Canine NeuroPark® ©2020

Canine NeuroPark® is a Charitable Trust founded to create this unique Canine Rehabilitation Field to support dogs and their owners and share net profits with other canine rehoming charities.

Located in Christchurch, New Zealand, it is simply; THE SAFEST Dog space around for Physical and Mental Rehabilitation. Through the natural need to explore, your dogs curiosity is enhanced to exploit within the filed (environment) to build new experiences along set knowledge and thus reduce uncertainty. All in the safety of our enclosed field.

Allowing Dogs to be Dogs

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Ultimately, Canine Neuropark® allows dogs to explore and express themselves independently.

The feeling of uncertainty is the hidden cause of many of the behaviour sets we often categorize as "Issues". The root of uncertainty may arise from physical (discomfort, pain) or / and mental states (negative memories, trauma)

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Neuropark helps your dog to learn how to perceive new things through exploration and past experience. Being free to move and gain information about the environment in their own way, these actions add and update to the dogs' brain's inbuilt neuronal "library" with information about their body and the world they move in.

This approach leads to a calmer and more content dog.

Your time at Neuropark will be the foundation of a healthier and closer relationship with your furry family member.

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Exploration to build confidence

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Our booking system ensures your dog has uninterrupted time to explore throughout the field. Offering uninhibited off-leash exploration allows the dynamic abilities of your dogs brain to exploit environmental and physical neuronal information to create new experiences and form a more positive "picture" of the world they move in, thus growing confidence and leading to a more well-adapted dog.

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Uncertainty feeds anxiety and negative feelings in all of us. Neuropark's enclosed space ensures a sense of certainty and safety for your dog - and you!

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Rehabilitation and strength

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The Physio stations and Adaptation Maze throughout Neuropark are designed in conjunction with Animal Physio NZ & SpeakingDog K9 Services to build muscle strength, proprioceptive, navigational, interoceptive & exteroceptive integration to enhance confidence and an overall wellbeing. In the simplest term, the whole sensorium is at play.

Members have access to video tutorials explaining the benefits of the different stations and introducing them to your dog.

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Pain and illness are the leading causes of many so-called "bad behaviours". We recommend all members get their dogs checked by a vet and a registered animal physiotherapist or qualified animal osteopath. Neuropark proudly works with the best  Animal Physiotherapists from Animal Physio NZ and their Registered Associates.

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When you are at the park

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Members can hire the field by the hour (NZ$12) or by the half-hour (NZ$8). Membership (NZ$30 per year) is available to any responsible dog owner. Neuropark is securely locked and members will receive the code to enter with their booking.

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Always bring treats, yes! Owners can and should encourage their dogs to discover new things and then let them explore what they can find! Dog owners, Stand back and observe your dogs capabilities!

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Please don't be offended when we tell you to throw all aversive tools and methods out the window. These methods create uncertainty in the dogs physical and mental states, increasing anxiety and defensive behaviours. Neuropark aims to reduce anxiety, chronic stress and physical discomfort, allowing  your dogs brain to be able to integrate sensory information and learn better.

If you have concerns about your dog's behaviour, please start with a physical assessment at your vets and with a Registered Animal Physiotherapist / Osteopath to see if a pain-related issue is contributing to it, before you just apply behaviour modification.

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The "Geeky Nitty Gritty"

The stations provide specific exercises to support a brains dynamic abilities, to anticipate the most efficient metabolic state needed and the sensory causes within the environment, and update discrepancies by integrating incoming sensory information from the world and the body with the brains intrinsic predictions to minimize uncertainty.

Uncertainty feeds anxiety and negative affective feelings leading to organisms to express very hardwired behaviour patterns to keep the body safe. The longer a being stays in these uncertain states the quicker instinctive behaviour patterns occur. They can become so automatic that even unrelated things moving in the world around them are predicted to be threatening, leading to defensive movements.

This is why it is vital to understand that the health of the body and its regulation is the most important job for the brain not thinking.

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 A fancy way of saying:

Anticipating / Moving/ Feeling / Comparing/ Matching (Learning) / Perceiving

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The Brain and Behaviour

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Our "Behaviour Adaptation" approaches are heavily influenced by contemporary neuroscience; what a brain does matters! A brains constant chemical - electrical excitement and deactivation (inhibition) always constructs models (belief states) of its body and the world that body moves in to reduce uncertainty. Our approaches take those predictive actions of a self-organizing, dynamic system such as a brain into account.

We do offer "Supportive Sessions" at Neuropark through SpeakingDog (NZ$60 per session) for our Neuropark members. This includes the field hire.

Contact us if you need support

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