Sheila Harper - Canine Education

26/08/2024

On we are thankful for everything that dogs have taught us.

This year we would especially like to remember those dogs no longer with us but who have enabled us to learn so much 🥰 🐶

The photo is Sheila with Percival.

15/07/2024

📣Improving Dogs’ Social Skills🐶🐕🐩🐾

A five day workshop/holiday
16th - 20th September 2024
Cannock Chase, Staffordshire, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

We only have a few places left on this year’s workshop so if you’ve been thinking about it but haven’t booked yet, don’t wait too long and risk missing out!

Do take a look at our pinned post or contact us for more information.

Visit our website to book your place and find our Terms and Conditions.
www.sheilaharper.co.uk

24/06/2024

The Royal Veterinary College also has tips for preventing heat stroke in dogs and cats.

“You can help to keep your pet cool and comfortable in summer by:

🥶Make sure your pet always has access to a cool shaded area, both indoors and outside
🥶Restrict exercise on warm days (dogs should be walked early in the morning or later in the evening to avoid the hottest part of the day)
🥶Pack a water bottle on walks
🥶Remember, hot pavements can burn paws! If it’s too hold your hand on, it’s too hot for your pet to walk on
🥶Never leave pets in a car or a hot room (eg conservatories)
🥶Ensure your pet always has drinking water available, adding ice can help keep it cool
🥶Ensure your pet is regularly groomed if this is advised for their breed”

See the RVC webpage for more information.

Information about heatstroke in dogs and cats including signs of heatstroke in pets and first aid for heat stroke in pets

24/06/2024

In view of the extreme temperatures we are expecting you might like to take a few minutes to read through this advice from the Royal Veterniary College about cooling your dog - could be a life saver.
Even it you think you know - have a read, there is a lot of misinformation out there!
Stay cool!

The RVC urges owners of hot dogs to “cool first, transport second” Published: 20 Jul 2023 | Last Updated: 20 Jul 2023 07:00:23 A new study by the VetCompass team at the Royal Veterinary College (RVC) has found that dogs with heatstroke may be suffering even further due to outdated first aid pr....

20/06/2024

We still have a few places available😁
16th to 20th September 2024

Check our pinned post for more information or visit our website where you can also find our Terms and Conditions and book.

www.sheilaharper.co.uk

09/06/2024

Delighted to have permission to share part of an email from Margaret who has attended a few of our supported walks with her wonderful Border Collie, Bobbie. I thought it was helpful to share Margaret’s thoughts about trusting her instincts. She was feeling a little insecure because of what other dog owners say she should or shouldn’t be doing, especially because Bobbie is a BC and a ‘working dog’!

Needless to say for anyone who knows me and my teaching, I replied ‘Please do nothing to change what you have!’

So many people have specific ideas about ‘working’ dogs and believe that unless their dog is highly active during waking hours they’re letting their dogs down. Indeed I too made this mistake in the early days. But as I observed and learned what my dog really needed I could see that it was quite the opposite; rest, relaxation and gentle time together, just as Margaret describes.

The lovely photo is of Bobbie. Margaret says ‘My favourite photo of us having a rest. I was watching him mooching and he came and sat down beside me.’

Thank you Margaret 😁

04/06/2024

📢 Event Announcement 📢
🐾🐕4 Day IPACS Workshop🐕🐾

We are excited to let our previous students know the dates for our 2024 IPACS workshop. This workshop is specifically for previous students of IPACS or its equivalent. This workshop will be held over 4 days from Monday 23rd September to Thursday 26th September 2024.

Meet friends and perhaps make new ones, all of whom will have completed IPACS (or ISPACS, IDBTS / IDTS + practical handling).

Our aim is to take you further in your understanding and skill level, to answer your questions and allay any fears or insecurities. At the same time your dog will have the opportunity to gain more confidence in his own skill level around other dogs and people, and to become more relaxed in varied environments.
Refresh, recap, enjoy company and feel safe around others who understand the importance of time, space and distance, and who can evaluate situations. Share experiences past and present in a relaxed, non-judgemental and supportive environment.

