Cambridge Dogs

04/01/2025

Cooperative Care Workshop: Saturday 1 February 10 am. Arbury, Cambridge

Are you struggling to get your dog's harness on or clean their paws? Would you like your pup to be less anxious during vet or grooming visits? Do you have a dog that needs frequent professional grooms, or brushing at home and they are starting to avoid you when they see you get the brush out? Maybe....

04/01/2025

New Year, New you? what about a new challenge for you and your dog? We will be incorporating the APDT Good Companions Awards into all our classes- just look at these beautiful rosettes you can earn!

All of our training is designed to build a strong relationship based on kindness. We will never hurt or scare your dog.

New classes start next week, drop us an email on [email protected] for more info.

15/12/2024

https://www.youtube.com/live/HtD_NB3akcY This fantastic lecture is worth sharing every Christmas to help you have a happy holiday with your pet!

09/12/2024

Adult beginners workshop this Saturday 14 December 11am - 12 noon, Arbury, Cambridge. This is a one off workshop for adult beginners to learn some core skills before joining classes and some fun tricks to teach them over the holidays! Email [email protected] for details.

04/12/2024

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2024/dec/04/police-seek-dog-owner-after-fatal-attack-on-young-deer-in-royal-park?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other many dogs enjoy chasing. There are three ways to prevent this while ensuring your dog has their needs met: 1. Make recall training a priority from day one and keep topping it up over your dog's lifespan. 2. Keep your dog on a lead around livestock, wildlife they are likely to chase or damage, and wherever they are likely to cause a hazard. 3. If your dog enjoys chasing then give them a safe outlet to do so with you!

Footage released of spaniel chasing deer in ‘deeply distressing’ incident in Richmond Park

14/11/2024

https://www.bluecross.org.uk/pet/jeremy-1163811 This remarkable, resilient little chap is looking for a home. For anyone adopting in the Cambridge area, I am happy to provide a free 121 advice visit to help with settling him in.

Hi, I’m Jeremy a rescue from Blue Cross and I need a new home. Can you help me? https://www.bluecross.org.uk/pet/jeremy-1163811

13/11/2024

There is SO much misinformation about dog behaviour and training out there! I recently saw a comment about the need to be 'firm' with a dog and recommending training very specific skills. Without full knowledge of the situation, this might be inappropriate or pose a risk to welfare or safety. There is is a time and place for being firm but there is also a time and place for being flexible. Being 'firm' means being consistent about setting boundaries and rules and managing access to things. Being flexible means responding to the dog and the situation in that moment and adapting the management and training plan to the needs of the dog and their family. You need both in different measures according to the situation, and with dogs showing behavioural issues, we need to start by addressing core needs and emotional responses rather than being firm about rules. There is some great information freely available online - the most reliable sources are the large animal welfare charities including: Woodgreen Pets Charity, RSPCA, Blue Cross, Dogs Trust and Battersea. If you are given advice from friends, family, strangers, or 'internet experts' - take with a large pinch of salt and check with trusted sources!

25/10/2024

https://pet-rapport.com/ I just wanted to share this lovely illustrated book by a local author and featuring some of our local dogs in the area. A really delightful reminder of how much they mean to us and how much joy they bring us.

LOOKING FOR A GIFT? CONGRATULATIONS DAY, FRIEND'S BIRTHDAY - ANY DAY! DO THEY LIKE ANIMALS? ARE THEY KIND AND CARING? PET RAPPORT WILL ENTERTAIN THEM! WE RECOMMEND THE HARD COVER EDITION TO REALLY SEE THE DRAWINGS

18/10/2024

08/10/2024

https://coastandcountrycanines.org/ This is a great site with tips, advice and ideas for walking with your dog.

Working together to protect natural spaces is just part of being a responsible dog walker, and best of all, it doesn’t have to make walks less fun.

07/10/2024

This weekend Susannah and Paula indulged in the geeky side of dog training and attended the PACT conference. There were thought provoking talks by Linda Michaels, Tamsin Durston, Ryan Dillon, Stephanie Rousseau and Simone Mueller, along with an inspiring demonstration from Dog A.I.D who do amazing work training assistance dogs.

29/09/2024

Aldi have got their licki mats back in stock

26/09/2024

If your trainer suggests that you use a prong collar, rattle can or ecollar - or indeed anything that common sense tells you might cause discomfort or the dog might fear or work to avoid in any way - have a think about what you are trying to achieve with this and what the long-term implications of using these are. How are they going to feel after this - about you, about the situation you're using the equipment in, about life in general? And do you want your dog to feel that way?

HUMAN DIRECTED AGGRESSION AND THE USE OF AVERSIVES

I’ve had several dogs come to me in the last year who have aggression issues around people that either started or became much worse after they’d had aversive training. By aversives we mean the use of slip lead corrections, body jabs, rattle cans, prong and Ecollars etc. Some dogs went for general loose lead/recall/obedience training but became so scared after the use of aversives that they are now lunging at or even biting people who approach them or try to handle them. Some were already worried about people (growling or barking etc) and are now lunging or attempting to bite people. Some have bitten their owners since this training.

These dogs didn’t have these issues beforehand and they’ve become so scared of what people may do to them now that they are showing aggression. Some of them are now misinterpreting normal human interactions with them and see people as a threat to their safety and are using aggression to try and keep people away. By normal human interactions I mean people taking collars and leads off, reaching out to touch them, walking past then when they are resting etc. These dogs are traumatised by what’s happened to them, there is no other way of describing it.

I used to see dogs like this (who’ve shown aggression after aversive training) once or twice a year and now it’s something I see several times a month and it’s really concerning. There are some really unskilled trainers out there using aversives which is extremely worrying; if an unskilled trainer gets it wrong using reward the worse that happens is the dog gets fat, if you are an unskilled trainer using a shock collar there’s a huge risk of fallout.

Aversives are sold as a ‘quick fix’ they make dogs stop behaviours that people don’t like (running off/barking/stealing things) but there is always a huge risk of a fall out. It’s no surprise really that doing or using something that causes fear or pain may make an anxious dog worse.

None of this is the owners fault either, all have incredibly kind and loving families who weren’t aware these methods would be used or who didn’t realise the implications. They’ve done nothing wrong and are now left to try and repair the damage that’s been done. I feel so sad for the lovely families and their dogs as they’ve been really let down.

There’s no quick fixes to changing emotions, it takes time and patience and who often we are trying to rebuild confidence that’s been lost and help dogs recover from previous trauma (of all sorts). There’s a huge risk with quick fixes and it’s like playing roulette- you may have an incredibly robust dog and get ‘lucky’ and have no negative consequences from using aversives but it may break another dog and leave you with a terrible fall out. Just not worth the risk when we have alternatives

Laura McAuliffe, 2024, Dog Communication

15/09/2024

Cambridge Dogs Adult Lifeskills and Advanced dog training classes start next week in Arbury! Please contact [email protected] for further details and to get more of this (complete relaxation) at home when you've given your dog an opportunity to exercise their brains!

05/09/2024

I love stationing and platforms! So does Safi.

30/08/2024

There is one space left on our Adolescent/Adult Beginners course starting next Tuesday evening, 3 September. This is for pups over 5 months and covers core lifeskills taught through positive reinforcement, an emphasis on relationship and meeting our dog's needs. Pictured is my delightful foster pup a 4 month old Cockerpoo looking for a new home through R.S.P.C.A. Cambridge . Email [email protected] for details of the course or [email protected] for details of the pup!

17/08/2024

https://www.facebook.com/share/r/PWBq14cq9W99yFiC/. This is a great example of gaze alternation being used to communicate across species.