I do Social and Training walks, I hold these around Felbrigg Park, and sometimes we go to the beach if the tide is out.
The social walks are held every other Saturday morning at 9am and the Training walks are on Monday mornings at 9.30am, Training walks are restricted to six dogs so places are booked, if you are interested in these please get in touch and I can let you know if there is a space available.
Socialisation walks, what they entail, and why i do them.
Whether you have had your dog from a puppy, or a rescue, they need to be socialised and habituated to new things, we start with puppy classes, but this is not enough, we need to continue to introduce our dogs to other dogs, people and new situations for the rest of their lives, we need to help them to stay optimistic and confident and those first few months are the most important but if we then don't see another dog on our walks for a few weeks we will find our dogs have almost forgotten how to interact, and even become fearful, in some cases our dogs can become reactive for no obvious reason, even when we have done all of the best things for them they will bark and jump around and we become embarrassed and even start to avoid other dogs on our walks, the behaviour just gets worse, and well you know the rest.
On a social walk all the dogs will be under control on a lead, so no one need fear that their dog is at risk of being attacked and bitten, I do like to ask if your dog has ever bitten another dog or person, and if so i will discuss with you muzzle training, but i will talk about this in a moment, the walk is done to create a positive experience for all the dogs that come, i want you to bring lots of high value treats, and by this i mean things your dog really loves, sausage, chicken, liver, cheese, if they are a greedy dog any treat may well suffice, but there will be an awful lot to distract them so you need something that you can gain their attention with, something that they will work for, and of course something they really see as a reward, some dogs prefer play as a reward, so if your dog is not interested in food treats then you need a toy they love to play with to bring with you.
When their stress levels are high they will not take treats but you still offer them and give praise when they are walking nicely and quietly.
While we walk we keep our dogs at a distance from one another that they are comfortable with, some will be happy to walk in close proximity once they get over the initial introduction, but others might need a good few feet between themselves and others, as we walk we work on that, watching their body language and rewarding them for being calm and relaxed, gently bringing them in closer at a rate that they are comfortable with, we never get your dog to do anything that it is not happy to do, this will just reinforce the fear, this all has to be a happy and positive experience, as we go on the more relaxed they become the more treats and praise we give, and we reinforce the good happy feelings they are now having, this creates a good feeling around other dogs and people, and the more positive experiences they have, the sooner they learn they have nothing to fear. I help you to show your dog that you are calm and relaxed, that you are in control and that you are the one they can look to for protection, rather than them feeling afraid because they sense fear and anxiety from you, the walk will help you to become confident, an emotion that will help your dog to relax when they sense it in you, when you learn that your dog is not going behave badly, that you are able to read its mood, and to watch for danger, to take control, you will start to enjoy your walks again, that is how it should be, a walk is a bonding experience for owner and dog, it should be enjoyable and relaxing for both, it doesn't just help your dog to use up its energy, it helps you seal your relationship, and it keeps you healthy too, as you walk your dog, and you get them into the right state of mind, they release hormones that relax them, pacing along following you rather than always scanning their surroundings looking for danger is the state of mind we want to get them in to, this is not going to happen straight away, and distractions will always occur, but the point of the social walk is to bring you as closely to this as i can.
If we find your dog has a specific issue we need to deal with I will try and help you overcome it on the walk, but sometimes a one to one, or smaller group will be required, The walk lasts around an hour, and as I said you will need a big bag of treats, and poo bags, if it has been or is raining you will need good boots as Felbrigg can get muddy, but please most of all do not stay away because you are worried about how your dog will behave, everyone feels the same, and amazingly your dog might well surprise you and not be anywhere near as bad as you imagine.
I do these walks for free because I want to reach as many dog owners with walking worries as possible, and because they are good fun.
Finally the muzzle issue, It is my firm belief that it is better for an aggressive dog to be walked in a muzzle than not walked at all, or to be walked where it never meets another dog or human, this will not help it at all, wearing a muzzle may well make it look aggressive but it stops it from biting anything which could well result in it being destroyed, walking it in a muzzle will enable you to bring it on a social walk, which will help it to get over its behaviour issues and eventually allow you to walk it without a muzzle at all.
I can teach you how to muzzle train your dog, again this must be a positive thing you never just put a muzzle on, it has to be done slowly and gently, if you think this is something you are going to have to do then get in touch with me.
one final point is I will remind you of the three second rule, when introducing your dog allow only a three second interaction with each other, count it out, and then move them apart, do not give them enough time for the greet to turn bad, every three second positive greeting they have creates more of those positive experiences that they need.
I will run through all these things again at the start of the walk but if you have any worries or questions then get in touch, if not I will see you all there and keeping my fingers crossed for good weather.
