Barking in the garden and jobs for dogs!
July 7, 2011
Freddie
My sister Lesley has this little dog Freddie, he is a Jack Russell cross Border Terrier, he is five this year. Being my sister Lesley has had to train her dog, strangely she didn’t learn through osmosis, she did need lessons :)! Freddie is a good little dog, with an excellent nature! However recently he had started to drive Lesley up the wall with barking in the garden! I went over to have a look, at five years old and having had a good amount of training it seemed to me that Freddie was now at a bit of a loose end! Not sure what to do with himself, even a trained dog needs direction and some constructive work to do, just as we do!
I left Lesley with the instruction to get Freddie working again, even a down stay is a job! Here is what she told me a few days later, I asked her to write it down for you.
“I took my dog Freddie to the vets yesterday. Now Freddie – a Jack Russell is not a lot of trouble and when we go to the vets he sits on my knee or wags his tail at others or makes friends with whoever is sitting next to us. After seeing the vet we came out of the consultation room only to take a step back as this huge German shepherd started barking and would like to have got to us – I wasn’t sure the woman could hold him. So instead of sitting down to wait for Freddie’s tablets we stood by the reception desk and I made Freddie lay down. He moved a couple of times but I just reminded him and he lay quietly – I didn’t want to aggravate that huge dog and have him coming at us.
It was at this point that I realised I don’t always give Freddie a job as Avril would say – because he isn’t any trouble for most of the time but I now realised that it’s important to reinforce the behaviour I want all the time – it’s good for Fred and it’s good for me. As a Child Behaviour Coach I am so good with my boundaries with children but that had slipped with Fred. Now I’m on the case!”
Lesley also told me that she is making a point of using a sit or down and stay when getting Freddie in and out of the car, what jobs do you give your dog?
Freddie
A busy week dog training!
June 27, 2011
Nessa learning retrieve!
What a good girl!
Last week was a really busy fun week! Wednesday saw the first of my walks in Highlands Park with a group, we were lucky with the weather, only a shower as we were drinking our coffee in the park café afterwards, in the afternoon there was torrential rain all over Essex for a good 2 hours! Five dogs and handlers came along, Fiona with her deaf Westie, Paddy was particular brave when in the bigger group! Paddy has problems in wide open spaces, I am sure he is overwhelmed and scared as he cannot hear approaching danger, it was interesting to see how being in a pack gave him confidence, it wasn’t until Fiona and I were walking back to the car park (we had managed to park in the wrong car park!) that we saw the very behaviour that Fiona had come to address, Paddy going into panic mode in an open space! It was lucky we had parked in the wrong place as we had time to address the behaviour on the way back to the car, how is he doing now Fiona?
The walk seemed a great success and the handlers and dogs had a great time! It was suggested I run the walks as a regular event so you will get a chance to come along, if you have a great park near you and would like me to run a walk there please let me know and I will do my best!
Friday was BBC Essex with Steve Scruton; if you missed the show you can still catch it on the iplayer on the BBC Essex Radio web site. As usual it was a fun session, with loads of telephone calls, texts and emailed questions!
Saturday was the behaviour course day; I broke with my usual format and had 2 dogs present, both suffering from inappropriate barking at home. I think this is a format I will use again; having dogs present for us to work on gave the day some real focus and a great learning opportunity for all present. So thank you to Debbie for bringing Louis Pomeranian and Fiona with Westie Molly! How are they doing at home now? Debbie had treated her friend Beverley as a birthday present and as a result the day had a festive atmosphere, which must have come from the birthday cake and candles!! George came all the way from Athens, currently working as a counsellor; George is looking to expand his current practice to helping people with dogs, starting off as a dog walker as he studies and gains experience. It was a great mix of dogs and people and I had a really good time! J
News and rosettes!
June 21, 2011
Lucky wearing the rosette he won at class!
