5) In situations where your dog shows fear towards strangers or visitors to them home, try and explain to visitors that you would prefer if simply ignored the dog completely, not even looking at the dog once or paying them the slightest bit of attention. Very often visitors feel the need to try and ‘comfort’ the dog and this can lead to the dog feeling even more threatened.

Once the dog has learned not to react at all to visitors, ask the occasional ‘dog-knowledgeable’ guest to nonchalantly and without any ceremony, simply drop a treat by the dog and then walk off in another direction. It is important they don’t try and make a fuss of the dog or offer the treat from the hand. Doing this regularly with different guests will accustom the dog to the idea that all visitors are not intruders to the ‘den’ and they are not intent on causing harm to the dog or his pack.

4) Complimentary therapies and treatments can be very helpful for aiding nerves. Diet also plays an important role. If a dog is unusually nervous, listless, depressed or lacking coat condition a change of food may be in order. There are specialist dieticians and holistic vets who may be able to greatly increase your dog’s physical and psychological well-being, thus improving the dog’s confidence and reducing nervousness. Try the Internet or Yellow pages and look for holistic vets and animal dieticians.

3) Keep in your mind at all times how your body language impacts the shy or nervous dog. You are a very large creature with an ability to make all sorts of frightening noises (hoovers, washing machines, shouting at the TV). Imagine another creature that was the equivalent distance in size to what you are to a dog and you will have an appreciation of how the shy or nervous dog may see you.

Now imagine that creature ‘bearing’ down on you with wide eyes, a booming voice and hands the size of saucepans on their way to touch your face. Frightening isn’t it? Well, to a shy or nervous dog that can be how they see the world of humans and your body language can be interpreted wrongly by the dog.

The fact that you are so much bigger than him and the fact that people at large generally have a tendency to approach dogs from a standing position thus bearing down on them can make the world a scary place. Always try and narrow the size difference with a nervy dog by getting down to their level. Avoid direct eye contact at all times, don’t wear sunglasses (to a dog, they look like a pair of wide, staring eyes that never go away) and remember how the dog sees the world from different angles than you. Body language is vital in helping nervous dogs overcome their fears.

2) Make use of other dogs. Dogs, as a rule, will copy and emulate their canine counterparts. If you have a nervous dog it can be a wonderful experience for him or her to meet a carefully selected friend. Just one other dog to begin with. Let them play, let the explore and the nervous dog will very soon begin to absorb the confidence of their bolder playmate and mimic their behaviour around people. It may take a while but regular ‘play sessions’ with other dogs can be the ultimate technique for curing many of the nervousness dog’s hang-ups about life.

Ensure the play mate is well selected, is playful but not boisterous and has no aggressive tendencies. Don’t, under any circumstances try and help a nervous dog by introducing them to an equally nervous playmate, it will double the problem. Meeting other dogs is a pastime best done socially where a ‘screening’ process can take place. Taking a nervous dog somewhere where there are likely to be lots of other dogs can be problematic. Explain your problems to friends, family, co-workers and be honest about your need to find a well-mannered, confident dog for yours to play with from time to time.

1) Consistency is a word used by all dog trainers and behaviour experts on a, well, consistent basis. Never is it more pertinent than in the case of the nervous or shy dog. You may be an erratic person, disorganised, impulsive, loud, prone to bad moods or shouting with none of these characteristics meant for the dog’s consumption. However even the most ebullient of pooches will catch the vibes if something’s ‘up’ in the household.

Ensuring stability, calm and an even tempered approach to home life will not only allow you to live longer and avoid an ulcer it will, above any other training tip or technique, help the more nervous of dogs to adjust to the world. Be patient, be calm, be understanding and be empathetic towards the dog’s disposition. Even if he or she has done something particularly naughty you must accept that there are certain ways to correct the problem that may work on 99.9% of dogs, even on dogs you have previous owned, but on THIS nervous or shy pet, the wrong response from you could literally kill their spirit.

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Dogs who chase their tails aren’t necessarily as happy as they appear. When they don’t know how to deal with a situation, such as meeting a strange dog, chasing their tails acts as a distraction. It buys them time while they think about what they’re going to do next.
This sounds like a silly way to cope with confusion, but people do similar things. It’s called displacement behaviour. Suppose you’re having an internal debate about whether to complain about the service in a restaurant or just to keep the peace and keep eating. While you’re making up your mind, you may rap your fingers on the table or fiddle with the napkin.

The physical activity is a stalling tactic, and it helps dispel some energy at the same time. Dogs who chase their tails may be doing something similar. Any stressful situation can lead to tail chasing. Dogs aren’t able to say, “Hey, take a break; it’s stressful”. Instead, they turn to a behaviour they know, as a way of calming themselves.

Dogs who chase their tails all the time may have a compulsive personality disorder. One clue is whether they do other odd things as well. For example, dogs who chase their tails also may chase shadows or the moving sunlight on the carpet. Or they’ll groom themselves constantly. Compulsive behaviours can be quite serious, and often need medical treatment.

