Pain and behaviour. I've said it before and I'll keep saying it. It's linked! Fudge over the last couple of days has become a little more grouchy towards Buddy and yesterday, he struggled to get up on our bed. He also limped a little on our walk. Late last year, I took Fudge for a vet examination as I suspected leg or back pain and he was totally out of character becoming reactive towards the vet. He was given pain meds and this helped. With this new behaviour he's showing towards Buddy (resource guarding mainly and growling at him when he gets close) plus the more obvious signs of pain (limping, muscle spasms & hesitation at jumping on things) I took him back today and I was so thankful that we've been muzzle training him.
He's never done this training at the vets so for the first time, sitting in the surgery reception area, we did a little bit of refresher training in case we needed to use it in the consultation room (that's not me who keeps saying "no" to their dog, it's another lady in the waiting room with her two dogs ๐คฆ๐ผโโ๏ธ).
While our lovely vet was attempting to touch him, Fudge got really stressed, understandably as he's in pain. Can you imagine trying to put a muzzle on a stressed, uncomfortable dog who has never experienced a muzzle before? I got the muzzle out (to protect both the vet and Fudge) and because he has always had a positive experience with muzzles he willingly put it on ... in fact he loves this training so much it actually distracted him a bit from what was going on!
EVERY dog should be trained to wear a muzzle. Even the sweetest, softest, most gentle dogs (like Fudge) can react when in pain simply to protect themselves. Muzzle training is such a valuable skill to teach.
Unfortunately, Fudge was so resistant to being touched today (quite unusual) that we need to take him back to have some x-rays and scans and to explore some more whilst he's under anesthetic ๐ฅ.
So please remember, if you notice sudden behavioural chang
It's not just the dogs who have fun on our walks!! It's compulsory for the humans too!!
PS. excuse the clothing attire, I was going for warmth rather than glamour ๐คฃ!
#dogwalking #walkingthedogs #professionaldogwalker #reigatedogwalker #dogshavingfun #furryfriends #redhilldogwalker #dogwalkerreigate #dogwalkerredhill #welovedogs #dogwalksinthecountryside #sccdogwalkercodeofconduct #dogwalks #treeswing #adventurewalks #funintdogwalks @meeplethecockapoo
๐งธ๐ฅ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐น๐น ๐๐ฟ๐ผ๐บ ๐ง๐ผ๐ ๐ฃ๐น๐ฎ๐ ๐งธ
At Puppy School today, our puppies had the best time! They got to play as well as learn!
Playing games with your puppy is more important than you might think! Puppies that learn to play with humans see us as a source of fun and enjoyment and it can also help them to be more sociable and easier to train because they have a better relationship with us.
Playing regularly with your puppy helps you to form a strong attachment and friendship plus, it builds mutual trust. The more you play with your puppy, the more they will consider you to be the best thing in the world!
You can also use toys to teach recall and we did some of this tonight too! Here's beautiful Willow learning to recall from toy play and being rewarded with more toy play for making the right decision! Teaching your puppy to return to you when they are doing something exciting, like toy play, is a great way to introduce them to distraction recalls!
Look at Willow's instant reaction to her recall cue ... fantastic stuff! ๐ถ
๐ฝ ๐ฆ๐ก๐๐๐๐๐ฅ๐'๐ ๐ฝ
A ๐ฆ๐ป๐ถ๐ณ๐ณ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ถ is a scent-based exploration walk where you allow your dog to take their time, sniff where they choose and learn about the world around them.
The idea of a ๐ฆ๐ป๐ถ๐ณ๐ณ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ถ is for your dog to choose the pace and ideally where to go (as long as it's safe). Sniffing a scent on the ground or on a tree or lamp post etc, is your dogs equivalent of us humans watching a favourite movie or reading a good book ... it's our dogs social media time!
This is Bluebell, one of our current SuperPup's. She won the SUPERPUP MISSION OF THE WEEK for this video submission of her ๐ฆ๐ป๐ถ๐ณ๐ณ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ถ.
If you want to learn more about a Sniffari and how how it can benefit your dog, have a read of my blog https://www.happy-buddies.co.uk/blog/sniffari-a-scent-based-exploration-for-your-dog. ๐ถ
It's the 1st day of December ... that means I can officially be Christmassy and so here's a little video of the Happy Buddies resident dogs getting into the Christmas Spirit and preparing for the office Christmas pawty!
Feat. Amanda's dogs Buddy and Fudge; Bella's dogs Stanley and Sienna and Liz's dog Chilli ... boy have they got some moves! ๐๐งโ๐๐
๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ธ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ถ๐ป ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ป ๐
Barking is entirely natural for a dog. It's a way that they communicate. A dog might bark through fear, to get attention, to alert you to something, because they are excited, frustrated or bored. There's always a reason behind a bark!
A little bit of barking shouldn't be problematic but if your dog constantly barks in the garden this can cause issues, particularly with neighbours!
When addressing excessive barking, it's really important to consider why the dog is barking before deciding how to address it. Excessive barking can be a complex behaviour and needs a thorough investigation into the motivations behind it.
I was contacted by Rolo's mum a few weeks ago. She was worried about Rolo's constant barking in the garden. As soon as the back door was opened he would charge into the garden, run around it's perimeter and bark. The first video, taken by his mum was typical of his behaviour.
During my first 121 appointment we worked out that this behaviour initially started because Rolo heard something nearby (we think it was either someone walking on the pathway the other side of their fence or another dog in the neighbourhood). However, it's now become habitual. He will do this behaviour at any time, whether there's a noise to be heard or not.
