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Hands up who’s cried on a walk?

June 10, 2012 by E L Williams-Young

Hands up if you’ve ever ended up in tears as a result of your dogs’ behaviour.

If you’ve said no I’m willing to bet that you either have a well-balanced dog & stumbled innocently upon this ode to the reactive dog while getting your canine net hit (you’re very welcome by the way :-)) or you’re a man. Sorry to stereotype here, but our dogs have pushed Other Half to the limit and he’s not blubbed once, so I’m assuming it’s a predominantly female thing.

Yep, today I blubbed.  In public.  As I trudged through the woods while rummaging in my dog walking bag for tissues without bits of dog biscuit on them and failing miserably to put on a brave face.  The incident which sparked this bout of self-indulgence was wholly avoidable, but I got it wrong. So did the other owner but she must have a hide like a rhino as she didn’t seem to give a damn that her dog had just caused utter chaos.

Dive bombed

The scenario played out like this. We’re wandering through the woods when I hear a woman call her dog. I can’t see the dog but call Little Bear to me and seeing her bend down, I assume she’s put the lead on her dog so I did the same.

There’s nothing worse than letting your dog run-up to another one that’s newly tethered – not only is it rude, but if that dog has been put on a lead for a reason, your dog is now in possible danger.

Lead aggression is a common problem and is if you think about it, a logical, if not desirable reaction. We all respond to stress with a split second ‘fight’ or ‘flight’ decision, but leads take away the flight option, which for a stressed dog only leaves one course of action.

Three guesses how Little Bear reacted when a super excited Mini Schnauzer raced straight into his face through the ferns. Yep. He went nuts. Lunging, growling and barking and all the while this little dog kept on coming back. His owner wasn’t a bit bothered and didn’t even try to recall him!

Unable to fend him off, I had to resort to picking LB up, something I hate doing as it’s further confinement, but while being relentlessly dive-bombed I was left with little choice. Said hooligan then started jumping all over me while his owner just puffed on her cigarette and shuffled off without him – charming!

Getting it wrong 

There are so many things I did wrong. I should have turned tail and headed in the other direction. I should have called to her to check if she’d put her dog on the lead. If she hadn’t, I would have let LB off the lead as he’s met this dog before without incident. I should have thrown some chicken on the floor for the marauder and run with LB the other way. I should at least have given her a piece of my mind… but of course, in the stress of it all, I did none of those things. Instead, I ranted and raved and then cried hot tired tears while wondering if I was ever going to be able to get my darling boy to a state of calmness.

The whole incident is in such stark contrast to the progress he’s been making lately that I think it was even more upsetting than it might have been. It’s left me under a cloud and kicked off a headache that looks like it’s settling in for a long stint, but we’ll plough on. I may get it wrong frequently, but the biggest mistake I could ever make would be giving up.

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Muzzle puzzle: Why are muzzles so taboo?

June 5, 2012 by E L Williams-Young

It’s always puzzled me that some people are really reluctant to muzzle their dogs. I was reminded of this today reading the excellent Fearful Dogs blog and it reminded me of a dog I know. 

An acquaintance of mine has a rescue Pointer cross who can be highly unpredictable with other dogs. I unfortunately have first hand experience of her behaviour as she once attacked Little Bear when he was just a pup having been friendly to him just the day before.

When she was first adopted and the behaviour became apparent, her new owner tried muzzling her so that they could walk her around other dogs. This is great dog walking country so there’s an abundance of great forest walks to be had. Sadly though, they soon gave up on the idea as she hated wearing the muzzle and tried incessantly to get it off, not surprising as it was just put on her one day without any preparation or training.

The result is that for the past eight years she’s had mainly on-lead street walks at unsociable hours and only goes off lead when they’re at the beach on holiday. She’s loved and cared for but I can’t help thinking that for the want of a little preparation and perseverance her life might have been very different. 

