Category Archives: Weekly Woofs from the Web

Weekly Woofs from the Web

Weekly Woof from the Web

Ooops, we seemed to have missed a Woof so will make it up with two this week!

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The GORGEOUS Jessie, who needs a new home!

The key to teaching any species is first understanding how they learn about the world; this is a great place to start:

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But training/learning is for all species, in pretty much the same basic way, so here are some lions with an awesome recall and stationing behaviour: Recall

We’ve all seen our dogs apparently act out some intense scene in their sleep, but do humans and animals have similar dreams?

Not only do we teach dogs how to behave around children and teach parents how to monitor child-dog interactions, we can teach children the best ways to behave around dogs too: How to be a kid dogs feel safe with
And some great tips on keeping interactions safe too: A dog will always tell you if he’s about to bite

We are pretty bonkers about enrichment for dogs – anyone handy want to build us one of these?!

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Older dogs require a little extra TLC to make sure they have the best quality of life for as long as possible: 6 Tips for Caring for Older Dogs

Just as it’s important to take care toward the end of your dog’s life, it’s also vital that great care be taken at the start of your dog’s like: Puppy 101

We have talked about the importance of looking beyond daily-walkies as a way of entertaining your dog here; this piece looks at this too, with some nice ideas included: What’s in a walk?

Muzzle training is a must for ALL dogs, before they need to wear one: Muzzles: limiting or liberating?

Such an elaborate operation, and clearing away the evidence too:

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Here’s another super talented canine:

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And on stealth, I think this fella has them all beaten: Ninja Husky

Weekly Woofs from the Web

Weekly Woof from the Web

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This is the last week during which you can get you and your dog compliant with Ireland’s new microchipping laws; more here.

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I’m afraid there’s no chocolate for you two beggars!

Biting is normal, natural, necessary dog behaviour but when it happens (and it is a when and not an if) it is very distressing at many levels. Understanding biting and related dog behaviour is a pretty good step toward preventing it: Why Dogs Bite, Part I and Part II.

A common cause of bites in pets, is pain and they are pretty good at hiding their pain and discomfort. Download a straight forward poster here and here.

Pain may mean a trip to the vet’s and unsurprisingly many dogs find this upsetting and distressing. Not only that many pet owners appear unable to assess their pets’ distress, given that many of the signs can be pretty subtle and easily misinterpreted: Canine Stress in the Vet’s Waiting Room.
This piece gives an in-depth run down of stress and things that can be done to help reduce your dog’s distress: Fixing their bones, but breaking their brains.
More and more veterinary practices are becoming aware of ways to reduce dogs’ distress before, during and after procedures; here are five tips for handling dogs and cats in a caring manner – it’s a poster that you can download and share 😉
We can work together to improve your dog’s comfort, not only with the vet team working to reduce stress, but at home preparing our dogs for handling with two simple of ways of helping your dog enjoy this type of contact in this clip.

With Easter only a few days away and the temptation of chocolate too much for some dogs, let’s avoid that vet visit by being aware and careful of poisons that you dog might ingest:

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Here’s a list of the Top 10 Toxins of 2015 and poisons to protect your dog from.  With Spring springing, it’s a good idea to take note of the Top 10 Plants Poisonous to Pets too.

Remember, no Easter Eggs for pets; the Chocolate Chart!

Instead, get your dog a fun and challenging puzzle toy – the joy will last much longer than your Easter Egg: Brain Teasing Toys for Dogs Who are too Smart for their Own Good!

Even we though we might not have too much self control around all that chocolate, our dogs can: Clicker Training Doggie Zen exercises!
Doggie Zen exercises are some of our favourites, and even though this is an older resource it never really gets tired!

Congratulations to Purin the Beagle for her new Guinness World Record: fastest 10m on a ball by a dog!

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Again, we are appealing to people to give chocolate bunnies rather than real ones. But if you are thinking about getting a rabbit pet, watch this clip before getting one…

Or maybe just watch this somewhat terrifying clip…

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The long weekend is beckoning…enjoy this clip of an agility round that doesn’t go quite as planned…

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Weekly Woofs from the Web

Weekly Woof from the Web

Hope you had a great St Patrick’s Day – even the Swedish American Staffordshire Terrier was Irish for a day:

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There’s been quite a bit of canine related drama around the web this week…

Crufts always inspires much internet uproar. Almost 30,000 dogs attended to compete and the vast majority experience a pretty good standard of welfare but the intense coverage of this show highlights where progress must be made in terms of breeding practices, selecting for anatomical extremes and temperamental qualities.
A very sweet, young Westie called Devon won Best in Show and lots of fun was had by many hundreds of thousands of competitors and spectators.