Enjoy a range of walks designed to help you and your dog have positive experiences around other dogs and people.

🐶Cost for the 4 days🐶
Attendee and 1 dog £325
Attendee without a dog £225

Accommodation is not included and will need to be booked separately.

To book your place and find our Terms and Conditions please visit www.sheilaharper.co.uk

We look forward to seeing you again!

29/05/2024

🐶🐾5 Day Holiday / Workshop: Improving Dogs' Social Skills🐾🐶

We are delighted to be able to share the dates for our 2024 dog centred holiday/workshop which will be held from Monday 16th September to Friday 20th September 2024.

The holiday/workshop is aimed at anyone who wants help their dog to gain more confidence around other dogs and people, and to become more relaxed in different environments. The 5 days are designed to help you to become more proficient in recognising when your dog needs help, how to provide support and how to help your dog to have good experiences.

🐕What to expect🐕
Set in the relaxed atmosphere and beautiful natural environment of Cannock Chase you will learn to improve your own skills such as:
* How to move from avoidance and management to building up Real Life Skills
* How to use the lead as a support for your dog
* How to use the environment to achieve the best results
* How the use of your body language can influence your dog
* How to improve your dog's skills in a range of situations

Supported and guided by Sheila, Winny and team, you will be able to enjoy a range of gentle walks and calm activities designed to help your dog have positive experiences around other dogs and people.

🐩Cost for the 5 days🐩
Handler and 1 dog £380
Handler, partner and 1 dog £460
Partner with second dog £325
Attendee without a dog £250

Accommodation is not included and will need to be booked separately.

Do take a look at our pinned posts from previous holidays showing some clips of what we got up to!

To book your place and find our Terms and Conditions please visit www.sheilaharper.co.uk

We look forward to seeing you!

27/05/2024

🐶 👀 Look out 👀 🐶
We’ve been planning this year’s holiday/workshop events and are pleased to let you know that we will be posting the dates and details soon.

There will be a 5 day workshop, Improving Dogs’ Social Skills, aimed at anyone who wants to help their dog become more confident around other dogs and people and to be more relaxed in different environments.

We will also be holding a 4 day workshop for previous IPACS (or its equivalent) students. This will take you further in your understanding as well as providing the opportunity for your dog to gain more confidence in their skills.

Both events will be held in the beautiful natural environment of Cannock Chase.

Look out for posts about each event coming soon!

The photo is of Winny and Robbie at the well known look out point on the Chase.

12/05/2024

D.O.G.20 Supporting a dog that uses reactive behaviour on seeing another dog.

As promised in D.O.G.19, in this D.O.G. we look at supporting dogs who use reactive behaviour towards other dogs.

Reactivity towards other dogs is often a behaviour used by a dog that is hiding its own insecurities. This may be because they lack the confidence and skills to show and understand body language to communicate effectively with another dog.

These dogs need support to help them to think and to have the opportunity to learn and practise showing and understanding body language without feeling the need to show reactive behaviour.

Walking in an appropriate environment will not only help our dog to feel safe but will help us, as the dog’s handler, to be confident and feel safe. We suggest choosing areas that we are familiar with and which provide us with as good a view as possible of who else is around. If we know our way around, where any blind spots are, where alternative routes are and where busier areas are likely to be, we can be more confident and calm which will also help our dog.

The environment should be natural with bushes, trees, hedges and other natural vegetation all of which provide our dog with good sniffing opportunities as well as cover so that they don’t feel exposed and vulnerable. Dogs will generally use vegetation to take a safe discrete peek at another dog. Where there isn’t any vegetation to use they may feel vulnerable, unable to watch the other dog and therefore feel they have no option but to react or do so sooner than they might otherwise.

