Sunday, 11 September 2022

Puppy Care Topic - First Walks

This Puppy Care article regarding their first walks is extracted from a handout provided to the adopters of Lexi's puppies. It was written by Lisa Hird, our resident behavioral expert who also runs the Dog Behaviour Clinic (https://www.dogbehaviourclinic.co.uk/), and she is available to support the needs of you and your dog.


Puppy Care Topic – First Walks 

FIRST WALKS - SOCIALISING IN THE PARK – OR JUST A BIT OF A NIGHTMARE?

What the puppy sees:

The park is HUGE compared to the safety of my house and garden. It smells AMAZING! There are so many smells to sniff and so many things to see, and then there is that ball to play with, and look at all those dogs, and all those people who keep coming over to see me, and pat me on the head, and play with me, and this is just SO EXCITING

Or what the puppy might see:

The park is HUGE compared to my garden and house. Everything is moving so fast. Everything smells strange. There are too many people about and they feel scary. There are too many dogs around and they are getting way too close, and even though I normally love playing with my ball, I cannot even look at it right now.

There are very few puppies who do not feel like either one of these two. And, even though the first one may seem as if she is dealing with things ok, neither of them is in a good state of mind where they can learn what they need to about being in the park.

KEEP IT CALM

Puppies need to be calm to be well socialised. Over-excited puppies quickly become tired and overwhelmed. Scared puppies are already overwhelmed. The only way that a puppy can learn anything that she needs to about her new world is if she is calm:

A CALM puppy can CONCENTRATE and CONNECT with her handler, in order to make the right CHOICES and to build CONFIDENCE through her new experiences.

THE SOCIALISING RULE

A puppy’s first experience of something new needs to Feel Good.

Then the next 10 experiences of that same new thing need to Feel Good

Only then is it alright for an experience of that new thing to just Feel Ok

You need AT LEAST 20 good experiences of something before one of those experiences can Feel Bad, otherwise, your puppy may develop fear issues.

Even a puppy who has been brought up in a litter with many brothers and sisters can become fearful of other dogs. In fact, puppies living with dogs of all ages can become fearful of other dogs if new introductions are not managed carefully in the first 8 weeks of living with you.

During this period, she needs to be introduced to as many calm, well-mannered dogs as possible, preferably dogs who are older than she is. Ideally, she needs to meet at least 10 CALM dogs before she meets another puppy. Those calm, well-mannered dogs will help her Feel Good about dogs.

After she has met 10 calm dogs, then it is ok for her to play with another puppy, in a carefully managed, brief period together. This will be her one Feel Ok experience of another dog, and it will need to be balanced with interacting with her 10 calm and well-mannered friends so that she does not associate dogs with feeling excited and playing with them all the time.

We all want our dogs to have other dog friends and feel comfortable with them, but we also want our dogs to walk calmly past other dogs in the street. If a puppy gets to play too frequently with other puppies, or with over-excitable dogs in these early 8 weeks, she will associate all other dogs with feeling excited, which soon turns to barking at other dogs in the street. Being around other calm dogs will help her to stay calm.

For this reason, avoid puppy parties organised by Vets, pet shops, or Creches. All meetings between your puppy and other dogs need to happen in the safety of your garden and to be carefully supervised by you, with plenty of time away from each other and with opportunities to rest. If your puppy keeps trying to play with the older dog, intervene and put her in her den/crate/pen with a frozen Kong so that she learns to calm herself down.

During this 8-week fear period, it is vital that she doesn’t have any interaction with dogs that make her feel intimidated. If another dog is too pushy with her, and she tries to hide from him, remove the other dog straight away. Never let your puppy feel overwhelmed by a dog who is trying to sniff her, paw at her, or loom over her. If your puppy has thrown herself onto the floor, with her head turned away and is showing the whites of her eyes, then she feels scared of the other dog. Do not let them work it out themselves, and don’t try to encourage her to play with the dog – this kind of interaction can result in puppies feeling very uncertain of other dogs and may create issues later in life.

If you do not know 10 dogs who are polite and well-mannered, then just 2 or 3 calm dogs are better than any excitable ones. It is much better that your puppy only meets a few calm, well-mannered dogs and is happy with them, than risking taking her into a park with off-lead dogs and having any unpleasant or over-excitable meetings.

You can discover more Puppy Care Topics, as well as other useful articles in our Article Archive here:

https://gsdwelfare.blogspot.com/p/blog-page.html

Friday, 9 September 2022

Car Window Stickers Available In Store

 


After requests from our supporters we're pleased to announce that car stickers for our main and members logos are now available from our store.

They self cling, and fix to any glass interior and are perfect for showing your support for our shared cause.

Buy them now for only £4.99 each here - https://www.gsdwelfarefund.co.uk/product-category/shop/decorative/window-stickers/

All profits made from their sale are donated to the GSD Welfare Fund.

Wednesday, 7 September 2022

100 Days with 100 Dogs: Day 38 - Resident Nelson

Day 38 of 100 Days with 100 Dogs is apparently International Buy a Book Day - I think these holidays are getting a little too blatant :-) However rather than link you to my author page I'll offer a link to a book that is essential reading for anyone looking to take in a rescue - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Adopting-rescue-dog-Without-Worry-ebook/

Resident Nelson

This cheeky chappie is Nelson. He his a very handsome 6 year old, black and gold GSD. Sadly he came to us because of some issues he had that his previous home that they weren't able to work with. Resource guarding and reacting to people and dogs being just some of his issues.