Training 

As reactive dogs, I’ve been doing some muzzle training with both Little Bear and Annie for a little while now. After reading Debbie’s blog today I went and got the muzzles which hang next to the (nose level) treat shelf in the kitchen and they both jumped around excitedly as soon as they saw them. Over the months they’ve come to associate them with good things and know that when I unclip them, I also pick up the clicker and the treat jar.

Muzzles Party hats

Incidentally, I don’t call them muzzles. I call them party hats. It was a term I heard from a trainer a few years ago, who did some great  videos – sadly I cannot for the life of me think of his name, but I hope he wouldn’t mind me borrowing his phrase – it works a treat!  

There’s an excellent video on Debbie’s blog for anyone who’d like to start muzzle training. I know the basics, but I picked up some great extra tips, like using squeezable baby food sachets as an alternative to cheese in a tube for example. 

So back to the puzzle. Why don’t more people use muzzles, especially if their dog ‘has form’ for aggression? I think the answer has something to do with what they think other people might think of them. If there’s one thing I’ve learned on this journey with Little Bear though, it’s that in the scheme of things, the only thing I care about is keeping him safe and happy. That includes protecting him from himself until he’s able to cope with the situations he’s worried by.  He’s never bitten but all dogs, even the most docile are capable of it and we shouldn’t be afraid to admit that.  

When I give the cat her worming tablet, I take precautions to make sure that I don’t get scratched to pieces and bitten (we wrap her in a towel & use a pill dispenser). I accept that that’s her nature and I work with it, taking the precautions I need to. Denial will just give me lacerations! We really should apply the same common sense approach with our dogs. 

 

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Blogger’s block

June 4, 2012 by E L Williams-Young

I write all day. I’m lucky in that my day job is in corporate communications so I’m paid to write speeches; copy; briefings; articles and press releases. And yet when I finally turn off the PC for the day and get on with the usual chores of eating dinner (notice I didn’t say cooking  ;-)) walking, playing and feeding the dogs and then trying to create  some semblance of order in the house, the itch to write is constantly with me, pulling at my sleeve like an incessant toddler.

I’ve often pondered on this. I doubt decorators come home from a long day and get the urge to get the paint rollers out again and I’ve known many a teacher who bolts the door for fear of even seeing another child in the next twelve hours so what’s going on?

Expression

My only conclusion is that most writers are driven by a need for expression.  The need for people to read what I’ve written is nowhere near as important to me as the need to commit my thoughts to paper or pixel.  A purging almost of the mind and soul, it doesn’t need to be read in order to matter as far as I’m concerned – I just need to do it.

I may write all day but on the whole they’re not my words. I’m a ghost stepping into another’s shoes to write speeches; I’m a saleswoman pitching an idea in my copy; I’m a teacher marking the homework of the agencies whose work I edit with a bleeding pen through clenched teeth. I’m many people, except of course the most authentic one – Me.

Writer’s block

I sat down this afternoon desperate to write. Dogs walked; laundry done; ironing ignored for another day, I opened up WordPress and – nothing.  Not a single idea for the Little Bear Dog blog.

My creative writing teacher once told us the only way to overcome writer’s block was to write.  His was a generous take on the problem as he saw nothing wrong in including shopping lists in his suggested cure for the dreaded block.  I’ve not veered that far from the path today, but it has helped – I hope regular readers will forgive the digression.

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Annie’s leg: the saga continues

May 27, 2012 by E L Williams-Young

After the trauma of Annie’s TPLO last year to repair the damage caused by the ruptured cruciate ligament in her knee and the long and achingly slow recovery process, we were nothing short of delighted the first time we saw her off lead, bounding through the woods like a normal dog.

We’re realists so we knew there might be times when she’d be a little stiff in that leg and of course there’s always the risk that the other cruciate could degenerate at some point meaning we’d have to go through the same process again on the other leg, but we were prepared for that as a possibility. What we weren’t so prepared for was for nearly 18 months later, her to have a bout of seemingly unexplained lameness on the TPLO leg.

