Willy washing and other bits.....

Be honest, the title drew you in.....!

Jack was very bonded with our first boy Rocky and then Tia when Rocky passed away. After Tia, Jack and Spudsy bonded quite closely.

Bringing a new dog into the house with two closely bonded dogs is always going to be potentially risky if it is not managed. 

We have to take things slowly and go at their pace, not ours.

To complicate things further, Freya had never lived inside a house before so that caused her anxiety. Jack is nervous of unknown dogs - more anxiety. Freya is very full on with other dogs which Jack would have been worried by. Put those together and if not carefully managed we would have had a disaster on our hands.

One of the reasons we talk about taking things slowly when introducing dogs is to avoid any negative situations. We must go at their pace, let them choose their interactions and help them feel confident and secure.

Nine months on and we are beginning to see moments of play. 

It starts with Jack rolling over and exposing his belly. Freya takes the time to sniff and clean him, from his willy to his ears....!

Then we see the beginning of play. It could get easily become out of hand so we interrupt it frequently to avoid it slipping into over arousal. We also need to take into consideration that Spud is in the middle of it and is quite a senior dog. She could easily get injured and possibly even snap at them.

You can see in both videos, lots of lip licking, ears back and shake offs, all indicating a bit of stress.

We have to put aside our agenda, our timetable and our expectations and let them go at their pace. 

The wait is totally worth it!!

The importance of feeling safe

As many of you who visit the page will know, we adopted Freya back in March this year. 

When she arrived, we took it slowly, really really slowly. Taking time to integrate, time to slowly introduce her to new things, time to build the relationship and for her to learn she can trust us and the other dogs.

We didn't have any visitors to the home for months, until she had truly settled. Her safe space was the conservatory.

Freya is like any other dog now inside the house. She visits us in the bathroom (!), jumps up on the bed, snoozes on the rug, picks up toys and interacts with them, interacts with the other two dogs, instigates play with them and basically sleeps wherever she feels comfortable. 

She is now comfortable and confident enough to tackle harder enrichment toys too (when she has the patience)!

Outside of the house is a different matter. She is still quite nervous although will happily jump in the car. She doesn't really enjoy going for long walks (unless with another dog) and would happily stay home. As soon as we turn for home, she pulls - hard!  She is outside her safe place.

So, when we walk, we might only go 10 steps or we might go 200 steps - it is her choice, every single time. When she indicates she wants to return home, that is exactly what we do and each walk is getting a little longer as her confidence grows and because she chooses to walk for longer.

We should never underestimate the importance of  feeling safe for our dogs.  

With the holiday period fast approaching, it is worth thinking and planning for your dog as well as visitors, meals, presents etc. Our dogs routines may be changed or interrupted and there may be an increase in noise and activity.

Does your dog enjoy lots of visitors or does he prefer his own space? - set up a quiet comfortable safe area that your dog can go to if he chooses, away from noise and busyness. Provide him with a stuffed Kong, safe chew toys, snuffle mat or other enrichment toy.

Will your dog try to get in on the action and join in "opening" presents? - set him up for success with a licki mat, safe chew toys or stuffed Kong to keep him occupied.

Does your dog jump up on people when they come in? - use a stair gate and give your dog something wonderful to do while you safely bring people into your home and get them seated.

Does your dog try to dash out the front door whenever it is open? - use a stair gate to manage him while visitors enter.

Is your dog a food hoover? - remember to keep him occupied safely away from any forbidden food. A great deal of food (and alcohol) is poisonous to dogs so use a stair gate to separate him from temptation and provide him with wonderful things to do.

A little extra preparation and some additional mental stimulation prior to visitors arriving will help your dog and you enjoy the festive season and help your dog feel safe!

Have a good one!

Problem behaviour?

I recently posted up these images on my own personal Facebook page. The bed was chewed by one of my own senior dogs. Comments that followed were all humorous and in keeping with what I intended. The behaviour was not a problem to me. It is very typical of the way she plays - pouncing, digging, ripping, shredding and deading!

My little senior is a Staffordshire Bull Terrier cross. We have no idea what she is crossed with (and frankly don't care - we love her for who she is). 

She has some typical terrier traits.

Terriers, whether they be Staffordshire Bull Terrier, Jack Russell Terrier or any other kind of terrier often enjoy:

• digging - she digs her bed, our bed and covers on the sofa
• barking - yep, she enjoys barking for sure
• pouncing, ripping and shredding style play - she has always loved pouncing on toys and ripping them to shreds

It occurred to me that we often talk about problem behaviours in dogs and these form the bulk of my work as a behaviourist. This shredding and deading of a dog bed could be identified as a problem behaviour and often is!

But who is the behaviour a problem for?  It certainly wasn't a problem for her - it is part of her natural behaviour repertoire. She thoroughly enjoyed pulling out the stuffing and slept soundly afterwards!

It might well be a problem behaviour for an owner though - dog beds aren't cheap! 

So what can we do? 

Dogs have various natural behaviours and preventing them from displaying these goes directly against welfare. Does that mean I should let her rip up all the dog beds? Not at all. Instead we must look for alternative ways to direct these natural behaviours.

• A dog that digs up flower beds - could have a sandpit or a specific area where he is allowed to dig
• A dog that enjoys ripping up toys - could have a cardboard box to be shredded or a selection of safe stuffed toys purchased from a charity shop
• A dog that scavenges and raids the bin - could have his dinner scattered, hidden around the garden or given in interactive food toys

It is our responsibility as their owners to understand their needs and their natural behaviours and provide opportunities that are acceptable to us, while meeting those needs.

This is one of the reasons I always talk about enrichment opportunities and using scent games.

In respect of my little one ripping up the bed - well that was my own fault. I knew there was a tiny hole in it and hadn't sewn up the hole. Consequently she spotted a tiny bit of white fluff sticking out and so she did what comes naturally to her - shredded and deaded it!