The social walks are held every other Saturday morning at 9am and the Training walks are on Monday mornings at 9.30am, Training walks are restricted to six dogs so places are booked, if you are interested in these please get in touch and I can let you know if there is a space available.
Socialisation walks, what they entail, and why i do them.
Whether you have had your dog from a puppy, or a rescue, they need to be socialised and habituated to new things, we start with puppy classes, but this is not enough, we need to continue to introduce our dogs to other dogs, people and new situations for the rest of their lives, we need to help them to stay optimistic and confident and those first few months are the most important but if we then don't see another dog on our walks for a few weeks we will find our dogs have almost forgotten how to interact, and even become fearful, in some cases our dogs can become reactive for no obvious reason, even when we have done all of the best things for them they will bark and jump around and we become embarrassed and even start to avoid other dogs on our walks, the behaviour just gets worse, and well you know the rest.
On a social walk all the dogs will be under control on a lead, so no one need fear that their dog is at risk of being attacked and bitten, I do like to ask if your dog has ever bitten another dog or person, and if so i will discuss with you muzzle training, but i will talk about this in a moment, the walk is done to create a positive experience for all the dogs that come, i want you to bring lots of high value treats, and by this i mean things your dog really loves, sausage, chicken, liver, cheese, if they are a greedy dog any treat may well suffice, but there will be an awful lot to distract them so you need something that you can gain their attention with, something that they will work for, and of course something they really see as a reward, some dogs prefer play as a reward, so if your dog is not interested in food treats then you need a toy they love to play with to bring with you.
When their stress levels are high they will not take treats but you still offer them and give praise when they are walking nicely and quietly.
While we walk we keep our dogs at a distance from one another that they are comfortable with, some will be happy to walk in close proximity once they get over the initial introduction, but others might need a good few feet between themselves and others, as we walk we work on that, watching their body language and rewarding them for being calm and relaxed, gently bringing them in closer at a rate that they are comfortable with, we never get your dog to do anything that it is not happy to do, this will just reinforce the fear, this all has to be a happy and positive experience, as we go on the more relaxed they become the more treats and praise we give, and we reinforce the good happy feelings they are now having, this creates a good feeling around other dogs and people, and the more positive experiences they have, the sooner they learn they have nothing to fear. I help you to show your dog that you are calm and relaxed, that you are in control and that you are the one they can look to for protection, rather than them feeling afraid because they sense fear and anxiety from you, the walk will help you to become confident, an emotion that will help your dog to relax when they sense it in you, when you learn that your dog is not going behave badly, that you are able to read its mood, and to watch for danger, to take control, you will start to enjoy your walks again, that is how it should be, a walk is a bonding experience for owner and dog, it should be enjoyable and relaxing for both, it doesn't just help your dog to use up its energy, it helps you seal your relationship, and it keeps you healthy too, as you walk your dog, and you get them into the right state of mind, they release hormones that relax them, pacing along following you rather than always scanning their surroundings looking for danger is the state of mind we want to get them in to, this is not going to happen straight away, and distractions will always occur, but the point of the social walk is to bring you as closely to this as i can.
If we find your dog has a specific issue we need to deal with I will try and help you overcome it on the walk, but sometimes a one to one, or smaller group will be required, The walk lasts around an hour, and as I said you will need a big bag of treats, and poo bags, if it has been or is raining you will need good boots as Felbrigg can get muddy, but please most of all do not stay away because you are worried about how your dog will behave, everyone feels the same, and amazingly your dog might well surprise you and not be anywhere near as bad as you imagine.
I do these walks for free because I want to reach as many dog owners with walking worries as possible, and because they are good fun.
Finally the muzzle issue, It is my firm belief that it is better for an aggressive dog to be walked in a muzzle than not walked at all, or to be walked where it never meets another dog or human, this will not help it at all, wearing a muzzle may well make it look aggressive but it stops it from biting anything which could well result in it being destroyed, walking it in a muzzle will enable you to bring it on a social walk, which will help it to get over its behaviour issues and eventually allow you to walk it without a muzzle at all.
I can teach you how to muzzle train your dog, again this must be a positive thing you never just put a muzzle on, it has to be done slowly and gently, if you think this is something you are going to have to do then get in touch with me.
one final point is I will remind you of the three second rule, when introducing your dog allow only a three second interaction with each other, count it out, and then move them apart, do not give them enough time for the greet to turn bad, every three second positive greeting they have creates more of those positive experiences that they need.
I will run through all these things again at the start of the walk but if you have any worries or questions then get in touch, if not I will see you all there and keeping my fingers crossed for good weather.