It is that time of year when people celebrate November the 5th with fireworks, now some dogs are fine with loud bangs but not all.   So what can you do?

• It is advisable not to go out and leave the dog on its own because being on its own could trigger fear.
• Give the dog a good walk later in the afternoon well before its dark.  Then let out for a wee just before you estimate any fireworks will go off.  Come inside and make your evening as normal as possible. 
• Draw the curtains, and turn up the TV or put loud music on.  Carry on as normal.
• Do not contain your dog to one room, if its starts to worry it can feel trapped.  So make sure all rooms have the curtains drawn in case it runs out into another room. 
• If your dog has fear, you can try skullcap and valerian tablets, five days before you need them.  Give them daily until the fireworks have stopped.  
• Nupafeed contains amino magnesium which can help with stress. Follow instruction on leaflet. 
• Buy a thunder shirt.
• In extreme cases you can ask your vet for tablets which help with anxiety. 
• If your dog chooses to hide under a chair let it.  Do not go pulling it out, or trying every which way.  Throw a blanket over the chair and let dog hide under neath it all.  Letting dog come out on its own in its own good time when its all over.
• Do not baby the dog, change voice tone, or go silly.  Remain calm and confident and carry on with your evening.  Because if you show your dog you're worried, the dog will worry more. 
• If your dog does not seem too bothered, put down your puzzle toys, snuffle mat, and chews.  Let the dog enjoy the evening giving it something to think about why your watch tv. 
• You must remain calm yourself.  If a dog sees its owner worrying it will worry.  It can sense adrenalin, so watch a movie and settle down for the evening. 
• Do not leave gateways or outside doors open.  
• Make sure your dogs microchip details are up to date. 
• If you have a dog thats fearful of fireworks you may want to de sensitise it to loud noises over weeks before and also contact a behaviourist for help.  I would play fire work noise.
• If we have puppies around this time we make sure we play the firework noises every day until they leave so they get used to noises. 
• I hope all of team Silvestre where ever you are gets through the next few weeks okay. 

A reminder this week that my friends photos have been stolen and used in advertising of puppies that do not exist, and fake instagram/Facebook pages.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE listen up.  Do not buy puppies through social media. EVER!  Social media is a fun way of looking at dogs. But do your research and see what kind of back ground your breeder has.  

DONT SEND money to anyone with out there being a good paper trail of existence that the breeder is real.  Kennel club assured breeders under go checks as do licensed breeders.  Ask to see certificates if you are worried. 

Just do not buy through a photo online, and people will chat too. you via social media and make you think they are real people.

We have had our photos stolen online and used in advertising and as soon as we report it, they made a new page again using our photos again.  

Remember you're only buying a Silvestre puppy if it comes from us directly.  We do not use third party sales.  We do not use agents.  We do not rent out bitches. We do not deliver.  If you see delivery only walk away. 

Autumn is now upon us with the nights drawing in, and winter around the corner.  
Clocks go back in another couple of weeks.  What does that mean for dog owners?

Dogs do not understand that clocks are going back, and will be in the same routine as normal.  In the next two weeks it is advisable if you're feeding at a certain time to alter feeding time by 15 minutes so that when you change the clocks the dog will be used to new times.  

Remember if you're feeding raw food, dogs require more energy in the winter times.  When they are running about outside when it's cold, they will use up energy stores, fat stores and suddenly your dog is going thinner and you do not know why.   We increase our dogs protein content during the winter months.  All our dogs are fed twice a day.  

If you are doing something really active with your dog like working the dog, you may want to spread the meals out to 3, and increase food.  But don't feed just before you run the dog as dogs which have deep chests are more prone to bloat.  You may have to give a feed at 10pm to give a third meal if the dog wants.  It's better to have three spread out meals than two massive ones. 

Give the dogs coats good chances through diet to be healthy during the winter times.  Bitches benefit from oil of primrose every day.  There are so many products on the market to give good healthy coats.  Coconut oil, omega three oils, kelp powder and fresh foods.  

House dogs can have baths when they are smelly.  Kennel dogs no, because they need the oils in their coats to keep dry and warm. 

My Wuss gang Vizsla are already roasting their bodies in a room with a log burner going.  All my dogs go to sleep around 6.30pm and don't want to go out again, but we tell them to have a wee late at night, even though most dont want to go out later. Lazy feckers!  They genuinely love their room with beds and crates and happy to be there. 
We have two dogs that are Braccos that want to be outside all the time, during the day they refuse to come in, as they love being in the yard.  But come 6pm and the air starts to get colder they are then begging to get in the house ha ha.   They sure know what they want. 

In winter times you see less fleas and ticks.  But use your deterrents just the same. 

We may have icy mornings now.  Remember do not chuck balls into water if there is ice.  Or if it's a cold day as it can be a big shock to dogs to dive into freezing cold water. 

When the roads get icy gritters put salt down.  Remember salt is a poison to dogs, so if you do walk your dog down a pathway with salt, wash the feet as soon as you get home and dry. 

If your dogs legs are getting messy from mud after walks we use a Mud Daddy.  It looks like a petrol can but we put inside warm water and it has a pump and brush end.  We can wash the legs down.

Now this is advisable even more so if you live in an area where dogs have died from seasonal disorders.  It is thought that a mite may be the cause.  But dogs die from kidney failure and develop sores on their legs.  I would invest in a mud daddy if you live say in the New forrest, Sandringham or other ares this has been recorded.  Wash the dogs legs down every day if you walk in these areas.  Even using a smidge of bacterial wash.  

It maybe worth investing now in a good fleece to keep your dog warm if it gets cold.  Some Vizsla do not need a coat and just them running around is good enough to keep them warm.  But if you own a dog which doesnt run about much, or sits a lot on walks, shivers then you need a coat.  We recommend equafleece coats.  

Dogs do not need pyjamas !  We keep seeing Vizsla owners in central heated homes putting PJ on their dogs at bed time.  They are not human children, they are dogs.  If you get them so hot in the house when they go out they wont feel the benefit of the coat.   Most homes are hot! 
If you own an elderly dog and leave it in a cold room then yes put a coat on the dog at night. 

If we go away in cold weather and stay in a caravan our dogs come inside and are boiling hot.  But if you go away in a camper van or caravan and your keeping the dog in a crate in the awning then put some pyjamas on and a few blankets inside the crate too so the dog can bury itself in them.  I think my dogs would die if I told them they would sleep outside in the winter ha ha.  Our dogs sleep on the sofas in the caravan and are such well behaved dogs. 

Hiya Silvestre Owners

I have just added a new weekly guide in our Silvestre owners access page in training.  Ive tried to think of step by step things you need to think about each week up to 11 weeks of age.   

​I also am in the process of writing another article to add soon. 

Rachel 

Maverick travelled with Rachael to Ireland at the weekend, and Im grateful for her help.  Maverick won 2 Reserve Green Stars and 1 Reserve CACIB.  This result was awesome.  
Maverick will be travelling to Belgium 2023 and other countries.  He is old enough now to start his show campaign abroad.  We hope for great things for Maverick over the coming years.  We will show him ourselves at some shows and others we will have the help of Rachael and Scarlett.

A huge thank you to those ladies who are helping us campaign our boy.  It says something about a dogs temperament when you can let them go with others to a show.  He has a very sound temperament. 

Maverick is qualified for Crufts 2024, and he has 1 more UK championship show to do this year. 

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