Everyday K9s Dog Training

09/02/2024

08/02/2024

Who knew mopping could be so harmful to us and our dogs!

07/02/2024

Like and comment on the post to be in with a chance to win. I use mainly Pawstrading toys in my training videos as I love the quality and variety 😊

Winning Wednesday! It's time for the first of our Crufts giveaways! Simply like and comment to be in with a chance of winning this incredible Paws Made bundle for your dogs. Please note, this prize must be collected from our stand at Crufts, but don't worry, we have an incredible giveaway planned for all of you who won't be able to join us coming soon. Good luck! 💛 The winner will be announced publicly on this page on Wednesday 14th February.

05/02/2024

Merlin - Shelridge the Magician AW(B) DMWYD Trick Titles (ND, ITD, ETD)
17/12/2010 - 11/01/2024

DINAS Finalist 2015
Agility Club Starters Finalist 2016
UKA Grand Finals (K9 Massage Guild Challenge Finalist) 2017
UKA Grand Finals (Grand Prix Finalist) 2019

On 11 January 2024, my wonderful blue man passed away.

Merlin was my first competition agility dog and taught me so much, from when we started in a clicker training display team, to an agility display team and then moving on to competitive agility. Without Merlin, I would not be doing agility today and I would not have made so many wonderful friends.

Merlin taught me a great deal about working with an under confident dog. In his younger days he was often ring shy. I worked to find the joy in agility for him and he ended up loving going to shows so much. He was one win away from G6 when ill health meant he was not enjoying running anymore and so we retired, with our final run being at the UKA Grand Finals in 2019.

Merlin still enjoyed attending shows and meeting people. If you were sitting on the ground, you usually ended up with a Sheltie on your lap as that clearly meant you were there to cuddle him. Considering as a young dog he was nervous of people and would bark at strangers, agility really helped him come out of his shell.

After KCI last year I noticed Merlin was going downhill. Subtle things like struggling to keep up on walks. He was still bright and happy, even though he had to take things slower. Then in December he deteriorated again and stopped eating. Vet suspected another mini-stroke and medications perked him up. He made it to his 13th birthday and was happy through Christmas, then he suddenly crashed again.

On 11th December a scan revealed a tumour on his adrenal gland. It was also suspected he had mouth cancer, as a lump in his mouth was suddenly growing bigger. He had become anorexic and I knew it was time to say goodbye.

Sleep well beautiful boy, until we meet again. Thank you for everything you gave me and the journey we shared ###

07/01/2024

My audience while I was baking this morning 😆

03/01/2024

Merlin has not been well over December, he stopped eating and getting his appetite back has been a challenge. I have started home cooking for him and he is loving his special meals.

This is chicken with swede, parsnip, sprouts, broccoli and a small amount of brown rice.

Rice is a controversial ingredient for dog food, but brown rice has some good benefits including being low GI, anti-inflammatory and containing protein and fibre.

02/01/2024

The final part of goal setting is reflecting on our achievements. This can be the point when people go wrong and use their goals as a way of negatively critiquing the year that has just past.

There can be many reasons why we do not reach the goals we set, but we should never use those reasons as an excuse to berate ourselves. We can reflect on how we could do better, but in a neutral non-critical manner.

If become critical of yourself when you fail to achieve the goals you set, this is the video for you 😉

If you enjoyed these mindset videos and would like me to discuss further topics let me know 😁

Goal Setting: Reflecting on goals

First off, happy new year!If you've watched our previous videos you will have an idea of how to get into the right mindset for using goals, and how to set re...

01/01/2024

Setting goals can be a lot of fun, but it can also be a source of frustration. What is a good goal to set and what is not?

In part 2 of the goal setting series we look at setting your goals to achieve success.

Goal Setting: How to set goal

In our previous video we explored how to have the correct mindset for using goals as a tool. In this video we look at how to set realistic and achievable goa...

01/01/2024

Happy 2024! May all your goals and dreams come true this year!