Chasing Their Pain

Dogs do a lot of things that are utterly mystifying to people, but sometimes the underlying reason is the simplest one imaginable. Some dogs chase their tails because they hurt, and they want to give them a lick and bite for relief. Sometimes, a dog gets her tail caught in a door, stepped on, or injured in a fight, and no one even knows it’s wounded until they call their vet because they’re worried about the tail chasing. Once the problem is taken care of, the tail chasing will stop as well.

It might seem like harmless entertainment to watch dogs chase their tails, but it’s something that shouldn’t be encouraged.

It’s best for your dog if you work on distraction techniques if they start chasing their tail. Begin by simply encouraging your dog to stop the behaviour and reward them when they do.

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The 3,800 square kilometre Cairngorms National Park welcomes around 1.4 million visitors annually, many of which are dog owners. While visitors and are encouraged, they need to be mindful that areas such as these are home to vulnerable wildlife as well as landowners and farmers.

This has led to the Cairngorms National Park Authority (CNPA) launching an awareness raising campaign to educate dog owners on what it means to be a responsible dog owner in the Scottish countryside and about the issues that can exist between their pets, farmers’ livestock and wildlife. The campaign is based around three key messages about dogs relating to farming; natural heritage and dogs in public open spaces.

As a country estate set within the Cairngorms National Park, Glen Tanar is supporting CNPA’s campaign by jointly hosting a ‘Dogs and the Code’ responsible dog ownership educational event aimed at local residents.

Michael Bruce, Glen Tanar Estate Owner, says, “While we actively encourage visitors and want our countryside to be enjoyed, we do not want this to be at the expense of nature. Glen Tanar is home to an abundance of wildlife including deer and rare capercaillie making it essential that dogs are kept under close control and do not chase such wildlife. Ideally dogs should be kept on a short lead during the bird breeding season so not to upset or harm ground nesting birds or disturb their nests.

“By supporting CNPA’s campaign through hosting this event, which will take place in February, Glen Tanar can work with the local community to encourage responsible behaviour among dog owners and ensure greater compliance with the Scottish Outdoor Access Code. This is turn will ensure the safety of our visitors as well as the conservation of the wildlife.”

Justin Prigmore, CNPA’s Outdoor Access Officer says, “The Cairngorms National Park is home to 16,000 residents and tourism related business accounts for 80% of the park’s economy. The support received by Glen Tanar in conveying our message to its local residents and visitors is very welcomed as only by working with local landowners can our campaign be a success”.

There are nine key points that The Scottish Outdoor Access Code recommends to dog owners, which are promoted at CNPA ‘Dogs and the Code’ events:

· Don’t take your dog into fields where there are lambs, calves or other young animals

· Don’t take your dog into fields of vegetables or fruit unless you are on a clear path, such as a core path or right of way, but keep your dog to the path

· Never let your dog worry or attack farm animals

· If you go into a field of farm animals, keep as far as possible from the animals and keep your dog on a short lead or under close control

· If cattle react aggressively and move towards you, keep calm, let the dog go and take the shortest, safest route out of the field

· During the bird breeding season (usually April to July), keep your dog under close control or on a short lead in areas such as moorland, forests, grassland, loch shores and the seashore

· Pick up and remove your dog’s faeces if it fouls in a public open place or where there is a risk to farming interests

· Some reservoirs and streams are used for public water supply. If there are intakes nearby, keep your dog out of the water

· In recreation areas and other public places, avoid causing concern to others by keeping your dog under close control

For more information on Glen Tanar visit www.glentanar.co.uk or call 013398 86451. For more information about the campaign to promote responsible outdoor access with dogs, please contact Justin Prigmore at the CNPA on tel: 01479 870533 or email: justinprigmore@cairngorms.co.uk

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5.) Aggression towards other dogs – Watch your temper! If you are tense, frustrated, or angry, your dog will mirror that energy right back at you, so it’s especially important to remain calm when dealing with an aggressive dog. But remember, always put your safety first! Seek the help of a professional to deal with this potentially dangerous issue.

4.) Overexcitement or hyperactivity – Overexcited or hyperactive dogs are not being challenged enough. Most often, they just require more exercise! Find a new activity to try with your dog – hiking, swimming, agility courses – or step up your current walk routine. Dogs require at least 30 minutes of a structured walk every day. Talk to your vet about how much exercise your dog can safely handle.

3.) Barking while the owner is away – This is most often a symptom of separation anxiety. You can help your dog to relax by communicating that being apart is no big deal. Instead of showering your dog with affection, practice no touch, no talk, and no eye contact for at least five minutes when entering or leaving your home.

2.) Barking at a specific stimulus – Take time to simulate the cause of the barking, and practice correcting your dog. If it’s the doorbell that sets your dog off, ring it when no one is coming over, so you can stay focused on the task at hand: helping your dog overcome this unwanted behavior.

