K9 SOLUTIONS BLOG

28.01.2012

Case Study – Butter Wouldn’t Melt…. 

 ‘I need you to train my dog’.  That was the opening gambit to this particular phone call.  No ‘Hi’, no ‘I wonder if you can help me’, straight to the point like she was too desperate to waste time on pleasantries!  I got some further information from the lady calling and she enrolled her terrier cross, Jack, onto my obedience course.  When she turned up the little boy on the end of the lead looked like butter wouldn’t melt in his mouth.  Beautiful looking dark brown on light brown terrier with big brown eyes and even a brown nose.  A real looker and a look in those gorgeous brown eyes that he didn’t know how to misbehave and his owner must surely be mistaken for bringing him here!  However, appearances can be deceiving.  It soon became apparent that Jack needed much more than a 6 week obedience course to fix him.  He was bolshy, aggressive to both people and other dogs and completely unruly and ignorant to anything his owner said or did.  Worse still, if she tried to correct or discipline him he would snap at her, teeth bared.

Not to make excuses for him, but there was a valid reason why Jack was so anti-social.  The lady who had him now wasn’t his original owner.  Her daughter had adopted Jack as a puppy but the novelty had soon worn off so while she worked a full time job and then spent the evenings at her boyfriend’s house, poor Jack had sat in a one bedroom apartment, waiting for her to return once a day to feed him.  When the mother had realised what was happening she started going down there twice a day to walk him, which is how the bond built, so when her daughter declared she was moving in with her boyfriend and couldn’t take Jack because he ‘didn’t like dogs’ the mother reluctantly took Jack on full time, despite not really wanting a dog in the first place.  Thank God somebody had taken some responsibility for this little guy.

On my recommendation his owner booked a private consultation and I went to see Jack in his own environment to carry out a full assessment.  Jack’s story was obviously a sad one, but as a behaviourist you have to push the pity aside and deal with the behaviour at hand.  By now at one year old, Jack was set in his ways and not used to rules or discipline and his owner really wasn’t managing.  Infact, she confided in me months later that the phone call she’d made directly BEFORE calling me had been to the shelter and thankfully the shelter had told her they had no room for him, so she’d then called me.  Hence why she’d sounded so desperate on that very first phone call.

We began an intense modification programme with Jack.  It is probably worth mentioning that in all of the years I’ve worked with dogs, including five years in a German Shepherd breeding kennels, I have never been bitten.  This little terrier with his butter wouldn’t melt face bit me not once, not twice but THREE times throughout his rehabilitation as he fiercely fought us at every corner.  Over the next few weeks and months his owner put in a lot of work with Jack and, though progress was slow, he was becoming a nicer dog for all of her efforts.  In total she attended three consecutive obedience classes and became a real pack leader with Jack.  His aggression to other dogs all but stopped and his aggression to people totally disappeared.  She could now also walk him off lead confidently. By the time we parted company Jack and his owner were inseparable and she still felt guilt at how close she’d come to taking him to a shelter and never knowing the bond that she now had. 

I can honestly say I have never seen a person enjoy their dog as much as this lady enjoyed Jack, constantly doubled over laughing at something funny he’d done.  So many people never have that pleasure from their dog because they haven’t put the necessary work in, so it was very rewarding to see somebody dedicate so much time, effort and expense into their dog and reap the rewards for their hard work.

16.01.2012

Breed Profile – Golden Retriever

Country of Origin:                  Scotland

Date of Origin:                       1800s

Original Function:                  Gundog to retrieve game from water

Energy Level:                         High

Exercise Requirements:       High

Friendliness:                          High

Ease of Training:                   High

Guarding Ability:                    Moderate to Low

Grooming Requirements:     Moderate

Life Span:                              10 - 12 years

Golden Retrievers were originally developed to retrieve shot waterfowl such as ducks during hunting season.  The breed was developed by crossing a yellow Retriever with a water spaniel to try and achieve a retrieving dog with a soft mouth and a love of water, traits which still exist in the breed to this very day.  As the name would suggest, the Golden Retriever is always golden in colour but can vary from cream and whiter shades to more yellow shades and everything inbetween.  The coat is thick & dense with a water repellent outer layer. 

The temperament of the Golden Retriever is a hallmark of the breed.  Golden Retrievers are great family pets, get along great with children and have very reliable temperaments.  They are generally equally as friendly with both strangers and those familiar to them and are usually social with other animals within the family also.  One of the few negatives of the breed, however, is that their trusting, gentle disposition makes them a poor guard dog and many an owner of a Golden Retriever will complain about the dog spotting another dog or person in the park and taking off to say hi, despite all efforts from the owner to stop them.  Sociable character = poor guarding ability and bad recall. 

Golden Retrievers are an intelligent breed that need training and mental stimulation in order to feel happy and balanced.  Their exercise levels are fairly high but inbetween blasts they are a calm and considerate animal.  Their working role over the years has expanded from simple retriever to seeing eye dogs for the blind and search and rescue dogs.  They also excel as therapy dogs due to their calm loving natures and ability to bond so well with children.

The Golden Retriever is a breed that is suited to many different environments.  They thrive in a family environment but are equally suitable to almost any home that can give them the training and exercise requirements they need.  A very loving, affectionate and adaptable breed that brings a lot of joy along with it and rarely shows any bad habits.

07.01.2012

The Downside of Having a Clever Dog

As most of you will know, back in the summer I got myself a puppy, Mack.  Despite doing what I do for a job toilet training him proved difficult from day one.  This was due to the fact that my dogs live outside.  The best way to toilet train a puppy is to crate them or give them a small area that they class as their bed, this way their instincts will tell them to keep it clean.  Then when you take them outside for a pee they’re desperate because they’ve held it in, go to the toilet and you can praise them so they understand going outside is a good thing.  It’s a simple circle that works very quickly when done correctly.

The reason I struggled to toilet train Mack is that my dogs have a large run in the garden so if I made the dog run small enough for the pup to keep it clean, my bigger dog, Benson, would be unfairly squashed into a small space.  Or I’d have to separate the pup from Benson which would have caused its own set of anxiety problems.  On top of this, I was obviously never there when my puppy pee’d or pooped in the dog run to tell him off so he didn’t understand he was doing anything wrong.  So I was left with the much slower working option of simply praising him whenever he did anything outside.

For many weeks he did NOTHING out on his walks because he’d already emptied himself in the dog run so didn’t need the toilet.  Eventually I caught a few lucky breaks where he pee’d on his walks and I was able to give him a treat.  This gradually improved until he was eventually doing a pee on most of his walks and getting a treat for it.  The problem came at night time at their bedtime walk because I live on a small street with no street lighting and both of my dogs are black and off lead, so I often could only see a silhouette. 

For three nights in a row, Mack disappeared to the spot that he seemed to favour to pee on, therefore disappearing completely out of my sight in the darkness.  A few minutes would pass by and he’d come barrelling out of the darkness towards me and sit in front me expectantly waiting for the treat for his pee.  Now, because I hadn’t actually seen him do anything I was reluctant to reward him BUT if he had done something I didn’t reward him in this early training stage then he might just stop doing it.  So for three nights I reluctantly handed him a treat despite not having actually seen him go to the toilet.

On night four it was a full moon and a clear night and my street was so bright it was like it had a floodlight on it.  So I could see the dogs clearly.  And I literally couldn’t believe my eyes when I watched Mack go merrily trotting off to his ‘pee spot’, sit down for 60 seconds or so and then come charging back to me all excited and sit in front of me for his treat.  The little sod had somehow worked out that I couldn’t see him in the dark and wouldn’t know one way or the other if he’d pee’d or not so he’d still get his treat if he ACTED like he’d done it.  And to actually SIT DOWN while he timed how long a pee might take!!  And just to back up this theory that I’m not going completely mad, he never EVER showed this behaviour in the daylight, only ever in the dark, because he somehow knew I couldn’t see him.  Quite incredible when you think about it.  But seriously, how bad is it when your dog out smarts you!!!

24.11.2011

The Fussy Eater

One of the most common problems in our modern day dog is the fussy eater.  So often I’m called to a dog where the owner swears to me that the dog just will not eat a certain type of food (usually the dry complete food) and that they have to go to all sorts of different lengths to encourage the dog to eat.  Many of the owners are also adamant that their dog would starve itself if they didn’t offer him other things to subsidise his diet.  Let me tell you, a dog will never starve itself.  They are scavengers by nature and chancers by instinct.  The only reason they are refusing the dog food is because they have learnt, by our behaviour, that something better comes along eventually.  Below are some examples where the owner was certain that they had done everything they could and that their dog had a genuine eating disorder.

Case Study 1 – Milo was a Cyprus mix breed and his owner called me worried that he wasn’t eating the dog food offered.  She had tried various brands of dog food and he refused to eat them. She had then tried various ‘toppings’ for the dog food to try and make it more interesting, which apparently also hadn’t worked.  He’d simply eat the toppings and still leave the biscuits.  The final straw came when she found herself in the kitchen frying up dog biscuits in olive oil and garlic!!!  I went round for the consultation and gave her the modification programme to follow.  A week later I called her to get an update and she declared with some confidence that it didn’t work and that the dog had literally starved himself for two days.  First of all, I’ve been doing this job for a long time and know that my advice works when followed correctly so knew straight away that she’d done something outside of the programme’s advice and second of all, two days is hardly a long enough time period to give a new method before just giving up.  Upon further questioning it turned out that she was giving him chewsticks and treats at his normal times, so in actual fact the dog wasn’t ‘starving’ himself, he was holding out for the good stuff.  That would be like letting your 5 year old son leave all of his meals but still giving him ice cream.  Of course he’ll leave his healthy meals if he can have a diet of ice cream!!  Once Milo learned that he ONLY got offered the dog food and nothing else more tasty unless he ate that, the problem was quickly fixed.

Case Study 2 – Lola was a female Labrador.  By the time I was called to her for her ‘eating disorder’ her owners were at the stage where they were literally cooking meals for her.  I’m not even kidding you.  I could have offered this dog’s food up to my husband with some mash potato and he’d have been none the wiser.  Meat, potatoes, vegetables, all cooked up on the hob in a nice gravy.  And invariably she still left half of it anyway.  This time, because I could see that the owner didn’t have the tough side to her nature to see her dog go hungry if she had to, I took the dog in at my house and did the modification training myself.   When her owner dropped her off she even brought a week’s worth of pre-cooked, pre-frozen, individually packaged meals for her!!!  Lola quickly realised at my house that what she was offered was ALL she was going to be offered and although she put up a good show of starving herself for the first 24 hours, the look of shock on her face when the bowl was simply removed and nothing else was offered was priceless!  By breakfast of day 2 she was eating the dog biscuits and by the end of her stay she was bouncing around with excitement as soon as she saw me bring the food dishes out.  I actually video’d this to prove to her owners that it did actually happen, just incase she went back home and reverted back to her normal behaviour knowing that she could get something better in that environment.  Incidentally that is EXACTLY what happened and to this day when at home she’s a fussy eater but whenever she comes to board with me she eats plain dog biscuits with an appetite that borders on glutony!

Case Study 3 – I’ve been doing this job for many years now and this problem is very common but not so long ago I was confronted with something I have never seen before.  Sam is a Shar Pei who will only eat in a certain room with certain people present which is inconvenient on its own, but wait for the best bit.  He will only eat his food……..from a spoon!!  The owners did a video and some photographs for me so I could see the problem for myself and I just cracked up laughing when I saw it.  Whilst it shouldn’t really be a funny thing and the owners were most certainly at the ends of their tethers with him, to see him sat there all regal whilst his owners spoon fed him his entire bowl of food was just hilarious.  The things we do for our dogs!!  The problem had occurred because Sam had been quite sick and they’d had to force feed him with a spoon just to get some food into him.  So now he expected it all the time!  They told me they’d tried everything and truly were at their wits end.  They said they’d left his food down and he’d just ignored it for two days, they’d tried different brands of food with no effect, they’d even put really tasty food on top of it like sausages and mince meat, but nothing worked.  He’d even turned his nose up at the owners home made meatballs unless they were served to him on a spoon!!  I showed them some techniques to try and demonstrated a couple while I was there and amazingly he actually ate a handful of food by himself right there in front of me, which may not sound like much to anybody else but his owner was thrilled.  I left the owners with the programme to follow and he continued to improve.  He’ll never be a greedy dog and certainly wasn’t very food orientated but at least now they’re getting food down him from his dish and not from a spoon!!

