Meridian Labradoodle Puppies

24/10/2023

Happy 2nd Birthday to Boo’s 3rd litter from all of us and especially Misty ❤️🎉🎁🎂🥳

12/10/2023

Enjoying the last bit of sunshine…before the 🥶 arrives!

14/07/2023

Poor Boo was scared of the thunder last week; she hasn’t ever reacted before. What do your fur babies do? 🐾🐾

22/05/2023

It is tick season everyone and if you have dogs, I highly recommend this company. About 1/4 of the vets prices for basically the same treatment! They have an offer on until the end of this month, get stocked up for summer 😀

Shop at Hyperdrug for top-quality medicines, wormers, flea treatments, and a wide range of pet products. Keep your pets protected with reliable solutions for dogs, cats, horses, and more. Expert guidance and care for your beloved pets are just a click away.

07/04/2023

Today I am 3!! Happy Birthday 🍖🎾🎈🐾🐾

28/03/2023

Happy 6th Birthday to our gorgeous Boo! xoxo

12/02/2023

Hilarious, can anyone relate?! 🐾🐶🐾

21/01/2023

Our lovely friend’s cockapoo has had her first stunning litter!

🌼 Our Darling Doodles has had her first little of 6 beautiful puppies! 🌼 👑 Doodles is fully vaccinated, health checked and wormed and flea’d regularly. Puppies will receive their worming treatments when they are old enough 👑 🌸 Doodles is a 3 year old Cockapoo, 1/2 cocker spaniel 1/2...

18/01/2023

1 year ago! Misty and Mimi ❤️

19/12/2022

Merry Christmas to all our followers!
🌲🐾🌲🐾🌲

25/11/2022

How adorable! Sorry not puppy related 😍

08/09/2022

Such terribly sad news. R.I.P HM Queen Elizabeth II. She certainly was a remarkable lady ###

08/09/2022

RIP HM Queen Elizabeth. She certainly was a remarkable lady ###

27/07/2022

Misty loving life; she is so smiley 😃 🐾

16/06/2022

How have your dogs been today? Tomorrow is supposed to even hotter🔥🥵🐾🐶

15/06/2022

Grass seeds are the tiny enemy we all dread throughout the summer months. Most grass seeds seem to find their way between our dogs toes, into their ears, sometimes in their eyes, and into their nose or mouth too. In fact any part of their body is at risk of puncturing. Dogs love to run through lon...

13/06/2022

Jumping up is one of the most common behaviours we are contacted about.

Puppies very quickly learn behaviours which get them what they want. They will repeat rewarding behaviours, whether self rewarding, or rewarded by us. You can use this to your advantage when interacting with your puppy or dog, but be sure to only reward the behaviours you would like repeated.

Be careful of your timing when interacting with your puppy, especially when exhibiting unwanted behaviours, like attention-seeking. Do not fuss, stroke or treat your puppy for jumping up when greeting you. Wait for a sit, or ask and if necessary, gently assist into position, and praise and reward your puppy while all four paws are on the floor. If your puppy jumps up, remove your hands and any rewards immediately. You will need to educate others in your household to ensure they do the same and do not encourage your puppy to jump or climb up them.

Jumping up usually starts with puppies climbing up your legs for attention. A puppy begging for attention may seem cute, but when the puppy becomes an adult dog, the appeal will likely be gone and is often not appreciated by other people.

There are other reasons why we advise owners to not let puppies jump up, ideally we prevent young dogs jumping until they are over a year old. There is a risk of injury if a pup jumps up and lands awkwardly. Injuries to the growth plate may not heal fully or correctly and could cause long term issues. They may not heal in time for the puppy to grow up straight and strong and an injury to a growth plate can result in long term problems like a weakness which could lead to further injuries or even pain/lameness later on.
Puppies are not born knowing what we want from them and without training, they can easily grow up to be dogs that are unruly and boisterous. We do not ignore bad behaviour. Rather than ignore bad behaviour, we teach correct manners. I remember hearing a story about an owner who was advised to simply ignore her young dog jumping up, ignore, and turn around to be exact. Well, the poor lady said she ended up like a spinning top, with her dog thinking it was one brilliant game as she repeatedly span around.

Take the time to train your puppy good manners, like not jumping up, to help your puppy grow up to be a well-mannered young dog who will be a pleasure to live with. This is easily achieved by only fussing, praising, and rewarding your puppy whilst all 4 paws are on the floor. Even better, if your puppy offers a sit, mark and reward that behaviour, always bearing in mind behaviour that is repeated is more likely to be repeated.

