Hot weather safety tips for your pets

We’ve had a lovely few days with the warm weather, however, while we have the luxury of changing into shorts and t-shirts, our four-legged friends aren’t as lucky being stuck with their furry coat!  So, while this warm weather continues, think about the following when walking your pets…

  

1. Take water bottles out with you so your pet can cool down and have a drink if needed.
2. Keep to shaded and wooded areas as much as possible to reduce any chances of your pet overheating.
3. If your walks are across the hottest part of the day (lunchtime), monitor your pet while out walking. If you feel he is becoming overheated or in any discomfort, reduce the walking time.
4. In the meantime, below are some useful tips on how to keep your pet safe in this heat, and signs to look out for if you suspect your pet is suffering from over heating:
5. Pets can get easily dehydrated, ensure they have access to fresh, clean water at all times
6. Make sure your pet has a shady or cool place to rest
7. Avoid long walks in the mid-day heat, instead play with your pet in a shady or cooler area to reduce the risk of over heating
8. Pets with flatter faces like Boxers, Pugs, Persian cats, struggle in the heat more than others breeds/species, as they cannot pant as effectively. Pets that are over weight, or suffering from heart and lung diseases should also be kept in cool areas
9. Avoid leaving your pet in the car. A parked car can quickly act like a furnace, leading to fatal heat stroke
10. If you have a paddling/swimming pool which your pet enjoys splashing around in, make sure your pet is supervised at all times. Wash your pet after swimming to ensure any chlorine or salt from the water is off his coat. Discourage your pet from drinking the swimming pool or canal water as this contains chemicals and bacteria that can lead to an upset stomach
11. Ensure your pet cannot get access to open windows. Often in the summer, veterinarian see an increase in the number of accidents and injuries caused by pets (mainly cats) falling out of open windows
12. Pets with a thick coat will benefit from a good groom and cut
13. Avoid long walks on tarmac/and or pavement as the ground quickly heats up and this can burn your dog’s paws and tummy as he is low to the ground. Avoid asking for requests to “sit” at the roadside, as this too may potentially burn your dog’s bottom on a hot day!

Over heating – signs to look out for:

If your pet displays any of the following signs, you should seek veterinary attention immediately. These signs include: 

 

• excessive panting
• difficulty in breathing
• increased heart and respiratory rate
• drooling
• mild weakness
• stupor
• bloody diarrhoea
• vomiting
• and even collapse.

 Stay safe in the sunshine and enjoy this lovely weather.

Walk the Dog focus on Pet health - Forever Living products made with aloe vera

Walk the Dog, the Berkhamsted based award winning pet care company sells Forever Living products. Pet health is of prime importance to us at Walk the Dog; we use a holistic approach to dog training and we wanted to reflect this in the products we also sell. Therefore, all our products our made from only natural and pure ingredients.
Aloe Vera flourishes in warm, dry climates, and is often mistaken for a cactus, but in fact it is a member of the Lily family. When the plant is mature the contents of its leaves, a mixture of sap and gel, can be harvested, preserved and bottled as a nutritional drink or combined with other ingredients to produce topical creams and lotions to nourish and improve the skin. As a drink Aloe Vera works with our immune system, replenishing nutrients from the vast range it contains, including vitamins, minerals, amino acids and enzymes. Poor diet, stress, caffeine and over-processed foods can all lead to less than tip-top health. Aloe can help redress the balance with its wealth of essential nutrients.
The Aloe Vera plant is suitable for adults, children and animals and is known to provide the following benefits:


- combating the signs of ageing
- improving health and vitality natural cosmetics
- excellent quality and kind to skin
- skincare and specialist skincare
- personal healthcare - tooth gels, shampoo, deodorants
- animal care health products
- cleansing courses
- weight loss
- probiotic support to the immune system
- bee pollen for energy

To purchase our pet care products log onto http://www.walk-the-dog.net/ and visit our products page.

Dog aggression

In my role as Dog Listener, I am often called in as the last resort to help clients experiencing a range of problems with their dogs from separation anxiety to excessive barking. While owners may tolerate some unwanted behaviours like pulling on the lead, one problem they can’t live with is aggression. It’s confusing for owners to have their loving dog suddenly turn into a Jekyll and Hyde character when out on a walk. As a result, walking the dog is no longer a pleasurable experience for the owner or the dog. So, why does this happen?

