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Autumn Joy with our Dogs

24/10/2017 By Karen Wild Leave a Comment

Pawprint puppy class with Karen WildI 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.

See above for a lead to keep your dogs close and let them explore when you want. Click the image for more info.

Filed Under: Blog, Posts, Tips and Advice, Trainers and Behaviourists, What's New Tagged With: adolescents, adults, dangerous dogs, dog training, dog walking, fun, health, problem behaviours, puppy, rescue, training, welfare

How long does it take to train a dog?

28/09/2016 By Karen Wild Leave a Comment

Pawprint puppy class with Karen WildHow 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!

Here are some treats to help you on your journey! Click the image for more info.

Filed Under: Blog, Tips and Advice, What's New Tagged With: adolescents, adults, dangerous dogs, dog training, dog walking, fun, humour, owner training, problem behaviours, puppies, puppy, rescue, training

Buying a dog online? Know or say NO to “pet deception”

26/06/2016 By Karen Wild Leave a Comment

Pugs are very popular but can have serious health issues. Never buy from an unregistered breeder!

Pugs are very popular but can have serious health issues. Never buy from an unregistered breeder!

This month I saw another case where a young dog bought online was put to sleep with severe behaviour and health problems including severe skin issues, leaving behind a crying family and a seller that gets off scot-free.

Would you buy a sick, dangerous or even illegal animal from an online advert? How would you know? A puppy being swapped for a smart phone, a pit bull advertised illegally for professional dog fighting, illegally imported puppies from Lithuania, are just some of the shocking ads discovered during the research and all caused by a lack of proper regulation of the online pet trade.

Ah, the Internet. We used to disregard it as a new-fangled idea that cost loads of phone bill to access. Now, it replaces swathes of our everyday activity. Shopping is incredibly convenient. You don’t even need a premises for customers, and you can source pretty much anything. Just sit cosily and wait for the delivery.

That’s great when you are buying books, or clothes, but what about shopping for a puppy?

Fluffy and cute? Well, no. Here’s the cold, hard news. International welfare organisation FOUR PAWS has carried out research on 42 classified ad sites across 10 countries world-wide (Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Germany, the Netherlands, Romania, South Africa Switzerland and the UK).

Some online sales sites have as many as 200,000 adverts featuring pets for sale online at any one time, with over 4 million viewers.

Julie Sanders, International Director of Companion Animals Department at FOUR PAWS, tells of a positive move. “As part of the campaign we have developed an online tool which ranks the more commonly used classified ad sites to show the public which sites could be putting them, and indeed the animals, at risk: www.petdeception.org.”

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Special welfare measures have been taken up by some of the sites, helping potential pet parents to choose the better sources. Such measures mean that classified ads sites are:

·       Having to verify sellers identity, so that there is no anonymous selling on the sites for animal sales, to help stop illegal activity

·       Running pre checks of all adverts to remove illegal, misleading or inappropriate adverts before they go live

·       Having mandatory information in the ad on the animal for example important care, health and documentation details to help the buyer make an informed decision when buying a pet

·       Having in place and enforcing a list of animals which are banned from being sold on the site including primates, endangered and wild caught animals, underage animals and pregnant animals to help address animal welfare issues

With all these measures, there are still many lies and stories spun around puppies for sale. Remember my golden rules:

  1. See the Mum and make sure she is the right one. Many puppy farms sell on to agents who pretend their own dog is the mother. I never buy a puppy unless I can see Mum, Dad, Aunties, Uncles, older brothers and sister dogs. How else will I know what this puppy will grow into?
  2. Never buy with cash
  3. Choose local, so that you can return the puppy if there is a problem. Get a receipt of sale. Get a puppy contract (see the Kennel Club details on this).
  4. Never ‘buy from a bucket’ because you feel sorry for the puppies. You are only making room for another. Choose an accredited breeder from the Kennel Club wherever possible.
  5. See the puppies at least twice before making a decision
  6. Expect a good breeder to ask you many many questions about your home. Good breeders will say no to you if they don’t think their pups will be suited.
  7. Remember. It is YOUR CHOICE. All puppies are cute, but they are not all healthy. You will be caught out, as many kind, intelligent, caring people are.

Still not convinced?

Watch this fabulous video from FOUR PAWS to really help, and please share this blog as far and wide as you can. Visit www.petdeception.org to see updates and let potential buyers know about the project. We want to help animals, don’t we? So let’s stop the crooks.

Karen

 

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

Filed Under: Blog, Posts, Tips and Advice, Trainers and Behaviourists, What's New Tagged With: health, problem behaviours, puppy, rescue, welfare

Two dogs or more… Is it a chore?

