After a good walk with Hamish up in the woods where he played nicely with the other dogs and only once looked to get over the top of another dog so that's progress, we arrived home and he went for a drink which he dribbled and then stood in! The dust in his paws turned to mud and he left dirty prints on the kitchen floor.
The point of this blog is that I decided to pick him up and put him in the study where dirty paw prints can be vacuumed away easily. As I tried to pick him up he got aggy and went to bite my hand. I put him down and corrected him and he immediately backed down so no dramas. The point here is all dogs should be used to being handled from an early age. You should be able to check every part of your dog and most certainly be able to pick them up in case of emergencies etc. Also how will your vet fare if you don't handle your dog and he / she has to what will happen!
So my advice, every day use treats to distract/reward your dog whilst you groom and touch all parts of your dog! Start off by looking as if you are cuddling your dog and build up to slightly moving them off the floor and quickly back down again. You will know how to progress it by naturally feeling your dogs energy and stress until you can pick he or she up and carry them round.
Carry them by putting your left arm around the chest of your dog as it faces to your left and your right arm behind the upper legs before gently squeezing so as to support the whole body!
Any problems give me a shout!
Cheers, Steve
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Saturday, 23 April 2011
Thursday, 21 April 2011
Ziggy out Hamish in!
No sooner had Ziggy left the building then Hamish arrived. His owners going for a great trip to America lucky sods!
Hamish is an Airedale terrier, the king of terriers no less! A fine looking animal you can see why they were used as police dogs years ago! They take a little getting used to at first as they are very different to a lot of dogs. They stand and walk straight and they have large mouths which can be a bit intimidating when they bark or growl!
Hamish has been with us before and I admit I wasn't so keen on him then as he was entire (not spayed) and he was a bit arrogant! His owner always wants to do the best by him and we had a discussion about having him spayed and she had been put off by some daft talk by others about having him done at 18 months when he had settled down! I hear all this rubbish and it amazes me that they don't see the harm that it does to certain dogs!
There are loads of un-castrated male dogs that are perfectly fine and don't have any issues at all. However there are great many dogs that exhibit very bad behavioural issues because of the hormones flying round their bodies!
I recently lost a good customer over this issue as their dog was one of the most stressed I've ever encountered! He slept with his eyes open when he gave in to sleep that is and he hunted for towels or blankets to hump with a determination that was scary to watch! He also had a terrible habit of eating dirty tissues but that's another story! The owners said that they had contacted his breed society and they stated that they had bitches that hump and they didn't think castration would make any difference! What utter crap! You see an animal come into adulthood and you allow him to get sexually aroused on a frequent basis but never allow him to do anything and that makes sense! My god, what planet are they on! Have your dog done at the earliest your Vet advises and remove a terrible curse from him! Tell a teenager they cant mix with the opposite sex and see what happens!
Anyway, Hamish was booked straight in and done before he came to us and I am amazed at the difference in him! he is calmer and more lovable and i have really bonded with him! He is very mouthy but i suspect his Dad play fights with him and so this isn't Hamish's fault and perhaps we can get that unwise activity to stop!
Other than that he is settling down nicely and on his walks he is still trying to hump other dogs but this is learned behaviour from not being done earlier and we will try to calm this down! I will let you know how we get on!
Cheers Steve
Hamish is an Airedale terrier, the king of terriers no less! A fine looking animal you can see why they were used as police dogs years ago! They take a little getting used to at first as they are very different to a lot of dogs. They stand and walk straight and they have large mouths which can be a bit intimidating when they bark or growl!
Hamish has been with us before and I admit I wasn't so keen on him then as he was entire (not spayed) and he was a bit arrogant! His owner always wants to do the best by him and we had a discussion about having him spayed and she had been put off by some daft talk by others about having him done at 18 months when he had settled down! I hear all this rubbish and it amazes me that they don't see the harm that it does to certain dogs!
There are loads of un-castrated male dogs that are perfectly fine and don't have any issues at all. However there are great many dogs that exhibit very bad behavioural issues because of the hormones flying round their bodies!
