Luxury Dog Training Breaks to Pamper You and Your Pooch

Dog Training doesn’t have to be early mornings, hasty meetups and regimented processions of dog owners in the local park. For those that crave a more one to one approach with professional dog behaviourists and psychologists that truly understand the way that your dog interacts with the world, Kelford Dog Training is an exclusive Dog Training Retreat which can offer the attentions of industry-leading dog behaviourists, as well as a luxury break in the beautiful countryside.

No matter the breed (or combination) or age of the dog in question (Kelford even have bespoke Puppy Training) Kelford Dog Training can help you and your best friend see eye to eye.

Kelford offer an experience which is completely out of this world. While you’re training your beloved hound with the aid of the professionals at the Dog Training Centre, you and your dog will be put up in luxury accommodation with all of your combined needs taken care of. You can get to what’s really important at Kelford – one-on-one training which addresses the causes of bad behaviour, as well as a great environment to truly enjoy getting to know your dog.

When you experience the Kelford way of dog training, your problematic pooch will be given a complete re-education in the way to behave in order to provide you with the trust between you and your dog that you’ve always desired. Kelford do not believe in short cuts, nor do they believe in half-baked approaches. Their experience in dog psychology ensures that your dog will experience training that they understand, and training which works for the long term.

Kelford Dog Training School offers unique training methods which really do work – they don’t believe in old wives tales and they can help train you as an owner as well. Kelford Dog Training School offer training methods which are a far cry from other trainers’ sometimes cruel methods.

When you take your best friend to Kelford Dog Training, you can be assured that shock collars and physical punishment are absolutely never employed – and instead their methods are dedication, professionalism, as well as highly dedicated and reputable Dog Training.

Puppy Training: A Practical Way to Teach Puppies to Toilet

Toilet training can be a very slow and stressful process. Dogs are very clean animals by nature – most dogs, even puppies after being shown that outside in an appropriate place to do his or her business, won’t need that many repetitions before getting it. However, that isn’t the case for all dogs. For some, it can be quite the challenge to say the least. Dogs in themselves are just as individual as people, and if your brand new puppy is a little slow on the uptake, unfortunately there is no changing that. However, with good sense, enough effort, and puppy training techniques, you can turn even the most stubborn puppy around.

The first thing to consider with toilet training your puppy is that you might be a problem. There are (at least!) six times where you should take your puppy outside per day, and often, an owner can misinterpret the needs of the puppy, causing him or her to mess where they’re not supposed to. As a general rule you should take your puppy outside as soon as he or she wakes up in the morning, before going to bed at night, every time he or she wakes up from a nap throughout the day, after playtime, when you return home, and straight after eating.

Additionally, such is only effective should you keep your puppy in the corner of your eye at all times, ensuring that he or she can’t sneak off without you knowing all about it. A puppy might feel the need to go and decide that a small and secluded corner away from where he or she sleeps or eats (and in the dog’s mind, where you won’t see it!) is the most appropriate place to go- and of course for you, that’s not appropriate at all. Most new dog owners make the mistake of letting the puppy outside and not being around, as well. A puppy is a baby – of course he or she is going to want to be near his or her parent. A puppy may very well hold in the urge to go should you not be around while the puppy is outside, meaning that an accident inside will likely occur later on when he or she cannot hold it any longer.

When your puppy does go in an appropriate place such as outdoors, be sure to immediately praise the puppy. Positive reinforcement works wonders in all aspects of puppy training – though the usage of treats as a reward should of course always be used conservatively.  

Dog Grooming: The Tools & Techniques

Any dog owner will know that grooming your beloved pet is no easy task; in fact it can be the complete polar opposite. There is high chance that your dog won’t enjoy the grooming process, which can make the whole endeavour rather difficult. If you can’t make it to one of the fantastic facilities for dog grooming in North Wales, then there are a variety of measures that can be taken to make both your life and your dog’s life easier when maintaining a clean, healthy animal.

Preparation

Hopefully you have been maintaining the status quo with dog training since he or she was a puppy. In which case, they will understand the sit and stay commands that will become essential when the grooming process begins. Your dog will certainly try and vacate the bath tub as quickly as possible, but with a stern sit or stay command, they will soon learn that they must stay put. Another part of the preparation process is to make sure your dogs hair has been brushed before they go anywhere near the bath tub. This will make give their coat an additional shine after shampoo and conditioner has been applied.

