Massage in Milton Keynes

Today we were in Milton Keynes filming Jenny from K9 Elements. With the help of Yellow Labrador Bailey, we covered:

- What does a massage session involve
- How to find a reputable therapist
- Canine Massage for the sporting dog (focussing on agility & flyball).
- Working as a Canine Massage Therapist

Book review: Dog Games: Stimulating play to entertain your dog and you

by Christiane Blenski
hubbleandhattie.com
Reviewed by Sally Marchant, Naturally Happy Dogs

Dog games is a large book full of lovely photos. It explains how to start playing with your dog, what safety things to think about and how to motivate your dog to start playing in the first place.

I thought the introduction was a little long, I was keen to 'get started with the games' and I found the menu system a little confusing but I got used it after a while.

There is some fantastic general advice like using two balls to swap rather than insisting on the dog dropping the first item, but I did think it could be organised better. I would prefer a couple of chapters on 'how to' teach and play games in general, then keep the games to just instructions to prevent too much repetition.

There are some nice ideas, like using a cardboard box with the top and base folded in as a tunnel, and some really fun suggestions such as using the lead as a skipping rope for you and your dog to jump together. Other games, such as teaching them to push a towel around the floor, are even practical! However, there are some games that I wouldn't want to teach my dog, such as taking 'washing' off a fake line (to me, this is just asking for trouble!). A lot of the games seem to be variations on a theme - hide treats under yoghurt pots, hide treats in your clothing, hide treats under a bowl, hide treats under newspaper etc, which I felt could have been described as one game with variations simply listed. However, in other sections, games described as "variations" seemed, to me, to be different games. The jumping over an umbrella task has a 'variation' of putting the umbrella up and hiding a treat behind it.

Throughout the book, though, you find great little 'gems' of ideas such as floating bowls with treats in a paddling pool and encouraging the dog to lift out the pot in order to get the treat.

There are a number of very good books referenced throughout Dog Games, and it even touches on behaviour and TTouch. The entire book encourages the reader to work 'with' their dog, rather than insisting on regimental obedience, and encourages a respect towards our canine playmates. So, in general, I would say that this has some fun ideas for anyone starting out in training and playing with their dog.

April 2014 is live

This month sees Chris Mancini up to her new tricks again as she teaches us how to get our dogs to skateboard. If your dog isn't quite ready for such advanced "trickery", you may wish to teach him one of the more basic skills, the "hold".

We have another video about TD Rally, this time looking at "U-turns" and the last of our series on IPO Schutzhund, the most unusual element to be found in a dog sport, that of "protection".

Continuing our series on castration and spaying, this month we can, if we wish, actually watch what happens in a spaying procedure. For those preferring a gentler health topic, we look at the benefits of canine massage and if alternative therapies are more to your taste you can learn about the chakras on dogs and how they differ from (but are very similar to) those on humans.

Finally, no-one wants to think about the possibility of, for whatever reason, being unable to look after their own dog but there are times, such as going into hospital, when that may be unavoidable. The National Animal Welfare Trust has come up with a brilliant pack that helps you to ask yourself all the right questions and provide all the right answers so that you are prepared for the unexpected. Should the worse come to the worse, you can avoid adding to a stressful situation by knowing that your dog's needs will be taken care of.

Crufts: 6 - 9 March 2014

We had an enjoyable if exhausting 4 days at Crufts. It was lovely to welcome some new subscribers to Naturally Happy Dogs and to meet existing ones who popped over to say Hi. It was also nice to meet up with contributors Rob Fellows, Caroline Spencer and Sarah Sheldrick.

We were positioned next to the obedience ring with it's loud announcements again, but it was lovely to be next to the Animal Care College, this is what they wrote in their March newsletter:

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New Video On-line Magazine

At Crufts we met up with the owners of an exciting video magazine called Naturally Happy Dogs. We were very impressed by the range and quality of their videos (there are over 350 currently available and new ones are being uploaded every month). They provide a superb source of fascinating material about every aspect of dogs. There are far too many to list here but highlights include interviews, training tips and techniques, behavioural issues, insights into organisation, detailed information about breeds and breeding, diet and nutrition - the list goes on and on. And the editors welcome suggestions as to subjects - so if there is anything you are particularly interested in which is not covered - just ask. We can thoroughly recommend this magazine for our current students, our past graduates and, in fact, anyone who is interested in extending their knowledge of dogs.

We were so impressed that we have come to an arrangement with the publishers so that as of today anyone who begins an Animal Care College course will be signed up for two months free access to Naturally Happy Dogs so that all those videos are immediately available to them giving the a kick start into their course.

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We are very excited to be working with them in the future.

