Dog Blog

Are you treading water or moving forward?

03/30/2012 16:22:00

It's been another hectic week at Doghouse HQ!

On our quest to spread positive reinforcement training across Andalusia we had a new team that were brave enough to spend 5 intensive days working hard to achieve their In The Doghouse Level 1 Instructors Award.

We had a variety of people that took their first steps in starting the best career in the world......Dog Training!

From a soldier in the Gibraltar Regiment with no previous experience to a Managing Director of one of the most successful property businesses on the coast, we had a right old mix of people.

The week started with some theory about where dogs come from and listened to both sides of the argument by hearing from various different wolf "experts" including a visit to see the majestic creatures.

Its always nice to see exactly how different these animals are. It is also a beautiful place to visit if you are in the area but make no mistakes......you do not have one of these sleeping on your sofa!

The gang also had many chances to try their hands at shaping with various different dogs, although I am pretty sure some of them bonded more so than others. ------------>

Dealing with people is a massive part of being a Dog Trainer and we shared tips on what to look out for and how to manage your time with different groups. When the time was right we even let them loose on REAL people!

We owe a massive thank you to the guys that helped us out being the good the bad and the ugly for our practical class exam. If you did help out don't forget to claim your free lesson as your positive reinforcement!

As always, to keep at the forefront of canine behaviour and training you must keep learning. The best thing I learnt this week came from our very own Assistant Instructor Josh (1 of only 3 people that passed with Distinction) who recommended soaking stag bars in boiling water with a dash of Marmite for those dogs who don't take to them straight away. Zeus has been at my feet putting it to the test and I can confirm this as a stroke of genius!

The next intensive course is set for October time so keep your noses in gear.

Here at the Doghouse we encourage furthering our knowledge and as such I have just signed myself up to a 2 year programme entitled The Intelligent Dog Trainers Course ~ Aim for the stars and all that!

Shall we have puppies?

03/23/2012 23:33:00

Walkingthrough the shopping centre and spying that lonely puppy who is obviously too big for his glass box is heart breaking, but it’s all too easy to leave your common sense in the car.

Pet shops are usually supplied by puppy farms, Puppy farms are large-scale breeding premises. The aim of puppy farms is to make money, no matter the cost to the dogs who are kept in cramped and cruel conditions. The puppies are sold through pet shops, internet and newspaper ads. Now part of you will be thinking that you have to rescue that dog, BUT it’s not that simple! If you take that puppy home you are making it worth while for the pet shops to keep stocking dogs like they are dispensable goods and for the battery breeders to supply that increase in demand, but more importantly you are condemning a breeding bitch to day after miserable day of existence.

It’s not just the puppy farms that we need to be aware of, many breeders simply do not know what they are doing! The early weeks of a puppy’s life are crucial to its development and without the proper socialisation you can easily end up with a fearful or even aggressive dog. It’s vitally important to meet the mother of the puppies. Be extremely wary if she is not around. When you meet her, ask yourself if she is the kind of dog that you’d like to own, because your puppy will almost certainly have inherited some of her characteristics.

What about the have a go breeders?

Accidents do happen, although I wish they didn’t but if you are thinking to yourself it’s cruel not to let her have a litter or they would have really nice pups. Please go and spend an afternoon helping out at your local rescue centre or better yet go and help at the local killing station where thousands of dogs are gassed or killed by lethal injection. Not pentobarbital which is what is used when you have to make that difficult decision of putting your dog to sleep but T16 the slower working alternative that can take up to 40 minutes!

So what should you look out for?

Are the puppies kept in the house?

It is generally better if puppies are bred indoors as they will have had early experiences of life in a house, including noises such as the vacuum cleaner,doorbell, comings and goings of different people etc

Do they ask you lots of questions about your suitability as an owner or are they just keen to get their hands on your cash?

Where is the father of the puppies? It’s unlikely that he’s there, so ask who and where he is and if you can meet him or at least see a photo

Look for a "middle of the road" puppy that is happy to come and meet you and doesn’t hang back

If you are thinking about getting a puppy why not seek the help of a professional trainer who is NOT a breeder and they will give you advice on what to look for and more importantly what to avoid. You can always get in contact with me via www.inthedoghousedtc.com

Once you have that new puppy then get him signed up to the puppy parties that we run to make sure he sets off on the right foot....er I mean paw.

Crufts

03/13/2012 13:13:00

After missing the opportunity for the last couple of years it was nice to be able to do some great networking and shopping at the worlds biggest dog show...Crufts.

Now, the UK kennel club has had some much deserved stick lately due to Pedigree dogs exposed and the recent follow up that highlighted some of the more disgusting practices still seen in the show world today. One of my colleagues at Italk fm is convinced Crufts stands for Cruel Relentless Undermining For a Tortured Species!!! And should we have the alternative dog show TURDS

Trials Uniquely Realising Doggy Skills??