So, what if your puppy has already learnt to jump up?

Management and training are the two key things which will help you change the dogs behaviour. Management involves some preparation and planning. So, if you know your dog jumps up guests when they arrive, have a lead ready, pop the lead on your dog and ask them to sit. The guest should only interact with your dog when all 4 paws are on the floor, and you should reward your dog all the while they are doing the right thing. If your dog does try to jump up the guest you have a lead on to control your dogs actions. You are managing the situation and training a new and rewarding behaviour.

If your dog jumps up you, let's say for attention, or through boredom, or maybe to try and steal something from your hand, management is going to be required and setting up a training opportunity.

Here is an example: You are holding your dogs favourite toy, let's say a ball and you know your dog is likely going to jump up you to try and grab it. Management would require a long lead/line for control. In this scenario there are two separate training requirements, the first is good manners/obedience, the second is self control. I would be looking at this behaviour from both sides. The quickest and first is teaching obedience, for me this would mean teaching the dog it is not rewarding to jump up me, but it is rewarding to sit and wait. I would have my foot on the lead/line so that the dog was unable to jump up me, ideally the lead has no tension on it unless the dog goes to jump, when they try to jump they cannot, the lead restricts them from doing so, as soon as all 4 paws are on the floor the lead is slack again, I give no commands, the dog is going to realise very quickly they simply cannot jump up, and that there is no reward in doing so. When all four paws are on the floor I ask for a behaviour I do want, like sit, and as the dog sits I reward with the ball. On the side of this I would be teach lots of self control exercises.
(Please note, there are a few old fashioned methods I would not use or recommend when teaching a dog not to jump up. For example: I do not ever use a knee to block a dog when teaching them not to jump up, this can easily cause injury, especially to a young dog or puppy. I do not recommend hitting them on the head or nose either. You should not use physical harm)

Remember the key is to manage the dog to stop the undesired behaviour and teach a new and rewarding behaviour.

07/06/2022

5 years ago we brought our precious Boo home 🐾🎈💛

27/05/2022

So cute. 2 years ago, Boo's first litter 😍🥰😘

25/05/2022

*not puppy related post ;) )Do you know a young person wishing to go into the vehicle repair industry? Share this to your wider networks, it is an incredible industry to work in :)

With 80 apprenticeships available, spread the word to our budding young repairers 😊 🤩👊
https://www.autoraise.co.uk/careers/vacancies

21/05/2022

15/05/2022

We often get asked the question of, “what should my puppy be doing by this time?”
You will only get back what you have put in is the answer! This article is really good 😊
https://thepetjourney.com/dog-care/puppy-care/6-month-puppy-development-what-to-expect/

It seems like only yesterday you were bringing your tiny puppy home for the first time. But at 6 months old, your pooch is now considered an adolescent.

08/05/2022

We ❤️ our fur babies! They bring so much joy 🥰❣️

16/04/2022

♥️🐾♥️ Flash back to celebrate our first litter, 9 absolute little cuties ♥️🐾♥️
Happy Easter everyone! 🐣🧆

14/04/2022

Educational post - Socialisation

The period up to 16 weeks is one of the most important periods in your dog’s life.

The critical socialisation period for a puppy is the first 12 weeks. This means that from when you bring your puppy home at around eight weeks of age, you only have a few weeks to get going. It really highlights how important it is to have a socialisation and habituation action plan in place before collecting your new puppy.
I repeat this really is a critical time for socialisation. The puppy is becoming more aware of their surroundings and will go through two distinct learning phases, canine socialisation and human socialisation. During this time, the puppy is learning all about our world and should be exposed to many different experiences through socialisation and habituation.

I remember when Rose was 11 weeks old, we could see her studying everything we did. She would watch us intently, clearly working things out. She would sit there with her head tilted, taking everything in. It used to make me smile watching her figure everything out.

Be mindful that there is a fear impact period which runs from around eight to 11 weeks of age. You may, or may not, notice during this time that your puppy can become wary or fearful of anything unfamiliar, and they need to be carefully socialised.

To help introduce Rose to new environments and experiences during this time, I made a list and a plan to follow. Just because your pup is in that period doesn't mean you have to mollycoddle them; you just need to try to make their new experiences fun and positive.

