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Services
we offer at Pett - Behaviour.
Dogs
name: Skallywag and Barkly
Breed: Springer Spaniel and Shih-Tzu
Owners: Tracy, Gordon (mum and dad) and Kieran (son aged 12)
History:
The family had owned a Springer Spaniel previously, unfortunately
one day Candy their previous dog cut her foot badly and was taken
to the vet. The vet had no other option but to put Candy under anaesthetic
to stitch the wound. On this occasion Candy reacted badly to the
anaesthetic and died. The family were devastated especially as Candy
was a young dog, Kieran had done all of Candy’s training,
she was an exceptional dog. To say Kieran was devastated would be
an understatement. The family then decided to get another Springer
Spaniel puppy.
Behaviour
Problem
In this instance there wasn’t so much of a behaviour problem
with Skallywag, It was more the fact that Kieran could not make
any bond with the new puppy. This was a tough time for the family
and knowing what they had been going through I decided that there
must be a way to help. The clock was ticking as Skallywag was a
young puppy and needed training and socialisation. However this
was an unusual case and certainly not one I had come across before.
Action!
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It
was Tracy that first called me to explain the problems they
were having, it seemed that Kieran would not interact with
the new puppy at all. At first I suggested that Tracy might
like to bring Kieran and the new puppy to puppy classes as
I thought that if Kieran got involved with Skallywag’s
training he might develop a bond with her. The first week’s
class arrived and so did Tracy and Skallywag, sadly no Kieran.
This went on into the second week’s puppy class despite
Tracy and Gorden’s best efforts to get Kieran to come
along. The third week Kieran did come but it was very clear
he was keeping away from the puppy and seemed frightened to
create any relationship with her. I decided it was time to
change track as just attending puppy classes was not going
to get this young lad to interact with Skallywag.
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After
a long chat with Tracy I discovered that there were two great loves
in Kieran’s life…one was skateboarding and the other
was rugby, skateboarding it was! As soon as I suggested to Kieran
that we could teach the puppy to skateboard I saw a glint in his
eyes. We did a one to one session and achieved a lot. Kieran would
sit on the skateboard and Skallywag sitting in front of him whilst
rolling down the drive! We did weekly sessions for some time and
at one stage had Barkly their shih-tzu dog on the skateboard with
Skallywag pushing it along with her two front feet on the back of
the board! Result!! Skallywag soon became Kieran’s best friend
and Kieran became the brilliant young dog trainer that I used to
watch teaching Candy.
Tracy
has now informed me that as Kieran is growing up he is displaying
a lazy attitude! Skallywag fetches him the remote controls, puts
his washing into the laundry bin and much much more. Kieran has
also discovered that with an intelligent dog comes girls! Tracy
also tells me it’s not uncommon for Kieran’s friends
to knock on the door and ask for Kieran and if he is not in they
will ask if Skallywag can come out to play! I myself now have my
own skateboard that Kieran brought for me so I too can teach my
dogs the joys of skateboarding!
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