HAPPY DAYS - Equine and Pet Services by Kirsty

30/08/2024

- choose your walker, trainer, sitter, groomer carefully 🐾

24/08/2024

If anyone fancies a day out at a Dog friendly beach hut… 🏖️🐾

23/08/2024

❤️👏

‘Animated presentation’ 😂 Everyone who knows Jed, knows he talks with his hands 🤣

We had a very interesting talk last night from the Essex Police Rural Engagement Team about rural, wildlife and heritage crime and how the Essex Horse Rider Volunteer Scheme can assist.

Thank you to PC Jed Raven for stepping in and saving the day and for giving such an animated presentation. Thanks also to Callum for marking everyone's saddles.

If you are interested in taking part in the scheme you can find more information and sign up by following this link:-

https://www.essex.police.uk/police-forces/essex-police/areas/essex-police/au/about-us/essex-watch/essex-horse-rider-volunteer-scheme/

20/08/2024

3 years on I still use these two brands of p**p bags 💩

17/08/2024

LILY PEARL UPDATE

We are 6 weeks in and Lily met her FIRST stranger (to us) dogs yesterday. It was forced unfortunately. No room to do anything but interact and it was a risk we made going on the walk we did.

Lily is friendly, and by that I mean she enjoys saying hello to stranger people and making friends with other dogs. She GENUINELY enjoys it. She was absolutely fab interacting with the stranger dogs yesterday. We kept it extremely short and calm. The first interaction, perfect, no fallout to it. The second, there was fallout. It didn't help that it was 2 on one. 2 dogs meeting Lily.

After meeting these two dogs she walked away, then when she turned back to see them in another spot she did her shepherd alert bark. Like she hadn't just met them a few seconds prior.

I'm sharing this because EVEN FRIENDLY DOGS GET TRIGGER STACKED.

Friendly doesn't mean they can tolerate anything and everything so throw it at them relentlessly.

If I put Lily through day after day after day after day of meeting new dogs her friendly would turn very uncomfortable very quickly. (We will now spend the weekend doing decompression activities for Lily because she told me in that alert bark that she is at her limit. And I need to respond to that if I want to prioritise her emotional wellbeing.)

This is the biggest mistake we make with puppies too. Their "friendliness" as young pups means we can overwhelm them very quickly by having them go out and meet every single dog in the park in one go.

It's too much.

Friendliness doesn't automatically equal confidence.

Lily has taken a LOT in her stride these last 6 weeks and she has surprised me in so many ways with her resilience and confidence.

But I don't think she's ready to meet stranger dogs on the street yet, or on walks. Every day is a new assessment of Lily and what her next steps are and as long as we keep evaluating rather than just saying "she's friendly she will be fine" we will keep her from slipping into an overwhelmed easily triggerable place.

I will probably formulate some controlled set ups for meeting stranger dogs when she's ready. So far we've done a lot of very gradual meets to make friends with those dogs she has formed a great friendship with. We've not just put them head to head and said "get on with it". That's essentially what stranger dog meets on the street is like and yesterday told me she's not ready for that.

I'm listening Lily. You're being heard.

That's ultimately all we can do. Hear them.

We can't force a dog to be confident in something by ignoring them letting us know it's a little bit too much.

Practice doesn't make perfect unless your dog is ready to practice!

We make a lot of assumptions and therefore mistakes with our friendly dogs. And we wonder why so many friendly dogs and puppies end up reactive.

It's on us, not them.

Even if your dog is friendly, they can still get triggered by seemingly uneventful encounters 🐾 💜

17/08/2024

🐾 Had the pleasure of looking after Salsa and Stuart for a few days this week. I love greyhounds ❤️ It was a warm few days so we enjoyed early and late walks to avoid the heat and then during the day we spent time in the garden and there was also lots of sleeping going on 💤 It was Stuart’s birthday during my stay, so we had a little party with my snuffle knot. He didn’t quite get the idea that there were treats hidden inside, so I had to help him out, but he enjoyed throwing it around and chasing it anyway… and of course Salsa had a play aswell.

