Get involved in a dog sport this summer!

Now that the weather is getting nicer, and the days are lasting longer you’ll find there is a lot more time to do more fun things with your dog.

Getting involved in a dog sport is great fun, and can keep both of you fit at the same time. There are lots of dog sports out there to try such as agility, fylball, Rally-O, heelwork to music, you just need to find the right one for you and your dog.

It doesn’t matter what breed you have, or what size your dog is, any dog can excel in a dog sport if you both put the effort into it! There are lots of have a go events at fun dog shows if your not sure which sport to try, and you can always sit in at a class to see if this sport is for you.

When you first try out a dog sport, don’t rush things, dogs learn at different speeds, and the environment may be initially overwhelming for your dog to focus in. Don’t worry about what everyone else’s dogs are doing, and just focus on small goals to reach with you and your dog.

Our dog Zuko recently got into fly ball. He’s just turned 6 and started the sport when he was 5, so as long as your dog is healthy there really is no age limit of when to get involved in a sport. Each week we take Zuko to fly ball practice he improves loads, we all love the excitement and adrenaline when doing a fly ball run and we are hoping to start competing in the sport soon too!

Doing a sport with your dog will strengthen your bond together, and will get you doing something different in the week than your usual routine. So what are you waiting for? Get involved in a dog sport this summer!

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How to make the most of the bad weather with your dog

With this recent bad weather we have been getting, it is sometimes difficult to get our dogs out for long walks.

Playing scent games with your dog on a rainy day is a good way to mentally tire them when you can’t get them out for as long as you’d like to. There are all sorts of different games you can play with your dog that encourages him to use his natural foraging behaviours, a 20 minute scenting session with your dog will have him tired for hours!

When you first start playing scent games with your dog, start easy and then progress at your individual dog’s speed. Have him in a stay, or have someone holding him back, and walk away and place a small smelly treat in front of him. Then tell him “find it” and release him to get the treat. As he gets better and better at this game you can make things more difficult and interesting. You can have him out of site when you place the treat, or hide the treat under items, or at different levels in your house. The better they get the harder you can make it, but always throw in the odd easy find to keep him eager and motivated when he has the harder sessions with you.

Even with rainy weather, it is important to get your dog out on a walk, but it is understandable not to want to stay outside for very long, so playing scent work games is a fun alternative to miles of trudging with your dog on a wet and windy day!

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10 minutes to a closer bond with your four legged friend!

Fitting in one-on-one time with our dogs is very important as it helps to keep them stimulated and also aids in forming a closer and more meaningful bond with you. However, finding the time to fit this in can seem very difficult, especially for those of us with busy schedules.

There are ways we can work around this though, even for those of us who don't have a visible gap in the day-to-day schedule! First of all, don't make it a chore otherwise neither of you will enjoy it. Set yourself a reasonable goal such as 2-3 times a week spending a special 10 minutes with your Fido. The 10 minutes can be anything from a play session with their favourite toy; playing hide and seek (yes, even dogs enjoy this game!); practicing his tricks or teaching new tricks; or, hiding toys and food and have him search for them! One-on-one time can also include the dogs walk, however, those of us who use walkers may not be the primary walker for the dogs throughout the weekdays. This is why I believe the special 10 minutes are really important for bonding, to let our pooch know that we are interested in him by engaging with him with stimulating activities!

Now, where can we find these 10 minutes with such busy lifestyles? First of all, if you truly are very busy, don't do this everyday otherwise it will seem a massive effort and you may end up resenting your dog. Aim for just a couple of times a week as this is reasonable and won't make your schedule feel any more overwhelming than it already is. The easiest way to find these 10 minutes is when the dinner is being cooked and this will be especially useful if you have a dog who sits and begs in the kitchen while food is cooking! When you have those dinners which don't require tonnes of work and spend most of their time in the oven, use the gap between putting food in the oven and waiting for it to be ready to engage with your dog. If you have a partner/don't live alone this will be even easier as you can take it in turn of who engages with Rover!
Try it yourself and see if there's any difference in your dogs behaviour towards you or just his behaviour in general! Keeping a dog well stimulated is one of the biggest factors in reducing common attention seeking behavioural problems. If you give him the attention he won't be required to ask for it! So go on, go and have fun with your furry buddy's!

