That Dog

Those of you local to Wrexham, I highly recommend JML Pets in Gwersyllt! Popped today and they always have great deals and some good bargains for your dogs!! 😁 We got some new chews, toys, and they have a wide range of food and bedding to go with it!! Boys enjoying their chews, and me enjoying the peace and quiet 😆

I'm very honest on my page and I'm very honest with my clients. I could easily manipulate my social media videos so my dogs always look amazing when in reality they're not robots. Kevin is 8 months old, he's a teenager, and he's a boy... He's going to keep me on my toes for the next 12 months minimum. Sherlock is my proof that there's another side to the teenage hurdle but I'm in it and I need to ride it out... So here's the daily ups and downs of having a teenager. 1. Lack of response to cues. Then complete disengagement. 2. Some really good, difficult retrieves. 3. Destroyed a bed. He has been asleep since 4.00pm though so obviously there's some processing going on in his little brain today 😂😂

Right.... slightly passive aggressive post but I mean it with love honestly! 🤔 I don't have a magic wand, I can't just 'fix' dogs. There are things you need to be doing at home with your dogs. 1. Exercise - is your dog getting opportunity to run off the lead, at full speed, at least a couple of times a week. Whether this is an enclosed field or not, if you have a frustrated dog, a teenage dog, a working breed, they NEED to run. 2. Diet - are they eating? Are they eating a nutritious diet? Are they the right weight? Is the diet suitable for the individual dog? Hungry dogs, dogs being fed high amounts of carbs, dogs with undiagnosed intolerances, and overweight dogs are all going to display problem behaviour. 3. Sleep - are they getting enough deep sleep a day? Proper, switch off, deep sleep. 18 hours + if you have a dog under 6 months and 14-16 hours if you have a dog over that. 4. Breed outlets - don't get a working dog and then get annoyed when it displays what it is bred for. Is your dog getting opportunity to do what it was bred to do? It's in their genetics, that behaviour is going to come out. 5. Rehearsal - are you letting them rehearse the problem behaviour? Are you managing their behaviour or are you letting them do the things you don't want them to do, and are you taking them into situations they can't handle? 6. Focus - can they focus on you inside the house? If your dog can't sit and give you eye contact in the house, is it realistic of you to expect them to be able to do that outside the house with distractions - and any other behaviour for that matter. 7. Energy levels - are they getting daily opportunity to burn off their energy to the point they look physically tired? Not a half hearted game of tug in front of the TV for five minutes, are they genuinely getting to burn off some steam. Teenage dogs have the highest levels of energy - get them using it: flirt pole/retrieves/tug/running/off lead time/playing with other dogs/etc! 8. Pa

When that teenage stage hits... don't take it personally. Kevin had a gundog session today and whilst we both had fun and learnt lots of new bits and pieces, it highlighted some things to work on with Mr teenager. 1. Lead walking around people 2. Four feet on the floor when someone has something fun 3. Stay with more distractions 4. Sit.... because apparently he's forgotten how to do that 😆 However it also highlighted some stuff he actually is okay at.... 1. Recall 2. Meeting new dogs and playing appropriately 3. Didn't jump up on meeting new person 4. Did some work with new dogs in close proximity 5. Retrieved to hand every single time 6. Learnt some new direction cues 7. Swimming/paddling He really loves retrieving, so much so he's so fixated on the dummy that he stops eating... which is a big thing for anyone that knows Kevin 🤣 SO.... It would be easy to come home and fixate on the things he wasn't perfect at, but actually he did some good stuff too. Take the wins, work on the stuff that pops up and power through! 😁

5 months with Kevin..... So puppy raising has given me a new perspective on what I feel are the foundation skills that a puppy should have and it's not the order I expected! 1. Socialisation I took Kevin everywhere! Cafes, parks, walks, shops, in the van, to classes, school trips, vets etc that was the absolute priority for me. 2. Engagement I'm fun to be with, I wanted him to know that. 3. Crate training I can't have a dog with separation anxiety when I live by myself and work by myself. Crate training started on day one. 4. Drop One of the first things I taught him through toy play. Makes things so much easier when you have a puppy running around with things they shouldn't have. 5. Recall Both to a cue and a whistle. He was off lead from his first walk in the park around other dogs. I wanted recall and engagement whilst he was in that puppy recall stage. 6. Retrieve Again, taught using play. Bringing things to me rather than running away and guarding them is beneficial and more fun! 7. Manners Simple things like don't pounce on the food bowl, wait until I give you permission to come out the crate, don't try and get out the van unless you're told. He's going to be a big dog, I want polite big dogs. 8. Leave it Taught using food, really really straightforward easy exercises 9. Down and go to bed Stay in a down position and go and sit on your bed when I ask you to. Sherlock helped teach that one. 10. Noise desensitisation Getting him use to loud noises, fireworks, the door knocking and teaching him to head towards the conservatory if he hears a knock on the door! Now you may have noticed I've done all of that and left out lead walking! I've actually not done much of that with Kevin at all, it wasn't on my list of priorities. It's something we're working on now but it was something I knew I could work on later on, I wanted to get everything else set up from day one to ensure I had good habits in place and a confident dog! This week I bo

