Does your dog like chasing toys … but expect you to go out and fetch them?
Or does she remove your fingers when you offer her a toy?
The latest in the popular series of how-to books from Brilliant Family Dog (currently with over 250 5* reviews at Amazon) has arrived!
Fetch It! Teach your Brilliant Family Dog to catch, fetch, retrieve, find, and bring things back!
takes you step-by-step from a reluctant retriever to a fetching fanatic! It’s suitable for people who want to play with their dog in the garden and on walks, folk who compete with their dog, and those who just want their dog to clear up her own toys, fetch your shoes, and find your car keys!
It’s such fun to be able to play fetch and catch games with your dog. And provided you keep an eye on the temperature of the weather, you can get an awful lot of running done without too much effort on your part! There’s guidance in the book on safety so you won’t make any mistakes.
Can you imagine how your dog’s stock will go up with your family and friends, once he becomes a genuinely useful member of the family (apart from being cuddly and adorable, of course, which is his default setting)?
From fetching the post delicately off a hard flat floor without damaging your mail, to bringing her lead, fetching the phone, or finding your jumper, there are lessons here to teach your dog to become a retrieving wizard. And she will LOVE it!
What sort of retrieves are there?
How can I reward my dog? - super-important!
Teach your dog to catch - super fun chapter, this!
Adding the vocal cue - how to ask politely!
My dog is lovely but quite excitable, which made some things really tricky ... The advice in Beverley's books is clear and simple to follow, and best of all it teaches your dog to think for itself and make good choices without any commands. Seriously, if you want a nicer, better-behaved and calmer dog, read these books and follow her steps.
Go and check out this page now where you can choose ebook or paperback. And if you live in an Amazon-free zone (they do exist, I’m told!) you can ask your local bookshop to order it. It’s currently at a super-reasonable introductory price.
My dog has taken over my bed - how can I change this?
Cute puppies can develop all sorts of habits that you let pass, but as the cute puppy becomes a hairier, muddier, larger person, there may be some things you wish you hadn’t allowed in the first place!
This type of question pre-supposes that an established behaviour can’t be changed without difficulty.
Behaviour is just that - behaviour. It’s something your dog does. (Or something we do, of course, but we’ll stick with dogs for now.) So changing that behaviour to something else is just the same as for any other change you want to make.
It’s not a “mistake”. It just is.
So approach this as you would any new thing you want to teach your dog.
1. Your dog is doing something.
2. Decide what you’d like instead.
3. Teach the new thing.
And, of course, be consistent with the new thing. If it’s no bed, then it’s no bed. Ever.
There’s no absolute right or wrong here. If you like your dog doing something that another person disapproves of - then that’s that person’s problem, not yours. We have enough to deal with in life without taking on other people’s disapproval!
And it may be that you’re attaching emotion to this bed question. You may be thinking that you’re spurning your dog if you no longer share your bed with her. But your dog is not attaching emotion to the bed - it’s just comfy! And up to now it has been your preferred sleeping place for her.
I’m assuming that there isn’t a resource guarding element to this question, as it isn’t mentioned at all. If your dog doesn’t want to relinquish her place on your bed, and underlines her wishes with wrinkly lips, immobility, or growling, then you have an entirely different issue. Check out this post for help with that.
Back to the bed … Many people have their newborn baby in their bedroom, and over time move him to another room. As I mentioned in last week’s post about puppies, things change and evolve naturally.
So time for your pup to move to a “grown-up bed” of her own!
Make the new bed very inviting and comfy. Depending on your dog’s breed or type, you may want a flat bed she can stretch out on, or if a whippet, terrier, or other tunnelling breed, a tunnel bed or folded duvet to bundle herself up in will go down well.
You may need to be persistent, depending on the comfort level and suitability of the new bed!
And you may find that your dog starts the night happily in her new super-comfy bed, but somehow has snuck onto your bed when you wake in the morning. You’ll just have to be vigilant and ask her to go back to her own bed as soon as you feel the bump and hear the sigh.
My own dogs have individual sleeping arrangements. Cricket the Whippet loves wrapping herself in her duvet, and Coco Poodle has a raised bed which he hops onto at night and remains there till invited off in the morning once I’m up. The others can sleep where they like - though they do have beds provided.
So even in the same household - the same bedroom - you can have different behaviours from the different dogs. As long as their needs are catered for, they’re happy.
There are 6 dogs happily hidden in these beds!