​Because Good Behaviour Starts at Home!
​Canine Home Schooling
​Professional Behaviour & Obedience Sessions
​Held In Your Home & Out In The Community
Serving Vernon, BC & The Entire Okanagan Valley
​Welcome To Canine Home Schooling. My name is Tasha Deme.
I am a Canine Behaviour & Communication Specialist, as well as
a Certified Obedience Instructor​.
​I have been making house calls since 2010 teaching behaviour, obedience & dog sport lessons in owners homes, around their neighbourhoods and pretty much anywhere else owners want to
work with their dogs!
​
This personalized setting allows you to:
-WORK WITH YOUR DOG IN A COMFORTABLE ENVIRONMENT
-LEARN AT A PACE THAT WORKS BEST FOR BOTH YOU & YOUR DOG
and most importantly...
-SCHEDULE SESSIONS AROUND YOUR BUSY LIFE
​​I use praise, play and a gentle touch when I work with dogs. I teach effective canine communication skills
and I leave owners with a real understanding of their dogs innate language & behaviour.
If you are like me, than the 2 most important things
you want your dog to be able to do are:
1. Be good & respectful around the homestead
and
2. Listen to you when you are out & about
​
I successfully help owners achieve these goals using
BULLY & BRIBERY FREE INSTRUCTION
because...
TRUST IS LOST WHEN USING BULLY METHODS
&​
RESPECT IS NEVER FULLY GAINED
WHEN USING BRIBERY METHODS
I HAVE BEEN HELPING TO BRIDGE THE COMMUNICATION GAP BETWEEN OWNERS & THEIR DOGS FOR OVER A
DECADE, AND I HAVE PROUDLY HELPED COUNTLESS OWNERS SUCCEED IN FIXING THEIR DOGS BEHAVIOUR ISSUES!
​I WORK WITH ALL BEHAVIOURS AND
I DO NOT DISCRIMINATE AGAINST ANY BREED!
​
I believe a dog is,
A dog first and a breed second,
and that from Papillons to Pitbulls...
the only "bad" dogs are those without good leaders
& the only "stupid" dogs are those without educated owners!
Dogs are highly intelligent animals and you don't need to ply them with treats or resort to hurting them in order to teach them. They are more then willing & able to listen AND learn from you when you achieve a relationship with them as a trusting friend & respected leader.
Knowledge is pawer
You will never see a mama dog handing out treats to her puppies or putting prong collars
on them when she teaches them what to do & what not to do. What you will see though,
is her using touch & her voice, talking with her body & her eyes, and using the ever reliable "watch and then do what I do" method. Observing these kinds of natural interactions amongst canine family members truly allows you to see things from a dogs point of view.
When I started to understand dogs from the "Dogs Point of View", everything they did started to make sense! I have worked with hundreds of dogs and their owners...and in the past decade of closely observing the communication style & behaviours of my pack, along with all of the other dogs I have had the pleasure of working with, I have seen over & over again the same communication patterns in all dogs.
​To truly understand our dogs, we must first learn their language!
Learning how to communicate with & read your dog through body language makes you a more effective teacher, respected leader, and trusted companion in the eyes of your dog. Dogs are very social creatures, so it only makes sense that communication is a vital part of interacting with our canine family members.
​
The majority of communication between dogs is done through BODY LANGUAGE,
whereas
the majority of communication between humans is done through VERBAL LANGUAGE.
​AND THIS IS WHERE THE COMMUNICATION GAP BEGINS.
​
​Many people tend to forget one important detail when it comes to dogs,​
DOGS ARE NOT HUMAN - THEY ARE DOGS!!
Dogs have an innate language that is hard wired into their DNA, and this language is NOT human...it's canine!​
It is unfair for us to expect our dogs to listen to us and learn our language, without listening to them and learning
theirs as well. If you think about it in the human world, it's much easier to teach somebody something when you
both speak the same language and can clearly understand each other. When two people don't speak the same
language or understand each other, the teaching process becomes longer and at times frustrating, as both people
must first learn how to understand each other, before the teaching & learning process can even begin.
The same scenario and outcomes hold true when we teach our dogs.
Before I learned how to "speak dog", I had tried every type of training technique out there. I used treats, clickers
and even punishment methods (that I had been taught by a trainer I apprenticed under) when my dog wouldn't listen.
​None of the bribery methods worked as anything more then temporary progress
and
the punishment methods only created a distance in the relationship I had with my dog.
After I learned their language however, I really started seeing lasting successes in the working relationship I had
with my dogs. I also started to see a genuine respect & closeness with my dogs that I had never seen before.
The success of building a real relationship with my dogs, using mutual respect & understanding, instead of bribery
& bullying, proved to me (and then to all of my clients who were once in the same shoes as myself)...
​
THAT TEACHING A DOG WITH LOVE, PATIENCE & UNDERSTANDING IS REALLY ALL YOU NEED!!!
But doesn't a dog need to be corrected or redirected every once in a while?
YES of course!
Dogs will naturally correct each other in the event of bad behaviour, so we can definitely follow suit, knowing that dogs innately understand unwanted behaviour comes with consequences. The issue in correcting a dog generally occur with the manner in which we do the correcting.
Teaching a dog what they should not and cannot do, is most effectively accomplished by learning how to correct in a manner of
MEANING IT WITHOUT BEING MEAN ABOUT IT...because there is a BIG DIFFERENCE between a correction & punishment!
