Cocoa our Spanish water dog is a reactive dog. She always has been. We have had her since a puppy and we have done everything that we could to help with this. We tried to socialise her as much as possible. We took her to various trainers and worked constantly ourselves with her, outside and inside and over the years it has got better but unfortunately it is still there. The breed can be known for this. Generally they don’t like strangers and will protect their family to the ends of the earth and back again, twice over! So as you can imagine when on walks this can be problematic and generally quite noisy as she barks - a lot....
Three years ago I made a prototype of what has now become one of our most popular toys - the Snuffles Ball. I still have that prototype and Cocoa & Luca use it to this day. Yes, that means that toy is three years old and it is used 3 or 4 times a week. They both still get very excited whenever it appears because they know they are going to have a fun time finding the treats that are hidden inside it.But I must admit that the toy is now looking a little bit worse for wear, a few bits of the fleece are missing and one of the main treats holes can be seen more clearly because some...
In these slightly unusual times, how do we make sure that our dogs are entertained, using their brains and kept fit?I always think never under estimate the power of a simple game of tug with your dog. It's just a simple game, lasting either a matter of minutes or hours (I am sure you will tire before your dog)! The experts say that just a few minutes a day can help with such things as establishing your trust and boosting your bond with your dog. It can also make other areas of training easier to achieve, as this can be used a reward. Make sure you always initiate the game and give your dog lots of praise whilst playing. Use different...
We love Luca, our Italian Spinone but he is a little troublesome in the toy department! He loves nothing better than a good chomp on a tug toy, working those knots with his gloriously whiter than white teeth or just having a good old chew, going straight through the rope section of the tug toy.So we decided we needed a stronger version of our ever increasingly popular tug toys and since then we have developed The 'Dummy'. It looks a bit like a child's dummy so we thought that name would be quite apt, although the inspiration behind it came from the method to make boat fenders. Boat fenders are used to absorb the kinetic energy of the boat when it...
We are often asked how to use our Snuffles Balls, so here are a few tips! Cocoa & Luca’s tips for using your new Snuffles Ball: There will be four larger holes running around the centre of the Snuffles Ball. Find one of these holes and pull away the fleece. Insert the desired amount of treats into the hole. Cover the hole with the fleece and make sure the remaining three holes are also covered. You can make it as easy or as difficult as you wish: Easy: make sure the single hole is left fairly open. Difficult: Really ruffle the fleece up and make sure all the holes are covered securely by the fleece. That’s all you have to...
