Charnwood Dog School

25/08/2024

A lovely session with Rufus to finish the day off. Lots of loose lead walking, stop whistle and hunting. 👏

25/08/2024

We started a new Introduction to Scentwork course today. We started with a bit of classical conditioning and it’s looking very promising!! 🙌👏

25/08/2024

Great work on our new Gundog Club Grade 2 course today. We started looking at our sit whistle exercise. Well done! 👏❤️

25/08/2024

We started a new Beginner Gundog course today. Lovely calm start! Looking forward to next week. ❤️

24/08/2024

The dog industry is not regulated. Ask questions!

What one thing do I wish more dog owners did (other than train kindly, which is a given)?

𝗔𝘀𝗸 𝗾𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀!

❓Ask your prospective trainer about their education, experience, ethics, insurance and values.
❓Ask them what equipment they use to teach dogs
❓Ask them if they use physical punishment to teach dogs.
❓Ask them if they use tools like slip leads, prong collars, choke chains, e-collars, choke collars.
❓Ask them what professional bodies they are members of

These are simple questions which every trainer should be able to answer without equivocation or hesitation. They should be more than happy to answer them openly and honestly. And their answers will tell you whether they are a rewards based trainer or a punishment based trainer. Only you can decide which option you are comfortable with but, at the very least, it's a decision which should be made in full knowledge of the facts.

Don't assume all trainers are the same, They're not. Don't assume that someone with loads of recommendations or glowing reviews will treat your dog well. They might not. Don't assume that if someone is a trainer they have 𝘢𝘯𝘺 formal education in training & behaviour. They might not.

It is 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 responsibility as a dog owner to know who you are entrusting your dog to. It is 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 responsibility as a dog owner to understand what they will do to your dog in the name of training.
It is 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 responsibility to do your due diligence.

Always ask. Never assume.

(...and the same applies to other pet services like walkers, groomers, daycare, pet sitters or boarders. Most pet services in the UK are either very lightly regulated or not regulated at all which means that, sadly, there is a huge variation in competency and that the onus is on you to do your homework)

24/08/2024

Our Progressive club tonight and lots of marks, blinds and retrieving with shot. We also had a bit of cold game too! 👏❤️

24/08/2024

Week 1 of our Progressive Gundog course today and we started with some marked retrieving I a little bit of light cover. What a great start! 👏❤️

24/08/2024

Lots of loose lead walking today at our brand new Puppy Plus course. Lovely to see you all back! We’ll have some fun! ❤️

24/08/2024

More photos from our new puppy course that started this morning. ❤️

24/08/2024

I’m going to do 2 posts for our new puppy course that started this morning. The weather was truly dreadful but that didn’t stop us. We are off to a great start. Well done team! More photos to follow.

24/08/2024

Week 1 of Reactivity class, missing one dog that will join us next week. Helping dogs to cope with seeing dogs out and about is really not an easy fix. Today, we have worked on getting the dogs used with the environment. Great start everyone.

23/08/2024

Our second Gundog session with Flax today. Just working on him swapping out the dummy, but we are retrieving! Well done!

23/08/2024

Well done Buddy! You tried training us today!!! Lovely directional retrieving in some more distracting cover today. Great work team! 👏❤️

23/08/2024

If you see any changes in your dog's behaviour , please check for pain first.

Sometimes, extremely busy dogs get an adrenaline rush that make them able to cope with the pain, so they get even more hyperactive in order to avoid feeling the pain...vicious circle. Do your research!!

Check article below for any signs or concerns.

DOGS IN PAIN STILL RUN AND PLAY

This is Twig my yorkie, as many of you know she was born with deformed back legs. She has patella issues, cruciate issues, malformed hocks and also elbow disease.

Despite all of this, Twig would play all day. She is a young dog and would run non-stop, play with toys, play with my other dogs 24/7 if she could. She always wants to go for a walk- she never wants to turn to go home, she would walk all day if you let her.

She’s never grumpy, never shows any aggression even when she’s in pain. She partially ruptured a cruciate a few months ago and despite not being able to use her leg she was still desperate to go for a walk and kept dropping balls in my coffee (obvs I didn’t let her walk or play!) 😳

She has phases where her legs are really bad and she is in pain. It would be really easy for me to think she’s ‘fine’ and not in pain as she would still play all day if I let her. My only behavioural signs of pain with her are that she wakes in the night and takes a while to settle again and she barks a bit more than normal at outside noises.