1.) Problems on the walk – A canine pack leader leads, and so should you! Your dog should always be next to you or behind you, never out in front. Make sure you are the first one out the door and the first one to come back in.

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People who share their lives with dogs do so for a variety of reasons. Companionship, protection, self-image and entertainment are just some of the motivations for becoming a dog owner. Unlike our people relationships, we rarely question how we can improve upon the two way connection between ourselves and our dogs.

Why? Because dogs are, by nature, incredibly adaptable and acquiescent, we feel that as long as they’re not doing anything palpably offensive and they are delivering the goods on the ‘what dogs do best’ front (companionship, protection, entertain et al) we’re content. Conversely, provided we’re giving them food, drink and a dry place to sleep, so are they.

Given our unconscious predisposition for failing to scrutinize our human/canine relationships, we thought we’d provide an insight into what makes us both tick as well as looking at methods we can use to improve each other’s lives for the better.

Acclaimed animal behaviour expert Stephen G King explains the key motivations of the human/canine relationship from the dog’s perspective.

Our dogs spend a fair degree of their time on their own or have, at most, one other friend to share their company.

So what happens to us and our pets in those periods between sleeping, walking and eating?

Well scientifically it is an environmental event called enrichment.

As we’re getting scientific at this point, here’s the technical explanation; “Environmental enrichment is the provision of stimuli, which promotes the expression of species- appropriate behaviour with stimulating activities”. Phew!

The dog, as is commonly known, is a species descended from the wolf, possibly the Southern wolf (Canis lupus pallipes). Wolves themselves are social carnivores that can combine into packs, although they operate within three survival categories:

1 Solitary predators
2 Family pack hunters
3 Large pack hunters.

Thousands of years of domestication and man-made selection have produced breeds, with modified social repertoires.

Many dogs have breed specific behaviours that are hard-wired such as the Springer Spaniel who is visually orientated and seems to be distracted by anything that moves in the air, such as a leaf falling from a tree.

The Border Collie likes to herd and chase joggers, motor bikes and other things that move across the ground.

Owners of such dogs often wonder why their dog is not paying attention in an outdoor environment, despite having their favourite treats on hand which normally work so well at home.

For this type of dog, food cannot compete with a field of birds or a herd of sheep on the move. So enrichment for this type of dog is quite specifically defined. They’re almost telling you, nay screaming at you, about what makes them tick above all else but maybe you haven’t consciously read these signals in the past.

Activity levels
Dogs spend a considerable portion of there time inactive, however, as an opportunist, the dog is adapted to seeking a wide variety of rewarding situations in unpredictable locations. The dog is therefore much more likely to be interested in novel items and circumstances. In contrast, a predictable and limiting environment may make these non-active periods boring and as such we see an overall decrease in interaction within the environment. The dog becomes socially and emotionally lethargic.

The dog is famed as being a very adaptable animal and a healthy adult can cope with a range of conditions, particularly if it has access to areas with different environmental surroundings.

Animals have emotionally complex lives and need appropriate environments and stimulation.

Good housing, giving the dog ‘a place of their own in the home’, affords them the opportunity to exercise a degree of choice, to manipulate or chew safe objects, to interact with humans, to choose not to interact, to play, to rest, all of which satisfies their behavioural needs.

Environmental Enrichment for Companion Animals
Providing a positive, rewarding and stimulating environment based on trust and affection teaches our pets to stay enthusiastic and interested.

The purpose of environmental enrichment is to increase the overall welfare of the dog by allowing them to burn off calories in a safe and natural way, which in turn allows them to behave more naturally in a restricted environment.

The dog learns to cope with unexpected changes in the environment, and is less likely to be stressed by handling, restraint or changes in environment. A decrease in emotion based behaviour can lead to a decrease in physiological and psychological stress.

Things Dogs Like To Work For
Food, water, sexual stimulation, foraging, sniffing / scenting, attention, grooming, coolness (when body temperature is high), and warmth (when the body temperature is low). These are all known as primary reinforcers.

As these examples suggest, primary reinforcers often have to do with biological processes. Some primary reinforcers are not immediately obvious; for instance if you were a dog restrained in your home/kennel and cannot move about or get out, the chance of freedom can be very reinforcing and you would strive to achieve it more than a dog who had open access to fields for most of their day.

Why Is It Important To Know What Your Dog Likes To Work For?
Prevention is better than cure. Knowing what a dog likes and will work for is an important factor in having a stimulated dog; especially if the animal spends most of the time looking at four walls and food is provided independent of its behaviour.

In the wild, dogs are hunter-scavengers; it is natural for them to spend a large amount of their daily energy looking for food. Pet dog’s needs are similar and in contrast certain elements of our own lifestyle which have been forced upon the dog for our convenience could in fact lead to a degree of mental lethargy in the animal – feeding a dog once a day is a prime example.

If you’ve ever been on a long haul flight or even a medium distance air passage, can you recall how excited you were about the in flight meal?

