George is here!

George the old English Sheepdog is here for a week before he moves onto Mark and jaymies for a further stay. A lovely dog he is only young and shows the classic "teenager" attitude with a little bit of stubbornness and some expected attitude; but overall a lovely dog!

This is another dog that needs clear leadership to flourish. He is not mentally strong enough to be a leader or alpha and so if he feels he has to take this position it will stress him and cause issues of aggression and dominance. The dog will start to try to frighten people or dogs away by acts of aggression so he doesn't have to deal with any further contact.

Watch some dogs as they walk, going ballistic when they see any other dog, that is what they are telling you! I'm frightened and I'm expected to look after these weak humans but I don't want to! If you step up and show your dog that you are in charge the relief from them is obvious and you can see them de-stress in front of your eyes!

Bailey finds his Mojo

Bailey is a Springer X Cocker Spaniel who has learned to control his human family by biting, growling and snapping. I have just had him for a week and for the first few days he was slightly depressed and a little bit unpredictable if he felt under stress at all.

In order to sort his mental state out he needs to be happy and relaxed and the way to achieve that is to ensure that you walk and play with him/her everyday and burn off a lot of the excess energy that can be destructive. Ensure he/she understands that he/she is a dog and their wishes and desires are unimportant when it comes to house rules and discipline. If you want to do something that involves the dog, DO IT! it is irrelevant what the dog wants to do and if you give in to a dog demanding to do something you are putting yourself at risk of creating a dominant dog that will be difficult to control!

I don't allow dogs into the kitchen whilst I'm cooking or preparing anything because it is dangerous to have a dog under your feet. I always ask the dogs stopping at ours to stay in the dining room and not to cross the line into the kitchen. Now this serves two purposes, firstly it keeps everyone safe and secondly it shows leadership to the dog and gives rules and boundaries for him/her to follow.

Bailey decided to dance around me and didn't want to comply with this rule and this would normally end in a stand off and him biting. Picking up a tea tray to place in front of me to deflect any bite, Bailey was ushered out of the kitchen and instructed where to stay which he duly did! By repeating this every time you are schooling the dog in rules and discipline and showing leadership over him/her.

When you let the dog out in the morning you must ignore them whilst they perform their crazy routine around you! Bailey went home to his owners and immediately jumped up each member of the family, entering their personal zone without permission and being very rude! He did not do that to any member of my family because this is never encouraged or tolerated! Your dog has to know that he is not the leader and that he is bottom of the pack in the family. This is not cruel, your dog is happy to have that position and is looking to you to exert leadership over him/her. How can he respect you if he doesn't see you as a leader!

Show your dog leadership by giving clear rules and boundaries of behaviour and being strong and in control and most of all enjoying being with and interacting with your dog!

Happy training!

Steve

Elvis after training!

This was Elvis after a week with us during which he was exposed to daily walks in Sutton park and schooled on how to meet dogs correctly and encouraged to behave accordingly! These are the results!

Time for a breather

Poppy left the building yesterday afternoon with her owners very happy to see her and she happy to see them! After a discussion about her diet and some suggestions as to how to proceed she was driven away and I have a dog free house for the next couple of weeks and time to catch up on somethings and maybe take a short break!

The business is now a company called lookafteryourdog Ltd or just lookafteryourdog to us! I was advised that this was the right way to go with the business and I have had to navigate through the commercial maze to sort it out! I have been on a steep learning curve since I began this venture a couple of years back and everyday I have to learn or do something new which is great!

I will continue to post my meandering thoughts and hopefully search the web for any interesting information out there!

Cheers Steve

Feeding the dog!

A couple of issues have come up over the past few days in relation to feeding your dog and the problems it can bring! Firstly the idea of leaving food down for your dog to graze on whenever it wants it. This idea generally works and the dogs don`t seem to gorge themselves, eating only what they require but I have a few issues with it myself!

Firstly, feeding your dog is of significant importance to him/her as it is a life essential for them. This gives you the opportunity of being the great provider and showing clear leadership over your dog by your sharing the gift of food with him/her. This can help in dominance issues, insecurity etc.

Secondly, if your dog helps itself, how will you know when the dog is unwell. You may never see it eat, so you would not see it not eating its food. A dog that doesn't want food may be poorly and it can be a clear sign of ill health which you could miss!

The meals are a time you can reward your dog for good behavior and can also be a great training time, using the food to reinforce certain behaviors for reward. So take some of the kibble and ask your dog to sit, stay stand, down etc. and reward it with the food and then a double reward of the bowl!

Your dogs overall health can be gauged by its poop! Horrible I know, but if your dog is solid and healthy then it is a good guide that it is in overall good health. By feeding at set times and maintaining a healthy regime, your dog will have less problems with its poop and will be in good shape, plus its easier to pick up and bag!

My advice, always feed a proper complete dry dog food to an amount that doesn't cause the dog to become loose, whatever that amount may be and to add a few teaspoons or for big dogs a bit more of pilchards or Tuna as a flavour enhancer and added Omega 3 from fish oils. This is cheap to do and allows the biscuit to clean the dogs teeth without being boring, as dry kibble is!

Hope this helps! Cheers Steve

Lovely Poppy

Here she is Poppy the Chiuhauhau all 10 months of her. With her purple harness and red lead I must look a right sight with my little handbag dog! Joking aside though, she is a lovely little lady and I know that there is a syndrome that makes humans love small dogs, but you can see why people make the mistake of turning these pocket dogs into substitute children! They don't answer back and they are always pleased to see you and when they do see you they don't ask for money! Result!


Anyway, every dog has issues of some sort or another and this little lady has a couple. Firstly she whimpered and whined at everything and I mean everything! If she walked she whimpered, if you let her out and she was at the door she whimpered, constantly! Instructions to the family were only to acknowledge her if she was quiet, if she whimpered she was either ignored or shushed!


Within a day or so the whimpering has tailed off to virtually nothing and she is being treated like any other dog that stops with us and you can see the dog coming out in her! She was dominant at her home, dictating the pace like most small dogs do, but if you reverse that behavior and encourage her to follow your leadership, you create a happier less stressed animal that knows and is confident to do things without the baggage of leadership around her shoulders!


When Poppy was playing in the garden she was hesitant to go out at first and constantly barking if she heard a noise. By stopping that behavior and by assuming the leadership role, you can allow your dog to play safe in the knowledge that you will defend and protect it and alert it if you think something needs its attention!


Her other issue is around food, if you are eating then she will mug you and be all over you to try to get something! This is rude and a dog that enters your personal space like that is not respecting you or your personal space and this can lead to dominance issues in certain dogs! My advice and what I have done with Poppy is to enforce the distance around me whilst I eat, which is again another signal to the dog that you are in charge of the resources and you decide when to share them which makes you powerful!


So if you want your dogs respect, go ahead and show it some leadership and see the results!


Cheers Steve

Poppy arriving today!

Poppy the Chiuahauhau is arriving today! At 6`3" I`m a little unsure as to how this will leave my image but heh one of the joys of this business is the diversity of dogs that you get to look after, so bring it on Chiuahauhau!