This Tuesday (September 17), canine owners are invited to register in a special evening information session that will help you gain a better understanding of your four-legged friend. 

Cochrane and Area Humane Society is bringing back the popular 'Speak Dog' seminar facilitated by Tracy Keith and Vanessa Fischbuch. The evening seminar will include live dog demonstrations and assessments. "The focus is all about learning how to better communicate with dogs by reading their body language, which is often very subtle. It is a bit of a skillset; you need to know different things that you are looking for and understand their different levels of language."

The pair will be teaching these techniques through a combination of lecture, photos, videos, and shelter dogs. "We talk about these subtle messages, and then we have the opportunity to show them through videos, photos, and at the end, live shelter dogs. Which enables us to give the audience a perfect opportunity to get a good handle on it by the time they leave. Then we give them tips from there and how they can hone their skillset from that point."

Also, touching base on how pet owners can adjust their body language to develop robust and positive advocacy skills for their dogs. "We talk about different situations that people often come across. Sometimes, simply small changes to body language can make a big difference in how the dog responds to them. They are pretty simple techniques; however, you need to know about them; and we go over that in the seminar as well."

While not trying to give too much away, Keith shares there are some signs canine owners can pay attention to when it comes to behaviours. "How we hold our posture, whether we are making direct eye contact, and the tone of our voice, all, can make a huge difference. It can determine whether the dog feels happy to greet us or whether they feel threatened. The intent is never to make the dog feel threatened, but rather how our body language and their body language are very different."

The seminar will also focus on how dogs learn and how this can be to the human advantage. Keith shares almost every situation can be changed if you can read your dog. "Once you are good at reading your dog's body language, you pick up on those different signals. They often give them early on, and you can completely change the whole interaction to be more positive."

If you are delayed in picking up the signals, dog owner's will often experience their dog overtly reacting. "This is where we will often see barking, lunging, teeth, and those sorts of things."

In asking for feedback, Keith says learning to speak dog often becomes one area that people want to learn more about. "We have run it a few times, and we often see people come to it more than once because they pick up on different things each time. If people have been once already, it is still a good thing because you always learn something new."

The seminar will be held at the Cochrane and Area Humane Society’s Rehabilitation & Education Centre located at the back of the main shelter building from 6:30 to 9 p.m. for a cost of $25 on September 17th. For more information or to register, go HERE.