You spend the first hour getting comfortable and then the rest of the journey you’re reliant on the stewards breaking up the monotony of the trip by bringing you food, drinks, snacks or putting on a film. Your environment, your stimulation is in THEIR hands and there’s not much you can do about it.

You get to a point where you are so looking forward to the dried out cheese sandwiches brought by the flight crew you could almost describe it as a genuinely stimulating event in an otherwise boring passage of your life. You anticipate, you imagine what the food’s going to taste like, you wonder what might be accompanying it and then it finally arrives, what a build up…..are then, in a few short moments, all gone. Now you’re back to waiting and anticipating again and you are lulled back into the monotony of the flight.

Welcome to your dog’s world! Imagine waiting all day, anticipating those fantastic few moments when your food is being prepared, you know it’s coming, you can smell it, this is your meal and NO mistaking, oh this is truly exciting…then, in seconds, it’s all over. Gone. Bored again. What can I do to shake this feeling of tediousness? I know, I’m going to pull all the washing off the line outside. That looks like fun.

Feeding your dog periodically through the day, without the need to increase their overall volume of food can give them a great deal of mental stimulation. They’ll love it!

When undesirable behaviours such as, mischief, destruction, anxiety or even aggression manifest themselves, boredom born of a monotonous life can often be traced as the route cause.

Introverted behaviour such as sucking, licking and biting oneself on the paws, wrists and flank areas can be another expression of the dog’s boredom. Whether the dog is bored or not, anxious or not, behavioural enrichment is required to keep the dog happy and healthy and, in nearly all cases, your dog’s environment and therefore behavioural enrichment is controlled almost exclusively by you.

Stimulation: Dog activity puzzles
Providing an enriching and stimulating environment is an important factor in raising a healthy well-adjusted pet. Feeding your pet by bowl at regular intervals will satisfy your pet’s nutritional needs, but does nothing to address their psychological and emotional desires.

Interactive feeding toys can be a great tool for breaking up their feeding schedule and allowing the dog to work (scavenge) for their culinary reward.

Many zoos have included a variety of interactive feeding programs into their animal’s daily feeding schedule. Some of these programs mimic foraging choices similar to that found in an animal’s natural habitat, including hiding food, or hanging fruit from a tree.

If you’ve ever seen Steve Irwin, the self-proclaimed ‘Crocodile Hunter’, you will no doubt have witnessed how he risks life and limb to ensure his animals have to ‘work’ for their meals. He stands by the side of the water, creates motion and encourages the crocs to rise from the shallows and attack the meat in his possession. Of course, he could just as easily throw the carcass over the fence and the crocs would still get their meal, nutritionally they’d be just as well off but mentally they’d be missing out.

Other programs use unusual and challenging food items that provide mental stimulation, such as frozen mixtures of natural foods, feeder puzzles, or food stuffed interactive toys. The results of these programs have added variety and enrichment for zoo animals, and have helped decrease depression, pacing, and boredom common to animals in captivity.

How Do Interactive Food Puzzles Work For Mental Stimulation?

1. The food is distributed over a longer period of time. A food dispenser filled with Chicken, Lamb, Liver and or even 30 pieces of kibble lasts about 1/2 hour, whereas the same amount of food is normally consumed by the dog within thirty seconds to three minutes when the food is freely available. That means that the time spent foraging (= looking for food) increases and the dog is in a longer state of mental stimulation.

2. The food is not permanently available but instead is available randomly. This unpredictability may raise the vigilance of the animals, thus decreasing their boredom levels.

3. Maintenance is easy and does not require any additional time. The food dispenser itself is given to the dog to play with and can be refilled any time.

4. Even small amounts of food delivered by the dispenser have a strong effect on the behaviour of the animals. This is important, because all enrichment activities related to food have to be incorporated into the feeding and training schedule; this is much easier when the amount of food needed for enrichment is low.

5. It is inexpensive. This is obviously important, because high additional costs are often used as an argument against behavioural enrichment. You’re not being asked to hang chicken carcasses from trees in the park, or drag rabbit skins along the ground for your dog to track and ‘kill’.

Interactive food puzzles. A rather simple, inexpensive piece of kit that can help to enrich the dog’s foraging experience and thus reduce boredom and monotony.

Note: If you have more than one dog, it is often a good idea to ensure they are kept separately when playing with food puzzles to avoid any potential conflict between dogs.

Scenting, tracking and foraging.
As part of the dog’s behavioural enrichment program scenting and tracking should be encouraged. Most homes have a grassy enclosed exercise area where a dog can be let off the lead for a free run, if not use the different room in your house to hide objects. Pet owners should give their dog every opportunity to search using their nose. Searching and tracking exercises have proved an excellent remedy for under stimulated and over active dogs.

Playing hide and seek with your dog’s favourite toy or even small portions of food is incredibly rewarding for the dog and if you don’t get that warm, glowy feeling watching their little tail wag feverishly when they make ‘the find’ you should consider a trip to the doctor to see whether you actually posses a heartbeat!

