MK9Plus Dog Training and Behaviour

My dogs really enjoy spending time licking these mats. LickiMats are great for stimulating the senses, calming dogs down and making them feel good! Please note, lickimats will not stimulate your dog because something that is mentally stimulating is something that will work the dogs brain and tired them out, this means the task must be hard. For Example, doing maths and watching a movie are both classed as ways of mentally stimulating our brains, but only one is going to achieve a more tired person and it's just how dogs work too!   Stimulating the senses is a great way to make your dog feel happy, relaxed and drop arousal. LickiMats are perfect for this as they are microwave and freezer friendly. I love to crack an egg open on them and cook the egg in the microwave, or alternatively, I cover them in yoghurt and freeze them! I use these to help regulate my dogs' arousal levels, if we have just had a bit to much of a crazy fun time and sometimes I use them just as a treat, leavin...

When teaching your puppy toilet training, one mistake many people make is scolding or punishing them for accidents inside the house. This can cause a major issue, which we'll get to shortly. The most effective way of toilet training is a method called "trial-and-error learning" or "operant conditioning." To use this method, set a timer on your phone for every 15 minutes (if your puppy is 8 weeks old, increase the timer by about 5-10 minutes every week) and take your puppy outside when it goes off. Once they finish going to the toilet, reward them with a treat. During the first week or two, it's a good idea to use special treats just for toilet training to make them more valuable to the puppy. It's important to remember that scolding or punishing your puppy for accidents inside the house can lead to negative associations with going to the toilet and may cause the puppy to only go when you're not around, in order to avoid punishment. Instead, it's ...

If your dog is bored, don't just try to keep them occupied. They'll get bored of that, just like they did before. Instead, ask yourself, "Why is my dog always awake?". This is what will lead to major behavioural issues over time and behavioural problems are what we call symptoms of underlying issues. Boredom means your dog is lacking what they really need, so looking for ways to keep them occupied is not the advice to look form. Dogs require 18 to 20 hours of sleep per day, and when they're asleep, they're not bored. However, this is only achievable if they're engaged in activities that meet their needs while they're awake (living the right life fro them). It's not always about doing more; it's about doing the right things. There's more to having a dog than just trying to tire them out. To achieve this, we need to understand what our dogs were bred for. Even if you don't know your dog's breed, because you know know the breed, we can...

While calming dog toys can effectively decrease arousal in dogs, promote relaxation and boost their mood, it's important to note that they may not necessarily reduce anxiety. Anxiety is a complex condition characterised by a constant feeling of unease and worry, even in the absence of stimuli. It can be caused by various factors such as genetics, past experiences, and lifestyle, and can manifest in many different ways. However, calming dog toys can be a helpful tool for decreasing arousal in dogs, which can be the leading cause of anxious behaviours and stress. If we can keep anxious dogs in a positive or calm state as often as possible, it can help tremendously in our journey to recovery. Our goal with anxious dogs should be to fill their days with activities that promote seeking, such as sniffing for food, exploring familiar environments, breaking through boxes to get food, and practicing their breed-specific behaviours. These activities might not be as calming, but they are bene...