Animal Affinity - Behaviour & Training

02/01/2024

Just to clarify as I keep getting asked this.

NO I will not be exempting Lula. She is an American Bulldog.
She has a long pedigree, has won 2 ABA conformation classes, and looks like an American Bulldog - funnily enough.

and if you're not aware what an American Bulldog looks like, here is Lulas pedigree which can be easily traced back to the mid 50s when the breed was formalized. (https://www.pedigreedatabase.com/american_bulldog/dog.html?id=2674236-lejabulls-need-for-speed?_v=20221113164437)

The breed was recognised by the UKC in 1999, and the AKC in 2019. Largely because most pedigree breeders breed for work & sport, less rarely showing. The majority of the American bulldog population in the UK and USA is made up of non-pedigree pet dogs. The acceptance of ambulls by the AKC is not endorsed by the ABA. The ABA has a standard which you can have a look at here: http://www.ababulldogs.com/conformation-.html

Compare this to the American Bully - the Bullys were bred with showing and conformation/appearance in mind and its played a huge part in their success. They were recognised by the AKC in 2013 because of this.

The American bulldog is still in the "foundation stock service" of the AKC, meaning non-pedigree dogs can apply to become AKC registered.

American Bulldogs are a lean and athletic breed. They should be powerful dogs but not exaggerated in broadness, size, or shortness of face (there are 2 varieties with the unfortunately named "bully" variety with a shorter muzzle).
American bulldogs do not come in a vast array of colours and are typically predominantly white. Bullys are rarely as white as ambulls, and do not have the squared proportions of well shaped ambull.

Photo of my beautiful american bulldog for comparison

04/06/2023

Wow! Shocking and a frustrating read.

Too often I have/am advising dog owning people on how to safely deter people from touching their dog, but this makes me need to say:

If someone tries to touch your dog without invitation, body block them.
Get in the way as best you can.
Shout STOP if you need to.
Be firm.
Do not make an excuse.
You owe a stranger nothing.

Put away the niceties and protect your dog.
You can live with embarassment, but your dog is at risk of being the "perpetrator" of any injuries or fear of injury should they jump, scratch, growl, or bite when their space is invaded.

If you have any further advise you have found to work, please feel free to comment below.

15/04/2023

We are not currently seeing any cases :-)

Just a reminder that I am not taking on any behaviour or training clients at present.

I hugely appreciate all of the recommendations I have been getting, but I won't make any exceptions on this. I am currently in a full time behaviourist role for a national dog charity on weekdays. My evenings and weekends are dedicated to my family 😊

If you are looking for an experienced qualified behaviourist in the West Midlands, please contact Second Nature Behaviour for parrots, cats and dogs or use the APBC, ATBC, or CCAB register 😁

11/01/2023

Amending a previous post, I have decided to take a hiatus from taking private clients as Animal Affinity for the forseeable future, with immediate effect.

With my full-time charity behaviourist job, Ive come to realise that I really want my evenings and weekends to be anything BUT more work. I want them to be mine and totally stress free!

To spend time with my family and do my hobbies is far more important to me than "earning on the side".

If you would like recommendations of qualified and wonderful behaviourists in the West Midlands, do drop me a message and I will try to help.

13/11/2022

Out with Bruno again today! 2nd of 3 sessions.

Bruno is an old boy and as such has a lifetime of experience under his belt for doing things in certain ways.
We figured out today that a huge part of his bark/lunge behaviour towards dogs is.... HABITUAL! And also changes depending on whether a dog is new, appears suddenly or makes a bark/movement, or if the dog is known and doesn’t approach.
The former entails a more gruff series of barks and stiff body position, the latter a sharper single bark which may be followed by more barks in staccato, with softer and less forward body language.

It is important when we look at our dogs reactions to notice these subtle differences. They show that dogs behaviours are emotionally fluid and not solid for their entire lives.
Training is the formation of patterns of action, but it doesn’t necessarily address emotional components, or what the final associations are (especially since even *I* cannot read your dogs mind!).

Going forward I advised Bruno’s person to let out as much lead as she could, so not to add tension into the situation for Bruno. We also discussed and observed how movement and soft physical touching really helps Bruno, especially since Bruno is not always super keen on eating treats!

This photo was taken whilst I handled my own dog, and Bruno was stood about 3/4metres away! You can see the lead is loose, and he is free to turn around and sniff etc. Really excellent session, looking forward to our last one this week 🙂

12/09/2022

Please be aware that I am away on holiday as of this Friday 16th - 26th September.

The rest of this week is full, so I will not be taking any new enquiries until AFTER 26th.

I will not be contactable on my break, and any of my clients who haven’t already been offered emergency contacts for this time period, please do let me know if you want them.

Please also note if you don’t hear from me on a booked call, this is always due to circumstances beyond my control (typically dog related). I am always happy to prioritise your reschedule at your earliest convenience.

I am a one person business with no assistance.
I do everything myself.
I will always put my current clients and my own dogs and family first.
I am looking forward to my proper time off 😍
See you all soon!

