Country Landowner & Rural Business Magazine

‘THE CANINE HEALTH FARM’

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For anyone tending to the view that more than one dog in a park at a time spells trouble, the sight of some 30 running freely off the lead in a field with scarcely a bark and certainly no growls might seem unreal.

But there they were, from Labrador to Spaniel, Poodle to Bulldog, Rottweiler to Greyhound and everything in between, romping merrily across the grass, into the stream and through giant tyres. As a stranger in their midst.  I expected to be mobbed, yet their canine curiosity stopped short of them jumping up or slobbering kisses on me.  Most surprising of all, they were pets from entirely different homes scattered around the country, yet on holiday like best friends.  

‘We give them a fun and varied routine so they’re never bored,’ Mark Thompson tells me.  ‘They have four or five walks, including last thing at night, lots of games, occasional trips to the beach and fun rounds of the assault course of tunnels and jumps.   The dogs are well behaved because they are stimulated.  We also have a no barking policy and visitors often remark how quiet the dogs are.’

Mark and wife Gillian run The Dog House, at Dinas Farm, Talog near Carmarthen, a state of the art activity holiday and training facility designed exclusively for the education and enjoyment of dogs.  Since its establishment in 1994, it has been dubbed ‘Britain’s first canine health farm’ due to the Thompson’s unique approach for caring for their charges, emphasising individual attention to health, exercise games, grooming and good behaviour.

Hidden away in a valley amid 350 acres of woodland and meadows with lakes and streams, The Dog House can accommodate up to 45 dogs in clean, secure, heated chalets.  ‘We’re not some mad doggy hotel, but there’s an enormous difference between our holidays and a kennels,’ Mark explains as he shows me around.

On arrival, each dog is thoroughly checked and weighed.  ‘Most are overweight thanks to too many treats,’ Mark observes.  In the feed room, diet sheets for each resident note their daily meals – featuring Hill’s Science Plan and Dinas Farm’s own fresh spring water – and across the yard the office computer records the progress of each dog; whether for example, it has required teeth to be de-scaled or claws to be clipped, and how well it has behaved.

‘The aim is that when the dog goes back to its owner, it is at optimum weight, healthy and fully groomed,’ Mark says.  ‘Our house rules are designed to help residents be calmer and better behaved – we prevent barging through doorways and discourage things like over boisterous play with other dogs’ stay, we give their owners printed recommendations for health, diet and behaviour to maintain what has been achieved here.’

The most intriguing aspect of The Dog House is, of course, how the Thompson’s and their team so successfully instil or reinforce good behaviour among so many desperate charges.  Clearly, Mark has an instinctive ability to communicate with dogs, which he partly ascribes to having grown up in a farming milieu surrounded by animals.

He worked for a while in agriculture and later walked people’s dogs before setting up this unique canine business.  His methods have also been developed – and continue to develop through reading, experience and learning from others. 

‘We use non-confrontational teaching methods and reward good behaviours rather than focussing on chastising undesirable behaviours,’ he explains, before highlighting the special education programmes they run in addition to activity holidays.

These include a six day puppy socialisation and habituation course aimed at dogs up to 14 weeks of age, with nine – 12 weeks old the ideal.  ‘At that age puppies are like sponges and soak up all experiences,’ Mark says.  ‘We introduce them to other dogs in a controlled way, as well as to our geese, sheep and poultry.  We bombard them with washing machine noises; take them to meet the school bus in the village and to the pub.

‘People should get their puppies used to all sorts of situations where they live early on.  We also get puppies to walk on a loose lead straight away and don’t wait until six months to begin their education.  The course helps owners to get off on the right track and I give them verbal and written advice on how to follow up on what has been learned.’ 

Another, minimum eight week, course is for gundogs.  ‘A lot of the shooting fraternity let puppies charge around for six months then suddenly use compulsion techniques to make them do things.  It’s better to begin training straight away, getting the dog used to gunfire and retrieving,’ Mark points out.  Further clients bring their pets for general companion and obedience training.

In fact, owners are educated as much as their dogs.  ‘You will always get the odd dog that is inherently wild, but usually behavioural problems that develop – whining behind doors, fighting, tugging on leads - have an environmental cause,’ Mark says.  Gillian adds:  ‘Owners often don’t understand the implications of what they themselves are doing.  When they tell their dog off with ‘No, no, no!’  they are giving it attention and might just as well be saying ‘Hello, hello, hello’ looked at from the dog’s perspective.

‘Its better to ask yourself why the problem is happening, to realise it might be a result of your actions, and then use precise timing and control of toys, games, food and affection so that the dog clearly associates good behaviour with rewards.’

Mark relates the tale of two aggressive dogs that he acclimatised to being with a group without fighting.  As soon as the owner arrived, the pair reverted to their bad habits.  ‘The most likely reason was the dogs had high ranking positions in the ‘pack’, walking ahead of their owner, going into the house first, sleeping on the sofa.

‘With some dogs that’s fine, but with two that had high levels of testosterone their high status caused problems of aggression.  The owner’s behaviour and rules needed to change.  Similarly, it doesn’t matter how much you teach a dog to come back at a couple of whistles, if it thinks the person calling it is lower ranking, it might not bother to obey,’ says Gillian;  ‘The pecking order here is clear so you don’t get the problem.’

Dogs come to Dinas Farm from as far away as Scotland and Cornwall, and a weekly Dog Bus transports charges from London along the M4 to Wales.  ‘People hear about us mainly through word of mouth and we are usually booked up at least three months in advance,’ Gillian says, adding; ‘The proof is in the pudding.’

‘When a dog gets home it can’t fake what it has learnt.  It’s obvious it has been taught something and is well groomed and has lost weight.  Clients don’t find that elsewhere.  But we always stress owners must follow up the training themselves otherwise there’s no point.’

Mark concludes; ‘There’s a lot to owning a dog. We’re still learning all the time.’