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7th March 2018 by Arianna

Why do I walk only one dog at a time

Every animal has a specific personality, and when I am spending time with a dog, I give him my complete attention. This means that I focus on his needs and try to satisfy them, so that he has a quality experience, and not just a simple walk.

When I meet a client, I like to establish the dog’s particular needs: e.g. to run, to play, to meet another dogs, whether he has specific fears, and whether I have to stimulate or to protect the dog in any way. Basically, I always try to identify what the dog likes, and what he does not like. In this way I can adapt my experience and my knowledge to the character of the dog, and to the requirements of the owner.

Here are three examples, illustrating different dogs with different needs:

a) Millie is a 7-year-old Cairn Terrier. I’ve known her for two and a half years now. She loves to walk, is very curious, loving and determined. Once our walk establishes a rhythm, she walks next to me. But when she stops and wants to smell, I always wait for her. And when she resumes her walk, I let her choose the direction she wants. Most of the time we walk in a natural environment, where she can be off the lead. It’s very important for Millie that I vary the path during each walk. So I usually try to find an interesting path, full of interesting smells! This way Millie is able to walk with someone in a variety of places, and she isn’t bored.

b) Conrad, two and a half years old, is a cross between a Border Collie and a Galgo Spaniel. I’ve known him for almost two years now. Conrad loves to play and run. But he especially loves treasure hunt games and problem-solving activities. When I look after Conrad, I work at different levels of emotional stimulation. So I let him run, to collect and retrieve the ball, and then I involve him in the research game. I alternate these two emotional phases (excitement/calm) for two/three times per session in the same environment (park, forest and so on). In this way he de-stresses, and his physical and mental needs are satisfied.

c) Misty, one year and three months old, is a French Bulldog whom I’ve known for six months. She loves to play with other canine friends, so I always take her to the park, where other dogs are in abundance. When she meets a friendly dog, she has a lot of fun and she becomes an acrobat, leaping around. She runs, rolls, jumps, smiles, and competes for possession of a stick.

I am always careful to read the non-verbal signals of Misty and the other dogs, so that I understand immediately as to whether the other dogs are happy to play when they meet Misty, or if they are too shy. Then I check that the owners of the other dogs are nearby. If everything is fine, I allow Misty to play, and I stay focused on the game interactions between the dogs. I interrupt the game if the dogs become too excited. In these interactions, Misty is able to socialise and to express herself.

All the Best,

Would you like to comment on or share your experience with me? Please, leave a comment.

Filed Under: Arianna Post Tagged With: Border Collie, Cairn Terrier, dog game, dog has a fun, dog walker, Dogs interaction, Edinburgh dog walker, French Bulldog, Galgo Spagnolo, house sitter, pet sitter, problem solving game, research game, retrieve the ball, treasure hunt game, walk with the dog in a natural environment

14th May 2017 by Arianna

Why did you choose to be a professional housesitter, pet sitter and dog walker?

Be a yardstick of quality. Some people aren’t used to an enviroment where excellence is expected.

Steve Jobs

I love taking care of peoples’ pets. I have a natural gift for this work, and I love it passionately. Basically, I love animals. However, although these qualities are very important, love and passion aren’t enough. Taking care of someone’s pet also requires professionalism. It’s a huge responsibility, requiring one’s total attention. In other words, it’s not a hobby, it’s a serious job.

My clients need to be confident that everything is under control while they are away, so that they can relax in that assurance.

The professional looks after animals with knowledge and experience. He/she:

1. Respects the client’s wishes

Pets are family members, and as such are a source of happiness. An animal might have behaviour or health problems, and if so, I do my best to address these challenges. I want to provide my clients with a high standard of service, which is what they pay for, and deserve.

2. Shows respect for the pets

I don’t use my mobile phone while I walk a dog – I concentrate only on him. I observe him, play with him, and run with him. I watch him when he interacts with other dogs, and very careful to observe what’s going on. I do the same thing when interacting with a cat. My aim is the serenity and wellbeing of the pet.

3. I consider the specific characteristics of the pet that I look after.

Each animal has a character, and it’s important to understand his particular needs. If I understand the character of a dog or a cat, I can also understand how to connect with him/her in a gentle but assertive way.

4. I’m 100% focused. Dogs and cats are sensitive to the mood of a person. For this reason, when I’m with the dog or cat, I put aside my private life and focus on my job. It means I leave any concerns or personal worries behind when I’m interacting with the animal.

