Spartacus arrives to help train dogs! New photo’s and other news!

March 14, 2011

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Those of you that have been to Barbary for training have already met Spartacus, he is a little Welsh section A pony that I have brought for my niece Lottie to learn to ride on 🙂 He is a great character and his other job is to help train all the dogs that visit Barbary to be safe around other four-legged animals! He has lots of cheekiness and confidence so I think he will be great at both of his jobs! In the photo’s you can see Sparty having a look round, and you can see how at home he was feeling after his first day and night here, as I caught him sleeping near the house on his first morning!

I had a lovely email from Teresa about her two little dogs Connie and Mitch, it is some time since I saw them all but great to hear that Connie has settled into being a great pet! Teresa had a slightly rocky start with Connie when she first arrived from Battersea, as she was a shadow chaser. This is a very annoying habit some dogs can develop for a few reasons, but can often been seen in dogs left alone for long periods with little else going on in their lives.

Georgie sent in a photo of Lara, German Short Haired Pointer, from the Thursday morning class!  Georgie and Lara are making great progress!

I have put up some more photo’s of Henry, thanks to Amy, and her Dachshund Monty!

Betty has been learning to still come to call when the Ducks and Geese are on the lake! Luckily she doesn’t like swimming, not since she mistook the leaves on the lake for a surface she could walk on last year! 🙂

The biggest news is the arrival of Mel’s puppy’s last week, yes Annie had to miss another nights sleep! Pie is a Daddy again! No I am not having another one 🙂 They are very cute, they all look a lot like their daddy, one girl has an all white face and is especially cute! 2 boys and 2 girls, photo’s on the way soon! How are they Annie?

 

Posted by Avril Munson
Filed in Dog training and behaviour, Dog's and horses, dogs, Puppy diary!, Puppy socialising, puppy training
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What sort of dog walker are you?

February 8, 2011

At last signs of spring and today sunshine, snow drops and lighter nights coming! Isn’t life good!

I had a client last week, a lady and her a very good-tempered dog. I will not make it possible for you to identify her, other than to say this is a lady who I would say had good social skills, has taken time and trouble to train her dog and I am sure would think herself a very responsible dog owner. As a general rule when being consulted on any dog behaviour I have to get a picture of the dog overall and the lifestyle of my clients, it  is a big help when people are open and free in describing how they live and train their dog, as this owner was! It was a piece of this information that I wanted to share with you all and get your thoughts and comments please?

My client described how her dog would come to call generally very well, was social with other dogs and a pleasure to walk. The only time my client had any issue on walks was at weekends when there were likely to be walkers out without dogs, as on these occasions her dog would not recall and would often approach and bark at the people walking. Not that she would bite, in my client’s opinion, her dog was not behaving aggressively! On one occasion my client was shocked at one woman screaming in response to her dog approaching her and her walking partner, and informed the woman “there was no need to worry as her dog would not hurt her”. The only response was the walking partner waved a stick at the dog to deter her from getting any closer, my client was not pleased to have her dog frightened in this way.

I would love your thoughts on this, what would be your reaction in similar circumstances?

Posted by Avril Munson
Filed in Dog training and behaviour, Dogs and the law, Managing strange dogs on a walk, Puppy socialising, Uncategorized
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Betty is growing up!

January 17, 2011

Well isn’t it wet! Too much rain now, the ground is so water-logged now even walking is tricky! The next day the sun shines I will take some new photo’s of Betty, she is getting so big now, she must be as tall as her Daddy Pie now, though a lighter build thankfully!

A small incident over the Christmas holidays reminded of another training job for adolescent puppy’s! I was out walking the dogs and stepped across a small gully, for a split second I had one foot barely on the ground, at that moment Betty rushed passed me and hit the leg that nearly had my weight on it and bang, I spun round and found myself sitting in some snow, luckily a fairly soft landing! In the dog world there are no accidents, if Betty respected my person sufficiently there is no way she would have hit my leg, there is no way she would do that to Pie, and if she did he would give her a big telling off!