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One of our favourite moments was this Freestyle routine from Irena & Layla, which, believe it or not, took third place in an obviously highly competitive International Freestyle competition:

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You can watch the whole thing plus years gone by too on the Crufts YouTube channel.

Controversy surrounding Cesar Millan and his dog whispering ways have catapulted him and his actions into the headlines again, after a period of relative peace and quiet. This time things have got serious with he and his team being investigated for animal cruelty relating to the treatment of a pig involved in one of his “dog rehabilitation” pieces. A LOT of social media pieces have appeared, some can be found here: Cesar-Gate and Beyond Cesar Millan.
No other dog-person inspires so much controversy and so many polarised views points. Discussion is good and this piece is a nice summary of this particular situation and links to further information.

Concerns in the UK have been raised after a number of dogs have died of a tick-borne disease, Babesiosis. More on this disease in dogs here.

Wow! Time for some good news I think; a tale of a Robinson Crusoe dog who fell off a fishing boat but was found alive five weeks later!

At this time of year, bunnies and other pets are considered but in most cases a chocolate bunny is better (but not for your dog!):

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From Friends of Unwanted Rabbits

Old dogs are a joy but getting older ain’t easy: It’s Only Money
And living with an older dog often means considering that most difficult of decisions; some advice here if dealing with canine dementia in your older dog: Dementia in Senior Dogs 

The dog-child mix can be amazingly successful or down-right disastrous; some good advice from Roger Abrantes: How to avoid problems with children and dogs

Tissues are required for this beautiful, touching and heartbreaking piece: Goodbye to my owner

For the cat owners, but some tips useful for dogs too – 5 Purrfect hacks fur cat owners:

 

And some much needed comic relief as this handy dog owner admires the fence he built to keep his dog in…

MUD!

Weekly Woofs from the Web

Weekly Woof from the Web

Such a busy week with lots of excellent dog-related resources from all over the web!

Spring is finally here and lots of us may wish to get more active with our dogs. Take care before you start putting your dog under any extra exertion though and only ask your dog to participate in exercise they are able for: Jogging with your dog improves overall fitness and health

Crufts 2016 is just coming to an end this evening; here are some vintage photographs from the 1900s.

Read Eric & Peety’s Mutual Rescue story (WARNING you will need tissues) and watch their short film below. Who rescued whom?

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We often meet resistance when we ask pet owners and indeed, vets, to have the dog fully examined, including any relevant diagnostics, before or as we engage in behaviour work. This case illustrates the importance of such awareness: When the only symptom is behavior change 

Teaching a great recall isn’t about the type of dog you have, or just about having your dog come back when you call – it requires quite a bit of investment but is well worth it: The Secret to a Recall

And if you really want to teach your dog, better learn how they best learn: How Dogs Learn from Urban Dogs and How Dogs Learn from Dr Yin

Dogs ‘speak’ a foreign language:

What your dog is desperately trying to tell you!

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Licks don’t necessarily equal kisses:

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I’m sure many of us know someone who probably shouldn’t have a dog for some reason or another…5 Ways to talk someone out of getting a dog when they should not have one

All the feels: awwww!

Some training inspiration from Jumpy!

Mesmerising and relaxing:

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Weekly Woofs from the Web

Weekly Woof from the Web

And another woof…

Crufts starts next week; keep up to date here.

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Itchy skin disease in dogs is often baffling and very difficult to treat; this is an interesting take on a tricky condition: Getting to the outside of your itchy dog’s skin condition

Here’s another great, straight-forward piece on canine signaling: Dog Body Language

Always, always, always keep medications, supplements and other similar bits and pieces well away from pets and remember that dogs can chew through safety bottles and containers so even more care should be taken. A recent threat to dog safety but one we need to be aware of: Are E-Cigarettes Dangerous to Pets (Hint: YES!)

With dogs living longer and longer due to better care, we are seeing more and more old age disease such as canine cognitive dysfunction.