Rolo's training therefore, was two-fold. We had to help him understand that he didn't need to be scared or feel the need to alert his family when he heard something. This was achieved through building positive associations with his trigger noises and encouraging him to move away from the noise.
We also needed to change the way that Rolo entered the garden. He was getting very excited about his new game of perimeter barking and it had become an enjoyable habit so we needed to change that.
First, we introduced a little impulse control when the door was opened and taught Rolo to patiently wait to be invited out. This puts him in a calmer
๐ฅ ๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฆ๐๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฃ๐๐ฝ ๐ ๐ถ๐๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ข๐ณ ๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐ช๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ธ ๐๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฑ ๐๐ผ๐ฒ๐ ๐ง๐ผ ..... ๐
At the end of each of our SuperPup classes, we set our puppies a Socialisation Mission ... well you can't have a SuperPup with no mission to complete can you!!!
The best submission receives a SuperPup of the Week certificate!
Our Week 1 Socialisation Mission was to find the most inventive/unusual place to practice a 'sit'!
Aaaaaaand the winner was ...
๐ Bluebell ๐!!
Mind you, I'm not sure if she's completing the mission or just trying to stop her mum from going on holiday without her! ๐
Fudge is avidly watching Eight Below! Can't take his eyes off pretty Mia working hard on a rescue mission!!
#husky #malamute #eightbelow #cockapoo #dogwatchingtv
๐พ ๐๐๐ก๐๐ก๐ ๐๐ข๐ข๐ฃ๐๐ฅ๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐ฃ๐๐๐๐ฆ ๐๐ฉ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐พ
We have 2 SPACES LEFT on our next BEGINNERS Canine Hoopers course starting next Tuesday, 29 October 2024!
๐๐ ๐ฎ๐ค๐ช ๐ฌ๐๐ฃ๐ฉ ๐ฉ๐ค ๐๐๐ซ๐ ๐จ๐ค๐ข๐ ๐๐ช๐ฃ ๐ฌ๐๐ฉ๐ ๐ฎ๐ค๐ช๐ง ๐๐๐จ๐ฉ ๐๐ง๐๐๐ฃ๐, ๐ซ๐๐จ๐๐ฉ ๐ค๐ช๐ง ๐ฌ๐๐๐จ๐๐ฉ๐ ๐ฉ๐ค ๐๐ค๐ค๐ ! This will be the last Beginners course until March 2025!
Hoopers is a low impact sport making it suitable for dogs and humans of all ages, fitness levels and abilities. It's also suitable for dogs of any size and breed.
Puppies from the age of 5 months old, older dogs who have perhaps retired from agility, dogs that have suffered injuries and disabled dogs that are otherwise fit and healthy but who still want a job to do can enjoy Hoopers.
It really is a fun, inclusive canine sport for all โ dogs and their human handlers!
Visit https://happy-buddies.co.uk/canine-hoopers to find out more and to book! ๐ถ
I really love it when I get sent homework videos.
This was one I got sent from a current Canine College student, Nala. Isn't she a beaut ๐!
Her mum had been working on the beginnings of her 'leave' training and wanted to ask if she was doing it right.
She was doing a great job but there was a little tweak I wanted to make.
You'll notice in the first video, after being presented with the leave item, Nala nose targets the hand first. She does this each time. This is likely to mean that she thinks she has to touch the hand first before moving away.
And this is why I love being sent homework videos and why I love our handler's asking questions about how their homework practice is going!
All this training needed was a tiny improvement to ensure Nala fully understood the exercise ...
Nala definitely has a good understanding of the leave cue but she was adding in an unnecessary step - she didn't need to touch the hand first. My advice for their next training session was to cue "leave", then present the leave item but delay the timing of the marker word until a couple of seconds after she moved away, to make sure it's the leave that is being marked/reinforced rather than the touch. Duration of the touch can then be built upon by marking the behaviour slightly later each time.
After a couple more home practice sessions, I was sent the second video and the touch of the hand was no more!
Well done Team Nala! โญโญโญโญโญ
Last week, our Canine College students were introduced to the Send to Bed exercise. We started this training by standing close to their bed (or mat in class) and encouraging them to go onto their bed and into a down position, adding a cue when the behaviour becomes reliable.
Through positively reinforcing this behaviour, our dogs start to associate our verbal cue of "bed" with 'go to my bed and lie on it'.
So this week, we started working on the actual 'sending' to bed. This is a gradual progression which involves us moving slightly further away from the bed and then giving the cue.
As you can see, our students are really getting it and some achieved quite a few steps away. Here's Nala, Juno, Jerry and Rumble showing us their skills so far ... next, we'll start to build duration! ๐ถ
#caninecollege #dorking #brockham #reigatepuppytraining #positivereinforcement #rewardbasedtraining #puppytraining #reigate #lowerkingswood #dorkingpuppytraining #tadworthpuppytraining #brockhampuppytraining #tadworth #puppytrainingreigate #dorkingdogtraining #puppies #reigatedogtraining #tadworthdogtraining #sendtobed
I'm a bit late to the party here as our current Hoopers Beginners are actually about to do their Week 5 class and I've not posted any pictures of them yet!
But here they are and what a bunch! They are SO good and proving to be real naturals!! I'm loving every minute of their course and so are they! ๐ถ
#caninehoopers #caninehoopersworld #dogsportsurrey #dogsportreigate #reigatedogs #dorkingdogs #reigate #dorking #lowerkingswood #thingstodowithyourdoginsurrey #havefunwithyourdog #hoopersreigate #hoopersdorking #hooperstadworth
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