21st May 2008

Well another set of classes are coming to an end and once again all the dogs have done extremely well. I shall look forward to seeing some of the dogs again in my more advanced classes. There are limited spaces left for my next course starting on 31st May in Cambridge and 1st June in Colchester. Please email or ring for further details of these. The Colchester training will be late afternoon now on a Sunday so that the dogs will not suffer too much from the summer sun!

Thank you to those people who have recently provided me with new testimonials (photos to appear soon!!) If any other clients want to write a testimonial please feel free to email one to me - this would be very much appreciated.

Wuff Walk will probably be taking place every two weeks now instead of every week. I am very busy on Saturdays and it is just not possible at the moment to make it every week. We will probably be walking at Newmarket regularly as this is a nice wide walk and the dogs have plenty space to run. This walk will always be at 1pm as we cannot walk there earlier.

I will be working in Colchester for two whole weeks in August this year and so for two weeks the Intensive Training Course will be available for a limited number of Colchester clients. Please email or ring asap if you want to book this as there are only a few spaces.

I have had highs and lows this last two months. Both my dogs have been bitten and I have spent a lot of time building up their confidence around other dogs again. We must remember never to take for granted that our dogs are sociable towards other dogs - one incident can change this! If your dog is attacked it is vital that all parties remain as calm as possible and then you must socialise it well both on and off lead gradually with dogs that you are confident will be nice to your dog. If you are worried about either dog biting a muzzle is a necessity. Please seek advice from a behaviourist if you are concerned about this.

I have spent a lot of time this last month worrying about an adorable dog that did my home puppy course last year who is now over a year old. He is the nicest natured dog and his owner has worked VERY hard with his training. I became increasingly concerned for his well being when the owner reported that a lot of dogs started attacking him. My initial thoughts were that he lacked the social skills necessary to communicate effectively with other dogs and he was approaching them in a very over powering way whether they liked it or not. This particular dog had not been socialised very well over the last year and so I felt had possibly not learnt how to behave appropriately. Anyway much to my relief Lola (my gordon setter) and my client's friends were able to provide enough suitable dogs to help him and he seems to be learning to play in a calmer way. I think he is a lucky dog as often if dogs do not have the necessary social experiences in the first 16 weeks then they have problems for life. It gave me so much joy to see the change in him over the last 2 months.

12th March 2008

The January classes are now finished and new ones are about to start, there are a couple of spaces left if anyone is interested. Many owners finished this last set of lessons confident enough to let their dogs off lead in safe places when they hadn't been before. This always gives me a great deal of pleasure as it has greatly improved the quality of life for both dog and owners. A well exercised dog is usually a happier and better behaved dog.

The Wuff Walk will not be taking place this coming Saturday and for the following week it will be at a later time of 1pm as we will walk at Newmarket Race Course. There will be no walk on April 5th / 12th as I am away with Lola again doing Gun Dog training.

My Pre Puppy Course is becoming more and more popular which is great to see as owners are beginning to seek help before they get their dog. This means that they can be better prepared for their new arrival with regard to: questions to ask the breeder, equipment needed, training, house rules, puppy proofing the house, diet, breed of dog, suitability for children, how to cope with the first night etc etc.

One to one sessions this month have been as rewarding as ever. It is so interesting to observe how different dogs learn and what motivates them. This last month we have had: recall success in 30 minutes by teaching a very close sit to a Border Collie who had not come near enough to have it's lead put on in 3 years, spaniels conditioned so well to the whistle that bullying other dogs or barking at people wasn't an option, mounting behaviour reduced by persuading the dog that playing with a toy was a better option and success teaching a young Labrador that jumping all over elderly people was definitely not allowed. The key to all these changes in behaviour lies in my golden rule

"DOGS DO WHAT WORKS FOR THEM"

Our aim is to identify why it works and how we can turn it around to our advantage!

3rd January 2008

I hope you all had a good Christmas and have a happy new year. I must start by apologising that I have not been able to update my website for over a month now. This is due to a technical error and problems that were out of my control. Hopefully they are all sorted now.

I would like to remind you that I am starting new dog training classes in Colchester and Cambridge towards the end of January. See Training for further details. I still have a limited number of spaces left.

The Wuff Social Dog walk will be at 11 am at The Gog Magog Downs for the next few weeks.

5th Novemeber 2007

I am back now from my holiday and taking class and one to one bookings as usual so please email or ring if you require help. I still have a few spaces for new classes starting 24th/ 25th November but they are going fast!

15th October 2007

Sorry for being slack for the last couple of months with my blog but life has been very hectic.

