Pretty Happy Dogs

Most people think calm dogs are born calm.

They’re not.

Calmness is not a personality trait.

It’s a skill.

A skill that can be learned, practised, and strengthened over time.

Three weeks ago, a young puppy named Kayda could bark continuously for long periods when she became overwhelmed by the world around her.

Today, she still occasionally barks.

The difference is what happens next.

She pauses.

She sniffs.

She observes.

She recovers.

That’s not luck.

That’s learning.

That’s growth.

And that’s what calmness really looks like.

🌿 Read our latest article:
“Calmness Is a Skill, Not a Personality Trait”

Article URL: https://www.prettyhappydogs.com/post/calmness-is-a-skill-not-a-personality-trait

Professor Willow would like to remind everyone that socialisation does not require greeting every dog in existence.

Read our latest article!

Why Socialisation Isn't What Most People Think It Is Teaching Puppies to Feel Safe, Not Just Say HelloOne of the most common pieces of advice new puppy owners hear is:"Make sure you socialise your puppy."It's good advice.The problem is that many people misunderstand what socialisation actually means.For years, puppy socialisation was often described a...

🌿 Meeting of the Pretty Happy Dogs Council🌿

Agenda items discussed:

🐾 Whether every walk should include at least three sniffing stops.
🐾 The appropriate number of treats required after being a Very Good Dog.
🐾 Whether mud puddles are a human problem or a dog opportunity.
🐾 The importance of belly rubs in maintaining world peace.

After careful consideration, the council reached a unanimous decision:

Be kind.
Be curious.
Sniff everything.
And remember to enjoy the adventure.

Wishing all our two-legged and four-legged friends a pretty happy day. 🌸🐾

It’s a great time to be celebrating the end of this year and starting 2024 with your favourite people! It’s lovely to be able to see the new year in with your pack!

Below is a playlist from Spotify that could be played throughout the evening to help your wee ones feel safe and calm.

You don’t need a subscription.

Have a great New Year’s! See you in 2024 - bright eyed and bushy tailed!

Woods and Blessings,
Kirsten

Relaxing Music for Dogs During Fireworks Playlist · Relaxing Music Playlists · 137 items · 1.3K likes

Yes friends, I have been off social media for a while and only recently came back on.

Some of you have noticed and sent me messages to ask how I am going - thank you - and you’ll know that I actually am very well.

My social media hiatus was brought about around late September by the fact that I felt the highest level of disconnection with myself and with life despite, or maybe directly because of the constant relentless bombardment of posts, stories and reels, not to mention sponsored content and recommendations.

I was questioning a lot about life, about my role in it and about YOUR roles in it and in mine.

Then, I started to feel a tug on my trousers to say, “hey, let’s just go an reconnect with nature!”

Just before I took off into the sunset, I felt that I was seeing ‘the same old sh*te’ everyday on Facebook: so-and-so has got a pretty dress on and going out; someone else is at the airport going somewhere; and another person has just done a PB at a race. (Sorry, if anyone feels like I am pointing fingers, I am merely using these as examples.) All these were also and still are in parallel to *this* latest technology to help you lose weight, *that* new programme to get control of your life, and *this* other gadget give you the opportunity to be your best version of you.

A large proportion of them are hoaxes or worst, scams.

I was very happy and relieved when I packed my metaphorical bags and left Facebook.

I felt *so* uncomfortable because I know for a fact that life exists outside the screen - always has and always will. I was returning to Life!

So I came away from social media and went away - deep into nature - with my trusty canine sidekicks, of course.

Armed with a notepad, my camera and phone, we went out everyday and we took pictures; we wrote (ok, I wrote, the dogs just hunted rodents). We stopped, stood in silence and listened; we put our noses up and we sniffed. We made friends! Lots of friends! Friends who are not on Facebook! Friends who have deep, meaningful essences instead of just an online profile.

Life became rich, filthy rich - in every sense of the word!

Mid to late October came and I didn’t once feel the need to come back on social media to ‘validate my existence’. So I knew I was on the right track.

Sorry if that phrase was offensive. I don’t know how to say it otherwise. Most truths hurt, don’t they? When I realised that that was what I was doing too - validating my existence - I accepted it and I decided to shake it off and move on.

Isn’t that what many of us do? It’s like the old style office punch cards back in the 80’s or something, to check-in and check-out of work.

I thought we had come away from that practice?

Since leaving Facebook, I still do not feel the need to come back. Please be assured that I am still living the same life as I did before - running, writing, camping, paddleboarding, etc. I’ve even taken up drawing and singing! Life is going well! Actually, it’s not just ‘well’ - it is more than before, or at least it’s felt like I am doing more and having a richer, more meaningful experience.