Sometimes I think he might be right. I find it difficult that people who claim to be all for the improvement of the species are happy and ignorant about the damage that is caused from breeding for a certain "look".

I am impressed however, at the choice to bring in a independent vet to health test the winners of each breed group. This is fantastic news and will hopefully help breeders make more suitable choices to avoid practicing some of the darker sides of showing like interbreeding and culling of healthy puppies because they do not make the standard. I am still unaware who the vet is but who ever you are....I salute you, it was a very brave thing to do!

Six of the fifteen high profile BOBs (Best of Breed) failed their veterinary checks and were not represented in the group judging – bulldog, Pekingese, Clumber spaniel, mastiff, Neapolitan mastiff and Bassett hound.

If you are considering breeding your dog then health and good temperament are the main things that should concern you, not what it looks like! If you are in Spain and thinking of breeding your dog then please go and spend just 1 day in the killing stations before you make that mistake.

Never the less it was a fantastic opportunity to network with some of the greatest trainers in Europe including Chirag Patel and the lovely Karen Wild and who can pass all that shopping without a little splurge on the credit card!

I hunted out some of the latest DVD's and book titles and found some fantastic toys for the dogs and arranged some of the most interesting interviews to come, many of the charities including hounds for heroes, some great trainers including some APDT members, The Dog Photographer and I even had the chance to speak to a Royal Air Force explosives search dog handler which made for some interesting conversation. Keep listening to the Doghouse Radio show on Saturday mornings for iTalk fm to get the latest updates from around the doggy world!

Finally I did hear some shockingly bad and out of date advice that was dished out on TV, when are we going to finally get rid of the out of date crap. Things like "dogs must know you are in charge!" & "Owners must be a pack leader to train their dogs"

Professionals in the dog world should know better!!!

I can feel a video coming on! :-)

Rich Radio Trials

03/13/2012 12:02:00

Lots has been happening and I haven't had the chance to get on here and let you all know ....so brace yourself!

Firstly I wanted to extend a very happy Doghouse welcome to the newest team member, Rich. He has moved over from the not so sunny climbs of Nottingham and joined us in Malaga. Already Rich has passed his Doghouse Instructors award (1 of only 2 people who have passed with distinctions) but way before taking that course we met at a seminar for dog trainers back in the UK. He has a passion for dogs and their behaviour that is only rivaled by Nando and Donnas.

Rich will be taking the new Calahonda / Cabopino class and there is a free dog training taster session this Sunday at 10 am. Why not come join us and find out what we can offer you that the other trainers on the Costa Del Sol cannot.

Our radio show is growing by the week and we have had some excellent guests that have joined us including Dr Roger Mugford, Steve Mann, Mic Martin and many others. The show is now repeated on Sundays from 4-5pm and you can listen in on 97.1 from Gibraltar to Calahonda and on 102 from Calahonda to Malaga or ofcourse all over the world on www.italkfm.com This is now also available on the Costa Blanca!.

We also recently held our first workshop, an introduction to working trials. We had some keen members aswell as others that came to join us from as far afield as Gibraltar, Calahonda and Pastelero. A great day was had by all and some eyes were opened to the abilities of our companions.

Covering all the exercises including Nosework, Agility and Control but having fun and making sure the dogs had fun too.

Our next workshop Trick Dog Club on February 26th went down a storm and we have even had our first Intermidiate Trick dog title holder!!

A Dogs Dinner or Confused.com ?

01/22/2012 11:11:00

After the fantastic interview on Saturday Alison has very kindly allowed us to re print one of her articles. Please take the time to read as no matter what you are told you should check out what is best for your own dog!

Common sense tells us that we need good, clean, appropriate food in order to provide our bodies with the building blocks of good health. We cannot possibly expect ourselves or our dogs to remain healthy if we're not providing all the proper nutrients our bodies need. We all know that. However, if we were to take a step back and look at the state of health of our dogs today , what we see is that our dogs are experiencing epidemic proportions of cancer, periodontal disease, auto-immune diseases and degenerate organ diseases never-mind the comparatively "minor" conditions of allergies (or hypersensitivities), chronic yeast infections, gunky ears, gastrointestinal disturbances and the like. These conditions are not normal,and hence it is not normal for our dogs to exhibit symptoms of disease. It is also not effective to simply treat the symptoms of disease without looking towards their underlying cause.
Of course, there are many factors that influence overall health including genetics, the environment, toxins and our water. However, the most fundamental building blocks of good health involve something that we, as responsible pet owners, have direct control over and that is the food we're providing to our companion animals.

