Two Success Stories!

We have just recently returned to classes after a summer break.  It was great to get back and to catch up with everyone's stories on how their dogs have been getting on.

Bella

Readers of this blog will be familiar with Bella's story (see previous post).  Bella and her owner were at the beach during the break.  Bella was off lead as it was failry quiet.  She took off running along the beach and when her owner recalled her she suddenly found herself in the middle of a family with kids and a dog! Bella's owner was understandably worrried that Bella may react but Bella looked at them all, paused, then ran straight to her owner!  What a fantastic result! We are all so proud of Bella as she has come a long way and of her owner who has put so much hard work in.

We should always remember though, that Bella's innate response to things that worry her is to react, but by giving her options, alternatvie behaviours and building her confidence, we help her to make the right decision. 

Kara

Kara is a Groenendael and due to an incident at a show was quite nervous of people approaching from behind.  Groenendaels as a breed are naturally wary and Kara is no exception.  We started off gently just being around Kara and her owner and slowly built up her confidence with a range of exercises until we could approach from behind, we simulated the show ring and various "judges".  Kara and her owner have worked hard over the last few months and a couple of weeks ago they gained a Bitch Challenge Certificate!  We are very proud of them both.

Bella's Progress

We had our doggie olympics evening on Thursday and everyone had a great time but it was particularly pleasing to see Bella, the little Coton De Tulear, playing with Otto the Rottweiler.  Nothing to write home about you may think except for the little and large scenario!  However, for Bella and her owner this is a huge step forward and marks a real step change in Bella's relationship not just with other dogs but people as well.

Bella had a very difficult start in life and spent all of her early months in quarantine which resulted in her being extremely reactive to other dogs.  Following an incident with a "trainer/behaviourist" in a large training club she then became reactive to people.  Bella and her owner came to us to see if we could help.  

We have worked hard over the last few months gradually integrating Bella into the class, little by little, and as she has grown in confidence she has ventured further and further into the general class.  Over the last few months she has gained her Bronze Kennel Club Good Citizen and then her Silver just a few weeks ago.  Bearing in mind that Silver involves examination of a dog by an individual unknown to the dog this was a big turnaround for Bella. Bella and her owner are now working towards Gold Good Citizen.

So in summary it really was an occasion to see Bella play with Otto and we are so proud of both Bella and her owner for all their hard work as it has really paid off.

Well, it's been some time since I posted but what a busy time it's been!

Crufts was great, met some lovely people and caught up with friends old and new.  Then it was onto the Gorebridge Open Trial where I am the Trials Manager.  The trial went well, despite losing some fields at short notice.

April was a whirlwind of training classes and and we held our TTouch workshop with the wonderful Tracey McLennan.

May saw the Tynewater's first birthday, the relaunch of our website, Bronze Good Citizen tests with all participants passing, the Scottish Working Trials training weekend and the Championship Trial.

And onto June! Our puppy school graduated and some have gone on to the beginners class and are doing very well.   We attended the Marc Bekoff seminar last weekend which was very interesting and then this weekend is Inchnabobart Trial so photos will follow I promise!

Crufts!

Off to Crufts - I don't show my dogs but love to catch up with friends and do some shopping!  Will post when I come back.  Dogs are left in charge of husband and cat so who knows what news will greet me on my return!

Performance (Sport) Dogs

I was re-reading Leslie McDevitt's great book Control Unleashed and it struck a chord with me as a competitor in Working Trials.

Briefly the background was Leslie's dog Rumour who was her "competition dog" to work in Agility and subsequently had to retire at a very early age due to a incurable spinal condition.  Leslie stopped doing all training with him and even the things he could do and enjoyed.  She lost her enjoyment in the dog and resented his inability tocompete.  Leslie took up Rally-O with Rumour but he just wasn't having fun and it was then that Leslie realised she had changed the way in which she interacted with her dogs becaue of competing.  Rumour became a pet dog and Leslie went back to doing a little bit of training with him on the things they enjoyed and their relationship flourished.

