The Arc

http://www.animalrescuecharity.org.uk/history.php 

dog rescue charity are rescuing dogs from Ireland, in the last couple of months I have had the pleasure of meeting a few, one of them Jenson, who belongs to Nicola and now more recently Miller and Lucy have found a great home with Delia and Clive. Miller and Lucy are Husky cross Collies and they not only look charming but are delightful little people! They are responding brilliantly to training, at first we all thought Miller had some special needs, seems he does, he learns in a very unique way, appearing to not understand at all for several minutes, until the penny drops and he then reacts as if he has been doing “it” all his life!

I look forward to working further with the four of them at the older puppy class that starts at Little Canfield next Tuesday!

I would be grateful if you could take the time to sign the above e-petition asking for the law in England and Wales to be amended to be in line with the law in Scotland so that animals cannot be given away as prizes, regardless of the suitability of the owner.

Please circulate the link to friends and relations as you see fit.

Many thanks.

http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/18652

Many thanks to Bella for drawing this to my attention!

Harley hits the spa!

Suffering in the name of beauty!

Wasn't that worth the effort!

At the Thursday class we got talking about how as people we either like to do things that come easily to us or conversely the hard stuff! I found it interesting that the group thought that I would have found dog training easy from the start, which is why I do it for a job! The reality is that it was the opposite for me, I found training my first dog and second, really challenging! That is what hooked me, as soon as I got good at competing with my dog my interest in competition waned! Teaching on the other hand is always challenging, whether is is getting inside the head of the dog or the handler, to find our way through to sucess! Next time you are feeling frustrated that your dog is not progressing as fast as you hoped or expected, just remember that is why I have a job still, lead training particularly takes real dedication and hard work, if it were easy everyone would be able to teach a dog or a person how in 5 minutes!

I believe the reason I am like this is that I am fascinated by learning, I ask myself what can I learn from this, how can I change this behaviour to what I want? If you can develop a sense of curiosity about why your dog is or isn’t doing what it does, you will start to open your minds to the information you need to succeed! So next time you feel like giving up, stop and consider how interesting this could be for you? !

For my local friends the salon below is offering a free bath for puppy’s under 6 months, check them out I hear good reports!

http://www.4pawsdogsalon.co.uk/

The Blue Cross provide a whole host of helpful and free leaflets on all animal care and behaviour, well worth a visit to  their

Lara looks out!

website! There is a link below to the leaflet that Corinne told me about:

http://www.bluecross.org.uk/2146-98538/keep-dogs-and-horses-safe-around-each-other.html

You can hear me on Steve Scruton’s show on BBC Essex Radio this coming Wednesday from 2.15pm to 4pm, on a phone in on dog behaviour problems, or catch up on the iplayer for the following 7 days!

Fun Agility x 3

For anyone wanting to enjoy some fun agility with your dog!

16th – 23rd – 30th April -

Time: 6pm – 7pm

Or a day of agility

May 19th

Times: 10am to 4pm

Avril on BBC Essex

Steve Scruton sound advice phone in on dog training and behaviour

April 18^th 2pm – 4pm

Recall Training sessions

These 2 and a half hour sessions focus on lead walking and recall. Foundation training takes place in the safety of the fenced garden at Barbary Cottage, once the building blocks are in place we take the training to the outside world, the paddocks and fields surrounding Barbary! There are a maximum of 5 dogs and handlers in a group.

Times: 10am – 12.30pm

Wednesday May 9th

Saturday April 14th

Dog behaviour/psychology course (Theory course without dogs)

For those that want to know more about how the dogs mind works and what they are thinking!

Date: Saturday April 28^th

Times: 10am to 4pm

Training day 

A full day devoted to training your dog, whether you are keen to improve your dogs general obedience or are interested in trying some obedience tests this promises to be a fun day out with other dog lovers!

Monday Times: 10am – 4pm

Fee: £75 includes tea/coffee

Venue: Barbary Cottage

Date: June 18th

A few questions from a client thinking of buying a new puppy reminded me that I haven’t written a blog on this vital time in you and your dog’s life! I am not even going to start talking about breeds on this occasion, I will assume you have chosen your breed and are looking for a good breeder.

