Lanarkshire Dog Training & Behaviour

16/12/2024

Saturday Puppy Class this week
Noodle, Teddy, Fern, Cookie & Teddy 😍 🐕

13/12/2024

What the floof! Mum has banned the grandpawrents from sneaking me bits of jam sandwiches and cake, even though they deny it, hence the reason I need a scale and Polish at the vet, my least fave place 😭

13/12/2024

A common misconception is that a dog can't be in pain, including arthritis, because they are still playing and running around as normal. Sometimes the signs are very subtle, sometimes not so much.
Credit to: Robert Falconer-Taylor

13/12/2024

Absolutely 💯. I've written about it on a previous post. How many times do I hear "but he pulls harder on a harness". No piece of equipment will teach your dog how to walk on a loose lead, only training will. Yes, this usually takes a lot of time

Really? What a surprise! Dogs in a harness don’t have pressure applied to their trachea (wind pipe); of course they are capable of pulling harder. This is actually evidence of the debilitating force being applied to the dog’s trachea and thyroid gland, but is being presented in a completely misleading way. The harness can’t stop pulling, that’s what training is for, it merely reduces risk and is far more humane than applying force to the neck. Completely irresponsible headline.

08/12/2024

Say hello to Leo! His current humans saved his life, but always knew that they couldn’t keep him forever. We have promised to help him find his new family.

Leo is around nine months old, not neutered, a mixed breed, and is large labrador size with some more growing to do. He needs an active owner who is physically strong enough to walk him if he gets excited, and who is committed to continuing his training plan. We think he’d love a future that involved hiking, scent work, canicross, or other activities which give his brain and body a workout. He would love agility or hoopers, but being a larger dog he may not be fast enough for serious competition.

Leo has had a little basic training but still needs a lot of work to help him be happy in a pet home. He generally walks well on the lead, but his recall is largely untested. He can get very mouthy when excited or frustrated, and for this reason we don’t believe that he should live with children.

He could live with or without other dogs; he’s currently the only dog in the home, but has previously lived happily alongside others. He has not been tested with cats or other animals.

Full details of Leo’s history and behavioural assessment will be shared with potential adopters. If adopted in Stirling or surrounding areas, then we will provide a free block of training classes to help Leo and his new family get started with their training. 1:1 training is also available if preferred.

Leo is a lovely, happy dog, in great health, and with so much potential to be his new human’s best friend on all sorts of adventures. He deserves to find his perfect person.

If you’re interested in offering Leo a place in your home, please message team member Claire on 07724735487.

Can we get this puppy a real 🏡 for Christmas 🎅

Please share

🐾

07/12/2024

Wash the paws everyone 🐾 🐕

❄️ As temperatures drop and the gritters come out, please don’t forget to wash your dog’s paws after walks.
Licking the salt can be fatal. Keep your dog safe and well 🐾🐾🐾

06/12/2024

You may have seen Tinks on CBeebies Dog Squad, taking on missions and showing off what she can do! We work with a range of different dogs, like Tinks, the Lhasa Apso, teaching them to change the lives of their owners as working assistance dogs.💙🐾

We especially need dogs like Tinks because of people looking to access our services that are affected by allergies, making it more difficult for them to be matched with a Labrador for example.

Low shedding dogs such as Lhasa Apsos, Labradoodles, Schnauzers, and more, are less likely to trigger allergic reactions in allergy-sensitive people 🤧

We are therefore searching for dogs in need of rehoming that shed less hair to be recruited as support dogs in-training! 🦮

1 in 4 of the dogs we train come to us from rescues or as unwanted pets because we are champions of the second chance!

📞 If you work for a rescue or have a low-shedding dog in need of a new home and a second chance, please get in touch at [email protected] or call 0114 261 7800

03/12/2024

😷 🤢

Why you should not purchase rawhide for your dog because it can be dangerous and toxic:

Choking hazard
Rawhide can become long and slimy, which can be a choking hazard for your dog.

Bowel blockage

Rawhide doesn't dissolve in a dog's stomach, but instead swells up, which can lead to a bowel blockage.

Toxic chemicals
The chemicals and preservatives used to process rawhide can transfer to your dog's digestive system and cause side effects like stomach upset or allergic reactions.

Slow poisoning
Rawhide can slowly poison your dog through the toxic chemicals used to process it.

Just because they are for sale in pet shops,supermarkets and online it does NOT mean they are good for dogs

03/12/2024

Scentwork class 👃 🐕 in full swing tonight - Rusty & Nala doing great!. Shout out to wee Willow & Kerry who couldn't be with us this week

28/11/2024

"I just give a wee tug on the lead to correct her" is what I hear time and time again. The problem with this is

1) what are you correcting and are you really "correcting" it? Are you correcting sniffing the ground, pulling on the lead, or trying to get to another dog. By jerking the lead you are not teaching the dog what you want them to do. You are only causing the dog discomfort (or pain if on a slip lead, garrote, prong). Are you actually teaching the dog what you want them to do instead eg walk on a loose lead? Until you do they won't understand why you're jerking the lead.

