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Out Woof Hours

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Out Woof Hours

Out Woof Hours provides overnight boarding, ad-hoc daycare and out of hours care services. Licence # LN/000022609

As amazing a service as day cares provide, they are just that: day care. As day care ends, home life begins, but a dog suffering from separation anxiety can scupper evening and weekend plans before they even take off. Out Woof Hours can provide companionship for dogs during evening hours, enabling you to go to dinner, to that party, to the cinema! without worrying about what destruction, toilet ac

cidents, and noise complaints you will be returning home to. As well as evenings, Out Woof Hours operates over weekends too! As Out Woof Hours comes to you, it can not only benefit dogs with separation anxiety, but all of the other dogs for whom finding care can be difficult: bi***es in season, in-tact males, puppies yet to finish their vaccinations and those that do not mix so well with other dogs. Out Woof Hours cares for your dog in your own home, keeping them in their familiar environment with all of their familiar things.

25/10/2024

4. Being Proactive About Space

The Scenario: Walking my dogs on a path through a field, we saw up ahead a walker with a Golden Retriever on-lead. They saw us, wrapped the dog’s lead around their hand, assumed a stance and braced for our approach! I deviated from the path with my dogs, giving them a wide berth.

The Problem: The fact that they braced and hung on tight showed that they were completely aware that the Golden would do something toward my dogs – whether it was aggressive or overly friendly and just boisterous is irrelevant. Not everybody has experience with reactive dogs so not everybody will think to do what I did and create the space that dog clearly needed.
Somebody without that knowledge might not have thought twice about continuing toward that dog, because it was right on the footpath and logically SURELY nobody would be that passive about impending doom!

When walking a dog that does need space from other dogs (or people, or bicycles, or anything), it is 100% the handler’s responsibility to accommodate that.

The Solution: The handler of the Golden could very simply have moved off the footpath to put some distance between their dog and the approaching dogs. However, given what they did instead, I suspect it might not have been their dog and/or they were substantially lacking in confidence in handling a large dog. The importance of understanding dogs as individuals to know how they might react to any given situation, learning about basic body language, and practicing handling skills cannot be underestimated when dealing with dogs.

24/10/2024

3. Overtaking Dogs on Narrow Paths

The Scenario: I was walking on a narrow footpath with my dogs off-lead ahead of me. Another walker approached from behind without alerting me, overtook me and walked straight through the middle of my dogs with theirs. My adolescent male was instantly on high alert about the incoming dog, was a little over-enthusiastic in checking it out, which prompted that dog to snap hard at him and then bolt, and my dog chased it.

The Problem: Dogs having complete neutrality among the dogs within their group is absolutely no guarantee that they will remain neutral around any other dogs. There is a small chance that nothing would happen, but there is a big chance that something would. That this particular dog snapped and then bolted showed it was not at all confident and was in a hurry to get out of dodge!
It was very unfair of the owner to put their dog (and mine) in that situation.

The Solution: Pick another route and avoid the group altogether. If the route cannot be deviated from then slow the pace so as not to advance upon the group until open space is reached and there is opportunity to give a wide berth. If there is no flexibility to choose an alternative route or slow down a bit, then call out to the walker ahead and ask if it is ok to get by. Had I been alerted and asked, I would have requested just a minute to recall the adolescent male, pop him back on-lead and then make sure we were out of the way before they passed. It's a small courtesy that goes both ways.

23/10/2024

2. Approaching Dogs Lying Down

The Scenario: My dog is off-lead. He spots another dog approaching and lies down. The handler of the other dog continues to march their dog (on-lead) directly toward my dog. My dog panics because he has history with this particular dog not being very nice to him, has a little bark at them, then recalls to me.

The Problem: Dogs that lie down when they see another dog may do so for any of many reasons. Unless you know that dog extremely well or are well versed in canine body language, it can be difficult to know which of those reasons it is! As such, what happens next if you continue to approach that dog can be really difficult to predict.

So why would a dog lie down when it sees another dog?
• A collie or herding breed might be stalking and anticipating a chase
• A worried dog might be panicking and trying to make itself smaller
• An unsure dog might be buying time to observe the approaching dog and decide how to respond based on the other dog’s energy
• A dog lying down in sphinx position might be prepping for launch!
• A launching dog might be keen to play
• A launching dog might be keen to attack
• A launching dog might be keen to make a swift exit

Problem is, you won’t know which until it happens!

