Victoria Walton Dog Training

10/09/2025

✨ Large breed puppies ✨

This stunning chap is Rex, he’s a German Shepherd x Standard Poodle. And the difference between these photos…? Just 3 weeks! 😳

Puppies grow very quickly and you may not notice it on a day-to-day basis but if you look back at photos you’ll see just how much they’ve grown! 👀

There are a few things to consider when taking on any puppy, but a large breed puppy in particular:

🐶 They tend to take longer to grow than smaller breeds which means being more careful with their joints for longer.

🐶 There is more pressure from society for them to ‘behave’, due to their size. A Dachshund puppy is unlikely to knock over an elderly person when jumping up compared to a bouncy Labrador.

🐶 It’s important to teach good lead walking skills whilst they are still small. That 8kg pup is going to turn into a 30kg+ teenager quicker than you can blink!

🐶 It’s important not to reinforce unwanted behaviours such as jumping up, mouthing or pulling on lead, as these can become not so cute when they are fully grown!

🐶 Larger breeds can be more prone to bloat so rest your pup for a good hour before and after eating.

Puppies are like sponges, set them up for success and teach them desired behaviours and life skills that you want them to carry through to adulthood! 🥰

08/09/2025

✨ Pain management ✨

Pain can be a huge contributing factor when looking at behaviour in dogs. It can present more obviously as reduced mobility, but also as hyperactivity, reactivity 💥

It’s important to have a vet do a thorough investigation to help determine the cause of pain, so an effective and appropriate treatment can be administered 💊

But here are some things you can do to help your dog that may be in pain:

💫 Giving pain medication as prescribed.

💫 Allowing access to multiple areas for your dog to sleep/rest. Ensuring they have choice and can get comfy at all times.

💫 Putting rugs/runners on hard floors. Your dog will be able to move more naturally and steadily if they have traction and are not worried about slipping.

💫 Raising water and food bowls to body height, to prevent stretching or straining.

💫 Using a well fitted harness and longer lead/long line. This allows them to move more freely/naturally and gives them more choice over their movement as they walk/explore.

💫 Have patience. Your dog may not be responding to you for many reasons, but pain could be one of them. Train with patience and kindness.

If you have any sudden changes in behavioural issues, then please contact your vet 🐶

12/06/2025

✨ 5-WEEK PUPPY COURSE ✨

Excited to announce I will be running a 5-week group puppy course in July! 🤩

This class will focus on the following:

🐶 Loose lead walking
🐶 Recall
🐶 Sit
🐶 Leave it
🐶 Stay
🐶 Confidence building
🐶 Focus and Engagement around distraction
🐶 Promoting calmness
🐶 Socialisation

This small class is only open to 5 puppies (aged 3-7 months) and will be held in a secure dog field, so you know your pup will be safe 👍🏼

🗓️Date: Tuesday 22nd July 2025
🕰️Time: 7pm
📍Location: Cathedral View Dog Park, West Fen Road, CB6 2BZ

Please get in touch if you have any questions or would like to get booked in ☺️

17/03/2025

✨ Desensitisation ✨

This gorgeous boy is called Sydney and he is a 5 year old Dachshund. He is a very sweet boy but has mixed feelings about other dogs when out on walks, which comes out as reactivity 💥

As part of his reactivity training, we are desensitising him to other dogs…this means:

🐶 Changing his emotional response to dogs gradually over time
🐶 Exposing him to dogs at a distance where he doesn’t react (staying under threshold)
🐶 Rewarding him for engaging with us around other dogs
🐶 Showing Sydney he can engage in other behaviours around dogs eg sniffing

Reactivity is often seen as barking and lunging, but these are just the symptoms. To help a dog that shows reactive behaviours we must address the root cause through behavioural modification such as desensitisation 👏🏼

If you have a reactive dog and need help, please get in touch 🥰

11/03/2025

✨ Adolescent Dogs ✨

This is Brodie and he is a 16 month old Malinois cross. Brodie struggles with lead frustration towards other dogs. He is extremely friendly but doesn’t deal well with not being able to say hello quickly enough 🤯

This is extremely common, especially in Shepherd breeds his age 🐕

Adolescent dogs have a lot going on in their bodies/brains that can cause them to feel overwhelmed or frustrated. It’s not their fault and quite often it is a phase…but training is needed to prevent it from becoming a habit! 👏🏼

Here are a few things you can do to help your adolescent dogs:

🐶 A good foundation of puppy training
🐶 Calming activities eg. Lick or Snuffle mat
🐶 Decompression walks
🐶 Confidence building exercises
🐶 Breed specific activities eg. Retrieving
🐶 Engagement games
🐶 Desensitisation to triggers

Living with an adolescent dog can be testing and tiresome at times. Just know that over time you will have more good days than bad days ☀️

Brodie has shown an overall improvement the past few sessions and in our session today had a fabulous break through 🥳

If you need help with you dog whether puppy, adolescent or adult, then please get in touch 🥰

03/03/2025

✨ Improving Lead Walking ✨

Whilst there is definitely technique and practice to be had in teaching loose lead walking, what you do in the moment isn’t the only thing that contributes to loose lead walking success!

