I don’t know many people that say they hate Autumn.
We all complain about the gloom and the damp, the cold weather and the grey skies, but there’s the brightest colours to make it all feel good.
Yesterday whilst with a client, the leaves from her Lime tree suddenly rained down like confetti, fluttering around us as her puppy played and chased them around.
Autumn, for our dogs, brings all the smells and damp earth that they love. The smells of wild animals sneaking around at night, the hunting amongst piles of fallen foliage, are a dream landscape for a dog.
Of course, there is something really heartwarming for us about kicking through crunchy leaves and seeking out conkers.
Now is the time of year to take your dog for longer, rambling walks. Let your dog sniff to his heart’s content as he potters around following the squirrels’ paths as they tease him from high above.
Let the dogs learn how to play with one another, especially those of you with puppies. Set up a nice Autumn walk, wrap up warm, even think of getting a little coat to keep puppy warm whilst their coat develops. Find nice adult dogs that are generous with a youngster. Let them get to know one another and have a little game. There are fewer things more enjoyable than watching your dog caper about with another one!
Along with leaves and damp comes plenty of mud! Leave some towels laid out flat by the door, so that you and your dog can come in without fear of transferring the wet any further. It keeps the doormats a little cleaner, and towels soak up most of the moisture from their paws. There’s nothing to stop you bundling them around your dog too, for a drying off cuddle, as long as you both enjoy this of course!
If your dog really is soaking, and you know this is likely, set up a drying crate. Our Collie used to jump into every dyke possible, some very silty! I would then try to send him to swim in a clearer one, before we came home. At home I had set up his crate by the door with a tasty chew placed inside and a few treats thrown in as we arrived. Inside the crate were dry towels with a few more over the top to catch the inevitable shaken off water.
Result? One dry, clean-ish dog by the time he had finished his chew. It also gave me lots of time to change my shoes and clothes into something a bit more indoor-friendly.
Next, another favourite Autumn pastime. Cuddling on the sofa with my dogs snoozing on a blanket, watching repeats of ‘Bake Off’ and seeing the squally weather remaining firmly outside the window.
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How long does it take to train a dog?
How long does it take to train a dog?
This is a question I would love to have a set answer to. I was asked recently if I could ‘cure’ a dog of the problems he has picked up over 8 years of his life. He needed a lot of help, but we cannot wipe his memory clean of all those moments he was allowed to do things the human family didn’t like.
If only we could spare a few minutes each day. Two sessions, five minutes each, or three sessions of just a couple of minutes each, every day, can be spent training your dog. Asking your dog to sit for a couple of seconds, paying him with a piece of food, then repeating it again a few times, is plenty of training in a single session and will take only a short time.
If you repeat this, ten minutes in total per day, you have completed over an hour of training in only a week (70 minutes to be exact). Multiply this over a year and we have over sixty hours spent teaching your dog all the good manners you want.
You might say you do not have time. However, how many times do you say ‘no’ to your dog? Do you push him off the sofa or have a miserable walk with him dragging you about? I am sure you spend a lot longer on this.
The answer is easy. Have a plan of working with your canine best friend a little each day. If you need guidance, my book ’21 Days to the Perfect Dog’ will help you as if follows a daily plan.
Whether you have a new pup or an older pooch, start by counting out ten small but tasty treats, and ask for a sit for each one. Those are your dog’s wages. Tomorrow, ask him to sit for a little longer. Once he has this established and is confident, choose to ask him to lie down for the same ten treats each day. Then, do the same thing in the garden. Start in the back garden if this is quieter, then the front. Next, practice it on your walk.
After this, give him a treat for walking at heel. The same ten repetitions will help. Before long you have a nice attentive dog who is earning wages. Not a miserable, fed up dog who cannot understand what you want and hears the word ‘no’ (which basically means, nothing much or that you are cross and fed up).
From now on, the word ‘no’ means ‘I am an impatient, not very good trainer’. Maybe we can work for ten minutes a day on improving your skill, too!
Have fun!
Play mates and play dates for your dog
How do you recognise your dog’s doggy friends? Can you tell which dogs are likely to be fun playmates, from the ones you meet? I still hear many complaints about the ‘bouncy’ dog that lands like a grenade amongst other dogs and squashes, pounds and pummels the unsuspecting peers into the grass.
‘He’s only being friendly!’ the owner says, oblivious to the upset and annoyance they have allowed their dogs to create.
If another owner dares to complain or points out that their dog might not be so receptive to this canine wrecking ball on legs, it is met with denial, even aggression, from the other owner. If the other dog themselves decides to respond by attempting to move the wrestler dog away, that can also be met with owner hostility.
If I had a fiver for every owner that has told me about situations like this, where their own dog has been left terrified or has snapped at a boisterous visitor, I would be inviting you all onto my yacht for parties!
Let’s focus on what makes a suitable playmate for your dog, and what makes your dog into a good sociable pal.
Firstly, take a look at your own pooch. Is he or she a confident, relaxed dog, or can they be a little sensitive to things? Are they physically quite small, but tough? Or are they reluctant to ‘get physical’ and prefer to stay near you. If they are physically fit, young, wiry and bouncy, you can probably mix them with all different sizes of dog, as long as they do not turn into a bossy protagonist. If they are more delicate, frail, elderly or very young, a big bouncy dog will probably flatten them and create a fear that will last a lifetime. Instead, a dog of similar size, or a larger one that is relaxed and gentle, would be their best bet.