​
***WARNING***
"Trainers" who bully dogs & hurt them in an attempt to correct them, have no real understanding of dogs.
And sadly, they end up doing more damage and creating more issues with the dog then they ever do good.
Not only that, but the relationship the dog has with their owner usually ends up suffering too.
​
There is NEVER ANY REASON for a dog to be
poked with prongs in the neck or electrocuted with an e-collar.
These methods are cruel, outdated and completely unnecessary!
THE SIMPLE TRUTH OF THE MATTER IS, YOU WILL NEVER BE A FULLY RESPECTED LEADER IN THE EYES OF YOUR DOG
IF YOU ARE ANGRY OR FRUSTRATED AND DEAL WITH YOUR DOG IN A MEAN, ROUGH OR HARSH MANNER.
​
FACT: DOGS WILL ACT & REACT ON INSTINCT
Dogs naturally have a fight or flight response when faced with confrontation or challenge.
​
​​INSTINCT OF FIGHT:
​A more dominant or strong minded dog will always see a humans angry or frustrated state
of mind and their abrupt, mean or rough actions as a challenge...causing them to solidify, ​
stiffen up, push back, try to get on top of them, fight them to the very end,
OR
they will simply take the liberty of correcting the humans actions with a growl &/or bite. ​
INSTINCT OF FLIGHT:
A more submissive or gentle minded dog will see these actions as a threat and try to get away from the human, ​
OR
they will simply become scared and will try showing submission in an attempt to appease them...which will come in the form of urinating, cowering, rolling over &/or exposing their full belly.
In either circumstance, the dog is no longer listening to the humans commands or "demands"
AND they have lost some of their dogs trust and respect in the process.
Sadly, most frustrating & negative experiences with our dogs, stem from not understanding why dogs do what they do,
combined with the misinterpretations of how dogs do things like learn, play, show affection and even correct each other.
Understanding Our Dogs & Why Behaviours Occur
​BEHAVIOUR ISSUES IN DOGS MAINLY STEM FROM 2 SOURCES:
1. The dog thinks they are the Alpha, Top Dog,
Pack Leader...or simply put...The Boss!
2. Human misinterpretation and/or miscommunication
of the dogs actions & intentions
​Occasionally behaviours can stem from health issues, poor breeding, and adverse incidents in the past, but I have found those cases to be
few and far between. In general, most dogs start to display unwanted behaviours when they start to see their owner as lower then them
within the family hierarchy.
Many of the activities our dogs display, that in the human world we find annoying and term as "behaviours",
are simply the dogs way of communicating in the canine world.
​​Canine Communication uses body language, posturing, positioning and vocalization.​
Dogs will communicate and in turn control each other with:
PHYSICAL ACTIVITY
​-jumping on
-mouthing
-biting
-herding
-pushing & leaning into
-standing in front or on top of
&
VOCAL ACTIVITY
-barking
-growling
-whining
-snarling
-howling
-screaming
​FACT:
DOGS ARE HIERARCHY ANIMALS AND IT IS HARD WIRED INTO THEIR DNA ​
TO ESTABLISH & RECOGNIZE EACH MEMBER THAT THEY LIVE WITH
AS HIGHER THAN, EQUAL TO OR LOWER IN RANK OR POSITION.
Canine families will always consist of dominant members and submissive members!
​
Many people cringe at the word dominance because it tends to have a negative association to it.
In the canine world however, dominance within a balanced and stable pack is not negative at all.
​DOMINANCE
is simply the action of higher ranking members prevailing rules & social limits to lower ranking members
of the family pack. Dominant members will establish their position within the family hierarchy by
1. being naturally born as a higher ranked members
or
2. having proven themselves physically & mentally superior among the other members of their family ​
​Once they view themselves as the dominant or higher ranked member, then it will actually become their responsibility
AS WELL AS THEIR RIGHT, to be in charge of all family members that are lower then them. Dominant dogs are the ones
who make the rules, protect the pack, and supervise all the other more submissive members within their family pack.
In the human world this is the same way a parent "dominates" their children's' actions...
like not allowing them to talk back, eat too much candy or play with matches!
These are just a few examples of elder or more dominant members
establishing rules & boundaries for their family members.
AND WHY DO WE NEED TO ESTABLISH
RULES AND BOUNDARIES?
​
Because in both human and canine families - Without rules and boundaries there is only chaos!
HOWEVER...
Where there are rules and boundaries, there is respect, cooperation and group harmony!
​Well balanced leaders within the canine family will ensure the pack respects rules & boundaries
AND
will portray a leadership role of positive and nurturing guidance.
LEADERSHIP
is simply higher ranking members guiding and giving direction in life lessons to lower ranking members,
like teaching puppies how to play, or how use their nose to follow the scent of a meal.
Leadership is positive and will always inspire others to want to follow.
BEING A GOOD & RESPECTED LEADER REQUIRES AN UNDERSTANDING
that there is a fine balance that must be met when taking a leader position.
You cannot be a tyrant just commanding everyone what not to do all the time.
You must be a nurturer, lovingly guiding & teaching your pack in what they should do...
​
Because after all is said and done, being a well balanced, understanding and educated leader means you will always create
an environment of stability, order, peace & security within your canine family! And as my canine family knows...
​
A BALANCED PACK IS A HAPPY & WELL BEHAVED PACK!
