Dog Friendly Walk: Mt Climie

Hey! This past week, Diego and I went and explored a new walk that we had never done before. It's one of those walks that you are always meaning to do, and have always lived near, but never got round to it. Finally we done it, and I don't know why we waited!

Mt Climie is located in Upper Hutt, and is easily accessible from Tunnel Gully. It's as easy as going to the very last carpark in Tunnel Gully (There's only two carparks) and then the track itself is right in front of you. It is signposted at the base entrance to the walk, as well as shortly into the climb where there is a fork in the path.

Mt Climie is a 100% uphill track. There was very few periods where the track was semi-flat, otherwise you will be constantly going uphill. However, I found the gradient to be perfect for walking, where it isn't too hard that you can't go on, but not too easy where you can't feel your body working. It was also a gradient where you didn't have to stop for rests all the time, if at all. We also had people running and biking past us, so it is an achievable hike.

The views from the top are absolutely stunning, and make the two hour climb worth it. You have a complete view of Upper Hutt, and Lower Hutt, as well as peeks of Wellington and beyond. There is also a decent view of the Wairarapa on the other side. We went on a cloudless day and the view was breathtaking, photos do not do it justice!

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Current Boredom Breakers

Hey! If you didn't know already, I work a full time job, and Diego, the poor sod has to stay at home alone during my hours of work.  I did try and find a dog for him to hang out with during the day, but he much prefers not to have to share his food and toys. This means I have to find new ways to entertain him during the day and keep his mind occupied since we have moved away from my mother and Chico.

Recently, I have put three enrichment/treat toys on rotation with a similar recipe inside them and it has been working well. I usually make up two of the toys daily, and just change around which two are used each time. I have been doing this over the last month or so, and Diego seems to really enjoy it. Inside the toys I use his usual dog food, which currently is Orijen Adult, some of the Omega Plus Fish Oil and a tiny bit of peanut butter. I feed these toys instead of his breakfast, and this makes sure he isn't getting overfeed or too many extra treats.

The first toy is the mainstream Kong toy. This is one of the first toys that was put on the market as a tough toy, that can be filled with food and treats to entertain your dog. I purchased my Kong online second hand (although never used as it was still in its packaging, it had been sitting around their home for several years) back when Diego was a puppy. This has been well loved, and lost multiple times but it always finds a way back to our collection. With the Kong, I put peanut butter in the top hole as a plug, and then fill the rest with food. Once full, I add a couple of squirts of the fish oil, and then close up the bottom with more peanut butter. I let this sit while I am getting ready in the morning, and during Summer I would put it in the fridge. This lets the oil sink in a bit more to make it less likely that the kibble would just fall out.

The next toy is the Bionic Bone which is branded as another tough toy that you can fill with food and treats. This one is a different shape, and adds more challenge than the Kong. I follow the same process as with the Kong when filling this one, doing a side at a time and making sure the toy is completely filled with kibble. I find that Diego enjoys this one more as it takes more time and effort to get all the kibble pieces out. However, his tongue doesn't reach all the way in, and the shape of the toy means that food can easily get stuck in the middle. This isn't too bad with this dry mixture I have been using, but when I used to use canned dog food, it caused quite a mess. This one also holds less kibble than the other two toys so is good as a time-user that doesn't mean lots of food.

The last toy is the Furchun Cookie that I reviewed a few months ago. With this toy, I don't add the peanut butter or fish oil, just the kibble. It's perfect as a quick to prepare toy when you are just rushing out the door. This one holds more food than the other two options, but it doesn't hold Diego's attention for as long. This one is generally given to Diego daily, with either of the above options as it is good to make sure Diego is getting his usual serving of breakfast, but not too much peanut butter or oil in one day.

I find that adding these toys to Diego's daily life has made him a lot more calm, and he actually seems excited for me to leave in the mornings so he can get his toy. These are not used in replacement of walks, training or any other stimulation that I give him when I am at home. These just make sure I don't feel completely terrible about leaving him at home alone. I love these toys, but would really love to add some more to my rotation so if you have any ideas feel free to leave me a comment below, on my Facebook page, or Instagram.

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Book Review: Team Dog

Hey! I love researching and finding out new ideas and ways of training dogs, so when I saw this book at my local library, I had to give it a read. Team Dog is written by Mike Ritland who also wrote Trident K9 Warriors which I reviewed in 2015. Mike Ritland is a Navy Seal, turned military dog trainer who specialises in training some of the most amazing war dogs for the US. This book sells itself as a how-to guide to training your dog the Navy Seal way.

As always, I don't want to give away too much of the book for those that are going to want to read it. I have made sure to bookmark some important pages and quotes that I appreciated though, which will get you all thinking a little bit more about how you are currently training your beloved pooch.

A big principle of Mike's is that:
Whatever behaviour is consistently rewarded will be repeated. AND
Whatever behaviour is consistently not rewards will be extinguished.
This is a very simple way of looking at dog training, and one that I have noticed across many different training styles. He dives deeper into this principle, and explains how to do both of those main points correctly to get what you want from your dog. Quite a big portion of the book is centred around this concept, and how he uses this to train not only the military dogs, but also how it can be effective in training your house pet.

Mike also delves deeper into some common faults that people complain to him about with their pet dog, including chewing of furniture and other objects, barking and not listening. I enjoyed this chapter as he gave answers to a lot of the questions that people are asking, but also admitted that there is a range of scenarios that is why your dog is acting like it does. If you have a dog with these common faults, I would definitely recommend checking this book out for this chapter!

A lot of your 'faults' with your dog can also be put down to the lack of exercise and mental stimulation. Mike brings this up multiple times within the book, making you think about the amount of time you have your dog just relaxing around home. Dogs are very active animals, but a lot of how people are currently keeping them, means they do not get as much exercise as they need. My favourite quote from the book is 'many cattle have better lives than some of the pampered pets'. This is true in a lot of situations, because at least cattle get to graze, and walk around like they have been for hundreds of years. Dogs on the other hand, are completely dependent on how we treat them, and exercise them to meet all their needs. I know plenty of dogs that don't get enough attention, or even leave their yard, so this statement really makes a lot of sense to me.

Overall, this book has some great points about dog training, and the difference between training a house dog compared to training a dog to go into war torn countries. Some of his ideas are not what I personally would do when training Diego, but that is like most, if not all, dog trainers out there. The book itself is set out in a good way, making it easy to understand what he is getting across. It also follows a good story line, not bouncing from ideas too drastically, or going back on ideas that have already been mentioned.

I think this is a book to read for those that are interested in learning about different ways of training dogs, or who have a dog with a common problem like barking or not listening. This book isn't a 100% comprehensive book on dog training, or philosophy so I don't believe it should be used as the only dog training manual. In conjunction with other dog trainer principles, or just a basic knowledge on how the dog thinks and behaves I believe this book, and Mike Ritland's approach will give you a nice well-rounded dog with minimal faults.

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