Companion Minds

08/11/2024

Handsome Cooper is 10 months old and has had a 1-1 for some help with lead walking🤩

We met Cooper when he was a tiny puppy and he attended our puppy classes! It was lovely to see him all grown up and learn how well he’s been doing. 😍

Lead walking however is a challenge- Cooper spends lot of time off lead and loves it! However there are times now when he needs to be on a shorter lead and he finds this difficult.

I think nearly allllll the spaniels I work with struggle with either lead walking and recall- and usually both! This is because both of these skills require ‘not’ spanielling: walking slowly and in a straight line are not in a spaniel’s natural repertoire usually!

We’ve got a plan to help Cooper and hopefully we’ll see some steady progress over the coming weeks and months. It’s a marathon, not a sprint, teaching this skill!

Good luck Cooper 🧡

07/11/2024

This lovely girl is Schumi, a 15 month old lurcher cross malinois who has found her forever home recently.

Poor Schumi had a really difficult start to life, lacked any socialisation or training, and basically was left to her own devices. 🥺

Despite this Schumi likes meeting people, dogs, going for walks, and settled into her new home very well! It is remarkable how resilient and comfortable she is despite this difficult start. 🙌

The one area Schumi struggles with is car travel. She is very anxious of approaching the car at all, she would skim past the car as close to the wall as possible, clamp her tail underneath her whilst doing so, and will not get in of her own accord. However over the last 6 weeks, Schumi’s family have been working hard with our original plan and she is now happy to walk up to the car, sniff around it, and do some training next to it which is fab progress.

We now have a plan how to move this on so Schumi can feel comfortable to progress to getting in the car 🤞🤞

Progress can ‘feel’ slow, but given how terrified Schumi felt about the car in the first instance, this is a great step in the right direction! 🚗

Well done Schumi and family 👏👏

06/11/2024

Fear of loud noises often goes hand-in-hand with pain for our dogs.

Loud and unexpected bangs will make them jump and tense up, which often magnifies underlying muscle and joint soreness.

It doesn't take long before they associate noises with being painful and it can progress to phobias that last well beyond firework time and can be very challenging to treat.

If your dog had a hard time during the fireworks, they will really benefit from anti-anxiety medications from your vet

But if they were worse this year or were previously fine and now are very fearful, then putting them on painkillers can make a huge difference.

Both with loud noises but also for their comfort and mobility generally.

If you think that this describes your dog, please do speak to the team at your veterinary clinic!

05/11/2024

Keep your animals safe tonight!

🎆🎇With fireworks likely planned for the next week or so at least,lets think about the things you can do to support your pups and dogs!

🐾 Make sure your dog has been walked and toileted before it gets dark and minimise trips to the garden. You don't want your dog getting spooked going out for a wee!
🐾 PLEASE ENSURE YOUR FENCING AND GATES ARE SECURE. SO many dogs bolt during fireworks period, from their gardens. Make sure the gates are locked and/or take your dog out on a lead.
🐾 Prepare! Lots of chewing material, kong stuffings, wet food, lickimats/kongs/toppls etc so you can keep your dog's entertained and distracted. Not all dogs can eat when fireworks are going off, but if they can this can minimise disturbances as best as possible. Monty went to for his chews today! We've got ears, moon bones and pizzles- all longer lasting chewing material!
🐾 Ensure your dog has access to you for social support. Don't leave them at home during fireworks period as best as possible. Dogs will cope better with scary things with the support of mum/dad than by themselves.
🐾 If your dog prefers to hide, ensure they have access to a cosy den, water, chews available within in, somewhere quiet and where they're likely to use it. This could be a covered crate (think about how you can sound proof this further- big thick duvet over it etc). If they don't use the planned area, allow them to hide wherever they 'need to', removing them from this area will likely make things worse for them.
🐾 Dampen the sound of fireworks as best as possible- play loud continuous music (the TV may be too quiet and not continuous noise so a firework noise could break through more easily!).
🐾 Close the curtains/blinds so the visual of the fireworks don't worry them and get cosy!
🐾 If your dog wants to be close to you, ensure you allow this and offer calm but 'normal' reassurance. Our aim is to reassure without giving the impression we are also worried.
🐾 Adaptil may well take the edge off and communicate "safety" through synthetic pheremones: https://www.adaptil.co.uk/pages/adaptil-calm
🐾If your dog is very stressed by fireworks then contact your vet ASAP and see if they can offer anything to support your dog. There are plenty of anxiety medications that are short lasting and can really help dogs who find things stressful.

