Woodstock ReTreat

26/05/2024

Can highly recommend Sophie’s online courses. And such a good idea to have knowledge like the first aid at least 💙

Grab a bargain!!! Half price on selected online courses.

I have added the oral and dental health course to the deal!

www.animallovepetfirstaid.co.uk

Use code animallove50

Offer will end MONDAY 27/5/24 at MIDNIGHT

21/04/2024

We’ve been loving the sunshine recently… hoping it sticks around 🌞🌞🌞🌞

05/10/2023

💥 FIREWORKS 💥 Be proactive, not reactive!

Fireworks season is approaching and for most dogs with behaviour problems, this time of year can really set things back. It is not uncommon for us to have cases who report a more serious incident (involving other dogs or humans) or increased fearful behaviour following the 5th of November.

Do remember the delayed effects of stress. Behaviour is also at risk of escalating when the body and brain is trying to recover from a stressor- rather than only reacting during the stressful event.

🗣️ “Yeah, well…..my dog's fine with fireworks"

Even if your dog has not shown a negative response to fireworks previously it’s sensible to be prepared.

Dogs who react to other sounds around the home may generalise this behaviour to fireworks. Alternatively, exposure to fireworks may escalate or intensify their response to other sounds.

My experience is that many dogs show an increase in sensitivity to fireworks at 2-3 years of age onwards and we know from research (Mills 2018) that the risk of developing sound sensitivity increases with age, which may likely related to pain (flinching/startling hurts so negative associations are made with the sound!).

⚠️ Please do not consider your dog fireworks proof based on their early years.

All dogs’ behaviour is vulnerable to change and 10-12 months is a long period of time to pass since the last fireworks event. Please don't assume your dog will be fine this year, although hopefully they will be!
👀 It's sensible to get observable evidence that they are coping and relax proactive protective strategies accordingly.

I encourage my clients to proactively protect their dogs from fireworks rather than to action things once their dog is stressed and scared.

Here's some strategies you can do to proactively protect your dog from developing a fear of fireworks or to prevent existing anxieties and fears escalating:

🔊 Wall of sound
Playing brown noise, relaxing music, tv etc every evening from around mid-october onwards (area dependent of course, may need to be earlier or later in the month based on where you are).

🪟 Drawing curtains/blinds before it gets dark.

🌚 Avoiding walks in the dark
You'd be amazed at how many dogs develop a fear of fireworks based on one going off while they were out on a walk. Daylight walks or early morning walks are safest, and ensure your dog has toileted before 6pm early October and 4pm late October onwards. This is so they can avoid the garden until their pre-bedtime wee.

🎶 Playing music on your phone whilst you take dogs out for their bed time toilet visit can reduce exposure or intensity to some fireworks.

🧘‍♀️ Promoting Relaxation
Giving chews, lickimats, kongs, snuffle boxes/mats and treat searches around the house can all help facilitate a calmer state. Your dog may then be more likely to enjoy an exercise such as settle on a mat, where you can build relaxation.
Start these strategies and training as soon as possible so you do not ask them of your dog when they are stressed and scared.

Some dogs also enjoy a den like environment in a small or covered space. For such dogs, creating a den that is somewhat insulated from sound (thick heavy blanket, under the stairs/table etc) may be helpful.

❗️Remember ❗️A place is only a safe place if one chooses to be in there and can leave at any time. For e.g., A shut crate may appear to work- because your dog may appear to be resting in there. However, they could be interanlising their stress and more likely to communicate how they truly feel for being given the opportunity to express themselves more.

🎶 ➕🍖 Ad hoc counter conditioning
If you see your dog detect a firework and consider reacting (ears twitch or pulled back, sudden head lift or turn, getting up and standing still) - quickly praise and treat. Do the same with other noises that are similar.

One study (Reimer 2020) found that relaxation training, adhoc counter conditioning and situational anxiety medication in combination had the best effect on dogs.

👩‍⚕️ Speak to your vet!
Please consider getting situational anxiety medication lined up for the 4-6th November. Dogs with intense fears may benefit from a longer period. These medications can decrease in availability this time of year due to demand, so please speak to your vet about it now.

You will need to do a baseline test at home away from firework noises (and children and other dogs) so you can assess how your dog responds to the medication.
Tests are needed as sometimes dogs can become excited on the wrong dose (not helpful) and there is a risk of disinhibition with some drugs. This means that dogs who use warning signals may be more likely to escalate to biting (because they loose that inhibition). Hence why we recommend no children or other dogs close by as a precaution.

Please be reassured, negative effects of these drugs are relatively uncommon. More often than not- situational anxiety medication does what it's supposed to do and dogs become a bit d***y and sometimes even hungry (useful for counter conditioning). 69% of cases in the Reimer study reported an improvement.

🧠 Another benefit is that some medications can inhibit/block memory of an event, which is great at preventing existing fears escalating.

For those whose dogs are already on medication, there are many situational anxiety drugs that work well in combination with others- so please do talk to your vet!

I will be medicating my own dog Kanita on the 5th to protect her from becoming stressed by the fireworks and have found this has had a huge impact on her tolerance to them when she detects them outside of this date, as well as reducing her sensitivity to the sounds of gunshots (Note, I do not live in the hood, I live rurally! 🤣 ).

🪴 The Reimer study found neutraceuticals and herbal remedies did not report enough improvement to rule out the placebo effect. For dogs with a more strong sensitivity to sound, I do not recommend neutraceuticals as an alternative to medication- as it's not worth the risk of it not working in my opinion.

🏡 🌳 For dogs who have severe fireworks phobias or who are extra vulnerable (health conditions etc) - try get away somewhere remote for the peak time and book yourself into somewhere remote for a few days break! Do this ASAP if not already!

