Summer delights for your dog!

Summer has arrived for us in the northern half of the world! And with it comes fun, long lazy walks on the beach, cool shady walks in the forest, games in the garden, swimming for dogs who like it, and …

 😱 😱 😱

.. ticks, grass seeds, sunburn, snakes, heat exhaustion … you name it!

So I wanted to give you some summery tips to make things easier for you and your dog.

And as I set down to write, I remembered that I’d already given you some tips on this in previous summers.

No need to re-invent the wheel!

So here are the links for you, so you can find out just what you need to watch out for, whether your dog is a hairy monster or a sleek beastie.

Summer Dog Hazards

[Click the title above to read the post!]

We’re having quite a mixed bag of weather in the UK this summer! From the hottest July day ever to cool summer soakings. So it’s worth taking a look at how these hazards can affect your dog. We all know that cars can turn into killing ovens within minutes on a sunny day, whether the windows are open or not.

But there are other times dogs can get dangerously overheated …

Read more …

Summer Grooming for your Dog!

[Click the title above to read the post]

Once you’ve done the thorough spring overhaul and got all the winter coat out, you may think you can take a break from brushing your dog for a while.

But NOOOOOO!

It’s especially important in summer!

This is when you can get all those ticks, cuts, matts, cleavers, twigs, grass seeds, and any other sticky passenger looking for a free ride …

Read more …

The Weekly Once-over can save you a Lot of Vets’ Bills

[Click the title above to read the post!]

Run your hands over your dog’s body. It’s key to maintaining your dog’s health. Reach every nook and cranny! You want to check up for cuts, scratches, foreign bodies, hot areas, sore bits, tangles and mats. 

You can do this methodically, once a week. Or you can do what a lot of people do - that is to use cuddle time as an opportunity to feel all over your dog and check him out.  

It’s surprising how many people miss this. It can lead to nasty problems, especially where ears and feet are involved. The fashionable fluffy dogs have lots of fluff-related problems …

Read more …

And to enjoy your dog running free, knowing that he’ll race back to you in a heartbeat as soon as you call - watch our free Workshop here, on getting your dog to LISTEN!

Can you take your dog everywhere?

It’s a lovely thought!

We get a dog to be our companion, to be with us all the time, to accompany us on trips to the cafe, the pub, the family, the local fair …

And then reality hits.

THIS dog, the one you’ve got, is not quite what you expected!

He doesn’t like noisy children, he finds strangers approaching him worrying, he’s anxious about other dogs, and as for the bangs and mock-fighting and hullabaloo at the historical re-enactment you were dying to go to - horrors!

Maybe you do have a super-sociable dog. Maybe he just loves everyone. But you still may reach his limit if you take him on a long excursion to a rowdy place.

You may be enjoying looking at those stands of goodies, but does he like being squashed between so many people’s legs? Down there at ground level where he can’t see a thing, possibly getting enthusiastic greetings from children or other dogs. You’re busy admiring the offerings at the market or fete, so it’s hard to notice this in time, and guard against anything untoward.

What’s sauce for the goose may well not be sauce for the gander!

“I want to be alone!”

Then you have to look at your dog who just plain doesn’t like crowds.

You did all the right things with socialising her, but she still doesn’t like some of the things you’d like to do with her.

Imagine that was you.

Imagine your family insisted on dragging you round somewhere you hated. A family member who’s mad about motorcycles dragging you off to Brands Hatch, Silverstone, or Mondello Park? The smells, the noise, the crowds … maybe you’d love it! Or maybe you’d hate it.

But you’d like to have a say!

We need to extend the same courtesy to our dogs.

Do they really want to be hauled around a showground on a short lead, hot, bothered, nowhere to lie down?

And just before you say, “My dog’s FINE!” I want you to consider that if a dog is in a stimulating environment and keeps close to you, quiet, “no trouble at all”, this dog is most probably “shut down”.

She can’t escape the situation, so she keeps her head down and hopes it will all go away.

It’s a form of learned helplessness. She can’t cope, there’s nothing she can do, so she submits to the torment.

Go without the dog!

The fact is, there are things you enjoy, there are things your spouse enjoys, there are things your dog enjoys.

If everyone isn’t enjoying the outing, then - why not leave them at home?

And enjoy the happy greetings when you return exhausted from your outing!

You get Dog 1.0 - the upgrades are up to you!

It always amazes me when readers write of their puzzlement that their new dog or puppy doesn’t seem to understand what’s wanted.

[Do keep your letters coming - here at Brilliant Family Dog we just love to help! And all queries are read and answered.]

