Long Line

Ok , So the morning walk is done - like I've said in previous posts , Polly's recall is awful , and believe me she's had a lot of training! So , the solution for me has been the long line - it's a lightweight nylon line which allows her to have a good run around , but gives me a fighting change of getting her back if she bolts! Here's a video of her on it! http://youtu.be/qosB8YHsnKk

Breakfast Time!

Here's an interesting one for you , tying to get my dog to eat in the morning can be difficult - sometimes she will go all day without touching her food. I read an article about giving them canned fish - so I've given it a go , miracle! She cant eat it fast enough. Be careful though , a lot of canned fish is kept in either tomato sauce or brine - high in salt. Ive managed to find Mackerel at Waitrose, in spring water , perfect! She loves it.

Turning away in training

I was always told that when a dog jumps up at you , the correct way to deal with the situation is to turn away and ignore it. Now that's fine in principle , however when you have a boxer that spends more time on two legs than four , it becomes a problem! Our local park of currently like a mud bath - and im guessing that most other parks are the same at this time of year. Unfortunately, when Polly gets excited , she starts jumping up at me , covering me (literally) head to toe in mud! Every time I go out with her now I have to come straight home and put all my clothes in the washing machine , nightmare! Ok , so ways of dealing with it.. Well , I could tell her off , but to be honest she thinks that's a game and jumps even more. I could turn away and ignore her, but again shes persistent .. keeps on jumping and continues to make me look like the mud monster of the west. Or maybe a training spray? , I have tried one of those small red 'Pet corrector' compressed air cans - she thought that was highly amusing and started jumping around the park like a kangaroo. The quest for a training solution continues , I'm going to post a video of her doing it soon .. stay tuned for a laugh.

New insight into dogs' fear responses to noise

New insight into dogs' fear responses to noise This is kind of interesting , my dog has no issues with noise! .. The only thing she gets upset about is the neighbours moving their wheely bins around. Nothing else bothers her!

I know , I know!

As you can see , Polly has managed to find her way onto the sofa - people have views about this ...Personally , its her home as well , if she wants to get on the sofa its ok with me! lol

On or Off?

Just some food for thought .... When Polly was in heat I walked her in the local park , of course on the lead. On several occasions other dogs would 'naturally' come over and pay her unwanted interest. At one point a dog 'had a go' , if that makes sense? I shouted its owner explaining that she was in season , and his response was 'Well , you shouldn't bring her into the park then'! Now I'm thinking that if my dog is on the lead - im being responsible .. any thoughts?

Dog ID issues

There's an article on the BBC website which highlights responsible dog ownership and the importance of micro chipping. The subject of the article is a guy who's dog escaped from a communal garden , was impounded by the council but the owner didn't have the funds to recover his dog. A stranger then offered the owner £68 to pay the recovery fee. Its an interesting one , should people own dogs if they don't have the funds to look after them? or is this a chap that's fallen on hard times ? Either way , its good news that the dog is reunited with its owner. Here's a link to the page