This week, at AniEd

A busy week of dogs, dogs, dogs and one cat…

Awesome Pets & their People

Molly did some really fantastic work during Daytraining this week and we made lots of progress when we went for short walks – go Molly!

Here she practices Crate Games, 1, learning to settle in her crate, that polite behaviour gets her nice things and that rewards happen away from the door:

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This stunner, Balto, came for some behaviour work and we put lots of new exercises in place to help him and his family.

Practice collar grab exercises with your dog everyday, even if you only do five reps at a time – it all adds up, helping your dog feel more comfortable with collar handling, a vital skill.

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Make sure to go at your dog’s pace, listening to them to maintain comfort and safety.

Elvis, and his buddy Millie, came for a training session too and we worked on confinement comfort…but really needed to spend more time working on posing…or at least both looking at the camera at the same time…

Bella and Ruby came for a visit too. Bella has just been adopted and we want to make sure that these two girls learn to get along and develop a great friendship.

We looked at lots of the best ways to manage their behaviour with separation and careful integration so that we can avoid the rehearsal of any unwanted or inappropriate behaviour.

On walks we are going to practice lots of parallel walking so that the girls can become more comfortable with one another, in wide open space, without direct approach or contact, and while everything is moving.

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Here’s a top tip: do you own an adolescent dog, a new dog, a puppy or a worried dog?

Bring treats with you on every walk. Any time you or your dog spot something concerning that causes your dog to alert, stop and watch your dog closely.

Each time your dog looks at the distraction, feed them a treat, one after another.
Soon your dog will begin to get the game and look at the distraction and then back at you (hey! where’s my treat?!). Your dog is learning that distractions mean to focus on their person – without you saying a thing!

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If your dog reacts, vocalises, can’t take food or is unable to look away from the distraction, the situation may be too much for them. Get them out of there and try again, when further away.

Rua and Loki are quite a pair – full of life and mischief! They came for some behaviour work to help them cope better with stress, learn to settle when apart and make life easier for everyone!

Loki is learning to happily wear a muzzle right now; an important skill for all dogs.

We recommend this training program for helping dogs learn greater comfort with muzzling and taking your time so that they are comfortable with the feel of the muzzle on their face.

If your muzzle training reaches a bit of a lull or you want to give your dog some extra help, try adding this exercise:

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Prince, such a cheeky chappie, came for some behaviour work too and is going to be learning all about crate training and handling comfort from now on!

An unexpected visitor

A very sweet and friendly cat, yes, a feline, found us and we soon made friends. He has no collar or chip, and is injured and quite skinny.
He is very comfortable with our handling and contact and had a yummy lunch, before we brought him to the vet for treatment.

We have a lovely rescue space all lined up for him, should no owner come forward, so hopefully he is on the road to recovery soon.

Although we didn’t introduce him to the dogs, to prevent any distress, Daisy and Dilis had a great time sniffing one of the blankets he slept on, giving it a very thorough going over!

People Training

Today our CN4 group came for their last day of tuition on their Canine Nutrition course.

We covered lots and lots, with some great discussions on homemade and commercial diets, food and behaviour, dietary adverse reactions, obesity and dietary support and management for a range of conditions.

A busy day with Decker lending a hand because who better to tell us about canine nutrition than the dog himself!