🐾 Maybe they’ve been looking at a friend’s dog, who understands everything.

🐾 Or maybe they’re thinking of their last dog who they had for donkeys’ years, and they simply can’t remember all the teaching they had to do when he was new.

I can remember a new mother asking me when my children were young, “When do their teeth all arrive?”

My response: “I can’t remember, but they’ve got ‘em all now!”

We deal with what we need in the moment, then forget it.

Did you forget?

And maybe that’s what’s happened with your new dog? You’ve forgotten just how much time and attention your faithful old friend needed when he was brand new.

So … you’ll have to do the same with this one too 

An easy way to start your system upgrades :-) is to read any of our Brilliant Family Dog books that you’ll find here: www.brilliantfamilydog.com/books

Even easier? Watch our free Workshop and consider joining many other dog-owners in the Brilliant Family Dog Academy!

There’s a huge range of people and a huge range of dogs. Our oldest dog-student was 15, and our youngest 8 weeks. Our oldest human student is over 80, and we have plenty of people who involve their whole family - especially the children - in the training.

And you can get to meet all of them in our friendly private community!

Don’t soldier on alone! Things can get hard if you don’t know where to turn.

But with kind and compassionate help at hand, you never feel lost or alone on your journey with your precious pet.

Imagine … you can start applying those upgrades today!

How important is routine for your dog?

I want to show you a lovely letter I had from one of my readers. It’s much more typical of my inbox, and it nicely counterbalances the nastier missives I’ve had over the last two blog posts! (There were plenty of supportive comments and emails too, I hasten to add - and thank you for those!)

Hi Beverley

Having benefitted greatly from your books and posts when I was adopted by a Border Collie cross nearly two years ago, and more recently when I agreed to foster then adopt a dog which had been roaming in my area for over a week, I wondered whether other of your followers might be interested in reading a post giving your views on routine.

My first dog was apparently only about five months old when she came into my life and, not having owned a dog for over thirty years, I found her behaviour challenging at times, particularly in public. When we came out the other side after about a year and people complimented me on her good behaviour instead of telling me I wasn't fit to own a dog if I couldn't train her better, I realised that much of the improvement was due to her feeling secure in the knowledge that the things she enjoyed (food, cuddles, walks, games, play with other dogs, etc) would happen as a matter of course (she didn't need to pull on the lead, jump up, etc) and that, when they were over, it wouldn't be for ever - they would happen again.  

This response to routine was even more apparent with the new fella who the vet thinks is about three. He was, obviously completely disoriented when he came to live with us, but the routine of our lives settled him. In particular over food: at first, he tried to eat my other dog's food and then marked his or her bowl with urine. Now he understands that he will be fed regularly - where, when and what - he is calm, doesn't muscle in on her food and doesn't feel the need to mark. I believe routine has helped with his separation anxiety as well. He came to realise that part of routine of our lives is that I will be away from him for short periods, but again it won't be for ever - I will come back and we will carry on with our normal routine.

Looking back, I don't think I'd have had such a relatively easy time of it with my dogs if I hadn't been able to offer them the security of a routine. That's not to say we are regimented and ruled by a timetable, but there is a rhythm to our lives which just gets repeated each day. - AS

Thank you, AS, for your sound and practical advice. And well done for identifying such a simple thing that so greatly affected your dog’s wellbeing and behaviour.

I detail my own routine for my dogs in Calm Down! Step-by-Step to a Calm, Relaxed, and Brilliant Family Dog, and here is an excerpt to show you:

How should our day go?

To give you an idea of how I manage my four - very, very different - dogs, this is an example of a day. There is no fixed schedule as my commitments vary throughout the week, but most of these things happen at some stage in the day.

• Rise, go out to garden, relieve themselves, and run about while I feed the hens

• Lie down in my bedroom or play with teddy bears while I dress

• Go outside again while I make coffee and feed the cat

• Each day a different dog comes for a solo roadwalk with me

• Lie down on their beds or quietly chew toys while I work

• Half an hour of very active games or training

• Rest while I have lunch

• Potter about with me while I do the washing, cleaning, and other chores

• Sleep while I go out to appointments - either in their crates in the van, or at home

• Highly active long dog walk with chasing, jumping, retrieving, and recall games

• Sleep till their supper time

• Potter, sleep, a few minutes training on and off, and so on

• Bedtime in their appointed sleeping places, where they stay till morning

• Training takes place a minute at a time at any time of day; garden visits every couple of hours; spontaneous active games any time

A carefully-considered sleep routine also means that my new puppies sleep through the night from the day they arrive at 7-8 weeks. You can find great detail on this in New Puppy! From New Puppy to Brilliant Family Dog

I agree!

