Allow me to demonstrate a fascinating (I think anyway) combinations of 1) the learner should always CHOOSE to engage and 2) dogs communicate with their ENTIRE body, and dog body language is largely generalizable but ultimately dependent on the individual dog. . So here I’m working with Luna on wearing her lovely @bumas_muzzle. (She’s actually great about wearing it but I just like to practice this anyway.) . As you can see, she’s more than willing to shove her face in the muzzle but she starts leaning back and backing up when I go to close the loop around her head. At this point, I should have ended the session or gone back to just treating her for putting her face in the muzzle. Pushing our dogs too far or coercing them into doing something they don’t want to do is bad welfare! . But I SWEAR to you that I did not notice her backing away the first time. I was watching her tail wagging and thinking, Gosh, we’re doing a great job here! Well, my 8-year history with Luna has taught me that actually, her tail wag is not a good indicator of whether or not she’s okay in the moment. She tends to wag when she’s excited and excitement does not equal happy or okay! . (Why is she so uncomfortable putting the loop on when I just said she wears the muzzle just fine a second ago?! Well, I almost never put it on her outside - I usually put it on her in the house and then we go outside (or not). So this is a novel environment for this behavior and that’s why I think she is uncomfortable). . Anyway I finally noticed the second time when she took a more dramatic step back and tossed treats in the grass for her to snuffle, ending the session. We did some other training exercises that she did really well with, which is encouraging to me that I didn’t ruin her evening 😣 #positivereinforcement #forcefreeworks #muzzleupproject #muzzleup #muzzlesarecool #bumasmuzzle #positivereinforcementworks #dogbodylanguage #domorewithyourdog #dogtrainer #dogtraining #dogbehavior #anxiousdog #aggresivedog https://www.instagram.com/p/B-gJVCcJOzg/?igshid=1i8rlof0votjt
