Happy New Year!
January 1, 2013
Betsy
Betsy, Bonnie and Jess! Oz came too but managed to not get in a photo!
I wish you all a very Happy, healthy and prosperous new year and may all your dreams come true!
I have enjoyed my time off playing more with my horse who always manages to remind me about my dog training! It is so good for me to have him as my hobby and in some ways he is more of a pet than my dogs! I often hear myself thinking or saying Red wants to go out, Red wants more hay, Red wants to pull his carriage today etc. In fact I sound remarkably like my clients, who fortunately often know exactly what their dogs want too! All of which is fine as long as we get what we want as well!
I am lucky that with my horse I am aware that if Red kicks the stable door to get my attention or to speed me up in getting his food, that if I respond to his demands his behaviour would get worse, and even in time he could break out of his stable door. I remember Betty doing something similar as a puppy when she very cleverly started carrying her food bowl round near feed time, I was very impressed and fed her, before long her bowl was whizzing past my head across the kitchen, it was then I realised that I must not be so impressed!! It took a some self-control to not respond to her demands, I so wanted to laugh as the bowl landed on the worktop beside me!
Remember this year it is great to know what they want, but be sure you only respond to the behaviour you want to encourage! Happy new year!
Zippitydoodah!
Puppies gone to new homes!
November 13, 2012
I am puppyless! Not sure if that is a real word, but they are done and gone, flown the nest and I miss them more than Betty does for sure! But then I was doing the looking after in the latter weeks!
I started writing this yesterday and started to get upset as I was missing little Riley so much (the chocolate
Riley the last puppy to leave hom
boy who went last). I do wonder why I thought breeding again was such a good idea! Sure they were lovely puppies, and the world is a better place for them being in it, and I did love having them, but it is hard work and I do get attached to them.
The thing that got me upset yesterday was contemplating what was the one thing I would want their new families to know, I struggled to get it down to one thing, and that got me upset for some reason. But having had time to sleep on the question I came to a decision, not sure if this will be understandable or not….. it is that it is not really possible to teach a dog a negative, for example if you don’t want the puppy to eat stones or other rubbish, saying no and taking it off them will make the pup want the thing more, this is partly because in the wild the young learn what is desirable by what other adult animals want, but also because in saying no and touching the puppy the behaviour is reinforced. Puppies do not understand “no”, they may get that the person isn’t happy but it is still attention to them, and sadly the puppy will keep repeating the behaviour and the human will get crosser. And that makes me sad for all puppies, not just mine.
A more positive and successful response would be to call the puppy or ask for a sit or down and reward the puppy with food, cuddles, laughter etc.
So my dear puppy owners please remember this one thing and I know you and your puppy will be happy together!
Puppies at five weeks!
October 5, 2012
Puppies at five weeks!
Are they even more gorgeous? They are 6 weeks old today, and every day sees them going further afield, yesterday was their first time going to the toilet outside. It takes a few outings for a litter to feel safe enough to toilet away from the nest, clever Mother Nature protects the young by inhibiting toileting on new ground before the ground is familiar to them. This is the reason, when dog owners first take puppies home, they won’t go to the toilet on walks to begin with, this behaviour is designed to keep the young safe from predators. But it is just the reason I want to get the puppies outside as soon as possible to get them used to going outdoors and speed up their house training.
Next Monday I will start their training, sits downs and little recalls, regular grooming and a car ride, the more normal this stuff becomes the easier they will be in their new homes! Not all sold yet!
Thank you to Jo at Jobo design for the great photo’s!
Puppies 3 weeks old today!
September 14, 2012
Gorgeous!
Betty looking glamorous pre puppies!
What a difference a week makes in a litter of puppies! They are now coming out of the box, all eyes are wide open, as are their ears, they respond to sounds now! yesterday was their first time with solid food, I had to shut Betty away from them for two hours to make sure they were a bit hungry, they are so fat I think I should have gone for 4 hours! I gave them some high quality tinned puppy food and they all tucked in a bit, some more than others! It isn’t a pretty sight, lying in the food seems as good as eating it, licking it off another puppy is as good as eating from the bowl!
This morning they were so charming, I went into them and said “hello” and I they greeted me with beeping noises, wagging tails and a scramble toward me, I was soon down on my hands and knees putting my face to them for morning kisses! So gorgeous!
Puppies aged 3 weeks!
Betty and puppy’s
September 10, 2012
Puppies aged 2 weeks
How cute are they now? Amazing the difference 2 weeks makes, as the day progressed the puppies eyes gradually opened and they could definitely start to hear! By next week I won’t be able to keep them in the whelping box they will be escaping!
Betty loves them and is making sure they are the fattest of puppies.
I start to advertise them this week so if you know of anyone who deserves a really well reared puppy? …..
Listen to Avril on BBC Essex
June 25, 2012
My blog has been sadly neglected for a few weeks, but I intend to do better now I am a little more settled after my move!
It was great to see Steve Scruton last week and we had some really interesting phone calls, I really had to think hard as some the questions were more unusual! If you missed the show you have until this Wednesday to catch the show from the link below:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p00t170w/Steve_Scruton_20_06_2012/
Betty came in season almost as soon as I moved house, and you know the saying “new home, new baby”? Well I did find time to take Betty to visit a very handsome young miniature Poodle called Casper! It was love, well lust at first sight! I wait to see if we are having new family towards the end of August!
Training a dog is not easy!!
April 27, 2012
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? ! 🙂
Blue Cross worth a visit :)
April 15, 2012
Thank you to Corinne for drawing my attention to a very helpful leaflet on dogs and horses! You may remember my blog recently on a problem I have locally with a neighbours dogs when passing with my horse! I have approached them in a friendly manner but sadly they are not ready for help, yet!
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!
Avril Munson's Blog 