This week I had to make the hardest decision any pet owner will make; to have my dog put to sleep.  Morgan was a 12-year-old Red and White Setter who I’ve had since he was an 8-week-old puppy.  This is my first dog I’ve had from pup to old age.  We had just come home from a walking holiday in Wales where we spent the week running around beaches and having the most amazing time.  He had an upset stomach on the last day of the holiday, but I wasn’t worried about that, as we were coming home so gave him a quiet weekend and he was bright and back to his usual self the next day.  However, 2 days later, New Year’s Eve, he became unwell again, nothing specific, but you know your dog and he was certainly not himself.  By New Years Day he was much worse, so we took him to the Vets.  They did blood tests and an ultra sound and found fluid in his stomach.  He was given medication and sent home to return the next day for another ultra sound.  This time they found a large tumour on his spleen. 

He must have had it for some time, but it had only just ruptured hence the fluid.  The Vet confirmed it would happen again and that would probably not be recoverable from.  So, our choices: operate to remove the tumour or let him go.  The operation although possible would be a big operation and if they found anything else or the tumour was attached to any organs, they said he wouldn’t wake him back up.  So, my husband and I had the weekend to decide. 

How do you make this decision?  It’s too big!   Of course, I would do anything to keep him around for longer, but is that fair?  The surgery is a big operation, which he might not come out from.  The recovery period would be long with a very restricted lifestyle during that time.  And what would we gain – another year maybe?  He was 12 and a large breed, so he had already done well.  He had lots of other lumps and bumps on his body, and he was mentally struggling with more anxiety over the last 8 months.  Was I considering surgery just for my own desire to not let him go? 

So, after changing our minds hundreds of times over that weekend, we decided the best thing to do was to put him to sleep.  We had the vet come to the house and actually it was very peaceful, he just fell asleep on his bed.  Thanks so much to Hayley from Deane vets for your kindness. 

I cannot tell you if he would have survived the surgery and everyone must make the decision that feels right for them.  I personally don’t like putting my dogs through unnecessary surgery and my heart told me that they would find other complications when they opened him up and I didn’t want him to die on the operating table.  Owning a dog or any pet gives us the responsibility of making decisions on their behalf, as hard as those decisions are.

I have so many wonderful and precious memories of my boy Morgan.  There is a very large gap in our home, and the other 2 dogs are definitely confused as to where their big brother is.  All I ask is that you give your dog an extra big cuddle today, because they are definitely not here for long enough, so enjoy them while you can. 

Jo x

 My red and white Setter Morgan turned 12 this week.  I’ve owned him since he was 8 weeks old, so we know each other pretty well 😊 He is my first dog that has reached old age. 

This last year he has definitely aged.  We stopped doing agility training 2 years ago, but he still loves running around and chasing pheasants.  We are going away for a week over Christmas on a walking trip and I think it will probably be the last one he will keep up with. 

He has taught me so many valuable skills of owning a gun dog.  Recall was certainly a challenge when he was younger as his love of chasing/stalking birds was so rewarding to him it was hard to compete.  He taught me how to get involved in his games and showed me the love of doing the job you were bred for. 

He is also showing me how to now meet his needs as an older dog.  We get him massaged to make sure he is staying fit and flexible.  Any signs of him hesitating to jump in the van is my usual cue that he needs a treatment.  (Anna from Somerset Canine Massage is amazing with him).  Things worry him more and changes to routines seem to upset him.  I try to keep his routine the same and sometimes use herbal medication if I know we are going to have a busy period.  

He definitely has some cognitive decline in that he doesn’t like being on his own (thankfully Cuba and Bria my other dogs help him) and has developed a new habit of chewing zips and buttons off any coats or jackets that are lying around.  He is also more opportunistic and will counter surf any food left in the kitchen!! A story I have shared before is that he managed to take a 12 box full of eggs off the counter, carried it into the lounge and ate the cardboard box and didn’t break an egg !!!

