Creaturekind by Helen Greenley

23/11/2024

We have an EXCITING give away - thanks to Performance Dog UK

Thankfully, dog training today is light years away from the dark days of making a stark choice between reward and punishment. Alongside Vickie Davenport, Melissa Fallon, an APBC Academic member, has written this new book 'Training for Dog Trainers'.

They review:

Which training method should we use?

What are the pros and cons?

What are the consequences?

What effect is it having on the dog?

In this book, the authors have gone back to basics and imposed a structure on all the methodologies using a variety of diagrams and tables, to make complex material more accessible, allowing readers to make informed choices and, most important of all, to train every dog as an individual.

It is essential reading for all students and professionals involved in dog training and behaviour as well as providing guardians with the resources to better understand their dogs.

TO WIN A COPY - please comment 'TRAINING' below and we'll do the draw on Friday 29th November at midday.

If you'd like to buy a copy - there is a pre-order special currently running via:
https://bit.ly/4hVE19u

Facebook is not the sponsor, endorser, administrator, or associated with this competition.

21/11/2024

The gorgeous Twiglet was struggling with aspects of settling into a new home, and her wonderful owner was worried and wanting to get things right for her. So I was super pleased to have this feedback, following our consult.
'Twiglet the young rescue cat came to live with me a few weeks ago. She’s my first cat, so I read lots of website information about the various ‘dos and don’ts’. However, I found some of it confusing and there wasn’t everything I needed in one place. I wanted to make sure I was doing my best for Twiglet to settle her in with me. Helen was very thorough and gave me lots of good advice which has really helped. She has given me the confidence to carry on doing things that work, and ideas on some things I hadn’t thought about. She has a real feeling and understanding for animals, cats in this instance. I really liked how we were looking at things from the cat’s perspective and what would help Twiglet feel more at home. It’s still early days, but I feel the benefit of being able to talk to someone with Helen’s depth of knowledge.'

15/05/2024

Happy birthday Best Girl! The goodest girl ever there was, so much love for you our very special Smidge 🤎🤎🤎

26/04/2024

I don't use TikTok so had no idea that a 'pet vacuum' was a thing, until I was asked to comment from a behaviourists perspective.
I think as a general rule of thumb, for husbandry stuff, we should be asking 'How can I get this done in the least stressful way possible for my animal?' rather than 'How can I make this more convenient for me?'

They might be big on TikTok but are pet vacuums the secret to a hair-free home – or do they just suck? We spoke to a pet behaviourist and a groomer to find out more.

26/04/2024

So much this!
So often dogs are expected to fit into lifestyles that they are just not equipped for.
When we take on the responsibility for any animal, the question should be asked ‘What accommodations do I need to make to meet their needs?’.

Yesterday I read a post on a colleague's page which should have been entirely noncontroversial. The post stated that dogs shouldn't be regularly crated for 8 hours or more at a time. Incredibly some people pushed back hard on that point on the basis it excluded people who worked full time/long hours from having a dog.

And there's the rub. 𝙉𝙤𝙩 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙖 𝙙𝙤𝙜. Much as they might want one. Not everyone's lifestyle is compatible with dog ownership. Which can be a bitter pill to swallow if you desperately want a dog in your life but that doesn't make it any less true.

Dogs need social contact*. They need space to move*. To deprive them of these things has a detrimental effect on their well being, no matter how loved they may be. So if the only way someone can fit a dog into their life is to leave it alone & crated for 8-10 hours every day they really need to do some soul searching and consider the dog's experience, not just their own wants.

If you do work out of the home for long hours and still want a dog in your life then you have to be prepared to pay for support to help you care for your dog - a dog walker, pet sitter, day care etc. And high quality, ethical pet care costs.

Does that mean that those who work long hours out of the home and can't afford high quality pet care can't have a dog? Yes, very possibly.

Owning a dog isn't a right. It's a responsibility which means that you have to consider the dog's welfare ahead of your own wants. There will be many such decisions along the way and the first one is whether your lifestyle can meet a dog's most basic needs. And if it can't, the answer should be 'no'.

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*𝘙𝘦𝘧𝘴:
• 𝘉𝘦𝘦𝘳𝘥𝘢 𝘉, 𝘚𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘔 𝘉 𝘏, 𝘷𝘢𝘯 𝘏𝘰𝘰𝘧𝘧 𝘑, 𝘥𝘦 𝘝𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘏 𝘞, 𝘔𝘰𝘭 𝘑 𝘈 (1998). 𝘉𝘦𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘭, 𝘴𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘢, 𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘴𝘰𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘺𝘱𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘶𝘭𝘪 𝘪𝘯 𝘥𝘰𝘨𝘴, 𝘈𝘱𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘈𝘯𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘭 𝘉𝘦𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘚𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 58: 365-381.
• 𝘉𝘦𝘦𝘳𝘥𝘢 𝘉, 𝘉𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘢 𝘞, 𝘚𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘔 𝘉 𝘏, 𝘔𝘰𝘭 𝘑 𝘈, 𝘷𝘢𝘯 𝘏𝘰𝘰𝘧𝘧 𝘑 (1999𝘢). 𝘊𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘤 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘥𝘰𝘨𝘴 𝘴𝘶𝘣𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘰𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘰𝘯𝘦: 𝘣𝘦𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘦𝘴, 𝘗𝘩𝘺𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘉𝘦𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘰𝘳 66: 233-242.

