Ask Tia - An Exciting New Thing!

Good morning everypawdy! Tia here, and not with my usual pupdate (although there'll still be pupdates), but with an exciting new thing - which I'm sure you'll all love. 

Recently I realised that the world isn't as bleak as it once seemed. My hooman and a nicer place to live (especially next to Rodney) has helped with that. After all, fine treats for tricks even a monkey could perform isn't too bad a deal. 

When watching mum, I see all she does for us, and the others here not through their own choosing and I thought - I can give back too. And when Rodney hears about what I'm doing he'll know that I'm not only pretty, but clever too. He'll love it, and then fall for me too!

So here I am - Auntie Tia. Not a real auntie of course, but just the dog you need if you have a problem you require help or advice with. I can help hoomans as well as dogs, and there's only the modest fee of chimkin and sosages. To fuel my brain's thinking - I'm sure you understand. Naturally, total discretion can be expected, which I why I'm doing it on the Internet.

So if you need my advice, or find out what I would do in your situation then you can email me at tiaspupdates@gmail.com, or direct message me on any of our social media channels.

Our first question comes from Reggie, a male brindle English Bull Terrier. He needs help with prejudice openly expressed in the street at him. Poor thing.

"I luv walks. Ambling around the manor meeting geezers and gals - hoomans too - there's a bearded one in particular who's facial hair is fun to chew! In fact, after steel cages it's my favourite thing to chew. He's all right though, but some 'ov them cross the road, or cringe when I stroll past. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not a small lad and can be quite tasty if it comes to it, but I'm not against some old geezer just taking a stroll. That 'aint what I'm about. So Auntie Tia, how do I get these scared hoomans to realise that I 'aint coming for them?"

Well Reggie - first let me thank you for getting in touch, and secondly congratulate you for being the first in this new and very special series. It's quite the honour you know! I'm sorry to say that I've experienced similar behaviour in the past. It seems to me like some of them can't see past the breed, and blame the individual dog for another's mistakes, no matter how well behaved or friendly they are. Some of them even do it to other hoomans - some of them are just plain crazy.

As for a solution, it's a tricky one that will require careful diplomacy on your part. These hoomans don't really understand the world around them, and how everything fits together. At the next encounter approach the person slowly, you'll need to be patient and when I say slowly, I mean slower than the snail crossing the path. Once you're close enough, dash behind them and at full speed bite them on the bottom. Does your breed have a decent bite? You do look a bit small, but I'm sure it'll be sufficient for a wrinkly bum. Good luck.

Later that day.

Oops, mum just explained that not all scared people are lacking in comprehension, some have just had bad experiences themselves and so have good reason to be nervous with dogs. Did you hear that Reggie? You best check before the bottom biting. Reggie? Are you there?

Oh dear... I'm sure it'll be fine.

Bye for now. Love Tia 🐾🐾🐾

To help keep me in the treats I so deserve, please consider donating generously to the German Shepherd Dog Welfare Fund who rescued me, and now take good care of me. https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=3TFBXREQPUVUG

Dickie's Diary - Playing with Ada

Hello pupstars! Or should I say pup stars? Meet Ada, she's is a friend I've made since moving to my new home. Her and mum talk a lot, and she sure runs a lot. Not as fast as me though. She made me nervous at first, but I realised that if Mum watched her, then she'd be too busy to watch me! Time to explore some new areas that aren't suitable for young pups - well that's what mum says anyway...

Of course mum spotted me - she have received special training to be so observant. I hope she teaches me that skill. It's bound to be useful when I'm a fully trained superhero. Cunning back at super speed I met Ada properly, and with some cautious sniffs soon realised she could be a good friend, and even more, she bowed and wanted to play!

Ada played well, and was quite quick and chased me, then I turned and ran after her. She was funny though, and accused me of hiding under the bouncy mat. Hiding? Not me fellow pupsters! Watch carefully, and you can see that I'm in fact defending a fort, and as their champion guard dog I couldn't go too far from the fort.

Too much play means it's time for a snooze, so bye pupsters and I'll see you soon. Love Dickie 🐾🐾🐾

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Behavioural Topics - The Importance of Feeling Safe

Lisa Hird returns with an article about how important it is for your dog to feel safe, and the signs to look for when it doesn't. This is useful advice for all breed, not just German Shepherds.

Discover more about Lisa's work, ethos, and training experience on her website: https://www.dogbehaviourclinic.co.uk/

The Importance of Feeling Safe

Bringing home a new dog should be done slowly and carefully. Take time to integrate, time to slowly introduce her to new things, time to build the relationship and time for the dog to learn she can trust you and any other dogs in the home..

