A&S Dog Walking & Pet Visits

01/07/2025

And breath! What an awlful few days of weather we’ve had. This is where our lovely dog has landed for the past few days. I cancelled all the dog walks (a few very early ones) walk & trains, puppy classes and training one to ones. Someone asked why did you cancel the puppy classes & training one to ones when it’s in someone’s house or garden?

Of course the first one is because of the risk of heat stroke, it can happen in a garden. Heat stroke can creep up so quickly especially when very humid. Remember once we have finished the lesson, class, unless you live in a house completely air conditioned there is nowhere cool to settle after your dog, puppy has exerted some extra energy. They stay feeling hot, bothered & I don’t feel that’s a very positive experience for our pups.

The other reasons are that we are all feeling a bit grouchy having limited sleep, being dehydrated, feeling like we don’t really want to eat and want to just chill out and settle. Some of us just want to be left alone. I’ve been sleeping in the spare room as other body & dog heat is just too much! Hend soon follows but he stays at the end of the bed as he’s hot too!

Surprisingly our dogs are no different to us, they are also feeling out of sorts & in this state of mind their ability to learn & process information is lessened by these humid conditions.

So hoping that the temperature drops overnight and the predicted lower temperatures tommorrow is accurate so classes & one to ones can resume. 🤞🤞

30/06/2025

A great video about the concept of Neutrality in dog training.

https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1JG44xu4Fh/?mibextid=wwXIfr

30/06/2025

The coolest place at the moment is the car that has a decent air con unit! Sadly people are still walking dogs in this heat, unsure why 🤷‍♀️ Can’t people use their inner wisdom to know it’s just not ok to walk your dog in this heat, it’s hard to understand tbh but there you go.😞

If your dog likes the car and you can see your dog (as in travelling in the front or back seat) why not get your car cool first and take them for a drive.

Sometimes it’s just being with your dog that’s enriching for them and who knows maybe a pup cup or a treat at Maccy D’s before you head home.

30/06/2025

This is how all grooming salons should operate

Well it is finally happening.
I am pleased to announce that Minds Alike Dog Grooming will be opening, and we are taking bookings for the end of July and onwards.
This salon is based in Chesham, Bucks, and specialises in building confidence, tailoring and adapting the grooms to the individual, having guardians present if that helps your dog and helps us to explain and demonstrate training techniques

🐶We offer thorough puppy packages for puppies 10 weeks+, really setting them up for a good start on their grooming journey.

🐶We offer anxious dog packages, with the backing of Clinical Animal Behaviourist Laura Ward.

Laura Ward CCAB will also be assisting and working with our groomer (I who I will introduce shortly) with those more tricky cases.

🐶We offer training grooms - applying the wonderful training and concepts from The Pet Prep Initiative to the grooming salon and enabling your dog to move on from being stressed and work through those problem areas.

🐶 And of course we offer full grooms and nail trims.

Let us know your grooming needs, and email us at [email protected]

29/06/2025

This is a great video about heat stroke. Please share this as it explains it very clearly.

https://www.facebook.com/share/v/18U1Fs3jhg/?mibextid=wwXIfr

27/06/2025

This week has been very busy with puppy visits.

It’s not always about supporting guardians to understand how to positively train sit, wait, touch & recall. More often than not it’s about looking at the puppies whole picture. It can be holistically trying to work out why a puppy may be overly aroused, unable to settle, declining food or sometimes displaying unusual behaviours.

It’s then about working out how we can support the guardians & their puppies to find strategies & positive tools to give the puppy what it needs to feel safe & heard.

Sometimes this might be a vet check, a change of food, adding more appropriate exercise , changing where the puppy sleeps. However ultimately it’s about understanding our puppy isn’t being naughty but is sometimes desperately trying to get our attention that something isn’t quite right in their environment.

Sometimes puppies do suffer with pain & this can be overlooked by vets as they are seen as too young.

27/06/2025

Sadly the dog world can be a cruel & lonely space to enter. RIP

https://www.facebook.com/share/v/16xutvnQK5/?mibextid=wwXIfr

25/06/2025

I do love Emily Larlham and this is a great video of teaching the release cue.

How to train your dog to stay and be released on cue. Back chaining the release cue. This is a portion of a previously uploaded video called "The best way ...

21/06/2025

Washing your dogs toys regularly keeps them free from bacteria & parasites. If you have a dog like Hend who loves to take a toy in the garden, find a more interesting scent, drop it then forget about it then this post is for you! I’m always finding toys dotted around the garden and I pile them up and do a big machine wash with his blankets.