 say and think long and hard about it and everything that it entails. Yeah and that's true John and I think a big part of it is too that sometimes people don't realize why exactly it's not a good idea to get the pup so maybe if I explain that it'll help them to understand it better as well because every year people still get pups for Christmas or they still give pups as presents which I find amazing with all the warnings that are out there but if you look at it through the head of a little puppy it's just left the smaller for the first time it's coming into a household full of manic excitement building up to Christmas people going here and there shopping extremely cold weather the busiest time of the evening it's a horrible time of the year to bring a baby animal onto anywhere because you're trying to toiletry in this animal you don't want to pee in the house and you're going to bring it outside into the dark the little pup is going to be terrified absolutely frightened and today as you know it doesn't know you it doesn't know your house it doesn't know anything that's going on around it it's messing it's mother really badly you know there's a lot of things leave it to the springtime is my advice when the days are longer the days are getting brighter you have a whole summer ahead with the door open to let the pup run and then out to toiletry and things are so much easier than if you go and do it at this time of the year so even if we are intent on on getting a puppy this is just probably the worst time of the year to get one totally the wrong time of the year because i would say the Christmas puppy starts back in september really because well september let me see september october november december january it takes earlier august people who are breeding dogs people whose dogs come in heat in august and i'm thinking they're the ones that are breeding the christmas puppy so i would suggest to them that any dog that comes in heat after august don't breed from it because it's only going to produce the christmas puppy or a january puppy too early its pups are just at the time they go to their homes you know and they're coming out at the worst time of the year like why would you do that to a pup you know and and they need a lot of attention as you say they're they're been separated from their their mum and their litter mates and they just need a lot of attention in those early months and at christmas it's just we're all distracted we're all busy and you know doing other things and and you just don't have the time to give yeah that's right and a lot of people totally underestimate how much time and attention a new pup requires because anybody who's had an older dog and the dog has passed on or whatever waits a while and then they get a puppy and a puppy is so much work i'm sure there's a lot of people right now saying yeah that's true because we didn't realize how much work they're sleepless you know um they need to be fed certain times of the day they need to be brought on and out nearly every half hour to go to the toilet that's a massive commitment you know and at this time of the year everybody as you say so busy so full of going out here in the air parties whatever um and Santa's coming and children beside themselves with excitement totally the wrong time of the year to bring a baby animal into a situation like that and then there's all the tasty things the well tasty to us and tasty to dogs as well but all the wrong things i'm thinking about you know all the chocolate that's around and all the rich fatty food and uh you know downright dangerous in some cases for the it is yeah and the the problem with it is because we've often covered foods that are not good for dogs like the onions and the garlic and the raisins and all the things that go with it um you know um there's a huge number of foods that you shouldn't give your dog but at this time of the year the biggest offender um apart from the dog stealing the box of chocolate which is a huge offence um because it can severely damage the dog you can kill the dog that eats too much um but the biggest offender is really um turkey and ham because you think you've been good to your dog and dogs can eat turkey and ham no problem at all but not on the amounts that some people give them over christmas there's no option like use to it it takes time for the dogs to actually get used to a certain food if they're not used to it and if you're overloading them they end up in the vet knee surgery and they're miserable absolutely miserable um you know there's they're so sick and everything um it's horrible so don't overfeed your dog with any of those if you want to be good to your dog and there's a lot of turkey and ham left over what you can do is you know chop it up into bite sized pieces and put it in the freezer and then you've got it for weeks and months to come you know and you can give them out as much as you want then you know time and time again as treats and things for working with them or come on back when they're called or whatever um and you still have a lot of treats so don't give it to them all the one day or then throw it all out you know use the stuff but keep it well we we happened to have uh well it was a bit of a turkey disaster but it got a long story short there was a lot of turkey last year and in the end up and and i gave i gave a big lump one evening to a tariff fella and you know what the smell the smell that night would just absolutely toss toss you and it was obvious that is is stomach just couldn't handle it they definitely can't and you don't want the smell that's coming back in because it is horrendous again some gas you know it's upset the stomach completely you know um i've like