I understood where Leslie was coming from. My GSD Cooper came to me as a puppy and I was already in Trials with my Cocker but I wanted to progress through the stakes and needed a bigger dog.  Cooper was from a great sire and I had high hopes and he did really well in his first two Championships qualifying in 2 stakes and being placed.  Unfortunately he had an accident on the scale jump and although I didn't know it at the time it was his last competition at the age of 3.  He had severe spondylosis and was out of trials for good.  I was very disappointed as this was "the dog" and for a while I did nothing with him - "what was the point of doing training if he wasn't competing?"

Neither Cooper nor I were happy though and I decided that as he and I loved tracking we would continue -it was good exercise for his muscles and his brain! and we enjoyed the time together.  We joined in the golden oldies fun competitions where the dogs were spoiled and had great fun tracking and searching and when he died aged 10  I can honestly say he was still "the dog" to me.  We had a great life together, we had fun and he was the funniest clown I have ever met! I am so glad I came to my senses quickly and enjoyed who he was as dog and not a competition dog.

It is often the case in canine sports that when the dog can't compete they no longer do any of the activities they so enjoyed as the handler gets another "competition dog".  So what is about canine sport we enjoy? Is is the enjoyment of a dog using his natural abilities or is the competitive streak? We miss out on so much if it is just for competition....

Happy New Year!

Wishing you all a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year. I hope it is everything you wish for.

It's Christmas!

We had great fun last night at the Tynewater Christmas Parties.  We had a relay race using the weave poles, tunnel, cones and hula hoops and included some singing!  There was retrieve a bonio, musical chairs, best party trick and best fancy dress.


Here are some photos

Bella looks distinctly unimpressed with her outfit!

                           

Oscar showing off his bonio

                             

Alfie strutting his stuff on the weaves

Donna and Oscar aka Santa and his present!

Helen and Blue looking very professional

Fly retrieving a bonio - perfect!

Honey is also unimpressed by her bee outfit!

Moira in her fab hat! and Gambit doing a "stick 'em up"

The Terrible Trio (humans and dogs!!)

Andy and Zak with a great move!

 

Zak showing how the tunnel works in the relay race

 

Kennel Club Good Citizen

December 1st saw three of the class feel prepared enough to go forward to take their test for the Kennel Club Good Citizen.  Audrey and Flath completed the Bronze Award and Moira with Gambit and Les with Fly completed Silver.  We are very proud of all 3 and they will go onto the Tynewater Hall of fame once we get the website sorted for photos!

Audrey and Flath

Moira and Zak

 Les and Fly



















The Beginners class did their test too on the 1st and all were brilliant.  It is so satisfying to see little Belle be able to join in with the group now and bark just for the sheer hell of it rather than fear.  Little Oscar has amazed his owner as he isn't fearful at all.  That's the value of small classes and suffcient training support to provided one-to-one where required.

Christmas party this week as postponed last week due to the weather.  Looking forward to it!

Another Training Day!

We had a fantastic days working trials training day today. We had 8 dogs - 2 Labs, GSP, 2 Clumbers, Springer, Cocker, Collie and all did really well.  It's amazing how little confidence owners have in their dogs!  Most of them said their dog wouldn't be able to do one or other of the exercises and to their surprise their dog was great!

Here's Twig doing the clear jump

And a lovely photo of Fudge

They all enjoyed it so much we are now having a monthly class!

Thanks to Liz for the photos.

My Little Therapet

Very proud of Callum tonight.  He passed his test to be a Therapet.  We will be the very first Therapet visitors at the new local hospital.  He was a very well mannered little man and the Assessor was full of praise for him.

Just got to get all the paperwork sorted and we can start.

Take Three Dogs.......

and do some clicker training and see varying results.  Did some clicker training with all three dogs at the weekend.  First up was Hector who started off well but then decided that he would just sit and stare at me to see if that would get him what he wanted! We moved on though and got some nice behaviours offered in the end. 

Maisie was next and what a little show-off, just offered one behaviour after another and we really made progress on her barking. 

