Pawparazzi Pet Services

March Update

Dog Blog, Dog Rescue, FSJ Dog Training, FSJHS, Monthly Update, Pawparazzi Pet Services, Training, Trick Training, update, Zelda

I was going to post something different this week; I wanted to post a blog I have written about what to expect from Fort St. James Dog Training. It covers everything from first contact to the consultation, session and follow up. However, since I missed posting the last two weeks that bumped us into the middle of the month faster than I expected and it’s time for another monthly update! The post I had planned for today will instead be bumped to next week.

So far, the month of March has been pretty quiet. My family have just been battling one cold after another. I think I spoke too soon when I said we got away with less sickness this winter than last and the germs are trying to show me to put my foot where my mouth is. It’s like we suddenly got hit with all of it in one month. Which is why I missed posting the last two weeks.

In February I had set the goal of doubling the amount of dogs I trained vs the month before, and I not only met that goal but surpassed it. I knew that setting a similar goal for March would be unrealistic as I just don’t have enough available hours for training to work with 20 dogs in one month. I’m fine with that, sometimes we need our goals to be realistic so that we don’t become overwhelmed in reaching them. I’ve trained a handful of dogs so far this month and each one is always so special to me. Even if I only trained one dog in the month I’d still consider it a success because I was able to help someone with their dog. After all, that is what I’m here for.

Favorite February Name: Tyrion

One of the many little delights I’ve found in dog training is learning what people name their dogs. My favorite dog name from February was a sweet little dog named Tyrion. As a Game of Thrones fan, this name is an absolute hoot (especially on a small dog).

Tyrion’s owners were also very enthusiastic about training; they are working hard to reach their training goals and I loved seeing them attend Pack in the Park and really put in the work. Way to go guys!

A close second was a corgi named Kevin.

Business License

Fort St. James Dog Training was supposed to start as an official licensed business March 1st. I was sick leading up to March so I didn’t get a chance to get to the District Office before March 1st but went in on the day of. It was my experience (from eons ago) that you could get a business license the same day. I even downloaded their form from the District website and filled it out beforehand to save time. When I brought it to the office I was met with a lot of confusion. I was told they couldn’t do it that day. When I expressed my surprise, I was told ” yeah, we have to do it the right way now.” I was a bit shocked at that answer. “You weren’t doing it the right way?” I asked and the answer I got back was “no” and then a mumble about high turnover. So I think maybe the people at the office just didn’t know how to do it? I was told they’d be in contact with me after looking it over. It’s been almost 2 weeks since I dropped it off, how long does it take to look over one sheet of paper? I phoned this morning and was told they e-mailed me, but I never got it. I don’t understand why they didn’t phone. I feel like people have lost the art of the phone call these days (does complaining about that make me old?). They needed my registration number and I don’t understand why that wasn’t an option to fill out on the application. At any rate, I am annoyed and I have to say, after that experience I’m really not left with a lot of confidence in our District workers.

animal welfare updates

Our little group has been working really hard to re-establish the Fort St. James Humane Society. We’ve dotted most of our i‘s and crossed most of our t‘s but there’s still a few little things to work out so we’re keeping our rescue missions on the down low until they are finished so that we don’t become overwhelmed. There are a LOT of animals needing help in our community and a lot of owners who need help with their animals. It’s going to take time to really start making an impactful difference.

Last week we executed our first big rescue mission since re-assembling an Animal Care Team. It was a drop in the bucket of a larger issue, but we changed the world of 17 puppies and that’s amazing. People from difference communities all came together to make this mission a success. In honor of an Animal Care Team member who passed away recently, we named this first rescue Mission Chantel. Chantel loved animals and really wanted to see our efforts in animal rescue be successful.

One Saturday, March 9th, 16 puppies (one ended up being adopted by one of our members) were loaded up and transported to Quesnel, where the Victoria Humane Society transport driver met our driver with their beautiful van and the 16 puppies were transferred from one vehicle to the other. VHS drove them back to Victoria where they were all quickly bathed, vetted and placed in foster homes.