To discover what foods are most appropriate for our dogs, let's think scientifically for a moment. Our dogs are carnivores , despite the pet food industry's attempt to convince us otherwise. Classification of a species is not based solely on what it chooses or is forced to eat, but also on anatomical and physiological factors that determine what foods it is designed to eat and digest properly. These factors take millions of years to change via evolution.This means that even though your dog may enjoy eating fruits, veggies, and leftover pizza , by scientific definition he's still a carnivore.

The diets of wolves and lions, both wild carnivores, are centred around meat, organs and bones, along with fur, hide, and feathers,none of which is cooked, cut up, or otherwise prepared for them in any way.Their strong jaws easily crush bones while their sharp teeth shear off large chunks of meat that are swallowed whole, and quickly. The domestic dog is closest genetically to the wolf, with only about 1-2% difference in their total gene pool. Examine your dog's mouth and notice the tooth structure; there are no flat molars in there. Try (gently!) to move the jaws side-to-side and notice that they only go up and down. Yep, he's a carnivore!
Infact not only that, wolves and dogs have an identical digestive tract. They do not have the digestive enzymes in their saliva (amylase) to break down complex carbohydrates like grains as omnivores do. The dog's digestive tract is one-third to one-half the length of an omnivore and this shortness is designed for quick, muscular digestion of raw meat and bones. They also have a much higher concentration of hydrochloric acid in the stomach for break down of proteins and to kill any dangerous bacteria. Their stomach acidity is less than or equal to pH 1 with food in the stomach, while humans are pH 4 to 5.

Given these physical attributes, what type of food is most suitable for our carnivorous companions? Should we turn Rex loose in the woods and expect him to go catch his own supper, like his wolf ancestors? Well, no, not exactly although we do have a few inept hunters just in our little mob. Domestic dogs are dependent on us for their daily meals. Dogs learned, thousands of years ago, that teaming up with humans was a good way to ensure a daily source of food. Albeit leftovers, it lessened the load in terms of daily hunting and foraging for survival. In exchange, humans gained companionship and protection.They formed a win-win partnership that still exists today.
So its proved, Our dogs are carnivores. Cats are obligate carnivores. It makes simple sense to feed our dogs and cats food that carnivores are designed to eat. ie raw meat food. It's really not reasonable to expect any animal to maintain health, never-mind thrive, when we feed a food that is biologically inappropriate with the likes of a dried food made predominantly of grains, with little or no meat.
A raw diet is certainly not a panacea for every ailment under the sun but it is the one factor influencing overall health that is directly under our control and we owe it to our dogs to give them what their bodies so desperately need.

Many pet owners now feed a raw meaty bones diet, including myself, and have seen the benefits very quickly, but I appreciate that its not for everyone. Cost (although its not as expensive as you think...bones from the butchers are usually free! ) ,convenience, vegetarianism values etc ,coupled with the panic and lack of confidence that you won’t do it right are all prohibiting factors which mean commercial pet food is the only option. So taking that onboard let’s look at how you can improve your dogs diet the commercial way.

What to look for in a complete food:

Did you know that the commercial pet food industry is a billion pound business just in the UK? There are literally hundreds of different brands to choose from, let alone individual products within each brand, so its no wonder that people get confused deciding what is the best type of food to feed their dogs. People want convenience, but they also want to ensure that whatever they choose will benefit their dog nutritionally.

Its important to say that not one brand or brand product will suit every dog. Each dog is different and may have individual intolerances, taste preferences or specific health issues that need dietary restrictions. Its also fair to point out that if there was an “ideal” complete as the marketing people like to tell us, every product would have similar ingredients and typical analysis (eg protein & carb levels) , and they don’t. The variety between just one product range by one manufacturer is enough to send you into confusion.

As every commercial pet food on the market contains different ingredients, and each one has the potential to cause symptoms of allergy or intolerance in some dogs you have to learn by trial and error which ratio works best for your dog. So it’s not surprising that people feel confused or are persuaded by clever marketing that they are feeding their pet a good quality food, when the truth is they are not.

So when choosing a commercial brand of Food what should you look for?

Meat/ Fish etc should be listed as the first ingredient. Meat is easily digestible and should be the main protein source. Also look for a named meat…i.e. chicken meal, as opposed to “meat meal” as it could contain absolutely anything. The meat content should always be high.

Purchase dried foods in smaller bags and vary the protein sources regularly. I.e. Chicken one month, Lamb another. Buying a huge 20kg bag which is open for a few months before it’s used up will “go off” and not be as nutritionally viable. Keeping food in tight storage containers improves longevity too. Food allergies are also more likely to develop if the dog is fed the same food all the time. Wet food (canned or packet) usually has a much higher meat content, but be careful to check the ingredients.

