Petpals Chelmsford, Maldon & Danbury

The best way to keep cool on an early morning walk!

Remember, if it’s too hot for your hands or your bare feet, then it’s too hot for their paw pads! ⚠️

If you’re unsure whether it’s okay to let your pet go for a walk on pavements, a simple way to test the temperature is by holding your bare skin on the tarmac for five seconds ⏱️

If you find it painful, then your pet will find it painful to walk on!

To protect your pet, it’s best to avoid walks during the hottest part of the day, which is usually between 8am and 6pm. If you can't safely exercise your dog, missing a day won't hurt.

[Visual description: A close-up picture of a dog’s paw pad which looks very red and sore after being burnt from walking on a hot pavement.]

Enjoying the sunshine

Are you able to display a poster like this or an adoption appeal at your premises? Please get in touch! We also have new car stickers available soon on the website 🐾

Zara and Boris after their first ever pampers 😍❤️❤️✋❤️❤️ Christine Roy

Time to put coats on today!

Don't forget we can pop in on your furry friends while you enjoy your holiday

Sun's out and so are the turtles!

Enjoying a nice sunny walk with the blue bells

What is Normal Behaviour?

We might be going about our daily routine when somewhere we might hear people discussing "Normal Behaviour". What exactly is normal behaviour?

People all act and think differently. Their behaviour is all dependent on their environment, aspects within that environment and all hinges on how they may be feeling whilst in that environment at that specific moment. All of these elements form to create, or even dictate their behaviour. So where in all of this is the normal behaviour aspect that we may hear about?

The simple answer is that there is no such thing as normal behaviour because what one might consider normal another might consider abnormal, due to their experience or exposure of said behaviour, and dogs are no different! The emotions which dictate behaviour are very relevant in dogs as much as humans and are the area we must first consider when trying to change unwanted behaviour in dogs.

Buying a special lead, collar, harness, spray bottle, horn, and any other gadget to help stop unwanted behaviour is simply dangerous. Or using techniques that we may have seen on the TV or online, which may even guarantee behavioural change are likely to be aversive and create more harm than not. Please don't use them!

Most pulling on lead, or indeed any negative reactions by a dog in modern society, in or out of the home is caused by the fact the dog is simply confused. But how does a dog ask a question or indeed explain they're confused?

Suddenly other stipulations are added to an already confused environment, such as the dog being told off when they're trying to explain that they're not comfortable, then they're dragged out in a harness, head collar, and being yanked about on the lead, being shouted at, and suddenly a pinch , prong, or an electric collar has been added and suchlike... Let's stop there!

Let's try and bring it back to human emotions to see if we can help identify how the emotions which cause the behaviour escalates by what we might do next.

Let's consider we are the dog and we are scared of spiders (very few dog are) and we suddenly get the feeling that behind that door is an environment full of spiders, how might we react?

Suddenly someone starts to drag us into that environment. We obviously react to highlight that we are not comfortable with being dragged into that environment and start to evade the area as much as possible. Suddenly they start shouting at us and are obviously cross with us, and we are sympathetic and stop trying to explain we're not comfortable, so they try to drag us into that environment again.

What's the likelihood of further negative reactions if or when they get us into that environment?

Many of us might start shouting at others to stay away from us because we are stressed, some of us are likely to react by trying to control the environment using our hands (the dogs hands is their mouth), some of us are likely to react more negatively to those who are trying to drag us into that environment.

The other side of these emotions are related to trying to get through the ordeal as quickly as possible so we drag them as quickly as we can, in the hope of getting back to the safe environment sooner.

There are various negative training methods available on TV and online which highlight the use of specific training aids. By using these training aids we are likely to mask the emotions highlighted above and create an unpredictable dog.

We should always consider the emotions when trying to change behaviour and work slowly towards our goals but remember that we shouldn't be moving forward if the dog is not comfortable. If the dog is not comfortable then we've either misread the emotions which dictate their behaviour or we're moving on too quickly.

Slow is a calming influence in both dog language and behaviour, very similar to our own. If we learn to "Talk Dog" we'll be surprised at how much we'll be able to understand from our dog and we'll be able to communicate with our dog much more effectively.

Hope this helps and we're available to help with all aspects of support and training.

Please contact us directly on 07989473131 for help or via our website at www.connorslegacy.co.uk/home, or the following pages

Bill ConnorsLegacy Gibson
Connors Legacy Dog-Behaviourist