Ulti-Mutt Dogs

26/08/2024

Happy international dog day! 🐾 Let’s celebrate them today and every day 🐕

27/04/2023

🐾🎓Puppy Graduate’s 🎓🐾
A huge round of appaws to each and every one of these pups & their dog parents!

They’ve all shown fantastic improvement week by week and we’ve loved being a part of their journey!

We will be sure to pop a few photos of what they got up to over the next few weeks 🐾

17/03/2023

Happy St Patrick's day! 🇮🇪🍀

Can you guess the dog breed? 🐕

03/02/2023

It’s National Golden Retriever day!

Here at Ulti-Mutt Dogs we love our Goldies 💕🐾

01/02/2023

REACTIVITY REDEFINED
Although reactivity has other causes, many types of reactivity are triggered by the core emotion of fear.
The fear of whatever is making a dog feel unsafe, the fear of a valuable possession being taken away or the fear of a strange person or animal coming into their territory. Anxiety, stress, over excitement, over stimulation, feeling overwhelmed, trigger stacking, or a dog that is tired, in pain or even has chronic itching will often feel irritable and may be reactive in certain situations. When being reactive is successful in making the scary thing go away, it becomes a rewarding behaviour because it’s something that works and makes them feel better.
Reactive dogs are often misunderstood. A dog that is reacting is not trying to be difficult, they are having a difficult time coping with that particular situation and are trying their best to make the thing go away in the only way they know how.
It’s not easy to be the owner of a reactive dog. One of my dogs is reactive and I know how dogs like this can leave you feeling embarrassed, ashamed, angry or frustrated. Why do they have to be so difficult, why can’t they just behave normally? Everyone is looking at me, judging me, thinking that I’m a bad owner, have no training skills, can’t control my dog or have a unsocialised, vicious dog that shouldn’t be taken out in public.
As hard as it may be, we need to take the focus off how we as owners feel about their reactivity and focus on how our dogs are feeling and what is causing their reaction. Whatever it is, it’s not something our dogs can overcome on their own and we need to take steps to help them cope. Reactive dogs need compassion, understanding, management, force free, positive reinforcement interventions and decompression – a return to a normal, more relaxed state after a period of intense stress, psychological pressure, or urgent activity. These interventions take time and patience but are so important in helping our dogs feel safe and learn more acceptable ways of coping.
I have learnt through many mistakes, to recognise what triggers my reactive dog and take steps to either avoid those situations, provide enough distance, or provide her with an alternative choice where she feels safe and more in control. There will always be unexpected triggers around the next corner that are not within our control, but doing all we can to manage reactive triggers has so many benefits.

29/01/2023

Larry loves apples 🍎 But eating too many makes for a poorly belly! So when I see him heading to the apple tree, I need to recall him.

Succesful recall requires giving your dog something equal too, if not better than, what they want to go and do instead.
Whether that's playing with dogs, chasing deer, scavenging food, amongst other things.

Larry gets sandwich paste or primula. We switch it up to keep things interesting.

(The collie, Roo, hasn't been trained to a whistle recall hence the slow reaction, whistles are only a recall tool if trained to be that way)

Let us know if we can help you get immediate response to recall 🐶

28/01/2023

🐾The puppy stage is an exciting time, filled with new experiences and a bright future for you and the new addition to your family. However, it can be a lot more challenging than you may expect. This is where our puppy classes come in. We can help you build your knowledge, practice essential skills and provide a supportive network to help you through the tougher moments.

Some of the things we will work on in our classes;

• Socialisation - learning how to socialise both in class and when out on your own.
• Body language - how to read and understand your puppies cues.
• Greetings - how to say hello to people and other dogs.
• You and your dog - how to build a strong and long lasting relationship.
• Focus - how to gain and keep your dogs concentration both on and off the lead
• Behaviours - how to identify and encourage desirable behaviours
• Confidence - How to create a safe and nurturing environment allowing your dog to explore build confidence.

Our aim is to give helpful advice, whilst creating a fun and safe environment for you and your puppy.
And our goal is to help you be the best dog parent you can be 🐶

🐾Contact us for more information or to secure your place today

16/01/2023

That Monday morning feeling! 💤🐾

15/01/2023

Dominance theory fact or myth? Have a read to find out 📚🐾

26/08/2022

It's International Dog day 🙌 But we think dogs should be celebrated every day 💗

26/08/2022

08/08/2022

We had the absolute pleasure of looking after Harry & Luna on Saturday 🥰 Such sweet doggos 🐕💗

We can help with your weekend dog care needs, get in touch!