Bishops Waltham Pet Services IMDT

21/08/2024

This is very timely, as I had a 1-2-1 just this afternoon with some fantastic puppy guardians and their adorable little puppy, who is just beginning his 1st adventures in the big human world. It’s a time all new puppy parents are nervous to make good decisions, because instinctively, I think we all understand that baby animals are especially vulnerable, as they depend and rely so deeply on us, their care providers, for their survival, just as little children are programmed to be.

Poor emotional care choices, even when accidental or misguided, from owners, especially during puppyhood, can negatively affect behaviour for the rest of the life of the puppy, which in turn, affects how that puppy’s role evolves within your family. This can be due to puppy parents misinterpretting or not noticing body language signs.

When we take time to watch and observe our puppies and dogs closely, whilst they are quietly going about ‘companioning us’ in our human world, we can visibly see the affects of their emotions through the behaviour and tensions of their bodies, and their speed and intentions. they obviously do have a language and they talk all the time. They are often quietly shouting about their feelings and their fears and their hopes to anyone willing to notice or able to see. When we learn to notice and respond to that language, and it’s nuances, our relationship with these furry bundles of emotion can really grow into something special 🖤

How well do you understand your dog's language? Much dog body language is subtle and visual, though we humans can struggle with getting the message. When we communicate with our dogs observation is a powerful tool. It’s not entirely our fault; it's because of the restless, easily distracted part o...

17/08/2024

🖤 Happy Saturday! We hope you’re all having a lovely weekend making memories with your little team mates 😁🖤

11/08/2024

The Many Faces Of Spaniel …

“I am great hunter! I will scare squirrels with my giant teefs 😬”

09/08/2024

Crazy managed to share my bacon sandwich the little monkey ❤️
I find naughtiness and confidence to test her powers absolutely hilarious 😂
I gave her a big bit for being so funny

07/08/2024

4 weeks ago today I said goodbye and let my brave girl run on ahead to the rainbow bridge 🌈

The matriarch of our group, Ruby helped raise and fuss all the puppies, and formed close bonds with all the dogs we have welcomed over the years. She was the best, most generous sharer and about as far from a spaniel as it’s possible to be.

Everything was always all just for her. All the education and understanding. All of it. And she’s still generously sharing me with other dogs and helping them have happier lives through the lessons she taught me.

I couldn’t let her go without a post to her with a small selection of some of the wonderful dogs who made her life so full and special and meaningful ❤️.

My sweet Ruby - 9/7/24

04/08/2024

I love the play magic that happens between me and Crazy. She’s actually hilarious and guaranteed to make me laugh.

She bites me in a mutually agreeable rough and tumble play we call fighty bitey, pretty much every single day. Multiple times.
(We do have another version called “I can go lower than you” that involves me getting in the same position as Crazy to fight her 🤭).

There are no training goals, and no winners or losers, and we can both stop the game at any time when either of us chooses.
Crazy shows great care not to bite so hard I won’t play, but she also takes no prisoners lol. She’s not as gentle mouthed as ruby was 🙄 .but I guess she doesn’t have to be lol.

I know all her ticklish spots and she gets really cross and bites harder if she’s not wining enough 🤣. She’s about as dangerous as a snail but I let her win back a few times so she doesn’t give up.

Crazy will sometimes instigate a game by doing something ‘naughty’ to get my attention.
I. don’t stop her. I have lots of tea towels lol. It’s just part of living with a creature of another species that I am emotionally attached to, that’s trying her best to communicate with me.

She sometimes plays fighty bitey right before she falls asleep.

I think that’s just adorable ❤️

What special games do you share with your dog?

03/08/2024

Saturday morning gang

02/08/2024

Rewards, reinforcements or bribery? 🤔

Twenty years ago I was an enthusiastic promoter of replacing the term REWARD with the more academic term REINFORCER. Sounded more convincing.

“Give your dog a reward” often meant a pat on the head. Yep, I was around before food was used commonly and effectively.

Lots of anxiety still exists around the use of food in learning. “The dog will mug my hands” or treat bag, or pocket. Nope, not if you pay attention and use your Reward Predicting Stimulus with diligence.
"When can I stop giving treats?" When would you stop saying thank you: that dinner was delicious and I appreciate you cooking it for me.

The way you deliver the reward is more
important than the reward itself.

Do you remember the extras for excellence? A bag of mixed food values (very lacking in evidence of value) and you selected the right treat to match your assessment of the dog’s effort. BIG question whether the dog made a connection between high value for high effort or whether it was just a ride on the wave of unpredictability.

After ploughing my way through the Wolfram Schultz material and delving into the neuroscience of reward systems I now regard the term reinforcer a backward step and simply functional.

Interaction with a dog should be so more than a function. The reward is at the heart of their learning, NOT the behaviour we have be sold on developing. When we focus on the behaviour we lose focus on the reward.