2) how many times are you using corrections?. On an average walk, it could be "ONLY" 6, (on the conservative side). If you have 2 walks a day that is 12 per day. At 7 days a week, that is 84 a week (conservative estimate). Over a month, that's more than 300. Could your neck sustain this?

3) contrary to popular belief, a dog's neck is as fragile as a human's. In the neck you have a lot of important organs - tongue bone (hyoid), thyroid, vagus nerve, nerves to eyes, larynx. Research has shown that prolonged tugs on the neck have shown to cause damage to tongue bone, tracheal, laryngeal, oesophageal damage, hypothyroidism, glaucoma, neck and back pain, occular pressure and damage to ears due to restricted blood flow, to list a few.

4) Behaviour issues. In some cases dogs will associate a negative event (lead correction) with someone or something in the environment (a person, another dog(s), etc), so this could potentially lead to reactivity when out on a walk. Corrections aren't teaching the dog what you want them to do, so they could then have a negative association towards you and or the walk itself. They aren't in control of the situation and don't understand what the corrections mean, so they can just ignore them at best, or at worst become confused/ fearful at the unpredictability of the situation.

A study led by a canine scientist at Nottingham Trent University looked at the potential impact of pulling on the lead and the related pressure on the neck, using a variety of of collar-types and styles. Even the ‘best’ type of collar is putting too much pressure on the dog’s neck if they pull on the lead and this is risking injury. They suggested that dogs should be walked on a harness or loose lead that avoids any pressure on the neck. Amen to that

References
https://bvajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/vetr.1627

Pauli AM, Bentley E, Diehl KA, Miller PE. Effects of the application of neck pressure by a collar or harness on intraocular pressure in dogs.

https://blog.bharcs.com/2019/01/29/a-myotherapists-perspective-on-harnesses/

https://www.ntu.ac.uk/about-us/news/news-articles/2020/05/collars-risk-causing-neck-injuries-in-dogs,-study-shows?fbclid=IwY2xjawG1rmpleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHXqQfgQND3WRo-qDuQe9d6B2aV5mv2dwXPqVrwM2_72XEziBOnUkQVFe7w_aem_36VkZbORCu4ugXLkqbo2Gw

Veterinary professionals (VPs) are often the first source of advice for clients struggling with their dog's behaviour, and pulling on the lead is a commonplace undesirable behaviour VPs will encounte...

27/11/2024

This isn't the easiest job sometimes, between compassion fatigue and very rude people who clearly have zero manners, but now again you will get customers like Alfie's guardians who are a dream to work with, put in the work and reap the benefits, then you remember why you do this Job.
It was a pleasure!

23/11/2024

Scentwork class - Willow, Nala, Kerry, Rusty. It's good to give your dog's brain a workout

22/11/2024

Please donate to the animal charities, however small, especially following the recent budget changes. Most have Amazon Wish Lists where you can buy small things like a bottle of shampoo, a lead, a cat toy etc, but that will make a difference.

🐾 Scottish SPCA and third sector facing challenging times 🐾

We would like to take this opportunity to thank Christine Grahame MSP and Murdo Fraser MSP for speaking up in Parliament about the harsh reality facing charities like the Scottish SPCA due to the recent Autumn Budget.

Charities are businesses—businesses that aim to be great employers while making an incredible impact. However, following on from the recent budget announcement of an increase in employers national insurance contributions, we now need to find an extra £400k every year is making an already challenging economic climate, enough tougher to operate in. There is currently no planned relief for charities, and what is worse is we have just five months to find the money.

Unlike commercial businesses, we can’t raise prices or pass costs to “customers”. Every £63,000 we spend daily on animal welfare comes from donor kindness, and we already rely on these donations, totalling £23 million a year to keep our doors open. Now, we will need to raise an extra £5 million in the next five years to pay to the chancellor, all current scenarios are increasing the possibility that we will have to cut back on delivery, despite the fact we are seeing soaring demand for our services and record numbers of animals in need.

The extra £400k that we need to raise is double the cost of feeding all the animals in our care for an entire year, as Christine Grahame rightly pointed out. The thing is, these changes don’t just impact us—they’ll be felt by 133,000 workers in Scotland’s third sector and the countless community charities these jobs support.

We're doing everything we can to innovate, partner, and grow sustainably, as we have for 185 years. But the pressure is immense.

Visit our website or donate today—every act of kindness helps us keep saving lives. Together, we can make a difference. 💚

https://www.scottishspca.org/

21/11/2024

It's too cold out! 😭. Keep warm, Snuggle up

20/11/2024

Working with the lovely Pablo today.

20/11/2024

Tuesday class recruits
Cruin, Henry, Amber, Buddy, Letty

18/11/2024

Wash those salty paws 😊 🐕

❄️ As temperatures drop and the gritters come out, please don’t forget to wash your dog’s paws after walks.
Licking the salt can be fatal. Keep your dog safe and well 🐾🐾🐾

11/11/2024

It was a pleasure working with Jan and little Summer