Aggression is a defence reflex, initially exhibited as a threat or warning, ultimately exhibited in a real form when there is no other option left. In other words, it can usually be avoided if you understand the cause, can read the signs and know how to desensitise the dog’s lack of trust towards the situation that resulted in the aggressive confrontation. Nearly all aggression results from a lack of trust on the part of the dog. So, it’s vital you get your dog to trust in you by giving him the right information whenever a question is raised “what happens now?” By getting your dog to elect you as leader, he will trust in you and follow your lead. There are four key areas where dogs look for leadership from us. These are; the hunt (or going for a walk), food/eating, status and perceived danger. Canine confrontation takes place within these four key areas (e.g.) dogs will fight over chew or may growl when another dog tries to cross its path. If we fail in our ‘leadership’ credentials then the dog’s survival instincts kick in, telling them someone has to take charge of the pack, and this is when the unwanted behaviours kick in.

The 4 F’s – flight, freeze, flirt or fight
Dogs exhibit four defence reflexes; flight, freeze, flirt and fight. This means when a dog feels threatened or challenged they will run away (flight), enter an almost catatonic state of immobility or snarl and growl (freeze), or try to initate some play and act like a puppy to avoid a fight (flirt) or they may finally bite (fight). The fight reflex is the most common reason for the popular diagnosis ‘aggressive dog’. Dogs that are prone to ‘fight’ as the first means of defence, will growl, snarl and eventually bite if we don’t read the signals. Dogs aren’t confrontational creatures; they won’t initiate aggression unless provoked. If a dog feels threatened – particularly if someone bends over it, directly approaches it, makes eye contact or tries to stroke their head and neck, then depending on that dog’s personality it will tell the human to ‘back off’ in the only way they can communicate. Below is a list from 1 to 7 of the warning signals dogs will give off, which if unheeded could lead to an attack.

1. Yawning, blinking, nose licking
2. Turning head away, then turning body away/sitting/pawing
3. Walking away or creeping backwards
4. Standing crouched, tail tucked under
5. Stiffening up and staring
6. Growling/snarling, tail high
7. Lunging then bite

If you would like to know more about how you can understand your dog and get the relationship you deserve, then call Hanne Grice, dog behaviour specialist and dog listener on 01442 878628 or email us at info@walk-the-dog.net

Understanding your dog - canine body language and interpreting it

There are probably times when you wish you knew what your dog was thinking. By looking at your dog’s body language, watching their expressions and actions this can help you understand what they might be feeling. On average dogs have 30 calming signals. These signals are used in times of fear, to avoid confrontation and on a day to day basis. As humans we often fail to see our dogs using these signals, so much so, that some dogs may give up using them altogether. For others, they become so desperate and frustrated they can get aggressive, nervous or stressed out as a result. Below are some basic calming signals dogs use to communicate their feelings.

Yawning
Your dog may yawn when someone bends over him, when you sound angry or there’s yelling, when he’s at the vets, and when someone’s walking or staring directly towards him. This tells you he feels uncomfortable and is trying to calm the situation down. When your dog is excited and there’s anticipation such as going out for a walk, dogs will yawn to take in more oxygen, as instinctively adrenalin has kicked in to prepare them for the ‘hunt’. Threatening signals (making direct eye contact, fast movements, bending over the dog etc) will often cause your dog to use a calming signal.

Licking
Licking is another calming signal - when meeting new people, dogs or in stressful situations. Licking is especially used by black/dark coloured dogs and dogs with a lot of fur around their faces as their facial expressions are harder to read. To show a dog you’re not a threat, avoid making direct eye contact, yawn and lick your lips – this is a pacifying signal and helps the dog to feel less anxious.

Turning away
A dog will turn his head slightly to one side or turn completely around so his back and tail is facing whoever the dog is calming. If a person seems angry, aggressive or threatening, dogs will often turn away. When you bend over a dog to stroke him or he’s taken by surprise - lookout for his head turning away. Dogs will use this signal to other dogs to prevent possible conflicts. Dogs that perceive themselves to be head of their pack will also use this body or head turn as a way of showing you where they want you to pat them. It’s a case of ‘who do you think you are?’ when you try to stroke them over the head. To show a strange or a nervous dog you’re not a threat, crouch down, don’t ‘invade their body space’, avoid direct eye contact, let the dog sniff you, then slowly hold your hand out for them to smell you. Once the dog is calm, then stroke him gently under the chin.

