Preparing for this weekend's Virtual Easter Egg Hunt

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

We are busy preparing for this weekend's Virtual Easter Egg Hunt. As you can see from the image, the dog's will have their own, named eggs for you to find! The sharp eyed will have noticed that some dogs share the names, but don't worry - we'll provide you with the list of names you need to find.

If you haven't entered yet, then you're running out of time as all entries must be in Friday 9th April 2022, ready for the hunt to start the next day! Click on the link below to enter.

Behavioural Topics - Post Lockdown Blues and Beyond

A few days ago we posted an article featured in the Breed Council magazine about how the global pandemic has impacted us an organisation. We also know the toll it is taking not only on our lives, but the mental state of our dogs as well. Lisa Hird, our resident behavioural expert has written an informative article concerning that fact.

Lisa Hird is an experienced and qualified behavioural expert and you can find out more about her services on her website - https://www.dogbehaviourclinic.co.uk/

Post Lockdown Blues and Beyond

We know the Covid-19 had an enormous impact on our mental health. The restrictions placed on all of us by the COVID-19 pandemic have affected our dogs, too.

As a result, a number of things happened. Families have found themselves home all day, many unable to work and with small children or teenagers to try to manage.

Many routines fell apart and some dogs found themselves overwhelmed with the attention they now received. Walks and play times and the availability of the guardians all increased.

For some dogs, these changes may have been welcomed if normally left home alone while guardians worked. For others, some dogs found themselves the centre of attention when they would rather have been snoozing quietly somewhere. During the various lockdowns, behaviourists noticed an increase in reactive behaviour from dogs towards their caregivers as they were over stimulated, over tired, and irritable.

Thousands of families decided to welcome a puppy into their homes during lockdown. In some ways, this was an ideal opportunity as most would have sufficient time to train their puppies. Sadly, much of the training did not include teaching puppies the essential life skill of being able to cope alone.

Things have begun to settle down and many people have gone back to work. But what about those lockdown puppies who may never have been taught to be alone? Behaviourists are now seeing an increase in separation related behaviours.

Being alone does not come naturally to dogs or puppies. Time must be taken to put in some training to help puppies cope with not having attention or company. An essential life skill for puppies is to be able to handle relationships including not having access to social contact, even though guardians are at home with them. Puppies/dogs need to learn how to settle when company is available – not just when it isn’t. One simple way to do this is to use a puppy play pen and slowly build the duration of absences in a positive way. After all, through selective breeding, we have created dogs who rely on us. Dogs are highly social animals so how can we expect them to simply understand they must now be home alone?

When we returned to work, we often did not consider how this may feel to our dogs. There is a great deal of evidence for bonds between people and animals throughout the ages, and the benefits of the human-animal bond are well documented. Dogs are sentient beings and science has shown us that they experience emotions in the same areas of the brain and in similar ways to how a human experiences emotion. Change needs to be carefully managed, and lots of opportunities for environmental enrichment should be provided.

For those seeking further information there is another article here worth reading - What Not to do When Your Dog is Unwell

The Pandemic's Impact on our Resources

In the latest Breed Council magazine (which was available at Crufts - www.gsdbreedcouncil.co.uk/) we were invited to inform their readers about how the global COVID pandemic has affected our rescues. This article is now available online below and please note that since the article was written we now have 90 dogs in our care.

THE PANDEMIC’S IMPACT ON OUR RESCUES

From the German Shepherd Dog Welfare Fund

Written by Debbie Hill (Chairman)

When the government first declared a pandemic back in 2020, we anticipated that it would influence the pet world as surely as already seen in the human one. People began working from home and a well-known celebrity tweeted that lockdown would be the ideal time to adopt a dog. On the face of it, this sounds like a great idea, but it wasn’t fully thought through. We arranged a committee meeting and evaluated the developing situation. We expected that we would see a rush of dogs needing to be rehomed as the situation returned to normality. This would be compounded by the usual level of neglect and abuse that being increased by the increased level of ownership.

However, as much as we prepared, we weren’t’ ready for the reality of it.

