Charlie gets a happy haircut!

A bit of something different this week. I have been working with Charlie Bear since New Year; we have done training, recall, leave its etc.  Now he is getting older we are starting to up his exercise gradually. Charlie owners had a bad experience with their previous Schnauzer to the point where he was extremely frightened of the grooming process and never got better. They told me this and I was certain to make sure we would make grooming Charlie a pleasant experience for both dog and owner.

From week one I had made time to groom Charlie and get him used to being touched all over. This was easier because he was only 9 or 10 weeks old at the time so I could make a good impression on him at an early age that grooming was a normal thing to be enjoyed. So every week or several times a week we would go through the routine check ears give treat, check other ear give treat, brush head give treat etc., all things I had learned at my local puppy class with Sid my puppy.

                                                                                Charlie Bear pre haircut

It went great, regular short session created a positive association for Charlie and the grooming process and it wasn’t long before I was able to brush all over with only a small handful of treats to reward him. Soon we moved onto clipping the scissors around him (without touching his hair!) and have my electric razor turned on near him and touching him again no problems at all, short sessions to build up his confidence around something new.

                                                                  A walk before the groomers

The time came for him to go for a haircut and while the owners were a little nervous still I was fairly certain we wouldn’t have any problems. The owner had been recommended a groomer so I went along to meet the girls at Gorgeous and Handsome in Silksworth. They were really friendly and the facilities were excellent. I had Charlie in the van so we took him in to meet them and have a look around, again no problems he was very happy and seemed very comfortable around the groomers.  We had another visit the following week where everything went really well again, Charlie was happy and maybe more importantly in this case the owner were very reassured too.

 

Charlie meeting the girls

 

                                                                       

Grooming day came and we took Charlie for a nice walk and play before his appointment. I didn’t want him to be shattered but I certainly wouldn’t want to take him with lots of pent up energy so in my opinion a good walk beforehand is essential, certainly for the first visit. Anyway all went well, he went in happily and we left a bag of treats for them to use if need be and the girls reported he was very well behaved throughout. The owner collected and they were very happy also.

                                                       A happy Charlie on the table

 

I have told this story to illustrate a how easily a dog’s behaviour can be shaped over time to accept and enjoy whatever you want him to do, this is very easy if you start when they are very young. Also how your dog/walker pet carer should be able to assist with this process. We will assist and advise on any training issues we feel competent with. If I don’t know something I will try and find out or if the issue was something I don’t have knowledge of I wouldn’t hesitate to refer the owner to a behaviourist or trainer who could help. This was something very easy for us to help with but in the owner’s eyes with the previous experience they had  potentially very hazardous . As you can see below it all worked out very well in the end!

                                                                               Smart Boy!

My doggie business

Choose a job you love and you will never work a day in your life. Words I probably wouldn’t have believed 18 months ago, but now I know are true.  It’s almost a year since enquiries started picking up for me and I began to meet clients and their dogs that now form the bedrock of my business. It has taken longer than I thought and been a lot of hard work but like most things in life well worth the effort. A friend said ‘Grow slow, grow strong’ so that’s hopefully what I am doing. I don’t want this blog to sound in any way preachy (I am well aware that mine is a fledgling business and could easily go tits up If I am not careful) I just thought it would be nice to share a little of what motivates me and how it has helped me so far.

 

At the time I was thinking of starting Pack Leader Dog Adventures we were on holiday in Florida and I was genuinely blown away by the customer service there. I have heard some people say it is a bit too much sometimes, too over the top. I couldn't agree less. I smile, say hi and try to be friendly to everyone I meet ( I have a sales background maybe that helps maybe I’m just nice haha ) so to find people who treat every customer that way was refreshing and made me want to put a big emphasis on customer service. As Tom Peters would put it ‘Wow them!’

The service itself would have to be excellent.  I want my service to provide the appropriate amount of exercise that a dog needs whatever that might be. All dogs are different obviously but it seemed to me there could be a demand for a service that offered a higher level of exercise than what I would call a normal walk (on leash). The owner will do that anyway as a given so while I am getting paid to take the dogs out I may as well go somewhere different and do something  they may not do. I admit this may not be appropriate for all dogs but there are plenty dog walkers around so I may as well do something different, it’s my business after all and I want to enjoy it too. My experience with my Bordeaux Barry (see previous blog) where we ran, cycled used back packs etc made me think there was more I could do with dogs than just walk.