19/08/2022

Ive written a blog twice this week, todays was about dogs and cats!

Let me know what you think 😄

Yesterday I had the pleasure of watching "Inside the Mind of a Cat" on Netflix. It is a show which I was hesitant to watch, primarily due to Netflix's other choice of animal entertainment not always hitting the mark, or ...

03/08/2022

Beautiful sweet Meg is on her 5th week of training with me. Ive been doing the training myself for 2-3 mornings per week.

Meg is a dog from stock herding lines and has been practising chasing cars for 3 years now! Her owners have done a super job getting her to the point she will ignore tractors, cyclists, and large goods vehicles, but they were having trouble changing her habits with smaller cars.

Ive been videoing our sessions and the progress has now gotten us to the point Meg wont chase or lunge or bark at cars *unless* they are in her immediate local area.

So come friday we will be introducing all this work into her local streets, and making her walks more managable or even resolved for her owners in time for their September holiday (is the goal!).

Videos to come 😁

01/08/2022

We have a busy 2 months ahead of us, and only a limited number of behaviour bookings available.

Behaviour assessments help you to understand your dog or cat, and you are provided with help and advice for up to 24 weeks after the assessment depending on your booking, for at little as £25p/w* !

Book your free 30 minute phone consult here:
https://app.acuityscheduling.com/schedule.php?owner=21927398&appointmentType=category:Book%20a%20Phone%20Call

*plus booking fee

31/07/2022

Connie and I had a little time off from dog training shenanigans and joined a local dog walking group today ! Must have been 15 + dogs there, and Connie didnt bat an eye 😄

See if you spot me giving Connie some impromtu bum scratches in the second pic 😘

Sometimes us dog trainers like to be around dogs and not be "on the job" ... 😉

21/07/2022

No Matter what you think about comparisons between human children and dogs, there are many concepts which apply to both.

When working with or training your dog, there may be times when you expect them to respond to you , but they don't.
Very quickly, we label such animals as "stubborn", or "easily distracted" - and such labels are often used in the classroom too.

You may have been an "easily distracted" or "disruptive" child yourself...

But if you think back, why was that the case?
It may have simply been that the teacher wasn't particularly motivating to you, but what about the other factors?
Home life? childhood illness? poor relationships with classmates?

Dogs too can have many reasons why they struggle to learn, or to respond when we want them to.
Consider your pets lifestyle and consider thinking outside of the box next time they do something unexpected, or seem to be performing poorly :

Could they be overwhelmed with the environment?
Are they perhaps frightened, confused, or stressed by something (not necessarily right there at that moment)?
Could there be pain at play (undiagnosed, or even something like a tummy ache)?

Let's throw out the classroom labels.
They don't help us teach children, why would they help us to teach dogs?

Children need to feel loved, nurtured and safe to be able to access their learning 🧠

(Visual credit:Jen Cort consulting)

13/07/2022

I have always advised that children should never be in sole control of a dog in a public space. I say that even knowing that I got my first dog at 16.

My own parents didn’t know Harley would run across fields at dogs, or across roads. Or that I sometimes mistreated him in the name of “training”. The mistakes I made as a child with my dog could have ended horrifically - imagine if he had got hit by a car! Or attacked by a dog!
13 years ago I was only just beginning to use a phone and I never took it on walks!

This flowchart is really spot on.

Sounds like the perfect solution... kids itching to walk their new dog + over-stretched parents thrilled that their children are taking responsibility and lightening the workload! What's not to love?

Actually quite a LOT.

I can't tell you how many disappointed faces I see when I try to explain why a child walking a dog ALONE *might NOT be* the best idea for anyone!!?

And I get totally it.

If this is your first family dog, a quick spin around the block may look harmless enough - until you consider ALL of the things that can (and DO) go wrong.

Even (mentally and physically) FULLY-GROWN ADULTS get pulled down to the ground, or dragged over to squirrels, skateboards and the neighborhood cat. They accidentally drop leashes, or watch helplessly as their pup slips their collar. They struggle to control their dog around other dogs, or conversely, they panic or freeze when an off-leash dog comes sprinting full-speed towards them (friendly or not friendly.. who knows? They’ll likely find out when it’s too late!)

And this is ONLY a handful of the things that can happen to GROWN UPS… so for kids the stakes are simply exponentially higher.

As a trainer, I’m pretty calculated about where I go, and when I walk my dogs my radar is always activated. Even still, I’ve personally had to dash after my loose dog, I’ve been bitten by a dog who was attacking mine, I’ve seen a dog run over in a school parking lot, and watched a child be literally dragged for 50ft against her will!

So, I hope by sharing the potential risks with you, you can make informed choices about your family dog walking situation:

Here’s my hotlist of things to consider:

Size - of child and dog
Strength - of child and dog
Maturity - of child and dog
Training - of child and dog
Temperament - of child and dog

Then download, print and share our poster.
THESE are my questions to help families size up the COMBINATION of their dog and child to see whether WALKING ALONE together is a SMART call.

For more info for kids, dogs and making EVERYONE'S life SAFE and HAPPY - go to thefamilydog.com/families