I had fun with my Gordon Setter in October on an excellent Gun Dog course in Devon. It was a course based on teaching our dogs self control in exciting circumstances. I have put into practise many of the new ideas with my own dogs and already incorporated them into my classes. It is always useful to get fresh and motivating ideas. The course greatly inspired me. I was able to stop my dog chasing a cat in the park today for the first time ever just by inviting her to play a game with me! It was a great feeling to be more exciting than chasing a cat. This is the key to successful training.

We have been to Devil's Dyke in Newmarket for three of our Saturday walks now. This is an excellent location as it is wide so the dogs have space to run and it is very safe. You are not allowed to do this walk before 1pm so our Saturday walk will sometimes be in the morning and sometimes in the afternoon. Just check this site for weekly details.

I am going to France for 2 weeks on October 22nd for a holiday. I will check and answer emails when I am away and phone messages can be left. I will still be taking bookings but will not actually be doing any training.

I have spaces still for my new classes which start in Colchester and Cambridge on 25th/ 24th November.

23rd August 2007

Does your dog pull on the lead? Or not return when called?

It has become apparent to me that there are many people out there who have very specific training needs for their pet dogs. I have decided to launch a new service this month that focuses on common training problems in semi - private sessions rather than general group training. The classes will have only two to three dogs and take place in Colchester and Cambridge at weekends. There will be two new classes initially - lead walking and recall. These will mainly take place in outside locations but the initial session will be at my normal training areas (see location). I do cover both these exercises in my group classes but many dogs need more intensive training in these areas. Please see Training for further details.

11th July 2007

In May I had a word of advice about sticks and this month I have a word of advice about grass seeds. I was shocked to discover first hand the damage that grass seeds can do. My Gordon Setter had to have surgery to remove embedded grass seeds from both her arm pits. She was in an awful lot of pain and it was something that happened so quickly. I do regularly brush her and I have no idea how I didn't notice them. I must admit I do avoid certain grassy places now as I really don't want her to suffer like this again. They are nasty things. My vet told me that they had recently had to remove a dog's lung because a grass seed had migrated into it.

New classes are about to start in Colchester and Cambridge which I am really looking forward to. I will meet some old clients again and some new. Let's hope the rain holds off for the weekends.

My Intensive Training Courses are going well in Cambridge. Common problems seem to be jumping up and pulling on the lead. All dogs so far have really done well with this course. I will be available for intensive training in Colchester for 10 days only in August (3rd - 13th August). Please email or ring if you want to book a course. There will be limited spaces available and this is just a one off arrangement at the moment but maybe available regularly in the future.

This month I have had requests to do the Home Puppy Course with either 2 or 3 puppies in the same household. This has not been a problem but it has been essential to extend the course to 5 hours instead of 3 1/2. Personally I think there is an even greater need to do the Home Puppy Course if you have 2 or 3 puppies of the same age (brave people!!)

The Walking Club have continued to enjoy Saturday morning walks and we have been to various places now - Lode, Babraham and Magog Downs. We have had some awful weather recently but everyone still seemed to have a good time.

4th June 2007

It has been another exciting month for Wuff Dog Training and Behavioural Advice. The walking club has continued to be very enjoyable and we have been very lucky with the weather. The Gog Magog Downs has been the chosen walk so far but on Sat 17th we will go to Lode. As usual anyone is welcome to join us and new suggestions of walks are always welcome.

I have yet another addition to my website. The new feature has been added by popular demand. I am now providing a

Pre Puppy Course. This is designed for people who are in the planning stages of getting a puppy. It covers an enormous amount of essential information that new puppy owners should be aware of. Many future problems can be prevented by being properly prepared for your new family member. This course is 1½- 2 hours and takes place at the owner's home.

The new Intensive Dog Training course is also proving to be popular. I may extend this to the Colchester area in the future.

9th May 2007

Wuff Walking Club

The Wuff Walking Club has enjoyed two very successful joint walks at the Gog Magog Downs in Cambridge this month. We will meet there again next Saturday morning if anyone else wants to join us. There were six dogs on the first walk and five on the second. It was a very good social experience for all dogs concerned and the owners seemed to enjoy it too!

Training

The home puppy course is by far the most popular service that I am offering at the moment. This is good to see as hopefully these young dogs will learn the acceptable way to behave from the beginning instead of developing behaviour problems. They also learn the basic commands at home before they attend puppy school and then they are ready to work in an environment with more distractions once they attend classes.

I will be starting a new puppy class on May 26th in Cambridge and May 20th in Colchester and there are a limited number of spaces left so ring or email quick if you would like one reserving. I also have spaces in my beginner class starting on 2nd June in Cambridge and 20th May in Colchester.