And, if I’m housesitting, there are three things I’m careful to observe:

1. I’m a discreet person, and I respect the house I’m staying in.

I don’t open wardrobes or drawers, or touch personal things. I’m honest and reliable, as my references will show. I take good care of both the house and the pet while the owner is away.

2. During the time of my engagement, I don’t invite anyone into the house, and I don’t talk about the details of my job with anybody.

I respect the privacy of my clients, and they can rely completely on my professional confidentiality.

3. When I housesit for a dog or cat, I do not go out socially – I concentrate on the animals in my care

I keep up with all the latest research about dogs and cats. I keep myself informed about their nutrition, their behaviour, and the meaning of their body language and their emotions.

Taking care of other people’s animals is an honour and a huge responsibility. For this reason, it needs enormous dedication and professionalism.

All the Best,

Translation by Audrey E. Cowan

Would you like to comment on or share your experience with me? Please, leave a comment.

Filed Under: Arianna Post Tagged With: discrete person, dog walking Edinburgh, Edinburgh dog walker, hight standard of service, professional confidentiality, professional looks after animals, respect the house I'm staying in, take care of peoples' pets., the serenity and wellbeing of the pet.

7th February 2017 by Arianna

The benefits of play for dogs and cats

“Play is the greatest medicine there is”

                                                                                  Lao Tzu

 

When you first attempt to establish a relationship with an animal, it’s important to speak the same language. The first thing I do when I meet a new cat or dog is therefore to let it get to know me by having a good sniff! Next I let the animal observe me for a while, get the measure of me, understand what sort of creature I am. Only then do I attempt to play with it.

The length of these three phases can vary: they may take fifteen minutes, or they may take a couple of days. No matter, it’s important to allow them to evolve at their own pace until the animal feels comfortable with me. The primary aim of this process is to allow the dog or cat to familiarise itself with me, my scent, voice and presence, in its own way. The second aim is to give it time to make sure that I’m not a threat and want to be friends. If the cat or dog then approaches me, I know that this means I’ve been accepted and we can start to establish a meaningful relationship. It’s only at this point that we can start to play together. To start the game, I might use a dog’s favourite toy, or with a cat a ball of wool, but the most important thing is really my behaviour towards the animal.

Why am I convinced that play is the most powerful tool to communicate with pets? Simply because it allows me to get on the same wavelength as the animal I’m looking after. I take my time to understand its personality and foibles, in order to understand how to play with it (not all animals play in the same way).

In the wild, the act of play for an animal is a wasteful activity in evolutionary terms because it isn’t directly related to the business of finding food, securing shelter, or identifying a mate. But when a domestic cat chases a ball of wool it’s practicing instinctive skills needed to hunt its prey, even if it has a bowl of cat food nearby. The game is really a predatory activity. And different types of play develop different abilities. For example, when I encourage a dog to chase me, this is a physical game. When I use a piece of a branch with Conrad, a mixed race (Border Collie and Galgo), this is a sensory game. The dog carries it, chews it and smells it. He plays with the branch then brings it back to me. All of this permits him to develop the skills he needs to learn about his environment. When I don’t manage to find a branch for him, Conrad will search one out for himself and bring it without me even asking!

But the objectives of these games are not just physical or sensory, they are also social. Dogs and cats are social creatures and need interaction with each other and with us. Through play it’s possible to establish a bond of friendship and understanding with them. Play is on the one hand, clearly a non-threatening activity, on the other, it allows us to establish a pecking order which the animal can understand. When I play with Conrad, it is me, as the pack leader, who decides where to throw the branch, while he tries to anticipate where it will end up. In fact he’s become so expert at predicting my intentions that I rarely manage to trick him any more with fake throws!.

The thing that probably fascinates me the most about interacting with animals through play, is the way they allow themselves to let down their defences during the game and come to focus on it completely. This a fundamental part of their animal nature and I respect the dynamic. For my part I make sure I hold their attention 100% by maintaining eye contact, keeping them moving and through the tone of my voice. A good example is my interaction with Tuttle, a sensitive, delicate little cat that nevertheless becomes as agile and fast as a panther when she plays. Black and sleek with beautiful yellow eyes, she transforms herself into a circus acrobat, jumping, pouncing and somersaulting with her favourite toy, a little plastic fishing rod, plays hide-and-seek and leaps onto the back of the sofa. Sometimes I let her win and capture her “prey”. Other times I make the game more challenging. In these moments I feel absolutely the magic of the bond between us – it’s a sort of joyful dance in which we mirror each other’s moves and our eyes meet in understanding and complicity. In play we don’t lose time, we lose ourselves in time.

