You have probably had it drummed into you that dogs need daily exercise. A tired dog is a good dog, walks offer mental and physical stimulation, walks emulate the primal dog hunt, etc., etc. Walking does of course give your dog mental as well as physical stimulation but not as much as you might expect. […]
The word ‘dominance’ is thrown about so much in the dog world. It stems from the idea that dogs are effectively domesticated wolves, which were said to live in hierarchical packs, with an alpha animal leading, and other pack members taking subordinate roles. The theory was that this hierarchy was maintained by force and aggression […]
If you feel stressed, so will your dog, so the main approach to dealing with stress in your dog is to address it in yourself. The calmer you are, the more your dog will reflect your state of mind and relax as well. Here are some tips, in no particular order, to help you to […]
Even the best-behaved dog can become really excited when the door bell rings. After all it’s an absolute guarantee that something is going to happen! The owner will get up, the door will open and someone new may come into the house. Quite often, unwitting guests are treated to tumultuous barking, loud yelling from the […]
Dogs are placed into rescue centres for many and various reasons. These dogs do not necessarily have behaviour problems. Sometimes a loving owner may have died or cannot keep their pet any longer for other reasons. However, there is no question that even putting a balanced dog into a rescue centre will cause it […]
That’s all very well to say but if you are a keen gardener or even a mildly interested one, it’s extremely frustrating to find a scale model of the World War 1 trenches trailing across your garden when you want to mow the lawn or simply relax! So why do dogs do it? It’s instinctual […]
Recently I told a tale of how the mood and assumptions of a dog’s owner affect the way a dog feels. It put me in mind of a situation I came across not so long ago in which I was asked to help a young couple with their dogs. They had been married a few […]
A week on Sunday is Bonfire Night and you can bet there’ll be plenty of bangs, whizzes and crashes rending the skies, from this weekend onwards. This is the time of year when thousands of our household pets will be cowering in terror or running away in fear from all these noises and lights that […]
Barking is not really the problem in domesticated dogs. It’s stopping it when you’ve had enough that causes the headaches! Barking is natural for dogs. It’s a signal to the rest of the world and they often enjoy doing it. They use it to communicate with other dogs and with people and we sometimes encourage […]
When your pup arrives in your home at about 8 weeks of age he has a set of needles for teeth. They are not much good for chewing bones but they are sharp and they hurt! This is not an unfortunate accident. Those teeth help your puppy to understand how hard it is acceptable to […]