Small Town Pup

12/02/2024

11/22/2024

Wow😭

11/21/2024

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Ten Unknown Facts About
1. Founding and History: BMW, Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, was founded in 1916 in Munich, Germany, initially producing aircraft engines. The company transitioned to motorcycle production in the 1920s and eventually to automobiles in the 1930s.
2. Iconic Logo: The BMW logo, often referred to as the "roundel," consists of a black ring intersecting with four quadrants of blue and white. It represents the company's origins in aviation, with the blue and white symbolizing a spinning propeller against a clear blue sky.
3. Innovation in Technology: BMW is renowned for its innovations in automotive technology. It introduced the world's first electric car, the BMW i3, in 2013, and has been a leader in developing advanced driving assistance systems (ADAS) and hybrid powertrains.
4. Performance and Motorsport Heritage: BMW has a strong heritage in motorsport, particularly in touring car and Formula 1 racing. The brand's M division produces high-performance variants of their regular models, known for their precision engineering and exhilarating driving dynamics.
5. Global Presence: BMW is a global automotive Company
6. Luxury and Design: BMW is synonymous with luxury and distinctive design, crafting vehicles that blend elegance with cutting-edge technology and comfort.
7. Sustainable Practices: BMW has committed to sustainability, incorporating eco-friendly materials and manufacturing processes into its vehicles, as well as advancing electric vehicle technology with models like the BMW i4 and iX.
8. Global Manufacturing: BMW operates numerous production facilities worldwide, including in Germany, the United States, China, and other countries, ensuring a global reach and localized production.
9. Brand Portfolio: In addition to its renowned BMW brand, the company also owns MINI and Rolls-Royce, catering to a diverse range of automotive tastes and luxury segments.
10. Cultural Impact: BMW's vehicles often become cult

11/21/2024

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11/16/2024

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Enrichment has become a well-used word in recent years, describing how we can add interest into the daily life of our dogs and give them chances to carry out natural behaviours. Stimulating body and mind as a part of looking after their wellbeing.

Probably the best-known form of enrichment comes in the form of food toys or puzzles, lick mats and foraging mats. These can be either shop bought or made at home from safe household recycling or by using towels or similar to hide pieces of food for the dog to search out.

Many dogs enjoy this activity a great deal, and it can be a great way to slow down eating if the dog tends to bolt their food. It can also lead to frustration if the puzzle is too tricky for that dog, or they are really hungry which has the opposite effect to what was intended (scatter feeding, spreading food in an area of the garden or around a room can be less frustrating while still giving the dog that opportunity to forage for their food).

There are several different forms of enrichment, some of which can tend to be missed or forgotten behind the better-known food-based enrichment.

Sensory enrichment is another area where it is relatively simple to include in the lives of our dogs. After all, the majority of us go out into the world with our dogs on a daily basis which gives access to one of the absolute best forms of sensory enrichment – sniffing. One of the most natural behaviours of all, sniffing allows the dog to explore and interpret the world around them using their primary sense – smell. Simply taking a few extra minutes on a walk to let them sniff and find out who’s been there since the last time they checked the canine message board is excellent enrichment and all it costs is a little more time.

We can offer different textures for our dogs – something that many of us will have to offer in our gardens already, with grass, paths, decking, perhaps. Different dog safe plants for them to investigate and move through can add interest, together with more opportunities for sniffing.

We can offer areas to dig and items to chew, both of which are important natural behaviours and giving specific chances to do so will reduce the likelihood of them spontaneously landscaping the garden or resculpting the furniture.

Another great way to enrich their environment is to offer a range of sleeping and resting spots, which is where the message in the image comes from. Historically it was typical to have one bed in the house and that’s where the dog always slept. Today this is less often the case, and dogs will often have a choice of places to sleep. If possible, including differing heights of sleeping spots is ideal as many dogs like to have different vantage points from which to watch the world. In our house the rooms we tend to spend most of our time in have around double the dog beds to the number of dogs, and they also have access to sofas and human beds depending on the room. If you don’t want your dog on your furniture, consider other ways to offer them higher sleeping places.

Enrichment is a huge topic, far more than I can cover in a post here – there are whole books on the topic! A few of my favourites are listed in the comments. The links shown are to the UK Amazon store, but you can search your own native Amazon store, search the ISBN on other bookselling sites, or ask your local bookstore to order you a copy. (As an Amazon affiliate I may earn a small commission from any Amazon purchases via these links).

11/15/2024

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11/12/2024

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It can be all too easy to look at a behaviour, particularly one that we find problematic, as an isolated thing that just occurs, or is put down to false and outdated ideas like 'dominance' or 'stubbornness'.

Think of behaviour as a symptom - underlying that behaviour there is an emotion driving that behaviour. Behaviours don't happen just 'because', there is always a reason for them and so it's up to us to learn how to understand what they are trying to tell us so we can work out what that emotion is.

And at the root of it all there will be a need. Something that is causing the dog to feel that particular emotion and so lead them to show the behaviour that we are seeing. Once we have discovered the emotion the dog is feeling, we can work out what the dog needs and help them to get whatever that may be.

The three pictures here give an example:

Behaviour: the dog is barking at something. If you look at their posture and body language the body is leaning back, away from what they are barking at. The ears are back, whiskers flared, and eyes fixed on something. The front paw is slightly lifted and there is a back paw in the air, and the back end of the dog may be lowered towards the ground a little.

Emotion: what the overall picture of the body language is telling us is that the dog is scared of the thing they are barking at, so the emotion they are feeling is fear.

Need: What this dog needs is immediate space from the thing that is bothering them, so they can feel relief from that fear and feel safer again. What they need going on is an increased feeling of safety and security, more trust in us to help them if they need it or get them out of a situation if it's too much for them.

When we can understand the need and emotion driving the behaviour we can understand our dogs far better and see where they need our help.

11/11/2024

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