I’ve also seen night-waking with my Dalmatian, Lucky, when he was in pain and my first sign of his back issues was that he would wake up and wander around in the middle of the night. He also still wanted to walk and play.

People often think that a dog who is in pain won’t want to go for a walk but dogs in pain are often still keen to go for a walk and they will want to chase a ball etc and play if you let them. Don’t ever assume they aren’t in pain because they want to run and play!

Signs of pain can be subtle and these are some that I commonly see in dogs I work with -

🛌 They may wake in the night or find it hard to settle in the evening, pacing or moving from bed to bed

🐕 They may vocalise more (whine or bark) and be more attention-seeking (nudging your hand to stroke them all the time or following you from room to room)

🛋️ Hesitating or unable to climb on/off the sofa, go up the stairs or get in and out of the car or needing a bigger run up to get in. Being slower to get up from resting.

😔 Being unhappy about being handled (groomed/dried etc) or unhappy about people sitting next to them on the sofa or walking past their bed

🐩 Changes in interactions with other dogs on walks- less keen on interacting or less keen on certain types of play etc

🏀. Lying down on walks or walking at a slower place but also conversely running excessively (‘runners high’ endorphins make them feel good temporarily)

You may also notice physical changes (the way your dog moves or the way their body looks.

💊 Please chat to your vet if you see any changes, dogs don’t suddenly change and start or stop doing things for no reason.

Pain is one of the primary causes of many aggression in dogs. Dogs also often don’t stop running and playing when they are in pain- signs of pain can be subtle and easy to miss so please, please seek advice from your vet if you see changes

Laura McAuliffe, Dog Communication 2024

23/08/2024

Seriously, cute ear alert!!!!! Bruno was back today to learn basic training skills!!! As he's an adolescent dog, he's also struggling to cope with his frustration when he sees dogs out and about, and he can't get to them!!!!
We're looking at helping him cope with his emotions by finding an outlet, and toys seem to work!

23/08/2024

Met lovely Taran today for an off-site walk to observe his behaviours and find out the best way to help him feel more relaxed! We're also looking into investigating that the pain is not affecting his behaviour, just to make sure we're doing everything in our power to help him!
#

23/08/2024

Cassie working on proofing her directional retrieves today. We are making great progress! ❤️

22/08/2024

We had so much fun with Albert today! He’s got a really high prey drive so we have started looking at ways of managing this along with recall practice but some other techniques too. Really good start! ❤️

22/08/2024

We had a lovely session with little Ruby this morning. I think we exhausted her. We did some recall practice and lots of hunting both on and off longline. Amazing work! ❤️👏

22/08/2024

Great session with Willow again!!! She's definitely learning to focus on her guardian rather than go and greet all the humans and dogs! Today, she was helped by baby Storm!

21/08/2024

If you ever have a bad day, just watch a Poppy video or simply go and meet Poppy 😊 🐶

21/08/2024

Akela was back today for her Gundog session. This adolescent girl is on another level. I just absolutely love her work ethic! 👌❤️🙌

21/08/2024

Little Taya on her second Gundog session today and we worked on getting this little girl to bring the retrieving item closer to us. Over time we’ll get delivery to hand but one step at a time! 👏❤️

21/08/2024

Our session with Stan today and it was Gundog work up in the woods today. Lots of marked retrieving on cover. Well done! 😁❤️

21/08/2024

Tonight, we've seen our special girl Poppy! She is the bravest girl we've seen whilst waiting for more results on her health condition! She is the kindest and brightest girl that would make anyone in love with her!!!! We love you, Poppy, and we're thinking of you all the time!

21/08/2024

Oh Milo, what a difference in 4 sessions!!!!! So, this boy didn't have the best start in life, and he now hit the lottery with his mum!!!! Today, we did lots of confidence building with few training exercises to help him in real life!

21/08/2024

Rula was on top form this morning for her Gundog session. Lots of directional casting along with ‘go. Backs’ too! 👏👌

20/08/2024

A lovely home visit with little Nugget! This boy is a sensitive chap that shows lots of emotions by barking!
We came up with some management and training plans, and we hope to see him soon again!

20/08/2024

Finton came to train with us today and he learnt a different way to play with his ball! Encouraging dogs different ways to engage with the balls will mentally tire them and will also put less pressure on their joints!
Finton learnt some new tricks too!

20/08/2024

Beautiful Dolly had a behaviour session today, learning how to build her confidence when she's seeing unknown dogs outside! Lots of learning about body language, choices, and the right walking equipment. Clever girl !