An appropriate environment is key to helping our dogs to be able to think and feel safe and therefore learn. Learning is less effective when we are stressed and feel vulnerable and it’s the same for dogs. If we want our dogs to think and process what they see before deciding their next action they need to feel safe.

In the right environment we can see what’s coming in time to decide whether we need to take an alternative path or whether the distance, direction of travel and body language of the other dog is such that we can provide our dog with a learning opportunity.

The video shows Morgan who at the time was worried about other dogs. In this environment Morgan has trees on the left and bushes to the right. The track has a clear view ahead and we know where crossing paths are. On seeing people and dogs crossing the path Morgan comes to a stop and watches. The people and dog pay no attention to Morgan and carry on crossing the path. Morgan is supported by his handler who watches his body language, he is interested but not on high alert, his head is up slightly, ears pricked, his body is soft and tail down. Keeping in contact through the lead the handler waits quietly for Morgan to indicate that he may be ready to move on. Having processed the situation Morgan turns to look at his handler possibly asking if it’s ok to move. His handler answers his question with perfect timing by taking a step, and Morgan is able to move forward. Opportunities like this are invaluable for our dogs to learn and build confidence.

Our thanks to Louise for allowing us to use this clip.

* D.O.G.s are our “Digestible Opportunities for Growth”. We'd love to see your comments on our D.O.G.s and pictures of your own dogs, and have some discussion and shared learning.

07/05/2024

*D.O.G.19 Meeting Another Dog

How many times do we hear a handler shouting “he’s friendly, loves everyone, just wants to say hello” as their dog rushes directly towards ours. Sometimes we will experience a dog that is reactive towards our dog, lunging and barking with hackles up, with the handler saying “sorry, she doesn’t like other dogs”.

But is it really that the dog “loves everyone” or “doesn’t like other dogs”?

Both reactivity towards other dogs and wanting to meet every dog are generally behaviours that are masking the dog’s own insecurities in that they lack the confidence and skills to show and understand body language to communicate effectively with another dog. These dogs need support to help them to think, to not meet every dog they see and to have the opportunity to learn and practise showing and understanding body language. As handlers, we need to be observant, and to know how to gently guide our dogs.

In all cases it is important to provide appropriate support in an appropriate environment. Having the dogs on lead allows us to provide this support while the dogs develop the skills required to be off lead. A dog that “loves everyone” should not meet every dog they see, being on lead enables us to apply a boundary at the right time.

With reactive dogs it is important for us to think about distance and direction of travel of other dogs, body language shown by our dog and the other dog and be ready to provide appropriate support dependent on the body language we see. We will say more about support for reactive dogs in our next D.O.G.

The video clip is from part of the first walk between Etsy, a young Cocker Spaniel, and Robbie, our more mature GSD, both dogs handled by pet owners who are near the start of their journey. At the moment Etsy’s solution to her lack of confidence and skills is to rush up to every dog that she sees. She does it in a quick, appeasing and submissive way, crawling along the ground, turning her head up with lots of blinking, lip licking and then rolling on her back.

Initially during the walk Etsy found it very hard not to rush straight up to Robbie. She wasn’t taking into consideration any body language that he was showing and wasn’t thinking. It was important for her handler to help her to pause and think by applying some boundaries, stopping her from getting too close to Robbie. When a gentle boundary was applied using the lead, Etsy was able to come away from Robbie and started sniffing. She would then turn back and try to approach Robbie again but each time an appropriate boundary was applied.

Robbie showed Etsy clearly with his body language that he found her initial approaches impolite; he turned his head and moved away from Etsy whenever she tried to rush towards him.

Etsy very quickly realised that she could walk with Robbie and enjoy her sniffs without an immediate ‘nose to nose’ meeting. The ‘nose to nose’ meeting, when it did happen, was natural and a non-event. Etsy was having a sniff and Robbie gently approached to share the sniff. The dogs had a brief sniff of each other and then carried on with the walk.

