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It really is amazing the number of times that people who have had many dogs over a number of years end up with the same problem with each and every dog. Now there are usually three reasons for this happening.So the first one is in the dim and distant past the first dog in the household had a behavioural issue, he transferred the problem to the next one who taught the one who arrived after that and so on down the line. The second reason is the result of human behaviour because if there is no continuity between the dogs then the problem is induced by the owner. It means that the owner is making the same mistake with every dog. The third  reason is a combination of one and two. The most obvious and common example of this is antisocial behaviour. These owners usually already has one or more badly behaved dogs who can’t even travel in the car and lack of social skills make them an embarrassment and in attempt to make sure that the newest addition is better behaved tries to socialise the dog but fails to realise how to achieve this aim. Socialising your dog is a fairly simple task, but it’s often approached the wrong way. Please don’t assume that taking the dog for a walk on the same road every day and going to the same venue is socialising. Socialising starts with making sure that your dog can walk properly on the lead without pulling. Then to go in as many places as possible and be exposed to traffic, people, noise, both daylight and darkness, stairs, other dogs and as many differing situations as you can find; obviously don’t try to do too much in one go but more the dog experiences lifes challenges the more social he will become, both owner and dog start to enjoy being out together and going out becomes a pleasure. We keep a pet for pleasure, if there is no pleasure, don’t get rid of the pet, get rid of the problem! R

Compassion for animals is intimately associated with goodness of character and It may be confidently asserted that he who is cruel to animals cannot be a good man. Arthur Schopenhauer

Generally a fairly simple process if we follow the rules. Now in the majority of instances it doesn’t matter if it is a puppy or a rescue dog, the system is the same. In the olden days, when I was a lad, a very long time ago, the habit was to tell the dog off for having an accident indoors and in extreme cases ignorant owners would rub their dogs noses in the mess. Even in those days I could see the futility in this and what’s more the errant puppy would fairly soon come and want to give everyone a wet sloppy kiss!! We are going to start with what is the golden rule for toilet training. “Praise and reward outdoors – ignore indoors.” This is based on the fact that dogs are logical, unlike us humans who have to be the most illogical creatures in the planet!! And it works like this; taking the dog outside several times a day waiting for it to put its bottom to the ground and as soon as It does we gently praise and reward, titbits should be small, the size of small kibble, one piece only and puppies should always be taken out straight after meals Now the indoor bit, if you find that puppy has done something indoors you must ignore this. Why? Because chastising a dog for something that he did 30 seconds ago is a complete waste of time and can damage your relationship with your dog. Obviously if he does something in front of you then you can indicate displeasure but keep It low key It doesn’t take long for puppy to work out that for some reason the strange humans get very enthusiastic and give rewards when we do our toilet outdoors and give nothing when we do it indoors. In extreme cases we are going to have to resort to what is known as cage training, not that there is anything wrong with this method and using a cage can have other benefits but It does involve owners in the expense of purchasing a  suitable cage, I will come back to cage training in the very near future. One final thought, even if you have toilet trained your dog to perfection, please remember that very old dogs (sorry, being politically correct, we must now refer to them as canine seniors!) may need to go out more for toilet breaks. The consequence of age!! R

Until one has loved an animal, a part of ones soul remains unlocked Anatole France

