]]> http://www.smilesdogtraining.co.uk/sarah-miles-blog/news-and-press-releases/training-with-a-smile/feed/ 0 http://www.smilesdogtraining.co.uk/sarah-miles-blog/smiles-events-2011/ http://www.smilesdogtraining.co.uk/sarah-miles-blog/smiles-events-2011/#comments Mon, 13 Dec 2010 06:00:23 +0000 admin http://www.smilesdogtraining.co.uk/?p=540 Places still available on our Monday Puppy Classes at 9:30am.

Also some spaces remain for Thursdays Beginner and Advanced Classes – call 07768 830 937 to book your space.

Exciting news we’ve got our first dates for workshops and classes in 2011. There will be more to come but recommend you get these in the diary by giving Sarah a call.

Workshops:

• April 4
• May 3
• June 9
• July 8
• August 8
• Sept 6

Classes:

Sunday Gundog Classes:
Advanced 9am
Beginners 10.30am

Commencing February -

Monday Puppy Class
From 9.30am

Thursday Dog Classes
Beginner 9.30am
Advanced 11.00am

Tuesday evening classes will also be commencing after Easter – contact Sarah for more information.

Remember one-to-one sessions can be provided at any time to suit you.

You’ve had a stressful day, you’re tired and then you do some dog training, but nothing is working. Your dog is not responding, is faltering and reluctant – did you take some time to listen to your tone? Dogs recognise the smallest change in pitch if you are tense this will come across in your voice often at a lower pitch, rapid and curt – if you think how other people respond to this then how do you expect your dog will behave to this?

When you choose to work your dog make sure you are in the right frame of mind giving you and the dog the best opportunity for not only successful training but enjoyable training as well.

A good way of really understanding what are you doing when training is to take a video, Smiles Dog Training can provide this service on request, or ask someone to observe. Remember dogs primary form of communication is body language, think about what your body is doing and what the dogs actually see. You’ll be amazed how just wider eyes and a smile / frown can make a big difference.

One of the main things to remember is that intense eye contact is actually threatening to a dog unlike when we talk to fellow humans – this is often the first mistake people make when working with a dog.

Eye contact is just the start, to find out more about how your behaviour can effect your dog give Sarah Miles a call to find out about her latest classes and workshops.

Like many untrained dogs, Gemma was frequently running off – responding to her “hunting instincts” – and failed to take a blind bit of notice as Judi called in vain for her to return.

Fearing the dog was a bit of a lost cause, Judi entrusted Gemma to Sarah – who runs Dog Training with Smiles – and now describes her as a “super little dog” who responded perfectly to the East Meon trainer’s tried-and-tested, professional methods.

Judi said, “I love cocker spaniels and now have three of these busy little dogs and it is essential that they are under control and respond to my commands, I consider the training with Sarah to be very important and also ongoing. My dogs love her and really enjoy their training sessions and I continue to learn a great deal. I am often complimented on my dogs’ good behaviour and have frequently recommended Sarah’s training to those in need of help with their pet or working dog

Judi’s three cocker spaniels are just an example of Sarah Miles’ many success stories and her new workshops are going from strength to strength and are set to be expanded.

Sarah works by observing each dog and then tackles any behaviour issues by observing its nature and innate tendencies of the breed. She also helps owners to carry on the good work and to understand their dogs’ needs. Her key message is that happy owners, make happy dogs – KISS – Kind, Informative, Sensitive and Simple.

Sarah’s notched up particular success with older dogs – some of whom have been dismissed by other trainers as being too old to train. The most common issues include:

• Disobedience to the recall
• General disobedience and failure to sit and stay.
• Lack of heeling both on and off the leash
• Over excitable behaviour
• Aggression

Sarah said, “In an ideal world one would start training your puppy the moment it comes home, however at this stage it is not called training it is conditioning. A simple example of this is when feeding your puppy, stand in front of your pet with the bowl of food and if the pup is standing just hold the bowl above the head and wait until the dog sits. Immediately this happens, then give the puppy the food.  After a while bring in the word sit, and by the time the puppy is ready for more formal training you will have a dog sitting on command.

”However life is not always perfect so I get all types of dogs coming for training at all ages – some people leave training too late, some because they don’t require their dog to be well behaved until it gets too uncontrollable. The longer you leave the training of a dog and the inherent bad problems they pick up the more difficult it is to resolve. The older the dog the bigger the footprint of the type of bad behaviour.”

