Donehogawa Utonagan

11/03/2025

🎉 COOPER WILL BE COMING HOME 🎉

How stunning is Cooper? He was seized on December 4th as a suspected XL Bully type dog, his owner was in court today where he was granted exemption.

Once he is neutered and the DEFRA registration is completed he will be returned home to his family who have missed him so much.

Hopefully not long till your homecoming now Cooper ❤️

11/03/2025

11/03/2025

DOUBLE TROUBLE
The challenges of raising two puppies together.

The problem behaviours that are commonly seen in dogs that are raised together is often mistakenly called “litter mate syndrome”, but these behaviours are not specific to dogs from the same litter and can occur with any 2 dogs that are raised together.

The problems that may develop have nothing to do with sharing similar DNA or coming from the same litter, but depends on how the pups are raised and how their environment is managed.

Problem behaviour is usually a combination of relational dynamics, poor socialisation, habituation, a lack of separate experiences and no individual resilience or self-confidence building.

Many people believe it’s a great idea to get two pups at the same time. They’ll be able to keep each other company when left alone, they won’t be bored; they’ll have each other to play with; they will always have a friend; both children in the family can have one; the breeder said it’s a good idea, you just couldn’t bear to leave the other one behind….and more, but this can lead to long term problems if there is no awareness of how to prevent potential problems.

Relying on the relationship between the dogs to fill the missing pieces of responsible pet parenting is setting the stage for the development of problem behaviours.

Although sibling pairs or 2 pups together may come with unique challenges, pups raised together can absolutely form healthy human bonds and develop into well-adjusted, confident dogs as long as their care givers are aware of what could go wrong and are prepared to put in the work to raise them.

11/03/2025

🎉 SHADOW WON 🎉

Thank you for all your good wishes for Shadow, his case was won in court today, he will be home once neutered and the paperwork is completed with DEFRA.

We are looking forward to seeing the reunion in a few weeks ❤️

06/03/2025

✨ CHANGES TO BUSINESS ✨

Going forward I will be looking at having to implement some changes to how things run and adjusting the work/life balance a bit better.

My health really isn’t on my side just now and I don’t want to add stress onto myself with the worry of having to reschedule bookings etc as I hate doing that.

I will still be offering all the same services but with a lot more structured approach and potentially decreased hours.

It’s not something I want to do, it’s something I have to do unfortunately.

Updates will follow in the next week or so.

Thanks,

Morgan x

04/03/2025

I STILL NEEDED MY MOM

THE CONSEQUENCES OF TAKING PUPS TOO YOUNG

The early life experiences of a puppy are so important and have a significant influence on how that pup develops - emotionally, mentally, socially and physically.

There are still many so-called “breeders” that allow pups to be taken away at 6 weeks.

Uninformed people just accept this without question and are often unprepared for the consequences.

Just because a puppy may no longer physically depend on mom for food doesn’t mean they are ready to cope emotionally, without the security of their family unit, in a strange new home.

A 6-week-old puppy is still very reliant on mom and their littermates to learn appropriate play behaviour, impulse control, frustration tolerance, bite inhibition, self-confidence and develop the social skills that will help them grow into well-adjusted adults.

Although 8 weeks is the bare minimum that a reputable breeder will allow their pups to leave, some will keep their puppies until 10 or 12 weeks of age, but also make sure that proper, age-appropriate socialisation and habituation is provided.

Habituation is getting a puppy used to different things in an environment in a positive way, at the right developmental time. This could look like introducing different objects, noises, sounds, smells, different textures, places etc, so the puppy learns that these things are not something to be afraid of.

However, we don’t live an in ideal world and having to care for or rescue pups much younger than 8 weeks is often unavoidable due to different circumstances.

In these cases, we need to do what we can and hope for the best.

This post is not about this kind of situation, it’s about spreading knowledge, creating awareness, understanding and encouraging people not to support unethical, irresponsible breeders that allow their pups to leave too early, with no regard for their wellbeing or development.