March 2014

Our behind-the-scenes look at what happens at a veterinary practice this month offers the first of a three part series on castration and spaying. The first is an overview of the two procedures and Reena Patel explains the pros and cons of each so that we can make an informed decision about what is right for our dog.

If it's activities you're after, there are more videos on IPO Schutzhund, this time looking at the obedience element, and on teaching walkarounds for TD Rally.

If we want to put our pets through their paces, it's important to be mindful of the impact on their bodies but, fortunately, there are a range of things we can do. This month we have an introduction to the subject of canine massage and also learn how hydrotherapy can be used to support agility dogs.

Most dogs can be very active without any encouragement, however, and there may be times we don't want them to be. In this month's issue we learn how to stop a dog from jumping up with the help of an irrepressibly bouncy Staffordshire Bull Terrier.

We also take a look at the valuable work of the National Animal Welfare Trust.

Finally, have you ever wondered about the ancestry of your lovable crossbreed? Black Dog DNA do DNA profiling of dogs to find out just that. We were very interested to discover the ingredients of our very own office dog Sandy.

Behaviour and training

The weather was very promising when we set off for a clear and sunny day of filming. Our first stop was with Caroline Spencer, Dog Trainer and inventor of the Happy at Heels Harness. The harness was being given its ultimate test. Her client was finding taking her enormous but loveable one year old mastiff, Milo, hard work. In fact, it was more a case of the dog taking their owner for a walk! But Caroline showed that with the right equipment, training technique and patience, the problem could be overcome.

From there we visited another client to see how Caroline dealt with the problem of dogs barking at neighbours in the garden. Unfortunately the neighbours were out and the dogs were smart enough to realise that we weren't them and didn't make a sound! What do they say about not working with animals? So we headed back to Caroline's place to film her dogs, but they were equally well behaved.

Caroline still took the time to show us the techniques she uses for dealing with barking anyway so that we could pass this advice on to you. From there we headed off to see Wag and Tone in action - keep fit exercises for dog and owner together. It's certainly a novel idea and looks a lot of fun.

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it's superdog!

Never mind about clever dogs, Chris Mancini is an absolute star. It was great fun to be able to film her again and to learn how to add to our dogs' trick repertoire. When Chris shows the finished result with her dog Duffy, you can't imagine where you'd begin with teaching it but once you see it broken down into easy stages, it suddenly looks like a possibility. With the help of enthusiastic but less experienced Shih Tzu/Pug cross Pippin, Chris showed exactly that. Who knows, in time maybe we could all get our dogs taking a bow, skateboarding and even cocking a leg on command.

February 2014

This month sees Naturally Happy Dogs delving more deeply into, or looking at other aspects of, topics we have begun previously.  We feel it's important to cover each area of interest thoroughly.

Some of those topics are to do with activities.  We look at how to teach jumps in flyball, at the "tracking" element of Schutzhund and offer the first of our videos on the level 2 moves in Talking Dogs Rally - "circles".

In medicine, we continue with our series that goes behind the scenes at a veterinary practice to find out what goes on during X-Rays. We find out how homeopathy can help with arthritis, learn about deafness in dogs and gain an overview of the work of the Animal Health Trust.

Finally, we discover how dogs can help children and young people to deal with many of the difficulties and dangers they may face day-to-day in our Dogs in Schools video.  It's just one of the myriad ways dogs can enhance every aspect of life.

Tails, tongues and CPR

Human first aid courses are well known but dogs get injured too and would we really know what to do if we were out for a walk and something happened to our four legged companion? It could make all the difference to a dog to be able to administer CPR or know what to do with a wound. So, it was great to be able to film Rory Davies from Training Together today so that we could pass on to our subscribers some helpful demonstrations on what to do with an injured tail, a cut tongue or even show how to administer CPR. Rory made us very welcome and was very informative. Although, even we were quite surprised to find the canine equivalent of a resusci Anne.

Rescuing Twiglet

We filmed a lovely story today, that of 'Twiglet' a little black dog who was in very poor condition, living in a den in the woods until Sarah Allen was able to catch him and nurse him back to full health. Sarah told us about the process she went through with the help of her local council to foster him while they looked for an owner, and eventually to officially rehome him herself.

This video should be live in a few months, but in the meantime you can read more here: twigletblackdog.blogspot.co.uk

(Picture shows Twiglet before and after being rescued by Sarah)

Holding items, Chakras and Bach flower remedies

On Thursday we visited Knebworth in Hertfordshire today to film Sally teaching 'Jack' the westie how to hold. He was a little star and helped Sally to demonstrate the technique clearly.

Then today we had a visit from Sonia Grover who told us all about the different Chakras on dogs and also introduced us to Bach flower remedies.

Not to be outdone by Jack, this time office dog Sandy was the star, quietly posing for her chakras to be pointed out and to try some Bach flower remedies.