Select Naturally preserved food. I.e. Preserved with Vitamin E (Mixed Tocopherols), Vit C(Ascorbic Acid) instead of chemicals.

Low Grains- (rice, wheat, maize, corn, barley, oats to name a few). Be careful to read the label and check ALL grain sources. Food labelling can be deceiving and just because they label meat first doesn’t mean it’s the main ingredient. Grains tend to be split to hide the overall content so for e.g. wheat, Maize, prairie meal etc when all added together means that grains are the main ingredient.

What to avoid:

Fancy Packaging – Because the marketing department will love you for that. What’s important is the ingredients and breakdown, so the most basic packaging may be ingredient wise superior to others. Dont forget advertising, especially on TV, costs money so that cost has to be absorbed in the food. Bakers is a good example of fancy bright packaging,TV coverage and the nutritional content is horrendous.

artificial preservatives – (BHA, BHT or Ethoxyquin) , another sign of a low quality food. These are usually labelled as permitted EC additives, EC permitted colourants and antioxidants. Ethoxyquin is banned from use in foods for human consumption except for the use of very small quantities as a colour preservative for spices. Find a food with natural preservatives such as Vitamin E instead.

Meat Derivatives , digest or by products (meal is Ok). These descriptions basically translate to horns, hooves, beaks, feathers to name a few. There is some disagreement whether whole meat is preferable to meal. Meal means it has been dehydrated, so if a meal is listed as the first ingredient, there is greater likelihood that the food contains more meat than grains. When whole meats such as chicken, lamb, turkey etc are listed as the first ingredient,there may actually be much less meat due to the weight of the moisture in the meat. Both whole meats and meals are considered acceptable as long as they are identified and not generic (e.g., not "meat meal" or"meat and bone meal").

Grains- Avoid food that have grains as the main ingredient. Better to choose a brand that has a smaller percentage of grains where possible as these tend to be high in carbohydrates which are difficult for a dog to digest and will tend to increase weight in our dogs. They are present in many commercial brands and are more likely to cause digestive intolerances. These include wheat, maize, corn, rice etc and if the main ingredient, should be avoided. Wheat and oats also contain Gluten.

Salt and sugar. Sugar can damage the pancreas and drain vitamins and minerals from the body. Yeast also thrives on sugar. Excessive salt content leads to kidney and heart problems.

High in Carbohydrates (tends to be from Grains). Food should be high in protein in the form of quality meat ingredients, not high in carbohydrates from grains. Contrary to many myths and popular beliefs, there is no harm in feeding a high quality protein diet to dogs of any age, including puppies and seniors. Studies have proved that protein does not cause joint issues in puppies, nor lead to kidney disease in older dogs. In fact, protein is extremely beneficial: it supports the immune system and the central nervous system, contributes to wound healing, helps build lean muscle, and is required for skin and coat health. There is absolutely no reason to limit the amount of protein you feed your dog. However you must ensure it is high digestible protein from Meat/ Eggs as opposed to grains. Look for foods that are high in proteins from meat sources,rather than the typical high-carbohydrate diets that are more commonly available. Dogs find it hard to digest complex carbohydrates that are used in dog food mostly as an inexpensive source of calories (grains are also used to supply low-quality protein in some foods), and to help bind dry food together in to kibble. Studies indicate that highly digestible protein, low-carb foods with moderate amounts of fat also help dogs lose weight better than the traditional high-carb, low-fat (and often low-protein) weight loss diets.

Low Price: generally the lower the price, the lower the quality of the food.

Ive added a bit of a “biography”of what ingredients actually translate to in our head.

Quality v Value

Its important to a lot a people to be able to budget their pets food into the overall cost of their household bills. The super Premium brands such as Orijen, although are superior in terms of ingredients are not always affordable to all.
Also convenience is sometimes an issue. Some of the more reasonable priced foods which are also high quality, eg Greendogfood, can only be ordered on line from specialist pet places, which again is not always convenient for people.

In these instances the best thing to do is find a reasonably priced, quality food that is easily accessible (ie from the supermarket, PAH etc) , and just add bits of high quality human type protein based food additions to bump up its quality.
Low priced top grade foods could be tins of value sardines, raw eggs, Offal,cottage cheese and left over meat scraps. All these foods are easily accessible and cheap and will boost the nutritional content of the chosen commercial food. Dont forget to check out the“reduced” section at the meat counters too. You can usually pick up near sell by date offal, meat for a bargain and then just portion it up and freeze it for another day.

understanding food Labels

Ingredients are listed on a pet food label in order of pre-cooking weight; heaviest to lightest. Ie, the first five or so ingredients, by weight, make up the majority of the pet food. So even if you just look at the first 3-4 ingredients and understand them, you’ll be on the right track as to whether its good or not.

