About Loopy
Hi, my name is Loopy (my proper name is Blueprint), and I am a Lurcher.
I am 4 and a half years old, and am very cute looking but I have to say I am a little nervous about life. I was bought up in a stable and had 1 sister and 5 brothers. My mother was a very sweet Lurcher (also a little nervous ), and I never met my father, but he was also a Lurcher. Life seemed fine, except when the lady who bred us would invite her grand daughter in to see us. My brothers and sisters were always pleased to see her, but she frightened me a little, and I dont really know why as she was always very quiet.
Nobody ever really noticed my reluctance, as the others were always so boisterous.
I was, though very curious as a puppy so sometimes my inquisitiveness would get the better of me, and I would trot over to see her. I left my brothers and sisters when I was 8 weeks old. This lady came and sat in the stable with us, and I was curious, but also a little worried. That was nothing because things got worse. She picked me up and carried me to a box (which I now know is called a "car"). I had a little bed in the back on my own, and there were 2 other dogs I had never met in the car too. I was very frightened. Everything smelt unfamiliar (we dogs even as puppies have an amazing sense of smell ) and I can tell you I smelt petrol, and a horse smell and some sort of synthetic stink, which began to make my head ache after a while. (This I learned later is called is called by humans an "air freshener", it had a terrible affect on the air, but did not freshen it I can tell you ).
The car began to move, and it made me feel very sick. I shouted as loud as I could for help, which up until that day would have bought my siblings, and whats more, my mother running, but nobody came. When I yelled this other sound was put on, it was not something I was familiar with either, it was coming from something called a radio, and it made my ears hurt. A long, long time later, the car stopped, and the other dogs were taken out, then I was lifted out of the car, and taken into a very strange place, it contained the 2 dogs and big cushions, and was full of more strange smells, and noises. I made my way over to a cushion and weed on it. In fact I couldnt stop weeing, after a time I realised I should go out into whats called a garden, I got to know the place very well, as I needed to use it so often.
It was not all bad, I made friends with the other dogs, and the older one reminded me a bit of my mum. She had been a mum too, at some point, and did not like it when I was naughty, and would tell me in no uncertain way. She was not mean, but she was very clear, I came to respect her a lot. I remained very anxious though, and came to realise this situation was not going to change, this was now my life.
This is Loopys true puppy story. He was so very different to any other dogs I had owned up to this point. He would react initially with "confidence", to any situation I put him in, but days or weeks later he would react with an intensity I found puzzling. In my mind I had not put him in any demanding, or worrying situations, but in fact I was constantly asking him to cope with situations he could not make head, or tail of. I should have taken a very different route with him, but my ignorance became his problem. This story contains many mistakes, and I wonder how many people would actually pinpoint how many things in his story are wrong, and why?
About Me
Through Loopy I have become a canine behavoiur consultant. I studied with Sheila Harper, who along with Turid Rugaas, is doing some pioneering and ground breaking work into the effects of stress on dogs. Turid, herself a Norwegian dog trainer, has identified a communication system which all the dogs in our world use (regardless of where they live in our global village ), called calming signals. We can learn the language too, but we have to start by observing our dogs, and starting not to take them for granted. Through training and observation I started to understand why Loopy is the nervous and over reactive dog that he has become.
I am available on a one to one basis to help with any problems that people have with their dogs, as miscommunication often occurs. Dogs do not instinctively know what we are asking of them, and they have to hope that owners provide them with the things they need, it is not the one way street that many people assume it is.
For
all enquiries please contact Pennie on
01322 860 337 or 07910 720 961 or info@horseandhoundschool.co.uk |