Which vital sentiment is it that we foster in our pets through these acts of play? Trust. The animal surrenders itself to us, it feels safe, it feels the joy of freedom in movement, it enjoys itself without reservation. And through playing it also learns to recognise its own abilities and limits, to trust itself, through its trust in us. We know what happens when trust is betrayed- our spirit is damaged, sometimes deeply scarred forever. It’s for this reason children should not know the betrayal, their spirit is too fragile to withstand this sort of hurt.

Which emotion am I keeping at bay while I play? Fear. When an animal is enjoying itself, it isn’t experiencing fear because it’s concentrating on the act of play. The animal is so focused on the activity that it doesn’t worry about itself. And when the animal manages to get over its fear, this also increases its trust in itself. A good example of this was a dog I cared for which was afraid of a metal bridge. In the course of our walks, whenever we arrived at the bridge he would refuse to cross it. Rudy is a dog I’ve known for some time and between us there is trust, respect and understanding. So I decided not to give too much weight to the problem and to try to make the bridge a non-threatening place. I began to use his favourite toy to play with him on the bridge as we slowly made our way over it. In this way after about a week his fear had disappeared completely and crossing the bridge had become a pleasant part of our walks together, something he actually looked forward to. Fundamentally this sea change in his behaviour was made possible because of our mutual trust, established through play.

And it’s not all a one way street, humans can benefit from playful interaction with animals too, as they say, play can soothe a broken heart. An anecdote from my own life comes to mind. It was Tuesday May 19th 2015 and like every Tuesday at that time I met a dog called Murray. Our relationship was full of cuddles, affection and games and we had an excellent understanding. However at noon that day my beloved cat Matisse had passed away. She was the sweetest cat and we were together for 13 years. I was heartbroken. When Murray saw me that day he reacted in a way he had never reacted before. He didn’t come over to say hello, but immediately ran off into the garden and returned a few minutes later with is favourite toy. I didn’t feel much like playing that day, but the wise dog insisted, shaking the toy and pushing it towards me until at last I relented and began a game with him. We played for longer than we had even played before and soon, even on that terribly sad and painful day, Murray had managed to make me smile. Matisse and I were a little family and I’d spent so much time over the years playing with my little cat. Playing with Murray on the day she died made me remember all our happy times together and feel close to her again, as if she was there with me. I think somewhere in his doggy brain Murray sensed this and this was his way of helping me.

Enjoy your precious time with your furry friends,

Translation by Audrey E. Cowan

Would you like to comment on or share your experience with me? Please, leave a comment.

Filed Under: Arianna Post Tagged With: a physical game, a predatory activity, a sensory game, dog walking Edinburgh, dog was afraid of a metal bridge, dog’s favourite toy, Dogs and cats need interaction, Edinburgh dog walker, interaction with the pets, meaningful relationship, my behaviour towards the animal, play is the most powerful tool to communicate with pets, playful interaction with animals

22nd November 2016 by Arianna

The Benefits of a Walk With a Dog

If you are depressed you are living in the past.
If you are anxious you are living in the future.
If you are at peace you are living in the present.
Lau Tzu

When I take dogs out for a walk, I always try to find a place where we can be surrounded by Nature. It’s good for them and it’s good for me. A park, or the bank of a river, is the ideal setting for what I call “living in the here and now” or hic at nunc. This is one of the cornerstones of my strategy for building productive relationships with dogs.

The first step is to take a good, deep breath, to blow away any disturbing thoughts in my mind and ask myself if I’m truly present in the moment, or if there’s anything bothering me. I turn off my phone or put it on silent. If I feel I’m “in the zone”, then I know I’m ready. If not, I take five minutes to unwind first and clear my mind. It’s important that I’m calm and open when dealing with the dog. Only after I’ve gone through this process do I put the leash on the animal and start out.

I spend the first ten minutes of our walk learning how best to manage the animal. Each dog has its own particular needs and habits, so it’s important to understand what I can do to meet them from the outset. If a dog is very strong and forceful, I make it run for 5 minutes right away. If the dog is used to relieving himself as soon as he’s out, I find a suitable place and lead him to it. If the dog likes to take his time, I wait and let him dawdle. If a dog that I’m looking after sits down when we go out, that’s not a problem – I stop and I wait until he feels ready to go. After a few minutes he’ll start to walk and so will I. I call this the “warm up period”. After that I take the dog to our special place in Nature. Whenever I can I choose a safe, quiet place, where I can let him off the lead.