Having a fussy eater is a problem that we create for ourselves.  Dogs are born scavengers so for them to turn their nose up at food goes against their instinctive hard wiring.  They do it because we have TAUGHT them to.  We start off by noticing that they don’t seem to be too keen on the dog biscuits they’re being offered so we go out and buy different brands to see if he has a preference.  Then we add wet food into the dry food to ‘make it more interesting’ and soon we HAVE to add wet food in just to encourage him to eat it.  This soon escalates into offering him human food, often being cooked freshly every day until you end up with a dog who EXPECTS to be given the best food and will turn his nose up at anything less, and an owner who spends more time in the kitchen preparing the dog’s food than they do out walking them or having fun with them.

So remember, he’s a dog.  He doesn’t have to work for his food like he used to many years ago so he should be eating what he’s given and be grateful for it.

NB. Obviously if your dog suddenly goes off his food make sure there’s no medical reason causing it before implementing any ‘fussy eater’ modification programmes.

14.11.2011

How to amuse your dog when the weather’s like THIS!!

This is a blog that I originally posted earlier in the year, but looking out of my window right now and with three dogs expecting a walk any time soon I thought it was apt to post it again....

Having been spectacularly rained off this morning halfway through an obedience class, I now find myself sat at home with some unexpected time on my hands and two dogs sat expectantly waiting for their walk.  Rain doesn’t bother most dogs, but not many of us owners much fancy trudging round a muddy field getting soaked to the skin whilst our dogs charge around, seemingly oblivious to the driving rain, whilst all we’re thinking is ‘just have a damn pee so we can go home again!’  Not to mention the filth they then trudge through your house and the always welcome smell of ‘eau de wet dog’.

But then we all know what happens if we don’t walk them and they have all of that un-burnt energy, just itching to find some trouble to get into.  So what do we do?  The best possible alternative to physical exercise for a dog is mental stimulation.  Anybody who works in an office or with computers knows that working the brain is just as physically tiring as a manual job.  Indeed, a dog will often physically pant when he’s finished a training session, despite having done no physical exercise whatsoever.  Below are some suggestions of things you can do with your dog without having to step foot outside and into the downpour.

v     Training - Whether its obedience training or trick training, if your dog’s having to think about what he’s doing and what you want from him, he’ll get tired from a training session as short as 15 minutes. 

v     Hide and seek – This is another good way to get him thinking for himself by hiding his favourite toy or a tasty treat in a room and telling him to find it.  My dog can happily spend half an hour hunting out his favourite toy and doesn’t give up until he finds it.  And his tail never stops wagging the whole time! 

v     Kong toys – These are a great way to amuse your dog if he’s food orientated.  Kong toys are a rubber toy with a hollow centre.  You stuff the centre with something your dog likes and he has to work out how to get the food out again.  Not only does this use his brain, but it also satisfies his hunt instinct as he’s had to work for his own food.  I use bread with my dog because it’s easy to cram plenty in and doesn’t fall out on it’s own without some work from him, but it’s really up to you what you use as long as your dog finds it motivating.

v     Fetch – If you’re lucky enough to have a dog that plays with toys then your job’s much easier as a twenty minute throw and fetch session will tire him out, especially if you can throw the toy out of sight so he sees the general area the toy went but has to use his nose to actually find it.

Well, the rain has temporarily stopped so I’m off to whizz my dogs out for a quick wee before the looming black clouds surrounding my house work their way in!  Hope you find these tips useful.

10.11.2011

Breed Profile – Miniature Pinscher

Country of Origin:                  Germany

Date of Origin:                       1800s

Original Function:                  Unknown

Energy Level:                         Very high

Exercise Requirements:       Very high

Friendliness:                          Moderate

Ease of Training:                   Moderate

Guarding Ability:                    High

Grooming Requirements:     Low

Life Span:                              14 - 17 years

It is believed that the Miniature Pinscher, also known as the Min Pin, evolved from the ancient German Pinscher family of dogs, which ultimately produced a number of the breeds recognized by today’s Kennel Clubs.  It is believed that they originated by breeding the Italian Greyhound and Dachshund and is known colloquially as ‘The King Of Toys.’  They are often referred to as a Miniature Dobermann because of the similarity in looks.  However, this is not the case.  Although it is thought that the Dobermann Pinscher also evolved from the same German Pinscher family of dogs, the Min Pin predates the Dobermann by at least 200 years.

Despite being a small dog and classed under the ‘toy breed’ category, the Miniature Pinscher is not a breed for the first time dog owner.  They are an assertive, outgoing, active and independent breed.  They can be accomplished escape artists, hard to house train and obedience train, but in the right home, with the proper training, they can be the best companion dog you have ever owned. Loving, affectionate and playful, the Miniature Pinscher makes its own rules, but can be managed well enough if enough work is put into them and you are strict and consistent with them from the start.  Due to a slightly nervous edge to their temperament they tend to be good watchdogs and have a natural wariness of strangers, which can result in excessive barking if not checked.

Miniature Pinschers have incredible energy, some of the highest energy levels in any dog breed infact, and require a lot of exercise and simulation in order to remain happy and balanced.  Whilst not the easiest dog in the world to own they will give you back in affection and entertainment everything you put into them. 

17.10.2011

Separation Anxiety

Separation anxiety is a man made behaviour where-in the dog becomes so dependant on being with his ‘pack’ that he physically can’t function when he’s on his own and as a result a whole host of behaviour problems begin occurring as the dog tries to cope with his stress.

It is one if the most common problems of all in our modern day dogs.  It is also a problem that can prove quite difficult to cure.  It manifests itself in all sorts of negative ways. The dog becomes extremely clingy to a particular person or persons in the household while they’re at home, shadowing them everywhere, even down to sitting outside the bathroom door when they go to the toilet.  They then fret uncontrollably when they’re separated from that person, whether that’s simply by a door or the person actually leaving the house

Many people don’t understand the absolutely devastating effect separation anxiety can have on a dog’s mental state and put a lot of the behaviours down to having a naughty dog or a spoilt brat.  Men especially tend to be unwilling to accept that the dog has a genuine, psychological problem, and generally put it down to their wife being ‘too soft’.  Whilst this can be true and can make the situation worse, the key to understanding behaviours such as separation anxiety comes from understanding that it starts in the mind.  Cure the mind, you’ll cure the behaviour.

Although any dog can suffer from separation anxiety, it is also more likely to happen in some breeds more than others.  Certain, family orientated breeds such as Golden Retrievers and German Shepherds often suffer from this and the breeds that are naturally inclined to be nervous, such as Yorkshire Terriers and Italian Greyhounds, are also more likely to suffer from this dependant syndrome.  It is also more prevalent in rescue dogs that have been mistreated in the past and then suddenly find themselves being treated well.  As a rule though, separation anxiety is a behaviour inadvertently created by us, and then made worse by us.  And we cause it by treating our dogs too well, giving them the world, unlimited affection and letting them come everywhere with us.

Separation Anxiety can manifest itself in many different ways.  Some common signs are

1. Continuous barking & howling when left alone
2. Chewing
3. Defecating around the house when usually house trained
4. Self harming (chewing or obsessive licking of their own skin)
5. Getting up onto raised surfaces such as sofas and tables & going to the toilet

Separation anxiety is a psychological problem so no amount of training will ever cure it.  To cure this problem we need to tackle the source, and that is the nervous, insecure mind.  By letting him follow you around constantly to suddenly leaving him at home alone for hours on end will only make the problem worse.  It needs to be done slowly and gradually, letting him build his confidence up piece by piece and day by day.

Separation Anxiety is one of the saddest behaviour problems of all.  It is also one of the hardest to cure and one of the most likely to get a dog re-homed or taken to a shelter because the behaviours that this problem elicits are generally so undesirable and so difficult to live with that most people can’t cope with the sacrifices they have to make for the animal that was supposed to be a pet.  What makes it even sadder is that generally it was them that created the problem in the first place.  They spoiled the one thing they wanted to take care of.

It is very difficult, as human beings, to see a neglected or frightened creature and not feel sympathy and not want to help it.  If we saw a little girl in a supermarket, lost and crying for her mummy, our instinct would make us rush over and help her and comfort her until you could find her mum.  What we need to do with dogs, is understand that they are not humans.  They don’t think like humans, they don’t behave like humans, so therefore they don’t understand human logic.

If we treat our dog, from day one, in a neutral, calm and strict manner then we will have few, if any, problems.  Let him be alone, don’t overcompensate with love and treats and make sure he understands that you are pack leader and he is at the bottom of the pack.  This isn’t cruel, this is thinking like a dog.  If he understands his place in the pack and understands that sometimes he has to be alone and this is perfectly normal, then he’ll automatically be a happier and more content creature.

06.10.2011

Do you own a hoarder…?

Many of you who follow this blog will be familiar with my boy Benson who features in some of the stories.   I adopted Benson from PAWS five years ago when he was only 10 months old.  He was an absolute horror, so naughty and defiant, and came with many behaviour issues that took me a long time to completely cure.  But that isn’t the point of this story.  He also came from the shelter with one other odd characteristic.  He was a hoarder.  He no longer does it and I wonder if back then it was an ingrained reaction to having to share so many things with so many other dogs in the shelter that he learnt to hide stuff until the coast was clear.  Whatever the reason, nothing was safe from this dog’s thieving paws!

Like any true addict he hid his problem well from me and I had no idea that things were disappearing from my house.  To this day I don’t know how long he was doing it for before I found out but will never forget the day that I found his stash.  It was just hilarious.

My husband, Chris, was looking for the yard brush to sweep the garden and couldn’t find it anywhere.  Benson lives outside and had, very early on, found a spot in the garden that he fancied as his own.  Unfortunately it was a flowerbed, WAS being the operative word, because after weeks of Benson lying on said flower bed it no longer sported any flowers and became Benson’s sleeping place by default.  This place was round the side of the house and out of sight of our seating areas.  Now by this point I had noticed on the odd occasion Benson trying to sneak things off to his bed so I suggested to Chris that maybe he’d nicked it and taken it there.  So off Chris goes to have a look.

Next thing Chris is shouting my name, laughing his head off.  I went round to where he was and literally stopped dead in my tracks.  On Benson’s bed was, sure enough, the yard brush.  Which in itself was quite funny because I can’t even imagine the struggle he’d have had getting it there.  But what Chris was laughing at was what was keeping the yard brush company.  Over God knows what period of time and how on earth we hadn’t noticed Benson had accumulated quite the little treasure trove.  Scattered about his bed in all its glory was the yard brush, a small dustpan and brush, two pairs of Chris’s flip flops, one of my slippers (that I’d been hunting for for AGES!), two teddy bears out of the spare room and, amazingly, two pillows from the spare bed.  He’s not even ALLOWED in the house so how and when he managed to steal the last two items is an absolute mystery.  The guy’s a genius!

Suffice to say we removed all of his trophies and he did grow out of the behaviour once he got more settled and stable in our home.  But discovering that stash of his that day remains one of the funniest memories I have of this gorgeous idiot dog of mine!!

01.10.2011

Breed Profile – Border Collie

Country of Origin:                  Great Britain

Date or Origin:                       1800s

Original Function:                  Sheep herder

Energy Level:                         Very high

Exercise Requirements:       High

Friendliness:                          Moderate

Ease of Training:                   Very high

Guarding Ability:                    Moderate

Grooming Requirements:     Moderate

Life Span:                              12 - 14 years

The Border Collie is the perfect and most accomplished sheepdog, as a result of over a century of breeding for function above all other qualities.  In the 1800s in Great Britain there were many different types of dogs used for herding sheep, with differing herding techniques.  Most of these were ‘fetching’ dogs, dogs who showed a tendency to circle the livestock and bring them towards the shepherd.  However, most of these were noisy animals, achieving their goal by barking at the sheep and nipping at their ankles.  Of course, every shepherd thought that their particular strain of the herding dog was the best and in 1873 the first actual sheepdog trial was held in order to settle the disputes.

This is where the Border Collie first became recognised and acknowledged as a leader in its industry, thanks to one dog alone, named Hemp.  Hemp herded the sheep, not by barking and nipping like the others, but by staring the sheep down (now called ‘giving eye’) and therefore intimidating them into moving.  Hemp’s performances in the trials made him something of a celebrity and he sired a great many offspring thereafter, giving him cause to be referred to as the father of the Border Collie. 