20/02/2025

18/02/2025

BONNIE IS NOT A BANNED BREED 🎉

With thanks to Avon and Somerset Police for taking the time to come and assess Bonnie in her own home.

The following is what Bonnie's owner has written about her experience of rescuing a possible banned breed.....
We rescued bonnie in June 2024 and we're told she was a pocket bully when we went to see bonnie we instantly knew she wasn't but had fallen in love with her we measured bonnie and at that point she was 18 inches we suspected more a standard bully but bonnie was only 8 months old we'd whilst out and about with bonnie few people had suggested she could be XL type, her height for one wasn't far off so we decided that we would contact our local police force because the last thing we wanted was for her to be seized later on down the line. 2 really friendly officers came out to see bonnie within the week took some photos of her and her height and stuff and these had to be sent over the dog liaison officer and an appointment would be made. These officers had advised us to act as if she was to keep her safe. Before their arrival she was microchip and public liability insured and we'd purchased a muzzle to start the training. Because bonnie was only 8 months old we were advised that the dlo would probably wait until after Bonnie's first birthday which also gave us time to get her neutered as she was in season when they arrived in September. We reached out to you guys who have been really supportive and also advised us along this journey. We discussed interim exemption with the first lot of police officers and they told us all the requirements that needed to be in place in order to get this and had gave us a really good chance of getting exemption due to the fact we'd cooperated and had put all steps in place. Fast forward 5 months and we'd had a phone call from an officer from Avon and Somerset Police to confirm an appointment with ourselves with regards to Bonnie's assessment with the dlo. This officer gave us contact details for herself if we had any questions. Today bang on time 4 officers arrived at our home address including the 2 that we had at our first visit and the lady who'd been answering all my questions. Bonnie was assessed at home and we were informed bonnie was in fact not bulky enough to be deemed as type and her hock and back was too straight and tail was to height to be deemed as pit bull type as well. They asked if I had any questions and soon told us that they would be updating their files bonnie is safe and would be staying home with no further actions.
The whole process has seemed so daunting and full of uncertainty but yourself and the police have infact been so supportive the whole way through the process and as a family we could not be more grateful. With thanks to you guys especially because I was prepared every step of the way 😊x

18/02/2025

ARE YOU WORTH COMING BACK TO?

I’m often horrified when I watch people trying to get their dogs to come back to them when they call.

They call and call and get increasingly angry and frustrated as their dog keeps ignoring them.

When their dog eventually comes back, or has been chased and "captured” by the now really angry person, they get screamed at, yanked about, or punished in some way for taking so long and not listening.

Why on earth would a dog want to return to someone who does this to them!

The most common reason dogs don’t come back when we call is because it’s not a positive experience.

A new environment is generally far more rewarding, stimulating and exciting than coming back to us.
An exciting scent or seeing something to chase can all override a response to recall.

Make coming back to you well worth it by always making it a rewarding experience and keep practicing this throughout a dog’s life.

Have a little patience if it takes longer than you would like, let your dog finish what they’re doing before calling them, practice in different locations and environments and never reprimand or punish them for coming back.

There is never a guarantee of a perfect recall each and every time, but making it a rewarding experience will greatly improve the rate of success.

18/02/2025

WHY LOVE ALONE IS NOT ENOUGH

This is a very belated Valentine’s related post, but still falls within the month of love!

Dogs need so much more than just our love.

I would presume that we all love our dogs, but just loving them is not enough.

Love is far from just the name of an emotion or feeling – a noun.

Love is a verb – a “doing” word.
It’s the doing word of building relationship, trust, understanding, patience, acceptance, communication, consent, respect, nurturing and a commitment to ongoing wellbeing.

Love is asking – What can I do to meet my dog’s needs? Instead of asking - How do I make my dog behave? When a dog’s needs are met, behaviour problems often solve themselves.

Just like one person loving another, loving a dog is a “doing” word, not just something that we feel.