Me cycling with Lily at the weekend, she's a natural!

 I have found if you give a dog a job or maybe better to say practise an exercise that utilises some of a dogs breed specific skills, nose work, retrieving, load carrying etc you get a focus and willingness from the dog to take part even if the skills are not traditional to that breed. I don’t think its natural or traditional for my cocker spaniel pup to enjoy finding rose oil scented cotton buds in my yard or for my Bordeaux to jog alongside me as I slowly cycle for 10 mins (both dogs can do either tasks) but they do get incredibly focused and obviously enjoy it. Why?  Because it’s different and interesting and it makes them think and concentrate. I have only started learning and there is so more to learn but I am learning on the job and making mistakes everyday (two a day some days) It takes time, patience and loads of enthusiasm but the goal is a more focused dog (or group of dogs) that doesn’t bother other dogs or people when we are out walking and hang around with me because they want to because they find me interesting.

Great focus from the mutts during some tracking practise

So there you go happy, well exercised, interested, well behaved dogs will hopefully make for happy customers. The business is different to what it started out I am trying to move more towards training now. But I am always trying to put the dogs first and learn as much as I can to make it more interesting for them, and guess what when I do that its more interesting for me too! 

For more pictures of what we get up to each day check out the Pack Leader Dog Adventures facebook page below

http://www.facebook.com/PackLeaderUK?ref=hl

 

A Dogue called Barry- Part One

So someone questioned on the fb page asking if my Bordeaux ‘Barry’ has had his tail docked. I realised that I hadn’t covered Barry in blog yet so here goes with part one of Barry’s story…

We wanted another dog for a while but waited until the time was right for us. For everyone that is different for us it was because we had more time available to spend with another dog. Flo was 9 and pretty much not bothered about other dogs, never really liked playing or socialising. She was never aggressive just not bothered. I think it’s important to get a dog or another dog because you want to share your life with that dog, this means committing time to the dog (if you want it to be happy and well behaved anyway) and in my opinion it’s not generally a good idea to get another dog whose main purpose is to be a friend to your other dog. It will be nice when they do get on but a dog that only interacts with other/another dog will generally only listen to that other dog. So quality time available to spend with new dog, check!!

We looked at some dogs on Sunderland Animal Adoption website for months, one caught our eye called Baily and we said we would phone when we got back off holiday and sure enough he was gone. A Dogue de Bordeaux had always been on our radar and we contacted the DDB welfare who just so had a Dogue coming into the kennels that needing rehoming that week. The DDB Welfare (Bev our contact) were excellent and so thorough, home check, meet Flo lots of questions all great.  I went to see him with my son Alex as soon as he got there we liked the look of him despite having no tail and being about 2st underweight. Next day we took our dog Flo up to meet him. They had a walk and a mooch and thankfully again no problems so we went ahead with the adoption.

 

It’s hard to remember back now but at the time it was very exciting but quite scary. It was pissing down the night I brought him home. I wanted to take him for a long walk before I took him in the house so did that then washed him down out the back. We must have both looked like big drowned ginger rats when we eventually got in. Beth was a bit freaked out (as was I if I’m honest) the kids were excited but wary and Flo basically acted like a cat and spat at him every time he even looked at her (she settled after a month or two) Poor Barry god knows what he was thinking about the whole thing. They sure are big dogs when you are only used to smaller ones and that takes some getting used too. When he finally settled and lay down we could all take a deep breath, sit down (with a whisky in my hand) and look forward to our lives together.

