Virtual Easter Egg Hunt - Enter Now!

 ENTRY FOR THE VIRTUAL EASTER EGG HUNT IS NOW CLOSED - BEST OF LUCK TO THOSE WHO ENTERED!

Thanks again to the amazing generosity of our devoted supporters we have an awesome prize for our first Virtual Easter Egg Hunt. It's a collection of Easter treasures sure to delight both dogs and hoomans alike.

The prize contains:

• Simmel cake
• Easter cupcakes
• Richly fruited hot cross buns
• Cornish clotted cream shortbread
• Lindt Easter Egg
• Snuffle mat
• Doggy Easter Egg
• Doggy Easter treats
• Doggy ball

The Virtual Easter Egg Hunt will take place on the 9th/10th April 2022. An egg named for each of the dogs currently in our care will be hidden throughout our blog, and the entry that correctly identifies the most eggs will win the prize listed. In the event of a tie-break, whoever submitted their entry first of the leading entries will be deemed the winner

Note that because the prize contains food it can only be delivered within the mainland UK.  

Entry is £3 and registered via PayPal using the button below. We will need your email address to inform you of the relevant details once the hunt starts, including how to submit your list of found eggs. Your delivery address will be required when you purchase entry so that the prize can arrive for the Easter weekend - although we can't necessarily guarantee that!

All proceeds from the hunt will be donated to the German Shepherd Dog Welfare Fund to help continue our mission of rescuing vulnerable GSDs and providing them with the lives they deserve.

Good luck everybody and Happy Easter! 

Dickie's Diary - The Three Second Rule

Hi fellow pupsters - Dickie Hill here with my latest diary. Mum teaches me all kinds of interesting stuff, but also things that don't make sense and aren't as much fun. I trust her though, so I try my best to do what she asks - that way leads to delicious creamy cheese! Almost any amount of lessons is worth that I can tell you.

I mean recently she introduced me to something called the 'Three Second Rule'. Now at first I thought that was how long I had to wait before receiving more cream cheese (still too long!), but sadly it didn't. Mum explained that it was a way to keep me and the other dog safe and stress free when we first meet each other. 

Despite sounding boring, and still disappointed by the lack of creamy cheese, it was easy peasy really. We approach each other with our mums by our side and just as we say hello we're guided away from each other. Three seconds isn't enough for proper snifftroductions, but if we're both calm then we can say hello properly. Which is aces. And there was creamy cheese for licking, although some of it did end up on my nose, so I had to keep licking until I found it! 

Next time Mum introduced me to a game that I really enjoyed, I must dash I hear a bag being rustled and must investigate. Until next time pupsters! 🦴🦴

Lawrence's Drive Thru - Double Trouble

Lawrence's Drive Thru is proving ever popular with its customers, so much so, they just charge in and ignore the queue!

Lawrence runs the Coombe Farm Boarding Kennels, in Stamford and is also  instrumental in rehoming GSD Welfare Fund rescued dogs in his area.

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