Are you giving your dog the right exercise?

There are 5 basic needs outlined in the UK Welfare of Animals Act 2006 :

1. The need for a suitable environment

2. The need for a suitable diet

3. The need to be able to exhibit normal behaviour patterns

4. The need to be housed with, or apart from, other animals

5. The need to be protected from pain, suffering, injury and disease

I’m always on about no.2! And there are many articles here on Brilliant Family Dog on sleeping and living arrangements and multi-dog households. And of course, no.5 is implicit in most of the posts on this site!

Today I want to draw your attention to numbers 1 and 3, in relation to exercise.

There are increasing requirements for dogs to be kept on a lead, to be restrained, to be prevented from doing natural doggy things.

And this creeping infiltration of prevention is wrong!

Have a look at what the UK Government Code of Practice for the Welfare of Dogs has to say:  

“A dog needs regular exercise and regular opportunities to walk, run, explore, play, sniff and investigate.”

This is also enshrined in the Dog Control Orders guidance from Defra (the UK Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs) for Local Authorities, which states that:

“The authority needs to balance the interests of those in charge of dogs against the interests of those affected by the activities of dogs, bearing in mind the need for people, in particular children, to have access to dog-free areas and areas where dogs are kept under strict control, and the need for those in charge of dogs to have access to areas where they can exercise their dogs without undue restrictions.”

This means that our local councils are obliged to ensure that provision is made for dogs to enjoy free running, sniffing, exploring and all the rest outlined in the Welfare of Dogs Code of Practice quoted above.

EU laws

The Lisbon Treaty of 2009 declared that animals are sentient beings. It was feared that the UK’s departure from the EU would remove this law from our statute books. But, the Animal Welfare (Sentience) Act 2022 has received royal assent. UK law recognises animals as being sentient.

Phew!

Why am I telling you all this?

You are going to meet people who don’t like dogs.

You are going to meet people who tell you off, and tell you your dog should be on a lead at all times.

As you can now see, this is nonsense! And our dogs’ freedom is enshrined in law.

Now, of course your dog should have sufficient training and manners that you can recall him fast, and ensure that your dog does not interfere with or annoy other users of the land you’re on. And you need to pick up after your dog too. 

But once you are sure that your dog is no nuisance, you may know that you have the backing of the law to exercise your dog properly and freely, and that  opportunity for you to do this must be provided, wherever you live.

The rest of the world

I can’t speak for the rest of the world, as I’m not familiar with their laws. But knowledge that some civilised - or partly-civilised ;-) - countries have these laws enacted may give you power when agitating for change in your own neck of the woods.

We owe it to the dogs in our care to enable them to “exhibit normal behaviour patterns” in “a suitable environment”.

The pictures on this page show my own dogs doing just that!

And if you need help with getting that brilliant recall that will enable you to give your dog this freedom, start with our free Workshop here!

RESOURCES:

UK Welfare of Animals Act 2006

UK Government Code of Practice for the Welfare of Dogs

Dog Control Orders guidance

Does your dog crash the door??

Does opening the door in your house cause a stampede as your dog rushes the door, almost taking the legs out from under you, and crashing any unfortunate person waiting the other side?

So here’s what we’re learning today: Waiting at the door!

The Door Game!

Here’s an example of using Choice Training to change an everyday annoyance many people suffer - a step-by-step lesson for perfect Door Manners!

Watch the video first …

Enjoy that? I suggest you watch it through twice before getting started with your dog.

Now, please don’t expect this to happen in one session!

You may need several, or many, sessions to get it right. But some - puppies especially - can learn this very quickly.

If your dog has an entrenched behaviour of door-barging it may take a bit longer, but you’ll get there!

You noticed, I’m sure, that I didn’t tell the dogs to do anything!

I waited for them to choose.

I ask them sometimes - to prompt them - but I don’t TELL them.

This is a two-way street!

And if there’s a good reason for them doing something different - the ground is soaking wet, for instance and it’s unpleasant to sit (or if they’re Cricket the Whippet who simply finds sitting on a hard floor uncomfortable altogether because of her hound make-up!) then that’s ok by me as long as they wait patiently and don’t rush the door.