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Christmas and your dog

Christmas is now just around the corner, and I’m sure most of you like to get your dog’s involved in the big day too!
It can be quite a hectic time of year, with family gatherings, parties and lots of other activities, so please be aware of this big change in routine for your dog. Some dogs will love the extra fuss and attention and going-ons in the house, but other dogs can become very stressed with too much going on at once. So try to create them a nice quiet retreat area where they can relax in peace, maybe with a nice kong, away from all the noisy activities.

We all love to decorate our homes this time of year to give them a nice festive appeal. If you have a real tree in your home the needles which fall daily can become stuck in your dog’s paws and are also dangerous if eaten, so try to vacuum daily and keep your dog (and other animals) away from them.
Also, keep in mind that the tree decor from a dog’s point of view is pretty tempting and begging to be investigated, trees can easily topple over especially once weighed down with decorations and lights etc so try to secure the tree down so it does not fall over so easily if bumped into by your dog (or wagging tail). Dogs can easily be caught up in tinsel and find hanging decorations particularly appealing and ripe for pulling off.  Life will be a lot easier and safer if you limit your dog’s access to the area if you need to and don’t leave tree and dog unattended!

Christmas time is also the time of year where we love to indulge on lots of good rich foods. Please remember that a lot of the food we love to eat at this time of year is actually poisonous or not very safe for our dogs to eat, chocolate, raisins, sweets, and any bones from your meat should not be given to your dogs. Spoil them instead with safe dog treats, or cuts of turkey, but remember to not stray from their normal diet too much as this may upset their stomach.

As the New year comes closer, also remember that fireworks may begin to fill the night skies again, if you need any tips on how to cope with fireworks, please read the blog post on fireworks season.

We hope you all have a lovely Christmas with your four legged friends. Don’t forget to wrap them a nice present under the tree too!

www.4pawswalkies.co.uk

Beware of grit, it could be lethal to your pet!

The cold weather is already upon us here in the UK and; as well as the usual keeping your pet warm on those ice, chilling walks by providing them with a nice, warm coat, you should also get into the habit of rinsing off your pets paws every time they come back from a walk.

As the roads tend to get icey and frosty at this time of the year, as well the higher potential of snow, the gritters will be out in full force in order to keep our roads clear and safe to drive on. Grit, however (although necessary at this time of year), can be highly lethal to your pet. Dogs and cats will walk through  gritted roads when they are out and about during the winter period and, if your pet then licks his paws after his walk, it may just kill him. Consuming rock salt can cause dehydration, liver failure and pancreatitis, while antifreeze (used to defrost windscreens) contains the chemical ethylene glycol, which can be lethal when ingested.

What can we do about this in order to keep our pets safe?
The best thing to do, as stopping walks would be very unfair on your four legged friend, is to rinse off the animals paws every time after a walk. It really is as simple as that.
Cats are a little more tricky as they tend to come and go as they please. If you know your cat walks on streets that will potentially be gritted or where there are a lot of cars parked, the safest option would be to keep him indoors until the weather warms up. He may not be particularly happy about having his outdoor freedom taken away but at least it will potentially save his life! If you do decide to keep your cat indoors, remember that you will need to interact with them much more to keep them well stimulated; and, provide them with plenty of places to climb and scratch so that they are still able to perform all of their natural kitty behaviours!

So, as well as ensuring you keep your pet as warm as possible on those brisk, winter walks also remember to wash his feet down after every walk to ensure he won't end up poisoning himself if he licks his paws. The last thing anyone wants is a loss in the family so close to Christmas!