31/12/2023

As we head into a new year many of us will be reflecting on how it achievements from the last year and setting goals for 2024.

Goal setting can be positive for our mindset, but it can also be negative if we use it to berate ourselves or set ourselves and our dogs up to fail. In this three part series I share advice on goal setting, how to get the most from it and how to avoid harmful thought patterns.

Enjoy part 1 and Happy New Year 😊

Goal Setting: The Right Mindset for Goals

With the new year approaching, you may be thinking about setting goals you want to achieve next year. In this video we talk about having the right mindset fo...

28/12/2023

Sparrow’s New Year Resolution is to try doggy parkour and earn some titles ❤️🤩

11/11/2023

Good morning!

02/11/2023

Settling into hotel life ready for the British Agility Championships tomorrow!

14/09/2023

The hate for this post is really quite shocking. As someone who owns both full pedigree dogs and crosses it saddens me to see the nasty comments.

Yes puppy farmers produce certain crosses but they also breed ‘pedigree’ dogs. Sadly such attitudes do not help the issue.

I support responsible breeding whether that is pure or crossed breeds. Honestly these days I don’t even care that much if my dog is KC registered. What matters to me is health testing, the way the pup is raised and breeder back up.

TJ the Cockapoo, owned by Mims Davies MP has today been crowned Westminster Dog Of The Year 2023. Organised in collaboration with Dogs Trust, this year's event focused on the theme of responsible ownership.

Second place went to Cadi, the Cocker Spaniel, owned by Anna McMorrin MP; third place went to James Daly MP with Bertie the Labrador.

Read more about the winners at thekennelclub.org.uk/wdoty.

📷Michael Leckie/PA

08/08/2023

It has been hard to miss the recent news about the activities of a well-known agility person that broke over the weekend.

For some of us this comes as no surprise, others are suddenly discovering the reality of the situation that has been hidden by clever marketing and misdirection.

I have never been associated with them, thankfully, though back in my early days of agility I considered (briefly) a puppy from them until I learned more about them.

A popular name being supported by top handlers is easy to be blindsided by.

With the truth coming out it has left many feeling betrayed and confused. That is understandable. But know that wherever your dog came from, the important thing is they are now with you being given the best life.

As Maya Angelou said,
“Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better do better.”

And here is a pic of my oldest retired agility dog Merlin, still as valued as when he was running and always with me ❤️

22/07/2023

Swift is on her holibobs, farm-sitting with my brother 😊

12/07/2023

Today Magpie ran her first full agility course. Due to having massive issues with the seesaw we have not been able to run a full course, but we have been really patient and today she did both the dog walk and seesaw confidently as part of a sequence 😊

01/07/2023

I have been away camping for 15 days, starting to forget what home looks like 😆 But in between doing results and admin for our show I have managed to qualify Swift for the G3 finals tomorrow 🤩

08/06/2023

It’s been a long journey to get Magpie confident with the seesaw, so this run yesterday at training made my heart sing 😁

07/06/2023

Merlin worried me last week when I spotted lumps in his mouth. His lovely vet thinks they are epulis, benign masses, so just got to keep an eye on them.

Merlin remains as happy as ever, living his best life. As you can see he enjoyed sniffing the wild lupins down on the beach last weekend 😉

06/06/2023

This is the Magpie version of the course at training last week. Due to her worries with the seesaw her confidence has not always been great on the dogwalk, so was really pleased she did not hesitate to do it even after some seesaw work.

Let her just get on with things and her drive was fab. She is really growing into agility and starting to shine ❤️🐄🐶

03/06/2023

It’s with great sadness I learned today of the passing of a person who has played such a huge part in the agility community and who I have known for many years.

Jayne Fuller was a judge, show organiser and trainer, as well as a successful agility handler. I first met her when she was running UKA shows and I was just starting out with Merlin.

She was the judge we ran under when Merlin qualified for the Agility Club Starters Challenge and won out to G3 in the process.

She will be sadly missed and my heart goes out to her family and friends at this difficult time

01/06/2023

Swift running at training. I wanted to really push her distance and challenge her independence. The weave entry from the dogwalk threw her a little and she was a little hesitant.