Sarah runs one-to-one training and classes from her Hampshire base. In addition, once a month she holds a workshop based on “Understand your Dog“, helping owners to recognise and understand what their dog is communicating to them and how you, as the owner can communicate with them.

She said, “Psychology of both people and animals plays a large part in the way that I train and I observe the dog for some time to see what type of nature it has. With animals the signs you are giving them can be very subtle – just the movement of your hand can be enough to signal that you want them to do something.

“A lot of people treat a dog like a person and they are not – they are animals with animal instincts and behaviour. However, they are very happy to be trained and understood. They then become a well-behaved, loyal companion and friend for the duration of their lives.”

For more details about Sarah’s training methods and classes, visit www.smilesdogtraining.co.uk or call 07768830937/01730823818

…ends…

Press Release August 23, 2010

Media enquiries: For more information please contact Catherine Kelly or Joss Loader at Primary PR, telephone: 01903 783832, 07704 130226, 07838 379599.    E-mail: catherine@primarypr.co.uk or joss@primarypr.co.uk

Training a gundog is not difficult; to attain a good standard is possible for most people. However gundog training does take time. Gundog training is a step by step process, building confidence and skills.  Dog training with Smiles now offers Weekly Gundog Training Classes and One to One Dog Gundog Training Lessons or give Sarah a call for more details.

As with all dog behaviourists communication, observation and understanding are the keys to good dog behaviour.
It is the owner’s responsibility to learn what their dog is “saying” and why. All dog behaviour training is based on co-operation between human and animal. The dog must have confidence in their owner, the owner must have confidence in their dog and the animal must have confidence in itself. This is confidence is achieved by understanding, communication and observation.

What is dog communication?

Dog communication comes in a variety of forms, and is taught as part of the foundation of dog social behavior. Dogs use certain movements of their bodies and body parts and different vocalizations to express their emotions. There are a number of basic ways a dog can communicate its feelings. These are movements of the ears, eyes, eyebrows, mouth, head, tail, and entire body, as well as barks, growls, whines and whimpers, and howls.

Humans however communicate differently. Our main form of communication is the voice. The timbre, tone and volume the voice conveys many different messages to the dogs. This has to be managed with great care and used in the minimum. Our body language is our strongest form of communication.  Our eyes can be used to praise or halt an action and the body to signal your requirements or to block undesired behaviour. Our voice should be used as little as possible and when used it should be low pitched and quiet.
Dogs watch us constantly for the small subtle movements which signal their next move. We have to train ourselves to use our bodies, eyes and hands to communicate, rather than our voice. The gentle brush of one’s hand on the dog’s head should be regarded as a reward. As well as training the dog, Sarah also helps owners to carry on the good work themselves and to understand their dog’s needs.

The domesticated dog has evolved over many years and, of all animals, is the only one that wants to be of service to humans. Indeed there are numerous occasions on record of dogs saving humans, using their own initiative.  No other animal has the will – or wish – to help and serve us.

Most dog behaviourists are experienced dog trainers who have developed their skills over many years and studied dog behaviour either formally or through personal research. Dog behaviourists apply their experience and knowledge to the interaction between humans and dogs.

Typically dog behaviourists work one-on-one with the dog and its owner. This is often carried out in the home or the area where the dog is showing behaviour problems. Many dogs are cautious or nervous in neutral territory making it difficult to establish the root cause of some common dog behaviour problems. The dog may act very differently when in strange territory.

The methods and tools of the dog behaviourist will depend on several factors including the dog’s temperament, the dog behaviourists personal philosophy on dog training, the dog behaviourist experience, and the dog behaviour problems being addressed. At one end of the spectrum some dog behaviourists attempt to train dogs without any aversive or coercive methods at all, relying solely on food treats or praise. Other dog behaviourists believe that the use of verbal corrections, various collars etc are necessary or useful when treating particular dogs or particular dog behaviour problems. However, the general philosophy in use is to avoid any method that could cause confusion, fear, pain and stress

Make your dog smile

Is your pooch as well trained as your horse?

Following on from the success of the June 10 course, the workshop costs £75 and will cover things such as basic obedience; sit, stay, heel (on and off the leash) and the recall. I’ll be on hand to help guide you and your dog and any problems will be reviewed and dealt with.

The session will be held at my home and runs from 10am to 3pm. Places are limited, so please book early.