Play bow
A dog bending down on his front legs is an invitation to play if he’s moving his legs from side to side in a playful manner. But if the dog’s standing still while bowing, this is a signal to calm someone or another dog down. However, the invitation to play is often a calming signal by itself because the dog is making a potentially dangerous situation less tense and diverts with something safe.

Sniffing the ground
You’ll often see this when out walking with your dog and someone’s coming towards you, in noisy situations or places where there’s a lot going on or when your dog sees objects that he’s not sure of and finds it intimidating. Sniffing the ground may be anything from moving the nose swiftly down toward the ground and back up again to sticking their nose to the ground and sniffing persistently for several minutes. Of course, dogs sniff a lot anyway to find out whom or what has passed along the street before them! But depending on the situation this is used as a calming signal.

Sitting down/lifting one paw
Some dogs will sit down and lift a paw towards another dog or human to calm a situation down. Dogs will also sit or lay down as another dog approaches as a way to calm that approaching dog, if they feel it’s coming towards them too quickly. Dogs may also sit with their backs turned against the owner when they sound too strict, angry or the owner’s speaking in a loud voice!

Walking in a curve
This signal is the main reason why dogs react so strongly to meeting other dogs when they’re forced to walk straight at them. Instincts tell our dog that it’s wrong to approach someone like that – as humans we think differently. The dog can get anxious or defensive and this results in the dog barking and/or lunging at other dogs. When we’re outside with our dogs, we’re at our most human. So, if our dog barks or acts in an aggressive manner towards another dog, we then get flustered and anxious and may even shout at our dog. This creates a chaotic and stressful situation and now the dog has a negative association with other dogs. When given a chance, dogs will walk in curves around each other. Watch how your dog meets another dog when off the lead. Some dogs need large curves; others only need to walk slightly curved. Don’t walk your dog directly toward a dog, instead stop and change direction. If this isn’t possible give him some more leash to enable him to manoeuvre away from the dog and walk the other side of you. The more anxious your dog is, the wider the space you create between you and the other dog. Remember to take a deep breath, stay calm – keep your pulse rate steady and show your dog you’re not concerned and he will soon follow your lead.

Dog problems - Boredom Busters

Have you ever come home to find your dog has chewed through your favourite shoes or dug a tunnel in the garden that resembles something from the Great Escape? There are many causes for destructiveness from anxiousness and stress to teething. But boredom can also be a cause. So, here are some fun and clever ways to help stimulate your dog while you’re away.

The Bubble Machine
Bubble machine produces a stream of bubbles which can last for hours. Battery operated; bubbles come in bacon, liver, chicken and even peanut butter flavour! Typical cost £20.

The Time Kong Dispenser
This machine dispenses Kongs filled with treats at regular intervals during the day. It holds up to four Kongs at a time, keeping your dog occupied for hours. Prices start from approx £60.
Wiggly Giggly Mini Balls
These balls make noises as your dog rolls them or carries them around. This interactive toy encourages the dog to play by themselves. Typical cost £4.

Your imagination…
…you don’t just have to buy expensive toys to entertain your pooch! Why not fill an old box with tasty titbits and rags, your dog then has to hunt out the treats. Alternatively, scattering kibble across the garden enables your dog to use his natural scenting instinct to sniff out his dinner.

De-stress your dog
Dogs are pack animals, so when left alone some dogs become anxious. To help de-stress your dog leave an item of clothing you’ve worn overnight in your dog’s bed; your scent will give him comfort. Leaving a radio or television on can also be soothing. Be aware of not making a fuss of your dog when you’re coming and going. This is a key area where we can over-excite our dogs and do more harm than good! So, when arriving home wait until your dog is calm and settled, then call him over for a cuddle! When leaving, gather your belongings and pop a treat down for the dog, don’t say anything or make eye contact just leave quietly, enabling the dog to be as relaxed as possible at your departure.

