Back again and Mia has found fame

Sorry it has been so long!!
After Mia eating my camera my computer decided to die - just at the end of the tax year!!
So now I am up and running with a new camera and a (hopefully) happier computer

Our little Mia has found fame!! Origonal article here

A Scottish woman ended up taking care of a Louth dog that was saved by Dundalk Dog
Rescue.
Mia, a collie, was found stray in Drogheda in October and thanks to
the links that Ann Moore's Dundalk rescue charity has around Ireland and the UK,
there is a happy ending to this 'tail'.
The dog has been fostered by
kind-hearted Paisley woman Pamela Duthie, who fell in love with the tricoloured
collie and has even included her in an online dog blog.
Now Pamela is
calling for all dog lovers in Dundalk to support Ann's charity.
Pamela, a
driving instructor, told the Argus how she ended up taking Mia in. She said:
'The agility club I train with have contact with Ann at Dundalk Dog Rescue.
'We often run auctions to raise money to help them and to make it more real
they pick a dog that needs saved for us to raise money for.
'Mia's face came
up on the forum and I just couldn't get her sad eyes out of my head. She looks
so much like my own little dog Ben.
'I was not really ready to become a two
dog household but I offered that if she needed a foster home then I would take
her in.'
The Scottish woman wants to highlight the remarkable work of
Dundalk Dog Rescue.
She said: 'Dundalk has a huge problem with stray and
abandoned dogs, these are lovely animals who deserve a chance to know a loving
home.
'I would say if you are going to get a dog then rescuing is the best
way to go. It is possible to get a puppy from a rescue and you can do anything
with a rescue dog that you could with any other dog; many just make loving
pets.'
And the dog blog benmcfuzzylugs.blogspot.com is attracting plenty of
attention. Pam said: 'I actually started the blog to talk about my craft work
and to follow my dog Ben as he took his first steps in agility.
'People have
taken an interest in Mia's story and asked for ways to donate to help her and
dogs like her.'
For more information on Dundalk Dog Rescue go to www.
freewebs. com/ dundalkdogs
- Anne Campbell

Mia, one step forward, one back

Funny that I just posted yesterday about no dog being bad and then went downstairs to find Mia had chewed off the on/off button from my camera - so no fotos today.

In some ways she is getting so much better. She sat nicely while some people walked by and ran up to friends and when I called 'dont jump' with no hope of her listning she sat nicely by them for a fuss
Of course they at once said 'Oh hun, I have no treats for you' why do people think all dogs want is food when really they want your attention.
She was even fairly calm when the big GSD was close and I was stuffing her face with treats.
Training in the house is going great, she is so smart, did some nose targeting and a little heelwork, pretty good
I thought her recal was getting better but had a heart in mouth 30min where I lost her today
thankfully a friend spotted her trying to follow a man towards the main road and they grabbed her.

So training for Mia, she is no longer alowed freedom in the house or outside - she is either with me in the same room or crated. and outside she is only offlead for short times to practise recal

she is smart so I know she will improve
Its so difficult because until she improves she is not gonna be easy to rehome

Bad dog!

I am doing a lot of reading about dog training and I thought I would update some of the things I am learning and what I believe and add them to the training section.

Reading forums and listning to dog owners talk about their dog when it has been 'bad' has made me really think about if a dog is being bad or not.

I have come to the conclusion that NO a dog isnt being bad - that is us humans putting our views there

A dog does what is rewarding to them and avoids things that are not rewarding

So if your dog is doing something you consider bad it is because

a. It does not understand what you want it to do

Dogs dont come with a manual of how to behaive
sure some might be better than others - so if they are doing something you want them to do - reward them, and put a name to what they are doing
If they are doing something you dont want, dont tell them off, train what you want them to do in the situation

b. It does not find the thing you are asking as rewarding as other things

Sure, your dog might have a perfect recal in the house, but outside there are lots of interesting smells and fun dogs to play with. Build up slowly and make doing what you want more fun.

c. It does not find working with you rewarding

Thankfully this is really easy
Dogs are bred from the wolves that most wanted to work with humans. Over thousands of years we have slelectivly bred from the dogs who most wanted to work with us.
Dogs naturaly want to work with us, we just have to make ourselves more interesting.
The best way to do that (IMO) is to work with your dog, train it - anything, tricks are not demeaning to your dog - they are fun, they make your dogs brain work and they make them realise that its a good thing to work with you.


Sure in the begining it might take a wee while to train things, but the good thing is the more you train the more the dog wants to work with you and the quicker it learns

If you punnish the dog for being bad you make it less likely to want to try new things, less confident and less trusting of you
and of course very confused - randomly being told off when it dosent know better.

As I driving instructor I liken teaching people to drive like dog training.

I tell them what I want them to do, I show them if needed and I keep on helping them till they are confident and know what they should do, and I praise them when they are doing well, guide them when things go wrong

If I was to train using punisments then I would give them the keys and just yell 'NO' at them every time they did something wrong - but leave them to figure out how to actualy drive
Sure some people might learn that way but most would either get agressive and find another instructor and the rest would just sit in tears doing nothing incase they got it wrong.

Return to Dog training hints and tips

Thankyou to the Dundalk Dog rescue

I just thought it was about time I mentioned the amazing people at the Dundalk dog rescue charity who saved Mia and many other dogs last year

These people, all volunteers, have the heartbreaking job of visiting the pound and photographing the stray dogs. They then have to try and find the dogs places to go before they can rescue them from the pound.

If a place is found in time then the volunteers take the dogs from the pound and often foster them in their own homes. The dogs are neutered, microchipped and vaccinated and quarinteened for a short while before transport is arranged to get these dogs to their new homes.

It must be such a heartbreaking, mainly thankless job to see all the little faces and know you can only help a few. But they are doing great work

Please drop by their website leave messages of support and if you can spare anything for them at this busy time, not just money - any spare food, toys collers bedding and towels would all be useful

and if you are thinking of a new dog some time this year - please consider rescuing

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