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http://www.creature-kind.co.uk/

Creaturekind by Helen Greenley, Inverurie (2024)

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.

23/12/2022

We've put our paws up in front of the fire and will be back on 3rd of January. Wishing all of our lovely clients, and their humans, a peaceful, warm and special Christmas.
Helen & Alison at Creaturekind

18/12/2022

13/12/2022

I absolutely agree with this.
And I don’t believe picking a dog up makes it into a toy! Dogs know what dogs are. It possibly just frustrates the approaching dog that wanted to push it around.
My dogs’ behaviour and welfare are my responsibility.
The behaviour and welfare of other dogs is their owners’ responsibility.
If YOUR dog runs over and bothers someone holding a small dog, a toy, food … YOU are responsible.
It happens, get your dog back as quickly and safely as you can and apologise. If your dog doesn’t recall reliably, keep them on lead or a longline in situations where they might do this, and find a good trainer to help polish up that recall 😄

“Don’t pick up your small dog if another dog comes over, it will turn it into a toy”

Is what I just read on a page regarding a dog attack. Two large breed dogs approached a tiny breed dog, the owner picked up the small dog, and the large ones proceeded to bite the owner’s face in an attempt to get to it.

Look, I’m well aware that lifting a dog up can elicit more of a reaction out of a perpetrating dog. However, my biggest dog is 11kg. My smallest is 6kg. They are small dogs and can easily be injured by a large and out of control unknown dog.

If a situation occurred where they were in danger, I would not hesitate to pick them up to move them out of harms way. Would that potentially put me in danger? Yes. But I know I can withstand more of a beating than they can, they’re only tiny and I’m more able to defend myself.

This comment made me angry, because I’ve been in similar situations. Situations where large dogs have charged at mine, clearly displaying unfriendly behaviour, I’ve picked mine up, the dogs have proceeded to try to jump up at my dogs or redirect onto me, and the owners of the out of control dogs have tried to blame me for the situation. I’ve also had incidents where I’ve not spotted a large dog come over, and they’ve attacked my dogs, hurting them. I cannot run that risk, especially if the owner clearly has no control over their dogs.

So no matter what people say- “lifting a dog up makes them look like a toy/ like the alpha/ like a threat” blah blah blah, I am sure as hell going to remove my little dogs from a potentially life-threatening situation if it arises. Control your own damn dogs and stop victim blaming. If they’re going to bite a person for picking up their dogs, keep them on a long line, it’s not acceptable for people to live in fear of walking their dogs.

20/11/2022

Looking for patient groomers, mobile or salon based, covering Aberdeen and the shire, who understand canine body language and would be willing to work with me to help clients which are anxious about grooming?
Pic of my own cherub for attention 🙂

07/10/2022

The APBC re-branded with a new logo in 2021 to better represent the organisation. Pet ownership has changed over the lifetime of the APBC (over 30 years!) with many more species being kept beyond the traditional dog, cat and rabbit.

29/09/2022

Image description: A husky smells a small orange object.

Text reads: Olfactory neurons are present in the gut as well as the nose. Olfactory receptors were originally thought only to be in the sensory nerve cells (neurons) of nasal cavity tissues. However, research has shown that they are found throughout the body, especially in the gut. It now appears that olfactory neurons are substantially more functionally important than previously thought.

Findings like these help us to understand the connection between olfaction and other bodily functions.

27/07/2022

It's so good to get updates like this from clients. Rebecca and family had been worried about some of Yora's responses to their son as he became mobile, and have worked super hard to help both of them with sharing space (supervised always of course!).

www.creature-kind.co.uk/testimonials/27/7/2022/rebecca-and-yora

Yora is doing really well realising it's her responsibility to move when Gabriel is on his way or running around (I suspect the purpose of all this is becoming clearer and clearer to her now that Gabriel is on the rampage) and she will gladly go, unprompted, to her mat when she needs to get

19/07/2022

If you learn anything about training … let it be this 🙌🙌🙌
It’ll free you up from all sorts of unhelpful thoughts & assumptions. Beautifully put as always, by my friend Kelly at Tails We Win.

How do I become more interesting for my dog?
I can’t compete with a running deer!
I hear this a lot. And you’re both right and wrong.
I think it’s crappy for trainers to tell a dog’s person to just be more interesting.
1. It's not an instruction. There’s no information on what that means. What behaviours the person has to do.
2. It makes the person feel like s**t. Because often their dog appears to find everything more interesting than them.
3. People seem to interpret more interesting (or exciting) as act like a clown on speed. Which either means they go ahead and start running around shrieking, or fold in on themselves willing the earth to open up and swallow them whole because there’s no way they are doing that in private let alone in public.
I’m here to tell you that you don’t have to be more interesting. I’m not even going to tell you that you have to have something that trumps a running deer on you at all times.
Because your dog coming back to you, or paying you attention, has absolutely nothing to do with what you are doing at that moment.
It’s dependent on what you’ve done in the past.
Behaviour is driven by consequences. Which means you cannot *make* the behaviour happen because you happen to have steak in your pocket and are willing to do a (bad) impression of Usain Bolt to get your dog to come back.
You “make” the behaviour happen because it has a strong reliable history of reinforcement. Including in the circumstances you are currently in.
You don’t have to be more exciting or interesting.
You have to have successfully reinforced the behaviour incrementally many, many times in the past. That’s what makes you “interesting” to your dog.
You aren't a slot machine. You are way more reliable than that.
That’s why they’ll come back when they see a deer running.