That’s the outcome I want.

You have to keep your eyes on the prize! And not get caught up in nonsensical detail.

Now, you do it

Now, once you know THIS, do you begin to see where else Choice Training can affect your daily life with your dog? Can you think of things that annoy you right now which you’ll be able to remove from your life quickly, painlessly - in fact, enjoyably?

It’s limitless!

I’d love to hear how you get on …

Comment below when you’ve given it a go (or several go’s, depending on where you’re at with your dog).

And for lots more training like this, check out the Brilliant Family Dog Academy via this lesson-laden free Workshop!

“My dog is a xyz, so we can't do this”

[For “xyz” insert Labrador/Spaniel/Terrier/Corgi/Rescue/Husky/Crossbreed/Poodle/ANY DOG!] 

I hear this a LOT.

“What you’re teaching is great, but MY dog is a xyz so we can’t do it.”

It means that the speaker has decided that they don’t want to go to the bother of teaching a new thing. They don’t want the bother of spending time working on what they see as a problem.

And instead of admitting that they are not prepared to do the work - they shovel the blame onto their poor untrained dog! As if it’s all his fault!

Now, there’s no doubt that there are differences between breeds, it’s also true that every dog arrives as he is - untrained, untaught, uneducated. And it’s up to us to do the work if we expect him to live in our home and follow our inexplicable human rules!

Every dog is an individual

And while it’s true that dogs vary between breeds, it’s even truer that there is more variation between individuals than between breeds.

This is a well-known fact amongst dog professionals.

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We are not dealing with a category of dogs.

We are dealing with our own individual dog.

And its individual owner!

How did you choose your dog?

Tell me - when you chose your dog, did you possibly think “Well he’s a Sighthound/Sheepdog/whatever, so I won’t have to bother about chasing/herding/any-other-issue, because it will be impossible to teach against his genetics.” Did that thought ever cross your mind?

I expect not.

I expect you chose your dog because you thought him gorgeous - and didn’t abandon hope of dealing with these issues till they manifested. Then everyone told you, “He’s a gundog/terrier/guardian/any-dog, so what do you expect?”

The great animal trainer Bob Bailey said,

“Training often fails because people expect way too much of the animal and way too little of themselves.” 

We can have the most wonderful companion dog.

We can adapt our training to suit his breed characteristics - to give him an outlet for his instinctive drives - to accommodate as far as possible what he’s been bred to do.

But when it comes down to it, it’s up to US to do the teaching.

And that means we shouldn’t be making excuses and blaming our dog for our own shortcomings!

You chose your dog.

You owe it to him to give him the best life possible. Let’s get teaching!

Want to make a start? Get our free email course to resolve common “problems” and enjoy a new way of looking at life with your dog.

RESOURCES

 How Much Does A Dog's Breed Predict His Behaviour?

 5 Dog Breed Myths

“Designer Dogs”: What Are They Really Made Of?

Does your dog use the stairs safely?

This is an especially important question for new puppy-owners! But we could all look to make sure we’re avoiding accidents - to us as well as to our dogs - by teaching them right from the start.

First of all, your stairs are safer if carpeted, but this isn’t essential. A mat or some sort of non-slip surface at the bottom of the stairs is important, especially as at the foot of most staircases there is a sharp turn. Puppies are particularly vulnerable to injury on slippery corners!

First of all, you want to make sure the stairs are gated, so there’s no free access to them without you being there to supervise.

And this is how you start: 

1. At the bottom of the stairs, your dog is on lead

2. Place a treat on the first step.

3. Let your dog eat it then place a treat on the next step up.

4. Step up beside your dog as he ascends, step by step, treat by treat.

5. Slow and steady till you get to the top!

If your puppy is freaking out, just do two steps then lift him off. Work at this gradually till you can step all the way up. This will take as long as it takes.

Now you’re at the top! 🎉

So how to get down again?!

Use exactly the same method. You may need to keep the lead shorter now (without putting pressure on his neck, of course!) to make sure your dog doesn’t try to race down.

