cCOC THE COCKAPOO TIMES
THE NEWSLETTER FOR MEMBERS OF THE BCS
NEWSLETTER 7 APRIL 2014
ALABAMA
ROT
WHAT IS
IT AND
HOW TO
RECONISE
IT TEACHING BITE
INHIBITION TO A NIPPY
PUP
TASTY RECIPES FOR
YOUR FURRY PAL.
YUM-YUM!!
TIME TO BOOK FOR THE CLUB
HOLIDAY!! DISCOUNTED PRICE
FOR MEMBERS!
CLUB
NEWS
AND
UP-
DATES
WISHING EVERY-ONE A VERY
HAPPY EASTER
P A G E 2
ALABAMA ROT You may have heard the upsetting news of dogs
becoming seriously ill, and dying, after becoming
ill following walking in the New Forest area.
This outbreak started to appear at the end of 2012,
but since then incidences have continued and the
areas affected have spread.
Dogs have been affected as far apart as County
Durham and Cornwall. The number of confirmed
and fatal cases is still only in double numbers but
the worrying thing about this disease is that the ex-
act cause remains unknown.
WHAT IS ALABAMA ROT?
Although very little is known about what is causing this outbreak, it is thought to be similar to Alabama
Rot, a disease initially reported in the USA in the 1980’s . Known as a disease that affects greyhound but
now affecting different breeds, it is caused by the E Coli bacteria.
Dogs have been getting ill and dying for some years in this country, and in 2010 the Institute of Zoology,
Natural History Museum and Animal Health Trust launched an investigation. In that year 54 dogs were
affected and 10 of them died.
They labelled the illness Seasonal Canine Illness because it seemed to occur in the Autumn months and
they recognised similarities with Alabama Rot although at that time the affected dogs did not develop any
skin lesions.
The cause of the current outbreak affecting dogs in the UK is unknown as no trace of the E Coli bacteria
has been found in affected dogs, so there are still question marks over it, but it bears some similarities to
Alabama Rot and is thought to be associated with that illness.
How it is being transmitted, how it is carried is also a mystery as tests on water and soil samples have all
come up negative and because the cause and transmission route is unknown it makes it impossible to take
precautionary measures.
WHAT ARE THE SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS? Wounds and lesions appear on the dogs legs and/or face which just will not heal and which start to spread
across the skin, affecting the abdomen and chest. The dogs become listless and have been described as be-
ing severely depressed. They lose their appetite and interest in their surroundings, start vomiting and even-
tually die from kidney and liver failure.
Veterinary advice is now that if you see a lesion on your dog and are concerned then you seek advice as
soon as possible. The lesions may not appear till a week after a walk in an affected area so all owners are
advised to keep an eye on their pets in case any develop.
It is only a small number of dogs that have been affected, thankfully, and places like the New Forest have
people walk their dogs without any problems at all so the message really is to keep your dog under supervi-
sion, and be aware of anything it might pick up, chew or eat.
You can track the outbreaks of the disease nationwide on the following link -
https://www.newforest.gov.uk/index.cfm?articleid=14110
P A G E 3
FROZEN PEANUT
BUTTER CAKES
INGREDIENTS
2 1/2 cups low fat natural
yoghurt
1 cup peanut butter
12 cupcake liners
12 small treats
METHOD
Put the yoghurt and peanut butter in a bowl and stir. When well mixed, place the liners in a cupcake tin and fill them with the mixture. Smooth the tops of the cakes over with with a spoon.
Add a treat to each cake.
Store in the freezer until needed
TURKEY AND VEG DINNER
INGREDIENTS
4 cups of water
1 pound of ground turkey
2 cups of brown rice
1 cup of carrots, chopped
1 cup of green beans, chopped
1 tablespoon of fish oil (optional)
METHOD Cook the ground turkey in a non-stick skillet over me-
dium heat until the meat is cooked through.
Add the brown rice, turkey, and water to a large pot and
bring to a boil.
Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook an additional
15 minutes, or until the rice is soft and tender.