Yet it wasn’t until 1906, more than 30 years after the breed evolved, that the first breed standard for the Border Collie was drawn up.  But unlike the usual breed standards, based on physical appearance, this was a breed standard based on physical working ability, with no regard whatsoever to physical appearance.  Infact at this point in time they were still referred to as simply ‘sheepdogs’.  It wasn’t until 1915 that the name Border Collie was given to them, based on the dog’s origin around the English and Scottish borders.

The Border Collie is amongst the most intelligent and obedient of dog breeds.  They are a mass of mental and physical energy which needs to be let loose.  If this energy is not channelled in a positive way then you will almost certainly make problems for yourself because that energy has to go somewhere.  Plenty of physical exercise and mental stimulation and training is essential for anybody owning a Border Collie.  They are a friendly and loyal dog but can sway towards wariness and nerves if not socialised well as a puppy.  They are generally a good family dog, often burning their high energy levels by exercising with the children.  They are also born with a genetic tendency to herd, especially if they’ve come from working stock, so can often be found herding the children, or the hoover, or other dogs.  Again, this behaviour needs channelling into something positive in order for a Border Collie to be mentally happy and content, because it can become obsessive if not checked.

Not a dog for everybody, the Border Collie is high maintenance in terms of time required to be spent exercising and training them, but are one of the most rewarding dogs to own if you enjoy these aspects of owning a dog.  Border Collies tend to excel in almost every discipline, from obedience to agility, heelwork to music and working trials, so if you enjoy training then this is the dog for you.  More suited to active families or couples, the Border Collie will be a very fulfilling and enjoyable pet if all of that mental and physical energy is burned up.

19.09.2011

Be Careful What You Laugh At....

It’s an age old rule, one usually used with children rather than dogs.  To see something funny but naughty, such as your daughter imitating Daddy swearing at the referee on the TV, and not laugh out loud is one of the hardest things to do, but one of the most important things to remember.  Dogs, like children, understand that laughing means they’ve pleased you.  If they do a certain behaviour and you laugh, you’ve accidentally rewarded them which means that they’ll repeat the behaviour.  Sometimes this is just fine.  If your dog gets frustrated because you’re holding his toy and he wants you to throw it so he spins on the spot, you laughing at him is OK because it doesn’t matter if he repeats the behaviour.  On the flip side, you laughing because your dog jumped on the cat and knocked him in the pool isn’t so good, as the dog will assume you’re pleased with that and do it again resulting in one very unhappy and regularly damp cat!!

A good example of this is Bryan with his Cocker Spaniel Katie.  They did one of my Agility Courses last year and this year decided to do it again, just to keep Katie’s mind working.  Last year he did very well and Katie was excellent at it.  This year, however, friends and relatives of the dog owners came to spectate.  On one of the lessons Katie ran into the 5m tunnel but turned around halfway through it and ran back out the way she’d gone in, leaving Bryan standing expectantly at the other end while she’s stood behind him.  The crowd went wild!!  Everybody was howling laughing, even Bryan.  The next time she went into the tunnel she did it again, and once again got rewarded by everybody laughing their heads off. 

Then came the stay table.  The dog has to sit for 5 seconds.  There is no way around this exercise, if they don’t sit for 5 seconds we keep on trying until they do, and the clock’s running the whole time.  The first time he gets her on there instead of sitting normally, she sat up and begged.  Everybody howled laughing again so that also became another regular trick.

By the end of the course, poor Bryan was ready to rip his hair out.  She wouldn’t do either of the tunnels (a 20 second penalty right there!) and every time she got to the stay table she either hovered with her bum an inch off of actually sitting, or she sat up and begged.  The people watching it loved it and actually thanked Bryan at the end for the laughs they’d had and complimented him on his lovely entertaining dog.  And whilst Bryan did see the funny side too, he was also frustrated because all the training he’d given her the year before was now effectively ruined because people had laughed at her bad behaviour so that had become the ‘norm’ of what she now offered.

Bryan did fix the problem by making her go right back to basics and only rewarding her for actually completing the obstacle requested, but it was extra work that he wouldn’t have had to do had her cheeky behaviour not been so funny in the first place.

It is so important to remember this simple rule.  The example I gave was actually quite a funny one, but laughing at the wrong things can create behaviour issues in your dog that can be quite antisocial and difficult to fix.  So remember, be careful what you laugh at!!!

06.09.2011

Caring Canine Dog Show – More Info

Please find attached final details of the Caring Canines Dog Show being held on the 2^nd of October at Bonamare Taverna in Timi, Paphos.

DOG SHOW

Proceeds to Friends Hospice and Cancer Patients Support Group

Sunday 2^nd October, 2011, Bona Mare Beach Bar, Timi Beach (off Paphos Airport Road)

Judge – Mrs. J. Tarling (UK)

Entries from 9.00am - €2.50 per class

Judging 10am prompt

CLASSES

1.     Any Variety Pedigree Puppy (3-12 months)

2.     Best Rescue

3.    Any Variety Gundog

4.    Best Cyprus Poodle

5.    Any Variety Hound

6.    Prettiest Bitch

7.    Any Variety Non-Pedigree Puppy

       (3-12 months)

8.    Any Variety Bull Breeds

9.    Handsomest Dog

10.  Any Variety Working Breeds

11 . Waggiest Tail

12.  Any Variety Pedigree – not separately           

       classified.

13.  Best Junior Handler (handler up to 16 yrs.)

14 . Pink Class (for Cancer Awareness Week)

15.  Best Veteran (dog/bitch over 7 years)

16.  Judges fancy

Judging of winners from Classes 1 to 7 for

BEST PUPPY IN SHOW

BEST IN SHOW

 Stalls €15 each – 99130761       Show enquiries - 97789381

 Go and along and support this great event for a couple of great charities.

01.09.2011

Breed Profile – German Shepherd

Country of Origin:                  Germany

Date or Origin:                       1800s

Original Function:                  Sheep herder, guardian, police dog

Energy Level:                         Moderate

Exercise Requirements:       High

Friendliness:                          Moderate to Low

Ease of Training:                   High

Guarding Ability:                    High

Grooming Requirements:     Moderate

Life Span:                              10 – 12 years

The German Shepherd Dog as a breed is the result of a conscious effort to produce the perfect shepherd, able to both herd and guard its flocks.  Breeders sought to develop not only a herding dog, but also one that could excel in jobs requiring courage, athleticism and intelligence.  Quite quickly the German Shepherd proved itself to be a more than capable police dog so subsequent breeding focussed on perfecting the qualities that would produce an intelligent and fearless companion and guard.

During the First World War the German Shepherd Dog was used as a war sentry.  It was at this time that the Americans changed its name to Shepherd Dog and the British to Alsatian Wolfdog to try and dissociate the dog from its then unpopular German roots.  The Wolfdog part was later dropped as it caused many people to fear the breed.  The original name of German Shepherd Dog was restored by both the British and Americans in the 1930s.  Many people to this day believe that an Alsatian and a German Shepherd are two different breeds.  This isn’t the case, it’s the same breed with two different names, such as the Irish Setter which is also known as the Red Setter.

To this day the German Shepherd Dog remains one of the most versatile and widely used breeds, serving as a police dog, military dog, guide dog, search and rescue, seek and find (narcotics and explosives), show dog, guard dog, shepherd and companion.

German Shepherds are a joy to own in the right hands, but can become dominant and unruly in the wrong hands.  They require plenty of exercise, training and mental stimulation and need a firm hand and a strict routine.  If not socialised well when young they can become wary of strangers and aggressive to other dogs.  They are a good family pet but can become over protective of family members, especially children, because of their excellent guard and protection abilities.

The kind of owner best suited to a German Shepherd is somebody who has researched the breed and knows the requirements of owning an intelligent working dog.  Somebody who has the time to train and exercise him and somebody with a confident temperament themselves so the dog doesn’t try to dominate.  And someone who accepts that this dog needs direction and needs to be shown leadership in order to know its place well.  This is one breed where you really do need to put the work in to reap the benefits, but the benefits are worth it.

German Shepherds are one of my top two favourite breeds, the other one being the Rottweiler, and it saddens me when I have to go to aggressive or anxious German Shepherds purely because they’re in the wrong environment for their breed and temperament.

31.08.2011

The Domestication Of The Dog

To properly be able to understand the psychology and thought process of our dogs, we first need to learn how they ever came to be domesticated in the first place, because this tells us a very important detail about how our dogs learn and process information.  There is some dispute as to exactly how long dogs have been domesticated for.  There is evidence suggesting that dogs were living with humans up to 30,000 years ago, but this isn’t concrete and is disputed by others.  However, there is absolutely solid undisputable evidence that dogs were living within a human environment as far back as 15,000 years ago, when an old burial site was discovered and excavated and canine and human bones were found buried together.

The human / canine relationship evolved quite naturally, from the earlier domestication of the Gray Wolf.  The wolf realized that if he hung around human settlements he could scavenge from the leftovers that the humans threw away (such as bones).  The human then realized that if he intentionally fed the wolves they would hang around and assist him in hunting and alert him to danger around the settlement.  It was a win win situation.  And that is how domestication of the dog began. 

Through selective breeding by humans over the years, the dog has developed into hundreds of varied breeds, and shows more behavioral variation than any other land mammal. For example, height measured to the withers ranges from a few inches in the Chihuahua to a few feet in the Great Dane; colour varies from white to grey, to black, tan, red, chocolate brown, even blue and everything inbetween and in a wide variation of patterns.  Similarly their coats can be short or long, coarse-haired to wool-like, straight, curly or smooth.

The dog may well have been the first animal to be domesticated, and has been the most widely kept.  Their varied functions in today’s world include: hunting, herding, pulling loads, protection, assisting the police and military, companionship, therapy dogs and much much more.  In 2001, there were estimated to be 400 million dogs in the world.  Quite an impressive figure. 

This impact the modern day dog has had on human society has given them the nickname "Man's Best Friend" in the western world.  And aint that just the truth!!

21.08.2011

Breed Profile – Labrador Retriever

Country of Origin:                  Canada

Date or Origin:                       1800s

Original Function:                  Water retrieving

Energy Level:                         High

Exercise Requirements:       High

Friendliness:                          High

Ease of Training:                   High

Guarding Ability:                    Moderate

Grooming Requirements:     Low

Life Span:                              10 – 12 years

The original Labrador was an all purpose water dog, originating in Newfoundland (not Labrador oddly).  It wasn’t even originally called the Labrador Retriever, but more of a very early version of today’s Newfoundland Dogs.  These dogs were used for retrieving game in the water, including fish, pulling small fishing boats along and helping the fisherman in any task involving swimming.  They eventually became extinct but a small number of them had been taken to England in the 1800s and it was by crossing these dogs with other retriever types that the Labrador Retriever that we know and love today came about. 

It was also in England that the Labrador Retriever earned its reputation as being a good land retriever as well as a water retriever.  Originally only the black Labradors were desired and any yellow or chocolate pups born were culled immediately.  But by the 1900s all three colours were accepted.  The Labrador Retriever was recognised as a breed by the English Kennel Club in 1903 and by the American Kennel Club in 1917.  In 1991 it became the most popular breed in America and still remains on the top spot to this very day.

Labrador Retrievers have a reputation of being a great family pet, but it is also worth pointing out that are not an easy dog to own in the early years.  They have very high energy levels and require plenty of exercise, training and mental stimulation to ensure that they remain calm and responsive throughout puppyhood and into adulthood.  A bored or under-stimulated Labrador will almost certainly get into trouble and become a handful to manage.

The kind of owner best suited to a Labrador Retriever is a young, active couple or family who have the time and the energy levels to give this highly rewarding but high maintenance breed everything they need.

14.08.2011

I’m Sure This Dog Speaks English – More Proof!

For those of you who have been following this blog from the beginning will remember the blog I posted a few months ago, ‘I’m Sure This Dog Speaks English’ about my own dog understanding something I’d said to him to stop another dog stealing his toy.  Well, just incase any of you doubted it, it happened again this morning!

To give you a bit of background, I have a 6 year old Great Dane mix called Benson and have recently gotten a Rottweiler puppy, Mack.  Toys are Benson’s life and he’s only truly happy when he’s either chasing a toy or playing tug of war with a toy.  Infact, it borders on OCD at times!  The problem is that my puppy has realised how much fun it is to steal Benson’s toys.  If he can grab it and leg it, he gets a chase.  And if he grabs it when Benson’s holding it he gets a tug of war game.  Everyone’s a winner.  But by far Mack’s favourite game is waiting for me to throw the toy for Benson and, instead of running with him, waiting for him to come running back and then jumping on his head.  Mack thinks he’s hilarious, Benson is NOT amused.

