The Dog Teacher

15/11/2025

WALTER has a new home 🏠💫

I’ve had a lot of you ask me where Walter is and what’s happened to Walter. I’m so happy to share that Walter has a new home 🌟

I honestly adore Salty Walty (one of the least saltiest of vizslas) and he stayed with me for such a big chunk of time that he just fitted in as part of our family. I loved his vest for life, him making unconventional friendships in , his barking at birds in trees, his wiggly butt, tippy tappy feet and butt scritch groans. For all these reasons I knew he’d be perfect for another family and that they would love him just as much as I do ♥️

It won’t be the last we see of him as we have talked about meeting up for some adventures in the future. I’m sure all of you will wish him the best as he was a much loved member of the group 🧡

11/11/2025

🚨 MUZZLES 🚨

Many clients come to us with challenges they want to overcome but their dog isn’t muzzle trained yet. We cannot safely work on reactivity, aggression, or resource guarding without the safety and confidence that a muzzle provides. Muzzle training must come first.

There are no cons to muzzle training.
If you train it and never need to use it, perfect.
But it is far better to have a dog who is comfortable wearing a muzzle than to be in a situation where a dog is biting people, owners, or other dogs and there is no safety net in place.

Muzzle training is not a long, stressful process. It should be positive, short, frequent and effective.

Last Friday, Vinnie got caught on barbed wire and was hanging by his leg. He was in pain and panicking. When we tried to help, he bit both myself and Alex’s finger - nothing catastrophic but enough to need a muzzle so we could safely move him off the fence. Jessie always has a muzzle with her, so we were able to get it on him quickly and free his leg safely. I would never have predicted that situation, but real life is unpredictable, and pain can impact behaviour.

Whether your dog has behavioural challenges or not, muzzle training should be on every owner’s list. It is a simple piece of preparation that can prevent a crisis and protect everyone involved - including the dog.

What has muzzle training done for you and your dog?

09/10/2025

🎃 The Confidence Club – Spooky Special 🎃

📍 Duloch Community Woodland, Dunfermline
📅 Saturday 1st November
⏰ 9:30am
💰 £15

A Halloween-themed session designed to help your dog practise calm, controlled passing of people and other dogs in real life situations. We’ll also add a spooky twist with some fun novelty items to keep things varied and confidence-building.

👉 All dogs and owners welcome
👉 Focus: steady, controlled passing in closer spaces
👉 Some dogs off lead, on, muzzled, etc.

Fancy dress for both dogs and owners is very welcome! 🐾👻 There may be a special prize!

Booking prior is essential, this is one of our most popular and sought-after sessions, and spaces always go quickly!

We’ll finish with complimentary tea & coffee ☕, and you’re welcome to bring along some sweet treats to share. 🍰

Comment CONFIDENCE and I’ll send you info on how to book 🎃

05/10/2025

Scentwork Superstars 🐽

Raven 🖤
This girl is an absolute powerhouse just now. Last Sunday she won her Level 2 and today she won her Level 1 earning her Excellence rosette. I’m so proud of us as a team, she’s steady and rarely misses a beat 🌟

Vinnie 🧡
I go into competitions having all the best intentions “I just want us to pass”, when we went into our first Level 4 competition today and PASSED - I still didn’t seem to be content with that. Which now that I’ve thought about it, it is BS because this wee ginger sass pot literally started competing and failed his Level 1 at the end of February. And this is how much progress we’ve made in 8 months, he’s had 1st, 2nd, 4th places as well as Excellence at Level 2 and now passing Level 4 all within a short space of time. So he absolutely is a superstar ⭐

Such a great day competing at brilliant and well-organised trials with and alongside the company of such a supportive and fun community 🥰

08/09/2025

This picture? A bonus.
Not the goal, not the expectation.

✨ The goal when adding a new dog to my home was harmonious coexistence:
• Walks together without conflict
• Eating side by side without tension
• Moving around the house calmly
• Resting near each other in peace

That doesn’t “just happen.” It’s the result of a year of careful work with Vinnie, mindful introductions, and choosing the right match for him in Raven.

The cuddles? They’re the cherry on top.
The real success is all the other bits: walks, hiking, passing by each other, eating together, sleeping in crates side by side, sharing space, sharing my time, etc.

👉 As a society we need to shift our mindset of what being dog “siblings” is mean to look like. Do your dogs live in conflict?

If so, we can help! Reply “CONFLICT” if you’d like more information.

02/09/2025

29/07/2025

We were deer stalking in the hills yesterday, we had the job of “Look Out” whilst they stalked into the deer. Raven look the opportunity to scratch and make a bed out the heather - it was just too cute not to share 🥺🤎

She’s obviously learned that this working dog life means she must work efficiently and use any moment of pause as a rest 😴