If they find fireworks difficult this year, start thinking how you can help your dog for next year- there are lots of ways of doing this behaviourally, get in touch if you need any support.

🐱🐭🐹🐰🐔Please remember your cats and small furries! Make sure your cats are indoors and safe, and that your small furries are ideally brought in overnight and provided with plenty of hideyholes to take cover in. Otherwise make sure external cages are secured, covered, and lots of extra bedding.

04/11/2024

Sadly becoming more common to see dogs on thin slip leads/‘French collars’/chokes/prongs/ecollars.

Slip leads. Choke chains. E-collars/shock collars. Compressed air sprays. Rattle cans. Figure of eight slip leads. Grot collars.

When someone tells you these tools don't hurt, or the dog 'doesn't really mind', or they are 'just communication' they are being less than honest with you. And they are being less than honest with you because the reality is (rightly) unpalatable to most caring dog owners.

These are all training tools which use (at best) unpleasant and (at worst) painful stimuli to change a dog's behaviour. All training tools which, in order to be effective, the dog 𝙢𝙪𝙨𝙩 find unpleasant, painful or scary. All training tools which some trainers will use on your dog as a matter of course without even attempting a milder alternative first.

When a choice is made to use one of these tools it's because the person making that choice...

1. Doesn't 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 that they cause discomfort, pain or the threat thereof; or
2. Doesn't 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦 that they cause discomfort, pain or the threat thereof

It's one thing to genuinely not know about something. We live, we learn and as we learn more we try to do better. But it's another thing entirely to know something and choose to ignore it because the truth is inconvenient.

I'd guesstimate that around 50% of trainers locally use these tools. They aren't the exception and it's not unusual. That's 50% of trainers who either genuinely don't know how these tools work (in which case they don't know enough to be practicing) or 50% of trainers who think threat and/or the infliction of physical discomfort/pain are reasonable things to do to a dog.

So if it matters to you how your dog is treated during training (and it should) do your homework. Don't assume. Ask questions. And educate yourself enough to understand the answers. Because only by asking questions can you ensure you end up with a trainer who matches your own values.

02/11/2024

🎆🎇With fireworks likely planned for the next week or so at least,lets think about the things you can do to support your pups and dogs!

🐾 Make sure your dog has been walked and toileted before it gets dark and minimise trips to the garden. You don't want your dog getting spooked going out for a wee!
🐾 PLEASE ENSURE YOUR FENCING AND GATES ARE SECURE. SO many dogs bolt during fireworks period, from their gardens. Make sure the gates are locked and/or take your dog out on a lead.
🐾 Prepare! Lots of chewing material, kong stuffings, wet food, lickimats/kongs/toppls etc so you can keep your dog's entertained and distracted. Not all dogs can eat when fireworks are going off, but if they can this can minimise disturbances as best as possible. Monty went to for his chews today! We've got ears, moon bones and pizzles- all longer lasting chewing material!
🐾 Ensure your dog has access to you for social support. Don't leave them at home during fireworks period as best as possible. Dogs will cope better with scary things with the support of mum/dad than by themselves.
🐾 If your dog prefers to hide, ensure they have access to a cosy den, water, chews available within in, somewhere quiet and where they're likely to use it. This could be a covered crate (think about how you can sound proof this further- big thick duvet over it etc). If they don't use the planned area, allow them to hide wherever they 'need to', removing them from this area will likely make things worse for them.
🐾 Dampen the sound of fireworks as best as possible- play loud continuous music (the TV may be too quiet and not continuous noise so a firework noise could break through more easily!).
🐾 Close the curtains/blinds so the visual of the fireworks don't worry them and get cosy!
🐾 If your dog wants to be close to you, ensure you allow this and offer calm but 'normal' reassurance. Our aim is to reassure without giving the impression we are also worried.
🐾 Adaptil may well take the edge off and communicate "safety" through synthetic pheremones: https://www.adaptil.co.uk/pages/adaptil-calm
🐾If your dog is very stressed by fireworks then contact your vet ASAP and see if they can offer anything to support your dog. There are plenty of anxiety medications that are short lasting and can really help dogs who find things stressful.

If they find fireworks difficult this year, start thinking how you can help your dog for next year- there are lots of ways of doing this behaviourally, get in touch if you need any support.

🐱🐭🐹🐰🐔Please remember your cats and small furries! Make sure your cats are indoors and safe, and that your small furries are ideally brought in overnight and provided with plenty of hideyholes to take cover in. Otherwise make sure external cages are secured, covered, and lots of extra bedding.