It's been a while since I caused some controversy.... the problem with secure fields 😂😂 Now I LOVE a secure field for my dogs, not because they have behavioural issues or no recall but because I don't have to encounter other dogs running at me when I'm trying to enjoy a nice walk with my dogs 🤭 However.. when I use a secure field, I don't just unclip my dogs and ignore them for the hour. Secure fields are a great place to practice your dogs recall or as a decompression space for reactive dogs for example, or simply as a place where you don't have to see anyone else when you're out walking. However if you're not careful they can ruin your recall.... - If you are going to a secure field and unclipping your dog for the hour and not engaging with them during that time, you're teaching them the environment is more fun than you. - if they have no recall then trying to catch them at the end of a walk is damaging your recall. - if you only call your dog back to you to go home, you're going to damage your recall Take your dogs to the secure field but interact with them and work them! 😁 My dogs get some time to run and do whatever they want when we are there, but we do regular recall practices, I'll take some toys with me, we might do some fun trick training, might do some gun dog retrieves etc but you can see how close they choose to be and how much they try and get some interaction when we are there 😂 I'm not saying be a fun sponge and not to let them enjoy the field but you'll be surprised how spending even a quarter of the time that you're there doing 'something' with them will make your life easier 😁 If you're not sure you will be able to get your dog back at the end of a trip then stick them on a long line until you are confident they're listening. Enjoy me being mobbed by my dogs and if you stay til the end you might get a blooper!

I’m always honest on this page and it’s been a difficult week. If you’re one of those people that have provided support in any way whilst I’ve had quite a few teary moments know that you are very much appreciated! ❤️ I’ve had a wobble, and I promise to get a grip and get back to being on top form soon 🥹 In the meantime, day by day, Kevin enters the teenage stage of development… the time where most people start to think “oh my god, what have I done” Enjoy this funny clip of our “go to bed” stand off yesterday. Kevin knows what this means, but in all honesty the pizza I was eating caused a lapse in self control. It gave me a laugh, and I don’t know what I’d do without them 🥰🐾

Who are we??

We’ve been going a bit viral this week with loads of new people following the page after watching videos of the boys being their crazy selves!! 🤣 So here’s a quick video introducing them both and what they like getting up to! 😆 Feel free to introduce your dogs! Would be lovely to put dogs to faces!! ❤️

Because I know all of you LOVE videos of my dogs being idiots so here you go!! Anyone else's dalmatian like to stick as close to them as physically possible? Or charging head first into furniture when they have a whole field to run about in?? 😆😆 So in this video you get: - slobbering - off lead heeling - colliding into benches - Kevins ridiculously slow running - Kevins really none discrete stalking - Me dancing because my dog got a retrieve - Sherlock also celebrating because Kevin got a retrieve - Kevin hitting everyone with a frisbee I mean come on... what's not to love 🤔🤔🤔

Communication between dogs! 😁 So my dog eat their meals separately, and if they have high value chews they eat them in separate areas; simply I don't want to cause issues or have them feel like they need to guard. They do have a box of chews and toys that they have access to at all times that they will help themselves to 😁 When Kevin first came home, Sherlock wouldn't share ANYTHING with him, it's not a natural behaviour for dogs to share their resources. And he has been used to being an only child for a long time. Lots of management, Sherlock knows a drop and leave, it was one of the first things I worked on with Kevin. Fast forward to this. They will regularly take chews and share them like this. They might take it in turns or they might sit and eat the same chew, this isn't something I've pushed, I've watched it, but as their relationship has developed so has this behaviour 😍 In fact Kevin has a really annoying habit of being desperate for someone to share with him, to the point he’ll try and eat a chew on Sherlocks head or my shoulder 🙈 Notice though, the clip at the end. Sherlock has decided he's had enough of the sharing. That's fine. He had a bit of a grumble and a lip curl and Kevin understood and moved away politely. Communication!😁