So this morning I have them out on their usual walk and I’m throwing Benson’s toy for him.  Mack’s doing his usual ‘wait and pounce’ thing and Benson’s getting gradually more and more irritated with it.  So I get to a point in the walk where I’m walking on the concrete road but to one side is a plot of land that’s been cleared ready for building, which the concrete road kind of circles.  I throw Benson’s toy along the concrete road, Benson dashes to get it, starts running back, spots Mack who’s now flattened himself completely to the concrete road anticipating his pounce.  The run slows to a trot, the trot slows to a walk and as he gets level with the empty plot he comes to a complete stand still, about 10 feet away from Mack worrying about passing him because he knows he’s going to get mobbed.

And here it comes.  I say to him ‘Bens, cut through the field.’  He stops, he looks at me, cocks his head to one side, glances at the field, glances back at me.  So I tell him again ‘cut through the field, he’ll not know where you’ve gone.’  One more glance at Mack, one more glance at the field and then he sets off from a stand still to a flat out run across the field and appears a few seconds later BEHIND Mack.  The look on Mack’s face was priceless.  He couldn’t work out what on earth had just happened.  I swear if dogs could talk Benson would have been saying ‘In your FACE loser!’

I’m telling you, this dog genuinely does speak English!!!  J

02.08.2011

Case Study - Old Fashioned Views

One day I was in a taverna having coffee with a friend when I got a phone call that really moved me.  The young woman on the other end of the phone was clearly at the end of her tether and as the conversation drew on I heard her voice catching as she struggled to hold back tears.  Her story was a sad one, not so much for her but for the puppy that she was on the verge of sending back to the shelter she had gotten him from.

Sammy was a 10 week old pointer.  Very nervous and head shy and immediately wet himself when touched by anybody, even gently.  This was the reason for my visit.  Sammy was proving impossible to house train and the constant urinating inside the house, on rugs etc. was causing a rift between the woman who had called me and her live in fiancé.  In addition to this, his owner was lucky enough to be able to take him to work with her.  However, she couldn’t get him out of the building, either via the lift or the stairs without him urinating somewhere on the way outside, which was also causing her grief with her boss at work.  She really was at her wit’s end and I felt immediately sorry for her.  She made no attempt to hide the fact that I was Sammy’s last chance and that should my advice fail he was going back to the shelter they’d got him from that very weekend.  You could tell by the way her eyes filled up as she told me this that it wasn’t her decision and that she was really hoping my advice would work.

She told me that Sammy’s main problem was that they couldn’t make him understand he was supposed to go for a wee outside and would just stand and do it wherever he happened to be when he decided he needed the toilet.  Sammy was so incredibly nervy that I knew this was the cause of the problem and that I had to find out the source of the nerves in order to cure him.  I asked his owner if she could think of anything he was especially scared of.  Maybe somebody at work?  Maybe the cats?  Or the cleaner?  Traffic?  Storms?  Anything at all!  She just kept shaking her head and saying no but I could tell there was something she wasn’t telling me.  In the end I was perfectly straight with her and told her that if she didn’t tell me the truth then she’d be taking Sammy to the shelter that weekend because I couldn’t help her if I didn’t have all the facts.  This did the trick and the reason for her reluctance to speak became apparent.  She felt that Sammy’s nerves were generated by her fiancé.  Seemingly his methods were very harsh and old fashioned, which she totally disagreed with but didn’t feel she could tell him without it causing an argument.  Her fiancé’s solution to house train Sammy was to smack him, rub his nose in it and throw him outside for an hour.  I was shocked to hear that people still used those methods in the 21^st century.

Once she’d told me this I began to observe Sammy in a new light and, whilst I was there, he actually went for a wee outside, where he’s supposed to go, and the poor thing flinched the whole time.  What this man had taught Sammy was to be afraid of having a wee anywhere and subsequently the poor mite was holding it in for as long as he possibly could before exploding wherever he was because he physically couldn’t hold it in anymore.

At this point the fiancé came home from work.  Now, I’ll be honest when I say that I was expecting a bit of a thug who would argue the toss with me and tell me his methods were fine.  I don’t know why!  And I was definitely expecting a negative reaction to my methods, which are always kind and positive, just based on what I knew of him so far.  But all credit to him.  I explained that he’d caused the problem, which is never an easy thing to tell someone, and his reply was ‘I just did what my dad used to do to our dogs when I was a kid.  That’s all I know.  Tell me what I should be doing and I’ll do it.’  I was so pleased because, especially for a guy, that must have been quite hard for him to say.  I gave them a modification programme to follow and told them to implement it immediately.

Again, to their credit, they did just that and I got an email from her just a week later to say that he was practically housetrained and when it did happen now it was a genuine accident.  He had also been clean at work for several days in a row.  Sammy was days away from ending up like so many other dogs in the shelters but a little bit of time, understanding and dedication from his owners saved this little lad from that fate.

27.07.2011

Remembering He’s A Dog

Over the years dogs have adapted so well into our human way of life and become so useful and enjoyable to us that we are guilty of treating them like humans and applying human emotions to them that they simply don’t possess. We speak to them like humans in a language they don’t understand, we baby them like children in a way that they would never have in the wild and we shower them with luxuries that they don’t need and haven’t earned purely because we love them so much. 

However, dogs are, essentially, very simple creatures.  And although they’re very intelligent animals, their thought process and their basic needs and requirements are also very simple.  By failing to treat our dog like a dog, and humanizing him with emotions and thoughts he simply doesn’t have, we not only fail to understand him for who he is, but we also accidentally generate many of the common behaviour problems we see today in the modern dog.

Many a time do I hear people telling me why their dog did a certain thing.  The two most common things I hear are:

He knew he’d done something wrong because he was acting guilty – Dogs do not have guilt as an emotion.  Dogs very much live in the moment and don’t worry about what has happened in the past.  Hence why we can get an abused dog who is still friendly with people.  When your dog appears to be displaying guilt to you, what he’s actually displaying is submission because he can sense that you’re angry and his instincts are telling him to show you body language that will appease you.  This doesn’t mean he understands why you’re angry, he’s just trying to avoid any further problems.

He did it out of spite – Again, dogs do not have spite as an emotion.  A dog does something or doesn’t do something because of previously learned experiences.  He absolutely won’t do something just to annoy you.  A dog will repeat or not repeat a behaviour based on what was in it for him.  What can a dog possibly gain or achieve by deliberately doing something that annoys you?  Nothing at best and punishment at worst, and therefore he won’t do it.  Aside from that logical explanation, their brains literally aren’t wired up to have a thought process like that. 

To give you a physical example of this, I had a friend once who used both of these expressions about the same problem her dog did.  Basically she would let her dog outside into the yard for the toilet, he would be out there for a few minutes and then come in and pee or poo on the carpet in the lounge.  She would declare furiously that he KNEW he shouldn’t do it because when she walked in the room and saw it he would act guilty and that he must be doing it on purpose to spite her for going out to work and leaving him.  With this attitude neither dog nor owner would be cured of the problem.

Here was the real problem.  The dog was going to the toilet in the lounge for three reasons:

1. Dogs usually prefer to go to the toilet on soft surfaces such as soil or grass.  My friend had a concrete yard and the lounge was the only room in the house that had carpet. 
2. When I went out to check the yard it was already full of dog dirt from where her other dog had been to the toilet over several days and she hadn’t cleared it up.  Dogs don’t like to go to the toilet in dirty places.
3. She hadn’t implemented any form of praise or reward system for when he DID go outside.

So to summarise, the dog didn’t understand he should go outside because he wasn’t shown by his owner that that was what she wanted him to do.  And even if he understood it, he isn’t going to go in the middle of a load of other piles of dirt.  So the genuine reason was that he was finding a clean, soft surface to go to the toilet on, which was the lounge carpet.  It was as simple as that.  As for the ‘showing guilt’.  He simply sensed that my friend was angry and showed her submission so she wouldn’t take it out on him. He absolutely wouldn’t have related her bad mood with the pile of poo on the carpet unless she literally caught him doing it and punished him.

It is one of the most important parts of owning a dog that you keep in mind that he is exactly that; a dog.  He can’t think like a human, he doesn’t have a human’s emotional capabilities and essentially he needs only the most basic of things; food, water, exercise, stimulation and company.  Don’t over complicate him or over humanize him because in doing that you’re making your job a lot more difficult than it needs to be.

17.07.2011

Ticks - The Facts

Any dog owner dreads the idea of ticks on their dogs and I for one do an involuntary shudder whenever I think about one.  To me they’re the most pointless horrible little creatures on God’s green earth.  But it’s also incredibly important that we know about them and the damage they can do to our beloved animals because they can transmit diseases and even cause anemia or paralysis in serious cases.

Here’s the technical bit, taken from the www.dogs.about.com website: Ticks are parasitic arthropods that feed on the blood of their hosts. They are attracted to warmth and motion, often seeking out mammals – including dogs. Ticks tend to hide out in tall grass or plants in wooded areas waiting for prospective hosts. Once a host is found, the tick climbs on and attaches its mouthparts into the skin, beginning the blood meal. Once locked in place, the tick will not detach until its meal is complete. It may continue to feed for several hours to days, depending on the type of tick. On dogs, ticks often attach themselves in crevices and/or areas with little to no hair – typically in and around the ears, the areas where the insides of the legs meet the body, between the toes, and within skin folds. Most species of ticks go through four life stages - eggs, larvae, nymphs, and adults. All stages beyond eggs will attach to a host for a blood meal (and must do so on order to mature). Depending on species, the life span of a tick can be several months to years, and female adults can lay hundreds to thousands of eggs at a time.

To be fair, most of us don’t care about the whys and wherefores, we just want to know what to do when this happens.  With pet dogs a tick will usually be discovered and removed fairly quickly so the risk of disease is massively reduced from, say, a dog that’s been found stray and roaming and covered in them.  However, below are some symptoms to look for in tick-borne diseases:

v     Lethargy

v     Fever

v     Weakness

v     Lameness

v     Joint swelling

v     Anemia

Obviously the best way to deal with any complications or illness with tick infestations is to prevent the possibility of ticks even attaching themselves to your dog by using one of several products on the market, such as Frontline or Advantix spot on or a Scalibor collar or tick & flea collar, which are all available from any vet in Cyprus.

However, these aren’t always fool proof, especially in the middle of summer and occasionally a rogue tick will still attach itself.  The thing to do here is to remove it without leaving the tick’s head embedded in your dog, as this can cause complications.  Some ideas for removing the tick safely and entirely are:

v     A specialist tick removal tool (available from most vets & on line)

v     Tweezers (make sure you get hold of the tick as close to your dog’s skin as possible and never squeeze the body)

v     Soak a cotton wool pad in clear alcohol such as vodka and basically drench the tick in it.  The tick will turn grey and drop off in a matter of hours.

There were also a couple of suggestions that I came across in my research but I’ve not tried them so don’t know if they work.  They were to rub salt onto the tick and to put Vaseline round the head of the tick, where it’s embedded into your dog.  Let me know if you try them and they work!

The best way of course is to prevent the problem by using one of the above preventative products but the important thing to remember is to regularly check your animal for ticks and to remove them as quickly and safely as possible.

12.07.2011

Can A Person Sink Any Lower Than This?

As my regular readers will know by now, I began my canine career as a humble kennel maid in a breeding kennels for German Shepherds.  Because it was a kennel environment that the puppies were reared in, in order to prepare them for the change from kennel environment to house environment I used to take them down to the farm house in small batches at my coffee breaks and lunch breaks.    On this particular day I decided to bring three White German Shepherds with me, Zak, Zimba and Zola.  They were brothers and sisters from the same litter and were seven weeks old, so coming up to the age where they’d be going to their new homes. 

The way the kennels was laid out was that the kennels and stables were at the top of the property, then there was a concrete lane with fields either side for the horses leading down to the house and beyond the house was a driveway which exited out onto a very busy main road.  So it was important to make sure that the drive gates were closed before bringing the pups down loose.  On this occasion I knew the gates were open so brought the puppies down to the house on leads and closed the kitchen door before letting them loose in the house.

At the time we had an odd job man working for us who took his breaks at the same as the kennel girls.  So he’s followed us down and has opened the kitchen door before taking his work boots off.  Now, in my defence I didn’t know any of this, so when I see the puppies tearing towards the open kitchen door that I knew I’d closed  behind me all that ran through my head was ‘the drive gate’s open!!’.  So as fast and hard as I could I kicked the kitchen door closed just in time to stop three naughty puppies making a bid for freedom.