Of course, many small dogs do not regard the size of the other dog as an issue. All too often they realise too late that whilst it is not the ‘size of the dog in the fight, it is the size of the fight in the dog’, a bigger dog has more power and physical size to suppress even the most enthusiastic little dog.
Planning a play date is an important part of your dog’s week, especially if you normally live in a remote area. A walk where there are other dogs may end up being a bit hit and miss (or hit and run with some dogs!) so make sure you choose your dog’s regular playmates wisely.
Meeting up for a walk and a play can help both dogs to interact with a ‘give and take’ game. This is where one dog takes the lead, but then rests whilst the other directs the play. Anything too one sided and the balance will tip, probably into a squabble. Give them a rest and see if you can reintroduce them when they are both calmer.
Karen’s new book ‘Being a dog’ is available on PRE-ORDER here!
Being a Dog: The world from your dog’s point of view
It takes a community to raise a dog
Such terrible news stories appear about animal cruelty.
I am not a fan of sharing such nightmarish tales, as some of you may agree. I work with dogs but this does not mean I would like pictures of suffering delivered to my Facebook page from all over the world. However, we have to take responsibility for the actions of our community. Is there any change we can make right now, or is it a case of hoping these horrors never happen?
The lovely gent who looks after and chivvies me to send in these columns, brought to my attention the recent discovery of the body of a dog that had been violently harmed, near Yaxley. It was a dreadfully sad story, and my heart goes out to the poor person that disovered it. Not to mention the poor animal itself.
The question offered to me was, is there any other way we can trace the owners or person that did this? As you know, microchipping your dog is now compulsory (see last week’s column, and book your dog in NOW to avoid a fine).
A microchip might tell us to whom the dog belongs, but often there is no more evidence.
However, it is hard to own a dog and keep it a secret. We do not live in an isolated community where no one makes any contact. We need to go shopping, we need to leave our homes. We take our cars for fuel. More than ever before, we have social media. Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Vine, and the latest Periscope… Even photos of everyone’s feet (no idea why), cars and dinner appear on these, so surely somewhere there is a picture of the dog-victim.
Please don’t imagine that we should all turn into vigilantes. Instead, can we work as a community on keeping our families safe, including the dogs. There is a strong link between abuse to animals and abuse to people, particularly children. Let’s never turn a blind eye to harm; very different to getting involved or putting yourself at risk. You can report anonymously to the RSPCA and they will deal with it. Their resources are already over-stretched, so maybe we can do more ourselves to support and help people who are struggling with their pets.
As I said to my colleague, we may not be able to find out who owns this dog, but we do know one thing. There is one person, at least one person, who knows exactly what happened.
Karen’s new book ‘Being a dog’ is available on PRE-ORDER here!
Being a Dog: The world from your dog’s point of view
Festive dog adverts deliver welfare blow
Today two huge online advertising media gaffes caused a lot of upset for many, and a lot more work for others in the dog world.
It can be hard to get the message right on social media, which tends to blurt out advertising in snippets, but in the excitement of retailers selling us Christmas goodies, the dogs in our care take another damaging hit.
Firstly, House of Fraser published a picture on their Facebook and twitter account of a Pug puppy with a Christmas bow around his neck. The caption read “What’s on YOUR Christmas list this year?”. If the implication to buy a dog for Christmas had perhaps been mistaken, that would have been reasonable. However, House of Fraser then sent a tweet (twitter message) to someone suggesting that two Pugs might be even better.
House of Fraser’s tweet (screenshot from tweet by @SpottedHoundUK)
Beverley Cuddy, editor of Dogs Today and Dogs Monthly, magazines I both write for, ran these stories. When you work with dogs, you find many of them were bought on impulse, just like many instantly attractive gifts on offer. The difference is that dog must never be on a Returns policy. A dog is not like a pair of ugly socks or a comedy Christmas tie. They are not like the latest Disney Frozen merchandise. They could be a 15 year investment.
I have worked in this job for the last 20 years and it becomes tiring to hear the same tales (tails) from humans who didn’t think it through. Eventually the compassion starts to burn away. I think working in a rescue shelter is one of the toughest jobs out there, caring so much when dogs arrive when there is just no more room. It would be great if advertising could present welfare-friendly messages about dogs; even just selling an extra pair of wellington boots and a nice harness and lead to encourage owners to take the dog out more.
The day continued with another ‘Fail’ (as my kids call it) where Asda posted an image of another Pug (obviously the breed of choice at the moment, themselves suffering at times from serious health problems and in need of proper health checks if you plan to buy one). This time, hapless Asda posted about looking forward to tasting your first mince pie, with said Pug at the Christmas dinner table. The picture was adorable, but the message was deadly. Raisins and grapes can be toxic to dogs, even in very small quantities.
Asda’s unfortunate image
I suppose we could say that these excitable tweets were all in good spirit and did not intend harm. And yet, dogs are used widely in marketing, from two leading retailers in this case. Used without sufficient checks for their welfare in messages that reach, for House of Fraser, 276 000 followers; in Asda’s case, 357 000 followers.
Imagine if those same retailers could now send a better message, about rehoming a dog or feeding him safely. Now that would be a great, and welcome, start to Christmas.
Karen Wild, Dip App Psych, CCAB