As I said, a lot of people were involved in this rescue mission and it went quite smoothly and I would say was a total success! A huge thank you to the people who worked hard to orchestrate the whole thing and cared for these sweet little babies while they waited for transfer. This mission would not have been successful without everyone who played a part.

You can learn more about Mission Chantel on Facebook here and here.

If you would like to be a part of the solution get in touch with the Fort St. James Humane Support Group and see what you can help with! One thing we never seem to have enough of is foster homes. Since we don’t have a physical building to house animals, we need people to open their hearts and homes to house any animals we take in. If we don’t have a place for them to go, we can’t help them.

Novice Trick dog

One of my goals with Zelda is to get her a Novice Trick Dog (NTD) title. I love training tricks to dogs. I love the way they need to be broken down into different behaviors that you then shape together.

Trick dog titles can be obtained through Do More With Your Dog. For a NTD you need 15 tricks to be evaluated by an evaluator either online via video or in-person. Some basic obedience counts and advanced and expert tricks count as two towards the NTD. For more information, check out their website.

Zelda’s trick list currently consists of:

(1) sit

novice

(2) down

novice

(3) shake hands

intermediate

(4) sit pretty/beg

intermediate

(5) spin circles

novice

(6) roll over

intermediate

(7) leg weave

intermediate

(8) center

novice

(9) stay

novice

(10) touch hand (nose touch)

novice

(11) focus (watch me)

novice

(12) drop on recall

advanced

Trick of the Month: Center

Definition: Come from behind and stand between the handler’s legs (shoulder to knee)

Command Variations: “center”, “peekaboo”

Behavior: Break down into two parts: dog stands between your legs and dog moves from in front to behind you

Use: To position a dog where you want them

This trick doesn’t have a lot of practical use, but is a fun extra to train your dog. It can act as a party trick or can come in handy when participating in dog sports, such as dog agility, where you want to get your dog set up in a specific spot to start.

How To Train “Center”

Stand in front of your dog but facing away. Bend down and hold a treat in one hand and motion with your hands for your dog to come through your legs. As soon as the dog is in position reward them. Keep practicing until you feel like your dog understands to stand between your legs. Start connecting your command with the behavior.

Next you will need to teach them to go to that position from anywhere and facing you from any direction to start. Since you started teaching this trick with your dog behind you, gradually start to turn your body so that they’re approaching from the side. Practice many times until your dog is doing it smoothly. Try again after turning your body a bit more and continue to train this way until you have turned enough to be facing your dog when the command is given. The dog must go around and then get into position from behind you.

Add Distractions

It’s important to always gradually add distractions when training any new command. Once your dog is understanding without a lure in a quiet room move on to a less quiet room. Start throwing in distractions of other people, animals, and different places. You can test your dog by throwing a small box across the floor, have someone else blow a whistle, roll a ball past the dog, throw a treat etc. There are endless ways to test your dog out. Create the distraction and give the command, “center” and if your dog struggles to look at you despite the distraction then you need a bit more work in the quiet room or with a less challenging distraction. Slowly build those distractions inside your home and then try outside your home. Try in your yard and then move on to a local park, beach, down town etc. If your dog struggles with the new level of challenge then you need to take a step back and work a bit more at a lower challenge.

Grooming and Care

Dog Blog, Pawparazzi Pet Services
About Grooming Your Dog / an Interview with Groomer Anna Hawkins

I think something a lot of pet owners overlook when they first get their pet is their grooming and care needs. All dogs need grooming, but not all dogs will require the same effort or type of grooming. To dig a little deeper on this subject, I decided to interview my sister Anna Hawkins, who is based in Alberta. She is knowledgeable about grooming and wants to see people take responsibility of their pets care. I thought she would be a great person to help me with this post!

