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Making You & Your Dog Happier

Children petting your dog?

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We all pat the dog! Please don’t!

Working with owners every day brings lots of stories about their problems with their dogs, but also their experiences in the community, too.

One big worry for dog owners is that children are not asking first if they can stroke their dog. I have even been in situations where parents encourage their kids to come over and pet the dogs in my care. They then become upset when I ask them not to. This is not because I am a mean old lady (and less of the ‘old’, please!). Instead I simply don’t want my dogs to be scared by a child that has been a little clumsy. In the past a child has swooped onto my dog and tried to pick him up. My dog is a good sort and very used to children, but seeing his little shocked face was horrible and told me that he was not enjoying it one bit. If the parents can’t control their children, then I have to. Even if we are nice, we dog owners are still seen to be ‘rude’ when we say, ‘No, please do not touch my dog’!

As a parent myself I know that we want our kids to be friendly and kind. Whilst we want this for our dogs too, there are risks. A child that a dog does not know, going over to ‘pat’ it on the head is NOT friendly, even though the child thinks it is. Few dogs enjoy the attention. I witness dogs simply putting up with it. I also meet owners that are too embarrassed to say no. Imagine if a stranger came up and suddenly put their hands on you?

Our poor dogs don’t talk using words, but their body language speaks for itself. Dogs draw back from unwanted contact – their ears pull back, their heads lower, they try to move away. Remember that being patted on top of the head means reaching out (scary( and touching the dog right over their eyes. Rarely a welcome place to have a stranger place their hand.

The more we take note that children often get bitten when they are being friendly, by a known dog, the sooner we can act positively towards prevention. Let’s be proactive in our community, by learning how we can all work together to teach our kids and dogs the better way to behave.

Why not look at Karen’s new book, ‘Being a Dog’, to learn more about the world of dog behaviour from your dog’s point of view!

Big dog or small dog? Which is best?

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Karen Wild Dogwalking Gear 2I have small dogs. Four of them. We used to have one, then two. Then a puppy arrived and the ‘middle’ dog died, leaving me with an ancient rescue oldie and a newbie. Since then we have added another two rescue dogs, all roughly the same age. To offset this, and always needing at least one trained dog for my work, we added another puppy to the mix.

As we don’t have a big garden, even though I am used to working with large dogs every day, I decided little dogs would be my choice. Ironically I know, since I can handle even the heftiest Saint Bernard, but I quite like coming home to fit all my dogs onto the one lap.

I get told that little dogs are ‘yappy’, ‘small dog syndrome’, ‘rats on leads’ (how insulting), with one lady spelling out the word ‘R-U-N-T’ as I passed her at a dog show one day! Even so, little dogs have their advantages and we will always have one.

I love larger dogs too. We regularly share our home with our friends’ Hungarian Viszla, a big soppy girl who thinks the tiny bed under my office desk is the perfect size for her (she gets into it as well, and snuggles right down).

I regularly get my ‘collie fix’ from dogs at work, their bright, intelligent faces trying to work out the quickest way to get their own way (collie owners will know what I mean by this)!

Let’s not forget the Retrievers, Spaniels, Boxers, Dobermans and German Shepherds that all have their cute moments as well as their big paws that keep us all busy. Even these are rendered tiny by the Leonbergers, Newfoundlands and Great Danes I am lucky enough to work with, too.

So which is best?

Size doesn’t need to be a problem. A hair-trigger terrier can be more of a challenge from moment to moment than the largest of Rottweilers who are often softer than a sponge pudding. The traits people say are typical of smaller, or larger dogs can be seen in all dogs.

If you choose a temperament and type of dog that suits your lifestyle, size is secondary.

However, if you just choose a breed or size of dog because you think image is more important, you are setting yourself up for failure. Small house, small garden, lots of kids? A big dog might be disaster for the dog’s chances. Small nervous dog or large nervous dog? The large one is more likely to be a problem.

So forget the tape measure when it comes to dog choices. Pick a good LOCAL breeder, visit often, see good dog parents, unstressed, living in a home and well raised before they even get to you. Now that is what I call a bigger decision!

Kids are dog trainers of the future

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lo res Bow Down 1 Attract dogs attention using treat as lure in handUsually I deal with children and dogs that have been in an unpleasant situation such as biting or scratching. It is part of my job as a clinical animal behaviourist, but that does not make it any easier or less depressing when you realise that such incidents are preventable and very common.

This week, however, I am starting our new puppy class courses and am delighted that we have junior handlers in all our classes, attending along with their parents and carers. We always joke that ‘well behaved children and adults are welcome’! It is a far cry from the old-fashioned dog schools where it was very strictly one person, one dog, and children were not invited.

In my experience, if the kids in a family are well behaved, the dog will be too. It is perhaps to do with routine, gentle but firm boundaries, and not the forceful punishment of the past.

Younger handlers in puppy classes tend to be happier to give things a try. They learn to see things from the puppy’s point of view, and feel protective over this baby animal. Adults can be a little more worried about getting things wrong or looking silly in front of the group; youngsters never seem to have such problems! This means that they can be very natural when training.

