DogTraining Costa Blanca

07/06/2026

Be Kind and Advocate for Your Dog 🐾
Our dogs rely on us to help them navigate a world that can sometimes feel overwhelming, confusing, or frightening.
Being an advocate for your dog means listening to what they're telling you through their body language and emotions. If your dog is worried, scared, tired, or uncomfortable, it's okay to step in and give them the space they need. Not every dog wants to say hello to every person or dog they meet, and that's perfectly fine.
Kindness isn't about expecting our dogs to cope with every situation. It's about recognising when they need our support and helping them feel safe. Sometimes the best thing we can do is move away, take a break, or simply allow them to observe from a distance.
A confident dog isn't one that never feels fear it's a dog that trusts their person to keep them safe.
Teaching a sit, down, and other training exercises is a great way to build a bond with your dog and develop valuable life skills. However, general training alone won't help a dog overcome their fears. In fact, a dog's fear can be so overwhelming that they are unable to follow even well known cues. When a dog is struggling emotionally, understanding and addressing the cause of that fear is far more important than asking for obedience.
If your dog is struggling, don't be afraid to reach out for help. Seek out a qualified trainer/ behaviour professional who understands the underlying behaviour can support both you and your dog, helping you build confidence and work through challenges in a way that is kind, effective, and fair.
Be patient. Be understanding. Be your dog's voice when they need one. 🐾🐾
For help and advice contact: 696 42 67 83
Angela

05/06/2026

Loose lead walking!!

Personally, I have learnt so much more about how the environment interferes with loose lead walking since owning a dog with a heavy prey drive.

I love this video and explanation because they explain it with real clarity.

I can take Cava to many places and she walks beside me like she’s trying to win a competition, but the minute I try to do a lead walk near groups of dogs or what she sees as hunting ground, all the focus disappears. She has one thing on her mind beating the others to the rabbits! She’s not able to work out that they’re also on leads, so in her mind it’s still a competition.

Avoiding hunting areas whilst practising loose lead walking makes the walk far more enjoyable for both of you.

If you struggle with your dog in certain environments, avoid those areas if you can. There’s nothing worse than constantly nagging a dog for an instinct they simply can’t help.

Sometimes training isn’t about forcing the dog through difficult situations, it’s about setting them up to succeed.
Angela

In this video, Kayl and I will talk about the value of treats in tr...

04/06/2026

🐾 Week Two Beginners at Westvilles 🐾
Our Week Two Beginners class took place on Tuesday, the hottest day of the year so far.
With the temperatures soaring, I had to revise the lesson plan to keep movement to a minimum and make sure all the puppies stayed comfortable and happy.
Ben is away this week, and for the first time in a long time I found myself teaching a puppy class without him, hope he's enjoying that well deserved holiday. Thankfully, the fabulous Sarah stepped in to help. Sarah is currently studying dog behaviour, and many of you will have seen her observing at our previous classes. She was amazing, putting everything she has learned into practice and helping the class run smoothly.
This week the puppies learned: 🐾 Touch 🐾 Spin 🐾 Turn 🐾 A little bit of crawling
They also all mastered stepping on and off the step, which was a fantastic achievement for such a young group.
Sarah also helped with our "stranger approach" exercise, and the puppies worked incredibly hard on this one. To be fair, they were much more interested in smothering her with puppy love than practising their manners! ❤️🐶
Despite the heat, everyone worked brilliantly and we got so much accomplished. Well done to all our puppies and their humans! 🐾👏💛
Angela

03/06/2026

Well done to our Intermediate dogs at the Madhouse who gained their Bronze Award yesterday. You were all brilliant.

03/06/2026

The final Advanced group class at the Madhouse before the summer. Well done to all and enjoy the break - you deserve it. See you in September x

01/06/2026

Just a reminder there is no social walk this Saturday as Ben Dog Training Costa Blanca is away this week 🐕🐾

01/06/2026

💧 Water!! 💧

Water is a valuable resource for your dog, especially at this time of year.

It's also a great reward that we often overlook. We automatically think of food or toys, but offering a drink can be just as rewarding for many dogs. Teaching a cue such as "Drink" can encourage your dog to take a break, rehydrate, and receive a reward at the same time.

Always remember that a reward is whatever your dog values. For some dogs that's food, for others it's a toy, a sniff, a game, attention, or even a nice drink of water.

Get to know what motivates your dog and use it to your advantage. 🐾💙

27/05/2026

A really interesting post about dogs overheating 🥵

⚠️ Reading Dogs 👀

Out of all the posts on heatstroke I'm seeing, the signs of actual heatstroke to be aware of, all the arguments on what temp owners should not be walking their dogs in, running their dogs in, how to cool overheated dogs, clipping coats, the hundreds of comments, I've seen one great question asked just twice by 2 owners... "What are the early signs?"

My favourite topic when it comes to heat issues in dogs is the signs of thermal (heat) stress, and learning how to read dogs, because that's what keeps them safe.

"Becoming astute to recognizing signs of heat stress can save a dog’s life!"

I was out doing things from daily walks, hiking, and running in harness with my last dog in all sorts of temperatures and conditions, over time and closely working with him I got a good handle on what he could and couldn't handle, when it was safer to leave him at home.