I find that most puppy’s need to learn not to barge people, the larger the dog the more vital it is, though I must say even the little ones can take anyone off their feet. I have known one lady whose leg was broken by a large dog bowling into her on a dog walk, and not her own dog! Fortunately in this weather most of this training can be done indoors! The method is simple, but first we humans must make the decision that we have had enough of being knocked  about, if I start to soon with Betty I won’t be consistent, so I have waited another month, she is bigger and getting heavier, I am more bothered by her behaviour, the time is right for me:)

How I begin is to ensure I do not walk around Betty, either when she is lying down or on her feet, this will mean that I walk through her and she must move, I do not tell her to move or ask her, she must move out of my way, if she doesn’t I bump her so that she does. It is easier said than done, my human instincts are to avoid her, but I have to make myself do the opposite. Out on a walk I make a point of frequently walking into her so that she learns to watch me more and avoid me.

This is an important lesson for all dogs, as the years have gone by I have noticed over and over that dogs that do not move out-of-the-way of their owners will show signs of difficulty in their behaviour, from pulling on the lead, lunging as well as knocking people over, including jumping up. Taken to extremes if the dog does not respect the human body in this way the behaviour can spill over into more serious issues. It seems to me if this area of behaviour is not addressed the fall out from it will not be corrected either.

Let me know how you get on please? Maybe you have already taught your dog to move out of your way and seen the benefits at other times or you will maybe start now? Whichever I look forward to hearing about your experience!

Posted by Avril Munson
Filed in Dog training and behaviour, Puppy diary!, Puppy socialising, puppy training
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Dogs and snow!

November 30, 2010

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Please send me your doggy snow photo’s there will be a prize for the best!

Betty was a bit surprised by the snow this morning! There was no way she was venturing outside without Pie and I going first on the strange white stuff! By the time we went for a walk we had barely made the gate when she got very excited by the snow! Here are some photo’s I took on our walk this morning, hoping you like them:) can you spot the Stag prints, I seem to have ended up with a few of my footprints, but the stag looked to belong to a big animal and I found them near  the house!

A reminder to be aware of the dangers of ice, so far Betty isn’t tempted onto the lake, I  will be keeping a careful eye on her while all the ice and snow is about!

What are they chatting about?

I would love to hear your caption for the photo of Pie and Betty chatting? 🙂

And Sue sent some photo’s of Nessa’s reaction this morning, distinctly unimpressed!

Did you say "sit stay"? Not likely!

What am I doing out here?

Posted by Avril Munson
Filed in Photo's, Puppy diary!, Puppy socialising
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Thursday morning!

November 19, 2010

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Thursday mornings are a fun time with 5 gorgeous dogs and the owners are quite nice too!

Louis the Pomeranian doesn’t seem to be able to sit for the photo, but I forgive him as he is just so cute! Debbie his owner has lived with a “Pom” before, and though a small breed they are just so bright and clever, Louis has a character that is much larger than his size”

Leo the Jack Russell cross is the liver coloured member of the group with his counterpart Sid the black Jack Russell cross Chris and Marion have many shared experiences of living with their dogs, but both are much more on track now!

Scruffs the Labradoodle you have seen before on the blog, Phil his owner is doing a great job of his training, and though only 6 months old is the advanced puppy in the group!

Naomi and Nelly the chestnut Labrador are the newest recruits to dog training, Naomi comes from a Gundog family, though this is her first time dog training! Naomi and I plan to surprise her family by doing great things with Nelly!

They are a hardy group, not afraid of a bit of bad weather, fortunately as we have had howling wind and heavy rain on our first two weeks!

Posted by Avril Munson
Filed in Dog training and behaviour, Photo's, Puppy socialising, puppy training
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Indoor entertainment for puppies in bad weather!