eaten a couple of tons of beans you know what they would come up that would be like so you know it's not fair to the dog to actually do that to them you're not being good to them and you're not being kind to them so if you give it to them in smaller amounts um as you build it up then the dog is fine with that but you know as treats but don't be giving them huge amounts you know just because you think it's great here some meat okay small small bits of the turkey and ham okay but not not in any large amounts yeah that's right and and this weather catling and there's a lot of dogs and we think smaller dogs or short haired breeds that might be a bit cold and any advice is it okay still to take the dog out for a normal walk it's okay to take the dog out for normal walk because you're actually boosting the circulation it's good for dogs to walk like a sale because sitting around all the time is no good for anybody either and but you have to be very mindful of older dogs because older dogs will be very very cold in this weather um and their circulation might be as good as a younger dog would be as well the other thing you have to watch out for is that not all dogs are indoor dogs some dogs keep dogs outside for various different reasons and you have to be very mindful of water the water could ice over and they wouldn't be able to actually get water so you need to make sure that they're they it's broken and that they get some fresh water regularly um even if you have to put a tiny drop of hot water on to it just to kind of make it more tepid so that it doesn't freeze again so quickly um so there's a lot of things to be mindful of with dogs but you know for short haired breeds that don't have the same coverage in the coat or dogs that are kept indoors all year round kind of thing then they may need a coat at this time of year because they simply don't have enough hair basically to keep them warm for dogs that are outdoors as well they deserve you know a dry draft proof bed you know somewhere shut off maybe in the corner of a shed where it's closed off in a smaller area um and there's no drafts coming in and you you could even put a hot water bottle under the blankets just to warm it for a bit you know um if you want at night when they go out but for some people do and it's not really fair the dog either the dog is out a lot of the time but then they bring it in in the evening time and the dog is in the house in the heat all evening and then put it back out at the coldest time of night when the dog is absolutely frozen you know so all night long shivering after being in front of a range or a fire all evening you know yeah so don't do that keep the dog in at night if you want to keep it and if you have to put it even onto a train and create or a cage or a small room or something it's better indoors at night you know rather than putting them out if you can do that at all even if your dogs is normally outside been outside or in a shed outside these nights would be particularly cold off could you imagine lying out on that yourself I mean dogs if we feel the cold they feel the cold as well people think just because they have hair that they don't feel the cold the same but they don't realize that some dogs have a very thick double coat other dogs don't have that and they're frozen they're absolutely frozen you know uh uh uh texture says I have a two-year-old miniature schnauzer she barks at people she doesn't know especially those who come into the house she relaxes and stops barking once they're in the house we've tried everything to get her to stop but to no avail so what are they doing wrong yeah schnauzers are actually quite sensitive anxious little dogs at times when they're young in particular and they're very high-pitched bark and they just go off their heads when they see something they're not sure about sometimes and that dog sounds like it's just scared basically it just sounds like it's a typical schnauzer that's just unsure and the more the key word there is we tried everything you shouldn't try anything at all leave the dog alone you know put the dog away tell everybody to ignore the dog completely you'll get a much better result if you just ignore the dog completely and let it come on its own time let it come up and have a wee sniff and then go back again don't even attempt to touch it don't make any eye contact carry on as if the dog wasn't even there and drop maybe a tiny treat every now and again you know away from the chair you're sitting on you'll find all of a sudden the dog's going to come up looking for someone and eventually actually take one out of your hand if you want you'll become friends that way and the dog won't freak out as much so give the dog a bit of space and a bit of time to actually suss out the situation and to get to know that you're not a threat and so you know they may bark a lot in the beginning but they will stop at some stage and they'll go away and if it comes too much and you really need to talk then for the dog's sake you know you can put it in another room in that moment but then use somebody as a decoy to come in and practice this with them so that the dog gets used to it because the dog needs to practice with different people over and over again and with that method of doing your best to ignore them and they'll eventually settle down would that be a unique to miniature schnauzers or would it be for all dogs who you know bark their heads off when somebody comes to the house you know fear is a dreadful thing and it goes across all breeds there's like you could have sex collies sex rottweilers you will get a fearful one among them you will get an anxious dog among them you'll get a dog that's full of confidence among