While the Will Smith / Chris Rock Oscar shenanigans are still circling the worldwide media, we too have an Award to announce [cue trumpets announcing Wolfgang entering the room riding naked on a white horse…).
And we even got a wonderful one page feature in the winners book….
So please excuse ourselves as we hop into a champagne bubble bath (with sausage dippers for Wolfgang of course)….
As most of you will be aware, dog theft is on the increase, certainly in the UK, and most certainly since the start of the Covid pandemic.
Dogs are being taken from people’s homes, gardens and even in parks when out on a walk. The increased demand for puppies and dogs since Covid lockdown has turned our furry friends into a booming business opportunity, sadly and terrifyingly. Just watch the Vice documentary ‘The Gangs That Steal Your Puppies’, it’s eye-opening, to say the least.
My puppy and dog training programmes have always included teaching ways to keep your dog close by when walking off-lead, for a multitude of reasons, so here are some tips on what you can do to keep your dog safe when out on a walk:
Practice check-ins (engagement); mark (with a marker word such as an enthusiastic ‘yesss’ or a clicker) when your dog turns to look for you, then throw a little (you’ll be throwing plenty) treat. This teaches them to stay close by, after all food might fall out of their human and they can make this happen all by themselves. What’s not to love. I give Wolfgang a little something 90% of the time she turns up walking next to me (when she’s off lead), the other 10% I forget, I’m only human after all….I think it’s brilliant that she knows she can have a little snack when she feels peckish, and it doesn’t make her less responsive to her cues and she doesn’t even ask all the time. It works really rather well for the both of us.
Bullet-proof your recall; practice every day and make it fun and rewarding for your furry sidekick (food, play, game of chase, whatever works best for your dog). This means, you can quickly call him/ her back to you if they amble out of sight or are eyeing up a stranger for food or scratchies. And on that note….
Do NOT allow any strangers to give your dog treats, EVER. All the good stuff should come from you. If they learn strangers mean food, most dogs will be off to try that human-treat-dispensing-machine.
Teach an arsenal of behaviours that make your dog come back to you, such as a hand target, a leg weave, ‘middle’ (where your pooch swerves in and ends up sitting between your legs) and so forth. This means you have plenty of ways to quickly get your dog to come back to you and you don’t run the risk of over-doing it with your recall cue.
And while you are working through the above outlined training methods or if you have a rampant adolescent or adventurous adult, please manage their access to their environment with a long training line attached to a well-fitting harness.
And there’s even more you can do now! I’m so excited to learn that one of my former clients, Dave and his wonderful Labrador Bo, has launched a business to help dog owners get reunited with their pet if stolen or lost.
LAB+BONE is a subscription-based dog identity service that proves a dog’s identity via their DNA. Thieves can, and are, disabling microchips, leaving the dog unidentifiable. Which is where LAB+BONE comes in: if a dog is found, one of the cryogenically stored DNA samples is then profiled by their laboratory partner, and test packs are sent out to any potential matches of the found dog. If a positive DNA match is made, the owner can prove ownership using forensic evidence to legally reclaim their dog.
If you want to find out more about LAB+BONE, have a perusal on their website.
So, stay safe and happy training xx
The festive season is well and truly upon us. The tree is going up, decorations shall be hung and soon the house will be filled with an abundance of visitors and the smell of delicious food.
It’s important to remember that the festive season can be a stressful and unsettling time for your dog so check out our top tips to help keep the festive season merry and stress free for your dog.
Plan ahead
It is not always possible to take your dog to visit friends and family, always plan ahead and book your dog walker/sitter well ahead of time. It’s not fair to leave your dog with just anyone so choose carefully and make sure that your dog is happy and comfortable around whoever you choose to leave them with.
Try to keep your routine (as much as possible)
Dogs thrive on routine so it is important to keep their routine as normal as possible over the festive season. Even when you’re full of Christmas feast, your dog should still get their evening walk. Maintaining their feeding and exercise routine will help to keep them calm and happy.
It’s fair to say that Wolfgang has never been quite so keen on kids. Totally at ease with any children passing or being close by and ignoring her but not so happy with kids approaching and trying to interact. And considering she still looks like the cutest puppy most kids want to cuddle her and pick her up…..not knowing that deep inside this little Jack Russell Terrier mix’s soul, there is a big wild wolf!!