So whats good and whats bad? Not an easy question as it may not be bad if it only makes up a small percentage, but on the other hand even the smallest amount may have an effect on your dogs overall health.

Ive listed some examples and tried to explain what they are, and if to be avoided. Its certainly not an exhaustive list, and I can add to this as time goes on.

Animal Fat : Animal fats are a mixture of fats rendered from different animals. The source of these are diverse and include restaurant artificial preservatives and factory by-products. The mixture of different animals makes it hard to avoid particular ingredients if your dog has an allergy or intolerance. First you can never be sure which animal fats are present and secondly they can vary batch to batch so that even if your dog can tolerate it, this could be different in a later batch of dog food.
Due to the nature of animal fat, they tend to be preserved with such as BHT,BHA or Ethoxyquin to prevent rancidity as it is hard to preserve them naturally. Avoid!

Ash: Ash content is given as a percentage. It isn't an ingredient that is added but the total mineral content of the product after incinerations look for a product with a named fat source i.e. Chicken fat or lamb fat.

Derivatives of Vegetable Origin: This term allows the use of anything that is not classed as a cereal. It is generally waste material from the Human food preparation industry. By the time it is processed at high temperature, it contains no nutritional value except as another fibre source. It is inexpensive to use and is classed as another bulking agent "Derivatives of vegetable origin" is a generic term used to describe by-products of vegetable origin. This is yet another term that is commonly used in pet foods that covers many different ingredients so that pet food manufacturers can use the cheapest available. Avoid!
Official definition: Derivatives resulting from the treatment of vegetable products in particular cereals, vegetables, legumes and oil seeds.

Cereals: Cereals" is a term used to cover many different grains used in pet foods. When you see this as an ingredient, it means that you cannot be certain what is actually in your dog food because they are not using a"named" ingredient. This allows manufacturers to use the cheapest grain available at the time of manufacture and this can change batch to batch.Try and Avoid!

Corn/ maize/ prairie meal- All the same thing.Labelling is clever and they will split these down so that it looks like meat is the main ingredient. Add all of these together and Corn is infact the main ingredient. Corn is a frequently used pet food ingredient; however it can be difficult for dogs to digest. Used as a carbohydrate source, it is cheap and in the main is used as a filler. In high amounts Avoid

EC permitted additives: The term "EC permitted additives" covers a large range of different chemicals, allowing a pet food manufacturer to use any of them without having to individually name any of them. This includes artificial colours and flavourings which are known to cause hyperactivity. More worryingly, pet foods using this term can contain preservatives such as BHA, BHT andEthyoxquin which have been shown to cause cancer. Avoid!

Grains: These can be Wheat, Rice,Maize, Barley, Oats. Its preferable to choose Oats, Rice, millet, Barley based, as opposed to wheat or Maize but never choose one that has grains as their main ingredients.

Meal: Can be classed a Chicken meal,lamb meal etc.
Meals are prepared by the heating, drying and grinding whole or parts of warm blooded land animals from which the fat has been partially extracted or physically removed. The product has to be free from hooves, horn, bristle, hair and feathers as well as digestive tract content. A quality ingredient.

Meat: Fresh un-dehydrated meat. A good product highly digestible product that should be top of the ingredient list. A quality ingredient

Meat v meal: EG: Chicken and Chicken Meal are meat ingredients providing essential meat protein. Chicken is obviously chicken meat; Chicken Meal is chicken meat with the moisture removed. Any meat contains a high amount of moisture, up to 70% moisture. Chicken Meal is chicken with the moisture removed and thus provides the dog or cat with more protein nutrition by weight. These are both quality ingredients.

Propylene Glycol is a preservative that is used in pet foods. It is best avoided as it known to cause problems such as hair loss, dull coat, diarrhoea etc . Avoid!

Rice: Rice is the most digestible of all grains and is known to be low in allergy risk and so is found in many "hypo-allergenic" pet foods. If just listed as rice,it will be white rice. Brown rice is usually listed just as that and is rich in unsaturated fatty acids and B Vitamins. OK if not listed as main ingredients.

Rosemary/ Rosemary extract:Rosemary is used in pet foods as a preservative as it is a natural antioxidant.Quality Ingredient

Seaweed: Or otherwise known as kelp. Is a great source of iodine and minerals. Quality ingredient.

Soya/ Soy : Soybeans are widely used in dog foods as a protein source.However, Soy is commonly known as a cause of food allergies in dogs. Avoid

Sugar beet pulp: added as a source of fibre. Not really much food value. Not an easy ingredient to avoid, but not harmful.

