Sometimes we have trouble understanding what our dogs are trying to tell us. English is not their first language, and "dog speak" is not our first language, and as such, there can be some miscommunications between us and our furry friends. There are lots of different ways you can increase your effectiveness of communicating with your pet. One way is to teach them to ring a bell when they want to be let through a door (eg to go outside to toilet, or to come inside where it is warm).

Stay-at-home enrichment activities are suitable for any dog to try as an addition to regular exercise, or as a substitution for those dogs that cannot be exercised due to illness or injury, cannot be walked for the safety of themselves or others, or for dogs whose owners are unable to exercise them.
When determining the best suited enrichment activity for your dog, you will first need to observe how your dog interacts with its environment. You then need to develop activities to enhance the environmental and behavioural opportunities for your dog in its daily activities. Your dog is more likely to succeed at activities that it naturally finds enjoyable. The ideas provided are by no means an exhaustive list, and not all activities will be suited to all dogs or situations. It is important that you trial different ideas, under supervision initially, to determine what works best for you and your dog.

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The ongoing fires of the past few weeks have sadly left many people and their pets homeless. Many pets are therefore being housed in unfamiliar environments, often with unfamiliar people and unfamiliar pets. Their routines are disturbed, frequent travel may be involved, and nothing is familiar. Owners are busy trying to salvage what’s left whilst starting to rebuild their lives. All of these sudden changes, lack of routine and unfamiliarity cause most pets some stress and anxiety. Consequently, this can lead to a number of behavioural and/or medical conditions in your animals. We need to consider both the displaced animals, as well as the pets who are now sharing their home, as they can all experience stress and anxiety during this time as well.