Forgive me if I reminisce a little!

The other day I heard a song that I’d not heard for ages. It took me back a few years, I can tell you!

And while I was mentally reliving years gone by, I realised how relevant this song still is to us all today! Some things just never change!

I’m talking about a song called ‘I Whistle a Happy Tune’, written by the brilliant Rodgers & Hammerstein and sung by the British governess Mrs Anna Leonowens in the hit musical ‘The King And I’. The musical was based on the true experiences of Anna and this song explains how she dealt with her private fears when she found herself in new and strange surroundings.

She taught these techniques to her young son  –  and now I’m explaining them to you!

This is a song that was copyrighted way back in 1951 but, take a look at the lyrics below and you’ll see that it’s aimed well and truly at all of us anxiety sufferers!

See what you think:

Whenever I feel afraid, I hold my head erect,

And whistle a happy tune so no one will suspect I’m afraid.

While shivering in my shoes, I strike a careless pose

And whistle a happy tune and no one ever knows I’m afraid.

The result of this deception is very strange to tell,

For when I fool the people I fear,

I fool myself as well!

I whistle a happy tune and every single time,

The happiness in the tune convinces me that I’m not afraid.

Make believe you’re brave and the trick will take you far.

You may be as brave as you make believe you are!

©Rodgers & Hammerstein 1951

This could have been written especially for you!!

It sums up exactly what I’m always telling anxiety sufferers:

• That if you behave as if you are confident (even if you don’t feel it inside) then you’ll trick your brain into believing you really ARE confident.

• That your body language is important to the way you feel and how people treat you. Stand tall (‘hold my head erect’) and be counted!

• That if you use distraction techniques (the whistling of a tune or such like) you’ll take your mind off any scary thoughts you may be having.

• That people can’t always tell you’re feeling anxious even if you’re convinced they can.

• That appearances can be deceptive (striking the ‘careless pose’). Look cool and collected and that’s how people will see you.

• That positive happy thoughts (‘the happiness in the tune’) can usually override negative ones and help to reduce your anxiety levels.

• That always having a ‘little trick’ in reserve (like whistling a happy tune, for example, even if it’s just silently in your head!) is an excellent stand by to have for those times when you need some extra help.

And we all know what a difference any of the above things can make to help you in anxious situations!

Have a think about how you deal with scary situations. Do you have a ‘happy tune’ you can call upon? If not, maybe you might find it helpful. Who knows, maybe you might find that actually it’s THIS song that stays in your head, ready for when you need it most!

Good luck, and happy whistling!

There was a time when negative dog training was often used. Rather than only rewarding the desired behavior, punishment was given for incorrect behavior. Canines are naturally inclined to work, and most have a strong desire to learn as a way to work for a reward. This is why positive obedience training with dog treats is a far better approach.

Human Training First

Believe it or not, much of dog training has nothing to do with the dog and everything to do with the human. How you react is vital to how quickly your pet will learn. If you are slow to reward dog treats after a major success, then your pet may not pick up on why he or she was being rewarded. On the other hand, if you reward too often, your pet may not feel the need to work as hard. Find an ideal balance between praise and dog treats. The food reward should be saved for significant advancements while praise and petting can be used for each small step achieved.

Be Patient Every Step of the Way

Remain completely patient and avoid reacting negatively out of frustration. If your pet doesnt seem to understand a step, never take it as a personal attack. Dogs are not vengeful, and as humans we are emotional. We often displace our own emotions by applying them to our pets. The reality is a dog that seems stubborn may not understand because you are moving too quickly. Take a break, gather more dog treats and start again.

If things have become frustrating, and your pet doesnt seem to get the command, it is time to take a few steps backwards. Return to more basic steps and see where your pet excels. Once he or she seems to be getting it, you can slowly progress again. Make a point to offer dog treats as you did the first time through, especially when steps that your pet didnt understand are successfully executed. Never push yourself and your pet forward when he or she is not making progress.