them they're all different personalities the same way that we're all different personalities and you know some of stronger personalities some have you know but more anxious personalities and for the ones that are anxious or fearful they need the space they need the time to be allowed to come out of themselves and gain the confidence to know that the world is not that unsafe it takes some dogs a little bit longer than others but you know stay calm don't the dogs excited enough and upset enough without everybody getting excited or upset around them unless none the molly coddling them is not necessarily the way to do it because they may perceive that as you've been scared as well so you know you can have them and just be matter of fact beside them you know even bring them over to sit beside you for a minute so they feel about the confidence just actually sitting beside you you can let them go out of the room leave the door open so they can actually leave the room if they want to and come back in and have a peep if they feel like it but they'll eventually come in and they'll eventually make up with you and they'll get to know the people who come regularly to the house and then they'll look forward to them come and they'll get excited especially if they drop treats as they walk in through the door or they drop treats as they're just sitting there talking to you having a cup of tea but take the attention off the dog okay because the dogs can't handle it's like a shy child the worst thing you can do is take an awful lot of attention to a shy child because they just curl up on the ball and want to get away from it you know someone else wants to know how they can get their dog to stop chasing cars yeah well chasing is a natural and a normal thing for dogs to do you'll see colleagues often years ago especially maybe still a couple of ones do it when they shouldn't because it's illegal to be out of your own property but they would chase the car as it goes past on the road or they chase bicycles and chase people yeah chasing is a very common thing that a lot of dogs like to do number one I would say how is the dog allowed to chase how are they out there chasing how are you free to do it because they should be under supervision and they shouldn't be free to run and chase whenever they feel like it because sometimes people think that they've been good to a dog when they allow them a lot of time out by themselves but what they're doing there is a dog that has a lot of time outdoors by themselves is only learning to chase birds to use themselves to bark at things to chase cars you know they're not learning anything useful or healthy so keeping dogs close to you and teaching them things is a far more benefit to them so you know bring the dog and you know keep it maybe sense off to the back of the house so that the dog can stay at the back of the house because obviously the dog has access to chasing so you know there's a lot of different ways that you can deal with that but the first thing you need to do is be able to know that your dogs contain so that they can't do harm in the first place because if the dog's not under control then it's going to do some damage at some stage to somebody or get killed you know itself and that's not good you know but chasing you know put them on a long lead and have a decoy of some kind go and die get the help of a neighbor or friend or something like that and when they when they're thinking about to go that's the time that you need to stop them when they're about when they're thinking because if they're already on the wrong you're too late you've missed the moment when they're thinking about going and have them and then you know tell them no that's not what you want and then reward them when they don't decide to go because they will eventually give up that jump on forward and they will eventually settle down and then reward them for that and then make the lead longer and make the lead longer to give them the choice of actually chasing if they want to go and chase but still can't get away from you and when they're about halfway out call them back and that'll let you know then if they're listening to you if they're not listening to you because dogs that chase very often are dogs that are territorial they have problems in other areas as well they're not getting enough proper mental stimulation and exercise and you think wrong after care on after basically that's exercise it's not that's just winding the dog up and creating a dog will eventually probably become aggressive so you don't want that to be happening so keep the dog close to you work with your dog teach your dog you know uh right from wrong basically because they're dependent on you to do that it's always and especially dogs who are out now especially at the time of the year my huge problem at the time of the year is how people are still not getting the message that dogs are killing sheep you know and sheep livestock are everywhere the sheep are having lambs there's huge damage been done every year for dogs that are free to chase whoever they want um and they're a huge liability so you know keep your dogs under control you need to know who your dog is at all times um because just chasing and that's killing sheep and all it's great fun for the dog at the time because that's their natural instinct they're not actually doing anything wrong because that's what they do naturally as dogs but what's happening there is it's the fault of the owner who has allowed them to get out and run the chase and the worst time for dogs to take off are dogs that are not fenced on their own property that have access to other properties or can go on to the road and that's when you put them out for