Two classes came to the end of sessions last week, to celebrate the improvements by dogs and handlers we had a fun test of all the exercises! Nicola sent me a photo of Lucky proudly wearing his rosette, he was amazing in his stay exercises! I am pleased to say that everyone went home with a rosette and I only judged the stays so no favouritism on my part 🙂
What is your dog thinking? Ever wondered why your dog does that? So much of your success with your dogs is about understanding the dogs mind, so often we interpret their behaviour in a human way and respond in that way, no wonder the dogs become confused and naughty. By learning to interpret dog behaviour in a dog like way, the dog/human bond becomes stronger and living harmoniously with your dog becomes easier. If you would like to learn more I have a theory course (without dogs) this coming Saturday, for those that want some answers, held at Barbary Cottage! Saturday 25th June
Avril on Radio
You can hear me on BBC Radio Essex with Steve Scruton next Friday 24th June, or on the iplayer for the 7 days following! (2pm-4pm)
After my blog about Tracey’s Grand Basset Griffon Vendeen! and the seed problem it was great to hear from a client from a while back Sue Marshal and her GBGV’s, many thanks Sue for the photo’s! What are their names Sue?
Another Grand Basset Griffon Vendeen!
Sue Marshal's GBGV's in the snow!
Seedy time of year!
June 16, 2011
With all the dry weather it feels like wild seed-time has come round faster than ever! Tracey and her dogs reminded me this week, as her 2 Grand Griffon Basset Vendeen, and yes this breed looks just like the one in the photo! Mungo and Milly have the type of coat that acts as a magnet to grass and other wild seeds, one quick shake of those long ears can rapidly catapult a seed deep into the ear canal! Resulting in a trip to the vet and anesthetic to remove the offending seed! So far Tracey has had 4 trips to the Vet in 4 weeks, a very expensive time of year! All this despite avoiding any off lead walks and avoiding as much long grass as possible. I think some dogs just have ears that act as funnels for seeds!
As a result Tracey has found a way of fending off some seeds with some stylish head wear!
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- Yes this is a Grand Griffon Basset Vendeen
Do keep an eye on your pets and seeds a few tips are:
- a quick brush following a walk to remove seeds before they find their way in deeper
- if your breed needs clipping keep them very short this time of year
- if your pet seems off colour or doesn’t seem keen on you touching his ear get them checked at the Vet, the ear canal is very deep and the lower part is not visible with the naked eye.
- Seeds and thorns can work their way in between toes, causing sores or worse, so keep feet groomed and clipped.
Photo’s of class and recall training!
May 9, 2011
4 of the Thursday evening class in sync!
The Thursday evening class are starting to work as a team! We don’t have any displays planned either! Working in sync at class in this way puts a lot of pressure on the handlers and the dogs, we work the dogs close together to teach them to concentrate on their owner. All of the handlers were surprised by how well they did!
I have some really excellent photo’s of the recall training session last month, but sadly for some reason I have struggled to get them on the blog, today for some reason I have managed to upload some of them! If Phil, Gina, Kirsty, Graham, Gill or Sally would like me to email them their photo’s contact me please? Meanwhile here are some of them:
Buffy produces again!
May 5, 2011
Many of you will remember the sad news of my dear friend Annie losing her puppy last year, well Annie’s Border Collie Buffy (sister of my Pie) has produced a second long-awaited litter and has again presented Annie with one girl in the litter 🙂 ! It saves Annie having to make a decision! I don’t think Annie has named her yet, but you can spot her as the puppy furthest left in the basket photo, with the half white face!
I think there are one or two boy puppies left for sale if you should know of a good home?
So Annie what is her name? Would you like some suggestions?
A dog attack|
April 22, 2011
Below is an account sent to me of a nasty incident when one of my clients was out with her dog. This experience is made even worse by the fact my client wishes to remain anonymous as she is afraid that the dog owner may be dubious enough in character to pursue her, plus the police are taking action. I look forward to hearing your comments?
I have written a summary of what happened to my dog and I a few weeks ago just to make you aware that there are dangerous dogs running about off lead and that you need to take care. I cannot mention too many details for legal reasons but I hope that it is enough for you to understand that you need to be aware.
