Hound About Town

27/07/2024

😍😍😍
Flipping GORGEOUS picture of Inca by H&H Photography. Zoom on over and book a session!

26/07/2024

Popped over to Bessingby park to visit H&H Photography and get some gorgeous snaps of Inca 😍 pop down and say hi!!

24/07/2024

Today I met Teddington 😍he's an absolute cutie!

His humans wanted some advice around night time settling, teething and biting, and toilet training.

They're doing a fabulous job with him, and we taught him a hand touch to keep his mind busy too!

24/07/2024

Really looking forward to this! Bring your pups along ❤️

Join us for some Pawtraits!

29/06/2024

Puppies are not clean slates !
You often hear people say 'get a puppy they are a clean slate'

As a behaviourist and breeder I can confidently tell you this is not true. Both nature and nurture has a huge impact.
A puppy will inherit genes from its parents and these genes will impact the puppies genetic potential to behave in a particular way.
Such as :
Using aggression as a strategy to deal with difficult situations
Sociability towards people and dogs
Fearful responses
Sound sensitivity
Strong instinctive behaviour to hunt, chase, grab, hold and guard.
Trainability which includes the ability to learn self control as humans desire it.

When people breed dogs they sometimes select for specific traits and sometimes not. If someone is breeding for a particular look, colour or just money then these traits can become altered becoming stronger or weaker or unbalanced. This can make a dog dangerous for example breeding a dog with gameness and reducing human sociability.

Then the puppy is born and the first 8 weeks learning with the breeder will have an huge impact on the development of all these genetic traits.

My five puppies have all come from the same parents and been reared in the same environment. They have very individual personalities. The training and socialisation they receive in their new homes will only influence the genes and first learning, it won't change their personalities.

So if you are looking for a puppy
Firstly learn about breed traits and instincts and make sure you pick a puppy that will suit your lifestyle. For example there no point getting a breed that is 'aloof with strangers' if you have 3 young children and lots of friends visiting.

Secondly meet the parents or (genes), see what they are like. Make sure you are meeting the actual parents, some people buy in puppy farmed litters and then 'hire' an adult of the same breed to pretend the puppies were bred there!!

Thirdly make sure the puppy has had plenty of early neurological stimulation and learning before it leaves the litter. Ask these questions.
1) What have the puppies seen?
2) Who and what have they met?
2) What have they learnt?
3) How have they learned to play?
4) What do they do if they get frustrated?
5) What do they do if they get bored?

A professional trainer can help support and guide you on the process of looking for a puppy. Don't wait till afterwards for help.

Prevention IS better than Cure. This goes for training and socialisation too, get a professional to help and guide you.

Puppies are building neural pathways with every experience, every day, make sure they're building ones you like.

First Learning is the strongest, make sure you get it right first time.

Written by Jane Ardern BSc (Hons) KCAI (WG)
WaggaWuffins Canine College
Bury Lancashire

*Permission to share this post from this source. No cutting and pasting please and pretending you wrote it yourself 🙄

22/06/2024

Today I met handsome Cooper who is finding it hard to manage his emotions around other male dogs 🐕

We started building a stronger connection between him and his human and taught a few different ways of managing encounters, as well as some new things to put in place to keep his stress levels low.

He was such a super boy, he picked everything up so quickly ❤️ Well done Cooper! 🐶

18/05/2024

Second session with Dexter today to work on his reactivity towards other dogs and see how he's been getting on since our first session.

We've pinpointed certain areas of the park where Dexter feels less confident so today we worked on some fun games to play to help him feel at ease, as well as putting some things in place to help his humans feel more confident when out and about with him.

He's made beautiful progress since his first session, big well done to Dexter!

17/05/2024

Last week I got to hang out with Disco 🥰 she's always such a treasure!

18/04/2024

Yesterday I got to meet gorgeous little Marley 🥰

His human has been working super hard with him, building their bond, helping him feel safe, and has done so much in the 3 weeks he's been home!

We worked on building on his sit, increasing distance and turning it into a stay. We also taught him a hand touch, and talked about toilet training and walkies.

Really looking forward to the next few sessions with Marley and seeing him grow!

16/03/2024

My last session today was with gorgeous Cooper 😍

His humans needed a little help with his barking, some overexcited nipping, and loose lead walking. He picked everything up very quickly and we are now off on the right track to help Cooper enjoy walks and get all his sniffs in but not pull his humans arms off!

Good job Cooper! 👍🐶

01/03/2024

Today I met handsome Oliver and we started to put a plan in place to help his owners feel more confident when walking him.

He was such a good boy and showed me all of his favourite toys 🥰

13/02/2024

Lovely Luna 🥰

25/01/2024

Socialisation is such an important part of a young dogs life, and it's so much more than just letting them bounce up to every person and dog you come across on walks.