It started after a normal and pretty uneventful walk in the forest. She came home, laid down and got up holding up her leg. That was six weeks ago and the vet has drawn a blank. The metal work is all in place, he’s manipulated and palpated and can find nothing seriously wrong. There are days when she’s absolutely fine, but then days when she’s hopping lame.

We’ve refused another XRay as even the vet is pretty sure that it won’t tell us much and with his support, have opted instead for chiropractics. Luckily, the McTimony chiropractor we see also treats horses and dogs. She had her first treatment on Friday and although it went well, she’s on house rest for three days. Have you ever tried telling a walk obsessed Labrador that she can’t go out for three whole days? I’ve been trying to sneak Little Bear out so that she won’t see but I feel so mean!

Hydrotherapy is also on the list so these dogs will be keeping us busy in the coming weeks and months.  When I think about what they give us though, it’s a no-brainer – they’re worth every penny and every minute of our time. All I want is for my dogs to be happy and healthy and I’ll do whatever it takes to make that happen.

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How to help a reactive dog (and their owner!)

April 14, 2012 by E L Williams-Young

Mini Schnauzer Little Bear sitting in a field

Little Bear in his Spring clip

As anyone with a reactive dog knows, a walk is anything but relaxing.  I go out kitted up with clicker (+spare clickers should the first one break or get lost), treat bag (+ back up treats just in case) squeaky balls (+back ups) and a pet corrector for real emergencies.  Thats as well as the poo bags, ball chucker, wet wipes etc etc. I know all of the fields and parks in the area and a bit like Jason Bourne in the Bourne Identity, every exit and roughly how long it will take us to get to it should we need to.

I can also spot an ‘It’s okay, my dog’s fine’ owner a mile off. Maybe you know the type? They’re the ones with the big lumbering dogs that flatten yours while their owners laugh and say things like “It’s okay, he’s only playing.” Gee thanks, but what about mine?!

They seem oblivious to the fact that you might be trying to avoid them or that in letting their friendly lummox of a dog ‘play’ with yours without checking first, they might be putting your behaviour training back weeks if not months.  For all they know, they might even be putting their dog at risk of serious physical or emotional harm.  Even when you call your dog, pop him on a lead and walk quickly in the other direction, they STILL don’t get the hint!

Real treat

So, today was a real treat!

As we went into the field, two Huskies bounded up to the gate. Little Bear froze and whined and then looked at me which in itself was a fantastic result as he looked to me instead of kicking off!  His reward was a swift retreat away from the thing that was worrying him.

The owner looked a bit miffed and said a bit tersely ‘It’s fine! They were brought up with Schnauzers.’ We get this a lot.  People we big dogs or bull breeds often assume I’m being a breedist in avoiding them and I don’t usually get the opportunity to clarify, but with LB at a distance he was comfortable with and happily hoovering up treats from the floor, I was able to explain over the fence that it wasn’t his dogs I was concerned about, but my own.

Penny dropped, he walked his dogs away from the gate so that we could come in. With LB in ‘stuff your face with treats mode’ he was happy to focus on me and we passed the Huskies without incident.

Great manners 

We had a lovely walk, LB exploring and snacking on grass here and there, then chasing the ball and working on his retrieve.  Whenever I see another dog I don’t know, I pop him on a lead.  I do this partly because of his bullying towards timid dogs but also because it’s just good manners.

To my delight, another other dog walker on seeing me pop LB on the lead as they approached immediately called his dog and popped its leads on too.  A mutual round of ‘thank yous’ later and we went our separate ways.

Seconds later, we saw the Huskies again and as soon as he saw us, their owner recalled them, popped them on their leads and asked for a sit.  Little Bear was fantastic and again passed without even a grumble. I thanked the owner again and we even had time for a quick chat about the joys of training and what a difference well-mannered owners made.

