Welcome back to The Journal, where I bring you the good reads straight to your inbox every month! 

I'm pleased to say I have added two new clinics to my Puppy Preschool schedule; I began classes at The Campbell Vet and Molonglo Vet Clinic in Coombs this month! I also caught up with Archie, the ten month old golden retriever, Flynn the pug and their family for a Behaviour Management consultation around the challenges with blending their family...

Blending families is something I have been chatting with many of you about and something that I have been working through myself. Meet my blended family; Lenny the Kelpie, Mozzie, the mixed breed and my partner Meej!

P U P P Y  P R E S C H O O L

This month, I added two new locations to my schedule; The Campbell Vet and Molonglo Vet Clinic! As winter sets in, I'll be catching a quick break in the UK but classes will resume as usual in late June!

B L E N D E D  F A M I L I E S

Meet my blended family! We have been preparing to move into a new home together and working hard to build a relationship between our two dogs, Mozzie and Lenny. We have made this a priority to ensure the wellbeing of both of our dogs. Mozzie is an eight year old rescue dog with a history of aggression towards other dogs. We do not let her off leash except at home and we've learned that what she values most is her peace and quiet. As for my girl Lenny, she is a definite threat to Mozzie's peace and quiet - she is a whirlwind of Kelpie energy amplified by her relatively young age.

What concerned me most, was bringing Lenny into Mozzie's life and potentially derailing the significant progress my partner Meej has made with Mozzie's behavioural issues since adopting her from the RSPCA over three years ago. Mozzie was seized from a hoarders home by the RSPCA where she had reportedly established herself as the dominant figure among the group of animals in the home. 

We considered our options and engaged with my colleague Jess McNamara from The Zen Den to seek some more comprehensive support around how best to approach this delicate pairing as not to impact Mozzie's progress nor impede on Lenny's wellbeing.

 We got to straight to work and implemented the plan:

1). Weekly sniffing walks together, in a nearby bushy area with both dogs on long leads - why? To create a shared activity for both dogs to engage with to create a positive experience for both dogs consistently over time. 

2). Spending time at home relaxing with Lenny securely in her crate where she is most calm - why? To demonstrate to Mozzie that Lenny isn't a threat to her peace and quiet! 

3). Supervised interactions on long lines to monitor intensity and play before allowing for off leash interaction. In preparation, I muzzle trained Mozzie - why? This safeguarded both dogs from playing too intensely or having a negative experience. 

We finally reached a point where both dogs could safely interact off leash together at home in the yard under supervision. Just 3 months on, our dogs are the best of friends! We couldn't have wished for a better outcome. Consistency, patience and time really paid off as we built a beautiful relationship between our girls!

A R C H I E  &  F L Y N N   

Flynn and Archie's owners contacted me after bringing Flynn home from the vet. They were understandably distressed when their older pug Flynn was injured during an interaction with Archie, his much bigger more exuberant family member! Archie, the 10 month old Golden Retriever is in the midst of adolescence and I had my work cut out for me to make a plan for him and his family!

It's important, when bringing another young dog into a home, to ensure the older dog who has previously been living there is protected and their time, space and routine are honoured. We want to minimise changes to the older dog and manage the new dog. If our new dog is young, like Archie, they are more malleable and able to be taught the new boundaries and routine that we want them to adhere to.

Creating a safe space for Flynn was imperative; he had been injured by Archie and now we needed to provide Flynn with a safe space for his recovery. Separating Archie and Flynn was the most important part of our plan. Feeding them separately was also a suggestion and reducing Archie's freedom of access to the large property was also going to help reduce the mischief he was getting up to! Forming a designated space for Archie with access to appropriate toys would provide him with some outlets such that he didn't constantly direct his adolescent energy towards Flynn. Promoting adequate rest for Archie was also important. 

Sometimes we don't realise that dogs need rest and routine. Creating that was the simplest way to address some of the challenging behaviours exhibited by Archie, including destruction of expensive soft furnishings!

Flynn has made a full recovery and plays with Archie under supervision. Managing Archie's excitement in his interactions with Flynn is vital due to his size and play style! When Flynn has had enough, we need to intervene and redirect Archie to keep him safe! 

C U S T O M  E M B R O I D E R Y 

You may have seen some of the merch that has landed! I'm so excited to offer these made to order men's and women's jumpers, tees and more on my website... 

Simply select your chosen product, input your dog breed and receive your custom embroidered garment! This is the perfect gift for yourself or a loved one... just because, it's a thing! 

Keep sending in your questions for me to share with the wider audience - if you are thinking about it, so is everyone else!

Thank you, to each of you for joining this community - word of mouth goes a long way and so does a review!

I hope to see you soon!

www.jbrpets.com | e: puppyschool@jbrpets.com | m: 0415 908 808

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