 

Barry as he became known, his name picked by Beth as they always are (I’m sure she just wanted me running around the park shouting ‘Baaarryy’!) settled in quite quickly, we had him neutered straight away (he was 18months anyway) I slept downstairs the first week to help him settle in, a diet of Royal Canin and Tripe meant he put on 2 stone in two months and was up to fighting weight. His tail never grew back and he lost a big tooth the first week (where’s that warranty at!) We attended some socialisation/training classes and slowly he became the dog he is today. He was quite high energy for Bordeaux and as I have since discovered in my business some dogs that have been severely under exercised can take months to get rid of the pent up energy that has built up and eventually find a level that they are happy with. We walked, ran, biked, I bought him a backpack for him that he loves wearing. We used to walk to the butchers and he would carry the meat home in his backpack. He loves his food his family, his walks, his bed, his van, his Land Rover (which we sold and neither Barry nor Beth have forgiven me!) It has been some journey with the odd down to counter the many ups and there is too much to tell in one blog. I really think the skills and knowledge I learned when we got Barry were a big factor behind me starting my own business Pack Leader Dog Adventures.

 

One quote which stays with me always is from Bev at DDB welfare who said this to me on the day they got him in. I always try to remember this when I am dealing with dogs, including my own ‘He is not the perfect dog but he could be’ How right she was.

Barry even has his own facebook page now Everybody loves Barry

Puppy party for two!

This week I took 3 puppies to the beach for an hour and we had a totally fab time! Did I let them run around like lunatics, jumping on each other play fighting, grabbing, rolling over and splash each other for an hour until they were totally exhausted…You bet I didn’t!!

I spent around 20 minutes with each puppy (one is my own cocker Sid, the second his sister Rosie and Charlie the giant schnauzer who is around 4.5 months). Each are at different stages of their development both physically and socially. Sid has had slightly more experience off leash than the other 2, Charlie a bit more than Rosie who has not had much so far. Charlie being a large breed we need to take more care with to make sure he doesn’t overdo it. But why only 20 mins well that is how long I had divided by 3. It will do no harm for the other 2 to wait in the van (provided its safe) while I work with one. I want each puppy to get the most out of the experience and I have found it is nigh on impossible to teach a puppy (often any dog) when there are other dogs present, unless the other dogs are more mature and you have excellent control over them.

We didn’t do anything special,  practising a little loose leash walking along the prom (always a challenge) maybe some downs with treats to practise ignoring passers-by with other dogs (on a day with better weather I may have sat for a few minutes and had an ice cream with the puppy sitting calmly by my side). We also had some short high energy play sessions on the beach with my puppy and our toys, lots of retrieving and a bit of tug, and also praise, cuddles and treats every time they check in with me. They can have a mooch and a sniff and a plodge or a swim but I’m always watching for other dogs so I am ready to distract my puppy with a game if need be, and because we play regularly everywhere we go they know it’s going to be great fun.  I feel I am still very much at the beginning of my journey towards becoming a dog trainer but I know that the trainers/owners that spend quality time interacting with their dogs and have the best relationships with their dogs generally have the best behaved dogs. So I need to spend quality time as I did yesterday playing with my dogs, I want the puppies to remember the fab time they had with ME at the beach not my other dogs or worse someone else’s, If I let that happen what do you think they would want to do the next time we go?

 

 

Dog toys and other rubbish

We love dog toys at Pack Leader. Whenever we have a dog adventure I will always have my back pack with our assortment of dog toys. There is all kinds of stuff in there, your usual couple of balls (which I tend not to use a lot really) frisbees (kong and also cheapie plastic ones),a canvas dummy, a couple of small cuddly toys that we use for scent/find it games, and maybe a ball of rope (or some such cheapie toy from TK Maxx) I have more recently been using some homemade toys, inspired by dog trainer Dave Davies and what can only be described as his back of rubbish that he has found and turned into dog toys, old gloves, bits of plastic piping etc that all my dogs went bonkers for! I have done the same, some pictures below. As Dave would say If I throw a kong into the see and none of the dogs see it can be very  disappointing to see  £8ish float off to France, whereas a length of hosepipe I can replace for free at the beach which is where I found the last bit.

Why so many toys?

