30th December 2022

Ramsey and the muzzle

Ramsey is such a happy boy and loves food and toys. He is very wary of muzzles but needs to wear one out on walks by law. We are taking things very slowly with him as he is also wary of collars, harnesses and leads being touched or attached.

He loves enrichment time and does not hesitate to shove his face in the muzzle, no stress whatsoever. 

Next step will be to hold the muzzle while he investigates everything else and see if he will approach. It is important that Ramsey knows he has a choice. Humans often try to do things in their own time frame and rush the process. However, we have to go slowly and at his pace or we will be back to square one. His time not our time ;).

Little Luna

Another enrichment session with little Luna while she gets to know me. Lots of exploration and sniffing. Luna is quite wary of touch so we are taking things slowly. We want her to really enjoy the sessions before we attempt to move forward with her training.

 

She is slowly becoming more adventurous and more curious and at one point climbed up on the chair behind me!

Mr. Murphy

Another park trip and lots of sniffing. Longer lead today to allow more freedom. This boy really is a delight.

We only saw one dog today and a few ducks which Murphy completely ignored having got used to their presence.

Back to kennels for some fun enrichment before a nice snooze.

Luna Bear

The park was busy today but Luna took it all in her stride. Quite a few dogs, screeching teenagers and crazy ducks!

Watching two dogs (top left)

Watching another dog (top middle)

Watching teenagers!

Then back to kennels for some enrichment and then a snooze.

Chomping toys is such tiring work

 28th December 2022

Some enrichment time and then some more laser treatment for Mr. Murphy. He loves having a snuffle through things hunting for treats so we make his laser treatment part of that as we want him to have a positive association with it. He adores Laura of Move More Veterinary Physiotherapy and is always so happy to see her. 

One tired boy 

Murphy is ready to find his new home. He is a lovely affectionate but calm boy who will settle beautifully for a snooze. He is a pleasure to walk and enjoys a good sniff or to just watch people and other dogs go by.

Luna Bear

Luna had some enrichment time today - she loves searching for food and licky mats but her biggest enrichment is playing with toys - soft toys to mouth. 

Setting up enrichment for dogs with 3-4 items can help us work out what they enjoy best, what slows them down and calms them and what gets them very excited.

Having a room set up like a lounge is so useful for rescue dogs as it gives us an opportunity to find out how they would be in a home. Luna Bear enjoys snuffle mats and licky mats and all the other enrichment items but once she has cleared them she grabs a teddy and lies down quietly.

It is really important to include at least one water bowl as part of the enrichment as it is thirsty work.

Luna Bear is definitely ready to find her new home. Ideally she would be the only dog in the house so she gets all the love and attention she deserves. No young children as Luna Bear gets quite excited by their voices and could accidentally knock them over. She needs a calm, quiet household with someone who enjoys walking.

Little Luna

Meet little Luna. Luna is just getting to know me so I set up the enrichment room for her so she associates me with calmness and good things before we do any work with her.

I placed the snuffle mat and licky mat on a platform to save little Luna from having to bend her neck down but she clearly preferred to get a good view of what was on them!

Watch this blog for more news about little Luna

 Boxing Day

Mr Murphy had a nice calm walk to the park today. We saw a few people and dogs which Murphy calmly observed. No videos today but I did grab a couple of photos.

At one point we encountered an unruly child who ran straight up to Murphy screeching! Murphy was amazing and quietly turned and moved away :). This boy is truly a pleasure to walk and now takes everything in his stride.

sniffing where humans have been

We often think that dogs would like big open spaces or forest and beach walks best but actually they enjoy walking in places we might not find very interesting. Dogs view their world through their sense of smell so a children's play area can be incredibly fun to sniff.

calmly observing

We often rush to reassure or ask our dogs to do something when they are looking at people or other dogs. However, it is far more beneficial to let them calmly observe and gather information. This is invaluable so they get used to novelty in the environment. 

Did you know studies show that dogs sniffed more when off lead than on lead and more on a longer lead than a shorter one? As soon as I lengthened Murphy's lead he started sniffing much more.

Back to the kennels for some enrichment time then a nice sleep to absorb all that learning.

Luna Bear

Luna and I didn't encounter any dogs today but we saw lots of people and families out for a stroll. She likes to watch them go by. Lots of sniffing and investigation and then back to the kennels for some enrichment and play.

Luna is a young girl and loves to play with toys but she is very gentle and likes to involve the human too!

Then back to her kennel for a nice sleep to absorb all her learning.

Murphy 23/12/2022

Another trip to the local park for Murphy. The ducks were nowhere to be seen and neither were the squirrels - clearly too much rain for them but Murphy and I enjoyed a nice calm sniffy walk.

We saw a couple of dogs and Murphy stood watching, so calm too while he gathered some information and then back to his sniffing.

Back to the kennels to get dried off and have a rest before getting some treatment for his shoulder which has calcification of his shoulder tendon. We are so lucky to have Laura of Move More Veterinary Physiotherapy on hand. 