29/10/2024

Sonny did a fab job of his recall on Sunday 🐾

I managed to fail with my filming for the other pups somehow! Well done everyone, great work 👍

28/10/2024

Another great post

This is becoming a welfare issue!

Im tired of hearing “the vet says there is no pain” by a guardian after they have taken their dog to the vet. It leaves me deflated and frustrated and feeling so sorry for the dog.

Myth Bust:

PAIN CANNOT BE RULED OUT IN ANY ANIMAL (dog, cat, horse or hamster), by anyone!

* A quick palpation - CANNOT RULE OUT PAIN

WHY?

The dog may shut down due to environmental factors or dislike of a strange human touching them, they keep still to get it over with ASAP!

The dog may be over aroused or overwhelmed by the clinical environment (excited/scared etc) to the point that adrenaline is so high it blocks pain!

* Blood Tests - CANNOT RULE OUT PAIN

There is currently NO blood test that can detect pain.

* Diagnostic imaging - CANNOT RULE OUT PAIN

Yes they can pick up a variety of conditions, but even the GOLD standard MRI doesn’t pick up everything, but NONE of them can detect PAIN.

Just because a source cannot be found doesn’t mean there is no pain.

PAIN is subjective, it is whatever that being (human or animal) perceives it to be!

Pain can come in many different forms, it is extremely complex, and can effect the individual in many different ways. A dog may get injured, the injury may have healed, but the pain remains … this is known as maladaptive pain.

Behaviour can be a HUGE indicator for PAIN:

* There could be a change of behaviour that has been directly caused by PAIN.

* There could be a worsening of behaviour due to an increase or new presence of PAIN.

* There could be a lack of “normal” behaviour due to PAIN.

* There could be behaviours that are present but that the guardian/owner don’t deem to be problematic that are indicators of PAIN.

* The dog may have ALWAYS displayed behaviours that are indicators of PAIN, but they have been ignored and put down to “just the way they are”.

* There may be NO problematic behaviours at all …. And the dog might still be in PAIN!

* The dog might be energetic, always on the go … and still be in PAIN.

* The dog might be lazy … and still be in PAIN.

* The dog may zoom up and down stairs … and still be in PAIN.

Diagnosing PAIN is not simple and can be difficult to get on top of.

A PAIN relief trail can be great! But often only one type of analgesic is tried and sometimes this doesn’t get results leading to the ASSUMPTION that there is no PAIN!

Here’s why:

* The drug was only trialed for 2 weeks - when living with chronic pain it can take longer to relieve. 2 weeks is not enough.

* The drug used wasn’t targeted to the type of pain the animal is feeling; soft tissue, bone, nerve or a combination of all.

It might take a number of different medications or a combination OVER TIME to see a difference.

ALWAYS keep in mind, NO ONE can rule out another being’s PAIN.

NO ONE. Not me. Not you. Not a Doctor. Not a Vet.

28/10/2024

Monty’s had fireworks playing quietly and progressively loudly intermittently since he was 8 weeks old.

Here he is having got comfy for a snooze whilst fireworks are now quite loud (and annoying!) on our speaker. Doesn’t seem to mind.

If your dog already has an issue with fireworks, now is not the time to be trying to play soundtracks, you’ll likely cause more of an issue. We’ll share some ways you can support your dogs in another post!

But for puppy owners, get some practice in now. Start quiet and gradually increase as long as your pup is behaving normally! If you’re concerned, drop us a message!

More of Monty’s training and adventures at monty_cocker_

28/10/2024

This is the delightful Debbie the Doberman 😍

Debbie is around 1 year old and has just been rehomed by her new owners. It became obvious quite quickly that Debbie struggled around other dogs out on walks and was extremely strong as well.

Debbie’s family got in touch just a few days after rehoming Debbie, recognising they needed support sooner rather than later. Having received all the paperwork required very efficiently we met with Debbie and her family for an emergency session to help with her behaviour ASAP. Our aims with these emergency sessions are to identify and mitigate risks, prevent the behaviours from getting any worse, and provide some immediate advice to make things more manageable in the short term. We’d then recommend following this up with a full behaviour consultation so we provide a more in depth assessment and plan to directly address how she feels about dogs. 🐕

The other advantage of a session soon after a dog arriving into a new home is we can provide some reassurance and advice on what to expect from the next few weeks and months whilst the dog builds relationships and finds their feet at home. 🏡

It was great to see that actually do a lot ‘less’ with Debbie made her immediately more manageable on the walk, and we’ve hopefully set them all up to feel a lot better about the next few weeks before a full consultation. Wish Debbie lots of luck as she settles in at home. 🐾🐾🍀🍀

28/10/2024

25/10/2024

Lovely Rolo we met as a puppy well over a year ago, and supported him with 1-1s! He got us back in to introduce us to his new baby brother, Ralphy, who arrived home on Sunday!