11/12/2023

Could you let people know this dachshund has been handed into Fraserburgh police station this morning. Thank you

28/11/2023

***Reunited***

BLACK LAB/POINTER MISSING: RUBY, 2 years old

Wearing pink harness, Missing at Balmedie beach, spooked from fireworks going off at beach! PLEASE keep an eye out for her!

28/11/2023

I am looking for an accountant in Aberdeenshire, who specialises in small business owners? Do any of my local friends have any personal recommendations?

27/11/2023

I often forget to ask for feedback, but I am grateful to Dexter's humans for sharing their experience. They are dedicated and thoughtful dog guardians, and I've loved working with them all, especially Dexter himself, who is an absolute sweetie.

'After our dog became reactive during lockdown, as he wasn't in contact with anyone outside of the family and people outside were always at a distance, we called on Creaturekind to help.

This was the smartest move we could have made.

Helen showed us his triggers, how to de-escalate and how to recognise his body language. Even as far as using the correct harness and lead for him (not the ones in the photo) has made such a difference. He is now a pleasure to walk, is no longer reactive to people and is coming round to being around dogs. He is very reward driven which gave us good scope to utilise this. Without Helen I don't know where we or Dexter would be today.'

20/10/2023

I’d say over 50-75% of the behaviour cases I see, have a pain component.
This should always be taken seriously with a thorough vet work up.

What is ‘Silent pain?’ 🤔

Did you know that dogs are genetically predisposed to hide pain because in the wild, weakness or injury would make them vulnerable to predators.

According to some experts, more than half our dogs suffer from ‘silent pain’ that their owners are unaware of. Dogs will rarely vocalise even moderate pain and often just run through it and don’t show any signs.

Silent pain is difficult to diagnose as it is subtle and develops slowly over a long time and any slight changes in the dog are often just attributed to normal ageing.

Things to consider with your dog-

✳️ Dogs are very loyal animals - they will follow you for as long as they can- on walks, up the stairs, onto the bed, ignoring any pain because they want to be with you

✳️ When doing zoomies, playing, chasing squirrels etc your dog won’t feel pain as their endorphins (their powerful natural pain relieving hormone) will be at released - the pain will come later when the dog is home and resting.

✳️ Your dog will not, however, be able to make that connection between the earlier exercise and the pain they’re now experiencing due to the time delay so they will repeat it the next day and the next and so on…..

✳️ Ball orientated dogs will ignore pain and continue to chase the ball as long as you throw it for them until they tire

✳️ Over a period of time and as your dog ages, the joints, muscles, ligaments and tendons become less able to deal with these demands and that’s when injuries start to happen.

✳️ You may at this point start to notice some changes in your dog, they might start to move a little
differently or be less enthusiastic on walks but again, it might not be physical signs. Your dog may develop behavioural problems, become noise sensitive, nervous or agressive with other dogs or may just pant more or find it harder to settle.

✳️ So …..just because your dog can leap for the ball/ jump up and down off the bed/ do ten zoomie laps of the field etc doesn’t mean you should let them and it does NOT mean they are not in pain!

Please share to increase awareness

And just to finish - a pic of my gorgeous arthritic girlie enjoying some autumn sun ☀️ !!

04/09/2023

29/04/2023

At Creaturekind, we are delighted and relieved that shock collars (aka E collars) are soon to be banned in England, and hope that Scotland will not be slow to catch up.
Here is a summary of just one of the studies that have supported this much needed legislation.

Browse through a range of inspiring news stories from the University of Lincoln, featuring leading research, campus events, and student and alumni success stories.

15/04/2023

Fab advice for offering a more dog-friendly experience at vet practices from the British Veterinary Association

A little bit of canine behaviour knowledge can go such a long way! In this blog, Tamsin Durston, Veterinary Intervention Development Manager at Dogs Trust, shares some top tips for creating a ‘dog friendlier’ clinic.

01/02/2023

Watch Puppies: The Importance of Early Intervention by Registered ABTC CAB Nicole Harris now - https://buff.ly/3L8B8RD

11/01/2023

Full APBC members are qualified, assessed and regulated, having met the standards set out by the Animal Behaviour and Training Council (ABTC), to promote animal welfare through training and behaviour change. Full members have a depth and breadth of skills, knowledge and experience, unrivalled within the animal behaviour industry: https://buff.ly/3JGhM5g

07/01/2023

Lovely example of what can be achieved with a focus on cooperative care, from fellow PACT member Sarah Kelly.