Collies . . . . the importance of eye to eye contact. . . .

As you know we help numerous people with many animal issues but this post is on Canine issues, we come across dogs of all ages and from all walks of life, some rescues, some almost lost cases, and then the wonderful endearing and lovable pups. 

One of the most common issues in our area however seems to be with Collies and Terriers and it is with this in mind that we thought we would share this little, but very important hint of help with you.

All dogs are extremely intelligent but each animal needs to be understood for its' own qualities and each quality then nurtured to its' best potential. But this potential needs to be understood on a contented or happy 50/50 communication level, not on a 75/25 basis or indeed a 25/75 basis. If the latter is the case then either the dog or the human is in control or not in control and ultimately one or other will be unhappy, frustrated or confused.

It is the 50/50 communication level that we whole heartedly encourage because without problems will be afoot.

For Collies and Terriers we can not stress the importance of eye to eye contact enough, without this then the issues you may come across are endless but here are just a few : 

• Select deafness
• Disobedience
• Inability to stop your dog from barking
• Negative behaviour
• Control issues
• Separation anxiety
• Domineering walking on a lead
• Lack of respect
• Growling

to mention just a few. 

However, with the special understanding of 50/50 and correct eye to eye contact this will initiate fantastic results. 

So, with this in mind, and if you are having trouble with your dog here are a couple of little testers to see how your dog communicates with you : 

We would however stress that if you have rescued a Collie or Terrier who is timid or sensitive please reduce your eye contact with them until they gain your trust. If the trust is taking a while to come round or if you are having trouble, please contact us for either a one to one Session online, or a visit or ask someone in your area to help. This kind of eye to eye contact can also be too much for the regular dog - unless they have done something wrong of course! but genuinely wrong as in considered in the Canine world. Feel free to share this link so that it can perhaps help others

• When you let your dog out of the back door, do you open it and let him/her out, or when you put your hand on the door handle do you look at your dogs eyes first to ask them with pure eye to eye contact whether he/she want out or not, (not using any vocals at all)
• When you give your dog a treat, do you give his/her treat as soon as he/she has sat down? or do you ask him/her to sit, and then with your eyes ask him/her for eye to eye contact then give him/her a treat. 
• When you give your dog his/her tea, do you make it up and put it straight down and tell him/her just to go for it or ' there you go' or do you ask him/her to look at you with eye to eye contact first and then put it down. 

So having read the above . . what kind of a relationship do you feel you have with your dog? 

If you try the methods in large writing, with 100% eye contact being given, the next time your dog barks for example, call his/her name and bend your body over with your back being at a 45 degree angle to your legs (if possible), immediately STARE eye to eye and lower your voice an octave and say ENOUGH, but the GH at the end of ENOUGH needs to be exaggerated  . .  this to a Collie and a Terrier sounds like a growl . . 

Good luck with this little experiment.

The above is just a small hint that should help you straight away with the basic issues that can be triggered from about 4 months old. Feel free to contact us  or if this has been helpful to you perhaps you would like to go to the top right hand side of this page and press the like button to connect to our facebook page. 

In the meantime you would be welcome to come along to The Puppy Workshop starting 26th August  However, as it says on the link participants need to contact us by the 19th August to secure a place. Perhaps see you there. 

This blog now has 15,090 viewers from all over the world  - thank you one and all for joining us. 

One thing in common . . . for 'vulnerable' individuals

From the work we have done over the years with what we would call, to a point, 'vulnerable' individuals or for those who suffer from issues such as Dementia, Anxiety attacks, Obsession .Compulsive.Disorder, Psychosis and other similar health issues, there is one thing in common, and the effects of these have the same clearly apparent results resulting in larger 'blip days' than the sufferers tend to have on, what to them, is a 'normal day', but to others seem to be 'abnormal days'.

Often many solutions to these issues is medication, and to up the medication on 'bad days'. You will have read in some of our previous articles that we often feel medication has a tendency to 'mask' the issue and doesn't, for some anyway, help to resolve the issue in hand. Medication can often result in an individual suffering from 'go slow or dopey days' making them look as if they are almost walking on a different planet which can make others (who are supposedly normal ) make fun of the sufferer even more than normal. However, the effect of this negative kind of attitude given by supposedly 'normal' individuals can make the sufferer feel even worse and more shy resulting in them being unable to cope with their workload or school work because of this kind of 'silent attack' on their visual behaviour.

