Pooch Party

Well the Pooch Party was a great success, we had a good turn out and it would seem that everyone enjoyed themselves.  The games all had prizes and people were keen to take part.

It was so hard to be heard over all the noise that I still haven’t got my voice back!

We played pass the Paw-cel with Ralph the bulldog winning a very impressive knotted dog toy and Millie the Labradoodle taking home a lovely purse.  I would say that the owners were too polite here, gently removing one layer of paper at a time, personally, I would have passed it to my dog who would no doubt have torn off the lot in one go.

Then on to the sausage race, a game of skill and tactics, well, not really.  The dog has to eat a line of sausage pieces quicker than the other dogs, very simple really, or so you would think.  We run heats of 4 dogs although we did allow the tiny Chihuahua’s, Beau-dog & Lady to team up. There was a bit of cheating going on here with people veering into the other dogs lane in an attempt to distract them, pushing of owners, it was a mess!!.  The overall winner was the lovely Oscar, a rescued Border Collie. Olive my little Weimaraner, demonstrated the ease in which only a weimaraner can devour food and should really have won. 

The owners went to a lot of trouble with fancy dress outfits, Olive was a fairy Princess complete with wings and wand, Roxy & Py were Christmas trees, Mille was a Christmas Sack, and Breeze the Rottweiler came in a cunning disguise as her brother, Jeeves, the Russian Black Terrier!!  (Very well done Breeze, or so we thought until the sausage race when it became apparent that we had been misled and it was in fact Jeeves!! )

Les judged the costumes and first prize went to Elsa who came as a K9 Solutions Puppy School boy complete with baseball cap, shorts and braces.  Well done Ruth & Elsa for keeping the costume on.

Runner up prizes went to Lyca & Zeke, the Papillon & the Tibetan Spaniel, Jura the weimaraner and Millie the Labradoodle.

We had a raffle with various prizes, the top prize being a free one to one training session with me which is usually £30.  Oscar the rescue Border Collie won this and I am looking forward to our training session, he is such a sweet lad.

Cheryl with Teddy received a consolation prize for her sad face when she thought she had won something on the raffle and special mention has to be made of her catching abilities.  Well done Cheryl. 

Then the final event of the evening …….. the cup race. 

The owner has to carry a cup full of water whilst holding their dogs lead spilling as little as possible.  By the time we got to the final, I was soaked and we had had to empty the mop bucket twice!! We had to up the game for the finalists, Beryl & Jet, Kim & Ruby and Ian & Jeeves and Cheryl & Teddy & Millie, we also had to employ a few distraction tactics, which involved me standing and jumping in their way, calling their dogs and throwing treats on the floor, needless to say I got very wet again. 

Beryl & Jet were not to be distracted though and took the prize.  Well done to them.  There are videos and pictures on our Facebook page so take a look.

My thanks to the team for their help and support, not only at the party but all year through and to all of those who came along and made the Pooch Party such fun.

Have a great Christmas everyone and looking forward to seeing you all in 2011.

December is upon us already

Well today is the 1st of December.  Where has this year gone?  To me it only seems like a blink of an eye since we were playing in the snow last winter but play we did.  Unfortunately, I have had to cancel today's classes (Morning & evening) as I fear the travel conditions are too bad.  It took me an hour to cross the Island yesterday and I know from friends that travel to Leigh or Southend was terrible.  A friend of mine left home at 9am to visit Southend hospital and got home at 4.30pm!!

The dogs are enjoying the snow though, Colin loves it and throws snow in the air at me, the other dogs and anyone else in throwing distance.  Trouble is that he eats as much as he throws and then spends the rest of the day and night peeing gallons!

Saturday workshops went well again with Tye the 3 legged staff really taking on the role of policing the ruffians in his group.  His 'Mum' was so proud of him again as were the rest of us.  It is lovely to see a dog that has come from such a poor start, with some rather strong issues, finding his place in the doggy community.

Biggles, the SBT, is a lovely lad with a peculiar fetish.  He tries to steal other dogs collars.  Most strange!!

Well finaly on Saturday he achieved his aim on Saturday and was seen haring off across the field with poor Millie the labradoodle in hot pursuit.  He had stolen her collar and was as pleased as punch with himself.  It took a little more convincing from Trev, his owner, to get him back than it usually does.

Send me your pics of your dogs enjoying the snow. 

Rights 4 Pets at Vets

As some of you will know, almost 3 years ago now I lost my beautiful Bodie to GDV or bloat, this is a very serious condition in dogs and you should all know about it.  There is a note on our FaceBook page telling you more.

I knew Bodie had bloat, I knew he needed surgery yet I was dismissed by a young vet as being over cautious.  My dog died in agony in the back of my van on the side of the road.   I had gone to a different vet as I had just moved, I feel sure that if I had gone to my own vets in Leigh then my dog would now be enjoying ripe old age.

The attached video is from a campaign group trying to get the legislation changed so that Veterinary Surgeons are accountable for their mistakes.  It is not a campaign against Vets, I have been with my vets for close on 20 years without a problem.

