Canine Behaviour and Fitness

03/09/2025

🐾 Louis 🐾

Today we worked on some engagement tools and pattern games to help Louis when he sees other dogs and people. Isn’t he handsome 🥰

02/09/2025

Tuesday mornings with Freddy and Sadie 🤗🥰

31/08/2025

Bigly doing amazing with his paws ‘up’ as we work on his confidence, particularly around dogs.

Bringing out familiarity and safety into an environment that can be unpredictable is a great way to work on a dogs confidence and slowly build towards triggers 🐾

30/08/2025

☕️ Cafe Dogs ☕️

There can be a lot of expectations on dogs these days. Of course we would all love our dogs to be comfortable and happy to join us in most areas of our life. I think though sometimes we can have these ‘expectations’ of what we want in a dog and how we want them to fit in with our lifestyle.

This can sometimes mean expectations override the dogs genetics and emotional needs.

Sure you can do all the training and put in the hard work to help a dog feel more comfortable in certain situations, but I think we need to also accept that there are some things our dogs just don’t have to do, for THEM to have a fulfilled life.

There are so many classes now to train the perfect ‘cafe dog’ and yes some dogs can be calm and not fussed with sitting at a cafe/being in these environments but not all dogs can cope with this and I think we shouldn’t expect all dogs to be able to cope with this.

Being chill at cafes or busy environments doesn’t equal a happy and fulfilled life for the dog. Meeting THEIR needs and providing a home where they can be comfortable is what our expectations should be.

We can definitely have desires for our dog’s, but are we able to change those desires if they don’t suit the dog in front of us?

27/08/2025

The weather cleared up for us as we made some new friends 🐮 I love the inquisitive nature of cows ❤️ Max prefers to keep his distance!

25/08/2025

The animals and I will be enjoying a little farm stay this week! I’ll still be on emails and phone, just no bookings for the week 😊

It’s been a busy last few months so will spend some time catching up on everything. Looking forward to what the rest of the year will bring 🐾

21/08/2025

✨ Milo ✨

I saw this handsome fella today as we start working on his arousal levels, disengagement from dogs and outlets to work “sheep”. Looking forward to our future sessions together ❤️

20/08/2025

Today I had the pleasure of meeting these three beautiful pups. MindDog in training, Luna the sweet Doberman 🐾 Willow the beautiful Border Collie 🐾 and Ghost the handsome GSDxMalinois ❤️

19/08/2025

Walk n trains today with the handsome Freddy and Horatio ❤️🐾

17/08/2025

✨ Bigly ✨

I had a lot of fun with this little guy today. We’re working on his confidence particularly around other dogs by activating movement, disengagement and seeking to help him form new ways of coping 🐾

16/08/2025

For anyone unsure of what luring ACTUALLY means, I highly recommend reading Kay’s article.
Luring is very misunderstood in the dog training world but is something I use quite frequently, depending on the dog in front of me and what I’m teaching.
While free shaping is a great method and a method I also utilize, I think the trainers thinking can sometimes override what would be more efficient for the dog and provide more communication for the dog in front of them.
It is definitely thought of as bribery for some people, but if you really understand it, it is actually a great form of communication to our dogs and way of effectively teaching and growing our bond with them.
The method of free shaping is something I really enjoy, it’s so fun to watch dogs problem solve and succeed, but just because I enjoy it, doesn’t mean it’s the right choice for each dog and/or each behaviour/skill your teach.
Again, there’s many great positive methods out there, but training should be about what is better for the dog in front of you.
Highly recommend this read 👇🏻👇🏻👇🏻

Luring teaches trainers essential skills: how to use suggestion and guidance, explain dynamic movement in the cues from our hands.

12/08/2025

Full day today!

⭐️ Super star Fred (pictured) had his walk n train and doing amazing walking around the neighbourhood past barking dogs and strangers

⭐️ Beautiful Sadie (pictured) had her second session and is doing so well as we work on her disengagement and confidence

⭐️ I got to meet an amazing MindDog team, as Betty and her mum get ready for their next PAT

⭐️ Then finished off the day with herding fun with the gorgeous Lyka!