A dog showing fearful responses already feels pretty lousy about the world at that moment, so adding a scary, painful or intimidating interaction on top of that is not going to help because it makes no sense to punish a fearful dog!

There’s lots going on when you and your dog gaze lovingly at one another – Why eye contact can help you bond with dogs.

6 TED talks for Dog Lovers – I’m sure there are at least a couple of dog lovers around here somewhere….

Yep, that’s the spot…now, don’t stop!

This is why Daisy goes first…Cooper!!

 

Weekly Woofs from the Web

Weekly Woof from the Web

It’s time for your weekly roundup of the best woofs from around the web!

Here are some great ideas for homemade entertainment – let the fun & brain games begin: DIY, Six DIY food puzzles and Recycled Enrichment

Off leash dogs storming your dog, who may not welcome the space-invasion, is a common complaint and a common contributor to your dog’s discomfort; here’s one strategy to try when you can’t get away.

Here’s a nice straight forward canine communication resource and the answer to a more specific signaling puzzle: Do you know what the dog twist behaviour means?

And there is no more important application of an understanding of canine signaling, than when children and dogs interact. Here’s what to do: I Speak Doggie and here’s How not to greet a dog

Resource guarding is normal, natural, necessary dog behaviour that may cause problems within groups of dogs living together: How to prevent resource guarding in multiple-dog household

Some excellent ideas for exercises for attention building around distractions here.

Remember, dogs don’t work for free (just like you and me!) so don’t think that he should do it because he loves you!

Need some training inspiration? Check out this awesome training!

Pulp Fiction fan? Talk about inspirational training: Pulp Fiction

It’s a fact; humans are powerless against puppy head tilts…check out these GSD puppies and prepare to surrender!

Weekly Woofs from the Web

Weekly Woof from the Web

There’s always time for another Woof!

Reward based training isn’t about pushing-cookies, it’s about applying what we know about how dogs learn to teach dogs in an effective and efficient manner (works for all learning species too!): The truth about positive reinforcement

Never presume that a change in your dog’s health or behaviour is ‘just age’ – have a chat with your vet, even if it is a normal part of aging, there may be excellent treatments available that can greatly improve your dog’s quality of life, including with arthritis: So your dog has arthritis

Know someone who has kids and dogs, or is soon to have dogs and kids? Send them this: Pregnancy, Pups & Preparation

Not a dog but these same strategies can be adapted to arrange the training environment so that husbandry procedures, like nail clipping, can be stress free: Restraint-free nail clipping for  Allen, a Bearded Dragon

Although manners training (e.g. loose leash walking, recall, stay etc.) is a great start and very helpful, some dogs and some behaviours need more help, and generally regular training classes won’t be the way to help them: “Needs Training”

This is a thought provoking piece – neglecting to look after a dog’s behavioural, training, social and environmental needs can and does certainly impact its welfare: Poor Little Rich Dog

More on University of Lincoln’s work looking at our dogs’ pretty amazing capacity for appreciating human (and canine) emotion: Dogs can read human emotions

(Warning: tissues may be required) What we do for them at the end, says a lot about how we loved and lived with them: The Last Meal I Gave My Dog

We love the ScienceDog blog; here’s a great covering of some work on dog-dog social learning: Doggie See, Doggie Do?

Here are some great tips of introducing a dog to a cat

But sometimes it’s not a match made in heaven: Cats stealing dogs’ beds

More very smart, stealthy, and sneaky animals stealing food!

And perhaps the stealthiest of them all: An A-door-able Thief!

Weekly Woofs from the Web

Weekly Woof from the Web

Today’s Woof is a bit of a dog-appreciation-post…as if we would post anything different!

Valentine’s Day has come and gone and regardless of your romantic leanings, your dog is still awesome:

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Despite dogs coming in all shapes and sizes (more so than any other species), they can still recognise other dogs as dogs, visually only – that’s pretty amazing!
Dogs recognise other dogs in a crowd and Do dogs know other dogs are dogs?

Dogs with grey muzzles are wise and proud, but why do dogs go grey early?

Always ask: Does my dog want to be petted or hugged?
So how do you know? Try the pet-pause-respect test with your dog and remember some dogs don’t want belly-rubs!

How much exercise does it take to keep your breed happy & healthy?

Physical exercise is great, but don’t forget you need to match it with mental exercise too. Here are a couple of really puzzling challenges for your dog to get his brain working hard:
Problem Solving Game and Fun with a shape sorter box!