November 9, 2010

After yesterday’s weather and again today, I am sure you are all as keen as me to find indoor entertainment for your puppy!! I have to confess that after Betty’s naughty day last week I had to get honest with myself:) and I know it was because I had been neglecting her training! At 6 months she has so much energy, enthusiasm and curiosity that I have to makes sure she is stretched more, even on my busy days, which is when I can be a bit sloppy!

Here are some of my ideas for channeling all that energy! :

Indoor training to include

  • Sit, down and stand
  • Stays, both sit and downs (I practise really long downs for 30 minutes in the evening:) )
  • Sitting at heel and watching
  • Sit and heel and turning in all directions while maintaining the watch
  • Short recalls (10 of these on the trot) everyday
  • Putting to heel from all sides and directions
  • Retrieve

Games to include

  • Tricks like Betty on the skateboard
  • High five
  • Waving
  • Roll over
  • Face wiping
  • Lie flat
  • Tricks with the hoop, going through, over etc

And for the pups amusement when I need a rest:

  • A toy stuffed with treats, that take ages to lick out
  • occasionally a big real beef bone (can cause constipation or tummy upsets so introduce slowly), do not leave 2 dogs alone with bones as they can cause fights!
  • Chews either hide or munchy ones

Puppies of 6 to 8 months need to chew as their teeth are all through and are settling into the gums, but they do not need to chew 24 hours a day, if you allow them they will, but this can become a bad habit, so ensure they are with you part of the time without anything to chew on so that they develop healthy habits!

Here are my ideas, I look forward to hearing from you all with your tips for keeping puppies busy!! 🙂

Posted by Avril Munson
Filed in Puppy diary!, Puppy socialising, puppy training
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Double Doodle trouble at class!

November 5, 2010


Phil and Hilary were the only ones at class this week, due to holidays and Nessa being spayed this week, They both have Labradoodles of similar ages, Phil’s Scruffs is slightly younger at 6 months with Hilary’s Truffle nearly 2 months older! Both puppies are making excellent progress, both live with 3 children in their families and are coping well with them:) as are Phil and Hilary! Phil and Hilary have worked hard and are both determined to have really well-behaved dogs for life! Many thanks to Phil’s wife Yuka for taking these photo’s!

Me, Phil and Hilary with the double troubles!

Phil and Hilary with their Doodles Scruffs and Truffle!

Posted by Avril Munson
Filed in Photo's, Puppy socialising, puppy training, Uncategorized
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Magic!

October 10, 2010

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Some of you will have met Magic at Barbary Cottage, he is a small pony that belongs to Adam and Ian at Barnards Bridge, he came to stay with me for the summer for some extra attention and grass! Adam and Ian rescued Magic, who had a very bad start in life, which has left him with some mental scars about people particularly. He is going home shortly for the winter months, back with the other ponies and donkeys! He has been very happy here with Pie and Betty and even become more friendly with people! It did take me the best part of a fortnight for me to get near him, and another couple of weeks until he would stay around me when I hadn’t got a carrot!

Magic has been out for walks with Betty and Pie, so now thinks whenever I take them for a walk, he should come too, following us as far as he can along the fences:). He became so relaxed with Betty and Pie that he has helped several other dogs become used to a pony, one of the classes even had half of their lesson in the paddock with him last week, ensuring some more dogs will not be afraid of horses or want to chase them!

You might wonder what Pie and Betty are looking for on the ground in the photo’s, well it is the crumbs of carrots that Magic has dropped! I don’t think Pie even liked carrots before Magic came, but once he saw Magic being fed carrots he wanted them too! Betty will eat anything so she soon worked out that Magic dropped bits!

Magic has become so much braver since Adam and Ian first had him, and while here is showing even more curiosity about my visitors, many have been able to stroke him over the fence now and he responds very positively to children. My niece Lottie has given him a lot of carrots and he comes straight to the fence if he sees her about! Curiosity is the first sign of confidence and I am sure Magic will continue to improve and eventually learn to trust humans again!