Sound sensitivity is a tricky thing for dogs to fully overcome, especially as it so often increases with age until the hearing starts to dwindle.
I recommend being proactive in protecting your dogs regardless of whether they have an established fear or not.

I’ll share some more tips and strategies you can do to protect your dogs in a couple of weeks 👍

28/06/2023

What’s the perfect shade of toast? 1, 2, 3 or 4?

30/05/2023

✨Spaces available now! ✨

Due to a multi-dog client moving out of our area we now have a rare opportunity for your dog to join us! But why is Woodstock ReTreat different?…

📸 Private fb group with lots of pics and videos of our days. We have a really friendly community here.

🌲 Variety of walk locations

🐄 Our own secure fields with cows for neighbours

🦮 Ongoing basic training

💙 Hedge end and surrounding areas only please. New dogs should have good off lead manners and non reactive.💙

06/05/2023

Spring time is my favourite time of year
😍🌷🌺🌼

24/12/2022

Merry Christmas from our family to yours 🎅🦌

We’ve had an awesome 2022 with so much fun, explored many new walks and I reckon we’ve actually had less rain and mud, no?

I don’t know what 2023 will bring but let’s hope it’s full of just as much love and smiles ♥️

25/10/2022

Any of my followers in and around the Whiteley area, please check sheds and garages. Let’s get Florence home 😢

https://www.facebook.com/groups/357796272337/permalink/10159216905607338/

07/09/2022

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CiODQIXjuBW/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

Woodstock ReTreat shared a post on Instagram: "Eat the rainbow 🌈". Follow their account to see 350 posts.

05/07/2022

Nailing the group shots today 📸

30/06/2022

Make mine a double 🥂

30/06/2022

‘You’ve got your hands full’

19/05/2022

The sun has got his hat on! 🌞

17/05/2022

Boys 😍 Looking cute in the daisies!

14/05/2022

Thank you 4AB Agility for making our Saturday afternoons awesome! 🥇 Flo is really happy with her prize! 🏆

12/05/2022

I couldn’t have said it better myself. 💓
It’s so important to encourage our dogs to be adventurous to build their confidence.

The most powerful word in this post… Symbiotic 👌

I train my dogs to be disobedient.

By that, I mean:
-Nine times out of ten, when I ask my dogs to do something, I do just that. I ask, I don’t tell. If they don’t do it, they’re giving me information as to why. Perhaps my dog isn’t sitting because the environment is too distracting, maybe my dog isn’t jumping because her leg hurts, maybe they aren’t doing perfect loose lead walking because they’re afraid of something and want to move away from it. Perfect obedience removes a level of communication, and I want my dogs to feel comfortable saying “I’m struggling with that request,” instead of just obeying.

-I want my dogs to be free-thinkers. I want their training to be habitual, not always prompted. Many dog trainers want to control their dog’s every movement, but I want my guys to have more freedom, I want to trust them to make good decisions instead of micromanaging everything. Through positive reinforcement of those good decisions, such as disengaging from something exciting, checking in with me on walks and applying their impulse control by not chasing everything that moves, they are more likely to make those same good decisions in the future.

-I actively encourage my dogs to be “naughty”. Or, as I see it, adventurous. I teach them how to swim so they can go wading through streams, I show them how to climb trees, to jump on benches, to crawl over furniture. I encourage hole digging, rolling in the grass, ripping up cardboard, howling sessions and ingenious ways of stealing treats. I want them to be confident, intelligent and innovative in their thinking.

-My dogs are allowed to tell me what to do, to make decisions and to tell me off. They can request a play or training session, they can choose where to go on walks, they can tell me if they don’t want me to move them when they’re sleepy, if they don’t want to be picked up, if they aren’t feeling up for a walk today. They’re allowed their own opinions, and those opinions are valid.

When you share your life with a dog, there are two individuals in that relationship. Your dog shouldn’t have to do exactly what you say and cater to your every whim, regardless of how they’re feeling. And vice versa. Dog ownership should be symbiotic, allowing dog and owner to be their best selves.

So many people think that we need to exert control over our dogs, but good training is all about providing freedoms.

29/04/2022

Mug shots! ☕️

07/04/2022

Had to share these perfect pooches from todays walks 🤩

18/02/2022

🚷 WE ARE CLOSED TODAY 🚷 18th February 2022⛔️

Due to the red warning, we are not out walking today. Enjoy your day inside with your pooches 😘 🐶

25/12/2021

Just wanted to say a massive thank you to all my lovely pawrents for my gorgeous gifts. You are all so generous, I am the luckiest! 😍

Also, the support I’ve received in 2021 has been the best present ever. The doorstep chats have kept me going when the days were blue. Thank you for allowing me to live my dream every single day. I can’t wait to see what 2022 brings. I wish you all good health and prosperity 🥂

25/11/2021

🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁

28/09/2021

Too good not to share 😍

06/09/2021

31/08/2021

🥳🥳We are in!

Today was the first time we took our dogs to our very own retreat! Each and every one had the best time! Just missing the party food 😋

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CTPfXcSCDfW/?utm_medium=share_sheet

0 Likes, 0 Comments - Bex Davis () on Instagram: “We had our 🐾Grand Opening Pawty!!!🥳 and each and every one the pooches had the best time!!…”

01/06/2021

🔆 What are we doing in hot weather? 🔆

💧Frequent water breaks
🐶Collecting dogs earlier where possible
🌳Seeking shaded walks
🌊Seeking wet walks
🐶Slowing down
📛Watching out for signs of heat stroke