And it’s super-important to ensure there is a treat not only on the bottom step, but also on the mat at the foot of the stairs. You want to ensure your dog always steps all the way down and doesn’t leap off early! .. as you’ll see Coco does correctly in the two videos on this page.

Next stage

Gradually, you’ll be able to remove the lead from the exercise, and space the treats out a little more (though be very slow to remove the last two on the way down!).

And once you know your dog has got this, you’ll be able to let him go up and down on his own.

You’ll need to find other stairs for him to get used to as well - concrete stairs, other sorts of house stairs, metal stairs, log stairs …

Once you’re both expert at this, you can have some fun together, going up and down stairs:

Coco learns stairs

Safety for us!

Incidentally, there’s a lot of nonsense talked about who should go through a door first. Real nonsense.

Certainly, your dog shouldn’t barge through doors, but once they can wait for permission to go through, I always send mine through first. I don’t want an excited dog to take my legs out!

Same goes for stairs.

I always send my dogs up or down stairs ahead of me. It’s simple commonsense!

No need to get tangled up in dominance nonsense.

Stair agility!

Once your dog is comfortable on the stairs, you can develop his balance skills and have fun with some stair games

Here’s a video to give you some ideas - see how much Coco is enjoying this!

And for lots more answers to your questions, get our free email course here!

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How much should I feed my dog?

Great question! But before you can decide HOW MUCH to feed, you have to decide WHAT to feed. 

Here's an article to help you work out what's best for you and your lifestyle.

Back again? Good! Let’s now see how to work out how much of your chosen diet to give your dog. 

If you have decided on buying a commercial food you'll see instructions on the bag or tin telling you how much to feed, and the first thing to do is totally ignore these!  

These will be general guidelines and not tailored to your individual dog. We all know people - even in the same family - who are a completely different shape and size from each other, and respond very differently to food. Don’t you hate those friends who can plough through chips and cake and still fit a size 14?!

So you have to adapt to your particular dog’s food and nutrient absorption.

So now what??   

Working out how much to feed is actually much easier than you may think. 

Working like a stockman you need to feed to condition.

And how do you assess your dog's condition? Search the internet for body condition charts and you'll see some great illustrations of what your dog should actually look like, from the side and from above.

Then after studying your dog carefully with your eyes, use your hands to confirm what you see - especially if your dog is swathed in fluff and curls and you can’t see much of what’s underneath.

1. Ribs - you should be able to feel all of them, but not cut yourself on them.

2. Spine - feel those little knobs down her back?

3. Pin bones - the top of the pelvis over the back legs. These points should be very easy to feel.

4. Neck roll - is the back of the neck soft and “empty” skin rolls? If it’s solid and in bumpy rolls, you’re in trouble.

Now, naturally, there’s variation between breeds. Some have a very flat back and the spine knobs and pin bones are not so easy to detect - but they should be findable!

I use this system all the time to keep my dogs in their best condition. I never feed what food guidelines suggest.

As an example of the variation between individuals, I have three dogs:

1. English Shepherd, f, spayed, 24kg: she gets 11-12 oz of raw food a day.

2. Whippet, f, spayed, 11kg: she gets 9 oz a day

3. Miniature Poodle, m, entire, 7kg: gets 6 oz a day

So you can see that if I fed my Whippet in proportion to what the others are getting, she’d look like a toast-rack! … or my ES would look like a hippo. 

As a dog’s weight is one of the most important things to get right in order to promote a long and healthy life, this is something you want to spend some time on. 

It may take you two months of adjusting quantities gradually, of continually feeling your dog - and keeping a careful note of the numbers - before you can settle on a suitable amount.

Puppies

Here’s an exception for you: growing pups!

Here the best thing to do is feed to appetite, as well as to condition. Don’t starve your puppy! Like us, they grow in spurts, so may suddenly become much hungrier. Go with this. But don’t forget to be checking condition at the same time.

 

What does my dog think?

Another great question! Here are some answers for you.

How many meals?

And here’s a general guide on how many meals you should be feeding:

Exceptionally tiny or large dogs may need some variation.

Some dogs prefer to eat once a day, usually an evening meal.

Others may enjoy a snack earlier, breakfast or lunchtime.

Let your dog guide you!