Well, girls and boys, I’m not sure if you’ve ever heard a grown man scream before, but trust me it is a sound that never leaves you.  Without me knowing the odd job guy had had his hands in the open door jam, using it as support while he took his boots off.  So essentially, when I kicked the door closed I literally trapped every finger of his left hand inside the hinge side of the door.  Oooouuuuuuuuuch!!!!  To say the air was blue would be one of the biggest under statements of my career so far.  He dropped to the floor clutching his hand, swearing and switching between yelling in agony and whimpering like a baby. 

I rushed out full of sympathy and ‘are you alright’s?’  I won’t repeat his exact answer but essentially he meant no, he wasn’t.  Once the hot sweats and dry heaving had passed and we could assess the damage he turned to me and said ‘What on earth happened?  Who slammed the door on my fingers?’  My reply haunts me to this very day.  I’m not proud of myself, and I fear you’ll lose a smidgen of respect for me, but I replied without a moment’s hesitation, in a sweet and concerned voice, ‘It was the puppies.’

Seriously, can a person sink any lower than that?  J

25.06.2011

Keeping Your Dog Cool in the Heat

Well now the heat has hit us with a bang I’m sure you’re just the same as me, with your dogs moping around the place, panting and searching for shade and cool spots.  My two literally do nothing from their early morning walk right through until 5pm or 6pm when it starts to cool down.  My puppy, who should have a lunch time meal, won’t even consider eating it until 6pm.  Not great for his routine but what can you do!!

It’s very difficult keeping our dogs cool in the summer but I thought I’d share some hints and tips with you of little things we can do to try and keep our dogs cool and comfortable.

v     Minimise activity – This is probably an obvious one but many people feel cruel or as though they’re being an irresponsible owner if they don’t walk their dog or play with their dog so many times a day.  In the summer there’s no need for excessive exercise and all you run the risk of doing is giving your dog heat stroke.  If he’s happy sleeping in the shade, leave him to sleep in the shade.  A walk either side of the sun is ample at this time of year.

v     Provide shade – Again, another obvious one, but dogs don’t always have the common sense to sit in the shade so make sure there’s plenty of it in your garden or on your balconies and encourage them to lie there if they seem to be suffering.

v     Have plenty of water – Remember that at this time of year the sun actually heats the water in the water bowls, so have plenty of water dishes around and refresh them regularly.  We don’t want our dogs dehydrating.

v     Cool them off with water – Many dogs don’t see the benefit of being cooled off by water but they’ll be glad of it afterwards.  Douse them down with the hose or let your dogs into your pool to cool off if they like swimming.  If you don’t have a pool, you don’t want your dog in the pool or you have a dog who doesn’t like swimming, buy a little children’s paddling pool and just fill it with water to a few inches.  A dog only needs to have its chest and belly wet to cool down so many dogs who don’t like swimming will happily lie in shallow water.

v     Cool pads – There’s a product on the market now that acts a bit like a hot water bottle, but in reverse.  It’s a pad that your dog can lie on that has cold water inside of it so is cool on their belly.  Wetting a towel with cold water also has a similar effect.

v     Ice cubes – There are various things that we can do with ice to cool our dogs down.  Regular ice cubes can be crunched on or you can fill up a small water bottle with water and put it in the freezer so that they can either chew it to cool their mouth down or lie on it.

It is of the utmost importance that we don’t let our dogs overheat in these temperatures.  Keep them well watered and well shaded, don’t over exercise them, don’t leave them in small spaces with no ventilation and never EVER leave them in the car, even for a few minutes, unless you have the air conditioning cranked up.  I hope you find these hints and tips useful, and if you have any good tips of your own please add them to it. 

Stay cool…!!!

17.06.2011

The All Important ‘Leave’ Command

When I was a trainer in the UK, the ‘leave’ command was a useful thing to teach your dog.  Now I’m a dog trainer in Cyprus, the ‘leave’ command is a vital part of any training package that I do and a potential life saver, not only for the all too often poison alerts but also for poisonous snakes, both of which can have your dog hospitalised within 20 minutes of contact.  Unfortunately, this makes the ‘leave’ command one of the most difficult to teach and almost impossible to teach to perfection.  The poison is almost always placed in something very tasty, like chicken, and snakes trigger our dogs chase and hunt instinct.  So essentially the very things that we NEED them to leave are the very things that instinctively they will want to pursue.

I recently read somewhere somebody stating that teaching leave was very simple.  That absolutely isn’t the truth.  Teaching your dog to leave your slippers alone or stop stealing your tea towels is fairly simple.  Teaching a dog NOT to eat a huge hunk of chicken fillet that he’s just found on the floor, is nigh on impossible.  We can’t explain to the dog that it’s poison and will harm him so as a result our dog sees no valid reason NOT to eat it until it’s too late and he’s already sick.  It’s the equivalent of putting a 3 year old child in a room with a chocolate cake and saying ‘right, I’m going to leave the room now but you must not eat that cake.’  The child will wait until you’ve left and greedily tuck in because they don’t see why they should leave something so tasty, just because you told them to.  In other words, there’s nothing positive in it for them to leave the poison / cake so they might aswell eat it and take the consequences.  It’s a very basic and primitive response, which makes it all the harder to deal with because it’s always difficult to fight nature’s natural reaction.

This idea was highlighted well with my own dog Benson.  Those of you who know Benson know that he’s a bit of a cheeky lad anyway.  Dog trainer’s dog or not, he pushes the boundaries often, which is all part of his charm!  But on this particular occasion he really showed his naughty side, and his intelligent side, all in one go.  I had him up at my training place in Tala with me while I did some weeding etc. so he could have a mooch around while I worked.  I just happened to glance over my shoulder to see Benson looking…well the only word that fits is shifty.  He was just stood very still acting for all the world nonchalant and casual, whilst deliberately NOT looking at a certain spot at his feet.  I knew he’d found something he wasn’t allowed to have so I turned my back again and pretended to keep weeding so I could observe what he’d do and literally be able to catch him red handed and correct him in the act if it was something naughty he was up to. 

He waited until he saw my back was turned and then very veeeerrrrrrrry slowly he started to lower his head to something at his feet, whilst simultaneously opening his jaws in anticipation.  He never once took his eyes off me, making sure the whole time that I wasn’t watching him.  Or so he thought!  The whole journey from acting innocently to being an inch away from his find must have taken about 30 seconds.  That’s how slowly and deliberately he worked to make sure he didn’t get caught.  And just as he went to put whatever it was into his mouth I yelled ‘LEAVE IT!!!!’ without even turning around to face him.  He jumped a mile and immediately pretended like he’d been doing something completely different.  I know that all sounds a bit too human, but seriously, come meet my dog and you’ll see that’s how he is!!

It turned out that he’d found an old scabby lamb bone that one of the birds must have dropped when they were flying over.  The point I’m trying to highlight is that Benson KNOWS he isn’t allowed to pick things up off the floor.  I’ve even got his training to the stage where no command is needed; if its on the floor, he can’t have it.  But he still pushed his luck when something was tasty enough, working on the assumption that if I couldn’t see him it was OK.  Clever, impressive and very concerning all at the same time.

So the point of this blog is to encourage everybody to:

v     Teach your dog a leave command as a priority

v     Practice it regularly and consistently, with all sorts of things but especially different kinds of tempting food

v     Only use your leave command for things they’re NEVER allowed to have.  Don’t, for example, use it as a command for them to drop their toy.  Leave should mean, you can never, ever have that so come back to me and I’ll give you a reward instead.

v     Don’t lose your vigilance just because at home your dog leaves when he’s told.  If the thing is tasty enough or the temptation is interesting enough (like a snake trying to retreat) then all of their training could go out of the window in a real life situation

v     Don’t let your dog off the lead if you can’t be sure you can reliably get him back again in an emergency

v     Dogs can get used to being muzzled on walks if you live in an area that is prone to poisoning

Having said all of that, it also has to be pointed out that there is also a form of poison that the dog simply walks through and then licks off their feet later, in which case a muzzle or a leave command are useless.  But forewarned is forearmed and the more you can train your dog the better chance you have in a real life situation of having control.

Do You Believe In Ghosts?

When I was younger I’d always been the kind of person where if it couldn’t be proven to me, then it couldn’t be true.  I needed solid evidence and hard facts, rather than faith and possibility.  I always wanted to believe that there was something else out there, that we didn’t just die and get buried and that was that, but nobody ever seemed able to convince me.  That was until I had a very weird experience one day when I was working at the kennels.

I was probably about 19 by this time.  Before I carry on with the story I need to explain the layout of the kennels slightly so that you can picture in your head why this experience was so weird.  The kennels consisted of a night block where the dogs were put away overnight and daytime kennels with large runs where they spent the day.  The night block had only one entrance and consisted of a narrow alleyway with kennels off to the right and left all the way to the bottom, which was a dead end.  The kennels themselves had an entrance door and a window that was covered with wire and a wooden bed that was raised off the floor.  And the first kennel on the left had been converted into a kitchen.

So on this particular day I’m in the kitchen washing up food bowls when I see, out of the corner of my eye, a flash of golden whizz past the door, heading out into the kennel yard.  Almost immediately the dogs erupted into a frenzy of barking.  I rushed out, not only to shush the dogs up but because this was a German Shepherd breeding kennels so there were no golden dogs here.  I scanned the yard and tried to calm the dogs down but they were clearly barking AT something.  As I was following their line of vision, I saw it.  A Golden Retriever, charging round the dog runs trying to find a way out.  It must have escaped from a garden nearby and followed the smell of dogs.

I called it over to me but either it couldn’t hear me over the din or was just ignoring me.  Instead it turned on its heel and ran back inside the night block.  I ran in after it, just in time to see its tail disappearing into the first kennel on the right, the one opposite the kitchen.  I quickly closed the entrance door to the night block behind me so it couldn’t escape again and slowly went into the kennel with a lead and collar to catch it.  But the kennel was empty.  Frowning I scanned the whole kennel again, I checked the mesh on the window and got down on all fours to check underneath the wooden bed but the dog had literally vanished.  Shaking my head in bewilderment I went back into the corridor and systematically checked every single kennel, even though I’d seen with my own eyes that it had gone into the first one.  Every kennel was empty, the dog was nowhere to be seen.

I went down to the house and told my boss about the strange experience, still trying to explain it away as something perfectly obvious that I just hadn’t thought of yet.  But the exchanged glance between my boss and her friend, who was over for coffee, told me that they knew very well whatever it was that I’d just seen. 

It turns out that years before my arrival at the kennel, they used to board dogs, and not just breed them.  The kennel maid at the time had taken two boarders off their owner and put them away in a kennel.  Unfortunately she’d forgotten to take their choke chains off and one of the dogs in its excitement had jumped up and got its choke chain caught on something and literally hung itself.  The dog was a Golden Retriever, and the accident had happened in the first kennel on the right in the night block.   Believe in ghosts or don’t but I can’t deny what I saw.  Goosebumps or what??

08.06.2011

Is Your Dog Legal In Cyprus

It is many a job I go to where the proud owner of their new dog genuinely didn’t realise that there were legal requirements to owning a dog in Cyprus.  As many of my customers are British it doesn’t occur to them to check because there are now no restrictions to owning a dog in the UK.  And lets be honest, even if you were aware that there WERE some rules and regulations here in Cyprus, finding the correct information out is challenging to say the least.  Before posting the information on this blog I Googled it to make sure I was giving you the correct advice and couldn’t find a legitimate government issued list of it anywhere.  So what I will say is, the information that I’ve given you below is accurate to the best of my knowledge, and to the information I was able to verify it with online.

So, anybody who owns a dog should be adhering to the following rules:

v     All owners must display a ‘Beware Of The Dog’ sign at the entrance to their premises

v     All dogs must be micro chipped & registered with the government vet (if you don’t register the dog, the micro chip is pointless)

v     All dogs must have an in date dog licence (obtained from the municipality of the village you live in)

v     All dogs must have a health book, detailing that their jabs etc are up to date

Please note that these are LEGAL REQUIREMENTS and are punishable with a fine and in worse case scenario cases (if my information is to be believed) confiscation or euthanasia of the dog in question.  Below is an excerpt I found on Argos Sanctuary’s forum which seems to back this up:

The competent authority applies to the District Animal Welfare Committee who investigates and if it is ascertained that the owner is in violation of any of the above Clauses, the dog is handed over to the local authority. The local authority will make arrangements via the District Animal Welfare Committee to place the dog with an animal welfare organisation or to any other interested party. If this is not possible within thirty days (30) from the date the dog was handed over to the competent authority by the District Animal Welfare Committee, then the dog is surrendered to the District Veterinary Services to be euthanized.

