Paws In Hand Dog Training And Behaviour

If you have any dog behaviour questions, please call in for free advice to BBC Radio Solent around 11.40 this morning where I will be answering dog behaviour and training questions live on air. https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p070tqyv

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Since Game of Thrones there have been many husky type dogs sent to rescue centres.
I don't know about you, I love to see dogs on TV and movies (but NOT adverts as they almost always look so very worried!). There is a down side, however, and that is that films can lead to trends in dog purchasing.
I enjoy the John Wick movie franchise, but I haven't yet seen the third movie. But I just saw they have Belgian Malinois in the film and my heart suddenly stopped and my hair stood o...n end.
The Belgian Malinois is NOT a pet dog. I pray to goodness that we don't see a surge in this breed. They are an exceedingly high prey drive dog, very strong willed and wired to grab and hang on. They have low frustration thresholds and low frustration tolerance and require an inordinate amount of training, not to mention mental stimulation as they are incredibly smart.
This is not a breed of dog I would ever consider owning as I do not have the time or the energy to live with one. These are police dogs in the U.S and are known to not let go of criminals even though trained to do so. They are incredibly strong willed and intelligent dogs. They are used by police because they are not afraid to get involved in the action.
Please do not get a Belgian Malinois unless you are highly experienced with this kind of dog, have time, energy, the ability to train and keep mentally stimulated! You will need to do some kind of dog sort with this breed that involves allowing them to bite and track - such as man work or Shutzhund.
I seriously hope we don't see an increase in this special breed being homed to pet dog homes! This is a working breed that cannot cope with being a pet. These dogs, once not properly trained will be almost impossible to re-home and I foresee a large amount of destruction of Malinois dogs shortly.
If anyone does come to us for training with a Malinois, we will not take in later than 8 weeks old as by this time, socialisation with other puppies is pretty much too late as from my limited experience, they are a breed that requires very early canine socialisation indeed.
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A lovely client allowed me to share these photos. Here is an exercise in body language. To most people, both of these photos would be interpreted as an invitation to give a belly rub. However, one of these photos shows the pup is appeasing- in other words, worried and giving off a signal that she does not pose a threat. In the other, she is indeed asking for a belly rub.
I’m afraid I cut the head off in one photo as I was photographing in a hurry. But I hope you can see that... in this one, the puppy is lying on her side with her back left leg up and her front legs straight and stiff. What you can see of her ear shows it was clamped. Her lips were also elongated into a slight grimace. She was not looking at me. This is the appeasement signal. You should NOT deliver a belly rub if you see this.
The second photo shows her back legs are both relaxed and splayed, front legs relaxed and slightly bent, ears relaxed and floppy and she is looking at her owner as if to request a belly rub. When the belly rub stopped, she looked again asking for more.
Always pay attention to the details.
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We are so incredibly lucky to be able to use this outdoor space. In our outdoor puppy group today we did some work on livestock awareness. We do not want dogs to take notice of livestock, we want them to choose to ignore livestock. Here you will see this lovely Welsh Terrier puppy being rewarded for looking away from the ponies. In a very short space of time, he was calm in the presence of livestock. Lovely work guys! As we live near the New Forest with free ranging ponies, it’s important pups are accustomed to closer proximity as it is inevitable they will come across them. These ponies are also accustomed to dogs so we are not worrying them.

Please would you participate with and share this survey about sheep worrying attitudes. Many thanks https://edinburgh.onlinesurveys.ac.uk/att itudes-towards-she…

We are going to run today’s outdoor classes- fingers crossed 🤞 that it will stay reasonably dry!

Do you have a Romanian Rescue dog? Please help with this research.

If you are wondering why your dog has started showing aggression after a year or so, please do read this. Also, please share with anyone who has a young puppy or will be getting a puppy as this contains important prevention information. https://www.pawsinhand.co.uk/…/my-dog-h as-suddenly-started-…

Today’s outdoor classes cancelled due to forecast of heavy rain. Classes deferred to next week. Sorry about that!

But we all knew this anyway, didn’t we? Nice to see evidence though!

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“We are conducting some research into how dog behaviour changes from adolescence to adulthood. If you have a male dog aged between 6 months and 4 years old, we would be very grateful if you could take a few minutes to complete this survey profiling your dog’s behaviour. Get insight into your dog’s personality: his individual temperament profile will be emailed to you as a thank you. Go to: https://tinyurl.com/y2vptxoq to start the survey Or visit www.petbehaviourpractice....co.uk
Please pass this on to anyone who might be interested or able to cross post. many thanks
Find us on Facebook @pet behaviour practice
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Do you have a dog that struggles with self control, or seems a little impulsive? Maybe an adolescent dog who is a bit chaotic? Find it difficult to get your dog to focus? If so, why not try our fun and games agility class? We mix up agility with more mentally demanding tasks to help build up a cooperative relationship, and to help your dog to think before acting. Learning through fun activities makes it much easier for dogs and us. If interested, please follow the link and click on Outdoor fun and games agility.
https://www.pawsinhand.co.uk/…/brambles -outdoor-near-to-bh2…

https://apple.news/AgzSZY0txStqJ1rOuNy5O0 w

So why are dog bites on the increase?
You might think it’s because dog ownership has increased, but this is not the case. Although figures are difficult to find as there is no registration for dogs, pet food manufacturers figures indicate dog numbers are reasonably static.
Perhaps it is to do with increasing ownership of small dogs, which research suggests, are statistically more likely to show aggression.
... Or could it be to do with breeding standards? With hundreds of thousands of puppies imported each year from European puppy farms, temperament and conditions of breeding are unknown. A real increase in Internet puppy sales, where puppies are likely to have been farmed? Puppy farmed dogs are statistically more likely to show aggression.
Or is it the way we expect dogs to live with us, not treating them like dogs but as things to be cuddled and hugged.
Is it to do with lack of parental education of children about how to interact with dogs? Many seem to think the dog just has to accept being manhandled by children, which doesn’t often end well.
Given that less than 25% of puppies attend formal puppy training programmes, could attendance to puppy classes reduce the incidence of dog bites? Research in the U.S. found risks of aggression developing were halved if puppies attended at least two formal socialisation sessions before 12 weeks of age.
Worrying statistics.
We can reduce risks if we:
1. See both parents and make sure both parents have good temperaments before choosing a puppy.
2. Choose a puppy that is bred within and integrated into the family home.
3. Learn how to read dog body language so that you can socialise your puppy properly.
4. Educate children how to safely interact with dogs.
5. Take puppies to professional and good quality socialisation sessions.
6. If getting a rescue dog, don’t buy off internet sites, develop a relationship with a reputable rescue centre and carefully choose a dog after several meetings.
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Nobody knows why dog bites are on the increase as statistics can be difficult to obtain. You might think it’s because dog ownership is increasing. Without registration, it’s difficult to say, but according to pet food manufacturers, dog ownership is fairly static. Perhaps it is to do with the proportional increase in ownership of small dogs, which research shows, are more likely to bite than larger dogs. Perhaps it could relate to increases in unknown sources of breeding. For... example, hundreds of thousands of puppies are imported from European puppy farms. Owners don’t know the temperament of the parents, nor the conditions of breeding, which could pre-dispose offspring to aggressive behaviour. Could it be to do with people not treating dogs like dogs? Invading their space, hugging them tight? With less than 25% of puppies attending training and socialisation classes, could attendance to professionally run puppy classes help reduce the risks? Statistics in the U.S would suggest so. Interesting and worrying reading though.
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