This time we are going to talk about your dogs nose. Admittedly not the most glamorous subject, but every day, all across the world this amazing piece of anatomy is helping to catch criminals and most importantly saving countless lives. Now I know that facts and figures are pretty boring but just bear with me for a moment. A human has around 5 million scent receptors in their nose, the dog has in excess of 220million in his nose. If the membrane lining inside of the dogs nose were to be laid out flat it would cover a surface larger than the dogs body. The United States Army, never an organisation to do anything by half, has gone to extraordinary lengths to test the dogs nose. In one instance they sent a man across a field then set it alight and just to make life difficult they decided to get it deep ploughed. They have tried sending divers across rivers using scuba apparatus They tried scattering live ammunition in a minefield to distract. None of this defeated the dogs. Some dogs are better suited to be tracker dogs, for instance German Shepherds, Labradors and Springer Spaniels are probably the best known breeds, whereas Pugs and Pekingese and this type of short nosed dogs are disadvantaged by the shape of their face which disrupts breathing. Whilst we are here, let’s dispel the great myth that sniffer dogs are addicted to the product that they are searching for, nothing could be further from the truth, whatever it is, drugs, currency, explosives or any other item the most effective way of training is to put the item in a metal tube with holes in it,  therefore allowing air to circulate and ensuring that the dog never comes in to direct contact with the product. The dogs sense of smell is so great that put into simple terms the dog has the ability to find something the size of half a teaspoon of sugar in an Olympic size swimming pool. I have referred to a dog as “he”, and for the benefits of my lady readers I can assure that I am not being sexist!! It is just with the canine it is the male who generally has a stronger tracking ability unlike many other mammals where the reverse is true. It should be noted that the dogs response to finding the article has also has to be carefully trained, after all its perfectly ok for a drug dog to show wild enthusiasm when finding the packet of illicit drugs but for the explosive sniffer dog the same response would be catastrophic so he is taught to remain rigid thus ensuring that he don’t disturb the highly dangerous item but at the same time warning his handler of the danger. We can expect some strange happenings in medicine in the next few years. Dogs are already able to identify some cancers and other ailments and whilst this image is a little fanciful maybe in the years to come a visit to the doctors might take a different form. Maybe you will walk past several dogs who will identify your condition thus leaving the doctor to just write the prescription!!! We can send men to the moon and to the bottom of oceans, we can make machines to do just about anything but we cannot make a machine that comes close to replicating the dogs nose. So next time your faithful hound is disturbing your siesta by snoring or putting his cold wet nose in a totally inappropriate place, maybe, just maybe, you might be a little more understanding!!…. and forgiving!! R I am indebted to Dr Bruce Fogle  M.B.E  D.V.M. M.R.C.V.S. for the technical information in this article

Saving the life of one animal won’t change the world but for that one animal the world changes forever.

To cuddle or not to cuddle that is the question…..

Let us start with the obvious question, is fear and nervousness hereditary or learnt behaviour? Are pups born nervous, is it in the genes or do they learn from their mothers? Well the answers to those questions will depend on which “expert” you believe!! My personal opinion is that it doesn’t matter because at the end of the day the you are still faced with the same set of problems and one of those problems is how not to make matters worse. 

Without a doubt a  nervous mum can transfer her fear to her pups; this is learnt behaviour, also known as peer imprinting, but in majority of instances this fear disappears as the dog grows up and is exposed to life in general. In the case of hereditary fear the dog may always appear timid but can still lead a full and happy life. Nervous dogs can also greatly benefit from being in the company of an older, confident, calm dog thus drawing on the older dogs demeaner.

Now, let’s get on with the cuddle issue.

It all seems so simple, distressed dog, give it a cuddle and in the majority of instances that is correct. For example, in the instance of finding cold, wet, miserable puppies, prematurely separated from mum they obviously need lots of cuddles. Fear of humans can be overcome with a soft voice and cuddles as long as things are taken slowly.

There are, however, times when cuddles are totally inappropriate, this particularly applies to dealing  with fear of noise such as thunder or traffic and the point of this article

If the dog shows distress at a noise we tend to do as we would with a chi!d, we cuddle and reassure but unfortunately to a dog this sounds like praise because we will use exactly the same words and voice tones as we would if we were pleased with the dogs behaviour. So the dog thinks, I hear noise, I then shiver and my nice human is pleased and what’s more I get a cuddle and if I am really lucky I might get a titbit!! So the bad behaviour continues and as time goes by the problem become chronic, the dog becomes more distressed and all the time it’s because we are getting it wrong.

Remember the golden rule, if the dogs behaviour is what we want it to do for the rest of its life then praise, reward and cuddles are correct but if the behaviour is not what we want, ignore and show no reaction.
R

The greatness of a nation and it’s moral progress can be judged by the way it’s animals are treated.

The greatness of a nation and it’s moral progress can be judged by the way it’s animals are treated.