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Coping with fireworks

It’s that time of year again, when the evening sky gets filled with colourful explosions. Fun for us to watch, but not so fun for our pets.

Fear of loud noises is very common in dogs and cats, which can make fireworks season pretty traumatic for many of them. So, what can we do to help?

There are many ways we can make fireworks season less of a scary thing for our pets. We should provide them with a safe haven that they can go to when feeling nervous. A good example is an open crate, with blankets covering the walls of the crate. We can teach our pets that this is a nice cosy place to be by giving them fun things to do in there (such as a stuffed kong). The safe haven should also be placed in a nice relaxing area of the house, and it is important to not disturb our pets when they are chilling in their dens. So, make sure, if you have children, you teach them to leave your pet alone when he is in his safe place.

There have also been studies showing that the use of D.A.P (Dog Appeasing pheromones) can reduce the signs of anxiety during fireworks. For D.A.P to be effective it is important to introduce it before fireworks season starts and also still give your dog the safe haven to go to.

Keeping the animal’s mind occupied could also benefit some individuals. Giving your pet trick puzzle games with food rewards will occupy their mind from focusing on the loud noises. It is also important to remember not to over coddle your pet when they are feeling anxious. It is OK to offer gentle reassurance, but giving too much attention to the fearful behaviour could cause attention seeking problems, or it could exasperate the fear because by acting differently than normal (I assume you don’t usually over fuss your pet when he’s relaxing in the evening) you are showing your pet that fireworks are strange things, because they make you behave strangely!

If you do have a pet that really does not enjoy the fireworks, please look into a behaviourist (make sure they use up to date methods) to help your pet overcome this problem. They will be able to work alongside you and your pet in a program of desensitisation and counter conditioning.

Remember to keep your pets as safe and happy as possible during this fireworks season!

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Dogs, their secret lives?

I am sure many of you watched this documentary on channel 4 on Monday night. It was very interesting, but at the same time quite shocking to watch those dogs with the bad separation issues.

What was more shocking than the obvious cases of separation anxiety, were the silent cases that were found. Basically dogs who their owners did not think had separation problems, but their cortisol levels (the stress hormone) rose just as much as the dogs who were howling and tearing up the house. It makes you wonder how many dogs are feeling this stressed each day when they are left alone in the house.

So, what can we do to help our dogs?
Thankfully, our dogs don’t have to suffer every time we have to leave them on their own, we just need to teach them how to be left.
To start with, the first step is to give your dog something fun and time consuming to do. For this I would recommend a well stuffed kong toy, filled with some of your dog’s favourite treats. Give this to your dog, and as he is enjoying this tasty treat, get up and move away from him and then move back to him, repeat this first step a few times.

The next step is to move out of the room whilst your dog is enjoying his kong, and then the step after this is to move out of the room for longer periods and to move to other rooms whilst he is enjoying his kong. What you are teaching your dog is that when you leave he can still relax, and most importantly that you always come back.

The end goal of this is to leave the house for a set period of time. When you start this step of leaving the house when your dog has been given his kong, start with only a minute and then build up the time gradually from there.
This method teaches your dog to relax when you leave the house, and shows him that you always come back.

Other important steps to know are to never scold your dog if he has had an accident or destroyed something whilst you were gone. So far studies to date show that dogs have no concept of guilt. In fact scolding your dog when you get home can make them more anxious when they are left, because your arrival home predicts a telling off!
Never over fuss your dog when you get home either, just greet them calmly like it was no big deal that you were gone for a few hours.

If your dog ever has to be left alone for more than 6 hours, which of course for some dogs is unavoidable if we have to go to work, then I do strongly recommend having someone come in to break up the day for them. Having your dog walked whilst you are out at work, saves you a job when you get home from a long day, and also tires out your dog so he is more likely to sleep away the hours that he is left in the house alone (hitting 2 birds with 1 stone!), after all a tired dog is a quiet dog!

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