Then it was Callum's turn.  He was hilarious! Started off with standard stuff then glided into backing up, rolling over and on and on it went all the time with that serious little face of his - made me laugh out loud!

An enjoyable hour though and we all had some fun.

They Passed!

What an enjoyable night! Putting the 'late brigade' (our late training class!) through their Bronze KCGCDS has been an interesting experience.  Not because the dogs have been a problem but some of the owners have a real lack of confidence in their own ability and in their dog.  However, they all did really well tonight and all passed the test. Very proud of them all.  From little Sybi the Shih Tzu whose owner didn't think she would be able to do anything to the lab Gambit whose view on life is 'Just Chill'! they all proved they can train their dogs and enjoy it in the process.  As for 'Patch' well what a star!

Follow Up on the Mighty Patch!

Well, Patch and Mary have worked hard on their issues.  It hasn't been easy for them and Patch has had a couple of setbacks along the way but....... he made it all the way to class last week! We were all delighted to see him and he just sat and watched what everyone was up to but what a huge step forward.  So proud of them.  Still a way to go but well on their way.  It is a pleasure to work with Mary who is so determined to work through this with Patch.  They are coming to class tomorrow to do their Bronze Good Citizen - we have had to make some adjustments so he isn't put under too much pressure but he will still have the same test as everyone else and I'm sure he will pass with ease.  So keep fingers crossed!

Mulling Over the Issues of the Week

Just been mulling over two issues that have arisen this week. Firstly a little dog who came to us for help after being with another trainer who dealt with the dog's aggression to other dogs by stabbing it in the ribs with two fingers (this dog weighs under 12lbs) and now the dog is aggressive to humans. Secondly the little JRT on the One Show with resource guarding issues and the awful way in which Jordan Shelley decided this issue should be addressed.

Please ensure that before you take your dog to any trainer/behaviour advisor you obtain recommendations, you see them in action with other dogs and most importantly that they have the requisite experience and knowledge/expertise to deal with the issue. A qualification means nothing without experience and experience means nothing without studying canine behaviour and continuing professional development.

As pointed out by a friend, there are students new to the field who don't have a lot of hands on experience but have an understanding of the science of learning theory.   So don't close your mind to a newbie on the block, that's why it's important to go and see them in action to get a feel for their methods. If you are uncomfortable with someone's method walk away no matter how much experience they may have. There are some out there who continually highlight how much experience they have but doesn't make them good at what they do, just the same as having a qualification doesn't mean they are good at what they do either. It's the same in any profession.  

See the results then make up your mind if it's the right trainer/behaviour advisor for you and your dog.

The Lasting Effects

We often read about or hear about a dog being attacked by another dog or dogs and we shake our heads, feel sad for the dog and move on.  Rarely do we hear about the lasting effects of such an attack and the hard work that the owner needs to undertake to get their dog back on track after a frightening ordeal.

Here's one such story..... Let's call him Patch (names changed to protect the innocent!) and his owner Mary.  Patch and Mary were enjoying their walk one evening when they met a lady coming towards them with a Rottweiler and GSD.  The dogs were set on getting to Patch and Mary and the owner lost control of them and dropped their leads whereupon they set about Patch to his severe injury.  Mary rushed Patch home and onto the vet.  Patch was quite down for a while and following a couple of weeks away, on his return to his house, he would no longer go for a walk.  Mary tried hard to persuade him but he was too frightened to venture past his gate. 

This has gone on for a few weeks now so we set off tonight to see what we could do to help.  With some exercises and lots of reward Patch ventured along the road a bit and passed his gate twice going in different directions.  It will not be an overnight cure for Mary and Patch but Mary is determined to help Patch overcome his fear and I'm sure they will get there.  We will review in a week to see how it's going and move on to the the next step.

It's the side of the story that is never seen and there are no consequences for the owner of the other dogs although the Dog Warden is now aware as is the Police but we have had word today that it has happened again. Perhaps if she was aware of the financial and emotional cost of her actions (or lack of them) she might just do something but then again perhaps not.....

The Wanderer Returns!