Tocopherols: Tocopherols(vitamin E) are a naturally occurring antioxidant which is used to preserve pet foods. Tocopherols are often made from edible vegetables oils. The use of Tocopherols in a dog food is a good indication of a better dog food. Quality ingredient.

Vegetable Protein extracts:All products of vegetable origin in which the proteins have been concentrated by an adequate process to contain at least 50% crude protein, as related to the dry matter, and which may be restructured or textured.

Wheat/ wheat gluten: Wheat is a grain used as a carbohydrate source in dog foods, however it is associated with causing allergies in many dogs. Avoid!

pet food Label "Rules"

The 95%Rule: If the product says “Salmon Cat Food” or “Beef Dog Food,” 95% of the product must be the named ingredients. A product with a combination label, such as “Beef and Liver for Dogs,” must contain 95% beef and liver, and there must be more beef than liver, since beef is named first. A better quality product.

The 25%or “Dinner” Rule: Ingredients named on the label must comprise at least 25% of the product but less than 95%, when there is a qualifying “descriptor” term like “dinner,” “entree,” “formula,” “platter,” “nuggets,” etc. In “Beef Dinner for Dogs,” beef may or may not be the primary ingredient. If two ingredients are named (“Beef and Turkey Dinner for Dogs”), the two ingredients must total25%, there must be more of the first ingredient (beef) than the second(turkey), and there must be at least 3% of the lesser ingredient.

The 3%or “With” Rule: A product may be labelled “dog Food with beef” if it contains at least 3% of the named ingredient. Avoid!

The“Flavour” Rule: A food may be labelled “Turkey Flavour dog Food” even if the food does not contain such ingredients, as long as there is a “sufficiently detectable” amount of flavour. This may be derived from meals, by-products, or“digests” of various parts from the animal species indicated on the label. Avoid!

Its not imperative that you understand Every ingredient in a pet food, however by just basically understanding a bit of the above, it will help you make a better informed choice when selecting a food for your dog. Whatever commercial pet food you choose, whether it be wet or dry, the important thing is to choose the best you can afford, and add plenty of meat / fish based additions when you can. Tinned sardines / mackerel etc are fantastic cheap additions which can be stored in cupboards, last ages and are high quality protein sources with lots of omega 3.

I can’t name and go into every brand of dog food for obvious reasons, but if you like the look of a particular food then here are some other good sites to find information on Commercial pet food.

http://dogfoodanalysis.com/

Blinky

01/16/2012 14:14:00

For those of you that don't already know, a couple of weeks ago I picked up a stray from the side of the road. Now, if I had the funds and the time I would stop for every dog I passed but since I don't, I have had to man up a bit and only stop for those that are not capable of looking after themselves.

The reason I stopped for this little girl was she was sitting on the side of the road, a speeding van came round the corner and narrowly missed her but she didn't move, she only cowered waiting for the impact. I knew I had to move her to somewhere a bit safer. As I picked her up she froze, talking to her in a very soft voice helped her relax and it was only then that I realised there was a problem with her eyes. One was a pale blue and the other was too large for her socket, it looked as if it was ready to burst! She was obviously very tired, the second she realised I had no intention of hurting her she fell asleep in my arms. I went about my daily business with this little girl in the back of our pet taxi.

After finishing my visit to the Calahonda area I took her straight to the vet. We had to have her checked out because her eyes were not the only problem. She had a fractured leg which had healed in the wrong place making it shorter than her other hind leg. She had a skin problem and expected leishmaniasis as well. We agreed that if she tested positive for leishmaniasis then it would be kinder to put her to sleep. That was a very long night without sleep for me, I have never bonded with a dog so quickly and felt very responsible for her.

Thankfully the test came back negative so we began treating her. She really responded well to treatment and started to come out of her shell very quickly, meeting the other dogs and even play bowing to me and Donna without really knowing where we were.

Luckily we had some help from some of the small but amazing charities down here on the coast including Joe from Animals In Distress who was a invaluable source of information and the ladies from the GSPCA. My sister very kindly donated funds for Blinkys vet bills and we had offers from others too....you know who you are!

We had a course on for dog trainers and we were very lucky to have the girls from the GSPCA attending but not only do the girls deal with Animal Cruelty prevention but they also run Shady Paws which is a small self funded rescue that deals with dogs that have special needs, everything from blind dogs to those that make me look handsome. At the end of a very long intensive training course they took Blinky back to Shady Paws with them :-(

I thought that if we couldn't find her a home she would at least live out her days in safety without pain.

But wait........remember me telling you about Joe the Spanish man with a dodgy accent? He only found this girl a brand new home in Holland with a lady that has experience of blind dogs! I'm going to miss this gorgeous little character but now Blinky will have a human all of her own to train!

