Speak Dog

27/04/2025

Every word of this 💟

Nobody tells you how quietly dogs grow old—
how one day you’ll wake to find silver on their muzzle,
a mistiness in their eyes,
and a heaviness in their steps where once there was none.

They tell you not to blink when raising children,
or you’ll miss it.
But no one warns you about the dog—
the one who loved you before you knew how to love yourself,
who stayed through every heartbreak,
who followed you from place to place,
asking for nothing but your presence.

Cherish that dog.
The one who curled against you on lonely nights,
who waited at the door even when you came home broken.
The one who never needed words to understand you.

Hold him a little closer.
Say his name a little softer.
Because one day, without warning,
you'll take him for a walk and he’ll lag behind,
and you'll realise time has stolen more than you thought.

And then—
with a heart that breaks more than you ever thought possible—
you’ll say goodbye.
He'll cross the Rainbow Bridge,
leaving you standing there with empty hands
and a heart so full of love it aches.

And no matter how many years pass,
you’ll find yourself still reaching for him
in the quiet moments.
Still missing the sound of his paws.
Still loving him with every beat of your heart.

27/04/2025

I'm looking forward to speaking with the amazing Association of Dynamic Dog Practitioners today.

Observational skills drives both businesses hugely and so I'm really looking forward to this.

26/04/2025

What a privilege it is to be someone your dog goes to when they need to feel safe.

Not because of obedience, cues or fear of consequences, but purely and simply because they have learnt you can be trusted.

25/04/2025

WARNING DOG WORRYING LIVESTOCK.

DID YOU KNOW HERE IN THE UK

If your dog is off lead and worries livestock the farmer can SHOOT your dog!!

Your dog doesn't have to be attacking livestock, just chasing, worrying it.

After a video posted this week of a Spaniel off lead chasing a ewe and her baby running scared, and the Spaniel happily bouncing after them the comments read SHOT IT!

THIS ISNT A DOG ISSUE, THIS IS A HUMAN ISSUE.

The animals in this situation are let down by humans.

Sadly accidents happen, some dogs get out and go on the run, but these incidents are people CHOOSING to walk thier dogs off lead near livestock.....IRRESPONSIBLE!

Livestock should never have to go through this and a dog shouldn't be put at risk of shooting.

23/04/2025

Suspicious Minds 🤣

Ps Denzel little teefs lol...always makes me chuckle when you see little teefs 😍

Also always wonder how some dog professionals seem so well groomed all the time...I clearly groom my dogs more than I groom me 😅

Also a big shout out to Facebook for always pausing videos to make you look even worse...bravo on your consistency Fb 🤣

22/04/2025

DOG PROFESSIONALS

If you run an ethical and compassionate dog business who values client support, we might be a good match.

I collaborate with numerous outstanding businesses across various sectors of the dog industry with the Learning to Listen Session.

No affiliates, next to no extra admin, it doesn't interfere with the clients journey with you the professional and you could generate some extra pennies.

To find out a bit more please email me
[email protected]

and say IM SNIFFING OUT MORE INFO.

22/04/2025

A FEW EXTRA THINGS

1) Yes I do all my own sound effects, you're welcome 🤣

2)Yes Derek is in a harness thats too big for him, some idiot left Derek's harness in the washing machine so he is borrowing Chunks 😅

3) I'm using soft food, ham, pate, cheese because I don't want something my dog has to stop and crunch up, especially if we're using this cue to get space from something.

22/04/2025

Hello Everyone

Just a few polite reminders.

1) Please don't offer advice on my page. I'm happy for discussions, hence leaving the commenting on. I'm not saying all advice is incorrect but as this is my business page it's not appropriate for someone unfamiliar to me or my business to do so.

2) Please don't share links without asking permission, again without sounding like a control freak, I am precious about what is shared with Speak Dog followers, post with links will be removed.

3) Anyone who makes comments pro punishment will be removed. It's not my ethos and I am not wasting time getting into tit for tat. I'm always open to respectful discussion but we won't ever agree in using harsh methods.

