The Dog Lounge

30/07/2026

Letting dogs run off-leash is a privilege we're happy to provide at our daycare! 🐾

29/07/2026

I wonder if people will ever understand the importance of early socialisation?

I've been running my own puppy classes for 16 years and was a puppy class instructor for 10 years prior to that.

Puppy classes used to be the "fun" part of being a behaviourist. We'd get to work with puppies in the socialisation period, where introducing them to new things would be pretty easy. Puppy classes were fun for the puppies and their families. Lots of smiles, lots of laughter, lots of cute moments and the joy of watching pups happily interacting and playing with their own kind.

I'm not saying that every puppy was easy, that there weren't some pups who were shyer and took a while to feel comfortable with new things and others who needed careful management to prevent them being too much for other pups and learning bad habits.

We have always carefully managed interactions and carefully matched puppies for the best outcome. We have always ensured that play was only one aspect of class and plenty of time was spent on building a strong bond between pups and their human parents and developing other skills for healthy emotional and social development. But we have nearly always been able to integrate puppies into some enjoyable play time to develop their canine social skills and meet the very real need for conspecific play which most young dogs have.

Yet this is sadly changing. This year for the first time, I can count on one hand the number of lessons where we have been able to let puppies interact at all off lead. It's not because we don't want to or because the puppies' guardians don't want this - it is because a very large proportion of the puppies we are getting in our classes are unable to interact with their own kind even remotely competently. Instead of outgoing puppies with a natural affinity for their own species, we see:

❗️Fearfulness
❗️Reactivity
❗️Over-arousal
❗️Complete lack of communication skills
❗️Approach-avoidance conflict
❗️Confused body language
❗️Inappropriate behaviours

The average age of puppies when they began classes used to be 9-12 weeks. Sadly, we are now lucky if we get them by the age of 16 weeks. And even then the socialisation period is largely OVER. If these puppies have been out and about with their families, then they are still okay. Unfortunately many have not been anywhere.

Do you know what the most common answer to the question on our enrolment form "how often do you walk your puppy" is?
Sadly, it's "We don't yet - too young" or "Not fully vaccinated". Literally people are still being told by certain vets, breeders and even some rescue organisations that their puppies cannot leave home until they have had not 1, 2 or even 3 vaccinations, but 4 or 5 of them🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️ This means that most puppies will not leave home before they are 5 months of age.

I saw an old clip of Dr Ian Dunbar earlier today where he spoke of the leading cause of death in dogs. It's not Parvo. As he said, viruses like parvo kill a fraction of the amount of dogs that die as a result of behaviour issues.

Why have we gone backwards in this regard? Why are we sabotaging a puppy's only chance at an emotionally and socially healthy life for unrealistic safetyist nonsense? It's not scientific. It's not logical. It's not reasonable.

While we do have a cut-off age for puppy class, I'm getting to a point where I want to insist that all pups begin before 12 weeks . And if you wake up too late, tough. It's not our problem. Because for the one or two pups whose guardians did start early enough, it's not fair for them to be subjected to what ends up being a socially frought environment with the best we can hope for being desensitisation and counter conditioning, as opposed to genuine socialisation.

Puppy classes should not need to be remedial classes. Puppy classes should not be stressful for puppies or people.

I get that many people are adopting puppies these days and they can't help the age the puppy was upon adoption. But in most cases, people have puppies for a month or more before they bother to do anything. And if puppies do end up not being homed timeously, then the rescue organisations need to be actively providing for their socialisation in the meantime. Homing an unsocialised puppy is as bad as homing a puppy they didn't bother to vaccinate. Socialisation is emotional vaccination. And it's even more important for a healthy long life.

This post may seem blunt, but I won't apologise for that. What is happening right now is absolutely catastrophic for so many dogs and their human families. Things need to change.

29/07/2026

CHEWY "Look at me go".