The science based reinforcer promotion was often dumbed down to make it simple and easy to apply. Today we are more devoted to the experience our dogs are having: desire and pleasure. We have learned that anticipation brings alive the drive to learn not the fabled consumption. Gone are the click-and-shove recipes and fast food stuffing.

I get the biggest reward seeing my dogs passionate about their learning. 💥

https://www.learningaboutdogs.com/product/step-up-reward-skills/

NEVER STOP LEARNING BECAUSE LIFE NEVER STOPS TEACHING

28/07/2024

🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤

Crazy, practising “Hands” on our walk tonight ❤️

18/07/2024

🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤

Evening field walk with my little nutter

17/07/2024

I apologise if we are a bit slow replying to messages at the moment. Crazy puppy has been very busy trying to cheer us all up this week, as we’ve been dealing with some sad news back at base. I am not going into details here today, because we’ve had enough sorrow. Instead, this is a post to Crazy, to say thank you ❤️

She has made us smile through our tears and been my shadow for a week, and we want to show you how special and funny she is. She’s has been a superstar and helped us all and she was quite chuffed with her new squirrel toy which she’s already broken a bit ❤️.

Take 5 moments to make your dog feel special today.
Buy the teddy. Take the photo. Make the memory

31/05/2024

We are really enjoying our agility lessons with Jo Prichard. Crazy and I both needed a lie down after this 🏃‍♀️😁

29/05/2024

Our dear, beautiful, dotty dog earnt his wings yesterday, and was helped over the bridge. All of us at BWPS, would like to wish Jack’s wonderful family, who have managed his pain, and cared for him with so much love and attention, up until the point that there were no more options 😔, the deepest sympathies and condolences on the loss of your special, beautiful boy.
Run free at the 🌈 bridge JackJack, you are deeply missed ###

24/05/2024

30/04/2024

We finished on a high at agility yesterday…jo has managed to find the right words to slow me down 😂.

Really loving our lessons, thank you Jo Prichard at 4 paws agility.

Jo is based at Bramdean in Hampshire and offers group and 1-2-1’s if anyone is interested in learning more about this exciting, active sport
https://www.facebook.com/4pawsdogagility

Also Thankyou Nic for ALL the videos ###

30/04/2024

Super basic, but this is where it starts.
Belly ache makes us all grumpy, or lack focus, and what comes out can give us a clue about how to change what’s going on inside to make everything feel a bit better x

22/04/2024

For anyone who wonders what we get up to when we visit venues, this is a little video of Crazy searching at the underground WW2 bunker ❤️

19/04/2024

We had so much fun at Hoopers yesterday, thank you Gill at https://www.facebook.com/allsortsdogtrainingprogrammes . This was the 1st of the 2 x level 4 courses that we’ll have to do to pass

16/04/2024

This week, we tried something new. Crazy has shown inclination towards preferring running sports like hoopers, over thinky detection scentwork and as she was bred and raised with impact sports in mind, we had our 1st try at agility yesterday with Jo Prichard at 4 Paws Agility. We have a huge new skill set to learn, (oh my gosh it’s a mountain to climb!) but we do have the time and I have a dog with the inclination, so let’s enjoy the journey ❤️

We went for a half hour 1 to 1 lesson with jo at https://www.facebook.com/4pawsdogagility to minimise distractions to begin.

Oh my goodness, we loved it! Thank you so much jo, and nicola for the recommendation x

12/04/2024

Crazy was AMAZING at Hoopers yesterday! Clever little thing, only went and passed her Level 3!!

Thank you, as always, Gill Gallagher at Allsorts Dog Training for a great lesson

https://www.facebook.com/allsortsdogtrainingprogrammes

https://www.facebook.com/caninehoopersworld

09/04/2024

During National Dog Bite Prevention Week, let's focus on understanding our furry friends better.

Recognizing signs of pain is crucial to prevent behavioral changes that may lead to unfortunate incidents. It's essential to remember that it's not about the breed; all dogs have the potential to bite if they're in pain or feel threatened.

Understanding canine arthritis plays a significant role in this conversation, as pain can contribute to aggression. In the UK, recent discussions around XL bully breeds highlight the importance of responsible ownership and education.

With our book - Why Don't You Listen? - https://www.camonlineshop.com/why-dont-you-listen-book/ we try to educate and help you and the whole family to understand what our dog’s are trying to tell us.

Let's work together to create a safer and happier environment for both humans and dogs alike.

09/04/2024

Apologies Crazy, but I’ve been very slow to do a Boast Post for our level 1 and level 2 Hoopers rosettes 🏵️ . We passed level 1 a few weeks ago, and after waiting for the rain to stop, Crazy went back and got her level 2 on her next session, clever little thing.
Thank you so much gill Gallagher at Allsorts Dog Training, for our very pretty ribbons 😍

31/03/2024

Happy Easter everyone! Can you guess where Crazy’s adventures are today?