You'll find lots more about what to feed and when, and how to use treats effectively in your training, in the books at www.brilliantfamilydog.com/books

And for lots more answers to your questions, get our free email course here!

How long will it take to settle in my new dog?

We expect it to take a while for a puppy to settle in to our home, don’t we?

Well - we should! But some folk expect to get an instantly devoted and trained dog as their 8-week-old puppy’s feet land in their home. This is unrealistic, and you will find many articles on www.brilliantfamilydog.com to help you to get your puppy off to a great start.

But when it comes to older dogs, this expectation of speedy assimilation into the household mystifies me.

We’re talking about a re-homed adult dog or older puppy here.

Now this rehoming may be because a perfect home became unavailable - e.g. the owner died.

Or it may be because the dog has been found wandering on the streets and taken in with no knowledge of past history.

Or it may be that there is a little history (though how true that is is questionable, seeing as that history comes from people who no longer want the dog and are happy to make excuses for their abandonment).

The dog may have been in several homes.

Or in none.

It may have suffered neglect, abuse, or at the very least, a lack of understanding.

If the dog is handed in as an adolescent, most likely it has had NO training or guidance whatever, and now it’s running riot and its neglectful owners have lost patience and just want to shovel it off to someone else to deal with.

And all this may manifest in manic behaviour, “aggression”, resource guarding, lack of response, being shut down aka learned helplessness - not to mention pulling on the lead, stealing, chewing, running off, and the rest.

Your dog arrives with baggage!

So you can see that whatever route your dog took to arrive with you, whatever reason he has found himself in a shelter, he has a load of history and experiences to deal with.

And that means YOU have a load of history and experiences to deal with!

With the possible exception of the dog whose owner died, and who will be confused and sad and lost, your newly-rehomed dog is the victim of his past life.

He has no idea what’s going on!

He has no idea who to trust - if anyone. Maybe his trust in humans has been shattered?

He has no idea whether you are another staging post in his messed-up life, or that he’s with you for good.

He may have no conception of regular meals, comfy beds, a secure home, true love and companionship, trust.

He may not be house-trained.

He may think he has to snatch and steal in order to get anything, then snarl over it in order to keep it.

And he has more than likely had ZERO training. Of any kind, good or bad.

He may only know punishment and abuse and be fearful.

He may have been let run wild and thinks that’s the way his life will continue.

He may never have worn a collar or been on a lead.

He may have had to doss down wherever he could find a bit of shelter, never able to sleep soundly for fear of attack.

How quickly will this dog settle in with you?

You can see this is not going to be an overnight thing!

In fact, any new dog, from whatever circumstance, can take a good couple of months to settle in with you, learn all your (strange!) ways, know that you are now his home.

And to trust you.

Depending on his history we could be looking at many months.

Depending on how much damage needs to be undone, many many months.

But of one thing you may be sure!

With the possible exception of the dog whose owner died, this dog was not in a shelter because he was a perfect, perfectly-trained, pet dog!

No-one gives up a wonderful companion unless they are in extremis.

You are getting a botched, mishandled, possibly abused, basket-case of a dog.

Be clear on that.

BUT

BUT BUT BUT BUT BUT!

This does not mean that this dog won’t become your best friend, one who gives you enormous pleasure, enhances your life, gives you a purpose, and returns your affection and dedication 100-fold!

My first dog was a Battersea Dogs’ Home special - found wandering the streets. Poppy became a Working Trials Champion, with an entire alphabet of letters after her name!

You can learn her story in our free Workshop here.

She was an amazing dog with which my dog-owning life was blessed. She set me on the path of force-free training, of having endless fun building a close and enduring relationship with a member of another species.

She rewarded me by taking me all over the British Isles to compete and enjoy the company of other likeminded dog-owners, and it was with a heavy heart that I sat on the kitchen floor and held her in my arms when she left us, aged 16.

By all means get yourself an older dog!

But be sure that you view your future together realistically, and not through rose-tinted spectacles.

Love may not be enough.

Dedication, training, coaching, knowing where to go for the right guidance - all this is essential!

[HINT: try that free Workshop to get you started on your new life together!]