Thank you everyone.

21/04/2025

Fiona is one of the amazing professionals on the Succeeding Team I work with.

Her field of expertise, she has a Masters in Nutrition !

This is a great video that gives some really good information about what we still don't know lol.

Thanks Fiona Companion Animal Nutrition for this.

A brief overview of the gut microbiome, its importance, and the challenges with researching and understanding it.

21/04/2025

SAFETY CUE - LET'S GO

I'm going to post a few videos up over the next day or so breaking this down into bite ( pun intended) size steps.

Today's installment comes to you via the help of Scarlett 😍

21/04/2025

NEED A STRONGER CRATE

Dogs are not what we consider Denning animals, not like badgers or foxes.

SOME dogs do look for small spaces for safety when scared or to feel safe when resting, some dogs look for human comfort, it's as always, down to the individual dog.

I seen a post recently with the image saying they needed a stronger crate.

My issue with the picture was the emotion this image screamed at me.

This image shows me a dog that doesn't cope in a crate.

This image shows a human looking to." fix" it by using a stronger crate, not dealing with huge emotion this dog went through to do this to a crate.

( caveat: if they did it wasn't mentioned)

The other thing this represents to me, if we don't think about the emotions when it's THIS VISUAL, it's no wonder so many dog who are quiet and hop in willingly for a goodie are mistaken for being comfortable.

I'm not condemning the use of safe spaces, not at all, but I don't agree with dogs being shut in something they are not coping with, and this screams not coping.

20/04/2025

Apparently if you don't want to use pain or intimidation when working with dogs, it means you humaise them.

You do them a diservice, you baby them, and don't respect them for being the dogs they are.

HOWEVER, I've also read posts from other communities condemning people who work thier working dogs, with the belief that all dogs should behave like free roaming dogs and just be content mooching around all day every day.

My Thoughts are as follows

When it comes to humanising

Lets talk about the countless videos that show prong collars or electric shock collars put on human wrists.

Lets talk about the post I have just seen talking about crates and how babies are kept in cots, making the argument for similarities.

Seems humanising is ok depending the spin your putting on it eh.

Lets talk about how much of a diservice is done to dogs when desirable expectations are of a robotic dog who lacks the ability and confidence to think for themselves.

However, let's also talk about dogs with strong work ethics that are placed in pet homes and expected to just chill out and become a coach potatoes and get over generations of selective breeding.

DOING DOGS A DISERVICE....

My ethos is to not use pain or intimidation, not within my business and not within my personal relationship with my own dogs.

I don't like it and I don't condone it.

I have 12 working dogs WHO WORK, they are bloody tough sled dogs who are successful athletes.

All live in the home, NONE of them are crated unless traveling in the dog van ( I'm not knocking crating , I'm just saying they free roam all day)

I understand and respect them as athletes, I understand and respect them as individuals, as social and sentient beings who want safety and security and agency and trust.

I understand that being at home snuggling on the sofa with me or going for sniffing walks or charging round a secure field and having agency are all important parts of being a dog just as much as meeting thier working needs.

There are genuinely many similarities between humans and dogs but usually the ones you get to read and hear about are not the correct ones.

Being compassionate to ALL of a dogs needs is far from a diservice.

(Picture of Derek in Pet mode and work mode)

19/04/2025

Why is my dog " behaved" in a group but changes when out of it.

I remember being at a big event where each year i was kindly given a big arena to talk about Training and Behaviour.

I remember a lady with a big beautiful GSD approaching and asking me, why the dog was behaved in amongst all these people and dogs but the minute they go a few feet out of the event, the dog begins to bark at people and dogs.

I had the same question asked this week where a frustrated dog was allowed to attend a local training class. They were asked to walk between dogs whilst not making eye contact, ( not something I personally like to teach) which the dog managed, but she stepped out of the field to walk home and the dog barked and lunged at everyone it passed.

WHY?????

Both dogs were overwhelmed and outnumbered and the way they are coping is to be hush hush, don't be intrusive and you might be left alone, fly under the radar.