A Word of Advice about playing with sticks.

I will end my blog this month with a lesson that I learnt myself last week. I have taught my rescue dog to go and get a stick as an alternative behaviour to mounting any other dog in sight! This is a very annoying behaviour that he started three years after being castrated. It doesn't really bother me as I appreciate it is a natural behaviour but it really does annoy other dog owners! It was a difficult problem to solve as the behaviour in itself is so rewarding for him! However the one thing I found that worked was for him (not me) to go and pick up a stick. I have always been very careful throwing sticks for dogs as I realise the damage they can do. I had never really stopped to think how dangerous they could be for a dog to just pick one up off the ground. Anyway last Sunday he sliced 2 cm off his tongue by doing this. He was in hideous pain and had to have emergency surgery. I had no idea that just picking up a stick off the ground could be so dangerous. This is a word of warning for anyone who plays stick with their dog. I now have to find another thing for him to do instead of mounting, which will not be easy!

11th April 2007

Hi, I hope you have all had a nice Easter holiday and enjoyed the sunshine. Wuff has kept going through most of the holiday and once again a few changes have been made. Please read on for further details.

Cambridge Wuff Walking Club

For months now I have wanted to set up a walking club in Cambridge but am not really sure of the best way to do this so any of your thoughts on the matter would be greatly appreciated. I would like it to be an enjoyable social event for both dog owners and dogs. Ideally it would also be an opportunity for dogs that are poorly socialised to interact with other dogs. I would however like to state that I will not be responsible for the behaviour of anyone else's dog!! For dogs with behaviour problems it may be an excellent opportunity but I would like to have a behaviour consultation with owners first to assess whether it would be appropriate - see above links for behavioural advice/ prices.

As a trial run I will say that the walk will be on a Saturday morning at 11 am and the location will be posted on my web site with a map link. If this proves successful it could take place in the week as well and also maybe in Colchester on Sundays.

If you have any suggestions of how to move forward with this idea or want to confirm that you would like to join us please send me an email. Please though if your dog has behaviour problems email me first. My rescue dog has some behaviour problems still and I will understand!

Cambridge Intensive Dog Training

There is a new link on my site for Intensive Dog Training. This is a short course that is designed to help dog owners that have a specific problem with their dog that they want help with e.g. recall/ jumping up/ pulling on the lead or for owners that haven't got enough time to work on general obedience with their dog. I would do a series of ten, one hour sessions over five or ten days. The owner would not have to be present at all the sessions but for the training to work it is important that they attend at least 3 of them. During these three sessions I would have a consultation with the dog owner to find out their requirements from the course, show them what I had taught the dog and check that the dog would work for the owner as well as myself !

Some people choose to send their dogs away to residential places to be trained but this is not often helpful as the problem usually occurs in the dog's own environment or is a problem relating to the owner. This course is designed to be intensive, not too time consuming for the owner but realistic and effective.

This course will usually not include dogs with behaviours that involve a vet referral as these often require much more time to solve. It may also not be appropriate for all training issues but I will advise you of this if I believe it to be the case and offer you an alternative.

Rescue Dogs

As my home puppy course has proved so successful I have decided to do a course specially designed for rescue dogs. Their needs can be so different from a puppy that has had a very stable and stress free life. The course will include:

- Three training sessions (first one is 1 1/2 hours and the other two are an hour)

- Online support

- Suggestions for helping to settle the dog into its new home

- Advice on diet, toilet training, crate training, jumping up, separation problems, barking etc

- Free food samples and £5 voucher

- Clicker

- Training and information sheets

- Advice on how to live with cats/ children

- Stress - what to look for and how to deal with it

-Specific behaviour problems for individual dog

(See above link for further details)

Agility

All the dogs in my beginner class in Colchester completed their course last Sunday and so I treated them to a taste of agility. After an initial fear of the equipment they all had fun and some owners decided to enrol in an agility course. I look forward to seeing how my two favourite border collies enjoy it on Thursday at their weekly lesson. By the way I do have a small amount of agility equipment if anyone else wants to give it a go!!

15th March 2007

The home puppy course has been improved in a number of ways this month. It now includes:

- three one to one lessons (total 3 1/2 hours)

- a free week of puppy school (Cambridge/ Colchester)

- online support

- training booklet and information sheets

- clicker

- food samples and £5 food voucher.

This course is proving very useful for new puppy owners. Please see above link for further details.

8th February 2007

The last month has been so busy that I haven't even had time to do my blog! The snow has prevented me working in Essex today and so I will take this opportunity to update my web site.