All these dog products, together with a range of other brain-busting toys are available from the internet. For more game ideas or if you’re experiencing problems such as destructive chewing, then call Hanne Grice on 01442 878628 or email us at info@walk-the-dog.net For more information about our canine behaviour and dog training services, visit http://www.doglistener.tv/

Puppies – the secret to having a happy and well behaved puppy

Wild dogs raise their offspring into perfect wild dogs. So, when humans raise puppies into dogs, they run into trouble. Why?

Well, we don’t allow our puppy to get the natural upbringing they’d receive being brought up by other dogs, and we expect the dog to respect our human rules. These are meaningless to the dog, and we fail to take into consideration the dog’s age, developmental stages and its capacity. So, as a result our dog fails to meet our too high demands. This month we’ve listed below some key rules to help you and your pup on the road to success.

• Lower your expectations. In the wild dogs are allowed to grow up naturally in a pack, they learn self-control gradually.


• Adolescence. Around 4 months of age, the puppy moves into adolescence. They get bored easily and have no self-control, they like action and speed. This is where patience and consistency with your puppy is key. Set some boundaries (e.g.) is the puppy allowed on the sofa by invitation only? Is the dog allowed upstairs?


• Avoid long training sessions. The puppy’s ability to concentrate over long periods is poor, and you need to help teach him self-control. Keep training short, fun and easy. Teach in steps, like the ‘sit-stay’ - build from one second to three seconds, five seconds and so on.


• Have fun with your puppy. Play with your dog! This teaches him to focus on you and builds the association that you’re fun to be with! Playing helps build a bond with your dog too. Focus more energy into playing than walking the puppy. Playing gives the dog mental exercise, as well as, physical exercise.


• Allow the puppy breaks and rest if he looses his concentration while training.


• Slowly introduce new experiences, environments, noises, machinery, clothing, animals and people to the puppy. Take it slowly! You must not put pressure on your puppy or yourself. Stay calm. Your behaviour dictates the behaviour of your dog. If the puppy is scared by something move away in a calm manner, do not make a fuss of the dog (this will only re-enforce the dog’s scared behaviour). Show you are not bothered and there is no need for concern.


• Never hit, shout or punish the puppy. Aggression only begets aggression.


• Toilet training. This is where ‘consistency’ is your friend! Look for the key times the puppy will go, typically upon walking, playing and eating. Pups will sniff and circle. Encourage the puppy outside into the garden. As the puppy goes to the toilet say a word like “be clean”, this build the association of that word to that action. In time you will be able to say the word and the dog will eliminate. Once the pup has finished, walk up to the puppy and treat with food reward immediately and give lots of praise. This increases the repetition of the ‘good’ behaviour. Don’t go inside the house straight after the pup has been to the toilet – if you do, the puppy may learn to hold on for longer, as they want more time to explore the outside. If the pup goes to the toilet inside the house and you haven’t caught him in the act, simply clean it up with no fuss (say nothing and no eye contact). If you catch the puppy about to go or mid-flow – pick it up gently and take outside (repeat as above).


• Start grooming early. Teach your puppy that grooming is a pleasant experience. Brush the puppy when he’s sleepy, gently touch his ears/teeth/paws to enable him to get used to being investigated in these areas. This will help when he has to go to the vets, or when you need to clip his claws or brush his teeth!


• Learn to communicate with your dog. Speak to Hanne Grice about puppy training and the Amichien Bonding method – we’re here to help you. Learn the dog’s language and you’ll understand each other and have the relationship you deserve!

For more information call us on 01442 878628 or email us at info@walk-the-dog.net You can find out more about Walk the Dog Puppies, our puppy classes by visiting our website; http://www.walk-the-dog.net/

Who's walking who? Teaching your dog to walk to heel

Walking a dog that pulls on the lead can be a stressful for any owner and may be even be dangerous. Taking a dog for a walk is supposed to be a pleasurable experience, however we often see many owners literally ‘skiing’ down the pavement with their dogs, or repeatedly saying “heel” to their dog, while getting increasingly frustrated, jerking the dog back on its lead. Having a dog that pulls and an unhappy owner is far from the relaxing ideal of ‘going for a walk’. But, have you ever considered what causes this behaviour in the first place?