When you bring your puppy home the puppy socialisation and habituation period you will be working within is eight to 16 weeks of age. During this time, your puppy should begin basic training, and you should be working your way through your socialisation and habituation plan.

Remember, the period up to 16 weeks is the most important period in your dog’s life. Your puppy learns more during this short space of time than at any other time in their life. Of course, your dog will be learning for life, through life experiences, however, what you see at 16 weeks through your moulding and educating is a good indication of what you are going to get as an adult dog without training or behavioural modification. Therefore, work hard on giving your young dog the best start in life that you can.

Socialisation is a word that is often very misunderstood, it is the process of getting your puppy or dog, used to something. It is the learning process that a puppy goes through to learn essential life skills to ensure that he/she is happy and confident in their environment. If a puppy does not see and experience a variety of things including people, cars, dogs and so on, that they will come across in their lives until the socialisation period has ended, he/she is more likely to be fearful. A fearful dog is often an unhappy dog, and, more likely to have behavioural problems. Socialisation is a necessary process, which will help your puppy to grow into a confident and friendly dog.
I really need to stress here that letting your puppy play fight with other dogs is not socialising. Over recent years the word socialisation has been misused and abused.

As trainers and behaviourists, we see the aftermath of incorrectly socialised dogs, making us sad and frustrated. We do our absolute best to educate owners on how to socialise their dogs appropriately.
We see the results from a lack of socialisation or inappropriate socialisation all too often in behavioural work. For example:
• Dogs who as puppies have spent a lot of time playing, or play fighting with other dogs, often have issues like being obsessed with other dogs and poor recall.
• Dogs who suffer from lead aggression/frustration because they are so obsessed with getting to other dogs.
• Dogs who have been bullied by other puppies and dogs at ‘party puppies’ and are fearful or defensive as a result.

Our advice is that your puppy should be exposed to many different breeds and sizes of dogs to help ensure that he/she does not later develop a fear of them. We recommend taking opportunities for the puppy to experience other dogs under control. This could be as simple as seeing or meeting other dogs on walks, they do not have to 'play' with them. The puppy should learn how to greet dogs appropriately, relaxed with a quick sniff before you move them away. The interactions should be managed to ensure that no boisterous behaviour is indulged, and the puppy is neither bullied nor allowed to bully.
As well as other dogs, try to ensure your puppy meets, or at least sees, as many different people as possible, short, tall, different skin colours, men with facial hair, children etc. Do this over time so that the puppy is not overwhelmed. Remember too that some dogs can develop irrational fears of inanimate objects such as walking sticks, umbrellas and hats, bicycles and so on.

A correctly socialised dog is a joy to own as they will be able to accompany you, should you wish, to the beach, pub, family outings, coping well around a variety of situations with confidence. They are also generally easier to train if they are confident and happy.

Habituation: The best way I can describe habituation is a dog becoming comfortable or accustomed to different sights and sounds, both on walks and in the home, like the hoover, the T.V., traffic, anything that your puppy comes across in life. Generally speaking, the more a puppy is exposed to things, the less likely they will be to become fearful or worried by them. Habituation sounds a lot like socialisation doesn't it. The easiest way I can explain the difference between socialisation and habituation is that socialisation allows the puppy to learn canine etiquette, and to learn correct and acceptable behaviour when around other dogs and people. These are skills that your puppy learns, and you help teach. Starting socialisation when the puppy is young helps minimise future behavioural problems and teaches your puppy good manners from day one.

Habituation, on the other hand, is exposure to things. If done too fast or incorrectly, it may be too much for the puppy to cope with, but too little exposure could lead to fears, phobias or even inappropriate behaviours. Habituation doesn’t require any actual interaction with the stimulus.

My main page is Family Dog Services but the life of Rose is her life and training documented from 8 weeks of age. The page contains lots of advice on puppy behaviour and development, plus training videos and educational posts. You can use the search bar to find specific topics or ages.

I have also written a puppy book based on the life of Rose which is available on Amazon, and we have a 6 week online puppy foundation training course for those who cannot train with us in person Familydogservices - Home
www.familydogservices.co.uk

23/03/2022

Happy National Puppy Day! We love our furbabies so much xoxo 🐾🐾🐾
https://nationaltoday.com/national-puppy-day/

Do you have a puppy or want a puppy on this fine National Puppy Day? We have the resources, tips, deals, and discounts to have a puppy cuteness overload.

25/02/2022

Making the most of the beautiful Spring weather today 🌱🌿🌹