06/01/2016 By Karen Wild Leave a Comment

puppy-play-group

I saw an interesting ‘Bucket list’ the other day. A bucket list, if you are not sure what one is, is a list of things you really want to do before you ‘kick the bucket’ (in other words, before you die)!

Quite revealing if you sit down and write one, and definitely something everyone could consider in the gloom of January. It can be really good to make your dreams become reality.

This particular bucket list was all about dogs. It read “Get myself more dogs. Spend more time with dogs. Play with dogs. Fill house with dogs. Get husband to get more dogs. Basically, more dogs’. I know it was tongue in cheek but it made me think about how we really appreciate dogs in our lives. And if one is good, more is better, right?

I suppose so, as long as you consider it in the same way that you might have considered having more children.

What would you need to know?

Would your existing dog welcome another mutt arriving at their comfortable home? Are they elderly and tired, or young enough to enjoy a puppy? Would an older rescue dog be the answer (an emphatic YES, as you can see what they are like before you agree).

Having lots of dogs is not easy. We have four, and a cat, and whilst all are small, they all have their own needs and costs. The cat is the biggest of them all, and we had to consider him too. Fortunately he plays with three of them but your cat may not be quite so welcoming.

Have you ever tried to put an octopus into a string bag? Imagine how that might turn out, then try and put leads on two excited puppies that have not yet been trained. Lots of dogs, lots of effort.

The key to having lots of dogs is to train each one, separately and then together. One at a time, please, unless you are used to having your eyes moving in different directions. A well trained-group of dogs is like having an orchestra to which you are the conductor. A badly trained clutter of mutts is a nightmare.

So, if your bucket list consists of ‘Dogs, dogs and more dogs’, take a look at a rescue or rehoming shelter who might have just the dog waiting to come and be a part of your growing family. It is not without its difficulties, but then, life would be dull if we didn’t have to work hard for what we really want; the very best for our dog and human families.

My book Being a Dog provides further information on dogs and the world from their perspective.

Filed Under: Blog, Tips and Advice, What's New Tagged With: dog training, humour, rescue, training, welfare

Dog ownership – For better, for worse?

04/01/2016 By Karen Wild Leave a Comment

Sad dog toxic blogTwo brilliant rescue organisations came under severe criticism recently. The amazing Blue Cross were attacked through social media about a specific case involving a dog given up to their care. Battersea Dogs Home, much-loved hosts of the Paul O’Grady show ‘For the Love of Dogs’, have now been reported as putting many of the dogs in their centre to sleep. The truth is, they state, that they are overwhelmed with unwanted dogs that are increasingly placed there with behaviour or serious health issues.

It is time we dog owners took responsibility for the reality of having a dog as part of the family. Many of us would not dream of rehoming our beloved pets. However, life holds many surprises and it can be a comfort to know that should the worst happen, our dog might find a new family.

This is where the fantasy ends.

In truth, the love of dogs can lead us to think that we will mould them to our lifestyle, or train them to suit, regardless of the dog’s breed, health, temperament or household structure. I often get asked for advice, by prospective owners wanting a puppy. Frequently they have already made the decision, but my no-nonsense approach is usually to take a view of their situation. For about 9 out of 10 prospective owners I would probably advise them not to get a dog at all. They work all day, or have an already overstretched life, limited funds, or a very small or rented home. Owners with dogs experiencing health or behaviour problems frequently tell me they were not expecting all these issues, the expense, the lack of sleep, the stress of care.

Can we prevent such disastrous results? We certainly can.

The good news is that we have voices, unlike our dogs. Speak out to make sure that as a dog owner you are telling the truth about all the down sides of having a dog. You can let people know that owning a dog is for life, the dog will need proper training and care. The dog will need insurance. The dog might not fit the life we want it to lead. Our lives might change and our dogs may not be able to change along with it. We have to be their supporters and advocates if things are to change.

Secondly, we can speak out against people deciding to breed from their own dog. Unless you plan to keep them all, please do not breed! If evidence is needed about the overpopulation, a simple Google search will show the vast numbers of dogs put to sleep every day. Let’s not add to this problem.

We are a great group of dog owners. Locally I could not wish for better, owners who take their pups to my classes, build up their skills and are prepared for everything that being a dog parent brings.

I feel sad to start the New Year with such a message, but we can turn it into one of hope. Let’s ring the changes in our own community.

Filed Under: Blog, Posts, Tips and Advice, What's New Tagged With: dog training, owner training, problem behaviours, rescue, welfare

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About Karen

contactkaren-3I’m a full-time U.K. dog trainer and behaviour consultant based in Peterborough with 17 years in the field. My work ranges from class teaching, obedience, flyball, agility and working trials, competition, to running a popular dog display team.
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