I call this is the “freedom period”. In this phase I follow the dog and I observe him. If he wants me to, I run with him. If he feels playful. I play with him. I am completely at his disposal because we are both living in the moment with no other distractions, simply focused on enjoying the here and now. He knows I’m his “alpha dog”, his leader, but that this part of the walk is his moment. From my point of view too it’s usually the most enjoyable part of the walk!

Some dogs hardly lift their noses from the ground at all, they seem so very busy! I call them “the odour eaters”! Others look for contact with other dogs: some of them shyly reserved in their approach to their kind (very British!), some of them full of passionate enthusiasm (very Italian!). I find it’s in these special moments that the true personalities of the animals emerge and their individual traits and eccentricities are revealed. For me it’s always enchanting to discover the characteristics which make each dog unique. The more I observe and understand, the more I forget myself and savour being in the moment with my four-footed companion. This is the real magic of dog-walking for me – I have a chance to live completely in the here and now for a while every day, thanks to my four-footed companion!

After half an hour or so the dog is completely relaxed, with the right level of energy, and he’s free to do what he feels. His immediate needs are met and he can follow his inclinations. It’s often at these times that truly magical connections happen between dogs and people. Recently I was taking care of a dog named Sweeney. At a certain point during the “freedom phase” he always ran off out of sight. I would stopped walking and call him but although he was aware of me, he would just kept running, obliging me to follow. In the early days of my relationship with Sweeney I got a lot of exercise, often ending our walks hot, “glowing” and totally out of breath! The things was, I hadn’t yet found the connection with this dog. But on this particular day I asked myself what would happen if this time I didn’t follow Sweeney? So I waited, quiet, still. At a certain point Sweeney finished his mad dash and he looked back over his shoulder, searching for me. He turned around, scanning the area, sniffing the air. Suddenly he sensed me, pointed his nose in my direction, jumped forward and started rocketing back towards me. Laughing, I hunkered down and waited for him. At the last minute he jumped up and straight into my arms, wagging his tail as if it he would wag right off! It was a moment of pure joy, a connection between human and dog that was so very special.

How did this magic occur, you may ask? Simple – I was completely absorbed in the moment. I forgot everything outside my relationship with that beautiful animal, I stepped aside from my life, my problems, my regrets and uncertainties, forgot about decisions that I couldn’t make, losses that I couldn’t make good, fears and frustrations. And in doing this I opened myself to the discovery of something beautiful, a connection that I would not otherwise have been able to experience.

In my life I have taken care of people suffering from anxiety, phobias and depression. The common denominator of all these conditions is an inability to exist in the present. These people cannot live in the “here and now” and, turned in on themselves, live perpetually focused on the painful disappointments of the dead past, or terrified of the potential disappointments of the non-existent future. While not everyone suffers from such extreme disorders of course, it is certainly true that we live in an age beset by unhappiness, tension and stress. I often notice people lost while they walk, catch the bus, buy groceries, their expression is distant, disengaged, preoccupied, their eyes are focused, not on the here and now, but on the past or the future. What do the eyes represent? In the words of Blake, they are “the windows of the soul”, which can only shine fully if focused on the present. If the mind is clogged by parasitic thoughts, the soul suffocates. In trying to control every moment of your life, you leave no freedom for your soul.

Disorders like depression are our mind’s way of reminding us that we are allowing a stereotypical side of ourselves too much influence, we are thinking too much, over-analysing everything, that we are not listening any more to the needs of our soul. The most serious consequence of this tendency is the loss of our ability to live in the present. We no longer find wonder in the things before us, or take pleasure in the small things happening around us, we no longer see the flowers. And gradually we lose the ability to fantasise, dream, play.

What does all this have to do with the simple act of walking a dog, you may be asking? It’s simple to connect with an animal is one of the most direct ways to re-connect with the child’s world of the “here and now”, to close the door on parasitic thoughts and open the windows to let our soul fly. That’s why I’m thankful to my doggy companions – walking with them allows me to experience this freedom every day.

All the Best,

Translation by Audrey E. Cowan

Would you like to comment on or share your experience with me? Please, leave a comment.

Filed Under: Arianna Post Tagged With: alpha dog, connect with an animal, connections between dogs and people., dog walking, dog walking Edinburgh, doggy companions, Edinburgh dog walker, personalities of the animals, relationship with the animals, walk with dog

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