Exercising Your Dog | Teacher's Pet With Victoria Stilwell

Part 1 of 3: Pet dog physical, mental and naturalness needs:

During a recent CBTT (Canine Behaviour and Training Technician) lecture the focus was on animal welfare. The lecture content made me think, and reflect, on the situations that our domesticated pets, and specifically pet dogs, find themselves. Do we fulfil the requirements of our pet’s physical, mental and naturalness needs?

Shelter, food and water, although greatly important, are not the only aspects to consider when focussing on the physical well-being of our pets. The increase in pet dog obesity was recently pointed out by the DSPCA in their “operation transformation” programme. We are quick to gasp when seeing an under nourished animal but do not nearly have the same reaction when faced with an overweight or obese animal. Both scenarios points to a failure in meeting the physical needs of the animal.

For this, the 1^st of a 3 part look into the welfare of our pets why not do a quick check to see if your pet is in a good physical condition.  The below information, taken from AniEd course material, is a good guide to use but remember to always consult your veterinarian when unsure about the health and physical condition of your pet.

Learning to Share

Learning to Share

sliding doberman

AN INTERVIEW WITH VICTORIA STILWELL by John Bell Young | Life With Dogs

AN INTERVIEW WITH VICTORIA STILWELL by John Bell Young | Life With Dogs

Hands Off when your dog jumps up

Patricia McConnell has these words of advice about dogs jumping up:
"Avoid doing what comes naturally, which is pushing dogs away with your hands. Dogs respond to this as if you were playing, and leap back with even more enthusiasm. It's so very common for people to say "down" when dogs jump up on them. But think about is: down isn't the problem, it's jumping up in the first place! All dogs are going to go down eventually! Besides, aren't you teaching your dog to lie down to "down?" Using the word to mean two different things -lie down and don't jump up - is just another way to confuse your dog."