This may seem silly, but this truly made my day.  As anyone with a reactive dog will know, it can sometimes feel like your best intentions get undermined by other people’s assumption that all dogs are friendly and docile. They are also usually the first people to tut-tut and mutter things about ‘always the owners fault’ as your dog gets tipped over the edge and aggresses because they feel so threatened by the situation that the tut-tutter has unwittingly helped kick off.

Nature vs. Nurture 

As I’ve come to learn, nurture can only do so much and nature has a heavy hand in deciding a dogs temperament.  Just like people, some dogs have a shorter fuse than others and try as we might, there’s no way of changing that, we can only manage it as best we can by giving them the tools and support to cope with the things they find threatening or frustrating.  But owners need support too and as I found out today, a little help and understanding from fellow dog lovers can go a long long way.

 

 

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Feel like giving up?

April 9, 2012 by E L Williams-Young

I’ve blogged before about how sometimes it’s easy to miss what’s right under our noses. Changes happen so slowly that we sometimes fail to see the process. Trees are a good one – you drive down the same stretch of road each day and then WHAM! One day you notice that the bare branches are now chock-full of bright spring leaves.

Dog training can be a lot like that. Walking the dogs the other day Annie kicked off at the sight of another dog on the other side of the road. Little Bear woofed a few times, but with a seriously lack of commitment which in no way matched her level of arousal. I walked him away calmly and despite her lunging and barking, he remained quiet and kept glancing up at me – which of course got him a lot of praise, clicks and treats.

Just like the tree, I’d missed the bud stage, but was pleased I’d at least spotted the unfurling leaf so that I could reward and encourage it. I took a lesson from that.  Even when you think nothing’s happening, the time we all, if we’re honest feel like giving up, it’s good to remember that there’s progress being made that we just can’t see.  Little buds of progress waiting to burst forth and surprise us.

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And so, to bed…

January 29, 2012 by E L Williams-Young

Annie in her beloved bed

Annie in her beloved bed

When we took on Annie her first bed was a folded quilt under the dining table which was her bolt hole of choice after her ordeal.  She soon discovered the delights of the sofas and as we were only fostering her at that point it seemed fine to let it go.

When we adopted her, we bought her a bed.  It felt symbolic, a way to mark her joining the family officially and after months of being squashed between two dogs on the sofa of an evening, the idea of them sleeping in their own beds was appealing.

So we went to the pet shop and she picked out a bed. Or rather, we bought the only one she seemed vaguely interested in.  It was stupidly expensive, but I justified it on the basis that all the bits came apart for machine washing.  “She’ll have it for years” I confidently told Other Half as he scoffed at the price tag.   It fell apart in the first wash.

We got a refund and decided to get her a sturdy plastic bed that we could fill with soft (and washable) blankets instead. Then came her surgery so ‘bed’ became a crate for almost 12 weeks while she healed. When at last the crate was packed away, we put the new bed in its place.  She ignored it.  She’d sit in it occasionally, as did Little Bear and now and then, Camden Cat. She’d even lay down in it if we asked, but you always got the feeling that she was doing it under sufferance.

Impulse buy

A couple of weeks ago I saw a bed I just knew she’d love. I was only in the pet shop to buy cat treats. She didn’t need a bed I told myself, she had two sofas and two arm chairs to choose from for crying out loud. I left the shop and walked to the car. I opened it and locked it again before even taking the key out of the lock.  Minutes later me and the new bed were heading home.

LB was incredibly excited.  He dug out the inner pillow within seconds and then promptly chewed off the tag putting pay to any ideas of returning it, but  he quickly got bored and wandered off to find a tennis ball while Annie, unusually aloof gave the new bed the eye.

I love my bed

That was a few weeks ago now and she’s very rarely out of it. She loves her bed so much she’ll lie in it no matter where it is. She’s even choosing her bed over the sofa. I have some theories of course. Maybe she likes having somewhere that’s entirely hers. The sofas after all are shared and she can and does get turfed off them if there’s no room for anyone else to sit down.  Or maybe it’s just the fact that it’s comfortable. We’ll never know for sure, but she certainly does look like one very happy dog!

