People walking away from him causes Barney to lose it. Barney’s lady owner had been so sure that due to his odd behaviour he had something either wrong with his brain or a chemical imbalance in his body, that he has undergone extensive tests including an MRI scan. All is clear. Read more…
Giving a fearful dog choice Joey, the four-year-old Collie Labrador mix, came over from Ireland at a year old. Isn’t he gorgeous. Over the past three years his family has done great things with him. A lot of the general day to day stuff I usually recommend they do already. He is very Read more…
Sometimes there can be a bit of conflict, in my opinion, between what is learnt in formal training classes and the sort of behaviour that is needed for real life. My views may not be popular with everyone.
The cornerstone to their success will be to give their little dogs choice and a way out – an escape. If the dog doesn’t want to move, then the walk should be abandoned.
The dog needs to feel he has choice too. Formal training seldom allows choice. Walking on a longish loose lead without any feeling of restriction gives the dog more feeling of choice. If the dog signals that he needs more distance from the other dog, then that, too, is his choice and the human should comply.
Is extensive training the answer? Beautiful eighteen month old Chocolate Labrador Oscar was a difficult puppy. They believe now that they spoilt him. By the time he was four months old they found him hard to cope with – stealing, grabbing, nipping and so on, so they took him to Read more…
Ellie is a clever, gentle, beautiful, well-trained 4-year old Border Collie. She knows a large number of commands and names for various objects. She is also a perfect example of how knowing words and commands can be pretty irrelevant if she feels like ignoring them. It always works best if Read more…
Jasper and Poppy are Beardie/German Shepherd mixes. They look entirely different though, and their personalities are completely different too. Poppy is dark and largely Shepherd, and Jasper is pale and much more like a Beardie to look at. Poppy is just eight months old, and Jasper is eleven years old. Read more…