The first dog was not learning being in big groups was safe, it was learning to shut up to have a higher chance of safety, act " normal" and all should be fine, tough to spot if you are not sure what to look for observationally.

The second dog over time, because it was the same set of dogs had become a bit more familiar with them, but this hadn't translated to how the dog feels when the encounter unfamiliar dogs outside of the group.

Quiet is so often mistaken for coping, we miss all the whispers that the dog is not OK but understandably then feel confused when they shout in a more one on one setting.

If you are a nervous person does making you interact with large groups of unfamiliar people help or make your anxiety levels soar?

NOT coping looks quiet, it looks loud, it even looks like fun and play and can look like obedience, it has many disguises but if you have good observational skills you can spot the signs.

18/04/2025

PROUD TO BE A NARCISSIST 🤣

I recently came across a post by a 'dog professional', calling people who work with dogs empathetically, all narcissists.

I was genuinly quite taken back, not by the name calling( not at me i should add), but actually bad mouthing having empathy, not the methods used etc but EMPATHY!!

EMPATHY " THE ABILITY TO UNDERSTAND AND SHARE THE FEELINGS OF OTHERS

I'm VERY PROUD to be a human being who considers the thoughts and feelings of animals and guardians.
There is nothing that can make me feel bad for seeing things from a dogs point of view.

Mock, name call, bully, do what you need to do to get whatever feeling it is your chasing, that's your journey to go on, but to openly say you don't consider the feelings of the animal your working with.....

I believe in both sides of a relationship being listened too and heard.

It doesn't mean not having boundaries or letting dogs do everything they please, it's about nurturing relationships between 2 species where both sides feel they are getting what they need.

That requires give and take on both sides, that requires EMPATHY and that will never be a dirty word in my book.

17/04/2025

WE ARE CLOSED AS OF 5PM TODAY FOR THE BANK HOLIDAY.

IF YOU HAVE AN EMERGENCY PLEASE EMAIL WITH TITLE URGENT.

HAVE A LOVELY WEEKEND EVERYONE!!

16/04/2025

Working with Food

So firstly, I will work with whatever a dog finds rewarding to reinforce the behaviours we want, but as food is probably the most used reward I want to discuss this.

Guardians or professionals who think that using food is useless and all we do is toss food down, the person making these statements either haven't understood the concept of timing, reinforcement and learning, including memory retention or they don't want too.

I've worked with numerous dogs over 15 years and if a dog doesn't want food, there is a reason.

The situation they are in is too much to deal with, there are health issues, sometimes certain food is uninteresting in some environments and sometimes food has become the precursor to something unpleasant.

If a dog isn't interested in food my job as a Behaviourist and Guardian to my own tribe of dogs is to try and learn why the dog isnt interested.

It gives us valuable information about how our dogs are coping and processing the situation.

I certainly don't turn to punishment in place of it.

People are often keen to stop using food, but why?

I do wonder if often it's because using food requires continued focus and engagement from the human and some humans goal can often be a dog that goes out for walk and requires no effort beyond that ( sorry, harsh but sometimes true)

Mocking the use of food, simply shows a real lack of correct implementation, and understanding.

I would choose food over tools that cause pain or intimidation all day long.

13/04/2025

Enrichment is designed to enhance your dogs life in some way and can come in many forms but we often think of adding an activity into our dogs day to give them " something to do".

However, despite our best intentions, would our dog choose what WE decide they can have or would they prefer something different if given the opportunity.

I was working with a client just yesterday, 2 beautiful dogs both struggling with frustrations.

The dogs were being given things to engage with the issue was, the activities were actually adding to the frustrations.

It was like giving a person with low patience a hard knot to untie, give them only that and they will probably try and undo it but does it benefits them....mmmm not really.

I like to learn about what THE DOG chooses and likes and this is usually achieved through structured sessions.

If we provide our dog with one item, they are likely to engage with it because it's all that was in offer, but would they REALLY chose it, that's what we need to explore.