Training is not just about teaching cute behaviours, like this amazing Irish dancing sequence, (even though that has lots of benefits too) but also preparing your dog for more difficult times – like maintaining open channels of communications – Choice & Control

I know you know our relationship with dogs is pretty deep, but did you know it’s this deep? Dogs’ hormones adjust to match those of their owners

A socialised person, like you, doesn’t need to approach, greet or touch other people while out and about; indeed to do so would be weird and a little creepy. Well, socialised dogs are the same – that’s what being socialised is, it means you can ignore stuff because it’s not a big deal. Most adult dogs are DINOS and the rest probably need to develop a little more self-control in learning about polite greetings, even if their people think they are just being friendly: “My dog is friendly!” A public service announcement and a funny spin on this here.

Here’s a tug of war that will make you smile 🙂

Snoopy has something to say about more traditional notions of dog training! A visit to the library

Weekly Woofs from the Web

Weekly Woof from the Web

In this Woof, we have wolves howling and dogs barking, we have little dogs and big dogs, and we have lots more good stuff!

Just like in human language, we are finding that more and more animal communication shows evidence of having different dialects; wolves are the latest to be added to the list.
Turn the sound down when you open this link if you don’t want to be surprised by howling wolves – I am sure your dog will be interested in the dialects 🙂

Think you know your dog-breed-barks? Here’s a challenge for you: The Sound & the Furry (maybe best to do this one with headphones in case it drives your dog bonkers!)

Some great tips here on housetraining!

Vital vital vital training for you and your dog: Collar grab for safety

Our dogs are not the only ones who require attention, training and lots of pleasant interactions; Guinea pig socialisation and Rabbit handling – small pets need compassion and love too!

Help your dog learn to LOVE bath-time and nail clipping: Spa Day

This piece from Patricia McConnell might be an old one, but that myth sure hasn’t gone away over that time: You can’t reinforce fear

Need help with a barky dog? Here’s a nice training plan for teaching an interruption cue so that you can divert your dog’s attention back to you, away from whatever he’s barking at: How to interrupt barking with a quiet cue

Helping to integrate a new dog can be difficult, and there may be many ups and downs but the important thing is to be observant and think of all the possibilities, and prevent them happening: The importance of being aware
But you are human, and they are dogs – mistakes will happen, so learn from them.

One of our favourite topics – lots of great ideas in here on different food dispensing toys for dog, go on, your dog will thank you: Enrichment games

Just because they’re small doesn’t mean they don’t need a job too; check out Mixy the L/h Chihuahua and this speedy Yorkie, Kiki, rockin’ at agility!

Maybe you like ’em BIG instead – Perfectly timed photos that turn dogs into giants

Nobody’s gonna contain this fella: you can’t cage the fluff!

Weekly Woofs from the Web

Weekly Woof from the Web

Still catching up on all the great dog stuff from around the web!

It’s pretty cold out there right now and although many dogs don’t enjoy the cold weather, dogs have actually developed many adaptations to become pretty efficient in colder temperatures: Dogs and Cold Weather

Don’t worry about trying to analyse dog behaviour too much; if you are relying on popular understanding of dog behaviour, it’s probably mythic anyway: Dog Myths About Rank & Dominance

IAABC have started a Dog Park Project with the production of some really nice posters, with cute Lili Chin illustrations here. We are not a fan of dog parks, certainly the sort of facilities provided here in Ireland, but these posters are relevant to anywhere you take your dog, where he meets other dogs.
Here are some tips for dog-dog introductions.

Crates are one of our most favourite tools for managing dog behaviour, once the dog is confinement trained properly. Free time is for trained dogs, so when can I start leaving my dog out of the crate?

Nobody signs up for a project dog – it’s hard living with a dog whose behaviour you must constantly monitor, whose environment you must constantly manage – it’s tiring. If you are living with a dog who may not be living up your original expectations of life-with-dog, maybe this piece will resonate with you: My life with an aggressive dog

Life is short, go play with your dog…but learn how to do it best first: It’s not you, it’s me

Not only is passive smoking dangerous for humans, but for pets too: Pets at more risk from passive smoking than humans

Hmmmm, it’s a bit of a mystery, alright…Who got into the trash?

Now, this will put a smile on your face: Cute dog having fun in a water fountain