They’re the definite do’s and don’ts that are punishable by law.  There are also a couple of other provisos that I’ve come across which I’ve not heard of before so I’m not sure if they’re actually legally expected or just what would be expected of a responsible dog owner.  They are:

v     All dogs must be walked on a lead at all times & not allowed to run freely

v     All owners must clean up after their dogs

It is also a sensible thing to do to have your dog’s passport up to date because these things take 6 months to prepare and you never know what’s round the corner.  So many dogs get re-homed or even put to sleep, purely because their owner has to leave unexpectedly, the dog doesn’t have a passport and the owner can’t wait 6 months to prepare it.

So, now you’re armed with all the information, you can ask yourself the question, is your dog legal in Cyprus??

Always Call To Say You’re Coming…

Those of you who know me, have read my website or this blog will know that I started out my canine career as a humble kennel maid in a German Shepherd breeding kennels.  The five years I spent in this kennel remain to this very day as five of the happiest years of my life.  It also provided me with more than my fair share of happy memories and funny stories.  One of the stories that sticks in my head is the day my new boyfriend decided to ‘surprise’ me at work.

I wasn’t remotely interested in lads when I was younger.  Dogs were my life and boys were just dumb.  So I was well into my 18^th year by the time I had my first boyfriend, by which point I’d been at the kennels full time for 2 years and was now head girl on the kennel side of things.  Every year we planned which dogs to mate to produce the best possible litters. 

There’s a big misconception that the breeding world is quite glamorous.  That the staff all potter round in spotlessly clean cream jodhpurs and shiny boots.  And the crème de la crème of the chosen breed are put together to seamlessly and mutually create equally perfect puppies that will shine in the show ring.  In reality it’s actually a pretty grubby affair!  The staff potter around in their oldest jeans and scabbiest trainers, covered in dog hair, slobber and mud. And the female is only mateable for a few days of each season so it’s of the utmost importance that we get a mating within that time scale or we have a six month wait for the next season.  So it’s rarely hearts and flowers where the mating’s concerned either.

On this particular day I was putting what we call in the trade a maiden bitch (virgin!) to an experienced male so she was being less than co-operative.  Obviously he was more than keen (typical man!!) and she was doing all the flirty stuff well, teasing him and flying her tail at him (do I hear men saying typical woman???).  But the second he tried to mount her she turned into some kind of oscar award winning actress, screaming the place down and throwing herself around as though he was trying to murder her.   The drama of it all!! 

So, I had to intervene.  Now, this was either before the days of artificial insemination or my boss was too tight to pay for it, but suffice to say it was up to me to ensure that the female got mated come hell or high water.  So I had to go into the kennel and basically hold the female in place while she was mated.  Sounds a bit cruel looking back at it now but it’s just what you DID back then!  So picture the scene.  I’m straddling the female, facing her back end with her head poking out from between my legs and gripping her with my knees so she can’t rush forward. And I have my arms hooked under her belly so she can’t sit down.  The male is now on top of her having a blast, with his head poking through my arms at ‘thrust’ timed intervals.  And the female is screaming the place down like she’s being murdered.  Eventually he does his job and they ‘tie and turn’ which is the sign of a successful mating.  So I let go, out of breath and sweating, shaking my arms out which were aching from holding up two German Shepherds, turn around and bump straight into my boyfriend who’s just stood there staring at me in my filth, hair and slobber covered attire, completely motionless and drained of colour, mouth open in a perfect O, eyes darting from me to the two tied dogs stood end to end and back to me again.

After only the briefest of ‘oh dear’ pauses, I declare in an overly jovial voice.  ‘Paul!  What a lovely surprise!’

He never did call again….funny that.

Adopting A Dog - The Importance Of Research

Taking on a dog is a big responsibility and is often rushed into without much thought or research into what it actually involves.  Often, especially in Cyprus, you haven’t even intended to have a dog, they just turned up skinny and flea ridden on your doorstep and by the time you have nursed them back to health you’re well and truly attached and they’re there for good.  But those of you have actually made a decision to get a dog, that is just the start of the choices you have to make.  You’ve talked about it for ages.  You’ve discussed different breeds.  Boy or girl?  Adult or puppy?  Rescue one or buy a pedigree?  You’ve weighed up all the pros and cons;   

      They’re tying if you want a holiday BUT they’re such good company

      They shed hair everywhere BUT they’re a good guard for your property

      They need walking regularly BUT it gets the kids off the sofa and out into the fresh air

      They can be expensive BUT they make you laugh

Many of the ‘problem’ dogs that I get called to are simply dogs that are completely mis-matched with their owners or the environment in which they live.  For example, a German Shepherd being owned by an elderly lady, a Labrador living in an apartment or a husky that doesn’t get walked because the owner works full time. 

It is of the utmost importance that once the decision has been made to re-home a dog, whether it be a pedigree or a rescue dog, that you then take some time to research which characteristics of a dog would suit your lifestyle and your schedule.  Even if you decide to adopt a dog from a shelter, the people running it should still have an idea of what kind of breeds are in each dog so should be able to make an educated guess as to levels of upkeep, grooming, exercise and training the dogs will need.  Obviously with pedigrees it’s much easier as they are deliberately bred to exhibit certain desired behaviours.

Much of it is common sense.  Don’t get a working breed if you don’t have time to exercise and train them.  Don’t get a dog that sheds a lot of hair or slobbers a lot  if you’re OCD about cleanliness.  Don’t get a very active dog if you’re not a very active person.  Don’t get a very lazy dog if you ARE a very active person.  Don’t get a dog that’s prone to barking if you live in a built up area.  Don’t get a traditionally friendly breed if you’re looking for a good guard.  And absolutely never EVER get a dog because you’ve seen it in a movie or because your Auntie Irene used to have one when you were a kid and it was always well behaved!  (Trust me, I hear those two reasons a LOT!!!)

The list goes on, but the point being made is research research research.  You will prevent a lot of trouble and heart ache in the future if you match your dog to yourself, your family, your lifestyle, your exercise levels and your own temperament.  You match all of the elements well and you’ll have a friend for life that you will truly enjoy spending time with.

Where It All Started... Part 2!

For anyone just reading this blog for the first time, you need to go back to the other ‘Where It All Started’ blog on the 9^th of May or you’ll be thoroughly confused with this entry!  For those of you who read the first half, this is the second half. How I went from being a dog mad, over enthusiastic kid to a qualified canine behaviourist, trainer and instructor. 

When I was in high school I knew that I wanted to work with animals and when I was a keen 15 year old I was lucky enough to get sent to a local German Shepherd breeding kennels for my one week Work Experience.  I loved being surrounded by so many dogs and felt completely at home but even though this was clearly my dream job when I left school I went to work in an office.  It made more sense, it was the best ‘career’ decision and certainly the best financial decision.  Besides, my parents were disappointed that I hadn’t gone to college and my dad was passionately against me doing, in his view, such a menial job for a living.  So I ignored my heart and went with what everybody else thought was best for me.  Suffice to say, I only lasted seven months in the office job before I followed my heart and went to work full time for the kennels and was the kennel manager by the time I was 18. 

I had a passion for training from day one and was like a human sponge, absorbing every bit of information I could.  The kennels offered a boarding service where the dog could be trained whilst in boarding.  They had a permanent trainer that they used for this and she became the person that I thought I would look up to.  However, the more I watched her, the more I felt uncomfortable with her techniques.  But it wasn’t until I began working full time at the kennels that I really saw the full extent of this woman’s methods.  This so called role model used every barbaric trick in the book to get the dog to do what she asked.  The problem was, she got results, which is what the owners saw.  What they didn’t see was that the dogs were completely terrified of her. 

The final straw came when I saw her training a Labrador to heel using a choke chain.  She had the chain so far up the dog’s neck that it was actually over one of his ears and literally choking him.  The dog was dancing on his toes just to try and loosen the chain.  I marched straight down to the owner of the kennels and made her watch.  Needless to say, she was fired on the spot and, with nobody more experienced available to do it, the role of trainer was handed over to me. 

Now I was relatively new to the training world and didn’t have much experience behind me, but I knew that I didn’t want to train dogs using those techniques and just knew that there had to be another way.  From that day on I tried and tested different kind techniques.  Some of them worked, some of them didn’t, but the end result was my own unique style that neither harmed, upset or frightened the dog.   Over the years my methods have evolved to keep up with new training tools and ideas but the basic theory has always remained the same.  Positive, reward based fun.

My qualifications came about when I was 22 and couldn’t afford to live on a kennel maid’s wage anymore (even kennel manager’s get paid peanuts!).  First I took an Instructor’s Certificate, which I passed with a credit.  This qualification allows me to teach YOU to teach your dog.  My second qualification was a Canine Psychology Course, which I passed with a distinction. 

My hands on experience combined with my qualifications means I’m a trainer, behaviourist and instructor all rolled into one; a boast that not many dog trainers are lucky enough to have and the luxury of doing my hobby and passion for a living!  And now of course my family couldn’t be prouder!  But like most things in life you have to do the dirty jobs to get to where you want to be (which in my case was cleaning up after 50 German Shepherds!!!)

 I guess the message here is that no matter what anybody else tells you, or however much the other options seem more sensible / practical / logical etc etc.  If something’s in your heart, you’ll end up doing it no matter what.  J

Where It All Started...

For those of you who may be interested in where, when and how I developed my love for dogs and subsequent career path:

It always was, and probably still is, a mystery to my family why I love dogs so much.  I come from a big family.  I have four brothers and two sisters and none of them are really that bothered about dogs.  Infact, I don’t think any of them even own a pet of any description.  I can’t explain it myself but dogs have always been, for as long as I can remember, something I was passionate about.  My mum tells me stories of when I was a baby, maybe two years old, in my buggy when a dog walked by and I started lunging and trying to get out of my buggy so I could say hi to the dog.  She says that I nearly tipped the buggy over I was so determined to reach the dog.  There was another time when I was walking with my mum, holding her hand, and I saw a dog tied up outside a shop waiting for its owner.  I let go of my mum’s hand and, before she knew what was happening, I had run over to the dog to stroke it.  I don’t know whether I scared the dog, or whether it just wasn’t a friendly one, but it ended up trying to bite me and I got into trouble and got a lecture from my mum about how I mustn’t run up to strange dogs because they may be dangerous.  Of course, I don’t remember any of these stories as I was only two or three when they happened, but it’s obvious from hearing stories like this that I was born with my love for dogs and that it was never really something I had any control over.

I’d always wanted a dog of my very own but up to this point my mum and dad hadn’t let me.  They let me have rabbits in the hope that would please me but it wasn’t the same as a dog.  They tried to make up for it by buying me dog books and, my favourite thing in the world, a big stuffed life size dog.  I called her Lassie and put a collar and lead on her and used to drag her round the house with me like I was walking her.  I took that dog everywhere with me and absolutely adored it.  I was maybe seven or eight when I got that dog and I still had it when I left home at sixteen.  It was pretty old and tattered by then but it still meant the world to me.

To try and satisfy my need for a dog I befriended all of the dogs on the street I lived on.  Back when I was a kid you didn’t keep your dogs in the garden, they were allowed to just roam around the street.  So I would go walking to a local field and take all of the neighbours dogs with me.  It used to make my mum really angry sometimes because I’d be walking with her to the bus stop or the dentist and there’d be five or six dogs following us.  She’d turn around and ‘shoo’ them away and tell them to go home, and then I’d get upset because I loved the fact that they were somebody else’s dog but still wanted to follow me instead of stay at home with their real owner.  I even gave them all names, even though I knew they already had names, so they felt like my own dogs.  It sounds pretty geeky now doesn’t it but that’s how strong my feelings were about having dogs, even back then when I was so young.