Whist out walking my little dog with a friend and her dog we decided to go to a local nature reserve as we thought that it would be nice for the dogs to investigate somewhere new ( I do not usually go to these places on my own as I have been previously worried by dogs running around off lead with owners nowhere to be seen). We had just entered the reserve with our dogs (both on leads) along a path which opens up to a large green space with trees and a pond. As we turned the corner my friend shouted good god and as I looked up I saw three large dogs running towards us with no owner to be seen, before I knew it the big dog went straight in and bit my little dog with no warning, she then yelped so I remembered very quickly what I had been told by Avril on a course which I had done last year. I immediately kicked the dog off and managed to pick up my little dog and put her under my arm all the time I was making growling noises as I thought that this would make him stop and go away. It didn’t he came straight for me, this was a very big dog biting at my arms and with his paws on my chest I can still see his face in mine. My friend was screaming at the owner who had just appeared to put his dogs on leads. I didn’t realise until later that the other two dogs had been scratching at my legs and trying to bite (my friend told me the next day) thank god that I didn’t know. I think that it all happened so quickly that I did manage to blank bits out) I found the evidence the next day on my legs. When the owner did eventually get them on leads he walk off. By this time I noticed that my little dog was bleeding and that I needed to get her to the vet immediately. It was not that far to walk and on the way the police came to hand and helped us. When I get to the vets my vet took her to be seen straight away as he was worried about the depth of her injuries. When they sat me down and took my jacket and jumper off they found that I had also been bitten I think that you are so shocked that you switch off and don’t feel a thing. I got away with just a tetanus injection by my little dog sustained a big bite to her back for which she had to have stitches and scratches to her body thankfully she did not have internal injuries which was the main worry. The vet told me that by picking her up I saved her life as this dog could have quite easily killed her. My dog has made a remarkable recovery thank god although I think that I will take a little longer to heal as the threat of something like this happening again is scary to say the least but like all experiences in life we learn from them and I hope that by telling you my story it will make you think and ultimately keep your precious dogs safe.
Another hard day at the office!
April 11, 2011
Another hard day at the office for me!
Does anyone else have trouble losing I.D. tags? It was only this week when I again found Pie’s tag on the floor yet again, that I actually stopped and gave the problem some thought! I searched the house and found a really strong-looking “twisty thing” , (I don’t even know what to call the bit that attached the tag to the collar?) I am really hoping this one might stay on a bit longer! Anyone got any good ideas for this?
The photo is of Paddy, a 2 year old West Highland White Terrier who has been deaf from birth, with me and Fiona at one of the Thursday groups, at last we have the right weather for dog training!
Many thanks to Jan for the following link to a great dog story!
I have spoken to Sue this week, Millie’s owner, and she is working on writing up what happened to them and she will be posting soon.
I have a major accident waiting to happen not far from where I live, in the shape of 4 Border Collies, they were going ballistic at their garden fence when I came past with a horse and carriage earlier in the week. The owner was out in the garden, in the process of replacing some fencing, fortunately they saw us coming, and wedged the panel in place and prevented the dogs escaping! The 4 dogs were barking and running the fence, in the dog’s heads they are chasing and attacking, there is no question this is the pack at work! The owner said, in an embarrassed way “they only make a noise”! well a noise they sure do make, but what the owner is not seeing is that if they did escape they will do far more!
I also know for a fact, if out on a lead these dogs will be aggressive to all the things they are barking and chasing in the comfort of their own gardens. 4 dogs racing up a down a fence, with the extra sound effects of them brushing and hitting the fence and bushes, is quite something for a horse to trust enough to pass or any other animal, I am glad I don’t need to walk past with my dogs. If these were your dogs would you want someone to point out the hazard?
Puppy news!
March 28, 2011
Betty dancing!
Thursday morning course of classes came to a fun end with a competition over a baby agility course! I spent most of the morning giggling as I watched my clients become competitive, obviously in the nicest possible way, but it did lead to some funny moments! We had a spare pair of hands for the older group for some action shots!
Harley and Rosie in the baby class are very much in love, sadly poor Lexie just got to look on as they didn’t seem to notice she was there! Harley played so gently with his little girlfriend!
I hope you appreciate Betty’s new trick, she dances round the kitchen now at feed time, sometimes it looks just like dancing, sometimes waving, on occasions she stays in a sit and waves her paws! I am hoping to get a command for all of those in timeJ it all started as a high five!
Marion and Sid
Georgie and Lara
Naomi and Nelly
Phil and Scruffs
Naomi and Nelly
Avril Munson's Blog 