January was an eventful month. I collected the ex guide dog for one of my clients and I am pleased to report that both dog and owner have already bonded well.

The January classes are finishing this weekend and new ones will start in Colchester and Cambridge on 17th / 18th February. I still have a few spaces left if anyone else wants to join us.

February saw the start of a new 3 week home puppy course. This has already proved very popular. It is designed for new puppy owners and takes place in the comfort of their own home. It aims to educate clients about all issues relating to puppy ownership and teaches the basic commands: sit, down, stay, leave it, walking on the lead and recall. Many future problems can be prevented by starting training early before the puppy is old enough to go to puppy classes. The course also provides information on house training, jumping up, crate training, diet, socialisation and puppy biting etc. Please see above link for further details.

I have worked with so many different dogs this month but there are always a few that give you that extra bit of pleasure. Two particular dogs spring to mind this month. I have been training 2 border collies for 2 months now and they had never been off lead in a public place until 2 weeks ago. The owner was very anxious about losing them. We worked hard on their recall and distance down at home in a field for 4 sessions. Yesterday we had them both off lead at the Gog Magog Hills in Cambridge and they ran freely with other dogs, played and came back or stayed when asked. It was a joy to see them having so much fun. This is what makes my job so rewarding, to see the difference a bit of training can make to a dog's life.

I have an interesting new behaviour case next week. I will be starting to do some work with a dog that , according to its owners goes crazy whenever it is outside. I regularly work with dogs that have problems with people and dogs while on a lead but just being scared of everything outside is a different matter! I will hopefully report some progress with this case next time.

1st January 2007

Three new classes will start in Colchester next Sunday - a puppy class, an adult beginner class and an advanced class. I shall look forward to seeing the puppies again that have already completed their beginner course on the more advanced course and I shall enjoy meeting the new dogs.

I have a rather exciting and unusual job this week of taking an elderly client to London to pick up her new dog. She has rehomed ex guide dogs for years and has been without a dog for a few months now. It was a pleasure to see her face when I offered to take her. I know how dog ownership has transformed my life and it gives me great joy to help her, as I know how empty her life has been without a dog.

The January Sale is proving very popular this year. I have been asked by a lot of owners to work with more than one dog during one to one sessions. I am very happy to do this, however it obviously cuts down the time that each dog can have. Two of my new clients have 11 dogs each but they are happy to bring one dog to the class each and learn the principle of Clicker Training to then use at home with the other dogs. This seemed to me a very sensible idea!

2007

January 2007 will see the launch of a Wuff Walking Club in Cambridge. This will be a chance for owners to meet up with other dog owners to enjoy joint walks during the week and at weekends. Further details will follow shortly on this site.

There will be a Wuff January Sale this year. Dog owners will be able to get three one to one training sessions for the price of two (these sessions must all be booked in January and paid for in advance).

New classes will be starting in Colchester and Cambridge on the first weekend in January. Please email Cath for further details (see contact button above).

2006

2006 has been an exciting and eventful year for Wuff Dog Training and Behavioural Advice. The company is growing rapidly and now operates in Cambridgeshire, Essex and Rotterdam. A new dog walking/ training service in Cambridge has proved extremely popular this year.

Many puppies and adult dogs graduated from classes in Colchester and Cambridge at a very high level in 2006. The advanced classes are becoming more popular as owners realise the enjoyment and benefits of continuing training past the basic level.

I have had my own hands full since July with a Gordon Setter puppy. She took part in a Wuff Dog Show at 12 weeks where she impressed everyone. She is a nervous dog but took it all in her stride and I'm sure the experience only did myself and her good!!

In February we were invited to do a radio show on radio Cambridgeshire. This was rather a strange experience as the listeners were unable to see any of the tricks that they asked us to demonstrate!! At least it didn't matter when our dog got fed up and distracted towards the end.

Behaviour cases have been as interesting as ever this year. These are the most rewarding part of my job and no case is ever the same. This year I have: enabled a lady to vacuum her house or cut the grass without the border collie rounding them up, reassured a scared parrot that it can leave its cage without getting its head stuck in the door again, persuaded a puppy that it doesn't get rewarded for squatting down to urinate every 15 seconds inside the house, stopped a jack russel from snapping at people who accompany its owner on the sofa and helped dogs significantly that have aggression problems towards other dogs. These are just a few cases for 2006. The most common behaviour problem before Christmas time was dogs jumping up at visitors. In the week before Christmas this is all I seemed to sort out! One puppy was so lively that we had to tie it up outside to work with it initially but by the second session it was off lead in the lounge amongst all the Christmas decorations and family members. These two training session vastly improved the quality of life for the puppy and family.