There is one stipulation with behavioural enrichment programs, that is, that they are an individual exercise to do with each dog separately if you have more than one.

Hide and Seek – Canine Style.

1. Walk across a grassy area (preferably and enclosed garden), pressing firmly with your shoes or boots to make imprints on the ground.

2. Place the toy or interactive treat dispensing activity puzzle with some food somewhere discreet, but not impossible to locate.

3. Collect the dog.

4. Just let the dog off the lead and encourage them to ‘follow your trail’ to find the reward.

Another tracking game to play is called “Hansel & Gretall”.

1. You walk to a point (ten yards), drop the dog’s favourite toy in the grass and slightly cover it over with grass.

2. As you walk back drop small amounts of food where you are walking.

3. Drop some food just in front of your dog and release him to find the food on the track with his nose.

5 When he gets to the end of the track, he gets the surprise of his toy.

6. Scattering food around the exercise area and letting the dog find it is another great way to allow him to use his nose.

The Havaball is one such interactive treat which you can use to play these sort of games with and due to its ridges, it will also enable the dog to clean their teeth below the gumline when chewing on it.

Other games you can play with your do include the predatory sequence game. Dogs love to rip, tear and dissect! Get an old rag and wrap up a piece of chicken or liver, by tying as many knots as you can, so that it is difficult for the dog to get out and use as above. Dig for victory. Part of the garden area should also have a digging area, three-ft square with sand added to the soil to make digging easier! Bury titbits, toys, bones and chews In the pit and let him find them.

Don’t Forget Physical Stimulation
Regular grooming each day not only keeps the dog in tip top physical condition, it also promotes mutual trust and affection between pet and owner. Make grooming a fun, regular activity and use the time to check the dog for lumps, bumps of abrasions. Loving your life with dogs means you want to spend as long together as possible, regular touch and knowing the dog’s body inside out could save their life where cancerous lumps are concerned.

Remember breed differences should be kept in mind when considering enrichment options. Your average Collie will enjoy robust, motion based games. Hounds will love the scent activities and Labradors you JUST KNOW will love anything where food is the ultimate reward!

Remedy undesirable behaviours by rewarding desirable behaviours. It’s a very, very simple rule to live by and experts agree that positive reinforcement training will provide the most superior and long lasting results.

The more your pet is actively engaged in positive play during sessions or training exercises, the less time he or she has to develop undesirable behaviour.

What About OUR Needs?
Susan Quilliam is a highly respect relationship psychologist and author of 18 relationship books, three of which were written for Relate and The Samaritans, with whom she works closely. Susan’s website: www.tickingandclicking.com helps people discover just what makes them tick and how to enjoy better relationships with friends, colleagues and partners. We asked for Susan’s advice on just what motivates millions of us to enter into a relationship with a dog and why benefit so much from each other.

Are there emotional and health benefits to be gained from one’s relationship with a dog?

Being unconditionally loved by a dog will, surely, have the same benefits as a solid relationship with a human. Research suggests that as well as helping the sick recover and the old survive, pets (in this case, dogs) give the following benefits:

Emotional – raised self esteem, lowered stress, increased confidence, feeling of being needed, sense of purpose in life, sense of control over environment

Physical – lowered adrenalin/blood pressure/heart rate… sense of relaxation… boosted immune system… release of oxytocins into the blood stream so creating a sense of being loved

Do you believe people often have unrealistic expectations from their human companions when measured against the loyalty of a dog?

The loyalty offered by a dog is simple and straightforward; you are the centre of their world, the one who gives them not only food but a reason for existence.

A human being – at any rate, a sane human being – will never give this sort of loyalty because, quite rightly, humans don’t regard each other as the centre of each other’s world. They may feel like this in the early stages of a love relationship, because strong feelings of affection and loyalty are triggered by a very specific set of hormones – but after about 2-4 years, the obsession fades and a much more balanced and equal relationship follows. In “normal” human contact, we are not in general dependent on each other for all our physical and emotional sustenance… so the relationship is not so intertwined.

But that doesn’t mean to say we don’t want it to be. The sort of human love that many of us crave – and which pop songs and romantic myths encourage us to crave – is much more like the dependent love of a dog for a human. So when we can’t get it from humans, yes, many of us are disappointed.

Britain has more than 6m dog owners. What are the main motivations for so many people deciding to share their lives with a dog?

Companionship is the one most often given for having a dog, along with protection and security and fun and interaction for the children.

However the real reasons for having a dog may be much, much deeper. Because particularly in this day and age, we so rarely get unconditional love. The work situation is achievement based – we have to get results in order to get approval. And intimate relationships, friendships and family relationships are often very conditional – we only get others’ approval if we fulfil their criteria. So the canine-human relationship is unique in life, and therefore very much sought after.

Why has the dog, above any other animal in history, risen to meet the expectations of humans to such an extent that they are considered ‘our best friends’ from the millions of species we could have chosen from the animal kingdom?

