Cooperative Animal Training - Oakley Pet Services

10/11/2025

Our small animal boarding is open during the Festive Season and we still have some availability for bunnies and piggies 😊🎄 🎅❄️🎁🦌

14/08/2025

* A story on how I didn't crate train my puppy *

I didn't really do any structured crate training.... Yet Echo loves her crate ! How is that possible ?

I've set the crate up in our bedroom for night time sleep. When Echo first arrived I didn't expect that the crate would become her nap times spot as well so quickly.

The first day was hard in some ways - she was taken away from everyone and everything she knew and put into this strange new environment. The first day we stayed mostly in the living room other than the toilet breaks. She tried to go for multiple naps in various places in our living room but each time we moved she'd wake up/unsettle or get up and follow us around.

The first night I decided I'd go to sleep on the floor right next to her crate. I put some food down there and she walked in with no hesitation. She went to sleep but woke up a few times and cried a little bit. I decided to open the crate because it was obvious she didn't like being restricted. The night wasn't too bad overall but since then I decided not only the crate, but also the door from our bedroom to the living room would be open. I was worried a bit about the toilet accidents on the carpet in our bedroom but there were none. We were very on board with taking her to the toilet and the only accidents she had was some wee on the doormat (no poo accidents at all!).

But anyway back to the crate. The next day I left the door to our bedroom open. Ater her breakfast and some play she basically walked out of the living room and went straight into her crate for a nap. The habit was created . I knew she felt safe. The crate provided her a quiet environment perfect for naps. I think the fact that I haven't been closing the crate has contributed to the feelings of safety.

I genuinely believed that I would have to spend quite a bit of time helping her to feel safe and start using it for sleep and naps but she made it all so easy that no formal training was required. It doesn't mean that associations weren't made - the first night I responded to her needs , I slept next to her providing comfort and I opened the crate when I realised that confinement was too stressful.

The first night was the only night that I slept on the floor next to her. From the second night onwards I've been sleeping in my bed which is just amazing as I was prepared to spend days on the ground level and was planning to get a comfortable camping mattress to save my back 🙈

Also I just want to add that this doesn't mean that I will never do any crate training in the future. I'd like to help her to change her associations with being confined so that in cases when she'd to be crated with no option for immediate release she would feel safe and be able to settle - for example for travel purposes or in case of vet stay that'd require being confined.

08/08/2025

Puppies don't automatically know that some things are not a toy. One of the ways they explore and engage with their environment is via play.
That play often looks very cute to us humans so even if we'd rather not see our brooms (or any other objects) being "attacked" we allow it because... well it is cute and funny and the puppy is having a time of their life.
The problems can arise when we suddenly decide we don't want our puppy to play with the "thing" anymore. The puppy won't understand that let's say broom is actually just for sweeping and not for attacking 🧹 🦈
If we want our puppies to ignore certain objects or allows us to get on with our chores in peace we must teach them the behaviour we want to see in a kind way.

06/08/2025

Socialisation involves positive exposure to as many situations / animals as possible - this is the best time to prevent reactivity towards other animals and prevention is much easier than trying to fix an established issue.

Here Echo is learning to be calm around small animals. This is crucial for us as we run small animal boarding ❤️

06/08/2025

It was so important for me that Echo has a great relationship with the harness - I dealt with quite a few customers whose dogs were terrified of harness and it's not very easy to undo it.
I love how quickly she learns ❤️

01/08/2025

I've been using the toy drive to teach Echo to "drop" (open mouth and release toys) and wow! She's such a fast learner !

Food is not the only reinforcer - toys and play can be as (or more) effective 🐶

27/07/2025

Socialisation is crucial to the puppies healthy development.

By socialisation I don't mean putting your puppy in a group of dogs and letting him run wild.

Socialisation is a carefully managed positive exposure to the novel stimuli around us - things that the puppy will encounter everyday as well as rare events. This is how life skills are developed for when the puppy grows into the adult dog.

Unfortunately a lot of puppies can miss this opportunity due to the owners being told that puppies shouldn't be taken out until fully vaccinated.

It is totally understandable that we want to protect our puppies from being exposed to harmful bacteria and viruses but the potential consequences of no adequate exposure to the "real world" can also be devastating - puppies need this exposure during their sensitive period (3-14 weeks).

So how can we provide such opportunities to ensure that our puppy stays healthy but also has a chance to learn about how the world works ?

One is to expose your puppy to as many novel stimuli in the safe home environment as possible with consideration to your puppy's emotional state -no forceful encounters .

And two - we can expose our puppy to the "outside environment" by carrying them around. No direct contact with the ground and avoiding unfamiliar dogs can help us protect the puppy from potential illness.

Here's Echo during her recent "outside socialisation" sessions

25/07/2025

On Sunday we welcomed a new member to our family 😍

Echo is a Miniature American Shepherd and she's more than we could have hoped for ❤️ She's adapted to our home in no time and she brings joy everyday.

Having a puppy gives me an opportunity to focus deeply on how to provide the best learning opportunities that will set the dog up for success in adult life.

I'll be sharing a lot so tune in for some puppy rising updates and training tips ☺️

Here is Echo practicing her "sit" and "down" at just over 8weeks old ❤️

21/06/2025

Clawing/scratching on surfaces is a natural cat behaviour 😺

Instead of punishing your cat for clawing on your sofa find ways to redirect the behaviour by providing alternative surfaces.

This cardboard scratcher seems to be working well for us 😀

13/06/2025

Bringing Home a Puppy ?

Here's how to Puppy-Proof like a Pro
⬇️⬇️⬇️

08/06/2025

We are starting our journey to learning some Treibball - thanks for the idea Adventurous Paws UK !

30/05/2025