Add the carrots and green beans and cook for an additional 5 to 10 minutes, until the vegetables
are tender.
Allow to cool before serving.
Store extra dinners in the fridge for up to five days.
Giving your dog some tasty home cooked
tasty treats or meals is a great way of expand-
ing their dietary choices without the worry
about unnecessary additives, colourings or
preservatives.
Give it a go—your dog will love you for it!!
BITE INHIBITION
Maybe one of the most important things you have to teach your puppy is Bite Inhibition. It is essential that
your little bundle of fun knows just how to play without causing pain and biting.
Initially bite inhibition training comes from Mum and siblings. Bite too hard and it will lead to a telling off
from Mum and lots of squealing from baby puppy brothers and sisters. Once your pup has been taken
away from those influences though, the training needs to continue, and this is where you, its new family,
comes in.
As always we do not recommend or approve of any aversives being used in dog training, so patience,
praise and tasty rewards are all that is needed.
Firstly, it may be useful to acknowledge that play biting is normal for a dog, it is how they explore and
learn and that is fine, what is important is that your pup learns that it is not necessary when playing with
people. So how to teach your dog this important fact?
When playing with your pup, they may start to view
YOU as the toy, and use their mouth—and those puppy
teeth are VERY pointy and sharp. Initially you need to
teach pup that pressing too hard with those teeth causes
pain and that is not good.
If it does this say ‘OUCH’ or yelp loudly as if you are
really hurt. Move away from the pup and leave it for a
minute or two and then go back to it and carry on as
you were. Do this every time pup starts to bite you.
Eventually your pup will learn that pressing with its
teeth is not good. You can also start using a ‘Leave It’
command.
When your pup has learnt that biting is not right, you can then build on things so it learns that mouthing
generally is unacceptable. When your pup tries to mouth you, use your ‘Leave it’ command and then re-
ward immediately for stopping.
Like human babies and toddlers, puppies need a lot of sleep and rest or their behaviour deteriorates so
factor in rest times throughout the day—times when it can sleep in its crate undisturbed by family mem-
bers. Time out periods in its crate regularly throughout the day, with maybe a chew toy or a stuffed Kong
to keep it occupied and give it something to chew on, is essential and will help with behaviour
You can help avoid over tiredness by keeping game time down to short periods.
It is generally advised that Bite Inhibition training is undertaken before your dog reaches about 14 weeks
which is about the time when its jaws start to develop more power and strength and any biting could do a
lot more damage.
It is an essential part of your dogs training and could avoid lots of problems for you and your dog as it
matures.
PAGE 4
P A G E 5
MAY BANK HOLIDAY CLUB GETAWAY
CLUB NEWS
CLUB INFORMATION
E MAIL [email protected]
WEBSITE www.britishcockapoosociety.com
FACEBOOK STATIC PAGE https://www.facebook.com/
britishcockapoosociety
PLEASE TAKE A MOMENT TO
VISIT OUR FB PAGE AND ‘like’ IT.
We use it to spread the word about our
great club but still have our Group FB
page to chat and share info and advice.
DOG WALKS
We have had some great meets organised lately and more planned in
the next few weeks too, all over the country.
Want to have one in your area? It is so simple to do and a lot of fun
to attend.
Just think of a venue—somewhere with parking and maybe a café
for a post walk cuppa, then decide on a date and time. THAT’S IT _
DONE!!!
Just tell Mary or Di the details and we will send the information out
to all members on FB so they can let you know if they can attend.
APRIL DOG WALKS
COMPTON ABBAS DORSET 6th APRIL @ 1100
DUNSTABLE DOWNS
BEDFORDSHIRE 6th APRIL @ 1100
More may have been planned since this news-
letter was written so please check on FB or
website.
Have you booked your May Bank Holiday break? This year we are
organising our very first Club Getaway to Forest Glade Holiday Park,
Devon.
It caters for people in tents, touring caravans, motor homes and also
has wooden pods and static caravans too.
Facilities include a small heated swimming pool, kids play area, games
room, shop, take-away and woodland areas where the dogs can be
allowed off lead.