Well much like us humans different dogs like different things! Lily may like a frisbee, Max prefers a kong or a soft toy, and Alex the pointer will retrieve anything! Over time I want the dogs to learn to explore the environment or play with me. The don’t really play with each other, they will occasionally chase or play tug but if I think they are getting too excited and are going  to start playing/mouthing each other then I distract and the toys come straight out. I want to be able maintain their interest ALL the time. I feel I have a responsibility to the owners to send the dogs back better (or certainly no worse) than I took them out, so I try and give the gift of play. Well I wouldn’t expect everyone to take a bag of toys to the park but my job involves entertaining, training, playing with a small pack of dogs every day. I want them interested in me, and to think I am the most interesting thing in the park, woods, town, and beach so I want a good variety to help me to do that. The more stimulating the environment (think how many smells there are at the beach) the harder it could potentially be for me to maintain control/interest in the dogs. If I see another dog on the beach coming towards us it is much more pleasant for me and the dogs if I just have to get a Frisbee out to have three pairs of eyes glued to me (rather than put everyone back on leash) We can all walk down a beach off leash and they will ignore (most of the time) any other dog/person.

 

                                                                          Focusing on the toy

                                                                 

Not the toy it’s what you do with it!

Finally, most importantly and hopefully you have worked out by now, it’s not what kind of toy it is but what you do with it. You would think I was a right fool the way I mess around with the toys (when I am with the dogs obviously!) my high pitched voice dancing around talking to them about the toy, then running, teasing, playing, sharing, retrieving,  anything to get them interested. If I got the ball or frisbee or even a little cuddly toy out of a happy meal out on the beach they don’t know whether I’m going to hide it, throw it, dance with it, ask them to sit or spin or wait for it and that’s why they watch me,  what’s he going to do? What can I do for him to get that toy that I love playing with him with, but you have to keep them guessing! You bring the life to the toy be it a £12 Kong or a sock with a busted tennis ball in it. Your dog will not be checking the receipt to see how much you paid for it but if you act like to think it’s the best thing since dried liver then he probably will too.

                                                    Max with Hula Hoop we found on the beach

Sid the Cocker

Our little cocker that I mentioned in the previous post is now nearly six months old. But why a cocker? Well a number of reasons really, I wanted a dog that wouldn’t take up too much room in the van and have plenty of stamina to eventually be able to join me out at work all day if necessary. The main reason is that I have grown very attached to one of the dogs that I walk regularly who is you guessed it a Cocker! It must have been 6 weeks after Flo died that we thought about getting another dog (other options included a French bully, but price and practicality ruled that out, for the reasons I gave earlier) As things happen we texted a client whose relation was getting a cocker spoke the breeder he had 1 male left I went to see him the next day and that was that. We decided on the Sunday to get a Cocker and had one on the Tuesday, no messing! He is lovely so far ticking all the boxes of a good companion dog. We have crate trained him, not something I was a fan of until I had seen how much success clients have had with their dogs. I did as much research as I could (still doing it!) into the best way to raise a pup and things like toilet training and biting were resolved very quickly so the research was worth doing .Overall I am very pleased with his progress so far he is very affectionate, loves to play but settles well in his crate throughout the day when I am busy. We still have more work to do on recall and loose leash walking but I am very happy with his focus, we play a lot, retrieving, tug, find it games, just started some searching and scent detection (very basic stuff) but it is all paying off and his focus on me is brilliant. So far even at the beach or park he would much rather play with me than another dog and if another dog does come over all I need to do is get a toy out and he totally ignores the other dog. This is something I was very keen to make happen and knew would be a challenge as I already have a dog at home and regularly have other dogs stay at our house. So far, so good and very, very enjoyable!!

Flo

Last September we had to say goodbye to our little Flo (pictured above) She was 14 and had started to have fits. The first came totally out of the blue, don’t they always! And after she had a few more we talked to the vet and as a family decided that we didn’t want her to have to go through lots of tests and medication for something which may or may not have made her better.  It was a tough decision but we knew she had a great life, her health had started to decline a bit anyway and she really hated going to the vets  so any kind of treatment would have made her cranky. She was our first dog. A scruffy little rescue that we paid £12 who was so hungry she munched on nana’s  loaf of bread on the way home from the kennels to the loving family dog that we all cried and cried for 14 years later. We had few problems on the way, namely her attitude to other dogs for the first five years (something anyone who met her in the latter years would find hard to believe!)  but most of the problems were probably due to my lack of knowledge at the time. She was a bit of a loner who liked her own space, hard as nails, loved a game of ball and once we figured her out she became a great help to me in the business. We have another dog Barry the Bordeaux but life wasn’t the same with one so a month or so later Sid the cocker pup joined our family, but that tale is for another day…