Dogs are uniquely built, and genetically developed from their wolf ancestry to give loyalty to the ‘pack leader’ – their owner, their master, their you! They follow, they adore, they understand – and of course historically they protect and support the pack and its leader (you and your family).

Can a dog TRULY be described as someone’s best friend or is that slightly degrading to human companions?

Of course human companions provide a much richer variety of interactions. And we’re likely to grow more, personally, if we interact with humans who challenge us and give us different views on the world.

But a dog’s unique talent for acceptance, adoration and loyalty makes it a very good companion, if not a friend in exactly the same vein as our human cohorts.

What about the pain of loss? Many non dog owners struggle to grasp how deeply affected an owner can be at the loss of a pet. Should owners feel less inhibited to admit to friends, family and colleagues just how much grief they are suffering at the loss of a dog or should they put it into a different perspective to, for example, the loss of good friend?

One should always accept and admit one’s own grief after the loss of a dog – it’s a real bereavement and hence we go through the classic bereavement stages of denial, shock, grief, anger, depression and recovery. I advise people to seek counselling after the loss of a pet – I think it can be a huge blow and should be treated as such.

Telling others about it depends on who the “others” are. Anyone who has never had pets is going to find it hard to understand just what a bereaved dog owner is going through. However even if someone has not had a pet, if they’re sensitive and caring it’s worth while explaining the situation and asking for support.

Why do people crave constant companionship and what makes us pull towards certain personality types when making friends, choosing partners etc?

People are pack animals too, just as much as dogs are. We are not completely self sufficient and historically need a tribe in order to survive. Hence even in the modern world we are not programmed to live completely alone.

As to pulling towards certain personality types, this is a book in itself! But in general, we are drawn towards those who are sufficiently similar to us that we understand them, sufficiently different that we complement each other and create a ‘complete whole’. So an introvert may be drawn towards an extravert because he loves her bubbly personality, she is drawn towards him because she loves his calm self sufficiency.

In general, we are likely to choose dogs which:
- meet our practical needs – e.g. for protection
- parallel our values; some people may not buy breeds such as Rottweillers because they don’t want to be seen as aggressive or dominant personalities themselves
-complement or reflect our emotional needs; – someone in need of loyalty and affection is likely to choose a Border Collie or Labrador for example.

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The phrase “destructive chewing” may sound redundant, because – by its very nature! – all chewing is destructive. Your dog has strong jaws full of sharp, pointy teeth: just about anything she starts to chew on is probably going to show the effects of it inside of a minute. So just to clarify, when I use the phrase “destructive chewing”, I’m referring to inappropriate chewing: the kind of chewing that’s focused on your own possessions and household items, instead of on your dog’s own designated toys and chews.

The three main reasons why dogs chew:

- Most dogs have a natural desire to chew. It’s fun, it passes the time, and it’s a self-rewarding, self-reinforcing activity (for example, if she’s chewing on something that tastes good.)

- Chewing provides a nervous, bored, or lonely dog with an outlet for her emotions. To an anxious dog, the repetitive act of chewing is soothing – it’s the doggie equivalent of comfort food.

- Underexercised dogs often use chewing as a way of burning up nervous energy and giving themselves something to do.

- How to prevent destructive chewing -

Dogs are perfectly capable of learning not to chew your stuff – you just have to put in a little effort first, that’s all.

1. Take control of the situation: manage your own possessions. Your first step should be to dog-proof your home. Even if you have the best-behaved dog in the world, there’s still no reason to test her self-control – after all, dogs explore the world with their mouths.

Dog-proofing your home means taking whatever you don’t want to end up in her mouth, and making it unavailable. Consider her size and agility when deciding whether something’s out of reach: can she jump? Can she climb, or leap onto something else to reach the desired object? How tall is she when standing on her back legs?

Common targets in the home include books, eyewear, clothing, shoes, household rubbish (ever find your dog has got in to the waste bin at home?), and small crunchy appliances like cameras, mobile phones, and even remote controls.

It should go without saying that all food needs to be put securely away: don’t leave snacks on low tables (or even countertops – you’d be surprised how acrobatic she can be when there’s food at stake!), put all food into containers or the pantry. Rinse your dirty plates clean of any food scraps before leaving them by the sink.

2. Prevent her from learning the joys of illegal chewing. The more times she manages to snatch a jawful of a forbidden substance – a chair-leg, a pillow, a running shoe – the more readily she’ll target those items in future. If you can prevent her from chewing your stuff in the first place, it’s a lot easier for her to understand what you expect of her. Practically speaking, this means confining her in a dog-proofed area until you’re confident of her understanding of the house rules.

3. Don’t set her up for failure by blurring the boundaries between her stuff (OK to chew) and your stuff (not OK to chew). Don’t offer your dog cast-off clothes, shoes, or towels to chew and play with: realistically, you can’t possibly expect her to be able to tell the difference between your current shoes and the one she’s got in her mouth that you gave her five minutes ago.