Let us give a couple of examples, if nothing else but to see if they ring any bells with you. If they do then we hope you will help the sufferer  by supporting them and by making the public or the sufferers family and friends more aware of how their reaction can effect them both at home, at work or at school/college or play.

Ultimately we would like to ask you to guide them towards better behaviour so that the sufferer is not put through any more unnecessary turmoil! however, if you find you are unable to get through to them, please, please contact us so that we can add some extra light on the matter.

So what is it that can have a detrimental effect on sufferers . .

• What goes on behind closed doors  . . . . There is not a truer statement than this. Often we don't see what is said or done behind these doors/walls (unless you are a next door neighbour and the walls are thin) but you may go in the next day to see a friend or Client who suffers from such a health issue and note they are extra tired or just not connecting that well or seem flustered . . but often not knowing why they are like this. . . . many people just put it down to their health issue, where as infact it is quite the reverse - it is other people's issues that effect the sufferer.
• What goes on with silent body language . . . . . again, this can have a dreadful effect on sufferers but we would say this is fractionally more common in adolescent years rather than older years. When given the silent treatment or visual face to face disapproval the inner turmoil that a sufferer can feel is unthinkable. However, in saying this, at the end of the day, the 'givers' of this treatment are often ten times more insecure than the sufferer, it's as if, at that stage in their life, they have a need to show power (control) and often, unfortunately have their little followers or 'sheep' who copy this negative behaviour resulting in 'group' bullying or negative energy is aimed at the sufferer which makes them suffer from more confidence related issues. 
• Another frequent issue is when youths are brought up in a 'controlling family unit '  this can often breed to a 'controlling' attitude and a need to ridicule who ever and wherever - we feel, in this day and age that the 'controlling' family unit is unnecessary but unfortunately it does exist, however, if we see this happening we have been known to nip this type of behaviour in the bud whether it be in a public place or family unit, although this is handled sensitively or with 'kid gloves' - sensitive role playing comes in handy in this type of a scenario.
• Silent bullying or/and cyber bullying  . . . . . can also have a similar effect and should be discouraged where possible. Again, sensitive role playing can come in handy here.

Now that we have covered a few examples of additional irritations what are the signs . . . 

• Behavioural patterns may change slightly or seriously
• Concentration ability may change for the worse
• An inability to fulfill their daily duties
• An inability to walk with confidence
• An inability to communicate with confidence
• A sudden confidence dip
• Obsessions may become more apparent
• An inability to laugh
• An inability to sleep 
• An inability to be amongst a group of their peers or work colleagues
• An inability to interact with others/family members/peers/relations
• An inability to look any one in the eye
• Eating disorders
• A change of eating habits
• Toilet issues
• Sickness issues
• Frequent ill health albeit colds/flu's/
• Skin issues
• Wind issues
• Gastric issues
• Acid reflux
• An ability to become more depressed and sensitive
• A tendency to turn to the bottle

are just a few of the many signs . . . 

For some the initial illness is generally due to a chemical imbalance or negative experience, such as a car crash, a death, a negative experience, brain over load or, for whatever reason an inability to relax in their own home, bullying at an early stage in school years which continues in to High School . . . to list just a few. 

How to resolve the issues . 

• Find the key to the individual - we can help with this if you find yourselves stuck
• Encourage everyone to sing from the same song sheet
• Discourage others negative behaviour
• Encourage family support on a level that the sufferer can understand
• Encourage confidence
• Encourage a good diet
• Encourage them to drink more water instead of coffee/tea
• Encourage positive support in the workplace/At home/At school/At University/At college

The people who suffer from such issues all have a wonderfully warm heart and would not hurt a fly, so let's stick up for them and help to give them a voice, at least for the time that they can't do this for themselves . . . 

On behalf of many sufferers who suffer from and have suffered from these type of issues, thank you for taking time to read this little  article.