During the walk the dogs enjoyed their own space and sniffs as well as coming together to share those experiences.

In this clip, which was well into the walk, you can see that Etsy is enthusiastically exploring the environment. Robbie moves forward but stops behind Etsy’s handler, leaving the path clear for Etsy’s return. When Etsy rejoins the path she looks at Robbie who immediately looks away, Etsy then also turns away and everyone continues moving forward.

With the support of appropriate lead handling preventing a ‘nose to nose’ meeting before the dogs were ready for it and the experience of body language shown by a more skilled dog, Etsy was able to learn how to be with another dog; naturally, safely and politely.

Of course she will still need handler support next time she walks with another dog. However, with appropriate handling and the opportunity to continue learning from a more skilled dog she will be able to become a skilled dog herself, confident in showing and understanding body language. This will help her feel that she won't have to meet every dog that she sees.

Our thanks to Allison and Darren for allowing us to use this clip.

* D.O.G.s are our “Digestible Opportunities for Growth”. We'd love to see your comments on our D.O.G.s and pictures of your own dogs, and have some discussion and shared learning.

31/03/2024

Wishing you all a Happy Easter! 🐣

As well as wishing everyone a Happy Easter just a little reminder about the dangers of chocolate for dogs. With this time of year being traditionally celebrated with the sharing of chocolate eggs, bunnies and other chocolate gifts there is likely to be more chocolate around than usual. It’s also traditional to hide chocolate eggs for children to find both inside and outside which means that dogs may find them too!

Chocolate contains a chemical called theobromine which is toxic to dogs. If your dog does get hold of some chocolate contact your vet and be ready to advise them of the type and amount of chocolate eaten.

The closest Robbie will be getting to any chocolate is walking with Poppy the Chocolate Labrador 😁

The photo is of Robbie and Poppy sharing a walk together.

30/03/2024

Oh dear - we are losing an hour tonight as we move into British Summer Time so Frankie’s getting ahead and having a lie in 🤫

Don’t forget that for our dogs nothing will change tomorrow so they will expect their usual routine. It’s a good idea to make changes to timings gradually to make the transition a little easier. As always, it’s important for our dogs to have plenty of opportunities to rest and sleep and catch up on that missing hour!

The photo is of a snoozing Frankie 🥰

14/02/2024

💘For Valentine’s Day we would like to celebrate our relationships with our amazing dogs and appreciate them for what they are and not what we thought they would be.

We have so many expectations of our dogs even before they arrive to live with us. These may relate to the breed and what he or she should enjoy or be interested in and skills they should have. Maybe they’ve grown to be bigger than we expected taking up more room on the sofa. Or maybe they’re smaller than we expected and get under our feet. We may have expected our dog to enjoy our lifestyle; going on long walks with us, visiting the local coffee shop or pub and enjoying visiting all of our family and friends.

But what if our dogs aren’t able to meet our expectations? Maybe they are too worried to be near traffic or are fearful of cyclists or other dogs approaching them. Perhaps they prefer to sleep on the couch rather than having a rainy walk and staying home rather than going somewhere unfamiliar. Does it mean we love them any less? Not for Sheila Harper - Canine Education, we love them all the more for showing us who they are and what they want to be.

So today, let’s appreciate and celebrate our wonderful dogs for who and what they are and remember everything that we love about them.

What do you love about your dog?

Happy Valentine’s Day ❤️💘🐾

The photo includes Robbie, Trigger, Bailey, Frank and Max and Robbie enjoying a stroll together.

22/01/2024

We are very sorry to hear that our dear friend, Phillis Tyler, sadly died on 30th December after a short illness. Many of you will remember Phillis as she joined us for every one of our dog centred holidays over the 30 years that we have been holding them. We first met Phillis when she attended one of our early courses in 1993 and have enjoyed spending time with her and her dogs ever since.