Tools

Where hair clippers are concerned, you certainly get what you pay for. It will benefit you to invest in some higher quality clippers rather than finding the cheapest pair available. Also, search for clippers that come with interchangeable blades of various lengths.

Hair brushes are an essential part of your dog grooming kit. Long haired dogs will benefit from a pin brush to remove any tangles or matting. A comb is handy for brushing the hair on your dogs face. Using a comb makes it far easier to brush around the eyes, nose, and mouth.

A hair dryer can be useful to dry your dog before you begin cutting or brushing, especially a longer haired dog who will take longer to dry off. If you use a hair dryer on your dog, remember to set it at a lower heat to remove the risk of burning your beloved animal.

Choose your shampoo and conditioner carefully. A large majority of dogs can be allergic to the chemicals used in various pet hair products. Go straight to the natural, hypoallergenic products. Conditioning your dogs coat will make it easier to brush and drying time will be substantially reduced.

Asking another person to help may not seem like an obvious tool, but their assistance can be a distinct advantage during the entire grooming process. For the more intimate parts of grooming, this helping hand can distract the dog and hold them, keeping them calm and relaxed whilst you continue grooming.

Be Patient

Take your time and be patient with your dog. This is a stressful situation for them and will more than likely take a long time. But with preparation and the right tools for the job, the time it takes to groom your beloved pet will be significantly reduced. It is not worth risking cutting or injuring your dog just to get things over quicker.

Dog Training : Can You Teach an Old Dog New Tricks?

“You can’t teach an old dog new tricks”, or so the saying goes. When it comes to correcting negative and problematic behaviours with dog training, it’s very easy for an owner to consider their dog a little too long in the tooth to turn over a new leaf when trained, but that isn’t really the case at all. Make no mistake, dogs are very much like humans, and of course the younger the dog, the more impressionable he or she is.

Training a younger dog is much easier than training an older one that may be set in his or her ways. However - letting a dog get away with problematic behaviours, no matter the age, is entirely unacceptable. Older dogs can be trained, and should never be considered untrainable.

An owner resigning themselves to put up with poor behaviour based upon a dog’s age is just wrong – and often stems from laziness from the dog trainer’s part and a lack of understanding on the owners’ part. There are very many dog training providers throughout the UK, but it pays to go to one that will train older dogs – as after all, there’s no button on a dog which reverses time and lets you give another method a try.

Any good dog trainer or dog training school within the UK will have a psychological approach to dog training, and they will be able to get inside your dog’s head in order to provide solid reasons of which a dog behaves the way he or she does. Only with the reasoning a dog trainer can provide comes the understanding of a dog’s behaviour, and what follows is the ability to make proper change.

Without the reasoning and the understanding a dog training school can provide, change is absolutely impossible, and you’re at square one – reduced to yelling at your dog, getting frustrated, and wishing that you’d never have purchased him or her in the first place. Choose dog training which is centered towards you as an owner as well as covering the training and the psychology of your dog, and you’ll not go far wrong.  

What can and can’t my dog eat?

A guide to the do and don'ts of doggy diets

Give your pup some well recognised dog food with correct nutritional content.

Dog food

You can feed your dog suitable premium dog food from a recognised brand. The amount you feed your dog should be determined on its size, breed and the kind of food being used. If you look at the website of the particular type of food used, you should be able to find an exact serving guide. If there is no such guide, then there’s a good chance you aren’t using a reputable brand.

Your vet will also be able to provide valuable nutrition and feeding advice after weighing and assessing his health.

Meat

The RSPCA recommends that you treat your dog to human-grade meat – that means meat that you would typically buy for human consumption. Lamb, beef, chicken, pork etc are all perfect for animal consumption, the reason for this is that pet meat products can contain preservatives which aren’t the best for your dog’s health – albeit reasonably suitable for their consumption. It really depends how much you are willing to invest into your dogs.

Fish

Dogs can also be treated to fish – the tinned variety like tuna, salmon, sardines can be a good treat for your canine but not as a staple of a diet

When and how often should be dog be fed?