Murphy loves Laura so was quite happy to munch his way through some very deserved treats while he had some laser treatment. Laser is painless but it is always a good idea to slowly work up to new things and make sure the experience is positive.

I think it is safe to say it was a very positive experience for Murphy!

A little play, some zoomies and bounce about and then Murphy decided it was sleep time. Such a sweet, contented boy. Well done superstar Murphy.

Luna 23/12/2022

Quiet walk for Luna today. Getting much better on lead and so much more sniffing. Luna does love puddle stomping and hunting through the grass. 

Lovely to see her chilled on a walk

 

Loose lead walking

Back to the kennel for some snuffle mat and toy time and of course a good rub down with a towel which she thoroughly enjoyed.

 Luna Bear 21st December 2022

Another trip to the park to work around novelty in the environment.

We saw dogs, ducks, squirrels, people and young people playing football

Mr and Mrs Duck out for a stroll top left corner and the rest of the family top right!

Apparently football means becoming a meerkat! Very manageable but Luna wont be a dog to take along to watch Sunday morning footie as she would love to join in. We moved away to get a bit of distance and she was able to calmly observe the football flying around.

No videos today but I managed to get a couple of photos of her dog watching. She calmly observes and then looks at me to play the up/down game and move on. Such a quick learner.

Lots of air scenting

Dog top left corner

Lots of sniffing today - lovely to see her able to relax enough to sniff and explore

A quick chomp on her favourite teddy

Time for some cuddles before going back to her kennel

 Murphy people and dog watching 

19th December 2022

Another road trip for Mr. Murphy, down to the local park. Mr. Murphy can be a little socially awkward with other dogs (although he seems to love the ladies) so we are doing some work around seeing other dogs.

When we are working to help dogs who are socially awkward it is important to ensure we do not overload them with stimuli. We deliberately choose quiet periods to visit the park so they can just observe calmly and not feel they need to react.

We also use distance, working at a distance where the dog can observe calmly. 

Murphy uses his nose - a lot - when he sees other dogs which is wonderful. We don't try to shovel treats down him, we don't speak and say it's ok, look at me etc. It is important that dogs can calmly observe the various novelty in the environment.

Today we had two dogs and two people together and Murphy was a superstar again.

Dog watching

Murphy likes to watch people too. Again, we just stand until he is ready to move on so he can learn about them. He loves meeting new people and is incredibly friendly and affectionate. 

Back to the kennels for a rest to process all that learning. Such a sweetheart.

 

 Ramsey and the muzzle

Ramsey has been doing really well with his muzzle training. We also need to get him used to wearing a harness and lead.  

We don't want him to feel that all interactions with us lead to the muzzle and we also want the muzzle to not be a big deal.

We set up some enrichment for him to engage with and he has been having a few of these sessions. He associates these sessions with fun and relaxation. 

No expectations, no requests, just pure exploration and relaxation 

Now the muzzle, harness and lead are part of that enjoyment. No treats were put on any of the items as we don't want to lure him to them. Instead they just became part of the enrichment. There were treats around the room, on the floor and in the snuffle mat but none on the "scary" items.

We want him to view them as just things that are there, rather than something he must always engage with.

Ramsey clearly remembered the previous sessions with the muzzle and expected to find liver paste in there. He chooses to put his muzzle in to check and no luring with treats!

Ramsey is with German Shepherd Dog Welfare Fund.

 Mr. Murphy aka Fluffy Bum 16/12/2022

We only saw one dog today and very few people but as always, Mr Murphy was fantastic. No videos as I was too busy engaging with him.

Back to kennels for snuffle mat time and then a good sleep. Dogs need to be able to rest after so much learning to help file all the new information away.

Mr Murphy is available for adoption with German Shepherd Dog Welfare Fund.

 Luna Bear 16/12/2022

Enjoying some sunshine at the park

Luna Bear saw 5 dogs, squirrels, ducks who really wanted to say hi and quite a few people. She can get very excited when she wants to go over and see them and then becomes frustrated with jumping up. We have been teaching her she can look and calmly observe.

We played a pattern game while a couple with a young child walked past, very close to us on the pavement. Luna looked at them and returned to the pattern game with me. Even better, I heard them say "Look at that beautiful dog, how well behaved she is." Luna Bear really was a superstar again today and whoever adopts her is going to be so very lucky.

Luna is sitting on a raised bank of earth, watching the ducks - her choice

Because humans feed the ducks at this park on a regular basis, they are very interested in coming over and pay no attention to dogs! We stayed a while so Luna could calmly watch them. Just after we moved away out popped a squirrel. She looked and returned to sniffing the ground.

Unfortunately it is just a short clip as I accidentally hit stop while getting a treat out for her! Humans eh?

Rubbish videoing but you get the idea. What you cant see is the dog off to the left, behind her and passing cars on the right. So many potential triggers.

It isn't all work and no play! Back to the kennels for a snuffle mat and play with her favourite toy, before a good snooze.

Luna Bear is available for adoption through http://www.gsdwelfarefund.co.uk/dogslist/