Number one for me is a breeder that rears the litter indoors, this gives the puppy so much more exposure to normal life, giving the puppy’s a head start on the dogs raised outdoors. Having said that outdoor litters can be given this same exposure if the breeder is aware of the need, which many are, watch out for those that do not understand the mental and emotional needs of a litter and give them a wide berth.

Bitches can be softer but also busier, dogs more laid back and a little less sensitive! It is often a little easier if you have two of the opposite sex, generally they are more likely to get along okay.

When a breeder starts asking you questions be ready with your own!

Annie, my friend that bred both Pie and Betty, has one puppy left in her last litter, related to my two and well reared indoors!

A well cared for puppy from a great breeder!

I just noticed that one of my classes were a bit stuck on improving their dogs stays, if the whole class are stuck it has to be something I am doing! Luckily I thought to ask them, if when practising at home if they had their leads on their dogs, the answer was “no”! This means that as dogs learn the whole environment when training that it was like we were asking them to do two different exercises! We did the stays off lead and the improvement was amazing . As a result I have managed to ask all the groups and it seems the off lead version is popular at home, the main reason is the dogs get too excited when they see the lead to concentrate, so my handlers are all avoiding this issue by training off lead! How much more useful it is to have a dog that doesn’t get silly at the sight of the lead, I deliberately work hard at making my dogs not have an excited response to the lead, it makes for more peaceful walks also!

Thank you to everyone that has been inspired to take photo’s and send them to me! I love to get your photo’s, I think I have a few more in my inbox to come next time! Do keep them coming, I am looking to up date photo’s on the web site and in my new brochure!

As I write this the sun is shining and I feel a touch of spring in the air, very different to when the snow was here just the other week! Great dog walking/training weather, no excuses this week for those of you at classes!

We have a dog problem in a nearby village that has come to light this week, there are 2 dogs in their garden, as yet young dogs, that are getting very upset at horses going passed. They may be the same with other animals, but it is the horses I have witnessed. My fear is that they will come over the top of the fence, one of them is hanging over the top of the fence and barking, the other is running up and down and banging against the fence. As young dogs I can see they are getting braver and more wound up. Sadly the owners are feeling very defensive of their babies, I do understand, they feel it is the dogs garden and they are just doing their job. As a dog trainer, I, of course, see it as a garden that belongs to the owners that the dogs use, and anything passing on the road is on the road, not in their garden, therefore not their business. My guess is on a good day, the owners would not want their dogs behaving as they are, but they probably don’t know the dogs behaviour could be changed, and presently are defending their babies. I guess we have all been in that situation at some point, if not with a pet then maybe a child?

To be honest I have even taken a defensive position on something I have done, even though I eventually admitted my mistake! Let’s hope they see things differently before there is a bad accident!

A question from a client recently gave me a reminder! As a dog trainer I sometime forget that I do stuff with my dogs that I don’t tell you, at least not often enough! This is an example:

When I take my dogs for a walk, whether it is from home or in a new place, I start my walk with some training,  I warm my dog’s brain and body for exercise, in the same way you might have a warm up before working out or running! I only go further on the walk if the dog is responding well and giving me lots of attention. I start, on lead, with an exercise my dog enjoys and at an easy level, say sits and downs for treats, working my way through all the exercises close to, as my dog demonstrates he is ready to obey further from me, I have generally passed several distractions, like other people and dogs. Once off lead I continue training, maybe sits and downs now at a distance, stays at a distance, always doing a recall here and there to check my dog will come to me and I can get the lead on, should the need arise. As I proceed on the walk I will start ducking behind trees, my dog should be following. Are you getting the picture? I add more games in as the walk goes on, maybe a occassional retrieve (but in a fun way, not in that repetitive continuous throwing and lets just make the dog tired way), running away and any other games I can think of!

The entire walk is interactive, I never just go for a walk and hope my dog comes along, which in fairness is what most people do, hence the dog being 2 fields away from the owner jumping on you, a scenario we have all seen! If you want to walk, mindlessly, round the field, leave your dog at home. If you want a well-trained dog your pet needs and deserves your full attention!

This may come as bad news to some people, but honestly it is much more fun than a mindless walk with a dog you only see at the start and finish!

Thank you for the photo’s, please keep them coming!