09/02/2025

The new KSAR clinic needs an x-ray machine in house. Every year we spend about 10,000 USD doing x-rays at a stationary machine across town that is old, low quality, ta...

05/02/2025

Had a lot of you messaging me asking how I got on today at the hospital, which has been really kind 🧡!

So after seeing the Neurologist today I’ve been diagnosed with FND (functional neurological disorder).

I feel it’s important that my clients are aware of what’s going on as after all I wouldn’t have a business without you all.

What is FND?
Functional neurological disorder (FND) is a problem largely impacting the function of the brain. In FND, the normal pathways your brain uses to move, feel, speak, walk, and/or think, are disrupted. This promotes symptoms such as paralysis (not being able to move part of the body), speech issues, episodes that resemble seizures or TIAs, extra movements such as tremor or jerks, problems with memory, etc.

There is no medication that can fix FND meaning when I get a flare up it’s something I will just have to manage as best as I can. I’m hoping the flare ups won’t be a frequent thing as I am worried this could be damaging to my business that I’ve worked so hard to build but there’s no pattern etc to the flare ups they are very random.

Thank you too everyone who’s allowed me to move appointments recently with the flare up I’ve just had.

Morgan x

05/02/2025

SETTING THE TONE
The tone of voice we use when speaking to a dog matters!

When someone is talking to us or asking us to do something, are we more likely to respond and want to connect with them if they’re using a specific type of tone than if their tone is harsh, shouting or domineering?

The more we use positive tones of voice with our dogs, the more they will want to connect with us and be more interested in doing what we are asking.

Some examples of why tone matters –

Calling your dog to come back to you in a happy, excited, high-pitched tone is far more likely to work than using a stern, loud, angry tone. Would you want to return to someone who sounds really angry?

Yanking on a leash and shouting at a dog for reacting to another dog or situation is far less likely to work than saying “lets go this way!” in a happy tone and creating distance to where a dog feels comfortable.

Saying “Yes!” when a dog has done what you ask will increase the behaviour you’re looking for instead of yelling “No!” in an angry tone when they don’t get it right.

Although these examples are based on positive reinforcement training, a study has also shown that dogs respond and pay more attention when we speak with a higher pitch and more variation, similar to how we would talk to a baby.

Given that a dog’s emotional capability is similar to that of a young child, this all makes sense and fits together, in my opinion.

Here’s a link to the study if you’d like more information -

https://www.nature.com/articles/s42003-023-05217-y

05/02/2025

I NOSE HOW YOU FEEL
One of the most incredible things about dogs is their ability to recognize and respond to our emotions, but just how do they know how we’re feeling?

They may not understand the emotion we are feeling, but their brains are wired to understand whether that emotion makes them feel safe or not.

From an evolutionary perspective; for their survival, it was and still is, important for dogs to know which humans were safe to be around and which were not.

Dogs recognize the different chemical scents we produce through our skin or breath, our facial expressions or body language and our tone of voice.

Although we’re not aware of it, we emit different scents when experiencing positive emotions compared to when we experience negative emotions. Dogs have an amazing ability to recognize these different scents.

A dog's sense of smell is incredibly powerful and far superior to ours. Dogs have +/- 300 million olfactory receptors in their nose, sometimes more depending on the breed, compared to +/- 5 to 6 million in humans. In addition to this, the part of their brain that processes scent is around 40 times bigger than ours.

Dogs also recognize our facial expressions and body language. Just like we might stay well away from or not want to interact with someone who looks really angry and be more drawn and responsive to a happy, relaxed looking person.

Tone of voice – more info on this in my previous post.

Dogs can be such a comfort to us when we need emotional support or aren’t feeling well, but some of our emotions many have a negative effect on them.

Working with or interacting with a dog when we’re feeling angry, stressed, frustrated or having a bad day is not a good idea. It’s far better to wait until we feel more relaxed and calmer.

Dogs have rich emotional lives – just as we should try to be aware of their emotions, also be aware of how our emotions may affect them.

27/01/2025