Annie snoozing in her new bed

Annie snoozing in her new bed

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Does your dog have better manners than you?

January 15, 2012 by E L Williams-Young

20120115-215602.jpg

Our school motto was ‘Manners maketh man’. Now I didn’t go to a posh private school, quite the opposite in fact, but we, my peers and I were brought up to understand that manners were important. They’re not just social norms, they’re a way of conveying respect for one another. Sadly, I often see far better behaved dogs than I do owners these days.

The other week we were walking the dogs on the large football pitch near the house. It’s a vast space with multiple exits so for reactive dogs like ours it’s great. You get plenty of warning of other dogs and can make a quick calm exit if needed.

We’d just arrived at the field this particular time when I noticed Annie had dropped her collar torch. It was getting dusk so OH back tracked to look for it. This left me in the field with both dogs on waist leads, which we prefer as it gives you two hands to sort out clickers, treats or poo bags. It started when Annie, much worse than she is now almost dislocated OH’s shoulder and now it’s sort of stuck.

Just as he went out of sight a woman came the field with two dogs and was soon joined by another lady with three dogs. Annie and Bear, until then doing okay with their sit stay and watch me got a little agitated so we moved to a safer distance.

They were walking directly towards us, all five dogs now her off lead. I moved down the field, zig-zagging to a spot I was sure was safe as it was off their trajectory. They changed direction and headed once again, straight towards us.

Lunge
By this point Little Bear and Annie had had enough. They lunged, they barked and clipped around my waist, were doing a great job of cutting me in half. The women looked up to see what the commotion was, shot me a ‘god, your dogs are awful look’ AND KEPT COMING!

Now any normal person seeing that would recognise a fear reaction in a dog. Even if they’d never experienced it, who in their right mind would walk their own dogs towards dogs who are lunging and barking?!

I was incredulous. How could these women not realise that their presence and that of their mob of dogs was seriously upsetting mine? They had an entire football pitch to walk on but seemed intent on hounding me out of it. Thankfully, their dogs had more sense than they did and gave us a wide berth, but the damage was done. By the time OH returned a few minutes later they were extremely agitated and despite trying to lighten the mood with some chase once we were free of our stalkers, Little Bear walked home with his tail down.

I thought of this yesterday. We were out in the woods and spotted a couple with four dogs coming towards us on a narrow path. We called our dogs, they called theirs. We had them sit and wait. So did they to the point that for about a minute nobody moved.

When the stalemate became apparent we walked ours on past them, only to find their dogs sitting patiently just off the track. We exchanged a round of thank yous and all went on our way. To my deep joy our two looked but continued on their way without a murmur. I couldn’t have been prouder or more grateful that there do seem to be some owners out there with manners as good as their dogs.

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Bye bye 2011…

December 31, 2011 by E L Williams-Young

Annie & Little Bear

Annie & Little Bear

I’m not a fan of going out on New Year’s Eve. Of course, it was obligatory in my youth (god, how ancient do I sound?!) but it was usually marked by at least someone crying in the pub toilets, having a blazing row or otherwise getting morose.  Add to that the exhausting game of ‘dodge the midnight snogger’ those slobbery little creeps who think that midnight gives them carte blanche to pucker up to complete strangers and all in all it was as much fun as bathing a cat.  Thanks all the same, but I’ll be chilling at home tonight.

What I do love about New Year’s Eve is the chance to reflect on the departing year. I won’t be sorry to see the back of 2011 for numerous reasons, but dogwise, it’s certainly had it’s ups and downs.

Annie 

It’s been a huge year for Annie for sure.  It started with the TPLO operation to repair her damaged cruciate ligament.  Then came the 12 weeks of crate rest.  It’s amazing how we forget the weeks of disturbed nights as she cried pitifully from her crate.  Getting up three, sometimes four times a night with her was normal for weeks.  Other Half and I were punch drunk from lack of proper sleep.

