Fantastic Mr Finn

I'm absolutely devastated at the loss today of my beautiful Mr Finn. Anyone who knows me knows how much I absolutely adored that dog. But they'll also know that the last few years for us have not been good, and that the last 12 months have been an absolute nightmare for us both, and the last couple of weeks have been even worse again. After extensive testing revealed very little that could be done to help, it was decided to release Finn from his demons and allow him to run free over Rainbow Bridge. Words can't describe how utterly heartbroken I feel.

I thank you all in advance for your kind thoughts and wishes, but I am currently unable to form words. Maybe one day soon I'll be able to talk about the good times and how special my little man was to me.

Shelley and Whirligig x

Barking - problem or symptom?

Barking, alongside jumping up, is probably the most common behaviour problem reported from dog owners. But is it something to be viewed simply as a 'problem'? Or is it a symptom, to be viewed as information from your dog about how he's feeling or what's going on?

Dogs bark for a variety of reasons - boredom, frustration, fear, to alert you to something. It's a perfectly natural response (and in some breeds has been bred strongly in on purpose). However it can be incredibly annoying to us, and is something we always desperately try to stop. Where most people fall down in their efforts to stop it is to simply look at suppressing the behaviour rather than addressing the underlying cause of the barking - the dog is barking for a reason, if you don't remove that reason then it will keep happening. This is where 'anti-bark collars' (or water squirters) are often called in - but whilst these may seem at a glance like they work, all they are doing is suppressing the behaviour (and often only whilst the collar is on - take it off and the barking starts again); they aren't addressing the cause or the underlying emotional state. (And yes, I will confess to having used a bark collar in the past, but I didn't know any better at the time, and wouldn't again)

Take, for example, the over-aroused dog barking at the other dogs working in a training class - the barking is likely happening as the dog is frustrated and wound up and is trying to express that. Apply a bark collar and the barking may stop - but does the underlying frustration or over-arousal stop? Or is the dog still feeling those things but is now too afraid to express it? It would be like someone cutting you up on the road, you getting enraged or frustrated, and then just as you start to vent (either to yourself or the other driver depending on how brave you are!) someone shoves a gag in your mouth - do your feelings of anger and frustration go away, or are you now simply enraged but unable to verbalise it? And how would that make you feel? The only way to successfully address the barking in this example is to look at one of two things - taking the time to work with your dog under his arousal threshold to desensitise him to the presence of the other dogs working, or to manage the situation by removing the dog completely so that there is no longer any reason to bark.

Unless you address the cause, the symptom will persist.

I'd like to encourage us all to stop thinking of certain behaviours as 'problems' and to start looking at them as symptoms; to shift to a point where the first question we ask isn't 'how do I stop my dog doing x,y or z?' but 'why is my dog doing x, y or z?' That small shift in thinking can revolutionise how you look at dog behaviour, and you'll never look at a problem in the same light again! :)

Have you made your New Year Resolutions yet?

So, here we are in 2012! Hopefully you're feeling inspired by the new year and the fresh start that accompanies it, and have written yourself a few goals and resolutions to aim for. Mine include getting fitter before the Spring so I can do my best by Whirligig when we start our agility competitive career in March!

What about your dog training resolutions? Have you thought of something you'd like to aim for or improve upon with your dog? Fancy taking up a new hobby? We've got some new stuff on offer to fulfil your doggy resolutions!

• Want to take up a new hobby and enjoy time with your dog? Try out our Foundation Agility class.
•  Want to improve your dog's recall skills, responsiveness or your relationship? Sign up for our new 4 week 'Recall and Relationship Building' course.
• Is your kid a keen dog enthusiast and budding trainer of the future? We have a half term 'Kids and their K9s' workshop planned for Feb.

The new year can be a great time to take stock of your dog's behaviours and think about what you'd like to see improved and how you might get there. Think of a behaviour you'd like to see improved, think about what your ideal response would be, and then think about what currently interferes with it or stops it happening. Once you know where you're starting from, what you're aiming for, and what distractions you need to train against, you can then begin to formulate a training plan to build that desired response. And if you need a hand with that plan, contact us or your local dog trainer!