Phillis had a great love of all dogs especially Malamutes and German Shepherds. We probably got to know her Malamutes, Myak, Nemissa and Namid, better than any of her dogs. They were all great characters and Namid in particular always loved to know what was going on. She loved it when we gave her the opportunity to find a known person on Cannock Chase. The photo of her head appearing through the sunroof during one of the holidays is a lovely memory.

Most recently Phillis joined us on Cannock Chase for our 2023 holiday along with her senior German Shepherd, Baran, and three year old Chaska seen in the photo from the holiday, patiently waiting for Phillis to catch up. The photo of Baran was taken a few years ago, such a handsome boy.

Both dogs are being well cared for while Phillis’s affairs are being organised.

Rest in Peace Phillis

08/01/2024

We often see dogs that have been frightened by fireworks resulting in short and long term physical and mental affects. When fireworks are used in a predictable, planned and organised way measures can be taken to protect animals as much as is possible. However when they are used sporadically and unpredictably they can cause significant long lasting trauma affecting animals as well as humans.

Please consider signing the petition to stand with us in asking the UK Government to amend firework legislation.
Thank you

On December 6th 2023 a group of charities welcomed MPs to a coalition event to discuss how firework legislation is failing the vulnerable in our society. Humans and animal welfare suffers when fireworks are used sporadically throughout the year. The event was hosted by the ‘Fireworks coalition’ ...

27/12/2023

🎁Carefully wrapped by Winny
🚚Beautifully delivered by Sheila
🐕Skilfully unwrapped by Fred
🤩🎄🤩

Video clip is of Fred unwrapping his present 😁

24/12/2023

Season’s greetings! 🎄🐕🐾
What another super year! We have thoroughly enjoyed meeting new clients and their wonderful dogs and of course all of our existing clients and amazing dogs. It has been so rewarding seeing all of the dogs moving forward and handlers develop and grow in confidence. We had 2 dog centred holidays where dogs were able to develop their social skills and participants refined their handling. Thank you all for your support.

Wishing all of our followers and clients a joyful and peaceful Christmas and a happy and healthy 2024.

The photo is of Robbie enjoying the beach on Anglesey earlier this year.

11/11/2023

In remembrance of the people and animals who have given their lives and in the hope of peace.

28/10/2023

Clocks change tonight in the UK and we gain an hour - yay! But how can we help animals to cope with this? It can be hard enough for people to get used to clock changes, but it makes no sense to our dogs or other animals that we live with.

We all have circadian rhythms, the physical, mental and behavioural patterns that follow a 24 hour cycle in response to daylight and darkness. Animals share these rhythms and will be used to a daily routine of waking up, meal times, walks, bedtime and so on.

It is important to slowly adjust the routine to minimise any anxiety. If you haven’t started to make adjustments already do so gradually by 10 minutes each day over the next 6 days 😁🐶🐈🐴🐇🐭🦜

14/10/2023

We’re as delighted as Dee Dee to have so many new followers, welcome and thank you for joining us 😁

We offer tailor-made behaviour counselling, ongoing support and supported walks, in addition to our courses and dog centred holidays, so do get in touch if you think we can help.

As well as posts promoting courses, webinars and holidays, look out for our D.O.G.s which are our “Digestible Opportunities for Growth”, short information posts to highlight different aspects of being with dogs. Our most recent D.O.G. is a pinned post.

We love to see your comments and pictures of your own dogs, and hope that our posts promote discussion and shared learning.

Thank you to all of our followers 🐶

09/10/2023

🐶Sheila Harper Dog Centred Holidays🐶

Over the last fortnight we have thoroughly enjoyed meeting new participants, previous students and holiday regulars and of course all of your wonderful dogs. We hope you all enjoyed your time with us too and wish you and your dogs all the very best!