Dogs not only want to explore their environment with as much freedom as possible using their incredible senses of smell, hearing and sight, but a dog that pulls on the lead is a good indicator of a dog who’s confused about its position within the hierarchy of its pack. In the wild, the alpha pair lead the hunt and the rest of the pack follow. There is no debate, the rest of the pack follow out of respect for the leaders as the decision makers. If you’ve got a dog that perceives himself to be the decision maker in your domestic pack, it makes total sense that come the times when the pack go out ‘on the hunt’, where shall leader be? In front!

A dog that’s being yanked on the lead or even shouted at receives mixed messages from us. To be the good leader for our dogs we must always ask ourselves ‘Am I happy and am I in control?’ Being a good leader stems from the three C’s: being calm, consistent and convincing. If your dog gets over excited at the mere sight of the lead or you have to struggle to even get the lead on the dog, you haven’t just got a problem walking outside, you have a problem before you even think about going for a walk! To understand dog behaviour we observe wild dogs as this is where we see true dog behaviour in their natural environment.

In the wild, dogs do not walk in unison or ‘to heel’, and they certainly have no concept of the lead – where in the wild do you ever see a dog taking another dog for a walk? In fact, wild dogs such as wolves, jackals, kayotee, dingoes, dholes, painted dogs, hyenas and foxes, never ‘go for a walk’. The closest a wild dog gets to going for a walk is with the hunt. However, they don’t go out through choice, they have to leave the den in order to find the food they need for survival. In the wild, dogs may only hunt once every three days.

So, we have to teach our dog where we want him to be – by our side, and that has to be done without shouting, violence or force. So, let’s look at the most effective way to teach your to walk to heel.

To teach your dog good manners, you must begin at home, where there are no distractions.

1. With your tasty treat in your hand (sausage/cheese/meat strip), turn your back away from your dog, put your hand containing the treat to your side to show your dog where you want him to be, call his name and ask him to ‘heel’.
2. If your dog appears at your side praise him and give him the food reward. If he doesn’t, leave it an hour or so then try again.
3. Build this process up by walking a few steps, while treating and praising as he gets it right. Intermittently you may say ‘heel’ – but remember you’re showing your dog where you want him to be with your body and movement, this action speaks louder than words!
4. Walking to heel doesn’t come naturally to the dog, so you have to build up your and your dog’s confidence and trust in you, so you must stay calm. If your stress levels rise your dog will pick up on this, so stop your heel work practice. This is like the good diet, you should practice this ‘little and often’ and only for 5 to 10 minutes, so you and your dog have fun and stay focused.
5. With practice you’ll be able to move freely around your home and garden with your dog following you in all different directions – forwards, backwards, in figures of eight and so on! You should practice this off the lead first, and then once you and the dog have the hang of it, introduce the lead.
6. Get the dog used to seeing the lead being moved about, this breaks any associations that the lead equals ‘going for a walk’ and helps calm the dog down. If he gets over excited once you’ve popped on the lead, take it off, go and sit down and wait until he’s settled.
7. Practice moving to the door regularly, if he pulls just stop and wait for the lead to go slack, as this happens say "good dog" and take a step towards the door. You may only get one step before he pulls again, but you must be consistent and keep a steady pulse rate. If he pulls again, you can take off the lead and abandon the walk altogether or stand still until the lead goes slack once more.
8. Once you’ve got out of the door you need to keep practicing with the principle of ‘slack lead’ equals ‘move forward’; ‘tight lead’ equals ‘stop’. Consistency is the key to success here. The reward is the moving forward, praise and treat, so if you keep going when the dog is pulling, you’re actually rewarding the dog for pulling!! Use treats to get the dog focused back on you. If the dog pulls you stop, wait for the dog to look up, change direction and reward the dog for being in the right position.

This exercise does take time and a lot of patience but it really works!

Research shows misunderstanding of dogs

Hanne Grice, a dog behaviour specialist and certified Dog Listener, is leading a research study into how well people understand dogs. Over one hundred people have participated in the study so far. Here’s a summary of some of our findings to date;

• over 40 % of respondents have been bitten by dogs
• only 20% of people correctly identified a picture of a dog smiling as being
  ‘friendly’. Most considered the showing of teeth to mean the dog was either
  aggressive or stressed
• 54% of people believe a wagging tail only means the dog is friendly and approachable, but dogs can bite you when they’re wagging their tail

If you’d like to know more about our research, email us at; info@walk-the-dog.net Our findings will be published in spring 2010.