Then there were the four walks a day she needed to build up the leg muscles and the desperate attempts to avoid the sight of any other dogs for fear that her lunging would undo the surgeon’s hard work.

Annie post TPLO

Annie post TPLO

In May came the freak puncturing of her thigh muscle by the metal work in her leg and the 3am race to the emergency vet.  She’s been spayed this year too and had her first holiday; the disaster story I’m sure we’ll continue to dine out on for years to come. But she’s also made amazing progress.  After months of on-lead walking while her leg heeled and we plucked up the courage to trust her recall, she’s now a sight to behold as she bounds through the woods.

Annie's bionic leg

Annie's bionic leg

She can still be reactive on the lead, but she’s a total pussycat off-lead.  She’s even made some new doggie friends. To see her running with other dogs and initiating play with Little Bear is just amazing.

She’s even learned to retrieve a ball in the past few weeks, which just goes to prove that you don’t really see the whole dog for a long time after their adoption.

A particular highlight came in the shape of her award from Labrador Rescue South East and Central.

Little Bear 

Little Bear too has made amazing progress. We had a setback the other day, but the overall trend is a positive one. His reactivity is much reduced and that’s something I’m really proud of. If someone had told me this time last year that he’d be walking past screaming children, cyclists and other dogs without barking I’d have been amazed, but he’s doing all of that.

He also did really well at his agility lessons.  Again, being in a class with lots of other dogs isn’t something he could have done last year, but he coped brilliantly and even though he doesn’t take agility very seriously, he proved that he can make short work of all of the equipment despite the presence of lots of other dogs.  I’m not sure sitting on the top of the A Frame for a rest is in the rule book, but he certainly enjoyed being the class clown.

Little Bear goes swimming

Little Bear goes swimming (well, nearly..)

He also learned to swim, an achievement of the highest order given his complete terror of the pool on his first lesson. He’s not up to the backstroke just yet, but we’ll be starting lessons again in the Spring so that he can pick up where he left off.

2012

So here comes 2012.  I could fill pages with all the things I’d like to do with them, but I’ll restrain myself. I’m immensely proud of my dogs and plan to spend as much time as possible enjoying their company and helping them overcome their fears in 2012. For that opportunity I feel really blessed.  Happy 2012 everyone.

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Me and my big mouth…

December 29, 2011 by E L Williams-Young

I can just hear my grandmother now. ‘Pride comes before a fall my girl.’  As if an evil goblin was following me around making copious notes and deciding when to bring me down a peg or two.  ‘Ha! There she goes, bragging about that dog again, better blow a bit of set-back dust at her; teach her not to be so smug.’

The goblin struck on Christmas Eve. But I can’t blame magical creatures, it was all my fault.  We had a house full of people and not just any people but a collection of the dogs favourite, treat bringing, cuddle delivering types. They were hyped up to somewhere and didn’t know which of their favourites to make a fuss of next.

When another one of their other favourite people turned up with her young daughter in tow Little Bear completely forgot himself and got really anxious.  I wasn’t quick enough and when she went to stroke him he growled and barked at her.

To her immense credit she was utterly calm and even went home and made him a card to prove that she still liked him in spite of his lack of manners.

I on the other hand was mortified and devastated in equal measure.  I saw our months of training on the school run sail out of the window and had nightmares filled with doom and destruction. I berated myself for my stupidity, flailing myself raw with the memory for days. That’s me. Just like Bear, I’m over-sensitive and err on the Eyeore as opposed to the Tigger.

Where to now?

But I’m a wanna-be Tigger so I’ve forced myself to see it for what it was. A highly charged situation in a confined space that I read as enjoyable simply because I was enjoying myself. What I wasn’t doing was reading my dogs well enough. Annie was relaxed enough and just followed whoever had food, but Little Bear clearly wasn’t comfortable.  My screw up, not his.

So what do we do now?  There’ll be some revisions to the training plan but we’re going to go back to basics and start over.

 

 

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