I am sure all of you that have met him will want to say a big thank you to Magic, and Adam and Ian for allowing him to come to stay!

Posted by Avril Munson
Filed in Dog training and behaviour, Photo's, Puppy diary!, Puppy socialising, Uncategorized
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Another outing!

October 5, 2010

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Many thanks to Phil and Scruffs for the photo’s of the pigs at the Blue Egg!

I forgot the camera again! At least I remembered to take Betty, so that was a good start! I took Betty with me on my travels today, we stopped for lunch at the Blue Egg near Bardfield for lunch, they do dish out the most huge portions of everything they serve, scrummy, but do go there hungry! The garden and children’s play area at the back is just a great place for puppy’s too, they have small pigs, goats, chickens and rabbits in secure runs! Betty has met most of these when visiting Barnards Bridge and my friends Adam and Ian, but pigs were new for her! They made the most wonderful noises, grunting, snorting and squealing! There were four of them and they were fascinated by Betty, running along the fence following her and sticking their snouts through! Betty was not so sure of them, staying at the end of her lead but I continued to walk up and down until she relaxed and came a little closer. Betty is still young enough to be a little intimidated by such forward behaviour from a new species, so perfect timing for the introduction! Many older puppy’s could be bolder and want to chase them, and that is a no-no if we want our dogs to be safe around livestock. If Betty had been braver I would have walked further from the pigs and taught her to leave them, as it was I could enjoy watching them all and leave her to gain confidence, I will return fairly soon to ensure she is pig proof, a tough job as I will have to eat more food, well it would be rude not to, wouldn’t it? Plus I will take the camera next time promise, you just have to see them, they are so cute!! Unless of course you have already been and have a photo to share? 🙂

Posted by Avril Munson
Filed in Puppy diary!, Puppy socialising, puppy training
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Betty goes out to play!

September 24, 2010

Maggie and Dennis!

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Betty, Pie and I had a fun time yesterday with our friends!! I met up with Maggie and Annie and their dogs for some fun training Maggie style, which meant Annie and I and our dogs learning some fun tricks!! Maggie and Annie are also dog trainers, we don’t often manage to get together to train our own dogs, though after yesterday I think we will be making more effort to get together!

Maggie has Dennis a brother of Betty’s by a previous litter and of course Smarty her full brother of the same age, Annie has Bronte, the long-awaited puppy of Buffy and a month younger than Smarty and Betty. Annie also brought along Mel (nearly all black) another relative to Betty, though a little more distant.

Maggie has a great set up for her training and loads of agility equipment and other toys for tricks! Betty showed off her skate boarding and Maggie gave me some tips to progress her on some. Bronte began her skateboarding experience and did jolly good, I think Annie will be buying her a skate board :)! Dennis showed us his tricks, old and new, he is such a great dog and Maggie is such a fun trainer, no wonder they both enjoy themselves so much!

It was so lovely to see the pups together. The big advantage of having Betty out with other dog trainers puppy’s was being able to practice recalling her when they were playing and as they all live with grown up dogs, who won’t let them be rude, the play was at a calm level where recalling was relatively easy, the puppy’s had a good lesson together all off lead and playing with their respective owners! Well most of the time:)

I have come home with a lot of new tricks to teach you at the trick training session in October:) give me a ring if you are interested!

I have been a bit slack with the blog for a week or two, I was just not in the mood to write after I heard that an old and dear friend had died suddenly! His name was Michael Sharply, better known in the horse world. Michael was my first mentor for horses from when I was 13, I worked my weekends and school holidays, through to leaving school and going full-time with him until I married. He was the greatest teacher and a complete encyclopedia on horses and their training. I know he will be much missed by all who knew him. There is memorial service for him in Bocking next week which I know will be attended by hundreds of people who had the good fortune to know him!

Posted by Avril Munson
Filed in Photo's, Puppy diary!, Puppy socialising, puppy training
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