Welcoming a new puppy into your life is an exciting experience. As responsible owners, it's our job to provide them with the tools they need to thrive in the human world. One of the most crucial aspects of a puppy's early development is socialisation – the process through which they learn to inter...

12/01/2024

Second session with gorgeous little Juniper today 😍

She's now allowed out for walks so we did a little bit on lead walking, started to refine our sit and build up a stay, and had a good chat about toilet training and p*e pads.

Juniper is doing so well! 👍🐾

15/12/2023

Today is Hound About Town's 7th birthday! 🥳🥳

What a bonkers 7 years it has been, I've met so many lovely dogs and humans since opening up and I've loved every minute of it!

09/12/2023

Lovely session with little Dottie today. ❤️

Her humans are working extremely hard to help Dottie to feel better about being handled and to be able to cope with visiting the vets and being handled by a stranger.

We have broken things down into lots of little bits for her, as well as muzzle training her to help keep everyone safe.

The progress she has made since our first session has been amazing, big well done to Dottie! 👍🐾

12/11/2023

😍 This GORGEOUS pup is Odin and today we have been working on his loose lead walking and his recall.

He is doing fabulously and I'm really looking forward to working with him over the next few weeks! 👍🐾

04/11/2023

Today I was working with lovely Charlie 😍

His human has done sooooo much work with him already so we focused quite a bit on the human end of the lead and on ways to handle the lead and position ourselves to help Charlie feel safe and make the best decisions in the moment.

Charlie did fab, and his focus on his human was absolutely brilliant. Good job Charlie 👍🐾

02/11/2023

Earlier this week I met lovely Maisie who needed some help to feel safer when meeting other dogs.

We got a plan in place to help her relax when she's out and about, and helped her humans to give her some exit strategies when she's a bit worried.

She did really well, despite the torrential rain! ☔

13/10/2023

Yesterday I met gorgeous girl Reeva who hasn't been in her new home for very long and is finding meeting humans a bit overwhelming and scary.

We worked on giving her lots of space to help her to feel safe and started a plan of desensitisation and counter conditioning to help her realise that people aren't too bad, and to check in with her owners whenever she felt things were too much.

She did really really well, good job Reeva 👍🐾

07/10/2023

Final session with Sia today, she did a fabulous job and was absolutely exhausted by the end!

Good job Sia ❤️🐕🐾

01/10/2023

Today is National Black Dog day ❤️ show me your lovely black dogs!

Here's mine 😍

18/09/2023

A fab session today with Loki to polish up her loose lead walking skills 🐾 She worked super hard and did a brilliant job, well done Loki! 👍🐕

19/08/2023

Yesterday I met Lexi who is already HUGE at 5 months old. 😍

We taught her to respond to her name, worked on teaching her to sit and practised some door boundaries. Training is tiring for both body and brain and Lexi was exhausted by the end!

Good job Lexi 👍🐾

12/08/2023

Today was Suki's third session, she has come on so beautifully since I first met her ❤️ Her recall is fab, and she has built a really lovely bond with her owners. Well done Suki! 👍🐾

03/08/2023

Lovely little Rocco had his second session of his Gold Programme today ❤️

We worked on some toilet training, crate training, and getting used to wearing a lead. Rocco did such a good job, what a smart little pup 👍🐾

21/07/2023

Little Tilly has started her Silver Programme today. 🥰
We are going to be working on some toilet training, some loose lead walking and some recall but today we focused on teaching a hand touch (my favourite!) and changing her association with her harness.
She was a very keen student and picked everything up super quickly!

Good job Tilly! 👍🐾

12/07/2023

Today I worked with handsome Buddy and his family to help him feel a little less anxious around the new baby in the family.

Buddy did such a good job, he worked really hard and was able to chill out by the end of the session.

Good job Buddy 👍🐾

24/05/2023

Absolutely agree!

If you can't call your dog back from a distraction then they're not ready to be off lead around that distraction. It's that simple.

It doesn't matter if they are friendly. Or just want to play. It doesn't matter if the other person has food, or a ball. If you can't recall your dog from a distraction then they can't be off lead around it.

That doesn't mean they can't have any freedom. If there are no distractions around go for it and work on your recall when you do. If there are distractions nearby then manage your dog and keep them polite & safe by using a long line and working with them around those distractions.

Having our dogs off lead is a privilege, not a right, and it's a privilege that needs to be earned.

22/05/2023

This weekend was my 3rd session with gorgeous Luna 😍

Luna had been struggling with big reactions to other dogs but also to loud vehicles, buses, and some people. Her humans have worked so so hard with her to teach her new coping skills and to desensitise her to some of the things that worried her.

She has done such a fabulous job, well done Luna! 🐾👍