My need to have a real dog caused many arguments and upset in my house as I grew up.  There’s one time that stands out in my head which is probably the first real memory I have of how desperately I wanted a dog.  I was still quite young, probably eight or so and I was sat in my house.  I couldn’t play out because it was pouring with rain outside.  Suddenly I heard a dog crying somewhere nearby.  I threw on my shoes and my coat and went out into the rain to see what it was.  I followed the crying noises until they led me to a neighbour’s garden.  There, huddled under the hedgerow to get out of the rain, was a little black puppy.  It didn’t have a collar on and was wet through and shivering.  I ran straight back home and told my mum and dad that I was getting a blanket and bringing it home with me, to which they both told me that I wasn’t.  They said that it must belong to somebody and that I can’t just bring dogs home when I feel sorry for them.  I just remember sitting on the bottom of the stairs and breaking my heart crying as I listened to the rain hammering down and the little puppy crying.  As it turned out, the puppy was owned by the neighbours whose garden he was in.  His name was Benji.  They’d gone out shopping and left him in the garden rather than shut him in the house.  But even at that young age I remember feeling angry, both at my mum and dad for not letting me bring him in out of the rain and at my neighbours for leaving him in the garden in the first place with no shelter.

When I was a kid there were short periods of time when my mum and dad would give in to my whining and bring home a dog.  But they never lasted long and the only sad memories I have of being a kid are all around times when the dog I had grown to love and become attached to had been taken away from me within weeks of it arriving.  There were always good reasons in my mum and dad’s eyes but when you’re young and all you want in the world is your own dog, you don’t care how good the reason is, you just want your dog back.  One of these times sticks in my head.  My auntie had a Border Collie called Lady.  One time when she went on holiday we looked after Lady, and for whatever reason Lady never went back to my auntie.  I adored that dog.  She would be waiting for me outside the school gates at 3 o clock every day and she was so well behaved and sweet natured.  I don’t remember now the circumstances around how it happened because I was still at primary school so was younger than ten.  All I remember is coming out of school one day and Lady wasn’t waiting at the gates for me.  And when I got home she wasn’t there either.  And then mum told me that my auntie had taken her back.  They hadn’t even let me say goodbye to her.

I don’t want to make my mum and dad sound like bad people.  They weren’t that at all.  They’re just not real animal lovers  and don’t understand where I’m coming from most of the time.  They kinda get that I love dogs, but they don’t properly understand the passion, even now I don’t think.  Infact, most people don’t understand it.  And if you’re anything at all like me then you’ll know exactly where I’m coming from.

So that was how I knew I had to work with dogs when I got older, more of an instinctive urge than a conscious decision. Ironically,  that didn’t originally happen and I started my adult career working as an administrator in an office because my parents felt that working with dogs was a ‘dead end job’ and a waste of my talents.  But that’s another story for another time……

Just to let you know that I now have a Facebook page aswell as this website and my AngloInfo Blog which will cover everything that I cover on here aswell and my blog and any information on new services, doggy events etc. etc.   If you’d like to be included in this please find me on Facebook at Lindsay Cowie Dog-Training and request me as a friend.

I know it’s short notice but it’s recently been brought to my attention that there’s going to be a three day event this weekend in aid of CYDRA dog charity.  It’s a great charity that do a lot with very little so please try to go along to one or all of their days and support them where you can.

I tried to upload the flyer onto here but the file’s too big so I’ve summed it up briefly below.

Day 1:  Friday May 13th @ 9pm – Gala Dinner

Day 2:  Saturday May 14th @ 9pm – Pasta & Disco Night

Day 3:  Sunday May 15th @ 12 noon – 5pm – Family Fun Day

All events are held at the Brio Restaurant.

If you want a copy of the full flyer or need more info either contact myself on k9solutions@emailcyprus.net or Ruth Baker from CYDRA on ruthbaker7@hotmail.com

Thanks

09.05.2011

Hi guys

I know it seems like a long way away but I’ve just been informed of another fun dog show being held in October in aid of Cancer Patients Support Group & Friends Hospice, being very cutely called Caring Canines Show.  For any of you that went down to the Dog Show in Timi last month, this is being arranged by the same people.  I’m sure you’ll all agree that they did an amazing job, the venue was lovely, the atmosphere was informal and friendly and they raised a lot of money for a great charity.  So really pleased that they’re repeating the event.

I don’t have any further details yet as to what the event will entail, but I know these people so rest assured that it will be a fun, dog friendly day.  They’re also provisionally saying that they have two more fun days already planned for May and October next year.

I’ll be in touch again nearer the time with more info, a flyer etc etc. but in the meantime well done to Pauline & Leigh (the organisers)  and we all look forward to October.

I'm Sure This Dog Speaks English...

As many of you will already know, one of the services I offer is Doggy Day Care.  Not so long ago I had a dog in who is a regular Day Care visitor with me so I’m able to walk him off lead on a field near my house with my own dog (this was prior to the snakes waking up obviously!!).  Now my dog, Benson, is almost unhealthily obsessed with toys.  I often say joking that he has a form of OCD, except it probably isn’t a joke!  He’s like a selfish kid, won’t share his toys and gets quite upset if another dog gets to his toy first when it’s been thrown.  Most dogs know this of him and just let him have the toy but for some reason this day, my day carer Max decided that he wasn’t going to give in quite so easily.

So I threw the toy to all of my girly ability (which obviously wasn’t very far) and somehow Max got there first, which is quite an achievement when you’re racing a Great Dane mix!  So he grabs the toy, turns on his heel and legs it.  Well Benson is outraged.  He looks at me with a look of absolute shock on his face and sets off hot on the heels of Max, determined to get his precious toy back.  Max is smaller than Benson and certainly not as fast, but he’s nimble and with a few quick smart direction changes there was no way that Benson was going to catch him. 

Now this bit was funny enough to watch on its own, but the next part of the story is going to make me sound a little bit mad.  But you dog lovers will know that talking to your dog is a perfectly acceptable part of dog ownership……right?  So I called Benson over and calmly explained to him that he shouldn’t be chasing Max, because that’s what Max wants him to do and is the reason he stole the toy in the first place.  What he should do, I told him as though he was a small child having a lesson in life, is ignore him and then Max will get bored and come back with the toy. 

Well people, as God is my witness, Benson looked at me with his head cocked to one side, looked at Max who was standing about 20 feet away, expectantly waiting to be chased again, turned around and ran in the OPPOSITE direction!  I swear to you this honestly happened.  You should have seen the look on Max’s face!  But it didn’t end there.  When Benson noticed that Max was following him at a cautious distance but not coming close enough to take the toy back he stopped in his tracks and pretended to be REALLY interested in something on the ground.  He was sniffing and pawing at this imaginary thing and all the time checking out of the corner of his eye what Max was doing.  It didn’t take long for Max’s curiosity to get the better of him and came rushing over, wanting whatever it was that Benson had found.  At which point Benson lunged at him, scaring him to death so he dropped the toy, then he snatched the toy and legged it, leaving Max looking bewildered at what on earth had just happened.

For my part, I was doubled up laughing at the top of my voice, tears streaming down my face, alone in the middle of a field.  Told you, little bit mad.  I swear to you that this is a true story.  Some dogs really do speak English!!!!

On The Job Anecdotes - Home Alone

Being a Canine Behaviourist is one of the most varied and rewarding jobs there is.  No two jobs are ever the same, because no two dogs, or owners, are ever the same.

A couple of years ago I had what has got to be the funniest and most disorganised consultation I have ever been to.  Not to say that it was a bad job, just very odd and a completely new experience to how these things normally go.  The only bits I knew prior to the consultation was that the guy was called David, he had a French Bulldog called Charlie and the main problem was that the Bulldog was escaping from the garden and not coming back when he was called, aswell as a smaller issue of pulling on the lead.  Fairly regular problems and certainly nothing too challenging.

However, the problems started before I even arrived at the house. David had said he lived at number 26 and given me directions to his house, but somehow he’d told me the wrong street to turn down.  However, by some odd coincidence, this street also had a number 26.  Thankfully I checked with him by mobile phone before knocking on a completely random person’s door and declaring that I was there to sort their dog out!

Eventually I got to the correct street and there’s this guy, who’d sounded quite serious and business like on the phone, greeting me in cut off jeans, a t-shirt and flip flops.  Now I know it isn’t very professional to have pre-conceived ideas of what customers may look like but I just had an image in my head, based on the emails and phone calls we’d had so far, that he’d be a bit more like, well, I don’t know, a banker?  You know, smart suit, maybe glasses, mid forties.   So this lad in his early twenties, dressed like a surfer dude or skater boy took me completely by surprise.  But the surprises were to keep coming.

His house, from the outside, was a very nice, large villa with a huge garden.  But once the front door was opened the place was a WHOLE different scenario.  The front door led directly into the lounge, which consisted of precisely one piece of furniture.  A big wooden table sat in the middle of the room, the rest of the room was just a big empty space.  The table had all of the stuff that a guy who works from home on his laptop would have strewn around it.  There was barely a bit of wood showing.  Cigarette packets, paperwork, pens and pencils, empty sweet and crisp wrappers and an uncountable number of empty cans of Iced Tea and dirty glasses and mugs. 

The kitchen hadn’t faired much better.  Every available bit of sideboard was littered with dirty dishes, pots and pans and empty packets of various cooking ingredients.  A full bin bag sat gaping at me on the floor.  I must have registered SOMETHING on my face (Shock?  Horror?) because he quickly apologised for the mess and began self consciously stacking things and clearing a space on the cluttered table for me to sit.  I just laughed it off, assuming he was a single lad living alone, but then he explained the reason for the mess. 

“My girlfriend’s gone back to the UK for a holiday and left me home alone.  I’m clearly not coping as well as I should be without her.” 

Feeling a little bit guilty for my earlier presumptions I said,

            “Oh right, when did she leave?”

His answer set the tone for the consultation.

“Yesterday.”  He replied with a guilty smile.  “I tried to make myself some dinner last night and this is what happened.”  He gestured, unnecessarily towards the state of the kitchen.

I just cracked up laughing and that is how the consultation proceeded.  Not forgetting his manners he offered me a drink of Iced Tea.  But when I said that I didn’t like Iced Tea he went to the fridge, opened it up, scanned the contents thoughtfully for a good few minutes and then declared “Right, in that case, you have a choice of wine or a yoghurt.”  Bearing in mind it was 10am I declined the wine, somehow without laughing out loud.  He then offered me tea or coffee instead.  I looked dubiously towards the bomb site that used to be a kitchen and simply raised an eyebrow.  After another painfully long minute of him scanning his cupboards he altered his offer to just tea, he couldn’t find where his girlfriend kept the coffee!

I’d now been at his house for twenty minutes and got nowhere so in a vain attempt to get the consultation started and stop him looking so panicky I just told him that tea would be fine.  And so began the saga of David making a cup of tea.  First of all he had to check every cupboard before deciding that, yep, every cup is definitely already dirty, either in the sink or scattered about the table with varying degrees of cold liquid still left in them.  Now most people at this point would quickly wash a cup.  Wouldn’t they?  Not David, he makes me a cup of tea…..wait for it……in a glass!  I have never, in all my years, not only of doing this job, but of visiting people in general been given a GLASS of tea!  Another five minutes of fumbling and muttering revealed that he didn’t actually have any sugar either.  At this point I didn’t know whether to crack up laughing or yell at him to just sit down and leave the damn tea, or even go over and just do it myself!  It was almost painful watching him trying to do the most simple of daily tasks.  He really was lost without his girlfriend.

Eventually we were both seated at the table, running through the consultation.  Within minutes David’s up and pacing up and down, chain smoking, as though I was reading him his final rites instead of actually being there to help. He reminded me a bit of my kid brother, who has ADHD and has a similar incapacity to sit still or concentrate on one thing for long.  Intermittently he’d offer me a cigarette, despite me repeatedly telling him that I didn’t smoke.  The rest of the consultation went well and without any more odd or hilarious behaviour.  I managed to stop the lead pulling in one short walk and showed David how to occupy Charlie’s mind with training.  David seemed really pleased and was saying all the right things about what he was going to do when I’d left which is always good to hear.

Then came the end of the consultation and the time for payment.  It’s always a worry when a customer hesitates before paying you, which is what David did, and the way the consultation had gone so far I just had images of him declaring that he had no money.  It turned out he’d gone to the place where the money, and I quote, “should have been” to find that his girlfriend had taken ALL of it to the UK with her.  So to cut a long story short, and to quote a good old Northern expression, he’d coppered up.  Prior to my arrival he’d scoured the house for every available note and coin and had managed to get together the consultation fee, predominantly in coins.  I looked down unbelievingly at the vast amount of coins, stacked neatly in little piles, and then up at David’s apologetic and slightly embarrassed face and just cracked up laughing.  Another first, being paid in copper!  Still money’s money I guess so I graciously scooped it all into my pocket, shook his hand and rattled off down the drive way.

