Bear

Ruth — Sun, 13 May 2012 12:16:50 +0000

Just had to share this one with you.

Bear had a hide chew and made himself scarce for a few minutes while I was getting Georgie ready for our walk. He came back without the chew and looking like this…

Digging? Me? Nah…

Marni

Ruth — Mon, 07 May 2012 13:13:37 +0000

Meet Marni, he’s an 8 year old English Springer Spaniel in need of a home. He’s a typical springer and loves his ball and a good fuss. Although a little overweight, it won’t take much to get it off him as he is active enough; the main problem will be resisting those gorgeous pleading eyes!

He came from a home as he apparantely snapped at the grandchild. The details are very sketchy, there is no age to the child and I’m not sure if this was the only time he has ever been with a child. I don’t know what the circumstances were – was the child running by, scared of dogs, holding food, teasing Marni or maybe it was unprovoked, but they are rare cases. I believe there was no assistance sought in an attempt to sort Marni’s behaviour so I can’t help but wonder if he can be helped through this.

Spending time with Marni proved he is very quick to learn and is very affectionate. A little basic training will hone what he has already and make him a perfect gentleman.

Do you think you could give him his forever home? It would probably be best to keep him away from young children until he has been fully assessed around them. He is at the Animal Rescue Charity in Bishops Stortford, their contact number is 01279 501547 or give me a shout.

Georgie and Bear

Ruth — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 20:14:45 +0000

Georgie and Bear are the most delightful, if boisterous, Rottweillers. Georgie is the thinker, Bear is the muscle.

Bear really wanted the football that had rolled into the water…

Georgie came up with the idea of how to get it out…

She’s very good with her paws…

And Bear stands by helplessly as Georgie gets the ball all to herself

For an old girl, Georgie is pretty nifty on her paws and I wasn’t quick enough to get a shot of her running off with her treasure! Bear got a gravy bone though as I felt so sorry for him!!

Laddie

Ruth — Sat, 25 Feb 2012 17:42:31 +0000

I would like to introduce you to Laddie. He is around 7 months old and I believe he’s a Shepherd Collie cross and more on the size of a collie.

Laddie is just adorable. He loves to play, is very quick to learn and above all really loves a cuddle. With a little training he will become the most perfect addition to any family home. Considering his faltered start to life – he came over from rescue in Ireland as he was on death row – he doesn’t appear to be affected by any of that and loves people and other dogs. I’ve only shown him cats that are in the run so can’t confirm what he will be like with free running furries, but he didn’t react to any of them. He wasn’t overly bothered by the chickens or geese who were out in the yard either, so that bodes well. As he is so young and as he learns so quickly, I feel he will be easily trained to leave other animals alone should he show any over enthusiastic interest in them.

Think you could give him the forever home he deserves and yearns for? He is at the Animal Rescue Charity in Bishops Stortford, contact number 01279 501547. If you have any questions about him, feel free to drop me a line too.

Sacha and the Camera

Ruth — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 19:43:18 +0000

Sacha doesn’t really like the camera – unlike my boy Woody who would have a comb in his back pocket if he had any – and these are the lengths she goes to to avoid the lens! A little extreme maybe, but when you’re as gorgeous as her I guess you can do what you feel is right…

Liver Cake

Ruth — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 18:01:18 +0000

Training dogs can be quite a difficult thing sometimes. One thing that makes it to hard is we don’t speak dog and dogs don’t speak human, so verbally explaining to our dogs what we want them to do just won’t work. I don’t push and pull my dogs around to get them to understand what it is I want them to do as no one likes to learn this way, nor do I brow beat them into submission so they simply go along with me as they are frightened to do anything else. To help me get over to them what I would like them to do, I use my clicker and treats.

There are different levels of treats. When it comes to training something new or in an area where there are many distractions, I bring out the tasty treats. For something they have learnt well and have completed lots of times, I use the lower value treats. When I say lower value, I mean things like dried kibble and shop bought training treats. Don’t get me wrong, they are still quite tasty to my dogs, but they are similar to the food they get every day and they no doubt think ’why should I work so hard now as I’m going to get a bowl full of that stuff later?’. To put it another way; you are offered a cheese cracker and asked to do something special that takes a lot of hard work or thinking power and in an hour you are having your lunch which is a box full of cheese crackers complete with cheese. Would you work hard for that one cracker? Maybe you would, but the chances are if you were offered something that you really find tasty such as a huge slice of cream cake or a roast chicken dinner, you would work that little bit harder with your carefully prepared packed lunch all but forgotten.

Now, I’m not saying you should feed your dog cream cakes or a roast dinner. I’m saying for the demanding tasks, offer something tasty. This can be hot dog sausages (smelly and tasty, most dog’s dream!), small pieces of cheese (make sure they are small as cheese is fattening), chicken, beef, ham and so on. I often use left over meat from a roast for training treats. I also make liver cake. I have yet to find a dog that will turn its nose up at this delight in my treat bag. Personally, I loathe liver, but it flicks my dogs’ switches so I make it and freeze it then I always have some to hand.