Avoid Fear and Aggression

Dog treats, praise and petting are the only tools you really need to tell your dog he or she is doing the right thing. Negative behavior should be replaced, not punished. Do not hit or yell at your dog if he or she does something wrong during training. This can cause your pet to fear you. He or she may not understand the behavior was incorrect. As far as they can tell, you randomly punished them. Continuing down this path can lead to aggression, should your pet feel the need to become defensive.

That is not to say if your pet does something wrong you should not react. Bad behavior should be immediately stopped by removing your pet from the source, accompanied by a firm, deep no. Many pet owners find that this method is extremely effective and far more desirable than hitting or other forms of punishment.

There are many type of dog training and many objectives, from basic obedience training to specialized areas including police dog, search and rescue, assistance to people with disabilities and entertainment.

Basic Obedience
This is the fundamental type of training in dogs and all dogs must have some form of obedience training. Basic obedience training makes life simple to your dog and eliminates confusion. Your dog will know his place in the world and understand right from wrong. Dogs seem to really appreciate and thrive on this black and white view of the world.

Entertainment
This form of training capitalizes on tricks to please an audience. They are excellent in resisting distractions coming from various people and even the environment. Some of the tricks being taught are standing, heeling, and moving objects. Training dog for show is hard work, but a lot of fun.

Police Dog
Police dogs were first used in 1899 by the Belgian police force. They serve and protect our communities’ daily, performing skills like protection, narcotics locating, and tracking criminal or missing persons. It takes special dogs and very special trainers to create productive policing teams. This is achieved through intensive and careful training.

Assistance to People with Disabilities
Many people who are blind, handicapped, or those with medical conditions take on the task of training their own assistance dogs. For some, this is the best option, because the dog can be trained to mitigate a disability specific to that particular person. Assistance dog training is quite expensive especially if one prefers a professionally trained and certified pet. One may also opt to take on the task of training them though.

Search and Rescue
A search and rescue dog is trained to locate that scent and help their handlers find people who are lost or missing. With great senses of smell, these types of dog find missing people through air scenting. This simply means tracking down people through their smell by sniffing through the air. Ground smelling may also be used.

Please also check out our other guide on Dog Agility Courses and Dog Agility Jumps.

 

Check out Darrel and Bravo as they demonstrate basic control during protection training. “Place” means for the dog to stay on top of his bowl while barking at the decoy. http://www.AttentionDogTraining.com

Dogs that Chew are Either Bored or Just Being Distructive

Wrong!

Wrong! What do you do when you are bored and by yourself? Play computer games, watch TV, read? Dogs tend to chew, although the importance of chewing for a dog, is far more important to maintaining healthy teeth and gums than playing computer games is to maintaining our teeth and gums!

Just as your baby or toddler suffers from painful gums when teething, so do puppies, and there are special chew toys available for your puppy which can help relieve their painful gums.

Dogs are more than capable of learning what is, and what is not, ok for them to chew on once they have been trained properly. To help encourage the “right” sort of chewing, there are four steps you can take to help this:

1. Prevention: Prevention is always the best cure and new dog owners should always endeavour to turn their home into a “dog-proof” zone, at least until your dog has learned what it can, and cannot chew.

2. Stop It In Its Tracks: If you are at home with your dog when it starts to chew on anything it is important that you train it the commands for “drop” or “leave it”. You must give either of these commands whenever you see them start to chew on anything they should not be chewing on. If you have inadvertently left, or added, something in your home (from example in number 1) you must remove this item to help set up a situation where they can differentiate between appropriate and inappropriate behaviour. Either of these commands will also help if you are out with your dog and they decide they want to pick up something which is either just disgusting, or inappropriate.

3. Change Your Dog’s Focus: This is when you start to teach your dog which toys are theirs, and which they are perfectly entitled to chew to bits if they want to, and which items they really shouldn’t be chewing on.

4. What a Good Dog You Are: Praise is such an overlooked part of training. Your dog wants to please you and will, more than likely grow out of the chewing phase but if it does continue, it may well be a sign of something else, perhaps nervous energy, which is simply down to lack of exercise.