Please watch the video and check out the website http://www.rights4pets.co.uk/ and their FaceBook page Justice4Ted.  As pet owners you are all affected because unfortunately things can and do go wrong.

http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2F&h=89067

Busy Busy

What a great weekend!

The workshops were busy as always and we saw some great things from some of the dogs. 

Special mention this week goes to Kristy and Tye, the 3 legged Staff x who shall we say has some anger management issues.  Tye has been with us for a while and he is a lovely boy.  He was found in a shed with his severed hind leg and although he tires a little quicker he doesn't let it slow him down.  Kristy added him to her gang and brought him along to the social groups. 

On Saturday Tye was policing his group!!  This is a great move for him because until now he has played, beaten up or ignored the other dogs.  This shows an understanding of his canine communication skills and gives him something more worthwhile to do than choose his next victim to bully.  Needless to say his Mum, Kristy and all of the instructors were so proud of the boy. 

Polly the spaniel x again deserves a mention as she spent almost the entire class this week playing and playing and playing some more.  We were so pleased and excited for her and Judi has worked hard on the wonderful recall she was getting on Saturday.  Well done to you both.

Jazz, another rescue Staff x that we have is coming out of her shell now and is watching the groups, both her and her owners Andy & Sally are learning what is acceptable and what isn't and her response and reactions were wonderful.  Another well done.

The dogs within the groups will behave differently each week and this is totally normal, the first visit they can be a little over-whelmed and we don't see all of the behaviours, the second visit they tend to be a little over-excitable and punchy as we found with Lola this week but don't worry.  The workshops are not a quick fix, teaching a new habit takes time and we are dealing with living, breathing, thinking creatures (well sometimes they are thinking) and every day is different.

Sunday classes were fun as always, I wimped out and went in the hall with the puppies, one of the benefits of being the boss.  We were using props to enrich the environment and help build the puppies confidence in different situations.  Phoebe the Tibetan Terrier was head first into everything but little Elka the Wirehaired Vizla was a little more cautious.  She soon got used to the tunnel and sticking her head into things to find fun rewards.



We will be implementing some changes to the group and class structures over the next few weeks so keep an eye on our pages for any updates.

Morning All

Morning folks and what will today bring for us?

We have new dogs coming for assessments today and new puppies joining the early class.  Lets hope the weather is as beautiful as yesterday.

I have had a busy week as always with classes, visits and general doggy stuff.

Little Beau dog, the chihuahua is holidaying with Emma and her crew and making quite an impact.  He is bullying her girls and worming his way into the heart of her son.  Will a chihuahua be the next addition to Emma's crew??

The start date for the childrens classes will be Tuesday 4th January 2011 and I am shocked everytime I put that.  I can't believe the New Year is so close!!

Have a great day all, I know I will and check back later for updates.

Saturday 13th November 2010

We had a good morning, the weather stayed dry which always makes it a good morning.

Special mention has to go to Judi & Polly the spaniel cross.  Polly came to us with some odd habits, she would run off following a scent, run the same path around and around the garden and if taken to a tennis court she would follow the white lines for hours if allowed. 

In the first few weeks Polly rarely interacted with the other dogs, choosing instead to look for birds, trains or anything except at Judi or the other dogs.  Over the past couple of weeks Polly has become more and more interested in the other dogs and yesterday she was actively seking out play and running with them but most importantly she was coming back to Judi when she called her.  Well done to Judi and Polly.

Our assessment yesterday was a gorgeous American Bulldog named Lola.  She had come from a rescue centre about 2 months ago and the owners had contacted me as she was showing aggression to other dogs and people.  Of course I was expecting a huge hunk of angry but what met me was a beautfiul young dog who wanted to play and play.  She had a great morning with us and I am sure her happy owners took home a sleepy, happy hound.

Saturday 6th November 2010

It was a beautiful morning, bright and crisp.  We had some lovely new puppies join the first groups today - Bertie the Cockerpoo and Albert the Labradoodle.  Both had great fun and made some new friends.

We had 4 groups running in the first hour today, and all were having fun and learning something new as well.  Young Horatio the GSD puppy is in love with Mia and we had to move him in to her group because he just kept running back to see her but Ozzy the Dogue de Bordeaux didn't mind changing with him so he could play with Popsey the SBT.

Our second hour was as busy as the first with 4 groups on the field, meeting and saying hello and then moving off again.  The new kid on the block, Raffa, a rescue SBT x fell in love with Chilli, the Rotti x and they were having a lovely play together.  Mylo the Golden Retriever x did keep going back to his beloved Chilli to give her a kiss and check out her new playmate.

Two Shi Tzu's came along for an assessment today, Tom & Harry and they were lovely little fellas, first time off lead in a while and Harry definitely enjoyed himself, Tom took a little more convincing but did relax in the end.  They will be joining the 9am class next week and making lots more new friends.

Emma's young son was along for the day.  She took a lovely picture of him walking my Rottweiller, Defor.

Morning all

Good morning all,  It's a lovely bright November morning and I am,as always, looking forward to a wonderful morning working with you and your dogs.