Bosco and his big head!

I first saw Bosco the Staffordshire Bull terrier and I could only stare at his extremely large head! A beautiful brindle coloured dog, he is like a slab of beef. You just have to slap (In a nice way!) Staffies like Bosco. They are so solid and powerful, but very easy going and very gentle to people.

Anyway the dog can't be perfect, like there is no perfect human being, but Bosco is 95% perfect except for one thing! Well two actually and they hang down at the back of him! Yes my old touchy subject of non-breeding dogs not being spayed. Bosco has had at least two scraps a day because of it and as a young dog he oozes hormones and attitude when other dogs approach and many of them have a go at him!

Today I have had him in Sutton Park and trained him around a couple of dogs where he puffed up and had a go. Using a long line I corrected him before he went into fight mode and made him be submissive near the other dogs! After that and draining some energy, we walked with Tammy and Foley the Springer and met other dogs and he was fine! But the danglies will always rear there ugly head and he is a ticking time-bomb with either himself or another dog or someone who tries to stop them; getting hurt! My advice CASTRATE him now! No question!

Cheers Steve

Hello Cassie

Cassie has arrived for her second visit with us! A small slightly tubby border terrier (sorry Cas) she is very sweet and doesn't play up and is very good off lead on the walk! No issues with her yet but I'll keep you posted!

Steve

Catching up

I'm still trying to honour my promise to write regularly but failing miserably! Anyway where are we now? Well after George and Mia came Bailey and then chip.Both had their issues, firstly Bailey the springer/cocker cross is a lovely fella but due to some issues at home he has learned to snap at people if challenged. Bailey is a classic case of not leading your dog and allowing them to dictate to the owners. Advice here was to make sure he did as he was told but to wait for the correct response before rewarding it. So an example was him taking an item of owners clothing and becoming aggressive when they tried to retrieve it! By holding their ground and showing him they wouldn't back down he eventually gave it up without a struggle and although it took a while, the next time will always be quicker until the issue goes away!

Chip the working springer is a lovely dog who like Bailey was a pleasure to walk and have but his issue was whining and howling which he did for England! It seems his owners crate him when they go out which is not a problem except the dog is allowed to howl unchecked and becomes a habit and although they've never heard it the neighbours have!

Here I always disagree with the behaviour and use distraction and a water bottle to snap him out of it. Always reward the quiet if you can! Had he gone in the crate 10 minutes before the owners left and settled perhaps with a chew or stuffed kong he'd be less likely to howl!

Cheers

Steve

Welcome to George and Mia!

George on the left and Mia on the right, she has different color eyes!

Old english sheepdogs George and Mia are stopping with us. Lovely intelligent dogs they need firm handling and leadership to stop any silliness. Mia has a dangerous habit of chasing things namely a Sutton park ranger in a land Rover and a goods train! I wasn't aware of her little habit until she ran the length of a field chasing the train, very worrying!

I think this is an example of not satisfying the breed of a dog! As a Sheepdog she has an innate instinct for prey drive, or in layman's words chasing things! If this is not satisfied then the dog will create it for themselves.My suggestion will be to try to train her onto a toy so that this side of her is fulfilled. Failing that there are other remedies that we can consider but ill cross that bridge if we get to it!

George is only a Puppy really and still growing. He is painfully thin due to his tickle stomach. If his diet is changed or he is slightly overfed as he was, then he gets the trots and this affects his ability to process the food correctly! I have reduced his food and kept him on just his Royal Canin food and this seems to be working, but we will have to see if he puts on the weight!

Hamish has left the building!

Hamish has gone home, his owners were chuffed to see him and had missed him whilst they were away. We had a chat about how much he had improved and what steps could be taken to get him to be a brilliant family pet!

Hamish asleep all arms & legs!

Firstly, it was evident as I had mentioned before; that Hamish was used to play fighting with his owner and he was always mouthing at you when he got excited. My advice was that this should be replaced by a tug of war game under the proviso that the owners controlled the game and the toy in order to stop it becoming a challenge! (Click here to buy tug toys at dog-shop.co.uk )

NEVER should your dog bite you in any way, play or otherwise! This is a recipe for disaster and when your dog mouths a child, don't be surprised if it has always been encouraged to behave this way!

Secondly, Hamish was not used to running free as he is very quick and not that good at returning. My advice is to line train him (Click here to buy training lines at dog-shop.co.uk) a 15mm 30ft line will give you confidence in knowing that you can always get your dog back as you can catch the line, not the dog! This means you can be calm and encouraging when schooling your dog how far to run and to come back when you call his name. This should always be to a reward of some kind which eventually may be just affection!

Anyway, just an update on an earlier post about hamish still trying to hump dogs even though he had just been snipped, since the last episode which was his learned behaviour in the first day or so he was with us, I can report that Hamish does not even try to hump dogs now and is officially cured! So having had the snip and ensuring that they treat Hamish firmly but fairly will see him become a fabulous pet for years to come!

Cheers Steve

Wipe your feet Hamish!

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

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