Not watership down!
September 6, 2011
It is sadly that time of year when the rabbits have Mixie again! I luckily saw Betty “playing” with a mixie rabbit in the garden this week, lucky because I was able to let her know that I didn’t like her doing that! I would have liked to have put the poor creature out of its misery, but sadly I cannot find that ability in me.
There was no way I want Betty to learn how to kill any creature, she won’t know the difference between a healthy and an unhealthy one. Plus once she learns to enjoy the kill her recall for me would be come unreliable and I would be concerned that she could end up chasing a rabbit across a road! by seeing the bigger picture I can avoid creating problems later on.
By viewing all dog behaviour through a magnifying glass many of the dog behaviours I am asked to help with never have the chance to develop!
Butter wouldn't melt!
What else can we blame Disney for?
August 8, 2011
Wouldn’t it be great if our dogs could talk english, be the sort of characters that appear in the Disney films? 🙂 I know these stories influenced me as a child! I also remember the day I became disillusioned by my dog when I was about 20, it was a horrible shock to realise my dear little dog had not only killed but eaten one of my cats new-born kittens! That doesn’t happen in Disney films nor in the romantic world I had created for my pets. The experience did not stop me from idealizing my dogs completely, but now I have a more realistic view, shaped by even more life
Tallulah (Shar pei)
experience of reality.
The problem is not the Disney films, it is when we forget to remember that our dogs are real life animals.
When we leave the dog to decide, yes they do that in Disney movies, and guess what, the dog makes the best decision ever! What happens in real life if we leave it to the dog to decide:
- where and when we walk?
- when we feed?
- when we stroke?
- where they sleep?
we make the dog leader! And what do we get when the dog is in charge?
I await your answers on that:)?
The reality is though that most dogs do not want to be leader, they may want to be a Prefect, even head girl or boy but few are born to be headmaster/mistress and they really do not want that job! which is why dogs that are given too many choices are not happy!
Disney dogs are happy, at least they are by the end of the film, and live happy ever after too!
In real life we must be clear and make the important decisions for our dogs, to ensure our dogs live happy ever after lives!
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
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 4Â 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 