🐶 Orientation exercises - these encourage engagement and proximity in your dog, meaning they’ll be more likely to stick close and check in when on the lead! 👏🏼

🐶 Meeting breed specific needs - do something fun to give your dog an outlet for their innate desires…for example, playing scent games with your gundog or chase games with your sight hounds! 🎾

🐶 Off-lead time - this may seem like the opposite of lead walking…but if you’re able to reward your dog for engaging with you when they have the choice to be off doing their own thing, then they will be more likely to stick close when on the lead! 🙌🏼

🐶 Calming activities - anything that gets your dog sniffing, licking or chewing. If your dog is feeling more calm in general, they will be less frantic when on the lead. Give lick mats, kongs and long lasting chews such as pizzle sticks or yakkers a go! 🦴

Try to think of loose lead walking as a puzzle and these are all the pieces needed to make the full picture 🧩

If you need help with loose lead walking then please get in touch 🥰

24/02/2025

✨ BRAMBLE ✨

This gorgeous girl is a 5 month old Springer x Cocker Spaniel puppy and has been working her way through my 1-2-1 puppy course 🐶

As my 1-2-1 courses are tailored to the individual dog, I asked her guardians what they thought was important for her to learn to be able to live a happy life with them 🤍

We’ve worked on focus and engagement, lead walking, recall, ‘leave-it’, sit/stay and learning to settle 👍🏼

Bramble has been really responsive to her training and is a super smart girl! 🤩

If you have a puppy and have areas you’d like to work on or don’t know where to begin with training, then please get in touch 🐶

04/02/2025

Always referring my clients to Tan’s Trims! A great groomer who is kind and patient and will always keep your dog looking their best 🐶

Dog Groomers In Littleport Tan’s Trims if you are living in the area and your pooch needs a bit of a spruce up. Tans Trims was recommended by our readers as one of the best groomers in the Ely area !

If you’ve used these groomers post your comments and pictures of your dog from here we will feature the most popular groomers in your area in a future issue of htpps://cambridgeshirespotlight.com.

22/01/2025

✨ PAIN IN DOGS ✨

Pain manifests itself in a wide variety of ways, such as limping or being lethargic…but it can sometimes be more difficult to notice 🧐

A study concluded that up to 82% of dogs that displayed reactivity were experiencing pain. When we think about this, whilst it’s very sad, it isn’t that surprising 😕

When we have a headache or feel unwell, we often become irritable and may snap at our loved ones or have a shorter fuse. It’s the same for our dogs 🐶

Often clients will get in touch to say ‘my dog has suddenly started…’ or ‘their behaviour is completely out of character’. Any sudden behaviour change should first be looked at from a physiological point of view, so we can rule out pain or address it if present 🩻

If there is an underlying health issue, no amount of training will help. We owe it to our dogs and their welfare to prevent and manage pain 💜

Keep your eyes peeled for my next post on effective pain management 🥰

31/12/2024

✨ 2024 ✨

Wow…what a year this has been! Taking the leap of faith and going self-employed was one of the scariest but best decisions I ever made.

I want to thank every single one of my clients for trusting me in helping you with your dogs. It has been a pleasure to watch you all grow and succeed! 🥰

Little old me is so grateful for all the support. Whether you book in with me, like my posts or recommend me to friends/family/other dog guardians you encounter…I appreciate it all 🫶🏼

Here is just a handful of the wonderful dogs I have worked with this year (it was very hard choosing just 20 of you) 🐶

Happy New Year everyone and may 2025 be the best year yet! ✨💕

11/12/2024

✨ NALA ✨

This gorgeous Cockapoo pup, Nala, is working her way through my 5 week 1-2-1 puppy course 😍

Myself and Nala’s guardian discussed the areas they would like to focus on first. Training to be alone, managing puppy biting and learning how to settle in her bed were the main points! 👏🏼

Nala is a smart girl and picks things up very quickly. When training we try to let Nala use her brain and figure things out for herself 🧐

Problem solving is a huge confidence booster, which is really important during a puppy’s development 🐶

I’m looking forward to watching this clever girl progress 🥰

02/12/2024

🎄 Christmas Training 🎄

Christmas time can be challenging for puppies and dogs for a variety of reasons! 🫣

There’s food everywhere, visitors, changes of schedules…it can be a lot to deal with! 🤯

With just over 3 weeks until Christmas, you still have time to help your dogs through this period! 🥳

How about teaching a ‘place’ command so it’s a bit less manic with people coming and going through the front door? ⛔️

What about a ‘leave-it’ command to prevent your dog from eating any toxic food that has fallen on the floor? 🍫

It’s our job to help our dogs be prepared for the situations we put them in ☺️

If you’d like help with squeezing some training in before Christmas then please get in touch 🐶💕