DOGability

12/12/2024

Whenever we ask our dogs to to things for us we’re usually asking them to stop doing fun dog things and do some less interesting (if not downright boring) human things instead. You can pay your dog for doing these things with you, or you can punish them for not choosing you over all the other entertainment available to them. If you were a dog which type of human would you choose to live with? But as our dogs never do get a choice about the humans they get to live with be the one they would choose if they could.

10/12/2024

Are you ready? This is a question we should ask our dogs when we want their engagement, rather than presuming they’re immediately available to obey our every whim. There are lots of ways to do this, but this is one of my favourites. I call it Ready? Ready! and I adapted it from Kay Laurence's SheepBalls. Bay's favourite ball is placed at my feet and as I circle it Bay stays opposite me (if I circle left so does he, if I go to the right he changes direction). The only rule is he cannot run in to take the ball, if he does this I stop making the game noises and simply wait for him to drop the ball and back away to restart. As you can hear I make silly noises and he can get as excited and happy as he likes in anticipation of the ball being gently kicked in his direction to retrieve. Playing Ready? Ready! helps with impulse control, engagement and focus (what you can't see in this video is the off lead dog that passes behind us which Bay completely ignores, but you can see his rabbit fur ball on the ground and he LOVES that ball - but he loves the game more). It helps his thinking and listening skills when excited because sometimes I throw cues in there too. However mainly we just play this game because it’s fun – and he deserves to have fun every day of his life.

07/12/2024

Training will go ahead today!

05/12/2024

This is our trainer Kendrah doing movement puzzles with her dog Bailey. My Saturday group have just started this, there are loads of benefits, it gets the dog thinking so tires them mentally, good for propreoception and great to do indoors when the weather is bad.

29/11/2024

We work with all breeds of dog, for all sorts of reasons, from general life skills (such as loose lead walking or recall) to full behaviour consultations. These photos show that it doesn't matter what the breed is, from chihuahua to Malinois, training without fear, force or punishment works! Daisy, the little white Chihuahua, joined our Friday General class to help her confidence around larger dogs (and let's face it, most dogs are larger than Daisy!). She did exceptionally well and made friends with my Labrador boy, Bay. Hugo is a new addition to the class and had his first lesson today. He's a 6 month old Mali x GSD who has only been with his new family for 2 months so working on his basic skills to start with, but considering how he responded to training today he's going to be such fun to teach! If you're interested in joining one of our classes email [email protected] or give us a call on 07881 552559

28/11/2024

When a mother dog uses aggression on her pups it is because she either a) has an unsound temperament or b) she and her pups have been kept in an unsuitable environment (so any aggression displayed is the fault of us humans). Using the behaviour of a highly stressed, anxious or temperementally unsound individual to build your puppy training programme on is insane, it's like saying human parents should pattern their behaviour on Fred and Rose West. We are not dogs, our dogs know we are not dogs, so trying to behave like one is just confusing for them, especially as humans resort to punishment when they feel resentment, frustration and anger. Raising a puppy the right way can be hard at times, so having a solid support network is important, and our Puppy Class courses show you how to be the best puppy parent you can be. If you can't join us (and even if you can) I highly recommend you get Shay Kelly's book Puppy Nurture: Raising A Puppy With Love, available on Amazon.

10/11/2024

So we started our scent groups off on the awesome game of Mantrailing today! I think everyone thoroughly enjoyed themselves and we had a great time! No pictures taken as we were having too much fun 😝 so picture is of me and my boy!
If you’d like to know more please let us know. Introduction to Mantrailing sessions will be coming soon!

Credit to JAY K9 for the photo.

05/11/2024

URGENT ANNOUNCEMENT, FAKE SUPPLEMENTS: Lintbells YuMove have put out the announcement below regarding fake supplements sold on Amazon as a number of dogs have become seriously ill, and some have died, after being given these. We all love an internet bargain but please, when it comes to getting supplements, remedies or medications for your dog ensure you're getting them from a verified source. Their health truly depends on it!

02/11/2024

Welcome to our new saturday puppies.