Happy New Year, one and all. I'm looking forward this year to continuing to build Four Paws One Direction into a successful training business with proven results, to starting Whirli's competitive agility career, to further expanding my knowledge base through working with some great trainers, and to completing Lauren Langman's Accredited Agility Instructor Level 2 course at the end of the year! Cheers!

 Prim taken by Pets 'n' Pictures

Santa Paws Photo Competition Results

So, the judging has been done, and the results are in! Many thanks to Philip Watts of Pets 'n' Pictures for judging the competition. The theme was 'Doggy Winter Wonders', but actually the weather has been so mild so far that it was hard to snap many shots that really captured this, so most of the entries were dug out from last year's snow! Thanks to everyone who sent something through. The final results are:

1st Place: Bronwyn Harrison & Kaya

Judge's Comment: "It's a good quality picture that fits the category. The dog is nice and alert - looking for action!"


2nd Place: Kay Jennings and Willow & Ziggy

  



















Judge's Comment: "Technically not such a good quality photograph as the winner, but full of winter energy and fun"

All the other entries can be seen on our website. 

Keeping your dog safe and happy at Christmas

I think dogs must find Christmas quite a baffling time of year - odd decorations around the house, lots of visitors, a tree suddenly appearing indoors, lots of food around, lots of rushing about...

We need to be careful to make sure Christmas is safe for our dogs, and as stress-free as possible, so here are a few hints and tips to make sure your canine friend enjoys the festive season too:

• Make sure the tree and any decorations are out of dog-reach or are placed somewhere Fido can't reach them - he doesn't understand he's not supposed to eat this brightly coloured play thing!
• Be careful if putting chocolates on the tree as the dog may be tempted to eat them, and chocolate is poisonous to dogs (my mum's collie Kiri ate all the chocs once, wrappers and all - we came down in the morning to find a few bits of string left on the tree where the chocolates had been!)
• When visitors come round, ensure your dog has a quiet safe bed/den/crate somewhere where he won't be disturbed to retreat to, or pro-actively put him out there if you know he may find the extra people stressful. Not all dogs are social butterflies and some need their peace and quiet.Stuff some Kongs to keep your dog happy and occupied.
• If you have children over visiting, be sure to set some rules on behaving around the dog - the most important one being that they should never disturb a sleeping dog. 
• Don't be tempted to feed your dog Christmas pudding, cake or mince pies as sultanas and raisins are toxic to dogs. 

I hope you all enjoy the festive season!

A truly inspirational teacher...

So I blogged the other day about finding myself inspired at the UK Agility Grand Finals at the weekend, and I said that we all need inspiration and aspirations - well, I'd like to offer you another of my biggest inspirations at the moment, and that's Canadian dog trainer and agility competitor extraordinaire Susan Garrett. She's been leading the way in agility training for a while now, and is a big name amongst those enlightened people in the know, but her methods and training games are also just as applicable to the average pet dog, and at the heart of all her training are the key words RELATIONSHIP and VALUE; what is your relationship like with your dog, and where is the value in your dog's behaviours - is the value with you and your reinforcers, or is the value with the other dogs across the park, or with the rabbits or pheasants? The concept of value is such a simple one, but once you understand it, it has the power to completely change how you look at your training, your dog and its behaviour.

Want to know more? Well luckily Susan is extremely generous in sharing her knowledge, and her blog post is always full of inspirational articles, including this one which is what inspired this post. Sign up to her email newsletter (press 'home' and fill in the box) and you often get sent free resources or links to free webinars (online seminars), and at the moment the offer includes a free audio download on training tips. Very few trainers are so generous with their ideas, and I find that really inspiring to! 

Who is your biggest inspiration?

ADDITION:
Just had a look at this blog - these are the winning videos made by people who took Susan's last Recallers course (I've just started the new one) on how it has changed the lives of their dogs, and videos 2 and 3 in particular brought a tear to my eye!! Check them out yourselves and tell me you're not inspired?!
Winning videos here...