He is still bright and willing to learn new skills; we are learning Rally and heel work at the moment.  I think it’s so important to keep a dog mentally active for their well-being.  Old dogs can learn new tricks 😊

Here’s to appreciating our oldies and remember they have earned the right to need some extra attention and patience to make every day special.  
​Jo x
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I’ve spent 2 weekends in the last few months learning more about how to train dogs to ‘use their nose’. I have really only started looking at this skill over the last few years and am now so excited to share this knowledge with my dogs and my clients.

Why is this a focus? Surely all dogs know how to sniff? They do it all the time! This is exactly why I want to learn more – harnessing a dog’s natural ability and work together to have some brilliant fun.

Scentwork can be a dog sport that you compete in, however I’m not referring to that level of expertise. I think it’s an essential skill for all pet dog owners to learn for the benefit of their dogs. Nose work is great for lowering arousal levels which means it’s also brilliant if your dog struggles to cope in certain environments or around other dogs and people. Those dogs termed ‘reactive’ dogs really thrive on this type of training.

Another positive is that it tires your dog out – so if you have a dog that seems to need loads of exercise and you never seem to tire them out, then this training skill is definitely for you.

A dog’s nose is so amazing they can smell up to 100,000 times better than a human! This means they can smell ½ a teaspoon of sugar in an Olympic-sized swimming pool – we struggle to tell if we have put sugar in our cups of tea! They also have a special scent-detecting organ called the vomeronasal organ that we humans don’t have, which detects pheromones and chemicals. Learning about scent plumes, and how dogs use their nose as their preferred sense, will really help you to understand their world.

Learning some simple games like: scatter feeding, find the toy, finding a certain scent, or tracking people, is such fun I want to encourage you all to give it a go this week.  What are you waiting for?  Get started in this fascinating world of scent.
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Happy learning.
Jo x
 

I think most people now understand how important it is to socialise our puppies.  There is lots of information about the critical socialisation period, which finishes somewhere between 14 – 16 weeks of age and therefore we have a very small window of opportunity to get our pups used to the world.

However, this has also caused a rise in ‘puppy parties’.  These ‘parties’ tend to be unmanaged and free play is encouraged no matter what sort of interactions are taking place.  This is a big concern for me.  If you had a shy or timid puppy, then they are very quickly learning that other dogs are actually really scary, and they try to hide or, if that fails, they will learn to defend themselves.  If your puppy is a bold, bouncy type, then they are learning to continue this behaviour of being a ‘social bully’ and not listening to other dogs’ body language which is asking them to stop.  As an adult dog, we don’t want either of these personality types as we are all aiming to have a well-rounded, confident dog with good social skills.   

The two parts of socialisation are teaching the social skills for your pup to interact with other living things e.g. people, dogs and other animals, and habituation is about teaching all the things we want them to get used to and usually ignore e.g. noises, traffic, household objects.  Hopefully your breeder started your pups socialisation and habituation learning before you even got to take them home, such as gentle handling, introducing to different surfaces, different play items, household noises and sometimes interactions with other suitable adult dogs.  All of this habituation and novelty will help build a pup’s confidence and early development.  It’s then your turn to continue their education. 

Puppies are not created equal, even from the same litter.  They will need different levels of socialisation and habituation.  In the case of puppy socialisation, some will need lots of chances for off lead play with suitable dogs, however another would just learn to be a hooligan if too much free play is allowed.  Badly managed interactions can have a negative influence on future behaviour. 

Being a pet dog is a very hard job as our expectations are so high.  We want them to get on with every dog and person they meet, go to every environment and be happy and confident, to cope with being left alone, to not worry with endless ’scary’ noises.  Therefore, getting their early upbringing right is a big responsibility. 

The question I ask myself all the time is “do I want my adult dog behaving like this?”  If the answer is no, then think, is this the right thing to be doing with my puppy?  Don’t let them practise a behaviour you don’t like! 