Anna runs Pawparazzi Pet Services in Taber, Alberta. It is a home-based professional salon for pets. Pawparazzi Pet Services just opened last year, but Anna says she started with hands-on experience the year before. “My friend was running a home-based dog grooming business and she was kind enough to teach me and give me loads of hands-on experience.”, she said. Anna loves animals and devotes herself to treating them with kindness and is very professional. Since opening, Pawparazzi Pet Services has been busy helping keep Tabers animals healthy and looked after.

Anna volunteering her time to trim nails at Pet Valu.
Proceeds went to the Taber Lost Paws Society.

Condition Your Dog

The first thing you need to do to get your dog on the path of regular grooming care is to “condition” them for that type of handling. Animals don’t understand that grooming is good for them and they don’t always enjoy it right away. In order to get a dog (or any other animal) used to being handled by a groomer you have to first start at home handling them in a similar fashion and associate that handling with something positive. You can do this just hanging out in your living room watching a movie. If you have a table you can lift them onto it will help even more as most groomers use a grooming table. If you don’t have a table you can put your dog on, you can still condition your dog from the floor or couch. Sit down with your dog and touch them all over. Associate this touch positively using your tone of voice, your type of touch and food rewards. Make sure you are touching their ears, feet/toes, tails and mouths as well. These are areas most dogs aren’t fond of being touched.

If your dog ever gets a nail or pad injury, ear infection or tooth problem you will need them to be okay with being touched in these areas by a vet or groomer. They will also have to be used to you lifting their tails, as a surprising amount of dog problems come from the butt (as we learned at the K-9 First Aid course hosted by Nikki last summer). Pet and touch your dog then treat. Do this all over and repeatedly. You can work on it for 5 minutes a night and it will still make an impact on how your dog behaves at both the groomers and the vets.

You can also take this one-on-one time with your dog as a way to touch base with their health. Give them a look all over to make sure that all systems are working fine. Peek into the ears, check the gums, you can even go so far as to check your dogs heart rate. Knowing what your dog’s regular resting heart rate is can help you in the case of an emergency to know what is normal and what isn’t normal for your dog. Check between the toes, part the fur and look for any bumps, scrapes or strange growths. If any odd bumps or lesions do show up you can be aware of them, treat them if necessary, and keep an eye on them so that they don’t get infected. If your dog has an injury that hasn’t been noticed it can fester and become a real problem.

Photo courtesy of Anna Hawkins

At-Home Care

Even if you have a reoccurring appointment with your groomer, you will still need to make sure you are keeping up on regular at-home care for your dog. There are many things people easily overlook such as nails. Sometimes people feel intimidated by trimming their dogs nails themselves and so they simply don’t do it. When you don’t keep up with regular nail care then the blood supply to the nail grows with the nail and it becomes harder to trim them. You have to slowly take off a bit at a time and leave several days in between for the blood supply (known as the “quick”) to recede. I asked Anna what the most overlooked part usually is and her response was, “oh yes, probably the nails. I am always surprised by how often people say their dog doesn’t need a nail trim but then I look at those feet and they are SO overgrown.” Dogs walk on their toes, so if you leave the nails so long that they are past the toes and touching the floor, they can push the toes up and force a dog to walk on the main pad on their foot (kind of like making you walk on your heel). It can be uncomfortable and if left untreated it can even cause foot pain and arthritis in your dog.

It’s important to understand the unique grooming needs of your dog. Some breeds have different types of coat that require different types of care. “Dirty ears and un-plucked ear hair in poodles and poodle-mixes is another very common issue”, Anna says. Some terriers require hand stripping of the fur as well, which is a bit more work and a lot more conditioning than your average type of coat.

Whether your dog has a unique type of coat or not, the biggest thing you can do between grooming appointments is brush your dog. “If your dog has a smooth-short coat, use a bristle brush and a de-shedding brush.” Anna said about brushing between appointments, “If your dog has floofy thick fur, get that comb right down to the skin, not just the top layer. Cats should be brushed, too, especially long-haired cats.”.

