energy as we saw Max use in the story!

This is "why" Cesar's Way works - because dog whispering is all about mimicking the dogs themselves, their ways, not human ways, to communicate "stop". Then as dogs live in our domestic world we need to "redirect" - tell/show then what we ant them to do instead and use "positive reinforcement" to reward the wanted behaviour.

Max, a balanced dog of a high rank, can truly be calm assertive and stop an attack without joining in to fight. So we can use this to stop dogs from using behaviour we do not want, while we would never throw a dog we can block dogs in a way they understand - using energy, but only ever calm assertive, body language and vocal tone! Oh and that means "no words" just sound and tone!

OK so we don't throw but we can block. Dogs will block another by standing firm and confident! Calm is the energy needed if we want to try to communicate "we are leader" in "canine" so "stop"!! I can usually stop a dog charging at me and have written about this in some of my earlier blog posts so please do check them out!

There is no doubt in my mind what Max was doing to stop the attack and no doubt of Cesar's ability to teach us how to have a balanced people/dog relationship. If a person begins to shout or hit out when dogs are fighting to try to break it up...well this may work with people (though often adds to the conflict) but never works with dogs! Dogs would see this as "joining in fight" and so escalate the aggression even then to us as mis-directed ....after all we joined in!

Any aggression always consult with a professional...do not try to copy the methods one can see Cesar use on the DW show - this can create serious problems if tried by a non-professional! This warning is here for a reason, as all the dogs and people Cesar helps he has fully assessed first, in-person, to find the best treatment method and solution, so "don't try this at home"!

Way to go Cesar....Max showed us exactly what you mean by calm assertive energy, so I hope you all gain some more insight into energy from me sharing this story with you. If you read Cesar's books you can learn all about his philosophy which is what Cesar's Way is - not the methods alone.

Cesar is an inspiration and he does save lives...I am a great believer in his belief which is "any way that works that does not harm the dogs"!

Max is Jack's "Doggieguard" ...the "Bodyguard"!

I want to share an incredible story with you about how confident dominant dogs can protect without using aggression! Max, our Doberman, is for sure a "would-be alpha" dog - a natural leader with calm assertive energy. In this story he did truly save a life and proves that dogs do naturally live in packs and that dominance is not a bad thing when used as animals do - without human complex emotions...not as we humans can sometimes mis-understand dominance as a negative unwanted dictatorship behaviour!

On the beach my husband Simon and Max, along with some other pack members, were enjoying a stroll. Jack, the little Chihuahua mix, who was nearby Simon was suddenly charged by other dogs.. they just appeared! Along came these 5 Greyhounds off-leash and not under control, they attacked Jack aggressively. There was no chance to stop these dogs quickly enough with their intent on attack - prey drive! Jack yelped and rolled over and over to try to stop them getting him.

Simon had Max on leash, when from behind him came Alfie, our Setter, who was off-leash and went into the middle of the attacking dogs, all calm Alfie began to circle Jack to protect him keeping these hounds back from Jack....normally Alfie barks but he was completely quiet!
Alfie was unable to stop the attack completely with this blocking as he is quite a low ranked dog.

So Simon, with Max under control and on leash, went into the middle - Max immediately took over as directed to - he instinctively knew which one of these hounds was the Leader Dog of that pack. Without aggression, Max picked up one of the greyhounds by their coat (a doggie jacket not the fur/skin) and threw the dog to the side to stop the attack from that dog - their leader...."It Worked"! Not only did this dog stop but the whole pack of Greyhounds stopped and stood very still....as did Max!

Meantime Jack ran away home! Max knew just what to do - he could stop this attack safely and far quicker than a human, as we are after-all a different species! So he was enabled to do so under Simon's control and saved Jack from further injury. Max did not use any aggression, as he would have naturally known to fight would be to cause more aggressive confrontation...no barking and not even hackles up!

As Max was on-leash he could not use "bump" to move these dogs away, this is when dogs bump into another to move them, so he just threw without harming. By stopping the Leader the whole pack stopped, no need for Max to do anything else but stand there with very calm/assertive dominant energy!

The owner was very sorry, but my husband and pack just moved-on, no point in going over the event as these dogs should have been under owner control but were not - they should have been leashed and muzzled, yet they were neither - it was that simple!

Anyway Max was keen to go fetch Jack back into the safety of the pack - he was no longer interested in the Greyhounds! So Max was the leader in the moment and protected his pack without aggression.

Simon, being a naturally calm person, made the right decision in that moment to direct Max to step-in, he remained calm while Max stopped the attack. Of course he knows Max and trusts him never to use aggression.

Jack is OK, not too badly hurt, Max is such a balanced dog, a true Ambassador for the Doberman breed, with Simon having perfect timing to enable Max to stop the attack and Aflie trying to block - great team work..packs do work..working together works!

Coming next - my take on how this relates to Cesar's Way and how we can mimic Max to protect our dogs...remember though we can only ever control our own dog, as people we can only aim to safely block another dog, and if we cannot then I will share with you how we can be sure to help our dogs move-on from an unavoidable attack!

If all dog owners were as responsible as my readers

all would indeed be well -

eductaion is the way forward so

keep on reading me here and then

ALL WILL BE WELL!

Welcome EVA!

Introducing "Eva" our new pack member - the smallest member now being a Chihuahua and only 8 weeks old! She is beautiful in both character and those big blue eyes! Eva will teach me "all about puppy psychology & behaviour" - so I can coach you to raise your puppy calm and balanced...leading the way to "puppy peace"!