January - Happy New Year everyone!

We've got lots of exciting new plans for videos for 2014 and January gets us off to a cracking start. 

If activities are your thing, how about learning how to do Flyball?  Following on from our introduction to the sport last month, this month we learn how to train "the box".  If, on the other hand, you're looking for a sport that's out of the ordinary, how about one based on catching criminals? In this month's issue, we have an introduction to IPO Schutzhund and will look at the different elements of this in subsequent issues.

If you're into alternative therapies, we have videos on using herbs to help with fearful situations and on a Tellington Touch device called the calming cap.

Maybe you prefer more traditional medicine. In which case, we have a video that shows how dogs are tested for deafness (using some adorable 5-week old Bull Terrier puppies) and a film of what happens in a dental procedure.

Finally, your interest may be more for doing good in the community.  On a local level you might take inspiration from Stevenage's Dog Watch scheme or you may be like Pen Farthing and inspired to set up a charity like Nowzad that helps dogs thousands of miles away.

Surprising DNA results

Today we had a visit from Sarah Morris from Black Dog DNA (www.blackdogdna.com) following the results of our office dog Sandy's DNA test. We were very surprised to find out that, despite looking like a Sheltie crossed with a Dachshund, she is actually made up of Labrador (grandparent level), a Jack Russell (grandparent level) and smaller amounts of Miniature Poodle and Welsh Corgi!

Sarah talked us through the behaviour traits that Sandy is likely to show, based on her ancestry, and what sort of training and activities we could look at doing to keep her enjoying life to the full.

National Animal Welfare Trust, castrations and massage

On one of the many wet and windy days in December, we set off to visit the National Animal Welfare Trust (NAWT) in (Watford). As we were given a guided tour, it certainly made us very aware of the dedication of these people who are out in all weather conditions, smiling and undaunted, as they go about taking care of the needs of a large range of dogs.

We were made to feel very welcome and were particularly impressed by the inventiveness of the centre in creating a range of facilities to provide opportunities for agility, play, training and even somewhere to just give the dogs a cuddle.

Then it was just 20 minutes down to the road to Pinner where Medivet veterinary Surgeon, Reena Patel, kindly opened the doors of her practise again to give us an opportunity to film what happens during a castration. Watching an operation may not be everyone's cup of tea but it is reassuring to see how much care goes into ensuring the well-being of the dogs there and is a fascinating look at what goes on behind closed doors.

We finished the day back in Stevenage with a visit from Jenny Youdan from K9 Elements Massage Therapy (www.k9elements.co.uk) who demonstrated some massage therapy with the help of office dog Sandy. Sandy looked like she was thoroughly enjoying it, even nodding off to sleep at times. Jenny explained an overview of canine massage, the possible benefits and also some signs that you can look out for in your own dog that might suggest they would benefit from some massage therapy.

TD Rally

Becky Skelhon made us very welcome today in her Talking Dogs Rally class. We enjoyed watching her students show off their skills until it was time for our very own office dog Sandy to give it a try.

Becky showed us some of the second level moves so it was a challenge for Sandy and she was tired out afterwards but we think she did pretty well.

Down, boy!

Today we visited Vicky French and her two staffies Stella and Storm. As soon as we entered the house we were aware of the problem! While staffies are known for their exuberance and friendliness, these two were at the extreme of this spectrum, repeatedly jumping as high as they could at you. There was no aggression or viciousness there, just a very high level of hyper-excitement which had been left unchecked. We filmed an article on how to deal with this problem, a simple solution but one that requires patience and more than anything consistency. We look forward to bringing you this article soon.

December 2013 Issue

Seasons Greetings everyone!

In this month's issue we begin our new series of looking behind the scenes at the world of day to day veterinary medicine. With the help of Vet Reena Patel, we cover topics like neutering, dentals and X-rays. Reena is no stranger to the camera, having been the Blue Peter Vet, but has happily agreed to our filming actual veterinary procedures at her practise in Pinner. The first of these looks at Anaesthetics. Another first this month is Flyball. This month's video introduces the sport; future issues will demonstrate how to teach flyball skills.

In addition, we continue with some popular topics begun in previous issues. We take a step back in time from the Whelping video shown in November's issue to look at the topic of Mating. We find out the uses for the herb Psyllium and about the life cycle of the tick. We also look at how TTouch can be used to help with rehabilitation and how to teach the basics of Disc Dog.

Lastly, Trevor Nelson, who has demonstrated a range of grooming skills in previous issues, tells us what it is like to work as a Dog Groomer.

Just one more thing to mention, with Christmas just around the corner, is a reminder that we do have a couple of videos to help you to keep your pet safe and stress free at Christmas in our Seasonal Advice category

We're an award winning website!