26/07/2026

Our Luci got her Kusa Canine Good citizen Bronze. Well done 👏
Congrats to Both Mom & Luci

07/07/2026

🐾 Pica in Dogs: What Is It ???

🤔Have you ever caught your dog eating socks, stones, plastic, wood, soil, paper, or even their own bedding?

It might seem like they’re simply being naughty or curious, but it could be a condition called pica.

🧠 Pica is the repeated eating of non-food items.

While puppies naturally explore the world with their mouths, persistent ingestion of objects in adolescent or adult dogs is not considered normal and should never be ignored.

🩺 What causes pica?

There isn’t always a single reason. Often, several factors are involved.

🩻 Medical causes

Before assuming it’s behavioural, always, always rule out medical problems with your veterinarian. Possible causes include:

• Gastrointestinal disease
• Nutritional deficiencies (although uncommon with complete commercial diets)
• Chronic hunger due to certain medical conditions
• Parasites
• Pain or discomfort
• Neurological disease
• Side effects of some medications (such as increased appetite from corticosteroids)

🧠 Behavioural causes

Many cases have a behavioural component, including:

✅ Boredom and lack of appropriate enrichment
✅ Chronic stress or anxiety
✅ Frustration
✅ Compulsive behaviour
✅ Separation-related problems
✅ Reinforcement 👉 if the dog has previously found something interesting, tasty, or rewarding to chew or swallow

Some dogs also develop pica because they simply don’t have enough opportunities to perform normal species-specific behaviours, such as sniffing, chewing, foraging, and exploring.

⚠️ Why is pica dangerous?

Pica isn’t just inconvenient. It can become a life-threatening emergency.

Dogs may suffer:
• Intestinal blockages
• Choking
• Internal injuries or perforations
• Poisoning
• Dental fractures
• Emergency surgery
• In severe cases, death

A single swallowed sock, toy, or piece of plastic can quickly become a surgical emergency.

❌ Punishment isn’t the answer

Telling a dog off after they’ve swallowed something won’t teach them not to do it. In fact, chasing them or repeatedly trying to take items away can make the behaviour worse, leading the dog to swallow objects more quickly to avoid losing them.

Instead:
✔️ Prevent access to tempting items.
✔️ Teach appropriate chewing and foraging activities.
✔️ Increase mental enrichment.
✔️ Address any underlying anxiety or stress.
✔️ Work with your veterinarian to rule out medical causes.
✔️ Seek help from a qualified, force-free behaviour professional if the behaviour persists.

❤️ Look beyond the behaviour

Pica is a symptom, not a diagnosis.

Whether the cause is medical, emotional, or environmental, your dog isn’t being “stubborn” or “bad.” They’re communicating that something isn’t right.⚠️

Understanding why the behaviour is happening is the key to solving it safely.

🐶 Sometimes, the object your dog is swallowing isn’t the real problem… it’s simply the clue pointing towards the one that is.

07/07/2026

For Mandela day
We would like to Support CAAA. Capetonians Against Animal Abuse - CAAA
*Capetonians Against Animal Abuse (CAAA) is a volunteer based, non-profit group with a mission of helping animals discarded by society. Our main focus are feral/homeless cats and kittens, but we do also assist dogs from time to time*.

Should you wish to contribute, you are welcome to drop off any donations or items from their wishlist at our daycare.
Let us unite and offer assistance wherever possible; every small contribution benefits a feral cat or kitten.

06/07/2026

Get ready for a paws-itively amazing time at our new Puppy School course! 🐾 Starting July 18th, join us for 5 weeks of fun and learning for just R780. Enroll now and let the good times roll! 🐶 The Dog Lounge

02/07/2026

22/06/2026

Fast, athletic, and built for speed 🐾💨

From the lightning-fast Greyhound to the energetic Border Collie, these breeds are among the fastest dogs in the world.

Would your dog make the list? 👀

22/06/2026

Happy 4th bday Raya