So, in short, I agree wholeheartedly with what AS wrote. We often want to look for complicated reasons, “whywhywhy?”, and are ever keen to apportion blame.

But this reader shows us how the simplest of changes - totally non-intrusive changes - can deeply affect how your dog views his world.

For more ideas on how to make the most of your life with your dog, watch our free Workshop on getting your dog to LISTEN!

Do the ends justify the means for your dog?

My post Double standards for dog owners? last week provoked a lot of comment, on social media, some here, and in my inbox. Not surprising for a topic that polarises people.

But the apologists - who were vociferous in their sneering - seemed to overlook one principle. After saying all the nonsense about how these nasty gadgets don’t hurt ⚡️ 😵‍💫 they reckoned that the result justified whatever they did to get it.

The outcome from the use of punishment and punitive equipment is normally a shut-down dog - exhibiting the learned helplessness I referenced last week. Or it can result in far worse and unpredictable behaviour, when the dog’s tolerance is at an end, and the dog is destroyed.

Apart from the fact that both of these are horrible outcomes to inflict on any living creature, they are overlooking the fact that “the end justifies the means” is the cry that has been used by extremists of all kinds, down the centuries, to excuse oppression, torture, and wholesale slaughter.

It is not acceptable.

We, as civilised people, have moved forward in so many ways. Children are no longer beaten, women are not stoned to death, slavery is forbidden, corporal punishment in prisons and the services is no longer permitted.

And yet there are still plenty of people around who think it’s JUST FINE to do these things to animals.

It was no surprise to me to look at the social page of one of those who told me it was all perfect and hunky-dory, and see that they espouse extreme right-wing political views, especially on race and gun use.

It all fits.

Don’t put up with this!

If you believe we should treat animals as kindly as we would like to be treated ourselves, stand up and be counted!

The nonsensical claims from “The Dark Side” need to be countered. Commonsense needs to win the day.

Double standards for dog owners?

Here’s something to puzzle over. I had the unedifying experience of someone trying to explain to me that the use of pain-giving equipment on dogs was perfectly acceptable.

“I don’t use force, I only correct,” he said blithely, going on to explain how he used choke collars, prong collars and electric shock collars (which he calls ‘remote collars’ to make them sound ok):

“I make it a positive experience for the dog,” he went on, “It’s just a way of communicating with the animal that they understand.”

😱   😱   😱   🥵

Well - where to begin?!

There’s so much wrong here that it’s hard to know where to start.

What about this question: “How can pain ever be ‘a positive experience for the dog’?”

And how about this one: “Do you beat children too, and give them electric shocks?”

I did ask those questions - and they were, naturally, unanswered. I just got more flannel about how to “use correctly” these instruments of torture. And that “positive reinforcement makes dogs nervous”. 😮

My thoughts on this “way of communicating”

“It’s just a way of communicating with the animal that they understand,” he said.

Yes, I would understand if you stuck sharp metal things into my neck and exerted pressure.  

And yes, I would understand if you gave me an electric shock.

But what would I understand?

◆          I would understand that I was a victim.

◆          I would understand that apart from avoidance there was nothing I could do in the face of this barrage of pain.

◆          I would understand that you don’t like me, don’t understand me, and have no intention of learning about my feelings.

This all leads to learned helplessness, disengagement, and no learning beyond fear.

Is that how we want to live with another creature? A creature we’ve invited into our home to share our life? Is that how we treat our children, our work colleagues, our friends?

It’s true that in the very early days (long, long ago!) I tried choke chains, because that was the thing back then. But for the great majority of my life I’ve used nothing stronger than a soft collar, and usually only a properly-fitted harness.

I am happy to say that in all the many years I’ve been training dogs, I’ve never been bitten.

I’m proud of my dogs’ achievements, and even prouder of what my students have achieved. Dogs who were on the brink of being ‘rehomed’ are now loyal and much-loved companions.

“It was as if a light bulb had been turned on in my head.” - a happy client

What’s more, this way of treating the other creatures we live with spills over into better decisions at home and at work with them thar humans too!

Once you give someone - be it a child, a dog, or a spouse - a choice, you get willing engagement and active problem-solving.

And you can sleep at night.

Find out how to teach your dog without any need for punishment and nasty collars!

Here’s a FREE WORKSHOP to get you started.