You can book for as long or short a time as you like—the choice is
yours, and you will be entitled to a Club Members discount on the price when booking—e mail club
for code.
P A G E 6
Well April is upon us and Spring on the way—thankfully after such a
terrible Winter for some.
Easter is on its way with all the
chocolates, Easter Eggs and flowers
that are usually given at that time,
which is lovely but PLEASE make
sure that your dogs don't get near the
chocolates.
Keep them out of the reach of
inquisitive noses and mouths
because they can make dogs very ill
and in some cases cause death so
better safe than sorry.
March saw us reach and go past 500 Facebook members which
is a huge milestone for the club and one that we didn't expect to
reach so soon.
We are starting to get more walks and events organised, and in
various parts of the country too which is brilliant, but we could
do more.
We have a list of members who have agreed for their details to
be shared which shows counties so you can see who is in your
area, or surrounding county. You can check the list here -
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?
key=0ApXDuj1P8x3NdGlUZDNTdGFKdGxlTlZDYVdGN1R
Hc1E&usp=sharing#gid=0
If there is any way you would like to see us improve things, or
try things for members please let us know, we want this to be
YOUR club and one that you enjoy.
CLUB NEWS
Don’t forget you can order car stickers of the Club logo to make your
car look brilliant!!
These stickers are for the inside of your windscreen and are available
in either the round logo version or the rectangular club banner style
too. Easy to fix, you just make sure your windscreen is clean, moisten
the sticker and place in position, they can also be easily moved and
reaffixed in a different position.
ALL proceeds from sales go towards our fundraising so as well as
making your car look brilliant you are helping a really good cause
too.
Stickers cost just £4 each, postage is FREE and they can be ordered
from our CLUB SHOP website on the link below.
http://shopcockapoopawtol.weebly.com/
MEMBERS DIS-
COUNTS
Don’t forget to check out
our Members Section on
the website. Details of
Members Discounts, pic-
tures of members dogs,
Newsletter archive and
more.
CLUB NEWS
When we set the club up back in August 2014, one of the things
we knew we wanted to do was to have Hearing Dogs for Deaf
People as the charity we would support. This was maybe an ob-
vious choice, given Mary’s deep connection with the charity and
the fundraising that she has done for them over the years since
losing her hearing.
It costs approximately £50,000 to breed and raise the puppies,
socialise them in a caring home, then train them to alert a deaf
person to all the sounds they can’t hear. The charity also offers
ongoing support when the dog is allocated to its lucky recipient.
Demand for a Hearing Dogs vastly outweighs their availability and currently there is about
a 5year waiting list—that’s 5 years that a deaf adult or child suffer from isolation, lack of
confidence and the vital assistance that a trained Hearing Dog can give.
This is why it is vital to continue to raise money and we are really, really grateful to every-
one who has helped us support this wonderful charity. We are a non profit making club so
any money we make through competitions or events go to HD via our JustGiving page or
towards preparing for future events. Donations can also be made directly to it on the
following link. Our goal now is to reach £2000 and over the coming weeks and months we
will be holding more events to try and achieve this—
https://www.justgiving.com/BritishCockapooSociety
Registering with EASYFUNDRAISING is easy, free, and helps raise money for Hearing Dogs for Deaf
People without costing you a single penny.
There are many shops which are participating in this scheme—John Lewis, Marks and Spencer, Asda,
Tesco and many more high street names that will be familiar to you. Whenever you shop online from a
participating store, they donate a percentage of your spend to our savings page for Hearing Dogs.
It doesn't cost you anything at all, it all comes from the store.
Don’t worry if you have already registered with EASYFUNDRAISING for another cause, that isn't a
problem. Just go through the registration process again and put BRITISH COCKAPOO SOCIETY as
your charity. Whenever you do your online shopping at a participating store you can then choose which
of your charities you want the donation to go towards.
TO REGISTER— Go to the following link and fill in your details. If asked what charity you want to
support, put BRITISH COCKAPOO SOCIETY.
http://www.easyfundraising.org.uk/causes/britishcockapoo
P A G E 7
CLUB NEWS