Heat stress- different from heat stroke and is the point where you intervene before something bad happens. This is the point you need to take your dog home…. not just give it some water.
Know your dog - this was Louie’s limit- he’s a Brachycephalic breed which means he has a shorter nose compared to other breeds making breathing and panting less efficient.
Hopefully you can rest easy knowing that here at Chill and Paws we have your doggies best interests at heart and do everything we can do keep the doggy’s we care for cool and safe!
Give us your best tips for keeping your doggy’s cool below ⬇️ 🐶🥰
Ain’t nuttin gunna break my stride …. 🎶
Guess whose attention seeking has been inadvertently reinforced ever since the day I set eyes on the cute little bugger!!! 🥰🐶🤣 ok so there was nothing inadvertent about it I mean have you seen him !!! 🥺🥺❤️
Enrichment
Enirchment – it’s about so much more than food toys!
Most dogs love food toys of course they do but it’s so much more than just the food.
The dog has a choice to participate in the activity and that in itself is important. Dogs that are allowed to choose what activities they wish to partake in have more confidence than dogs whose choices are limited.
The activity itself helps build confidence through trial and error and figuring out how things work the dogs confidence grows as it learns to become better at the activity.
Good enrichment should allow for the dog to practice species typical behaviours. We seem to have forgotten that our pet dogs still have the desire to hunt/ chase/ scavenge and we do not provide enough activities to allow them to take part in these behaviours if they so wish.
Dogs that are not given choices lose confidence, can shut down completely and/or will find other releases that may not be so favourable to the owner as food toys.
It is worth noting that if your dog choses not to engage with food toys there may be a few things going on:
1- Is the task to difficult for your dog- dogs need time to learn and therefore you should always make the enrichment game as easy as it can be for your dog.
2- Something isn’t right – Does your dog lack the confidence to try? Is your dog well? Are your dogs other needs met in the environment? (this last one isn’t based on your opinion of what your dog needs, more what your individual dogs actual needs are). If your dog shows no interest in taking part in enrichment activities I would be checking that the dog feels safe enough, isn’t I’ll or in pain, or start a programme to build their confidence so they can begin enjoying natural doggy behaviours.
Don’t just assume you can push a food toy at your dog and they will love it- watch their body language… are they showing any signs of feeling uncomfortable? Frustrated? What can you do to help? We shouldn’t be forcing activities on ou