4. Provide her with lots of tasty alternatives to your stuff. If her environment is relatively barren of attractive, appropriate chewing objects, you can hardly blame her for targeting your possessions. Remember, most dogs need to chew; if she’s an adolescent (under three years) or a puppy (under one year), her needs will be even more pronounced. Go on a toy and chew shopping spree, then give her two or three to play with at a time. Rotating the available toys every few days will keep things novel and interesting for her.

5. Spend lots of time in active supervision. Yes, it might be easier for you to just keep her penned up in her crate, run, or the yard – but that’s boring and horrible for her, and hardly much fun for you either (if you wanted a pet that you don’t need to interact with, you’d have got a goldfish, right?) She can’t learn what you expect of her if she’s spending all her time boxed up in the dog-proof zone: she needs the opportunity to explore the boundaries of your expectations, so she can understand what’s appropriate and what’s not.

6. When you catch her chewing something inappropriate, interrupt her by making a loud noise: clap your hands or make an “Ah-ah-aaaah!” noise. Then, immediately hand her a tasty and dog-appropriate alternative (a rawhide bone or other chew toy); as soon as her jaws close around it, praise her lavishly. There is no better way to get your dog to understand that chewing “her” toys equals praise from you, but everything else equals trouble.

- Maintain a productive attitude -

Above all, remember to keep your expectations realistic. You’re not perfect, and neither is your dog: there’s likely to be at least one incident where a cherished item is damaged by her curiosity.

Particularly in the early stages of your relationship, she’s still learning the ropes: it’ll take awhile before she’s completely reliable (and even then, if she’s left by herself for too long or feels neglected, she may choose your stuff over hers to occupy her time and jaws with.) Remember to give her time to learn the rules, and plenty of ‘you-time’ to help her learn faster – and don’t forget to take precautions and keep things out of reach until she’s got the hang of the chewing rules!

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Here is what you have to do. Decide on a certain behaviour which you want to teach or reinforce your dog to do. A number of behaviours/actions come naturally to the dog like sitting, eating, standing, barking etc. and these need just to be reinforced so that your dog knows when you want him to do what. Various other actions like acting dead, shaking hands, rolling over etc. do not come naturally to the dog and need to be taught. Clicker training can be used to do both.

Clicker training works according to the basic principles of operant conditioning, by associating the sound of the clicker with a food item which the dog particularly likes. Now all you have to do is use the clicker to ‘mark’ when the dog does something you want them to do on command. You click, then treat.

Let us take an example to illustrate the method better, suppose you want to teach your dog to sit, you put a cookie on your dog’s nose playfully and then move it upwards, the dog will obviously follow the movement of the biscuit with its nose and will then naturally rest its posterior on the floor, thereby putting himself in a sitting position.

Now time your clicking to be so accurate as to occur right as the dog seats himself, now give him the biscuit and praise him. Continue doing this for sometime till the dog begins to associate the clicking with the food until the click makes him sit without you luring him with treats.

Now teach him another behaviour, but remember to attach the clicking cue only once the animal himself offers you the behavior otherwise the clicking will not be connected to anything in the dog’s head and he will be confused regarding what it means.

Your dog is one smart little animal and it’s time you gave him due credit for that. A number of trainers have been known to use negative reinforcement techniques alongside the clicker method but this simply doesn’t work because punishment at all times creates a number of unwanted behaviour even if it serves the primary purpose of teaching the dog to not do something temporarily.

Any kind of training is a strenuous and rigorous process and needs time and patience. Although clicker training method has a high success rate it might not work for certain types of dogs, if you see that it’s not working for your pet you would be well advised to use some other technique to teach it tricks.

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Studies show that pet ownership helps reduce stress, lowers blood pressure and fends off feelings of loneliness and depression.

While nothing can top the love and companionship of a dog, there are some unpleasant behaviours that just won’t do – from barking all night to wetting the floor to chewing on your shoes when you’re not looking.
If your dog is exhibiting this type of behaviour, it may be acting out due to boredom, a lack of stimulation or simply because it hasn’t had enough training.

With proper lifestyle adjustments and diligent training, you’ll be on your way to having a happy, well-behaved pet. The following tips will help your furry friend become more obedient:

1) Dogs love stimulation – ALL dogs. Even if your schedule is tight or if you just plain feel tired out, make some time every day to play an interactive game with your dog. They will love it and it helps to break up the monotony of their day. Physical stimulation is one thing (going for a daily walk) but too many dogs are lacking stimulation of a mental kind. Keep their brains as fit as their bodies and you will notice a huge difference in the way they behave.

2) Routine. Dogs thrive on routine. Try and ensure that most things in your dog’s life have a routine, it helps to avoid confusion and stress. For example, if you are going out for a while, have a routine where you settle your dog in to their bed with a treat – if you do this EVERY time, after a while they will associate this with your going out. In some cases, they’ll actually be quite excited by the fact you’re going out! This applies to other aspects, travel, feeding, walking etc – try your hardest to maintain a routine, you’ll see how contented your dog will become when they work out what’s happening.