I got a little bit of abuse (as you do!) by a UK dog trainer last year on this post here https://www.facebook.com/share/v/14Fix9619uS/ for advising on the early signs to be aware of and the importance of reading your dog, the importance of hydration and taking breaks. According to this trainer there are well established guidelines from experts that 24°C is the cut off and that's what I should be sharing.

According to another trainer around the same time you are every rude word under the sun if you walk your dog over 20°C.

I've seen dogs overheat at around 12°C so I don't think much of their numbers.


The following is from Hot Dogs UK:

"Our dogs are just as variable, they will react differently to ambient temperatures depending on a whole host of factors including bodyweight, breed, skull shape, general health, physical fitness, acclimatisation, hydration status and even diet... "

"Even more concerning, in our latest paper we reported the highest daily “feels like” temperature (this is “wet bulb globe temperature”, which takes into account air temperature, humidity, wind speed and solar radiation) recorded at the nearest weather station to each HRI event we studied. The average (median) temperature was just 16.9°C. The lowest temperature was 3.3°C (for an exercise induced HRI case), whilst the highest temperature was 23.1°C. These are not high temperatures... "

"When judging temperature conditions for your dog, you also need to consider how temperature is being measured... "

– https://heatstroke.dog/category/research-news/


This page has followers from around the world, so I can't share so called safe numbers and charts, there is no such thing as a 'safe' temp for all dogs, there are too many variables, and because of that I don't believe in so called 'safe' numbers as they can give a false sense of security.
Numbers are more important when it comes to sudden increases in temp/humidity, sudden increases in what your dog is used to, then it becomes more of a risk.
I'm a firm believer in owners/sports competitors/handlers learning the early signs, both behavioural and physiological, knowing what is normal for their dogs, understanding what their dogs can and can't handle, whatever they do with their dogs in any environmental conditions.

If you learn to read your dog and what they are telling you, then act before it becomes a problem dogs wouldn't overheat, understanding this is the biggest prevention you can have.
I'm not saying it's always easy, there's a big difference between taking one dog for a walk, working a single dog, canicrossing 1 or 2 dogs, and running a large team out front.
Dogs don't just drop down dead with heatstroke, they are not ok one minute then dead the next, if they are heatstroking someone missed the earlier signs, there's a progression, and yes it can progress fast, there's no blame here, people don't know what they don't know.
It takes an understanding of what you're looking for, how these things present in a dog, a bit of time and effort, and sometimes hard work.
And it's a beautiful thing working closely with your dogs to figure out what's normal for them, more time well spent together.
Sometimes you'll still miss it, but you'll go a hell of a long way to preventing it, by staying ahead of it, and staying in the Green.

Here is the main post covering some of this https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1G3zYAYmvS/

Further Information:

⚠️ Early behavioural signs of increased heat stress
https://www.facebook.com/share/v/14DeRRo43ZN/

⚠️ Early behavioural signs of increased heat stress during a VTG Heat Injury Demo
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/196jqJR34L/

⚠️ Heat Stress & Knowing Your Dog: Dr. Janice Baker, DVM
https://www.facebook.com/share/v/16C2isuxFY/

⚠️ Early Behavioural Signs of Thermal Stress: Dr. Janice Baker, DVM
https://www.facebook.com/share/v/15XmsqGnTP/

⚠️ Know Your Dog
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/gT9iVgyfA4DAvo6F/

⚠️ Panting Control
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1G14dDVACV/

⚠️ Panting Smile & Tongue - Understanding Normal
https://www.facebook.com/share/v/16uweLAKRk/

⚠️ Early signs of increased Heat Stress while running
https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1Funk4MbBE/

⚠️ Heat Stress & Reading Dogs: Dr. Arleigh Reynolds, DVM
https://www.facebook.com/share/v/14GL4K8iNLy/

⚠️ Monitoring & Prevention
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1FnRa7cpqM/

⚠️ Shade Seeking
https://www.facebook.com/share/v/19F3ChznH1/

⚠️ Read Your Individual Dog: Dr. Joe Spoo
https://www.facebook.com/share/v/16yU8YNVbo/

⚠️ Excessive Panting
https://www.facebook.com/share/v/18WR1LL3FK/

⚠️ Staying in the Green
https://www.facebook.com/share/v/19MgSu65N4/

⚠️ Dallas Seavey: Understanding the Dog
https://www.facebook.com/share/v/15jksxqJEP/

● Heat Page: Contents
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1BojisnpPE/

27/05/2026

Week one beginners at Westvilles 🐾

6 new recruits for our last beginners group until after the hot summer ⛱️
I had already met three of these gorgeous pups during home visits, so we were ready to get stuck in straight away.
Week one is all about understanding how dogs learn and how we can help guide them into becoming calm, well-adjusted adult dogs. Building that strong foundation early really does make such a difference.
What was especially lovely this week was Ivonne, with the gorgeous Lenny, carefully memorising the class discussion and even putting everything into her notes afterwards, dedication like that is wonderful to see and will help so much moving forward 🐾
Ben Dog Training Costa Blanca & Angela

25/05/2026

☀️🦮Another great walk this Saturday. We’ve had to change location to have our after walk coffee, but you can see all the hard work everyone has put in to keep their doggies nice and calm in different environments. Well done everybody 😁🦮☀️