Adult dogs should be fed two smaller portions twice a day (rather than one massive one) to avoid bloating of the stomach. We recommend feeding right before a dog walk – this way your dog will definitely be ready to go to the toilet, and also give your dog’s metabolism the best possible chance.

while it’s true that dog training will help with your dog’s behaviour, mood and therefore overall health , the reverse also applies. That is, that your dog’s nutrition will have an effect on the way it behaves, poor nutrition will lead to your dog feeling unsatisfied, maybe leading to bad habits like stealing from counter-tops, eating out of the rubbish bin, eating soil or other inedible substances while out on a walk.

Can dogs eat bones?

The answer: sometimes. Your dog can eat raw meaty bones, and in fact can be massively beneficial to their health and dental hygiene. It is recommended that your dog only eat 1-2 bones a week maximum, as over consumption can lead to constipation in dogs. However your dog cannot eat cooked bones. Cooked bones run the risk of splintering in the dog’s stomach causing potentially life threatening digestive issues, possibly requiring veterinary surgery.

OK to eat:

The most important thing here is that the bone is RAW.

Lamb ribs

Lamb flaps

Raw chicken wings.

Specially bought chewing bones from the pet store

Not OK to eat:

Any bone which has been cooked

Large marrow bones (as they have very thick outer rims)

T-bones

‘Chop’ bones – lamb cutlets

Lamb Chops

Large knuckle bones

Bones which have been sawn lengthways (some butchers will do this, but it can cause dogs to crack their teeth)

Appropriate dog treats - like pig ears etc

Here a dog is loving a pig's ear. Yummy?

Foods toxic for dogs

While there are plenty of foods which your dog can enjoy, there are some specific foods that maybe carelessly fed to the dog as scraps after a meal. The owner may be completely unaware, but they are in fact harming the dog’s health.

This list is not exhaustive

Onions

Onion Powder

Garlic

Chocolate

Coffee

Caffeine Products

Mouldy, spoiled food or compost

Avocado

Bread dough

Yeast dough

Grapes

Raisins

Sultanas

Currants

Nuts

Fruit pips

Corncobs

Unripe tomatoes

Mushrooms

Cooked bones

Small pieces of raw bone

Fatty trimmings/fatty food

Salt

Sweetener (Xylitol)

Follow this guide, and you will be well on your way to raising a healthy, happy dog.

Naming your dog - A Guide

With an endless list of possibilities, it can be a pain to narrow down to just one name for your canine companion. 

This can especially be a challenge for first-time dog owners. Here is a useful guide of things you should take into consideration before choosing a title for your pooch!

Keep it simple

Dogs are more likely to understand short and simple consonants, these have a more prominent and sharper reaction when people hear it. Ending in vowel sounds also have a good impact with dogs and they are more likely to recognise it ‘Charlie’ ‘Simba’, ‘Fido’ etc.

Avoid confusion

Try not to give your name which you may mix up with a command that you want to teach during dog training, for example if you name it ‘Kit’ then it may mistake it for ‘Sit’. It’s going to cause unnecessary confusion in your dog’s brain. After all, your dog can’t spell it doesn’t actually know what you are staying, it just recognises the frequency and the sound of the spoken word. Make it easy!

Choose something sensible...ish!

Remember that you will be using your dog’s name in public, so try to make sure that it’s a name that you will feel comfortable shouting out on regular basis when out on a walk. If you’re in the park and have to shout ‘Death’ to get your dog back, you might get some funny looks. Although you might think it’s pretty funny or cool, we do recommend you be responsible. Also if your dog ever goes missing and you have to walk through the streets shouting his name you want to be sounding something a bit safer.

Try before you commit

Try out your dog’s name for a few days before you commit to it, if it doesn’t respond too well or feel right then you might want to change it. If saying the name over and over doesn’t fit right, you can just pick a new one.

Consider the dog

If renaming an older or rehomed dog then it would be best to choose a name which sounds similar to the dog’s previous name. This way the dog is going to feel as if nothing’s changed in that respect, while it will already have a lot of changes in lifestyle to get used to.

You could look at your dog’s physicality for inspiration on how to name it. If it’s brown you could name it ‘Chocolate’, if white then you could call it ‘snowflake’. I personally like to name dogs after my favourite TV show and Movie characters, why not draw from your interests?

After a little bit of consideration, I’m sure that you will find the perfect name for your new pooch.

Good luck