Photo courtesy of Anna Hawkins

Matted Fur

When an animal’s fur gets tangled and is not treated it can become more and more tangled until it’s a thick matted mess. Mats can be unsightly, annoying and even dangerous. If left untreated, the mats can mat together and form a whole “pelt” that covers the animal. It is so tight all over and can pull on the skin. Since it creates a thick layer over the skin moisture can get trapped against the skin. All that pulling and moisture is a dangerous grounds for infection. It can be extremely painful. It’s best to take care of mats when they’re small and easy to remove. Mats commonly happen in long-haired animals that aren’t brushed, but they can sometimes happen to short-haired animals too.

“Don’t let your dog swim and then roll around to dry off,” Anna said, “because it can create a lot of mats in the coat. If you find a mat, massage it with some corn starch and gently pick it out with a wide-tooth comb.”

Photo courtesy of Anna Hawkins

Finding The Right Groomer

Grooming animals is one of those professions where anyone can say they’re a groomer (just like anyone can say they’re a dog trainer). So how do you find a good groomer who knows what they’re doing and treats your pets with a fair kindness? Anna says, “People should always ask a groomer where they got their practical (hands-on) training, and what are they doing to update their knowledge and keep their skills sharp? There is SO much to learn in this field and we should never stop studying and seeking improvement”.

I loved the way Anna explained this, as it’s exactly how I feel about dog trainers as well. Hands-on experience is important, someone who is willing to keep learning and keep getting better is essential, and someone who you personally get along with is also important. You’re going to commit to bringing your pet to this person on a regular basis, it’s important that you trust them personally and trust their skills as well.

“I am so grateful to the pet owners in my area for trusting me with their fur-babies.” Anna said, “I have been honored by the tremendous response to my new business, and all the support I have received in only a few short months. I am flattered to have clients from Taber and almost all the surrounding small towns, with some driving nearly an hour to bring their pets to me. I promise to always treat them as if they were my own beloved fur-faces.”.

A good groomer will treat your pet like their own loved pets. That is a great quality to look for in a groomer, and the residents of Taber and it’s surrounding areas are very lucky to have Anna caring for their pets!

Photo courtesy of Anna Hawkins

Be The Ideal Client

Grooming animals is not for the faint of heart. I knew from an early age, about 12 or so, that I could never hack it as a groomer. I just don’t enjoy it. I do the basic grooming necessary for my dogs and I am fully aware I will not put in extra effort for de-matting and more extensive grooming. I think it’s important people are honest with themselves when they first get a dog, on whether or not they can put the time and effort into their unique care needs. I know I don’t want to deal with the coat of a long haired dog, so I don’t get long haired dogs.

If you’re going to rely on a groomer for regular appointments you should do your best to be an excellent client. This involves regular maintenance in between your appointments, but it goes a little beyond that as well. I asked Anna what her ideal client was and after her answer I realized the ideal client is also the ideal pet owner. It’s someone who’s proactive in their animals care. I think it is also someone who feels comfortable to have free-flowing dialogue with their groomer. Ask questions if you have them, and be curious about your dogs care.

“I really appreciate any client who loves their pet so much that they are trying to do all the right things at home in-between grooming and veterinarian appointments. They research how to brush the pet and they bought the correct type of brush for the coat type. They are feeding the best quality food they can afford. They are hands-on, actively training and socializing, and are very aware of what is happening with their pets physical state. They know when to book the pet with a professional groomer, they are committed to that appointment and see it for what it is: health and wellness care.”

I also asked Anna what her idea pet client is. She said any animal that cooperates in the salon, which brings me back to the beginning of this post. I can’t stress enough how important conditioning your pet to touch is. Anna further explained, “They don’t have to be thrilled with the situation, but please don’t be climbing my arms and snapping at me and leaping around like a little rodeo bull. I do love grooming Pomeranians, Golden Retrievers, and Border Collies especially, though.”

A huge THANK YOU to Anna of Pawparazzi Pet Services for helping me with writing this blog as well as for providing the “Grooming Tips” and photos. As an on-going effort to raise awareness about grooming as care for your dog, I will have these grooming tips peppered throughout my blogs, website, and social medias.