We discussed how to promote a happy healthy relationship between them- Rolo thinks Ralphy is very exciting so we discussed ways of helping Rolo learn to coexist and not be constantly trying to play👍.

A few reminders on housetraining and the importance of ensuring Ralphy has plenty of socialisation and training separately from Rolo🐾.

Great session and looking forward to seeing how Ralphy grows up! 😍

22/10/2024

We are very grateful to be celebrating 5 years in business this October!

It's gone so quick and we are so thankful to every single client we've met over the years. Thank you all for trusting us with your companions, it's our privilege to work with them with compassion and kindness.

We are very proud of our little business! 🐾🐾

Thank you,

Kate & Tom

21/10/2024

Social media can be a confusing place and lots of misrepresentation and misinformation.

If you see videos on trainers’ pages, watch the dog. Does the dog look happy, engaged, a willing participant? Or are they just ‘not’ doing much at all? The absence of sniffing, exploration, loose body language etc might be an indicator of how that dog was taught that skill. How does the dog feel? Not great. Sure, they’re not pulling on lead/reacting to other dogs etc, but their welfare hasn’t improved either.

LOOK AT THE DOG!

Why can't people see it? Isn't it obvious?

I am often baffled at how people, including dog training professionals, are liking content on social media that shows a dog being **successfully trained**, whilst quite clearly appearing very stressed. What’s more concerning is that a professional is proud enough of the results to showcase it.

The behaviours I am often observing are; tighty closed mouth, ears pulled back, slow (careful) behaviour, tail tucked, avoiding eye contact, dull eyes, slow blink rate, lowered head, hunched posture, and an absence of behaviour associated with positive anticipation of reward.

Indeed, undesired behaviour can be stressful and dangerous for others to be around. It can be stressful, dangerous and restricting for the dog exhibiting the behaviour and for their owner. If a dog is no longer exhibiting the behaviour, then yes- you've hopefully made things safer for others and better for the owner. But how does the dog (learner) FEEL now?

The cessation of a problem behaviour does not by default improve dog welfare.

How the dog FEELS about no longer engaging in the undesired behaviour will tell us whether their overall (emotional) welfare state has improved.

LOOK AT THE DOG.

Does the dog look RELAXED?

Does the dog look HAPPY?

It's entirely possible to make the training experience and outcome a positive one for all, regardless of the problem behaviour.

** I say 'successfully trained' because, let's face it.......are we seeing evidence of these 'fixed dangerous dogs' being handled by the owner in the problem context? Are we seeing videos of these dogs months down the line?

One video doesn't tell us much. But what it can tell us how the dog FEELS about the training and whether that professional is improving dog welfare, as they so often claim to be

Photo by Matt Elliott Pet Photography

19/10/2024

Coco is a 3 year old French Bulldog who’s having some 1-1 training sessions! 🐾

Kitted out in a new PerfectFit Harness , Coco has done a fab job in learning the tricky skill of loose lead walking, wow what an improvement from our first session! Next up, recall and distractions 💪

Well done Coco and family, great stuff! ⭐️

18/10/2024

Lovely Rolo has just finished his second block of 1-1 training sessions with us and has done great!

We’ve covered lots in our sessions, from drop, leave, recall, loose lead walking and general house rules ✅

Keep up the good work Rolo and be a good boy 🐾⭐️

17/10/2024

Spaniel Rescue Foundation - SRF are a rescue organisation supporting spaniels. A lot of the volunteers, including Kate, are based in Lincolnshire but it has a network of volunteers across the country.

They are looking for new fosterers to join them, and have dogs needing fostering in the Lincolnshire area. If you have a bit of spare time and effort, please do get in touch. 🐾

There are always spaniels needing support from young pups to dogs in their retirement years and everything in between.

fans

Fostering a spaniel can be an incredibly rewarding experience.

All of our fosterers are supported by the team from the moment they register their interest to the moment they decide they can no longer take anymore fosters in.

For more information and to apply to become a fosterer, follow this link:
https://www.spanielrescuefoundation.org/volunteer

We have a range of other roles available if fostering isn't for you.