Time To Say Goodbye

An update: Things have developed quite a bit from when I first started this page and blog to share life and insights from life with a pair of blue merle boys. In light of that, and to streamline life a little, from this point all of my work will be via the Good Guardianship site and Facebook page.

I want to thank everyone who has read, shared and commented on the articles here and hope you will come with me to Good Guardianship where I will be sharing the same insights into living with dogs and how to help you have the best possible lives together.

What is Your Dog Trying to Tell You?

 

There is a tendency among dog guardians to think of the behaviours we see in our dogs as being either ‘good’ or ‘bad’. There are the desirable behaviours, the things that we want our dogs to do, and the undesirable ones, those behaviours we may call misbehaving, being naughty, behaviour problems, and so on.

The thing is that these labels of behaviour are not really either accurate or useful.

When looking at the things our dogs do, what we need to be asking ourselves is ‘What is my dog trying to tell me?’

Don't Feel Guilty For Grieving The Dog You Wanted

 It’s ok to grieve for the dog you wanted.

When thinking about adding a dog into our homes and families, most of us picture how it will be. The fun things we’ll do. The long walks we’ll go on to enjoy the world around us. The family trips out to places, long relaxed days of enjoying ourselves with our canine companions by our sides.

That’s the ideal, the thing that most of us want for us and our dogs.

The difficulty is that’s often not how it turns out.

Controlling Canine Connections or the Need to Stop Micromanaging Our Dogs

 

We currently have a puppy in the house, a Border Collie who at the time of writing is just coming up to 15 weeks old. Anyone who has raised a puppy knows how much work is involved, and the need for careful socialisation to allow them to feel comfortable in the world around them as they grow.

The Power of Scentwork for High Energy Dogs

It is no secret to many who have visited this blog that, when it comes to dogs, the Border Collie has completely stolen my heart. My history with them goes back to childhood – my very first dog as a kid was a Border Collie x Shetland Sheepdog, and he was absolutely the best dog (as they all are, but there was something about him that made him my perfect canine childhood companion) – and continued through into adulthood with working sheepdogs. I adore the breed, their intelligent brains and drive to work with their people.

What Does Success Look Like With a Reactive Dog?

Any of us who have found ourselves sharing our homes and lives with a ‘reactive’ dog, one of the sensitive souls who needs empathy, understanding, and (most of all) space in which to feel safe, knows that it can feel very tough at times. This is especially true in the early stages of finding out what is going on with our dogs and what we need to think about to help them. It can feel like an impossible task, to get to a point where we can enjoy walks.

Why I Don't Apologise For My 'Bad' Dog

This is my dog, Finn. He pops up frequently on my various blogs and social media accounts as a) he’s gorgeous, and b) he is the inspiration behind what I do. He is a fearful and anxious boy, who is reactive to other dogs, to people he doesn’t know, and to wildlife and livestock.