Thursday 20 December 2018

How to get a no stress transition to your dog’s new PET SITTER or DOG MINDER


When I walk my Hound Dog Hotel guests I meet lots of dog owners who know about my boutique Dog Hotel  and we always talk ‘dog’ - our favourite subject. However,  I should add, I always walk and talk rather than stand still as it is important to keep dogs occupied during their exercise sessions. Bored dogs standing around waiting on their leader to do something invariably either run off or get into trouble. Keeping moving avoids that.

Not just the owners but their doggies know me too as they associate me with tasty Treats I always carry.  One such local is a gorgeous blue roan Cocker Spaniel, Charlie.







Now Charlie’s owner has had real difficulty leaving Charlie with anyone as he apparently gets stressed and when she comes home she will find Charlie with an upset tummy which can take days to get right. 

Recently Charlie’s usual minder was unable to look after her beloved boy so she asked me if I thought Charlie would be OK with me.  

Charlie would fly up to me whenever he saw me out, (he’s very food focussed and I give him treats) so he already had good personal associations with me. The next stage was to get Veronique to bring Charlie to the Hound Dog Hotel to let him have a sniff around to become familiar with the place. 

They brought him over, and in he came with his nose to the ground and he went flying around the premises and garden having a great experience.

Reassured – although still a little worried about how he would be – Veronique booked Charlie in with me for 4 days.

I found Charlie to be a happy little boy with a constantly wagging tail. He settled in like one of my regulars. It really was as if he’d been here many times before.

I did notice when it came to random noises that Charlie was a little nervy, he was ready to bark at the slightest noise. Whilst he was with me I worked on that.

When Veronique collected him she was thrilled to know his tummy had been fine with no upsets. I also took the time to have a chat about his barking and how she might deal with that – as I had found he responded exceptionally well to the feedback I gave him and he learned to stop barking very quickly.

So here is an email I received a few days later from Veronique. 


“Hi Maralyn,

The proof is in the poo and Charlie's has been perfect the past 2 days! We followed your instructions about his barking and I cannot believe it but he has stopped. At the moment there are three work guys in the house and Charlie is remaining calm. He is hanging around me for treats but he's not bothered at all by the 3 guys running up and down the stairs continuously. He came home very relaxed and has stayed that way. Thank you, you're a gem! Veronique”  


What this shows is it is always worth spending time getting your dog to know their minder and be familiar with the surroundings they are going to stay in before their first time at a new venue. Your dog will settle and be happy and as we all know,  a happy dog = a happy (and in Veronique's case relieved) owner!! 


 For fun and games of Hound Dog Hotel guests, head on over to our Facebook page:


or take a tour of our website

https://hounddoghotel.net






Friday 14 September 2018

Is Kibble Killing your dog?


I've been recommending a raw and fresh feeding regime to my clients for a long time.

I knew kibble could not be ideal, but hey, we all feed it and vets recommend it so it must be good, right? Wrong. I've just discovered proof of how bad kibble is and it has shocked me to the core. 

Having had dogs for 25 years and looked after 100s professionally for over 6 years  I really want to spread this knowledge. Please click below to read this important blog so as a dog lover you can make an informed choice about what you feed the furpal you love.



I no longer live in looking after your dogs, instead I take just 4 VIPs at my exclusive boutique accommodation for dogs - my Hound Dog Hotel in Green Point on the Central Coast. For more info head over and have a look for the best dog care you didn't know existed!



New Years Day 2018 at Shelly Beach with 4 Guests

Monday 2 July 2018

The real reason vets won't tell you your dog is overweight

This blog is for all devoted dog owners who want to do the right thing for their fur pal. 

To find out why you don't get told the truth and how to easily monitor your dog's weight just click on the link and you'll go right to it:-)

https://hounddoghotel.net/blog/2018/7/1/the-real-reason-vets-wont-tell-you-your-dog-is-overweight


Tuesday 26 June 2018

Who is the most dangerous - dogs or their owners?

Not written a blog for a long time as been so busy! However, felt compelled to write on this subject which is so important to dog owners. Some readers may already know that I run the Hound Dog Hotel near Gosford, Central Coast, and one particularly long stay guest of mine is a dear Cavoodle, Coconut. 

How pretty is this little girl?!
Coconut has been staying for three months. She is a real character, feisty, confident, fun and very active. She's not scared or nervous around other dogs. In fact in my hotel it is the other dogs, often four times her size, who are wary of her!!
When out on our Adventure Walks she loves to play and run and chase dogs of all sizes, she's happy to be chased too.
But recently something happened which every small dog owner dreads. We were in East Gosford at a place called the Friendship Walk where there is a small leash free Oval. There are some nice areas either side of the Oval although dogs have to be on a lead in them.
I’d been out about an hour, at this point Coconut was on leash, and we were returning to the Oval. Since I’d left the Green earlier, two women had arrived with 2 dogs and one was a brown cattle dog.  I looked at it and did wonder about it so actually asked the owner if it was Ok. She replied yes, so I let Coconut free, off for her final stint of play in an leash run about. 
In the blink of an eye one of the dogs started to chase Coconut but then the cattle dog joined in and I could see straight away this dog was aggressive and meant to get her. 
Coconut was scared, crying in distress and running fast trying to escape. Then she yelped out in pain as the dog, all teeth and viscous intent, got her.
I was trying to get to the dog and managed to distract it by bellowing and then got in between it and Coconut - but it still was trying to get her.
This all happened so fast I couldn’t get my stick - which I always carry - off my shoulder quick enough to hit it, but I did had managed to clump it with my handbag at some point.
I was shaken but furious and had a confrontation with the woman. However, did not find out until I was leaving that her dog has ‘form’ in this behaviour. (As I was leaving at man with a couple of dogs I’d spoken to earlier passed me and said he did not blame me for having a go at the woman as people had “had words with her before”. )
Why do these morons know their dog is unsafe yet continue to let them free in a public place with no muzzle - and I’d even asked her if it was ok?
After getting back I checked Coconut and the dog’s top two canine teeth had made contact with her back. To my huge relief the wounds are superficial.
Fortunately because Coconut was so fast she had been able to avoid a full bite, plus as I was right there to intervene the damage was limited - but this could have been so much worse.
Coconut as usual in thick of it playing with Leo & Toby

Yes these sort of incidents are rare - Coconut must have been on 100 walks with me during her long three month stay and nothing like this has occurred anywhere else.
So who was to blame for this? 
There is only one answer - it is ALWAYS THE OWNER.
Do you believe it when owners say 'Oh they've never done that before'. In the case above the woman knew her dog was a menace yet (1) she even confirmed it was OK and (2) she brings it to an off leash area and (3) she does not have a muzzle on it.
I run a local Facebook page called 'Davistown Dogs' and one of our members posted this event which happened after the Coconut one :
"Was out at Terrigal dog park today and someone let a pit bull run around with it's muzzle removed and guess what? It attacked a female labrador twice before anyone could get to it - the attacks were for no reason".
It's time these owners who have no regard for anyone else face huge fines AND the risk of having their dog taken away and banned from keeping dogs. How else can the rest of us keep the dogs we love safe?

Some more pics of cutie Coconut and pals below. Head on over to my Hound Dog Hotel for some great videos of which feature some of my guests, including Coconut (Cavoodle), Leo (Labradoodle) and Toby (black Labrador).











How to get a no stress transition to your dog’s new PET SITTER or DOG MINDER

When I walk my Hound Dog Hotel guests I meet lots of dog owners who know about my boutique Dog Hotel  and we always talk ‘dog’ - our favou...