I recently lost a good customer over this issue as their dog was one of the most stressed I've ever encountered! He slept with his eyes open when he gave in to sleep that is and he hunted for towels or blankets to hump with a determination that was scary to watch! He also had a terrible habit of eating dirty tissues but that's another story! The owners said that they had contacted his breed society and they stated that they had bitches that hump and they didn't think castration would make any difference! What utter crap! You see an animal come into adulthood and you allow him to get sexually aroused on a frequent basis but never allow him to do anything and that makes sense! My god, what planet are they on! Have your dog done at the earliest your Vet advises and remove a terrible curse from him! Tell a teenager they cant mix with the opposite sex and see what happens!
Anyway, Hamish was booked straight in and done before he came to us and I am amazed at the difference in him! he is calmer and more lovable and i have really bonded with him! He is very mouthy but i suspect his Dad play fights with him and so this isn't Hamish's fault and perhaps we can get that unwise activity to stop!
Other than that he is settling down nicely and on his walks he is still trying to hump other dogs but this is learned behaviour from not being done earlier and we will try to calm this down! I will let you know how we get on!
Cheers Steve
Friday, 15 April 2011
Ziggy's eating competition!
Ziggy must have grown tired of eating vacumn cleaners and his delicate palette needed something softer! So this morning when I went to let him out I found two sick covered items on the floor! On closer inspection they turned out to be two pairs of socks!!
I can only presume that he took them from the tumble dryer when he knocked the door open with his tail and took the opportunity!
On a serious note, it's typical lab behaviour and typical of most young dogs but it can prove deadly and a springer spaniel I trained later died on the operating table after eating a bag!
A dog we looked after recently called Dexter used to find every dirty tissue in Sutton park which was not nice! Training this away involves setting up items on the floor in a controlled environment and deterring the bad behaviour and rewarding the dog when it doesn't take the item.
Leaving toys, chews and boredom busters also helps and draining excess energy through vigourous exercise and work also helps!
I can only presume that he took them from the tumble dryer when he knocked the door open with his tail and took the opportunity!
On a serious note, it's typical lab behaviour and typical of most young dogs but it can prove deadly and a springer spaniel I trained later died on the operating table after eating a bag!
A dog we looked after recently called Dexter used to find every dirty tissue in Sutton park which was not nice! Training this away involves setting up items on the floor in a controlled environment and deterring the bad behaviour and rewarding the dog when it doesn't take the item.
Leaving toys, chews and boredom busters also helps and draining excess energy through vigourous exercise and work also helps!
Wednesday, 13 April 2011
Ziggy is in the building!
Ziggy has arrived! 11 months of daft loveable Labrador dog! Not the brightest star in the sky but without malice and desperate to be with you and an insatiable appetite for play!
I particularly enjoyed him eating my mouse mat and chewing on the vacuum cleaner attachment! My bag though. I didn't put any toys in with him and I hadn't drained hardly energy from him due to having to go out early!
Ziggy will be with us for a few days yet and I'll post his picture so you can share the love!
I particularly enjoyed him eating my mouse mat and chewing on the vacuum cleaner attachment! My bag though. I didn't put any toys in with him and I hadn't drained hardly energy from him due to having to go out early!
Ziggy will be with us for a few days yet and I'll post his picture so you can share the love!
Cheers Steve
I'm back!
Hi, I'm going to officially try to find 10 minutes every day to update this blog! I failed miserably to keep it going before and I had just started to get my customers to view it, so I must try harder!
I'm going to use this blog to record the daily goings on with the dogs that we board at lookafteryourdog.co.uk and link the trials and tribulations of looking after our customers dogs and all the problems that come with it!
I'll also review dog related products, dog training tools and dog food and link that into our daily life with the dogs and dog behaviour and training issues we encounter!
Please feel free to contact me for any help, advice or information I can give you!
Cheers Steve
I'm going to use this blog to record the daily goings on with the dogs that we board at lookafteryourdog.co.uk and link the trials and tribulations of looking after our customers dogs and all the problems that come with it!
I'll also review dog related products, dog training tools and dog food and link that into our daily life with the dogs and dog behaviour and training issues we encounter!
Please feel free to contact me for any help, advice or information I can give you!
Cheers Steve
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