''Give your dog a job''

This is my foundation principle. If you don't give your dog something to focus on, he will find his own fun. Dogs are really not good at being left to make the household decisions. Their idea of a 'job' is to bark at the postman, chase cars, go crazy at dogs passing in the street etc. By being the one that makes the rules and sticking to them, you will earn your dog's respect and loyalty.

'Good Dogs' - Nuture v. Nature
There are no good or bad dogs. Quite a profound statement, so let me explain. I hear the statement so often ''He is a good dog, but..." I feel this is likely to be connected to our emotional response about the animals we own. They are 'good' because we love them, or we have a history with them. In my opinion a Good Dog is made, not born. We have 50% responsibility (the nurture part) through their environment; the way we bring them up. If we can change their environment, then we can change their behaviour.

Interrupt, Refocus, Reward

Studies have shown that if we continue to tell off children over and over without positive stimulation, the child will grow worse in it's behaviour, doing 'bad' things to get attention. I find that an interesting concept to apply to dogs too. Sometimes we come across dogs that know that peeing in the house is not acceptable, grabbing socks and shoes to play with is not allowed, and they know it has an adverse effect, however they do it, and in front of us to get our attention. We need to bring our thought process round in the opposite direction now -  I know it is more work, but it is alot more rewarding too. If an undesirable behaviour happens, let's ignore it, Interrupt it, and Refocus all that energy onto something allowed (like a special tug toy) and Reward that good behaviour. Let's try to catch good, calm behaviours, then we make good, calm dogs.

You are what you Eat

This old saying has never been so true when applied to dog food. Try to avoid coloured foods ('E' numbers do the same to dogs as to kids) and read the ingredients label... try to avoid buying products that have 'cereals' labelled first, (the dog's digestive system is fundamentally carnivorous) and look out for wording like 'meat meal' or 'derivatives' (means 'once came from') and the meat will have been labelled ''not fit for human consumption''

I have been feeding a natural diet for over 8 years. If you are interested in diet matters and want to know what I recommend, please get in touch for a chat.