First of all, I must start by apologising for my lack of updates recently, I have been carried away enjoying the sun with all my GNFD friends. Since my last blog, Good News has had more graduates and my best wishes go to Jacqui Coude and Keith with Mason (Australian Shepherd), Shadow and TK (Huskies) and to Jean Wilson with Lottie (Airedale Terrier). I really enjoyed working with all of them and they all posed their own individual conundrums to work through in order to progress through their training- it is this opportunity to get to know each of the dogs and owners as individuals that makes my job the best in the world! A special mention also has to go to those that have participated in behavioral one off sessions and work very hard between my visits in order to break unwanted behaviour patterns and re-educate their dogs on the correct way to behave. If any of you would like to take a look at the recent crop of Good News graduates then visit www.facebook.com/pages/Good-News-for-Dogs/137487626836?v=photos. There will be a gallery page coming soon on this site but untill then all photo’s are uploaded to the GNFD fan page on Facebook, you are all welcome to join and there is even an album for all members to add photo’s of your own dogs.

As the title of this blog suggests GNFD has been enjoying the sun shine, getting out and about walking dogs and visiting various events. Early in the summer I visited Joe Hodgson from Carriage Driving Tuition ( see a previous blog for more info on Joe) while he was competing in Ripley Carriage Driving Trials, there were lots of dogs to play with including Joe’s alaskan malamute, Ella. Horse shows, driving trials, village fetes and county shows generally welcome well behaved dogs on leads and are a great way to spend a day with all the family including the four legged ones. Local papers or internet searches will bring up a host of events in your area. GNFD was also invited to a 21st birthday party in a stable yard! Annette Ritsons horse, Polo was turning 21 and having been lucky enough to have known them both for around 10 years now and being one of Polo’s favourite grooms (even if I do say so myself) GNFD had the fortune to be included in the celebrations. Not wanting to turn up empty handed and alone, Charlie (Patterdale Terrier) and I went shopping to find an appropriate gift for Polo and headed to the party. There were nibbles and cake for those of us on 2 legs and obviously apples and carrots for those of the four legged variety. With the sun streaming down and the birthday boy gleaming it was a lovely way to spend an afternoon and GNFD was very privileged to have been invited. Charlie, once again accompanied GNFD more recently to the Kite Festival in Morecambe where we were delighted by the size, shape, variation and sheer number of kites. And just to prove Charlie and his doggy pals have a better social life than the human portion of GNFD, he was invited to an evening picnic in the Valley Gardens in Harrogate where he stayed out playing with lots of new friends untill way past his bedtime!! Already this summer I have been told that Charlie has attended at least 4 BBQ’s with his friends Tigga, Tess, Sky and Poppy and I am assured that there will be plenty more as GNFD has missed them all so far!!!

I really hope that hearing about the exploits and outings of Good News for Dogs and friends has inspired you and given you ideas for adventures over the summer. There really is no need to leave your dogs at home and the car really isn’t the place for your pet in this stifling heat- just arm yourself with plenty of water, poo bags and treats and enjoy what is set to be a long and exciting summer (hopefully)!

Good News for Dogs has, once again, been greatly saddened by the news of yet another dog attack on a young child http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/7603955/Toddler-ripped-apart-like-a-doll-by-American-Bulldog-in-horrific-attack.html. This is becoming an all too regular occurrence and even though in this case it appears that the owner and family have taken reasonable steps to prevent such an attack, it really does highlight the dangers of having young children in close proximity to dogs.

Last year Good News for Dogs was asked to feature on a local radio news program after an child was attacked by a breed banned in this country as per the Dangerous Dogs Act 1997. It is an issue that Good News is very passionate about as it can be prevented and creates so much pain for the families of the victims. It also ends in an animal being put to sleep when in many situations it can be prevented through training and education. With this in mind Good News for Dogs began offering a program for expectant mothers or those struggling fit a dog into a family with young children. The program has been designed to educate owners on the main reasons for potential attacks, these are;

• Mistaken identity- babies smell, sound and move differently from anything your dog has experience with.
• Jealousy- in many cases your dog is used to having you all to itself  and a new baby comes along and you have a lot less time for your dog.
• A change in routine- your dog will have been fed and walked etc at roughly the same time for most of its life and the chances are this will change with the arrival of a baby.

The program is also designed to show the owners how to prepare their dogs for the arrival of the new family member and to help train the dog and acclimatise it to children. It isn’t always necessary to keep children and dogs apart, however it is essential to always supervise them and in the early stages when introducing the dog to the child/baby restraining the dog is useful in teaching him the correct way to behave in each situation.

My sympathy goes to the family in this situation but I hope that by bringing the issue of dog attacks on children into the public eye once again that some people may think about the way their dogs and children interact and prevent future potential attacks .

I am currently trying to upload the audio file from my radio interview so if you are interested in listening to it please revisit this page soon and I will put it up as soon as possible.

I think that we have just had the nicest weekend of the year so far and lets hope we will have many more to come. Good News was kept busy over the weekend making new friends and working with new owners taking the steps to strengthen their bond with their dogs. We all had lots of fun in the sunshine and I am looking forward to watching them all progress in the future.

As the weather improves we all want to make the most of it and enjoy the great outdoors, so for those of you who want to try something a little different this summer I would like to make a recommendation… Joe Hodgson. Joe is an expert carriage driver and shares his talents and enthusiasm by offering private tuition. Whether you want to spend the summer learning something completely new or want to improve on skills that you already have, visit www.carriage-driving-tuition.com to see how Joe can help you.  Having spent time with Joe and his horses at his stables in the stunning setting of the North Yorkshire moors I am confident that anyone taking up lessons with Joe will have a ball and learn a lot. Joe also offers other services such as long lining lessons and clipping and has worked with horses with a variety of behavioural problems so if you are interested or know someone who might be please take a look at his website or contact him on 01765 658336.

In the meantime lets hope this weather holds so that we can all continue getting out and about with our dogs. Take care though and remember to take water with you on long journeys and don’t leave your dogs in the car in hot weather.

Welcome to the Good News for Dogs blog! This is where you will get to know a little bit more about me, my ideas, my views and the techniques I use in my training. I will be telling you about some of the dogs I am working with and  some of the characters I meet along the way. I will also be using this opportunity to pay tribute to some of the other small businesses that I have forged links with on the way to building my own business. So please enjoy this blog and look out for any future posts that may be of interest to you and your pet. And for those of you that are part of the Facebook community, why not check out the Good News for Dogs fan page on Facebook where you will find more photo’s and training information as well as the opportunity for you to post pictures of your own dogs. I’ll be back soon!