Tails & Trails Dog Walking

22/06/2024

21/03/2024

MYTH BUSTER MONDAY

"Taking your dogs food bowl away whilst they are eating teaches them not to growl or bite when you take food away." (Same with toys).

In fact the opposite is likely true. Dogs, like humans all have the potential to act out when we take food or items off of them.

Taking items away only proves to our dogs that we can't be trusted and that their actions are justified.

Imagine if you were sat in a restaurant eating a lovely meal but the waiter kept coming over and picked up your plate before you were finished, or you had a friend who stole a little something of yours every time they visited after a while you would likely be in the mindset of taking action in order to make them keep their distance. Why do we feel the need to constantly take food or toys away from our dogs?

Instead why not....

1. Add food to the bowl when you are passing so that your approach to the food bowl is a positive experience not a negative one.
2. Let your dog eat it's food or treats in peace.
3. Learn to read your dogs body language, any stiffening as you approach is your dog feeling uncomfortable, respect this to avoid conflict.
4. Teach a reliable drop & even better a retrieve so that your dog brings items to you rather than running away with them.
5 Do not chase your dog when they have picked up something you don't want them to have, you don't do this with their toys so you can guess which items suddenly become more fun.
6. Control and Management, this is by far the biggest one, especially for new puppy owners. Don't have things your dog isn't allowed to have in your dogs reach so that the chasing behaviour doesn't occur in the first place.

If you have a dog who is already guarding its food or toys please works with a professional before it escalates into anything more serious.

15/03/2024

Dogs behave the way they do for many reasons. They do NOT do things deliberately to be stubborn or ‘naughty’, nor do they aim to assert control. Outdated mythologies and training methods have detrimental effects on well-being and strain the relationship between a dog and their caregiver.

🧬A dog's breed and genetic makeup can play a significant role in determining certain behavioural traits. Dogs have genetic predispositions and breed-specific tendencies that contribute to their behaviour.
Some breeds are predisposed to specific behaviours, such as herding, hunting, or guarding.

The environment in which a dog is raised and lives can profoundly impact their behaviour. Early socialisation, which involves exposing a puppy to a wide range of people, animals, and environments during their critical developmental period, is crucial for building confidence and shaping a dog's social behaviour to reduce fear or aggression.

Overstimulation can cause all kinds of unwanted behaviours as it overwhelms their senses and can lead to hyperactivity or erratic responses. For example, if a dog is exposed to loud noises, multiple people, and various stimuli all at once, or on a daily basis, they might exhibit excessive excitable behaviour, poor impulse control, become agitated and exhibit behaviours like jumping, barking, or pulling on the leash, as their senses are overwhelmed by the excessive input.

Previous experiences and learning consequences can influence a dog's behaviour. Traumatic experiences, in particular, can lead to fear, anxiety, or aggression.

How a dog is trained and educated by their caregiver or handler can significantly affect their behaviour. Consistent, positive reinforcement-based training can lead to desired behaviours, while harsh or inconsistent methods can result in confusion or fear.

A dog's health, including their physical and mental well-being, can influence their behaviour. Illness, pain, or discomfort can lead to changes in behaviour.

A dog's emotional state, including fear, anxiety, and excitement, can affect their behaviour. For example, a fearful dog may display unpredictable defensive reactive behaviours or might avoid any encounters and run away trying to hide. While a confident dog may exhibit playfulness and a relaxed demeanour.

A dog can become frustrated and destructive if their mental and physical needs are not met. This dog, full of pent-up energy and boredom, may become frustrated and exhibit poor impulse control. In their frustration, they might resort to destructive behaviours, such as chewing furniture, digging up the garden, or incessant barking. This destructive behaviour is often an expression of their frustration and an attempt to alleviate their built-up energy and mental stress.

The type of diet a dog receives can significantly influence their behaviour, with high-quality nutrition promoting better energy levels, mood, and overall well-being, while poor diet choices can lead to issues like irritability, hyperactivity, or digestive problems.

As dogs age, they may experience canine cognitive decline, which can manifest as changes in memory, learning, and behaviour. This condition can lead to increased confusion, disorientation, and altered social interactions in older dogs.

It is really important to understand that each dog is unique, and their behaviour can vary widely, even within the same breed. Dogs use body language, vocalizations, and other forms of communication to express their needs, emotions, and intentions. Understanding a dog's communication cues is essential for interpreting their behaviour.

28/02/2024

27/02/2024

Roz Pooley joins us to talk all things testosterone and castration - is it the right thing to do from a behaviour point of view? She shares all that you need to know, as well as her personal experience when living with male entire dogs. We talk about things including behaviourial reasons for and against castration, what management and training might be required in these cases, and things to look out for in your adolescent male dog.