Here at Naturally Happy Dogs we are very excited about being awarded Online Business Of The Year 2013 at the Hertfordshire Business Awards last night.

The past three years has been a long but enjoyable road, and the website has developed and grown over this time, which included seeing us at Crufts and Discover Dogs this year, among a number of other events.

We are really pleased with the articles we have produced so far, we hope you've enjoyed them as much as we have making them, and we very much look forward to bringing you more top content in the future.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has helped us get this award, especially to all our contributors, and also to Pauline Rowe, who has worked tirelessly to make contacts, and has recently put a huge amount of effort into the Breed Library.

We thank you all very much and look forward to working with you moving forward.

Best wishes, hugs, and woofs to you all from Kevin and Sally.

Book review: Camper vans, ex pats & Spanish hounds

Camper vans, ex pats & Spanish hounds by Tania Coates and Sam Morris, reviewed by Sally Marchant, www.naturallyhappydogs.com

This is a lovely little book about a couple who find and rescue a stray dog on their three day road trip to a family wedding in Spain. Not realising just how much their lives would change, they fell in love with 'Pedro' while trying, unsuccessfully, to find his owners. The book tells the story of how the couple gradually got more and more involved with the organisation SOS (spay our strays) during the process of bringing Pedro back to the UK, and how it didn't take long for them to start fostering and bringing dogs over to the UK to find their forever homes. They now run SOS UK and help many dogs per year through their ever expanding network of volunteers across the country.

The case studies in chapter four introduce some of the dogs they have helped, they give a taste of the horror that some dogs go through, how much people care and selflessly give up their time and energy to helping the strays of Spain, often with no return, and what great family pets these dogs can become. The dedication of Tania and Sam and everyone else involved with the schemes is obvious throughout.

Tania has a lovely gentle way of writing and the book is full of gorgeous photos which really show the personalities of some of the rescue dogs. I would recommend this book to anyone with an interest in Spain, or the kindness of people, or just dogs in general!

Puppy farming song for Christmas number 1?

At Discover Dogs this year we met up with a new group called "C.A.R.I.A.D." who have produced a single aimed at raising awareness of puppy farming. We were pleased to be the first to pre order their CD which is being released on 12th December.

C.A.R.I.A.D. was set up two years ago by Linda Goodman with the express aim of putting an end to the appalling battery breeding of dogs. 'Cariad' means love in Welsh, and the acronym stands for Care And Respect Includes All Dogs. C.A.R.I.A.D. is a small non-profit organisation with a big heart, and this Christmas it has set itself a huge task to reach the Number One Christmas slot with a song specially written by singer-songwriter Mandy Woods.

Aimed at educating the public about the reality of puppy farming, 'Cariad at Christmas Time' was recorded in October at Shabbey Road Studios in Caerphilly, and, like Band Aid's 'Do They Know It's Christmas?' back in the '80s, it's a multi-vocal recording. This time, however, instead of getting celebrities to sing the lyrics, C.A.R.I.A.D. decided to invite a number of smaller dog rescues and charities to put forward anyone among their staff and volunteers with a good singing voice and the confidence to go into a studio and sing their heart out. The response was phenomenal, and on October 5 a group of strangers, some local and others coming from as far afield as Lancashire, Suffolk and Wiltshire, met up at the studio.

Some had professional experience, others simply a love of singing and a commitment to the welfare of dogs. Al Steele, co-owner of Shabbey Road, did a magnificent job of instilling confidence in the group, arranging the vocal parts on the hoof and getting the very best out of everyone, regardless of their age or experience. He also produced the single, and the result is the CD that accompanies this message, that is set to receive worldwide radio air play. The charity single is available to pre-order via download from iTunes or as a physical CD from the website www.cariadatchristmastime.wordpress.com, and the proceeds will be donated to the rescues and charities that helped make it possible, as well as to the C.A.R.I.A.D. campaign.

More importantly, though, the song is aimed at exposing the horrors of puppy farming and persuading people not to buy a puppy at Christmas, especially if the mother of the puppy isn't present. Better still would be to go to a reputable rescue in the New Year and save a life by adopting one of the thousands of dogs and puppies who are waiting patiently for someone to give them a new, loving home.

C.A.R.I.A.D. and Mandy are very happy to be contacted for further information about this very special and vital project aimed at saving the lives of thousands of innocent and suffering dogs.

Website: http://www.cariadatchristmastime.co.uk
Twitter: #cariadatchristmas
Facebook: www.facebook.com/CARIADcampaign
For more information about 'Cariad at Christmas Time', email Mandy Woods at woods.mandy@hotmail.co.uk
For more information about C.A.R.I.A.D., email CariadCampaign@live.co.uk