She is a very confident dog taking in her stride meeting the pack on her first day...no fear just interest ...though she looked a little amazed at the GT Dane, Monty, when he sniffed a "polite" greeting...but then his paw is bigger than she is! One day later and she licks his face as she passes by him snoozing!

Eva for now is on her "puppy license" this means she can get away with behaviour around the pack that an older dog could not, for example an older dog new into the pack and climbing all over the Terriers here would be corrected by my Terrier dogs ... but Eva can do it as she is puppy and all the dogs naturally understand "puppy" - so my pack allow this & play...just for now! Peterpan loves her, he is very gentle playing with her by rolling over!

This is my time as Pack Leader to teach her the home discipline - the rules, boundaries and limits so that when her "puppy license" runs out she is not climbing on them so they have no need to correct her.

The "power of the pack" helps in positive modelling ...this means they are "toilet training" her to go outside...thank you pack! But of course negative behaviour can be modelled by puppy as well so they are all having to be extra well behaved....I don't want her to think she is a Terrier and chase those flying rats...pigeons in the way the JRTs do in the garden!

Eva is a lovely dog, she won't grow very big but she makes up for size in spirit! She already walks all round the garden and out to the post box with me, but then she met the "cat" and backed-up...I am not surprised I back up from my cat! She was also a little spooked by the noise the chickens make but I was careful not to reinforce this fear with a human emotion ... as tempting as it was to cuddle...that would be a mistake in dog psychology!

Follow her journey to becoming a balanced adult dog here....Eva is my Star...named after Evita...one of my favourite films starring Madonna...Eva is my "little Madonna" she sure has her confidence!

Mirror...Dog....Mirror

"YES" Mickey you are a great looking dog...but that is not what I meant by "mirror"!





Dogs are our "mirrors"! In some way our dogs mirror back at us our own energy and emotion.

*************

This is a key part of Cesar's philosophy and the reason why Cesar can help transform the lives of owners for the better too! Cesar's Way brings balance and peace to the whole pack...all the family.

In the past I didn't come across a Behaviourist in this country who had such a philosophy - to help the humans as well, rather most refused to have any dealing with the people just the dogs...and sometimes "just a talk about the dogs problems" without even meeting the dog, as the dog was acting out aggressively!

How can we help a dog to recover without helping the humans to balance and harmony in their lives too? I don't believe we can single out the dogs..we need to treat the family with a holistic approach...as one pack.


So this is what I do...I coach people and rehabilitate dogs, inspired as ever by Cesar. This, I add, is more like "life coaching" than counselling - the latter needs a professional in human psychology, while coaching is all about achieving individual goals. Sometimes it is hard even to identify "what you want" so this is where we begin...until we know what we want how can we feel like we are meeting our needs and those of our dogs.


The mirror works...to accept oneself and then to decide how to change..."nothing changes if nothing changes"...I can empower you to find just what works for you and your dog.


Many who come to me with their dog problems have been told there is no way to change their dogs behaviour or mind-set - there is...I found the way and the dogs recovered. There is always hope...believe there is a way and we will find it together.


I have many mirrors here...13 dogs to tell me every moment what my energy is to check that I remain a benevolent leader, clam and confident so that my dogs continue to respect and trust me. We enhance our special bond every day on our journey through life together.

What is your dog trying to tell you?

Welcome USA!

Hey you are cute!

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

I am very pleased to introduce you all to a JRT from the States. He is very special to his owners who are wanting to enhance their relationship with this young dog so he can grow up to be a balanced contented canine.

He is my first USA client - OK so the human family are the real clients who have joined my personal people training service via distance coaching. With this service where you live is not an issue, so we are now "international" helping owners to understand a little dog psychology in their own unique envionment....family...pack!

*

A dog does not need to have problem behaviour for their owner to benefit from my coaching - as to learn to use dog, not human, psychology when interacting with dogs is the way to balance and avoid unwanted behaviour from even developing! So I congratulate this dog's family for wanting to learn more about their dog to maintain the great bond of human leaders and follower dog.

So I coach people by Internet and/or phone in how to be the leader and improve their own special bond with their dogs. I carefully tailor my services to meet your more specific needs and individual goals....we work together to achieve what you want by empowering you to balance and harmonise life....and dogs too!

We have had huge success here in the UK as people coaching brings dog psychology to all in a personal way you can understand. Behaviour solutions and guidance is all part of my holistic approach.

*

Dog psychology is not just those who want to work in the profession but everyone...owners just like you who want to know some more about their dogs - behaviour and mindset. This can also help those who want to find out if they wish to follow-on and become a more formal student of canine psychology through certified course providers or to compliment their existing studies or people training courses too. Coaching works for owners I mentor!

I think sometimes it is so important to have individual coaching, so I launched this service to meet requests for help. Though "in-person pro" help is for sure important to help change dog aggression energy and responses. Such in-person help is also key to rehabilitate many other behaviour problems, yet my personal coaching service can be beneficial to you as a supplement to this. I can advise anyone on the most appropriate service - just for you!

So if you want to "discover the way...to lead the way" then join us here at CrystalDogs by sending me an email...wherever you live there is a way I can help you just ask me.

I am the Canine Coach - I rehab dogs and coach people, I am a certified Canine Behaviourist and a People Life Coach. My dog pack teach me...I can be your mentor!

"Nothing Changes if Nothing Changes" ....SO....Call in the Canine Coach....Suzie!