If you think you and or your dog might enjoy a Sheila Harper Dog Centred holiday do please feel free to send a message. We hope to hold another holiday/workshop next year which we will promote through this FB page as well as our website at www.sheilaharper.co.uk

In the meantime here are a few more clips from this year’s holidays 😁

02/10/2023

After a great week for our ‘Improving Dogs’ Social Skills’ Holiday/Workshop, we’re delighted to be starting this week with our ‘Social Skills’ Holiday/Workshop for previous students of Sheila’s and Winny’s IPACS (or equivalent) course.

What a lovely first day it’s been; catching up with everyone and hearing about and seeing their dogs; some we have met before and some we haven’t.

Today we revisited some of the theory that was covered on IPACS around social skills; what they are, how they are used and why they are so important. We used some practical sessions in different environments to encourage everyone to observe their own and others’ dogs to consider their physical and mental resources and start to assess their social skill level.

It’s wonderful to see everyone again and we’ve already had some interesting and thought provoking discussions. We’re very excited about the next few days! 😁

01/10/2023

What a fabulous week we’ve had for our Improving Dogs’ Social Skills Holiday/Workshop with lovely people and their wonderful dogs, even Storm Agnes wasn’t able to spoil our fun and learning.

Participants learned about, and practised, using Sheila’s and Winny's approach to using the long lead as support for the dogs. This includes: the practical use of the lead, observation of dogs’ body language and awareness of our own body language and movement and how these impact our dogs.

We also considered how dogs learn and how we can facilitate their learning through walking in appropriate environments with appropriate well-timed support and proportionate challenges.

Everyone walked with their own and others’ dogs to learn from dogs with different skills and experiences. Dogs were able to practise their social skills seeing other dogs and people at distances and in environments that they were comfortable with.

It was lovely to see all of the dogs being able to practise their social skills and grow in confidence in an area where they can also normalise the activity of the general public.

Although it’s never an expectation that dogs walk closely together, as the week went on some of the dogs felt that they did want to get closer to each other.

The video shows just a few highlights from the week. Our thanks to Carly, Jill, Mike, Phillis and Sandra for a wonderful week and for allowing us to use photos and clips from our time together 😁

25/09/2023

Today was the first day of our Improving Dogs’ Social Skills Holiday/Workshop and we’re so pleased to be spending time with such a lovely group of people and their wonderful dogs.

We’ve had a great first day and can see that the dogs have a variety of skills and confidence in using those skills.

We have walked in 2 different areas on the Chase and it’s been interesting to see how the dogs have been able to respond to the different environments. Finding an environment that your dog feels safe and comfortable in is so important to enabling them to learn and practise social skills.

We also supported participants with how to handle the lead in a way that provides support to the dog, maximising their opportunity to relax, think and learn.

We’re off to a great start and are very much looking forward to the next few days 😁

17/09/2023

⭐️ only 1 week to go ⭐️
25-29th September 2023

🐾5 Day Holiday/Workshop: Improving Dogs’ Social Skills🐾

A little more about what to expect.

We can learn a great deal from observation. During this workshop you will have the opportunity to walk with other handlers and their dogs. There will be time to reflect on observations and discuss queries to help you to feel more able to best support your dog.

In beautiful surroundings you and your dog will be with like minded people and their dogs. Supported by Sheila and her team we will use a variety of activities to help your dog improve their social skills, all taken at your and your dog’s pace.

Interested?
See our pinned post for more information or visit www.sheilaharper.com where you can also book a place.

10/09/2023

🐶25-29th September 2023🐶

🐾5 Day Holiday/Workshop: Improving Dogs’ Social Skills 🐾

More about what to expect 😊

The clips show Ruby and Jarvis enjoying finding treats hidden in and around a tree. Using the natural sense of sniffing, dogs build confidence and self esteem when they discover things themselves that they enjoy.

In beautiful surroundings you and your dog will be supported to help your dog improve their social skills through a variety of activities, taken at your and your dog’s pace.

Interested?
See our pinned post for more information or visit www.sheilaharper.com where you can also book a place.