The Solution: If whilst on a walk you encounter a dog in your path lying down, on- or off-lead, stop. Do not continue to approach that dog, especially if it happens in a bottleneck like a field gateway or a road junction. Either move sideways around it or, although inconvenient, turn around and backtrack. The dog lying down possibly has conflicted feelings, or even bad intentions, so it is much kinder to your own dog to just avoid it.

22/10/2024

1: Causing Reactivity Through Training

The worst culprit for this is Look At That (LAT) training.

The Scenario: I am walking my dogs on a public footpath, another dog is approaching, the owner of that dog puts them into a sit to begin the LAT training, the dog watches my dogs closely as we pass, my dog kicks off...

The Problem: Waiting too long for the dog to look back to the handler during LAT training conditions that dog to stare down other dogs. While the dog being trained might be sat quietly and not moving, leading the handler to believe the training is a big success, allowing and encouraging (through mistimed reward) the dog to engage in a hard stare directed at passing dogs is a BIG FAIL. A hard stare is very confrontational and is likely to elicit a response, or, a reaction, from the passing dog – in this case, MY dog! A lack of awareness or care from the handler doing the training put me in a difficult position and created a problem for me.

The owner of the LAT training dog might soon begin to wonder why there are so many reactive dogs passing them on their walk and not understand that their own dog is the cause of it. Eventually, the LAT dog’s experience of other dogs is going to tip into a majority negative because every dog it sees reacts at it (because it is staring at them), so the trained behaviour fosters anticipation of being lunged or barked at which in turn creates reactivity.

The Solution: There is NO need to make a dog sit and look at other dogs pass. If anything, that cements in the dog’s mind that other dogs are a really big deal and must be watched when in reality we want them to think the very opposite! Either the dog should be placed in the sit facing the handler, or just keep moving and act like the other dog does not exist.

To use LAT training in a much better context, take the dog to the edge or the outside of a dog park and use dogs that are engaged in other activities so will not be focussed on the looking dog, rather than using single dogs encountered in a rigid, linear approach.
If the dog being used as a stooge is reacting, a bit of consideration goes a long way.

21/10/2024

We Don’t Know What We Don’t Know

Having recently completed my diploma in Canine Behaviour, I reflected on how much I have learnt about dogs in the last couple of years through studying the theory, fostering some tricky dogs, training and having my own dogs with behavioural issues. It really brought home that, knowing what I know now, I know how much I didn’t know then!

Over the past few months there have been a few scenarios encountered on walks that definitely could have been handled better just by applying common sense. But unless other owners have had the same experiences or gone out of their way to learn about these things, it isn’t necessarily common sense to them – if they don’t know, they don’t know.

So I thought this week I would write a mini series about these scenarios (starting tomorrow, because I only have four!): what happened, what the problem was, and how it could be better resolved should an owner find themselves in that position again. The first installment will be exploring how LAT training can cause reactivity. Interesting, huh. See you tomorrow!

26/09/2024

Can your dog do nothing?

Doing nothing is a really important skill for a dog to have but one that is not an obvious inclusion in a training plan.
There is an enormous market for food enrichment toys (Kongs, Lickimats, Toppls) and whilst they definitely have their place and are great in many respects, they can actually be problematic and contribute to behavioural problems. Dogs can get hooked on DOING things, and these enrichment toys can represent just another task for the dog to do. Do not mistake occupation for genuine relaxation!

If your dog is hyperactive or has difficulty settling, instead of throwing them a Kong, start working on teaching a settle (the "sit on the dog" method is a good one to get started (and does not involve actually sitting on any dogs!)).

If you think your dog could benefit from this but do not have the time, get in touch!

20/09/2024

Hands up if you’re using thunder as a training opportunity! 🙋

In the last several weeks there have been maybe four or five thunderstorms here. As tempting as it is to watch the lightning and drama from the warm, dry comfort of a window… Don’t! Get out in it.

Dogs will not eat if they are scared and they will not play if they are scared. If you have a dog that is fearful of random loud booming noises coming from the sky (hello Bonfire Night!), at that first flash of lightning, get outside and play with them! Throw the best treats all over the ground, throw their favourite ball, have a round of tuggy, or just run in circles and be really silly with them. The best time to start training for fireworks is yesterday. The second best time is now 🎆

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