14/07/2022

'If in doubt, don't go out' , the British Veterinary Association have launched their summer campaign to keep dogs safe from overheating on walks as well as in cars.
Follow the link for tips and advice for keeping your dog safe and comfortable on hot days https://www.bva.co.uk/news-and-blog/news-article/if-in-doubt-don-t-go-out-dog-owners-urged-to-rethink-walks-during-hot-weather/

02/07/2022

Beware the self-proclaimed expert – especially those offering to board and train!

While I prefer to focus on the positives in my posts, occasionally something is brought to my attention which is too concerning to ignore. While dog training and behaviour modification remains an unregulated industry, sadly there will always be those who take advantage of the unsuspecting public and do untold harm to dogs and their people. Frighteningly, most of these experts are not deliberately deceiving the public – in fact they tend to have enormous faith in their abilities, and I honestly believe that many genuinely suffer from severe delusions of grandeur.

In the long run many of these “dog gurus” crash and burn as horror stories from their former clients spread throughout the dog community, but new ones unfortunately always pop up and by the time their popularity wanes, too many dogs have suffered irreparable harm. So, after hearing again this week of one of the most troublesome local “experts” partnering with an equally delusional individual to open a “board and train”, I felt I could no longer remain silent and needed to write a brief “warning” post which will hopefully give dog guardians some danger signs to look out for when seeking help:

1. Credible, qualified trainers do not need to boast about their popularity or status. If you come across an advertisement claiming NUMBER ONE BEHAVIOURIST IN SA, SA’s TOP DOG SPECIALIST or TOP AGGRESSION EXPERT, I can absolutely guarantee you that nothing could be further from the truth. Qualified, reputable trainers allow their credentials and their client history to speak for itself. They have no need to make grandiose claims and are not trying to impress anyone.

2. Reputable trainers and behaviour practitioners will have some form of qualification or certification and they will belong to some professional body, which requires them to hold to a code of conduct. INDIVIDUALS WITH NO EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND, THOSE WHO DALLIED BRIEFLY WITH STUDIES AND THEN DECIDED THEY KNEW BETTER AND THOSE WITH NO TIES TO ANY PROFESSIONAL BODY OR SOCIETY WHICH REQUIRES PROFESSIONALISM AND CERTAIN STANDARDS of practice are usually operating in isolation for a reason.

3. Credible, professional trainers and behaviour counsellors will be able to explain their approach to helping dogs and their people in terms of learning theory, emotionality, physiology and ethology. ANYONE WHO RELIES ON VAGUE NOTIONS OF LEADERSHIP, DOMINANCE, PACK THEORY OR “ENERGY” IS MAKING IT UP AS THEY GO ALONG and likely using punishment without even understanding what they are doing.

4. CREDIBLE DOG PROFESSIONALS NEVER GUARANTEE RESULTS – in fact you will often hear us say “it depends” …. Behaviour is complex and there are no quick fixes. Dogs are individuals and we have to move at their pace an accommodate their needs. We cannot simply “whip them into shape” with our brilliance or charisma.

5. DON’T MISTAKE GOOD MARKETING FOR EXPERTISE – many self-proclaimed experts are supremely confident (arrogant) and are happy to sell themselves shamelessly to the public. They may be very good at this side of things and easily convince people that they know what they are doing, simply due to presentation of advertisements etc. Just remember that you are hiring someone to help your dog, not market a product of yours!

Finally, to address the “Board and Train” issue – please remember that your dog is a family member and whatever is happening with them is in the context of your family, your home and your relationship with them. Removing the dog to a new environment away from everything they know is immediately going to change how they feel and how they behave. Behaviour and training issues need to be worked through holistically in the context of your dog’s life with you – a dog is not a computer who’s hard drive needs cleaning or an appliance with a button that needs fixing and which can be sent away for repairs. It really doesn’t work like that. Your relationship with your dog and how you fulfil their needs must be central to working through any behaviour issue and this won’t happen if you are not there.

Even more concerning is that in handing your dog over to someone else to “fix” you have absolutely no idea what may be done to your dog and what lasting consequences this could have on their emotional and behavioural health. If you are told your dog will go away for a night or two and come back transformed, what do you imagine might be happening during that time? I guarantee it is nothing good. You would surely not hand your toddler over to some “expert” for a couple of days to be “sorted out”, so PLEASE don’t do this to your dog!