We will be celebrating the 100th and final day with a live online event where we will talk about the current state of the GSD Welfare Fund and the upcoming meeting about the general state of UK dog rescue. This will be hosted live on Facebook and you can find out more and register your interest here:
We hope to see as many of you there as possible!
For Day 93 of our journey through 100 Days with 100 Dogs we meet Carmen who's a recent arrival and so still being assessed but will hopefully be ready for her forever home soon. We're also busy preparing for the meeting about the state of dog rescue in the UK. Find out more on this here:
https://gsdwelfare.blogspot.com/2023/01/uk-dog-rescue-in-crisis-updated.html
She is currently located in South Lincolnshire and if you can offer Carmen or any of our other dogs a loving home then please get in touch via our adoption query form:
https://www.gsdwelfarefund.co.uk/adopting-a-german-shepherd/
We have a lovely piece of happy news for Day 92 of our 100 Days with 100 Dogs series and that is Bruno is off to his forever home.
We'd like to thank his new pawents and wish them all the best for the future together!
We still have 90 dogs looking for their forever homes - can you provide one o them?
Whilst preparing for the upcoming meeting in February at the Houses of Parliament I have updated my Rescue in Crisis document, This has included some new items that have been provided by various people in response to the first version. You can download this new version here:
http://www.gsdwelfarefund.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Hot-Topic-Rescue-in-Crisis-v2-2.pdf
If you have any comments or feedback then please post in the comments below or contact me directly.
On the 21st of February 2023, the All-Party Dog Advisory Welfare Group are holding a meeting at the Houses of Parliament concerning the state of dog rescue in the UK. It's being well attended with 100 representatives from dog rescues across the UK. There are still seats available so if you'd like to get involved get in touch with them.
https://apdawg.co.uk/feb-2023-meeting
Meet Murphy
Murphy (or Fluffy Bum) is a 2.5 year old German Shepherd and is absolutely ready for his new home. He is a gentle calm boy who would love an armchair or sofa to chill on. He loves slow, sniffy walks and gives the most amazing snogs. He can be calm around ducks and even squirrels!
He does prefer a quieter environment and can happily amuse himself if you are busy, but he does like a good snuggle and tummy rub too.
He can walk past other dogs with a little distance and encouragement but can be socially awkward with male dogs in particular if they come in his face. He has been known to say hi to the female dogs at the kennels! He ignored other dogs in the veterinary clinic with a little encouragement too. He walks beautifully on harness and lead.
He would be best as an only pet as he's not comfortable generally with other dogs or cats. He's good with people but not so much with younger children. He's happier in a calm environment.
If you can offer Murphy a home then please contact us via our adoption query form:
https://www.gsdwelfarefund.co.uk/adopting-a-german-shepherd/
Like all fields of human endeavour, there is a constant flow of research and new learning. This is notably the case for animal behavioural training where outdated techniques have been found to be harmful to the animal's development. Positive reinforcement encourages your dog to follow the behaviour you want. Fear or pain-based methods can appear to provide swift results but research has shown that this merely suppresses the unwanted behaviour.
Animal training, therefore, is an evolving field and with complex emotional creatures like dogs, there is still much to discover while their minds may not be as complicated as ours they do share many traits and are much richer than many people realise. With that in mind, it's sensible to seek professional help with training and behavioural problems in the same way you would consult a vet for health issues. The important difference here is that vets are required to have specific training but this is not the case for trainers or many other services. In this context, it's alarming how many adverts (especially on social media) offering a shortcut to a dog training career.
From Lisa Hird, the behaviouralist we work closely with
The wrong type of training can ruin a dog. It can mess them up completely. Dogs do not think like us. Therefore, when trying to use a human method to solve a problem the dog doesn't learn what you hope he is learning. It may suppress the behaviour for a while but chances are it will resurface with a vengeance.
When posts are put in the group about celebrity trainers and we make negative comments it is not personal against the poster. Part of the reason for this group is to educate dog guardians in the hope that fewer dogs end up in our care.
Proper dog training is based on science. I prefer to follow science rather than some whim or fad. Some of the celebrity trainers do not have adequate training themselves. They show problems being solved in the hour that the program is on. They don't mention all the behind-the-scenes work and the times it went wrong. There is no such thing as an overnight fix. They also don't mention the aftermath when the problem rears its ugly head worse than it was originally. Rehabilitation takes time. Often there is an emotional issue at the root of the problem. The emotional state of the dog needs to be addressed. If you are hollering and shouting and I tell you to calm down it won't work.
If you are a dog pawrent you owe it to your dog to look into the science of dog training and how dogs learn. That is only fair. You chose to share your life with another species.
If we make negative remarks about trainers that are not using science-based training it's because we care so deeply that dogs are not getting a fair deal ❤
From Debbie Hill, GSD Welfare Fund chairman
Someone recently asked me for advice about their dog. From what they were describing, it sounded like the dog was a bite risk. This problem needed to be handled with care. It needed qualified behaviourist advice. I make no secret of the fact that I don’t trust many behaviourists. We see the problems they cause and the dogs that come to us because of it. I suggested that they arranged a zoom consultation with Lisa Hird from Dog Behaviour Clinic. I made a follow-up call to see how it was going. They informed me they hadn’t contacted Lisa as they couldn’t see how a zoom meeting would help. They needed someone to come and see the dog so they found one on Facebook!!! I cringed.
Whilst I wholeheartedly agree that an in-person consultation is best, I also know that the trainer/behaviourist cannot train your dog or do what is needed to help your dog. YOU need to do that. I also know that an in-person consultation with the wrong behaviourist can lead to your dog going into rescue or worse still, euthanasia. What the zoom consultation can do is give you the tools to work with the problem. But it has to be the right advice and the right tools. Some of the dogs we have come in can be very difficult. Lisa is always my “go-to”. Obviously, she cannot get to see every dog in our care so we have online discussions and it works really well. Most of the dogs that are here with me are bite cases which could have gone horribly wrong.
If you know someone having problems with a dog, what a great Christmas present an online consult with Lisa would be ❤️
We obviously love Lisa and if you frequent our groups especially our Friends of GSD Welfare group she is incredibly generous with her advice and support.
Day 89 of our 100 Days series sees and Tia's Pupdate is a little late on being posted so to prevent a bottom-biting, she can also provide our New Year's Eve entertainment. No matter what you have planned for this evening we hope that you enjoy a good start to the New Year - take care and be safe!
And now let's discover Tia's latest shenanigans :-)
When I go out for my walk I go and see Charlie. The hooman says I’m a floozy because I push my backside up to his kennel. It makes Charlie happy though so I guess that's what she means.
Naturally, I am still being good and helping the hooman whenever I can although she never appreciates it. Apparently, we will be getting presents for Christmas so I am excited to see what I get. The hooman says there are lots of dogs that won’t get presents at Christmas which is very sad. I’m hoping that Santa will bring them a new home. I’m off to see Charlie now to be a floozy. Love Tia xxx
Can you help provide a loving home for one of our dogs and give the ultimate gift for the New Year?