the last pee at night or you put them out for a pee in the evening when it's dark and they don't come in after five months and you think where did the dog go and then he'll be back and a few minutes he goes away for half an hour and he comes back that half hour could be where he just killed ten sheep you know and he comes back and you're none the wiser yeah yeah i might there might be nothing wrong with the dogs not the dog's fault might be a perfectly good dog but just is doing what dogs do so it's it's up to us to keep control that's right may team up with another dog or two who's done it before and the next thing you've got a couple of dogs acting together and you know you've got a hunting team them you know and poor sheep have no defense against that and every year it's like the christmas puppy the sheep has mentioned every single year and the sheep problem and it still continues every year so you'll wonder how people are not getting the message keep your dog where you can see it if you can't see it if you're too high right now or know that it's been you know locked down behind the gate or it's in the house or whatever then you need to be going looking for that dog right now to find out where exactly it is because it will get into danger it will do harm or it will be harmed itself going back to what we're chatting about dogs been kept in an outdoor shed in this weather and caller says there's an argument in our house about our dog he's a sheepdog very much an outdoors dog i want to take him out in the cold weather he seems fine and is spending more time outside his house than inside what should we do yeah well um as you're working sheepdog um we're not a hundred percent sure about that and he's a sheepdog very much an outdoors dog so i want i want to take you sorry i want to take him in that's sorry i might have read it wrong there i want to take him in in the cold weather uh but he seems fine and is spending more time outside his house than inside so what should we do yeah well there's two things come to mind there number one is there's no such thing really as an indoor dog or an outdoor dog depends on their coats i think it is i suppose if they're outdoors and they need to come in or they need to coat or whatever but um a dog is a dog so you can have um some people keep dogs out in yards as sheep dogs as yard dogs as whatever all of those dogs also the very same dogs also live as pets inside people's homes as well and live very happily um so there's no such thing as an outdoor and outdoor dog so you can there's no breed that's particularly supposed to be outdoors or indoors so if you've got a collie that's outdoors and it's a young collie and it's run around then chances are that collie's coat is thick enough to be outdoors obviously young dogs tend to not bother going up to kennel so tend to lie outside a lot of the time they'll go on at night and call up if they're very very cold but if you want to bring the dog and there's a pet there's no reason why the dog can't come in as a pet but remember if this dog is more used to being outdoors then it's not house trained so but dogs that are maybe over a year old or whatever that have been raised outdoors are used to go to the toilet outdoors so therefore they toilet train much faster because they would prefer to be outdoors whenever they go to the toilet so when you're working with a dog you're not interested at all in what the dog prefers what you need to be doing is deciding for yourself as this dog for you to come into the house can you come into the house and be tired of the house and learn you know what he needs to learn house manners basic house manners um he can go outside when he wants to play you know the dog's been well fed you know the dog gets fresh water you know the dog has been exercised you know the dog has always needs been met so there's nothing for the dog to be demanding now every dog has a personality and some dogs like something a little more than others some dogs love for it some dogs don't eat fruit at all fruits not particularly good for dogs they don't be given too much but vegetables and things dogs can be they're like us they have individual tastes so get to know your dog get to know what they like and then you know provide for their needs but no the dog can come in if you want to bring the dog in but remember that you're going to have to house train this dog too so be fair to it and let it go back out maybe every half hour to have an opportunity to go to the toilet if it wants to um then bring it back in again but confine the dog don't get the dog the wrong of the whole house especially if it's a male dog because she's going to get that dog is going to come in and lift its leg and pee on the sofa on the curtains and everything else and you're going to be pulling your hair out so the dog needs to be confined either on a lead or on a crate when they're coming into the first time till they get to know that the house is not a playground so i'm a lecturer and everybody else here you know i think i think so more than enough gathleen but no it's all good it's all it's all good solid advice anyhow we do want to bore people to death no no no dog that goes anyway yeah yeah no far from it but i you know i think people can tell you're passionate and anyway listen we've we've run out of town gathleen thanks to million for all the advice that we've we've helped some people and happy christmas to everybody at high land and all the last years and the same day have a great christmas all right okay hello dream inspector 50 grand got it wait 10 winners of 50 grand each every tuesday and friday so every euro million's draw till christmas is guaranteed 10 irish winners of 50 grand each