Coming from a home with a toddler who, as I could tell when we picked her up, was quite full on with her as a very young puppy (AKA chasing after her, throwing toys at her, etc) to not being exposed enough to children when young. it can be difficult to get hold of kids when you or your friends don’t have any at hand for socialisation purposes, just sayin’….
In addition, her rather sparkly personality to choose ‘fight’ over ‘flight’ when given the opportunity (the ‘fight’ being a surprisingly loud and rolling bark, for such a little furry person, combined with a moving toward rather than retreating) never quite helped the overall situation.
As lockdown is easing across the UK, our puppies and adult dogs are faced with plenty of lifestyle changes that can be both stressful and plain scary. Understanding your dog’s fears as well as helping them to prepare for ‘the unknown’ is crucial to their wellbeing and to preventing unwelcome habits and behaviour issues from developing.
A problem area I’m working with a lot at the moment is people welcoming guests at their homes once again as well as heading out to busy public places such as busy pubs and restaurants, all with their dog in tow who simply can’t cope.
For all those pandemic puppies who’s never had a stranger visit their home these new experiences can be incredibly disruptive. As is for our adult dogs who’ve enjoyed a year of anti-social bliss and forgot what it’s like to be around more people than their closest family members.
If you want your dog to learn and understand your language, then it’s only fair you can talk ‘dog’. Communication should always go two ways and understanding what your dog is telling you will result in a strong, trusting bond, which should be the basis of any training.
To talk ‘dog’ you have to look at your friend’s entire body (eyes, ears, mouth, tail, body stance, etc) as well as listen to the sounds he or she makes. Context and looking at the bigger picture is equally as important; for example a dog who yawns in the morning when he wakes up is tired, whereas a dog who yawns when a dog runs up to her in the park, is worried and potentially stressed.
Some subtle signs of communication to look out for when your dog feels stressed: eye blinking, lip/ nose licking, yawning, averting face/ gaze, lowered or tucked tail, frozen body posture, tightly closed mouth and much more.
The wonderful Lauren Libbert has written a feature for the Telegraph about how her Cockapoo Freddy has been coping with life under lockdown. Slowly morphing from a chilled and fun loving dog to an often irritated, growly, then suddenly over the top active furry noodle, she’s asked for advice on what the reasons behind his behaviour may be as well as how to help him, and other dogs, through these challenging times.
And I was of course so very excited to be have been able to contribute.
Saturday Telegraph 16/05/2020
Telegraph online 15/05/2020
Provide daily enrichment for your dog by ditching the food bowl and feeding them from stuffed toys, snuffle mats, chews, puzzle toys, 'find it' games or scattering the food in your garden.
Whatever age your dog is, providing daily mental enrichment and a ‘job’ to do will pay hugely into your overall relationship account, with you becoming the centre of all things fun and exciting.
Licking, i.e. from a lickimat, is incredibly soothing and calming for a dog and can be a great tool to settle rescue dogs into their new life or keep puppies occupied for longer (for example during absence training).
If you are feeding from a puzzle toy or a Kong, make it easy for your dog to begin with to avoid frustration and potentially build a negative association with the toy.
You could also use your dogs meals for training practice both at home and out on a walk.
1. Take the time
To generate reliable recall, it’s important to take the time to build a 100% positive experience with your chosen recall cue (command) with high value rewards (such as chicken or hot dog). If your dog’s recall isn’t rewarded often and well enough then your dog will be more likely to continue to do their own thing, i.e. playing with other dogs or sniffing something of great interest which is terribly reinforcing in itself, and ignore your call.
First things first, there’s no quick cure for puppy biting. But if you’re consistent with your messages and, at the same time, teach your pup what to do instead of nipping or biting, your little friend will stop this inappropriate behaviour, well, as soon as his or her personality allows.
There are various reasons why your puppy nips or bites:
Most puppies are house trained by around six month of age but of course every puppy is different; from size to breed to personality. The more consistent you are in providing your pup with what s/he needs to learn the right behaviour, the quicker s/he will understand.
While being house trained your puppy should ideally be either: outside while you actively look for and reinforce elimination, inside with your constant supervision, or crated/ gated off in a puppy-proofed room...