I found a recipe by Sarah Whitehead and adapted it ever so slightly…

1 lb liver, 1 lb flour, 3 eggs, 2 garlic cloves, oil and milk or water. Liquidise the liver, eggs and garlic together and then add the flour. Add some oil and enough milk or water to make it into a smooth cake mix. You can either put it into a microwavable dish and cook on full power for about 10 minutes or bake in the oven on gas mark 5 for about 30 minutes or until firm to the touch. Cut into small pieces and freeze. If not freezing, use within 24-36 hours. Note that if you don’t quite like the smell of liver, you will want a scented candle on the go or an air freshener to hand…

And there you have it, home made treats that your dog will love you for and won’t cost the earth to make.

Jenny

Ruth — Sun, 12 Jun 2011 16:30:58 +0000

Jenny is a yellow labrador and in true lab form, she has an incessant need to have something in her mouth. If you can’t find a shoe, find Jenny. If you can’t find Jenny, follow the trail of shoes. She loves them! Luckily, she doesn’t eat them. She just carries them around and leaves them in strange places no where near to the partner. She stayed with me for a few days and when she went back home I couldn’t find one of my slippers for love nor money. When she came back again a few weeks later, the slipper re-appeared. I made sure all my shoes were made up of pairs before she left after that visit…

She also loves to follow you around as she is like most dogs and doesn’t want to miss out on anything. Especially if you are in the kitchen. There’s food in there and it just might be for a certain dog! This following around should mean that it is easy to take a photo of said dog. Not quite so. To take a good photo of a dog you need to be down on their level and as soon as you get down on your hunches to take a shot, she’s right there in the lens! Hence the rather close up photo of Jenny. And yes, there’s something in her mouth!

The Bounciest Dogs

Ruth — Sat, 06 Nov 2010 15:02:31 +0000

Dexter and Digby are pretty much the bounciest and happiest dogs I have worked with. Luckily they don’t come from the same home! Dexter is a liver and tan dobermann and Digby is a German short haired pointer. Maybe it’s something to do with being of German origin, but they are simply bonkers. If they were human I’d put them in lederhosen at a beer festival and sit back to watch the fun commence!

They think that everyone should have some Dexter or Digby love as everyone needs a lift these days. They don’t worry about the financial crisis we are experiencing, love from these two comes for free and there is oodles of it for all! Luckily Digby loves food and Dexter; his ball, so there is always a way to get them to sit still, even if it is only for a very short time. A glint flashes in their eyes and they are off again, bounding after a rolling leaf or pouncing on an unsuspecting blade of grass. So long as it moves or stays still, gets away or gives up the chase, it’s fodder for these two chaps to have some fun with.

Dog walking – Daisy and Belle

Ruth — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 17:56:24 +0000

Let me introduce you to Daisy (the white and grey fluffy one) and Belle (the smooth grey and white one). Not necessarily a couple that you would normally put together as Daisy is typically what Belle, as a Greyhound, would chase. Yet they get along like a house on fire. Beware the dog who tries to beat up on Daisy – Belle will step in and put him in his place faster than you can say ‘ew, you don’t want to do that’!

Poor Belle was in a bit of a state when she was rejected as a racing greyhound, but she fell on her four paws when David found her and took her home in time for Christmas. After he gave her some major TLC and a lot of understanding, she has come on leaps and bounds and you wouldn’t recognise her. I do sometimes struggle to realise just how she didn’t make it on the track; that girl is fast.

Despite her size, Daisy rules the roost and ensures she is in the middle of everything, especially when I have my trusty treat bag within reach… She learns tricks very quickly but when Kate tries to get Daisy to perform, all of a sudden she becomes slow and has a look on her face as though to say ‘nope, not got a clue what you want. But I’ll have that sausage if you don’t want it?!’ Cheeky monster…

It’s taken a while, but I have eventually got Belle to relax a little when taking a photo of her. She is like many dogs who don’t like having a camera pointed at them, but a piece of sausage and taking the photos from my lap works wonders! The only problem for a long time was the second I had a decent shot of Belle, Daisy would appear out of nowhere and I would end up taking a photo of her backside. See what I mean about having to be in the middle of everything?! Daisy, on the other hand, loves nothing better than to sit and pose for the camera, but just at the crucial moment she blinks, moves, yawns, looks away – you name it and she’ll do it. Except sit still.

But, I did get this shot of her not looking her very best… We were out just after the rain and Daisy and Belle were in and out of the tall grass having a wail of a time. The downside to this is they got soaked. And covered in burrs. So, I couldn’t miss on the opportunity on sharing with you what Daisy looks like after such a walk – sorry Kate!!

How cute is he…

Ruth — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 15:09:01 +0000

Well, I think he’s cute.

A client of mine is looking for another dog and despite my best efforts to get him to take a dobermann on, clearly I’m failing and here’s the proof. He has just sent this photo to me of a border terrier x jack russell puppy he recently saw.

But hey, so long as he gets the right dog for him and his girlfriend, who am I to argue about the breed?