To be honest, I love connecting with people and I love people. We are quite an amazing and crazy bunch! People are awesome! Yes, some of us enjoy connecting on social media with posts, responses and comments… I like it too, but I can’t help but feel sucked away into the social media vortex whenever I am on it.

I do miss a select group of people on social media and I promise that we will maintain contact via other means. Just for now, please know that I am making a change to the way I use social media:

I will T.H.I.N.K before I post:

About pretty much anything and everything. For anything to come on my page, they must be things I believe to be 1. True, 2. Helpful, 3, Inspiring, 4. Necessary and 5. Kind to others. I will not post anything about me - things I’ve done, seen or achieved unless they meet ALL 5 criteria.

Similarly, I will not interact with posts that do not meet ALL 5 of the above for me and the life I want to build.

I will be selective. Very selective.

Life is too short to be frivolous about these little acts of checking social media are taking us all away from actually living - of experiencing nature and this beautiful planet, of cultivating ourselves and our environment, of expressing our own creativity in everything we touch.

I have wasted a lot of time on social media before… I am glad I don’t do it anymore.

I would like to encourage all of you to go into nature too. She is a beautiful energy to immerse in!

Feel free to comment below using this simple THINK criteria, if you think it’s worthwhile (pun fully intended! 😏) If anyone wants to connect deeper/closer, I am on messenger and WhatsApp. Always happy for a chat!!

I hope that whatever ways we connect from now on, they will be full of THINK!

(I haven’t add a photo to this post because a photo will not increase the THINK-value of my words)

Love and Blessings,
Kirsten

It’s been a while since I posted anything and this article caught my attention today.

It is useful for the newspaper to put a spotlight on the number of incidences involving this particular breed of dogs. However, I would like to speak in defense of this breed.

There are many incidents involving dogs everyday - everywhere - not just in Dundee. These incidents also involve other breeds, not just XL Bulldogs.

First and foremost, I want to highlight that the pictures in the article show these dogs with cropped ears when these dogs are born with floppy ears naturally. Many XL bullies are affectionate, like your cockerpoo or Labrador.

These dogs didn’t crop their own ears; their owners did it when they were young so that their ears would look like they are standing up and give the impression that the do is alert. Along with the muscular body, wide jaws and piercing eyes, this breed is the ideal dog for a person who wants to look tough - someone not to be messed around with.

These dogs are indeed strong and powerful. In the wrong hands, they literally become weapons. However, like many other breeds, they are not vicious by nature. Any dog can perform the death shake (holding an animal by the neck and shaking vigorously to break the spine). In fact I have seen border collies do it to their tug toys! So are border collies a dangerous breed? The death shake is simply an effective way a predator could use to obtain a meal - one of nature’s best solution for a quick and simple death.

I hope that people could extend some compassion to this breed of dogs while maintaining a heightened awareness of the potential harm that they could inflict. Rather than being afraid of these dogs when we see them, see the trauma they would have experienced having their ears cropped, perhaps not given the right/any training and even not socialised correctly.

Instead of projecting fear, try to exude an air of calmness and steadfastness while passing them on the street. If anything, the dog will gain a neutral interaction to add to its memory bank.

Also, not every XL bully owner is bad or have antisocial attitudes. Before you start to cross the road when you see an XL bully, take a few extra seconds to work out the whole package - dog and owner. Are you able to see a fellow dog owner who is as loving and caring towards his/her dog as you are toward yours?

I recently worked with a lady with a large bulldog cross and they are both beautiful beings - open, accepting and very kind.

This is a good article but I would just like to add that we needn’t get over reactive when walking on the street, a little hello could help everyone involved.

Stay alert but stay kind.

Kindness, like aggression, could kill; so kill those attitudes and stereotypes.

Stay safe!

Woofs and Blessings.

How XL Bully dogs have blighted Dundee and put owners in the dock

Finding my inspiration to keep working on my craft despite everything at the moment…

Beautiful Saturday Morning! Hope everyone’s have a great start to the weekend!

Just to say class will be tomorrow at 11am at Camperdown Park (in front of Camperdown House)

I would like to continue in our workshop format of the loose lead training and reactivity class but focus more on reactivity and different ways of getting your dog’s attention when he/she is zoomed in on a trigger or a anything of interest.

Looking forward to seeing everyone there!

Woofs and blessings,
Kirsten Koh
07727630303

Photo of the cutest Blue Heeler, Blue I met yesterday at Ballo Woods!