Mahatma Gandhi

 

Name: Zoe 
Sex: female 
Date of birth : 10.08.18
Neutered: yes 
Good with cats and other dogs: dogs yes, cats not known
Tests for Leishmania, Anaplasmosis, Erlichia, Babesia: positive for leishmania
Vaccinations : all up to date 

More about zoe

Zoe unfortunately has the blood condition called Leishmaniasis.  Which is contracted through infected mosquito bites.  This can only be passed to other dogs through mosquito’s or from an open sore (blood to blood contact)  It makes it very hard to find Zoe a forever home, the chance of her passing on the condition to other dogs, is very slim, but there is still that chance.

So she remains with us, where she can undergo treatment, in the form of medication, regular 6 month check ups and blood testing.

Zoe has a wonderful character, she is full of life, and just wants to play with the other dogs and visitors.  she loves cuddles! she will stand on her back legs so that she can place her head on your shoulder!

 

 

Date of birth: 05/02/2017

Sex: male

Colour: White

Size: medium 

This young man unfortunately has had a hard time in his life so far, he has had two problems that have prevented him from being able to be rehomed.

The first issue is the blood condition called Leishmaniasis.  Which is contracted through infected mosquito bites.  This can only be passed to other dogs through mosquito’s or from an open sore (blood to blood contact)  It makes it very hard to find him a forever home, the chance of him passing on the condition to other dogs, is very slim, but there is still that chance.

And the second issue was a problem with his rear end.  This summer we noticed that he had started to form a large mass just to the side of his rectum.  Upon further testing it was found that he had a benign tumour.  He has under gone surgery, which was a great success and had the mass removed.  The shelter was kindly donated the funds for his surgery by a  donor, who wishes to stay unanimous.  And he has now made a full recovery.

So for now, this young man will stay with us, where he can undergo treatment, in the form of medication, regular 6 month check ups and blood testing.  With the hope that one day he will be able to find his forever home to.

If you would like to sponsor him,  help us a choose a name, and also help cover his monthly costs, which cover food, water, vaccinations, flea and tick treatments, medications and general care needs, please get in touch.

Name: herakles 
Sex: male
Date of birth : 01.10.16
Neutered: yes 
Good with cats and other dogs: dogs yes, cats not known 
Tests for Leishmania, Anaplasmosis, Erlichia, Babesia: positive for leishmania
Vaccinations : yes all up to date

More about Herakles:

AS you can see by this poor boys face, Herakles has had a hard time…. when he came to us he was nearly starved to death, and had a few other health issues….. with a lot of love, time and patience he has done brilliantly.  He has started to put weight on at a steady pace now.

He is still a shy boy, but he will come up to say hello, and stay near to visitor’s, almost like he is not sure what to do.

He loves playing with the other dogs, and every now and then shows his true colours…. a very happy, almost cheeky boy, and in the right home he would flourish and be an excellent addition to the family.

Name: Max 

Sex: male 
Date of birth :23.03.18
Neutered: yes
Good with cats and other dogs: cats not known, dogs yes
Tests for Leishmania, Anaplasmosis, Erlichia, Babesia: yes, negative
Vaccinations : yes, all up to date

Story

Max was found abandoned when young, and brought to us for safety.

He is a very shy boy, who needs a loving home that understands that he will need a bit more time and patience to come out of himself. 

He is not a agressive boy, but due to the way he started his life, he has little tesut of humans.  We are working with him daily to show him that he can trust us, and slowly slowly he is starting to learn that not all humans are bad.  

With the right home, and support, he will become a very loving loyal dog.  

Name: lucy
Sex: female
Date of birth :
Neutered: yes
Good with cats and other dogs: cats not known, but dogs yes
Tests for Leishmania, Anaplasmosis, Erlichia, Babesia: yes, negative
Vaccinations : yes up to date.

More about Lucy

Lucy has been with us for a little while now, after being found abandoned with her 2 young puppies. Both puppies have been Adopted now to loving homes, but unfortunately Lucy is still with us.

She is such a loving lady, she gets very excited when you arrive to see her in the morning. And would make a lovely addition to any family.

She gets on great with other dogs, almost like a mama figure.

Date of Birth; 23/03/2018

Sex: Male

Colour: Black and brown and white

Size: Medium