I failed to cue the next tunnel early enough and so she pulled towards the jump instead.

31/05/2023

Had a lovely time at Nottingham Agility Show. Both dogs starting to shine in their distance work. Judge even complimented Swift’s run in the Novice Cup where we picked up faults in the weaves. He said it was a nice run with unlucky faults.

Swift also managed to come 6th in one of her agility classes.

Also had a great time being ring party for Katie Lines 😁

30/05/2023

This! 👇

The idea of dogs as “pack animals” is a long standing myth that is unfortunately still with us now.

Groups of dogs, usually in small numbers or just pairs, form loose associations with one another, there is no “alpha”, and there are not clear dominant-subordinate hierarchies an d structures between them.

This makes sense, since dogs are primarily scavengers and scavenging can be done individually. They rarely hunt for sustenance and it’s even more rare that they do so in groups.

It’s important to understand this because this myth of dogs being pack animals often leads to harmful actions towards dogs, especially if we also assume we as humans are somehow part of our dogs’ “pack” when they know we’re not dogs. These harmful actions include:

- Making dogs go on stressful and unnatural large group “pack walks” where dogs are wearing aversive equipment and have no way of moving away.

- Making dogs “heel” or walk behind us and obey us while not being able to engage in any natural behaviours to put them in a so-called “pack drive” or a “follower state” which just isn’t a thing.

- Thinking we need to exert “dominance” or be the “alpha” by using punishment and aversive corrections.

- Labels like “alpha” and “dominant” leads us to think that certain natural behaviours our dogs do is an act of “defiance” or trying to be the “alpha”, and this results in the use of aversive methods and intimidation to “put them in their place”.

There was never a power struggle between us and dogs when dogs first became dogs and there also isn’t a power struggle between dogs. We don’t have to project the unfortunate hierarchical structures between humans onto dogs.

Instead of holding onto the idea that dogs are “pack animals” and thinking of ourselves as part of their “pack”, we can look at our relationship with dogs as one that is collaborative, built on friendship and care, and with no hierarchy.

Like with any of our close loved ones, we can love our dogs for who they are, learn from each other, help them to be happy and have their needs met, and help them be safe and feel safe! This makes us all free and empowered in this amazing relationship between fellow sentient beings.

Resources:
- Boitani, L., & Ciucci, P. (1995). Comparative social ecology of feral dogs and wolves. Ethology Ecology & Evolution, 7(1), 49–72. doi:10.1080/08927014.1995.9522969
- Marshall-Pescini, S., Cafazzo, S., Virányi, Z., & Range, F. (2017). Integrating social ecology in explanations of wolf–dog behavioral differences. Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences, 16, 80–86. doi:10.1016/j.cobeha.2017.05.002
- Larson, G., & Burger, J. (2013). A population genetics view of animal domestication. Trends in Genetics, 29(4), 197–205. doi:10.1016/j.tig.2013.01.003

ID: The background image shows two dogs, a white dog with pointy ears and a black dog with floppy ears, lying down on the ground next to each other. The text says “Dogs are not pack animals and ‘pack drive’ is not a thing.”

21/05/2023

HAPPY SUNDAY

Hope you are having a great weekend with your four-legged buddies

20/05/2023

Spending some time with nanny while mum helps on a ring 💙

20/05/2023

Shout out to those attending DBDT this weekend and good luck if you have qualified in the finals! I have one last shot at qualifying with Swift!

19/05/2023

With the weather warming up it is definitely worth knowing about the risk of adder bites. I have a whole article on the subject, including advice to keep your dog safe and what to do if the worst does occur.

Unfortunately, I do know of cases of dogs being bitten by adders and it is vital they get rapid treatment.

There is only one venomous snake in the UK: the European adder. Adder bites are extremely rare, but every once in a while, a dog gets bitten by a snake. Learn how to minimise the risk of this happening and what to do if a bite occurs to keep your dog safe.