Joe, I can't thank you enough for your help I am stupidly happy!

One fantastic year!

12/12/2011 13:51:00

Well a whole year has passed since we touched down in the sunny south coast of Spain and it has been a fantastic year! We thought we would celebrate the anniversary of our arrival, our Christmas do and dish out the first ever awards to our gang the only way we know how.........a party!

We set the venue in La Luna restaurant, which is based in Mijas Costa - the most central point for all our customers but people came from far and wide to join us. Those that travelled nearly an hour from Almogia were beaten only by Sarah Hoskyn and Rich Clarke who flew over from the UK for 1 night only! Thanks guys!!! With approximately 50 people in attendance and the whole venue to ourselves I don't think the restaurant knew what they had let themselves in for!

Rich Clarke (for those of you that don't already know) will be joining the Doghouse team at the end of January 2012. He is a qualified and highly skilled dog trainer and will help start the new classes all along the coast!! We can't wait to have him on board.

So, back to our awards night! Donna and I spent many an evening trying to figure out who deserved which award, which was really difficult because the standard has been higher than ever before.

We started by giving the Bronze awards to those that have been putting in time and effort to get themselves to a certain standard. These dogs included Harry, Sid, Lola and Ringo whose owners have done them proud.

After a delicious main course we began the awards of the night.

Best Attendance went to Sue McCleary and her gang, she is ready to train every week. It might not be the same dog but Sue is always there and has come a long way from when she first started.

The next award was for the Best Puppy unfortunately Filip and Myriam couldn't be with us to accept the award for Mirco but it was well deserved as they have worked hard from before Mirco was even born right up until today!

We then had the hardest choice of the night ~ This was for Most Improved. I spent many hours trying to decide how to give out this award. Although I knew who was most deserving it was impossible for me not to mention the runners up as they have all worked very hard to on their dogs behavioural issues.

Lorraine and Andy with Lola have worked really hard to get Lolas confidence up and their work is paying off, Sam and Buddy have always been committed, Gema and Bongo deserve a special mention because they come to class and have to put up with my terrible Spanish but finally there was no other choice than to give the award for the most improved to Marijke and Tango, a match made in heaven.

The next 2 awards were for Dog of the Year and Handler of the Year..... Handler of the Year was a fairly easy choice for me due to the commitment this man has to his dog, if he is not training, he is running with his dog, at competition shows or just being a thoroughly good dog dad! Ronan Foley!

Dog of the Year was a difficult choice again but the award had to go to one of the sweetest little Labs we have ever known and as they might be running away and leaving us we had to take this opportunity to thank them. Madra has bags of potential and we know that Ici is the perfect person to bring out the best in her. Thank you guys, we wish you well whatever the future might bring.

Lastly, we had to award Bomber and my Dad the Jammiest git award for doing everything I tell them not to and still have an amazing dog.

So, the awards were over and I had started the journey to being just a little tipsy but alas all was not quiet in the land of awards.

First Gema (Bongos mum) stood up and with some lovely words gave me a plaque from the little fella.

'Thanks to your very special connection with the animal world, you've managed to find and get the best of me'

If that wasn't enough to make things emotional the rest of the gang had been secretly training without me and decided to put together an excellent video. Click the link and enter INTHEDOGHOUSEDTCCLASS11 as the password to watch it.....

So I am really struggling to get rid of the foreign bodies that are in both my eyes by now (I'm an ex marine, I don't cry).

And what would pretty much send anyone with a heartbeat over the edge???

Yes, you guessed it.....my very own trophy!

Thank you all for making 2011 a very special year for me and Donna

oh and as a final note don't miss this weeks Doghouse radio show on iTalk fm Saturday 11am to hear about the Beagles that have been saved from a testing facility in Seville.

iTalk fm

11/29/2011 10:29:00

Its nearly Christmas and although the Pet lodge is fairly quiet before the xmas madness we have been very busy as always!

November has seen a lot of work taking place around the Doghouse and with a new roof being fitted to the house, 3 new extra large kennels being installed in the block, a new toilet area so the dogs can find a suitable spot without being attached to a human (nobody likes being watched), the exercise area being measured up for fencing and buying a new van for drop off and pick ups we hardly had time to stop and catch our breath! More exciting than all of this, I was interviewed by the lovely Pippa Jones on italk fm who suggested I auditioned for a new pet show that was going to be set for Saturday mornings at 11am (Spanish time). Now, I am used to getting up and talking to groups of people but there is something a little more nerve racking when you know hundreds are listening to the radio and potentially millions more via the internet. I had the pleasure of interviewing Steve Mann the founder of the Institute of Modern Dog Trainers (IMDT) who being an old hand at this kind of thing made it very easy for me. After some rather interesting song choices from the producer (including ABBAs Fernando!!) I chatted to a few of the listeners who had various questions and some really nice things to say. If you have any questions then listen in to the show or get in touch via our facebook page (search for In The Doghouse DTC). Anyway, they only gave me my own show! Yes, I know what you're thinking and yes it has already been said "Have they met you?" LOL.