Since joining us he's made tremendous progress but unfortunately we do not feel he is suitable for rehoming. He will stay in our care where he is very happy and settled.

This dog is kept under our permanent care, please consider sponsoring our resident dogs to help pay for their life long upkeep. You can sponsor our residential dogs here: http://www.gsdwelfarefund.co.uk/product/sponsor-a-dog/

Tuesday, 6 September 2022

100 Days with 100 Dogs: Day 37 - Meet Storm

 

Day 37 of 100 Days with 100 Dogs welcomes a lovely young lady looking for her forever home - can you provide one for her?

Meet Storm

This beautiful girl is Storm. She is just 12 months old, and a black and tan entire short coated female. A disagreement with a resident dog has brought her into Welfare. 

She is very loving towards humans, even strangers. Because of her history she will be looking for a pet free home. She has a high prey drive, but we think she would be fine with older children (above 10 years old).

She's currently located in Mildenhall, Suffolk

If you are able to offer Storm her forever home then please contact us via our adoption page - http://www.gsdwelfarefund.co.uk/adopting-a-german-shepherd/

Not already a GSD Welfare Member? Then we invite you to join and from as little as £10 per year you will receive our quarterly newsletter 'Dogsbody' - https://www.gsdwelfarefund.co.uk/product/gsd-welfare-fund-annual-membership/

  


Tia's Pupdates - Fake Snow, Real Games

Hello everypawdy. Tia here with a pupdate. Today I have to tell you all about a wonderful new game I've learned to play with the hooman. It was so much fun, and a surprise too, as I really wasn't expecting to be playing games. The hooman let me out to play while she cleaned my kennel. I don't usually pay too much attention to this as I usually take myself off in the field to explore. 

However, today curiosity lured me back to check what she was doing.  She was having so much fun all by herself throwing snow around. It wasn't like the normal icy snow, but still looked a lot of fun so I joined in.  I helped her to pull it out of the bag and rolled around in it.  

The hooman being a spoilsport tried to end the game, and asked me to go out of the kennel. I really don't think it's fair she gets all the fun so I stayed. I shall be watching in future and every time I see her with the bag of snow I won't leave the kennel.  Anyway - I must go as my Rodney is calling. 

Love Tia ❤❤❤

To keep me in the delicious treats I so richly deserve, please consider donating generously to the German Shepherd Dog Welfare Fund. They not only rescued me (although ambushed is probably more accurate), they also continue to take good care of me and far too many other dogs! 

https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=3TFBXREQPUVUG

[Editor's Note] I've just narrowly escaped being bitten on the bottom as Tia was vexed that no-one had sent her any problems to solve. I tried to explain that maybe, biting on the bottom isn't a solution to all of life's problems. So she bit on the bottom and ran away. 

If you have a problem that requires a dog with a particular set of skills then email in to tiaspupdates@gmail.com. Tia does accept bribes, usually in the form of her favourite sausages, to satisfy this not-so-subtle hint please make a donation and make a note that it is for Tia's sausages.

Monday, 5 September 2022

100 Days with 100 Dogs: Day 36 - Millie in Rehabilitation

Day 36 of our 100 Days with 100 Dogs series and we meet one of the many dogs that come to us, but need rehabilitation work before they can be considered for rehoming. Let's meet Millie...

Millie in Rehabilitation

Millie is a short coated sable female who is just 1 years old.  She was taken to the vets by her previous owner as they didn’t want her any longer.  We've had her with us for 14 weeks now, and we are still ironing out a few issues with her.  

She is currently in foster and living with another dog, although she can still be a bit over the top in her play.  Millie is making wonderful progress, but is not ready for homing quite yet.  We will not be able to give a proper idea of the home we are looking for, for Millie, until she has had more rehabilitation.

We will post again when Millie is ready for rehoming, after then we'll look at adoption queries for her.

Today is International Day of Charity and we hope you are able to support us generously today - you can look on our store - http://www.gsdwelfarefund.co.uk/shop/ , donate directly, or support a new fundraiser raising money to help pay for Brodie's surgery here - https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/kiansendurancechallenge

Sunday, 4 September 2022

100 Days with 100 Dogs: Day 35 - Meet Rocky

Day 35 of the 100 Days with 100 Dogs falls on 'Have Another Dessert day', which apparently is US based, but I think it's fine to celebrate in the UK, so some Butterscotch Angel Delight (other puddings are available) which not only is one of my favourite treats, but Wellington does like it, so I get all of it to myself! Marvelous 𓀁 Today we meet a young lad looking for his forever home - can you help?

Meet Rocky

Rocky is a handsome 2 year old male German Shepherd. He's a bi-colour. When he first came to us he exhibited a few issues, but we determined that they stemmed from anxiety. 

Since then he's come on in leaps and bounds, and is much happier than when we first met him. On first meetings he takes a while to warm to you, although once he knows you, he is a lovely boy. Rocky's ideal home would be as an only pet and no children.

Rocky is currently located at Mildenhall in Suffolk.

If you can offer Rocky a loving home, then please get in touch via our adoption query form here - https://www.gsdwelfarefund.co.uk/dogslist/

We are holding as Halloween Horror Auction in October (not long to go at all!) - if you have something suitable to donate for auction then please get in touch whith us here - https://gsdwelfare.blogspot.com/2022/09/calling-all-creators-of-horror.html