💻 Watch on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ud9aLw4bQX8

🎧 Listen on Pet Chats with the APBC Podcast channel on Apple and Spotify

Rob Pooley is a Full CAB Member of the APBC

Find her at https://themuttyprofessor.co.uk/

08/01/2024

24/12/2023

Happy Christmas to all my lovely clients. Thankyou to you all for keeping my little business going through the last few years! I am so grateful for all your Christmas cards & gifts, feeling very spoilt 🥰 I hope you all have a wonderful break and a happy new year. I can’t wait to see all your happy doggies faces again on the 2nd Jan 🤶🏻🎄❤️

20/09/2023

Some Friday afternoon fun 🧡🖤🤍🤎

20/09/2023

Radley has started joining us weekly on our walkies. Everyone has loved seeing her, but my boys have especially loved having a fellow cavi come out for some fun 🩷🖤🤍

15/09/2023

Posing for the camera… or for treats 😜 Luther, Benson, Alfie, Humphrey, Rosie & Jessie ❤️

15/09/2023

Beating the heat by the water 🌞🌊🩵 Purdy, Chester, Brosie, Winnie & Reggie

15/09/2023

Morning gang photos 🌅

15/09/2023

Welcome REGGIE 🐶 Regg has made SO many friends, loves every dog he meets and wants to play with anyone who will play! He is such a sweetheart, looking forward to many more walks with him and the gang 🤍🧡

15/09/2023

Welcome FLO to the T&T family. She has made so many friends, and really came out her shell. She’s loved swimming and playing with the monday Labs and fitted in so well 🖤

12/07/2023

🌱 GRASS SEEDS! 🌾

A Summer nightmare for pets and vets alike!

Dogs every year become the victim of grass seeds in mainly their ears and paws, but they can attach just about anywhere on the body.

Once grass seeds become embedded they are painful and quite often require the vet to administer a sedation or anaesthetic to remove them.

Signs your dog might have a grass seed stuck are;
Head shaking
Painful to touch
Licking, especially those paws 🐾
Redness
Sudden appearance of a swelling.

Dogs with longer fur, long ears or fluffy feet are especially susceptible. However any dog or cat can get a grass seed lodged.

Please check your pets fur, paws and ears after each walk, grass seeds have been keeping us busy over the last couple of weeks. Therefore we ask owners to be extremely vigilant.

27/06/2023

Just a few of the grass seeds we have removed from several of our patients’ ears and feet today!

There seem to be an awful lot of these around this year - make sure you check your dog’s coat for them after every walk, paying close attention to their ears, between their toes and eyes.

16/05/2023

27/04/2023

Welcome MISTY 🐾🐕‍🦺🖤
Misty started her walks with us a few weeks ago. Each week she comes on leaps and bounds, her confidence has come on so much and she has already made a best friend in the group. I’m so excited to watch Misty grow in the next few months, she is such a sweetheart and full of character 💖

27/04/2023

This lot were such fun, Coco Daisy Molly Rosie Hugo and Maisy 🐶🪵🌳🌸🌈

27/04/2023

We say this a lot...

Ball . throwers . are . not . good . for . your . dog!

They might be having a great time, but the wear and tear on their joints is no joke.

What is it doing to your dog's joints?
- Repeated micro-trauma to muscles and cartilage is a cause of long-term damage.
- Chasing or even carrying items like a ball can shift your dogs weight distribution to their front legs, putting excessive weight through the joints of the front legs.
- Joints weakened by arthritis will be especially prone to further damage.
- High speeds can double the forces generated in the muscles.
- Braking is thought to be the most dangerous part of ball chasing and often responsible for shoulder injuries.

What can you do instead?
- Make sure to have a short warm up period before more intense exercise.
- Only ever throw the ball a short distance, on surfaces that avoid slipping and sliding.
- Throw below waist height so as to avoid jumping and don't do it repetitively
- Consider alternatives like scent work, varying location of the walk to keep things exciting, or playing hide and seek with the ball rather than playing fetch.

06/04/2023

You can’t say goldies aren’t photogenic 😂 I love these photos, lots of smiles all round 🐶🐕‍🦺🐾

21/03/2023

14/03/2023

I regularly get asked “how do I correct my dog”?

My approach is not to correct behaviour but train alternatives, and/or change how my dog feels so that the undesirable behaviour doesn’t occur.

The reason for this is that the more a behaviour is repeated the more likely it is to be reinforced so it is much simpler to look at ways of not having the behaviour repeated.

For instance - Jumping up

Our natural response is to say “No”, “off”, “get down” whilst possibly pushing our dogs off of us. All of these things, to a lot of dogs are just forms of attention, and if the behaviour continues and/or increases your dog is likely finding these “corrections” reinforcing.

Something else we might do is to ask for a sit after they have started jumping or waiting until the jumping finishes them give them a treat or fuss, this in itself may be creating a cycle of events where your dog learns that jumping up starts the process of you asking for a sit resulting in a treat.

However, if you ask for a sit before your dog gets the chance to jump, or pop a treat down on the floor before your dogs jumps, or meet your dog at their level for fuss before they jump then the behaviour of 4 feet on the floor is being reinforced before the undesirable behaviour comes in.

Photo: Image by master1305 on Freepik

14/03/2023

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22/02/2023

Happy national dog walking day 🐕‍🦺 Here we have our lovely Molly, Reggie, Luther & Benson 🌊🐚🌞🌅

08/02/2023

Beach afternoons are my favourite kind 🌊🏝️💛

08/02/2023

Sunnier days are coming 🌞 This lot certainly enjoyed running round in it!🐕‍🦺🐕‍🦺🦮🦮