It started as we started receiving an ever increasing number of enquiries from people suddenly wanting to adopt our dogs. As a rescue charity, we decided not to rehome during the pandemic unless it was to someone known to us. I personally went from taking five calls a week (if I was lucky) from people wanting to adopt, to approximately twenty calls a day. In a sense this should have been a dream come true, but in reality these well-meaning people were not ideal homes for our dogs.

One caller wanted to adopt a young female in our care. During the conversation, I asked what his working hours would be. He stated that he worked from home, so I followed up with whether he would be going back to work when lockdown was over. He repeated that he worked from home. Eventually I quite forcefully asked “when lock down is over, and you go back to work, how long will you be out of the house?” Ten hours per day was his response, but it would be OK because he’d convert the outside toilet to lock her in while at work!

Another call came from a young girl, who sounded in her young teens. She enquired about adopting a dog, and I replied that I had to speak to her parents. Within a few minutes a disgruntled gentleman called us and made it quite clear that I’d disturbed his work and that he’d given his daughter permission to adopt a dog. He then explained that a dog would keep his children occupied while he worked. I apologised, and explained that I couldn’t let a minor adopt a dog.

Not to be put off, he then asked about a particular dog, one totally unsuitable for homing with children, so I informed him of that. After stating how ridiculous that was, and proceeded to ask that if a dog was going to bite, did it matter if it bit a child or adult? A bit taken aback by that, I replied that I was sure he’d see it differently if his child were bitten.

Not to be put off he wanted to know more about the adoption process. Like many rescues we take great care to try and place dogs in suitable environments and with the right people – this is not only for the adopting family’s safety, but for the dog’s well-being as well. So I explained our process and the reasoning behind it, but he was unimpressed and asked if I actually wanted to rehome any dogs! I tried to explain why; it’s not enough to find a willing home, but to also ensure that it is right for the individual dog’s needs. We'd toughened our criteria on adopting our dogs to help this. For example: all adopters must complete a short online course. Not only does this give the prospective adopter more knowledge on dog ownership but also demonstrates their commitment.

It continued like this for several months. Dogs became difficult to come by and so the cost of puppies skyrocketed. Some pet owners, and the already established rogue breeders saw a way to make a quick buck and mated their dogs with no health checks and no thought to where these dogs would go. All they wanted was the £2,000 (and often more) per pup.

One well known rescue I spoke to said they didn’t have any dogs in as the demand had become so high. In comparison we still had all our dogs. After a few months the calls lessened from people wanting to adopt, instead they were gradually replaced by people wanting to rehome their dogs. One example was some seven month-old puppies with issues because they hadn’t been socialised during lockdown. 

In another notable example an owner arrived at the kennels with her 9 month-old male German Shepherd. As she took him out of her car, he flew at the kennel girl and grabbed her arm quite forcibly. The lady explained that this was why she couldn’t keep him. After asking why he was like this, she blamed the lockdown, so she hadn’t socialised him. That reason did come as a surprise because walking our dogs was one of the few reasons we could leave our homes. Unfortunately this poor dog doesn’t really stand much chance of being rehomed because he isn’t safe, so he will stay in our care for the rest of his life. 

Once people returned to their place of work demand for our services continued to increase. When asked the reason why they were relinquishing their dogs, the answer was often a change of circumstances, most notably going back to work.

Surely they knew they would have to go back at some time.

The situation continues to deteriorate. We now have over 80 dogs in our care, which proves quite a strain on our limited resources. We’re a relatively small charity despite being one the first dedicated charities for this breed in the country. We receive no aid from official sources, and so are reliant on donations from generous members of the public. We also undertake to never euthanise a dog simply because it can’t be rehomed. We believe that every dog – despite any behavioural or health issue – deserves a chance at a decent life.

For us the saddest aspect is how many of these dogs can’t be rehomed because of their lack of socialisation. Most reputable breeders will take dogs they have bred back, or at least help but the back street breeders really are not interested. However, they are not all from back street breeders. Some reputable breeders bred more than they should because of the soaring demand, so are not able to take them back. This week alone, we have taken dogs in nearly every day and three today as I write this and I cannot see this easing any time soon.

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