Beginning to wish I hadn't found this forum :(

[Wren]

Hi from me too Karen, this is a lovely forum. I have animals too, not horses although I rode when in my teens, birds (aviary), ducks dog etc. we have an African Grey parrot it's great to have a pet who you can chat with you need positive reinforcement training with him he can crack whole brazil nuts (shell on) with the pliers on his nose beware the finger if a grape is withheld.

[Animalnutty]

Beautiful horse! Same story here, mine came to me with so many issues due to having been punished that's what got me interested in behaviour and positive reinforcement based training. She's very much the teacher and I'm the pupil!

Aww, she was lucky to find you. There nothing like bringing on a scared or worried previously bullied animal and teaching them a different way and building a relationship through trust Out of my current 6 animals only one was not a rescue and the rest of them were previously badly treated - 3 of them were due to be PTS due to severe issues, either dog to dog aggression or having bitten people. They have all come a long way, but one of them has just been through too much to trust anyone other than myself. She's been on a long journey, but is a happy wee girly now.

Hi from me too Karen, this is a lovely forum. I have animals too, not horses although I rode when in my teens, birds (aviary), ducks dog etc. we have an African Grey parrot it's great to have a pet who you can chat with you need positive reinforcement training with him he can crack whole brazil nuts (shell on) with the pliers on his nose beware the finger if a grape is withheld.

Hiya, African greys are great fun and so chatty The truth is that all animals do best with positive reinforcement, people just tend to not think outside the box so much with animals that they can use punishment (of any kind, even shouting etc) such as dogs, horses and even cats, because people are impatient and just want the outcome they want a lot of the time, regardless of whether it is best for animals of not. The sad thing is, that most people when they know how can get much better results more quickly with PR and feel so much better about doing things that way.

Anyway, here's my current gang, I hope as it is the lounge it is OK to pop pictures in here? I saw that it said it was ok to chat about anything in here?

This is Isha and Thai. Isha developed disk issues and was in intensive care a year ago, due to the abuse she suffered for the first 6 months - but she is doing well now, still a bit of a scaredy girl, but now likes people. Thai was kept muzzled 24/7 for quite some time due to one of his previous 'carers' being scared of him. He had 3 or 4 homes before coming here. Despite being previous dog aggressive, he is now quite the gent and a complete mummies boy!



This is Ciara my Dobe she was my degree doggie and we got a 2:1 in heel work to music., all because someone told me you couldn't do that with a Dobe



Little Arian, the most damaged girly, but a little star. This is the face I get if I have been spending too long working on a piece of jewellery - she's too smart for her own good, or more my good. That particular look together with sweet chin resting on my, works to get me to stop and give her cuddles every time, she has me well trained!



My little family.

Then there is the two cats, Rica (brown) who is 12, she has asthma, diabetes and is a little senile, but quite happy. Tiegan was an abuse case and came to me at 4 years weight 1.6kg and terrified, my vet was concerned she wouldn't make it. She is over double that now and rules the roost!