When we adopted Freya we didn't have any visitors to the home for months, until she had truly settled. She was nervous of new people and had not lived inside a house or ever been for walks. We didn’t walk her for the first week either, to give her time to get to know us and feel safe. If she didn’t feel safe with us, how could we help her feel safe on a walk?

When we introduced walks, we spent some time with her off lead in the garden, dropping down a small treat by our side to encourage her alongside. Once we introduced the harness and lead we progressed to walks. But this was done slowly, at her pace and giving her choices. We might only go 10 steps or we might go 200 steps - it was her choice, every single time. When she indicated she wanted to return home, that is exactly what we did and each walk got a little longer as her confidence grew and because she chose to walk for longer.

We should never underestimate the importance of feeling safe for our dogs.

 

Welfare Welcome to Riley

I'm pleased to introduce the lovely and pawsome little Riley, who arrived at the weekend. Riley is extremely nervous of people and dogs.

Hopefully with time and guidance she's overcome some of her fears just be cautious of her around other dogs and people .

If you'd like to provide a new forever home for one of our rescued dogs then you can learn more here - https://gsdwelfare.blogspot.com/p/adhopting-german-shepherd-dog.html

Welfare Welcome to Sabre

Hi Guys, I'm Sabre... a handsome and pawsome dude if I do say so myself along with many others who will say the same .

Well, I found myself at East Pastures Kennels in the care of GERMAN SHEPHERD DOG WELFARE FUND some weeks back because of a spot of 'bovva' with the cat. See I likes me grub and it stole it....whilst I was eating it as well... little cheek!!

Well...I give it 'what for' didn't I ??

Other than leave my food alone I'm pretty much good as gold (her indoors said dat)... yeah I'm strong on the lead and boisterous but I'm super clean and food and toy orientated so very trainable... oh yeah...I'm affectionate too.. I can 'love you long time' if you give me a chance... form a queue please no pushin :-0

NB Sabre has shown no aggression whatsoever towards us however we NEVER bother any of the dogs whilst eating. We were told of the cat incident when Sabre was handed in and because of this we would enter on the side of caution and say he would be best placed in a home with no other pets or small children due to this experience.

Thank you for reading and please share xx

https://gsdwelfare.blogspot.com/p/adhopting-german-shepherd-dog.html

Dickie's Diary - Loose Lead Training

Hello pupsters. Dickie Hill here once again. I’ve had such a busy day today.  Mum's taught me loose lead walking. This is a tricky one because it’s so easy to get excited and want to rush where I am going. It's natural - I'm the fastest, so should go fast. 

Thankfully it seems that I don’t have to walk by her side (she says that’s a bit boring and restrictive for me) but I mustn't pull the lead tight. Whilst the lead is loose I receive lots of praise so I know I'm a good boy, and cream cheese. Cream cheese is the best - I don't mind walking at a slow hooman pace for tasty creamy cheese!

She uses the clicker thing and every time it makes the click noise I'm given a treat. If I get a bit excited and the lead goes tight she stops walking and there is no click noise or treats. If I say so myself, I am really good at this. That is the simple part really. 

The confusing bit is that I'm supposed to continue walking and not take notice of everyone around me.  They must be in on the training because they make it more difficult as they'll sometimes call me or try to make a fuss of me. Naturally I think that means I should go and see them but mum only allows that once she's given the cue to do so. I don’t really understand why this is but I’m sure I will learn in time and my mum is usually right about these things. She also says things that caused me to rethink the strangers working with her - she probably thinks I don't understand some of those words - but I'm a clever dog and I do.    

There's just do much to learn! Lots of love Dickie 🐾🐾🐾 

Tia's Pupdates - ACE Free Work

Morning everypawdy. Tia here with a pupdate. As you can see I’ve been busy doing some ACE free work, and trust me their a lot of fun! The hooman lays out several food stations with different texture foods. There are some lickie ones like doggy pate and cream cheese. There's also soft ones such as chimkin (My favourite!) and sosages. Not only those delights, but we also get crunchy bits like puff candy, kibble (I'm assured it's best), and then a pigs ear. 

All these foods are put in lickie mats, snuffle mats, and slow feeders. I also have to walk in different surfaces like grass, rubber mats, fluffy blankets and tarpaulin. The hooman says this is all good for me. I am not complaining with all these yummy foods on offer. I usually feel quite relaxed after and have a little snooze. I’m off now to see if there is any more treats on offer. 

Bye for now. Love Tia