I am not against puppy parties, but they must be managed by skilled professionals. They can be a great resource to get your puppy to learn to interact appropriately with other dogs.  I allow off lead play during my puppy classes, however it’s only for a few minutes and I match dogs that are appropriate to interact with each other, and very quickly interrupt any interactions that are not suitable.  I am so glad that there is more information available about the importance of puppy socialisation however, as with all knowledge, you need to adapt and grow and continue to question what information is out there. 
Jo Williams 

​I’ve had Bria my Border Collie in my life for over a year now and I have to admit I haven’t done much training with her.  She doesn’t have a great down unless I use my hand signal.  She doesn’t walk perfectly on lead and she doesn’t have many tricks yet.  What?  Why?  As a dog trainer, surely, I must think these things are very important?  The answer is yes and no.  When Bria first came to live with me, she struggled with the simplest of things such as going through a door way, dealing with stairs or having her collar taken hold of.  She certain didn’t understand what a recall was.  In her past life I know she lived on a farm, so her version of normal life is very different to what I now needed her to cope with.  Living indoors, having different noises around, and living with other dogs are just a few to name.  She was 9 months old and had spent 1 month in a rescue centre so in her short life, she had already experienced a lot of changes. 
I therefore wanted to take my time to get her settled into my world.  I started a plan of what I wanted her to experience and what she needed to learn.  I had no expectations of her – other than she is a dog!  I think this is a lesson we humans can easily forget; if you haven’t spent time showing your dog how to behave then you cannot be upset if they don’t know and do something ‘wrong’.   
It’s amazing that a lot of people rescue dogs and some of those now come from abroad, however I do feel that people don’t give them sufficient time to settle into a new life and throw them straight into the deep end.  They have all their family round that weekend to meet the new addition of the family.  They go out to a busy dog area and expect them to enjoy it.  Walk them through town where the sights and sounds for some must be so daunting etc etc.   
If you have a new member of your family, please give them time to adjust.  If you know their background then that can help, but please slow it down.  Let them develop a relationship with you first.  Play games, learn what they enjoy doing and join in.  Then slowly introduce them to their new life whether that’s new places, people or other fury housemates. 
Bria is now a very settled dog, loves all our visitors, really loves chasing Cuba, has confidence in the home and we have lots of fun together, therefore we are now ready to jump into our ‘training’ journey.  This doesn’t mean we haven’t learnt some fab stuff along the way, Scentwork was a great confidence builder for example, but I mean the ‘training’ that I think most expect of a dog trainer’s dog.  I will keep you updated with our progress.  And for those with new additions to your family, take your time, there is no rush.  Give us a call if you would like help on how to build a fantastic relationship. 
Jo Williams 

I love working with ‘reactive’ dogs. This is something I have had to work on with my own dogs so understand the emotional roller-coaster it can be. A ‘reactive’ dog requires management and lots of time to start to change their emotional responses to whatever their triggers are, such as other dogs or people. You need to overcome your own embarrassment (from the looks of other dog owners when your dog does bark), feelings of guilt (it must be all my fault) and frustration of not having the dog you dreamed of having (the free running, social dog). It requires planning: taking high value food reward with you on your walks, going to places that you know will have enough space for your dog to keep under their threshold, and perhaps using different equipment like a double ended lead and harness. All this can feel daunting to start with.
The question I get asked a lot is “will it get better”? The short answer is “yes”! You will start to anticipate what your dog needs, read their body language better and in doing so, start to build a better relationship with your dog as they trust that you aren’t going to put them in a situation that they cannot cope with. You will automatically make ‘good’ decisions on behalf of your dog such as increasing their distance from potential triggers.
As you both increase in confidence on your walks, your dog’s recovery from an event will also improve and something that may have taken them several days to come down from the ‘high’ of adrenaline and cortisol after a reaction, take a few minutes and they can continue on their walk without any fallout.
Will your dog ever become a social butterfly that can free play with all dogs – probably not! You need to have realistic expectation and each dog is an individual. I know many dogs that have become very sociable, however I would not have that expectation at the start.
What I can help you with is getting your dog to the point where they are manageable in public, being able to walk down the street without reacting and you both having a more enjoyable life together. Using rewards and managing the environment may be something you always have to do. However, we aren’t trying to change your dog into a robot; life will get easier and you will see improvements. Training will build your dogs confidence (and yours!) so I want to encourage you to start your journey and let’s get training!

​Jo Williams