29/10/2024

Last lesson on Saturday for young Nellie, she'll now be joining our general training class. What a lovely bit of loose lead walking to finish.

24/10/2024

Yesterday’s Improvers Agility class, well done everyone!! If you are interested in doing agility with your dog give Adrienne a call 07881 552559.

01/10/2024

Keeping our dogs as fit as possible for as long as possible is not only great for them, it’s good for our wallets! But this doesn’t always mean walking miles with them or working on physical conditioning exercises, here are some super simple things you can do now that will give life long benefits to your dog:

1) Always ensure your dog has carpet or mats to walk on. Lino, marble and most wooden flooring do not give them sufficient grip, even though we humans like it because it’s easier to clean up the drool, p*e and hair! It may appear that your dog is fine, but that’s because they’ve learnt to adjust their gait or stance unnaturally to maintain balance. At the very least give them ‘track ways’ along corridors, by the back and front door and between the islands of rug or carpet. This is one of the most important things you can do to help prevent dysplasia in puppies, or the onset of arthritis in older dogs.

2) Give them proper grip under their paws where their food and water bowls are, and consider using raised bowls for medium and larger breed dogs. Having to eat or drink whilst maintaining an awkward stance is not easy, it’s like trying to sit comfortably on one of those sloping benches installed at bus stops where you have to use muscles not normally required for sitting down.

3) Keep their claws short! When standing on a hard surface a dog’s claws should not be in contact with the ground. If they are this can force your dog to shift their weight onto the back of the paws because of pain in the toes (think how we feel if we have to spend a day in shoes that are too small!) which compromises their weight distribution and contributes to joint issues.

Photos show my Bay’s mealtime setup with raised bowl in carpeted area, a couple of close ups of his lovely short claws, and Taliesin gets in on the action showing off the rugs on our wooden hall flooring giving the dogs secure footing from the front to the back door, as well as at the bottom of the stairs.

18/09/2024

We have 2 tickets for Knebworth DogFest (inc. parking) to auction with no bids entered yet! Tickets are for this Sunday 22nd September. Worth £50! Go to the original post to enter your bid in the comments. All funds will go to Dogateers our local voluntary lost dog volunteers.

17/09/2024

A knowledge of canine first aid can literally save your dog’s life!

I try to do a canine first aid course every theee years or so to ensure I stay up-to-date, and I took this very course earlier this year. It covers everything you need to know, and as well as being informative it was fun to take part in. To book in contact Passionate About Pets Animal Physiotherapy directly, details are on the original post.

Only 4 more weeks until the next canine 1st aid day!! And we only have 4 spaces left! (It’s all about the 4’s 😂) If you want to join us it’s on Saturday 19th October, 10-4pm.

To reserve your place comment below and I’ll send you the link to book.

It’s a great day and it’s so important as dog owners, to know what to do if your dog has an accident.

12/09/2024

Dogs, we are told by trainers who use aversive tools and believe in the alpha theory of training, are striving at all times to be dominant over us, and it is our job to keep them in their place at the bottom of the pack. Really??
Dogs were domesticated by humans around 30,000 years ago (and genomic research points to domestication possibly happening around 10,000 years before this) and they have been our faithful friends and companions ever since. They lived alongside us when we still resided in caves, when we learnt how to build homes they moved in too, and have slept beside us ever since. And not just beside us but (oh, the horror!) on our very beds! And we have evidence of this from nearly 2000 years ago in a sculpture from the 2nd century CE by Pistillus, showing a couple in bed with their dog curled up at their feet (see photo, the original sculpture is in the Musee d’Archeologie Nationale, Saint-Germain-en-Laye and is known as the Lovers of Bordeaux).
If, as some would have us believe, dogs have been striving to dominate us for 40,000 years, and sleeping on our beds for at LEAST 2,000 of those (although we can assume early humans snuggled up to their dogs on cold winter nights in cave and hut, but this is the earliest direct evidence I could find) all I can say is that they are clearly NOT VERY GOOD AT IT! We humans are still here, still in control of every need, want, and aspect of our dogs lives – so who is the dominant one?