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Yuck - I’ve just found an ex-tick behind Kipper’s right elbow/shoulder gully; it’s pretty black and dessicated with lots of ‘bits’ all through the hair :sick: I got most of it with the tick remover and cleaned it up with water, but the skin is quite red - I’ve slathered Savlon on (Kipper was not...

Kipper’s had a bare patch on the side of one of his rear paw pads for some time (I think months?) which occasionally looks raw or inflamed. This was it last week: I’d assumed it was simply a bald patch he’d rubbed on granite or similar at some point, but showing OH the other day we thought hmm...

After a bit of a slow start with wrapping (I just couldn’t get the mechanics to begin with), we’ve now begun to crack figure of 8s. Kipper seems to really enjoy it - this is a snippet from the end of a longer session, and watching it back I did too many repeats early on. But we’re getting there!

I’ve been very slowly working on cooperative care with Kipper, using Deb Jones’ book ‘Cooperative Care: Seven Steps to Stress-Free Husbandry’ as a guide. I thought I’d log our progress in case anyone was interested. My main reasons for working on this with Kipper are: I want to reduce stress...

For our pre-agility classes we’ve been working on back foot targeting so that theoretically when the dog is coming down a ramp on the dog walk or seesaw, they can stop at the bottom with front feet on the ground and back feet contacting the ‘element’ to get full marks. This is not really my bag...

We took Kipper for a great after-work roar through some nearby woodland today, a very deer-heavy area. I picked a tick off his muzzle en route. Within 30 mins of getting home I’ve found another 3 ticks on him (all round the face area - I know they’re drawn by carbon dioxide, guess this is...

I’m looking for a behavioural psychology podcast that uses evidence to consider different aspects of (ideally dog-specific) animal training and behaviour. Does anyone have any recommendations?

I’ve just listened to a Fenzi Dog Sports podcast with Chrissi Schantz: Fenzi Dog Sports Podcast by Melissa Breau on Apple Podcasts I like her style, and she made a lot of observations I found useful. One small aside that stuck with me was how your own needs are as important as your dog’s needs...

We’ve been taking it slowly with wrapping as I’ve found it quite challenging to get the mechanics right and didn’t want to confuse Kipper, but last night at training I sent him round an object several times, left and right - it was as if something just clicked. This morning I successfully sent...

Elsa Blomster (Retrieving for All Occasions) has posted on her blog about the first year raising her daughter Viola with her dogs and cats: A child in the dog pack: First year with Viola - Retrieving for All Occasions I found it really interesting in terms of acknowledging the challenges but...

We're planning to get a new dog-focused vehicle to replace our beloved Land Rover, and are looking at ex-Police dog vans (mainly Skoda Octavias or the bigger Transit Connect types) because of their security and ventilation/extra features. Does anyone have any experience of them? Or...

Well, today started as a lovely gardening day - something I haven’t been able to do for months due to studying, glorious weather, excellent. Kipper was helping me by generally mooching about, being fabulous and sticking his nose in everything. And as careful as I thought I was, like an idiot I...

Kipper’s started moulting- last nigh OH groomed ‘another puppy’s worth’ of hair from him :D

Do pups get nightmares? Once in a while, Kipper will wake in the small hours (between 1 and 5) and do a whistle that’s quite different from his other noises; it’s a little nervous whine, very tentative but clearly wanting something. I’ll go and see him at which point he’ll be scrabbling to get...

I know some may be heading Devon/Cornwall-wards over the next few months, so in case anyone was interested in the Adolescent Dog Day at Devon Dogs (or any other course there) they're giving £15 off with the code ASTRO15 until 28th Feb. (I think if you put my name in the comments field you get...

This weekend, Kipper and I going on a day's Positive Gun Dog training: Positive Gun Dog Training It's completely new to us, and I'm really looking forward to it; apparently we'll cover: Recall – using a whistle for control Relationship Strong sit and positions Retrieves – basic to more complex...

Well this morning Kipper found one of my asthma inhalers (active ingredient terbutaline sulfate) and chewed it up. I don't think he swallowed any plastic but I phoned the vet to see what they said. Apparently it's used in animal medication in low doses - but his heart rate is very high so I’ve...

This is a tiny thing that hopefully stays tiny, but I noticed Kipper gnawing at his foot a lot and he’s got quite a sore spot there: I’ve put hibiscrub on which was clearly a little uncomfortable but I’m not sure what else to do now - it seems a bit minor for a full bandage (and frankly, I’d be...

We have had a boxful of toilet roll tubes waiting for me to plant sweet peas in. I finally got round to planting this morning but had a few tubes left over which Kipper was very excited about- so we invented* a game called ‘kibble roll search’. You’ll probably have come across it in various...

Happy New Year, friends! I don’t hold with New Years resolutions, but my doggy aspirations for 2019 are to get a reliable recall and a good loose lead walk. Not much, eh? Oh - and have stacks of fun along the way, obvs :D xx