Sorry for the lack of posts - life has been too hectic! however, a nice relaxing holiday and lots of to-do lists made and I'm back...

Met up with the German Wire-Haired pointer this week (see post back 3 March).  He has come a long way and his owner has put in place a lot of what we talked about.  He's 10 months now and a big lad and full of the joys of life which can prove difficult for a little lady! So we practicsed some impulse control exercises and within a short space of time he was getting the idea.  We also looked at some activities the owner could do with him which would activate his brain and importantly build the relationship between dog and owner.  So hopefully progress will continue as before and we'll see how he is going in November when I'm back down.

Still on holiday this week but preparing for a session with a Springer with separation anxiety. 

Come again!

Maisie's recall training is going well.  She is returning 100% of the time in the garden and well known secure areas. She checks in every so often too which is being well rewarded at the moment as I'm keen for her to understand that she can come in whenever without having to be called and can then go off again.

So all in all really please with her progress and as it is the top issue with 80% of the newbies in class next week I will be sharing my ideas and successes along with the frustrations on our recall journey.

Gundog Training

Sincere apologies for the delay in posting but life has been hectic!

Today's ponder was what is about dogs that makes everything right with the world? 

Spent the day with the fabulous Andy Cullen of Laochin Gundogs at a Ladies Gundog training day.  I decided to take Callum with me as Hector is coming on well with his working tirals training and I didn't want to put Maisie in a situation where she could undo all her good recall work and Cal doesn't get to do much these days since his Search and Rescue work finished. So off we went to spend the day doing some gundog training.

Life has been very hectic with the day job recently and I have been away from home a lot so it was great to just have the whole day to focus on my dog.  I got to thinking though what is it that makes it so special - I really do feel the stresses and strains just melt away when I'm with my dogs.  I think it is a combination of companionship, fun, and just that time spent with each other teaching and learning.  Callum really enjoyed himself, and seeing his little face focused on what I was going to ask him to do next was a joy.  He did get a bit overexcited at the pond though! But due to two swans and two geese he didn't get to swim (his favourite thing in the whole world!).

It was a really enjoyable day and it is always a pleasure to watch other trainers, particularly in another discipline, and to learn from others.  So dummies at the ready and off we go again!

Come!

Continued the recall training with Maisie this week. Maisie is my little cocker - she came to me for fostering and brought my husband under her spell so never left!! She is a very clever little dog and you always have to be one step ahead. She has come on leaps and bounds from when she first arrived - she was 6 months old and not house trained and if she didn't get to do what she wanted she bit whoever was in her way be it human or canine. She is now fully house trained and no longer bites so it's just her recall that needs work.

She is responding well to the whistle and getting 100% success in a confined apace so we moved to a new area. All was going well until near the end when she got a scent and nothing was going to get in the way! So we have taken a little step back again as she's obviously not quite ready to move on to the next stage. She will get there and it's always better to take a step back than try and force it as it's too easy to undo all the good work. Watch this space!!

Puppy!

I'm on holiday this week and met up with a neighbour in the village in which I'm staying. She has a new puppy who is 15 weeks old and is finding him hard work. It's her first dog and he's a German Wire-Haired pointer. We chatted about him and when I commented on how they are known to be very strong-willed and know very experienced owners/trainers who say they are the hardest dogs they have ever trained she said everyone keeps telling her that - She didn't realise how difficult it would be. There's a couple of points there for new dog owners:-

- do your homework on breeds before you get your new puppy, making sure you can meet the needs of that particular breed and that your lifestyle is suitable for that breed.
- think about puppy versus older dog - this lady is retired and it's her first dog

German Wire-Haired Pointers are great dogs and do great work but need training and something to do so think about going to a training class and make sure the trainer understands the breed and their needs in training.

We talked about his exercise as he is being walked for an hour free running at a time which is too much for a growing puppy of that age. The accepted norm is around 5 minutes per month of age and whilst nothing is ever cast in stone it is a general standard to work around. There are lots of other ways to exercise a puppy without walking his legs off and we are meeting today to do some bits and pieces so we can exercise his brain.