Tails of Adventure

18/08/2025

DID YOU KNOW?
What is Intervertebral Disc Disease (IVDD)

15/08/2025

Did you know about GDV - Bloat?

13/08/2025

🚫 Why Punishment Doesn’t Work (And What to Do Instead) 🐾

When a dog does something we don’t like, it’s tempting to scold them.

The problem? Punishment doesn’t teach your dog what to do instead.

⚠️ Punishment can:
- Increase fear or anxiety
- Damage trust in the relationship
- Cause your dog to hide behaviours - which can result in medical issues being missed if they are the cause of the behaviours
- Increased risk of aggression

✅ Instead, focus on:
- Management is to prevent the unwanted behaviour from happening in the first place
- Redirection is to guide your dog to a behaviour you do want (e.g., chew a toy instead of your shoes)
- Positive reinforcement, rewarding the correct choice lets your dog know that behaviour is worth repeating.

💡 Dogs repeat what works for them, so the more a behaviour is rewarded the more likely it is to be repeated.

08/08/2025

THE IMPORTANCE OF DECOMPRESSION AND WHY EVERY DOG SHOULD DO IT.

06/08/2025

🖐️ Getting Rid of the Lure 🧀➡️🐶

Using a treat to guide your dog into position (a lure) is a great way to teach something new, however, we don’t want to rely on it forever.

Here’s how to fade the lure and keep the behaviour:

🔹 Teach first with a treat in hand, repeat this a few times to ensure the beginnings of understanding what is being asked, reward each time position is achieved.
🔹 Next: mimic the motion, but with an empty hand reward after.
🔹 Add a cue (“sit” or “down”) once the dog follows your empty hand reliably.
🔹 Gradually reduce your luring movement until you are only using your chosen word and hand signal.

🌟 Keep rewards coming for success!

Why it matters:
✅ Builds reliability
✅ Prevents your dog only working when they “see” a treat
✅ Strengthens real-life training success

🎯 Remember: the lure teaches, the reward reinforces. Train smart!

04/08/2025

❗ WHY DOING NOTHING MATTERS ❗

30/07/2025

🌟 CONGRATULATIONS SABRE🌟

Sabre has completed his package and has done really well throughout! He's developed new skills such as focus, settle and touch, as well as walking much better on the lead in different environments and showing a reduction in his reactivity 💪. He has grown so much during the package but more importantly his owner has grown in CONFIDENCE. Your confidence is just as important to develop as theirs, meaning that Sabre's owner feels more capable of achieving her goals and continuing on their journey.

💖 Proud

I look forward to seeing Sabre again in August for his booster session!

30/07/2025

🎓 Is Your Dog Ready to Level Up in Training? 🐶✨

Training is a journey, not a race! But how do you know when it’s time to move forward with new challenges?

✅ Here are signs your dog is ready to progress:

- They can perform the behaviour 8 times out of 10 in the current level they are practicing
- They can achieve the behaviour either on verbal cue, hand signal or both
- They stay eager to try again and aren't put off by errors

⏸️ Not seeing these yet? No worries! Stay at your current level a little longer. Repetition builds confidence and success.

❓ What can you do to progress:
- Increase one of the 3D's - Distance, Duration or Distraction in the current environment of choice
- Change environment completely (if your dog is doing the 3D's well in the current environment)
- Work more on the verbal or hand signal if one is not as reliable as the other
- Work on a new skill (working on more than one skill at once is fine, it makes it less repetitive)

🚫 Moving too fast can lead to stress, confusion or frustration and can undo progress.

💡 Training Tip: Always aim for an 80% success rate before adding distractions, duration, or distance.

It’s not about perfection, just progress. 🐾

28/07/2025

25/07/2025

🌟 SABRE UPDATE! 🌟

Sabre continues to go from strength to strength in his training, not only that but his Mum, Louise is feeling more and more confident with him.

Here he is, playing the 'engage' part of the engage/disengage game with dogs in a local park. A few time Sabre even chose to disengage on his own. Sabre will soon have his final session and I am going to be sad to see them go but I know his Mum is going to continue all his training 💪

Proud 💖

24/07/2025

Another amazing review! I love what I do, I love seeing owners and dogs, grow in confidence and in skill to pave their journey with them! This one feels even more special as Sue & Craig are in the same business as myself and we have known each other a few years now. It was a privilege to help with Gordon. 💪 💖