Thank you for allowing and trusting me to look after Salsa and Stuart, it was a pleasure. Happy Days 😁

15/08/2024

And the dogs breakfasts with their freshly picked blackberries ❤️😋

15/08/2024

Picking a few blackberries to add to the Dogs breakfast… in a p**p bag as you do 😂

13/08/2024

I was actually playing this one with Hondo this morning. Don’t know if I’ve ever filmed him doing it 🤔

13/08/2024

Hondo and Ruby loving the large fan, staying cool on another warm day ☀️

12/08/2024

☀️ It’s going to be a warm one today 🥵

Some of the things I do with my Dogs when it’s hot…

Early walk 🐾 If I can’t get them out early, we just don’t go out. No dog dies from missing a walk.

Water bowls everywhere around the house and refresh regularly.

Fans. I have a number of fans around the house. If your dog is crated, don’t point the fan directly at the crate. Your dog should be able to move away from the fan if they want too.

Keeping the curtains closed helps keep the house cooler 😎

Frozen treats. I made extra kongs, licki-mats and blood cubes up yesterday ready for today. (Yes blood cubes 😂 My dogs are raw fed, and I use the juices to make ice-cubes). They also have things like watermelon and cucumber to keep them hydrated.

Quick garden visits. And I put up parasols for shade and hose down the patio if it gets too hot for paws.

If they’ve had a morning walk, we’ll do very little else. If they haven’t been walked, I’ll do some calm training exercises in the house.

Keep safe, keep cool and have a good day!

10/08/2024

09/08/2024

Took another little group to Tom and Teds during the week… 3 work Dogs and my own Ruby again 🐾

08/08/2024

Dogs noses are soo fascinating… and powerful!

07/08/2024

Oh Teddy 🤭🤣

06/08/2024

Yesterday I took 6 Dogs to Tom and Ted's… 5 work Dogs and my own Ruby 🐾

05/08/2024

Just a few photos from the past couple of weeks 🐾

04/08/2024

We need our dogs to growl so we know when they are close to their limit. That they really need us to listen and things are getting serious.

They are never a warning we should seek to remove but one we should be glad to hear. Because that’s what’s going to prevent things from escalating further.

03/08/2024

My dogs currently 🐾

03/08/2024

Where I keep my own horse Jack, there are just two other horses 🐴🐴 and both their owners went away recently, so I looked after them both. Neppy I had for 8 days and Twyla for 9, with an overlap of 5 days in the middle.

It was a pleasure to look after them both and they were on their best behaviour for me 😇 I already have them both back in the diary for more holiday cover 👍

29/07/2024

Recently finished another dog-sit 🐶 8 Days with the beautiful Mabel. Ive sat for Mabel before and I also do ad hoc walks and training for her, so I know her well and always enjoy my time with her 💕

Who wants a guess at her breed?

23/07/2024

Anyone want a last minute Norfolk break, with your Dog(s)? 😁

Corner Cottage is on the border of Lessingham and seaside Happisburgh, Norfolk. Comfortably sleeps 6 in the 4 bedrooms. Dog friendly holiday accommodation.

23/07/2024

Times for the Equestrian phases at the Paris Olympics 🐎

21/07/2024

🐾 I’m available for some last minute Dog-sitting, due to cancellations 🏠

Available between 5th-15th August 24’

All but one of my Dog-sitting jobs this year are for repeat customers, so I think that says something 🥰

Send me a message with your postcode, dates and a little about your Dog(s) if I may be able to help 🙂

* If I have house sat for you and you haven’t left me a review and wouldn’t mind, that would be really appreciated 🥰

20/07/2024

Yesterday I finished another 7 night house-sit for the lovely Sam 💙 and Lottie 💕 I’ve looked after these 2 a number of times now and it’s always an absolute pleasure.

In the photos with 3 Dogs, that’s my boy Hondo. My Dogs don’t come with me on sits, they stay at Home with Jed, but Hondo has meet these 2 before, and is related to Sam, so a couple of times when Jed was popping by to say hi, he brought Hondo with him too for a play date 🐾

16/07/2024

Another house-sit for the handsome Pablo 😍and the 3 cats, Polly, Lola and Rosie 💕
I’ve known Pablo since he was a puppy, when his owners contacted me for some 1-2-1 training, so I always love seeing him again. He’s such a good boy and a pleasure to look after 💙

16/07/2024

Sharing this one again 👏

It's funny isn't it how we allow ourselves to be reactive, but not our dogs. What triggers a reaction in you?