So I am going to need your help to make this the best Pet Radio show in Spain, no the world!!! What I need from you are ideas of guests. Now Saturday morning is not good for a lot of people in the pet world with dog training classes and the like but do not despair as I can pre record some of the interviews. So indulge your fantasy and tell me who you would like to hear from the most???

Wet Dog!

11/14/2011 10:18:00

It’s coming to that time of year……wet dog!!!

It is sometimes tempting to leave your dog's coat long for the winter, thinking that they need the extra hair to keep them warm, but this is not necessarily the right thing.

Long coats are high maintenance - they take longer to dry, tangle more easily,and collect debris. Your furry friend will often return from a walk wet and with mud, leaves etc clinging to the coat, and those that live in the campo –well that is the norm for the winter! They will need to get dry and warm in order to be comfy which is a challenge for a long coat. The dog that is regularly groomed & clipped, this is not a problem - a quick towel dry and brush does the job. Longer coats can take hours to dry naturally so may need to be blow dried and brushed thoroughly. If the long coat remains unbrushed it will very quickly form matts, which trap moisture and dirt and can cause infection and harbour parasites. A matted coat is a nightmare for a pet, as they will be unable to clean themselves properly, will be itchy and sore, and suffer restricted movement. Worse still, a matted coat can hide injuries that need treatment. This is not the warm fluffy winter coat which the owner planned!

Carry on your professional grooming appointments through the winter and your dog will be clipped and clean for the mucky weather, easy to bathe, easy to dry, easy to check for health issues, and if you’re worried about warmth - easy to put a warm jacket/jumper on for walks in the very cold or wet weather,although here in Spain the weather is still much warmer than you realise! If you really must keep a long coat, then book them in for just a bath and brush out – your groomer can then at least check for issues and keep the coat in good condition.

For dogs that live outdoors, and other dogs that keep their long coat, daily brushing is necessary to maintain the condition of the coat & keep the essential oils stimulated that protect your pet from the elements.

And lastly, the coat is only as good as the ingredients it’s made of so beware cheap dog-food (even mid-range food sometimes!) If the coat is to be beautifully thick and shiny& the skin & immune system good, it needs decent nutrition. Here in Spain, it is extremely hard to recommend an off the shelf product as there is not a wide range available & the range is poor hence why we manufacture our own. Get in touch if want to know more!

Getting toilet training right

11/12/2011 10:40:00

Toilet Training

House breaking, toilet training & potty prep are different names that dog owners use to talk about training their new dog where it is acceptable to pee and it’s also the number 1 reason why dogs become yard/outside dogs!

Now we are lucky enough to live in one of the most glorious climates on this planet however relocating a puppy to the back garden can be a bad idea.

When you first get a pup ideally around 8 weeks of age, they are like a sponge, taking in new information every minute, they need to get used to their new family, guests and the way that you live. If after a week you decide that your new pup and your expensive carpet don’t mix very well then the chances of Fluffy becoming a garden dog increase a lot. This can cause the fluffster to lose confidence and when he or she does have to meet your friends or your new date you will have a whole new problem to deal with….

So…..how do we get it right? The basics are very simple but thatdoesn’t make it easy

Take him out frequently and wait with him until he goes to the loo.

Praise and reward when he goes in the right place.

Be consistent in supervising your puppy for a whole weekend and you will be pleased and surprised with how quickly your puppy can be clean.

If you can’t keep an eye on him, restrict him to a crate or confined to an easily cleaned area.

Above all learn to think dog! They will be trying to communicate with you all the time but it’s important to remember they don’t speak English or Spanish. They will use their body language to warn you.Your puppy will usually start to sniff around and turn in circles when he is about to go to the loo. Don’t wait! Quickly encourage your puppy to follow you outside and be ready with a tasty treat!

No Punishment!

If your puppy has an accident, clean it up calmly, using biological detergent solution if appropriate. Avoid pine smelling chemicals as the smell of amonia can work against you.

Do NOT scold your puppy. Punishment of any kind may delay house training and harm your relationship with your dog.

Make sure your puppy learns by trial and success not trial and error! Don't forget there is a video on my tips page that will give you any other information you are going to need.

If you have any questions for me check out www.inthedoghousedtc.com and send your query via a contact form. I may use it as the subject for future articles.