We have to teach children that dogs do not like being hugged or kissed, but we often see children doing this to their own dogs. Maybe we do it, and they copy! Perhaps this is down to individual circumstance whether or not the dog bites; maybe some dogs mind and others do not. What I do know is that kids cannot read the warning signals so we still need to carefully supervise them all. Never, ever leave your children alone with any dog. No matter how inconvenient it may be! Nice dogs bite, and nice children get bitten. The difference is in how we teach them to interact, and the way forward is coaching them BOTH.

Should we adults step aside and let these dog trainers of the future show us the way? Not entirely. We can teach them how to be decent to animals and how to care for them. They need to learn what body signals dogs can give out when they are unhappy (moving away, licking lips, yawning) and we can teach them this too.

Most of all if we are going to deal with dogs behaving badly, out of control or being allowed to upset other people and other dogs, we need to not only train the dogs, but our children – the trainers – and parents – of the future.

Dog Agility FUN at Ferry Meadows!

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nene park tyre jumps in ground low resWe dog owners are often blamed for all sorts of problems. Dog mess, barking dogs, aggressive behaviour (the dogs, although I have heard stories of dog owners being shouted at too). It’s too easy to blame, and much harder to actually take up the challenge to do something to make changes.

On this basis, I was delighted to see the recent opening of the permanent dog agility set up at Ferry Meadows thanks to the brilliant Nene Park Trust.

nene park steps being laid low resThis project has been something I have worked on with their team for over a year. Many meetings and plans, lots of consultation and work has gone into this project. Funds have been raised and the project supported by the Trust, and dog walkers, following the enjoyable Bark in the Park day last September.

This is an important community project. Not only did I consult with one of the country’s leading Agility instructors to help with design, but the Nene Park team built the equipment themselves so it looks very natural and is of course, durable.

nene park agility tunnel low res

A tunnel fit for a Saint Bernard!

Competitors in agility will not be familiar with some of the designs, as this project was made to include dogs and owners of all abilities. We even measured a Saint Bernard dog to make sure the tunnel would be able to accommodate the giants of the canine world!

Your dog can weave in and out of poles, jump through a tyre, walk carefully across a range of steps and run through the tunnel, amongst other activities.

This project is one of the first in the UK that has been solely designated for dogs and owners so it really is something special. A recent study has shown that some dogs do not get walked at all, and we have lots of evidence that having a dog means more activity and better health for us. Being able to visit a special place designed for active dogs is a great asset.

It also shows that dogs can be part of our community without being a problem. I know many dog owners that are just as annoyed as non-dog owners when dog poo is not picked up!

My view is that I was lucky to be involved, and would like to thank the Nene Park Trust team for looking after us dog owners. In return, we can keep our dogs under control, put them on leads when we need to, and train them to come back to us when we call. Let’s all do our bit.

See you at the next Bark in the Park on the 12th September at Ferry Meadows, for more dog fun and games too.

Playing safe with dog toys

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low res Beco hoop Bruno tug and release gameOne of the earliest lessons a dog needs to be taught is not to snatch or grab. I’m not just referring to your piece of toast, ice cream or biscuit. When we play with our dogs with their toys, are we teaching them some accidental lessons as well as ‘fetch’?

We are commonly told that tug of war games with dogs are a bad idea. And yet, so many dogs love a bit of a contest with each other, and with us, where a toy is involved.

Is your dog just wanting a brief game, and is it harmless, gentle play? Does your dog let go, the second you ask him to? Could anyone do the same thing, asking him to ‘give’ and he spits it straight out? If so, this is a game with a toy that is fine to play.

If not, however, then beware! You are teaching your dog to grab and hold, tightly. To take whatever he wants off people of any age, and learn that smaller or weaker people are the simplest targets, which means children might be the easiest option. Your dog is becoming a skilled grab and pull player, and play is rehearsal for the real thing. I once watched open-mouthed from the window as a parent rushed to extract her child’s hair from their dogs mouth as he dragged the toddler along their garden path; ‘He’s only playing’, said the parent.

Teach your dog to swap any items in his mouth for a piece of food, or another toy. Use the word ‘give’ at the moment he spits the item out, and praise him, giving him his reward straightaway. Make this part of the tug game, so that a brief tug is fun, followed by a ‘give’, then another tug, and so on.
If the game becomes rough, or uncontrolled – stop. It’s not a good lesson, and you are the teacher.

Ask your dog to ‘give’, then ‘sit’. He must stay sitting whilst you stand up with the toy in your hand. If he goes to grab it again, he has broken the rule of ‘sit’! Until he is sitting, you do not have control over the toy, since your dog can jump and grab it again.

If the toy is below your knee height, and if you have invited your dog to play, then he can enjoy a game. Once the toy has gone above your knee height, game over. This includes anyone’s knee height, so children will have a much lower range for the toy to travel.

Practice asking him to sit, then standing up with toy in hand, then if he remains sitting you can invite him to play again. This becomes a reward for sitting. Happy – and safe – fun and games with your dog!