This consultation has to rate right up there with both my oddest and funniest jobs.  David was a really funny, if completely incompetent, young lad.  He acknowledged his weaknesses and made no excuses for who he was.  I thoroughly enjoyed that job, but was secretly feeling pretty sorry for David’s girlfriend by the time I left.  God only knows what mess she eventually came home to if it was in that state after just one day!

11.04.2011

Snakes

Just a quick word of warning.  I saw my first snake of 2011 yesterday so its obviously warm enough now for them to wake up and get moving.  Please be vigilant with your dogs and avoid any fields or areas with long grass in them.  Snakes are generally more afraid of us than we are of them, but if cornered or startled they will defend themselves.

Most of you will probably already know this but just incase some people don’t, most vets sell an anti venom kit that you should carry with you during the summer months.  It isn’t a cure to the snake bite but it buys you valuable time for you to get your dog to the nearest vet should the worst happen and your dog gets bitten by a venomous one.

Stay alert.

Hotels  That Welcome Dogs

A few months ago a customer asked me to try and compile a list of hotels and apartments in Cyprus that allow you to take dogs, as they wanted to take their dog on holiday with them.  I was actually surprised at how many places there are once I started researching it and thought you might find it useful so have posted the information below:

HOTELS THAT WELCOME DOGS

TROODOS

The Linos Inn – Kakopetria  www.linos-inn.com.cy

The Eidelweiss Hotel – Troodos – Can’t find a website but just Google the name of the hotel and Troodos and it brings up several travel websites that you can contact them through.

Rental cottages in the Troodos mountains welcome pets.

www.holiday-rentals.co.uk Property ref 480580 and 801254.

PAPHOS

Agapinor Hotel, Paphos   www.agapinorhotel.com.cy

Mariela Hotel Apartments – Polis, Paphos  www.marielahotel.com

Sunny Hill Hotel Apartments – Paphos  www.sunnyhill.com.cy

Sea Breeze Luxury Villas – Paphos  www.rentseabreezevillas.com

LARNACA

Takis House – Kalavasos, Larnaca  -  No direct website but plenty of ‘agents’ come up when you google it

Achilleos Hotel Apartments – Larnaca  www.achilleoshotel.com 

Lucky Hotel Apartments – Larnaca  www.lucky.com.cy 

Kontoyiannis House – Kalavasos, Larnaca  www.kontoyiannis.com

NICOSIA

Averof – Ayios Andreas, Nicosia  www.averof.com.cy

LIMASSOL

Sylva Hotel – Limassol  -  No direct website but plenty of ‘agents’ come up when you google it

Vasilikos House – Tochni (between Larnaca and Limassol) – No direct website but plenty of ‘agents’ come up when you google it

Adamos House – Tochni (between Larnaca and Limassol) – No direct website but plenty of ‘agents’ come up when you google it

 Hope you find this helpful.   Happy holidays!!

19.03.2011

Canine Leishmaniasis – The Facts

It was brought to my attention today by a customer at my Doggy Play Group (thanks Denise!!) just how little information there is out there about a disease called Leishmaniasis which has devastated effects and can often result in the dog being euthanized.  Please see below where I’ve hopefully answered any questions you may have about understanding and preventing this disease.

v      How Does My Dog Catch Leishmaniasis?   The most common cause of Leishmaniasis is from a bite from a sand fly.  The name sand fly is misleading: sand flies are not on the beach. They are most abundant in gardens, around houses in the countryside, parklands and woodland. Mediterranean sand flies bite mostly outdoors, between the hours of sunset and sunrise and generally between the months of May and September, although occasionally this can last until October. It is also possible for a healthy dog to be infected by being in close contact with a dog with leishmaniasis, or puppies of an infected bitch may be born with the infection, but these instances are very rare as the ‘contagious’ element of the disease is carried by the sand flies themselves.

v     What Are The Symptoms To Look For?  Clinical diagnosis of Canine Leishmaniasis is difficult. There is a large variety of signs but none of them is specific to this disease.  Some signs to look for are listed below:

o       Loss of hair, particularly around the eyes and on the muzzle (often spreading to other parts of the body)

o       The skin will be dry with dandruff

o       Weeping skin sores or ulcers are common on the head and legs

o       There is always some weight loss, which can be very severe, although appetite may remain good

o       Other occasional signs are nose bleeds and eye troubles

o       The claws may overgrow and become twisted

o       Kidney failure is a common sign, but this would not be obvious to the owner

v     How Do I Test My Dog For Leishmaniasis?  If you’re worried that your dog is showing signs of Leishmaniasis most vets in Cyprus can test for it with a simple blood test.

v     Can Leishmaniasis Be Passed On To Other Dogs or Humans?  There are very rare reports of dog-to-dog transmission, and direct dog-to-human transmission has never been reported, even among veterinarians who have handled hundreds of dogs with Leishmaniasis.  Having said that, it’s always best to be careful, especially around babies, the elderly and anybody else with a weakened immune system.

v     Can Leishmaniasis Be Cured or Vaccinated Against?  At the moment there is no cure for this disease and no vaccine to prevent it.  If the dog is already severely infected by the disease when it’s detected then there’s little that can be done to save the dog’s life.  If the disease is caught in the earlier stages then it is controllable and the physical symptoms will go but it will probably remain at a very low level within the dog for life and a future relapse is possible.  Treatment is expensive and takes time, usually months, and there’s always a possibility of a relapse in the future and the need to repeat the treatment.

v     How Do I Protect My Dog From Sand Flies?  To the best of my knowledge there is only one product on the market that deals with this problem and that is the Scalibor collar.  It looks similar to a standard flea collar but covers fleas, tics and, most importantly, sand flies.  These are available in Cyprus and most vets sell them.

As we’re now heading towards the time of year where these creatures start emerging I hope I’ve caught the season in time.  If you have any questions that I haven’t covered within this blog please feel free to contact me or post a question on here and I’ll answer it. 

11.03.2011

Dog walking Cyprus vs Dog Walking UK

I’m currently back in the UK visiting my best mate, who’s recently adopted a gorgeous black spaniel cross called Fred.  Fred’s 7 months old-ish and is on the whole an absolute angel.  Today we decided to take Fred out for a nice long walk (with the sneaky intention of popping into a lovely country pub half way round for lunch!)

Now, having lived in Cyprus for almost 5 years I’d honestly forgotten the joys of walking a dog in the UK.  Don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing better for the soul than walking my dog on a gorgeous sunny day in Paphos with bees buzzing around the flowers and a view of the sea, but with all of the bans and dangers when walking dogs in Cyprus it’s difficult to find a genuinely enjoyable walk, and almost impossible to find one where your dog can meet other friendly dogs for a little meet and greet.

So as we’re getting ready to leave the weather is, predictably, cold and miserable.  But we wrap up warm and set off.  Fred, of course, is oblivious to the cold or the grey, overcast sky and goes tramping off.  My friend lives in a fairly rural area and it was incredibly pretty.  Green fields as far as the eye could see, lovely little country tracks with stiles and lots of wildlife.  My friend was able to safely let him off his lead to run through the long grass, something many of us wouldn’t ever consider here in Cyprus with the worry of snakes. 

And we met SO many other people doing exactly the same thing.  Fred got to meet lots of other dogs and have a little play with them before moving on for the next part of his adventure.  This is a vital part of socializing a puppy and another thing that we struggle with in Cyprus because we’re too afraid to let our dogs off the lead, or we deliberately walk ‘off the beaten track’ to avoid possible danger spots for poison.  And if we do see another dog, because it, also, is on the lead we wonder if the dog is friendly or not and often avoid other dogs just incase they’re under socialized and potentially aggressive.  Fred, on the other hand, approaches dogs beautifully and comes back when he’s called every time because this is normal for him and no big deal.  So he trots over, says hi, has a little play and then comes back.  Lovely to watch and it gave me a real sense of sadness for my own dog that he doesn’t get to enjoy the same social get togethers on his walks.

By the time we got to the pub Fred was well and truly worn out and happy and would have lay down dozing quite happily whilst me and my friend enjoyed a lovely traditional pub lunch.  Except that the pubs in the UK don’t allow dogs inside and the weather was too cold to sit outside for long.  So we had a very swift shandy sat shivering on a damp bench and then set off to do it all over again on the way home!

So, the question is which is better.  Cyprus with it’s bans on walking dogs in so many places and dangers of poison and snakes BUT beautiful weather and scenery and dog friendly tavernas OR the UK with it’s social element and safety to walk in most places BUT rubbish weather.  The jury’s out for me.  A combo of the two would be perfect.

How to amuse your dog when the weather’s like THIS!!

Having been spectacularly rained off this morning halfway through an obedience class, I now find myself sat at home with some unexpected time on my hands and two dogs sat expectantly waiting for their walk.  Rain doesn’t bother most dogs, but not many of us owners much fancy trudging round a muddy field getting soaked to the skin whilst our dogs charge around, seemingly oblivious to the driving rain, whilst all we’re thinking is ‘just have a damn pee so we can go home again!’  Not to mention the filth they then trudge through your house and the always welcome smell of ‘eau de wet dog’.

But then we all know what happens if we don’t walk them and they have all of that un-burnt energy, just itching to find some trouble to get into.  So what do we do?  The best possible alternative to physical exercise for a dog is mental stimulation.  Anybody who works in an office or with computers knows that working the brain is just as physically tiring as a manual job.  Indeed, a dog will often physically pant when he’s finished a training session, despite having done no physical exercise whatsoever.  Below are some suggestions of things you can do with your dog without having to step foot outside and into the downpour.

v     Training - Whether its obedience training or trick training, if your dog’s having to think about what he’s doing and what you want from him, he’ll get tired from a training session as short as 15 minutes. 

v     Hide and seek – This is another good way to get him thinking for himself by hiding his favourite toy or a tasty treat in a room and telling him to find it.  My dog can happily spend half an hour hunting out his favourite toy and doesn’t give up until he finds it.  And his tail never stops wagging the whole time! 

v     Kong toys – These are a great way to amuse your dog if he’s food orientated.  Kong toys are a rubber toy with a hollow centre.  You stuff the centre with something your dog likes and he has to work out how to get the food out again.  Not only does this use his brain, but it also satisfies his hunt instinct as he’s had to work for his own food.  I use bread with my dog because it’s easy to cram plenty in and doesn’t fall out on it’s own without some work from him, but it’s really up to you what you use as long as your dog finds it motivating.

v     Fetch – If you’re lucky enough to have a dog that plays with toys then your job’s much easier as a twenty minute throw and fetch session will tire him out, especially if you can throw the toy out of sight so he sees the general area the toy went but has to use his nose to actually find it.

Well, the rain has temporarily stopped so I’m off to whizz my dogs out for a quick wee before the looming black clouds surrounding my house work their way in! 

Hope you find these tips useful.

So it turns out that the dog mentioned below actually died of a seizure brought on by the stress of the ordeal.  I preferred the original 'broken heart' story personally...

03.03.2011

Anglo Info have asked me to do a blog on their website of all things dog.  So the 'It's a Dog's Life' blog has been born.  As I haven't updated my own blog in almost 18 months I thought it made sense to do them both together so here I am again!!  As I sat there this morning, laptop on knee, wondering what to put for my very first blog on Anglo Info, a news story appeared on the TV that made me literally stop with my fingers frozen over the keypad.  A dog handler has been shot dead in Afghanistan.  They believe that the soldier and his dog were on the trail of a hidden road bomb and the gunmen were aiming to shoot the dog to stop him finding it, but hit the handler instead, killing him.  As if that wasn’t sad enough, the dog then died a few days later for no obvious medical reason.  They say he just died of a broken heart because his master had gone.  Not sure I could have found the words to sum up our relationship with our dogs better than that!

On a more personal note, I'm currently working flat out trying to get my display ready for their shows this year.  They have two shows this year, one on April 17th at Timi, in aid of Cancer Patients & Research, and the annual Hot Dog Show, on 1st of May, down at  Paphos Harbour.  As usual my team will be performing a mixture of heelwork to music and comedy routines.  Come on down and cheer us on!!

I've also started offering a new service, starting from this week.  Doggy Day Care is a service where you can leave your dog with me for a half day, a full day or an extended day of 12 hours if you want to go out for the day site seeing or have a hospital appointment in Nicosia etc.  See the Services page for more information and prices.

Keep checking my Blog page both here and on Anglo Info as I'll be posting on both regularly.

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