3) Socialiation is key. Dogs are social animals. Whilst you should never simply thrust your dog on other dog owning members of the public, it’s a really valuable bonus if you can find other dog owners whom your dog can strike up a friendship with. This stimulation and socialisation will make them feel so much happier.

4) Patience is a virtue. We live in a society where we want things now, instantly. Dog training is much like building a house, without the foundations in place, it might look like a house but it’s ready to fall down at any moment. Do the boring things with your dog such as teaching them to stay, walk to heel, come when called (first time, every time) – work on their discipline by teaching them to wait for food, to wait before jumping in to vehicles and to stay even when tempted to break (i.e. by teaching them to wait until being asked to fetch a retrieve you have thrown). These ‘boring’ tasks all go toward a magnificent set of foundations and well create a much more stable, reliable dog.

5) Recall. Never short change yourself on recall work. It’s a subject in its own right – and a hefty one at that, which we will be covering more via The Better British Dogs website and our mastermind group – but teaching a dog to come when called is really, really important. Never assume that because your dog comes ’sometimes’ that this is enough. It isn’t. First time, every time – that’s your goal!

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In today’s busy lifestyles, not all of us have the time to cook and – literally – hand feed our dogs from a menu according to their daily whims and wishes. Some people do though. And, not surprisingly, they are often the people who will argue their dogs won’t eat otherwise, without perhaps considering that it is a self fulfilling cycle – they have, perhaps unwittingly, made their dogs fussy eaters. So, what can we do with the dog who is picky over their food?Dogs tend to require about 18% protein for maintenance when they are adults, and 22% for reproduction and growth. Fat should be around 5% for adult dogs, and 8% for reproduction and growth. But the more fat that is in the diet, the more protein there should be. Fat makes dogs, as well as people, eat less by making them feel fuller. If they eat less, and there are less of other essential nutrients like protein and vitamins and minerals, the dog will not get the nourishment it needs. Understanding ratios and nutritional requirements is important if we are to fully understand why some dogs are selective in their eating habits.

Whether you feed your dog a commercial diet or home made dog food, there are a few things to keep in mind so you don’t end up with a fussy dog:

* dogs should be fed once a day once they are no longer puppies, or two small meals, no more. Feeding your dog too frequently when he is older can turn him appear like a fussy eater, when he is actually full. Eating should be an event. If your dog believes that food is on tap, wherever he wants it, he may react accordingly and become blasé about when he eats.

* feeding your dog too regularly can get him into the routine of expecting to eat at those times, too, and may lead to weight gain. Letting him get hungry, and feeding sensibly, will not harm him. In the wild, dogs would eat for once a day until they were completely full and they would eat a diet that was mainly made up of meat. You will often find dogs that don’t particularly enjoy kibble, will be more responsive to meat.

* Don’t stand and stare at your dog waiting for him to eat. He will likely think something is wrong, or something else is coming, and won’t eat.

* Don’t give into your dog and give him something else straight away if he refuses his meal, as he’s effectively training you and not the other way around!

* There’s nothing wrong with feeding your dog a varied diet, but don’t keep changing the food because he seems fussy and won’t eat it. Make sure nothing is wrong with him physically first, then if he is healthy, take charge of the situation. Put his food down, leave him to it, and then 30 minutes later go and check to see whether it’s been eaten. If it hasn’t, take it away, then at the end of the day put down some fresh food. Repeat the process, and take it away 30 minutes later if it still isn’t eaten. This way you’ll train your dog to eat his food, and not reinforce his behaviour.

Brian Kilcommons has a very interesting method for teaching dogs to eat their food. When the above fails, he prepared the dog food in front of the dog, making lots of ‘yummy’ noises whilst he did it. He made it slowly, and when the dog still wasn’t interested, he put it down in front of his face, then took it straight away and threw it out. He did this first at breakfast, then at dinner. At dinner, the dog in question was more interested, but he still threw it out after putting it in front of him. The next morning, the dog was jumping up and down whilst the food was being prepared. He put it down, pulled it away, then looked at him for about a minute, then left it for him to eat. That dog now eats anything put down for him.

* If your dog suddenly goes off his food, it could be because he has dental problems, or a stomach problem. Get him checked out by the vet.

* Some dogs do actually prefer a certain type of food, just as people do. Try your dog with a variety of foods, and if he only eats one type, and will starve himself if he doesn’t get it, the best solution can simply be to feed him that type of food that he enjoys. Sometimes the foods that our dogs enjoy might not always be the type that we want them to eat. For example, you may want your dog to eat an easily available commercial complete diet but your dog only enjoys food from a tin – ultimately, we all want happy, healthy dogs and we have to acknowledge that they are all individuals with different tastes and preferences.

* Don’t feed your dog a high fat diet, or junk food, including chocolate. It’s not good for them and, in some cases, can be fatal.

Nowadays we are much more aware of the advantages of natural ingredients. Healthy, natural ingredients should be high on your list of priorities when selecting a food for your dog.

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