- Being stuck behind a slow vehicle?
- A roaming dog jumping on you with muddy paws?
- A request from a boss that comes just at the wrong time?
- A friend making a judgemental comment?
- Being undermined by a family member?

There is an argument that states all animals are "reactive" otherwise they wouldn't be alive. We all react to our environment and we all sometimes react more than we might at other times. Or there might be some situations that just gets us going more than others. Because, quite simply, we are conscious beings with unique histories.

The absolute most unhelpful thing to ever say to someone who is genuinely struggling with something going on for them is "why are you making a big deal out of this?" and the unfortunate thing is we do that all the time to our dogs.

An example: I was sat with my pup on a bench in a public park the other day. He was chilling at my feet off lead. I suddenly heard a dog in the near distance barking and a quick glance could see the dog was on lead and the owner stopped, presumably waiting for me to put my pup on lead. So I did, just to ensure he wasn't going to run over. The barking dog was then silenced/corrected and made to move closer to us. When they got to about a couple of metres away the dog was made to sit and there they stayed for a minute or so.

In that situation the dog was told "you're making a big deal of this" and forced closer than s/he was comfortable. What did they learn other than "I won't get listened to" in that situation?

An alternative way of managing this: do a U-turn and go another way. Or seek a little bit of distance and allow your dog to acclimatise and watch for a bit so they can check out if they are safe or not. I've lost count the number of times I've been told "I find he can deal with more just by the fact he knows there's an option to walk away if he really needs to". In effect we are then asking our dog "what do you need?"

Remember how you would feel being told "you're making a big deal out of this" when you're tired, stressed, anxious and in need of emotional support or understanding.

Let's not do that to our dogs. They aren't the only beings who are reactive 🐾💜

15/07/2024

Last week was my first full week back to work after a couple of weeks off… It was lovely to see most of my Happy Days Dogs again 😁 here’s just a few photos from some of my walks / home visits 🐾 I was also straight back into Dog-sitting for the lovely Pablo… but I’ll give him his own post 😍

10/07/2024

Our Dogs are always learning… make sure they’re not learning that you are not trustworthy…

Don’t trick your dogs.

They’re not stupid. They’re not goldfish (although goldfish actually have decent memory). They will remember and they will learn for the next time.

Picture this- your dog doesn’t have a good recall, and they’re off-lead. You pretend to have a treat to coax them back, they come to you and you grab them. Excellent! You win! Except, that will work a total of one times, because as you clip their lead back on, laughing about how you outsmarted them, your dog is learning that you are untrustworthy. There was no reward, and you ended the fun, so they’re not going to fall for that again.

It’s not just recall, but recall is the most prominent example of this that I see. There are only so many tricks we can play on a dog to get them back before they are suspicious of everything you try. They know that you lie to them, so why should they believe you?

The short-term gain isn’t worth the long-term loss of trust.

If your dog doesn’t recall, instead of letting them off-lead and inadvertently teaching them every trick in the book of how to avoid being caught, just keep them on a long line and train recall until it’s solid enough to work properly.

If your dog doesn’t like coming inside from the garden, teach it as a behaviour, instead of waving toys around and slamming the door behind them if they come to investigate.

If your dog needs eye drops, put time aside to teach them how to accept handling comfortably instead of springing it on them and making them wary of hands around their face.

If your dog steals something, don’t pretend to distract them for a second then sn**ch it away- instead teach a solid swap cue. It’s about being prepared for situations instead of jumping in headfirst and having to wing it.

And sure, there might be times when we do have to trick them, it’s rare but it can happen. The next step is to totally rebuild that trust and ensure it never happens again.

They’re dogs. They’re intelligent. We don’t need a GOTCHA moment, we should be on the same team. Every time you trick them, they’re learning, and there will come a time they’re one step ahead of you if that trust is broken too often.