The Perfect Puppy Company

28/05/2025

Is it possible to have a quiet, relaxed walk in a park with a "reactive' dog? Yes...if you do it thoughtfully & carefully.

Newly adopted Aslan has big feelings about other dogs. His behaviour suggests he's quite conflicted about them...one the one hand he kinda, sorta wants to interact but on the other he feels overwhelmed and out of his depth when it actually happens.

But we can still have a lovely, calm, relaxed walk by creating the right environment for him -

• making good use of space
• not rushing him
• reinforcing helpful behaviours (calm observation, disengagement, focus on his humans, moving with us, recalling to us)
• using a long lead to allow for more freedom of movement, more sniffing, less restriction and less frustration
• being attentive to the comings & goings around us and planning ahead
• choosing the right park in terms of geography and community. There are parks where I absolutely would not do this but in this park the geography is perfect (wide open spaces with good sight lines) and the dog community are savvy & polite.

Environment affects behaviour for sure but how we 𝘶𝘴𝘦 that environment is also hugely important. If we were in the same park but we stuck to the paths, in closer proximity to other dogs, kept Aslan on a short lead with more tension then we'd get very different results.

If your dog struggles in a given environment think about whether you are using it to it's best advantage. Switch it up & see!

27/05/2025

"𝙄𝙩'𝙨 𝙊𝙆...𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮'𝙧𝙚 𝙛𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙡𝙮!"

What do you do when it goes a bit wrong? Today we were working with newly adopted Torrin on calmness in the presence of other dogs when a very friendly, very bouncy young dog charged into his space and kept coming back for more until she decided that, perhaps, she'd bitten off a wee bit more than she could chew (Torrin isn't aggressive but he is very big & a bit too full on with other dogs).

What did we do?

• stayed calm
• shortened the lead and held onto his harness
• waited for the dog to leave (under other circumstances we may have moved but Torrin is strong and was already over threshold so, on balance, I felt it was better to stay put & minimise movement)
• settled Torrin
• checked that the other dog and their owner were ok

What didn't we do? Start berating the other dog owner. Should their dog have run full pelt at another dog? No. Should they have been able to recall their dog? Ideally, yes. Should their dog have been fully off lead? Probably not.

BUT...we're all human. How many of us can say, hand on heart, that neither we nor our dogs have ever made a mistake. How many of us, if we've not had a reactive dog, can honestly say we've really considered what impact one dog running up to another can have? Also, it's a public park and if we're working 'in the wild' then we have to accept there's a risk that we may be approached by other dogs because that's life, whether we like it or not. I have to accept some responsibility for the situation too...I'm normally pretty good at spotting, and avoiding, potential hazards but this time I totally missed it.

When things go wrong which is a better use of your energy? Becoming angry and berating people for not doing what you think they should? Or trying to make a bad situation better and helping your own dog to rebalance and recover?

If we're trying to teach our dogs that thoughtful responses are better than over reactions then perhaps we need to try modelling that a bit ourselves...?

26/05/2025

𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗺𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗮𝗶𝗹? Often, it's because we ask for too much, too soon.

If your child is still struggling to grasp addition how do you think they will fare with multiplication? If you are learning to drive and are still getting to grips with changing gear do you think you'd cope with being asked to do a three point turn?

And yet we often ask our dogs to things which are beyond their current skill set. If they lose their minds when they see another dog there's no way they're going to be able to recall over any distance. If they are overwhelmed by the world asking them to walk calmly on a loose lead is a non-starter. We are inadvertently setting them up for failure and ourselves up for frustration.

But when we break things down into small, achievable steps, and master the easier steps before moving on to the more challenging ones, we make it so much easier for any learner - human or canine - to succeed.

Pablo gets extremely overwraught when people leave the room or exit through the front door. He barks, throws himself at the gate & grabs at clothing. But by breaking the process of leaving down into small, achievable steps and rewarding him at every stage he's becoming more able to remain calm when someone leaves.

We can create a beautiful, successful cycle of behaviour and reward which develops into strong, reliable behaviours with no frustration for the dog or the human.

If you're struggling to teach something (to any species!) ask yourself whether you might be asking for asking for more than your learner can currently do. And if the answer might be 'yes' try to break it down into smaller steps.

Small steps add up to big journeys.

24/05/2025

The lack of regulation in many pet industries - including training - leaves room for poor practices.

Is your trainer/groomer/daycare one which strives to ensure best practice? One which has invested time and money into their education? One which has voluntarily agreed to be bound by the standards of a professional organisation?

Or not?

The only way to ensure you put your dog in the hands of an educated, dedicated professional is to become an informed consumer.

For training a good place to start is the ABTC register (www.abtc.org.uk)

🔍 Let’s Talk About It… 🐾
There’s an uncomfortable truth in the UK dog grooming industry right now — anyone can call themselves a groomer. No qualifications. No training. No regulation.

And while many groomers work tirelessly to uphold high standards, care deeply for the dogs in our salons, and invest in ongoing education, the lack of regulation leaves room for poor practices — and it’s the dogs who suffer most.

It’s time for change.

It’s time we raise our voices for professional recognition, proper training, and national standards.

Because dog grooming isn’t “just a haircut.” It’s health. It’s wellbeing. It’s trust.

👇 Tell us:
Should professional dog groomers in the UK be regulated and recognised like vets and nurses? Let’s start the conversation.

23/05/2025

𝙃𝙤𝙬 𝙢𝙪𝙘𝙝 𝙙𝙞𝙙 𝙄 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙧𝙪𝙣 𝙩𝙤𝙙𝙖𝙮? Not at all.
𝙃𝙤𝙬 𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙮 𝙬𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙞𝙩 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙗𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙖𝙘𝙠 𝙞𝙩 𝙤𝙛𝙛 & 𝙩𝙚𝙡𝙡 𝙢𝙮𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙛 𝙄'𝙙 𝙙𝙤 𝙞𝙩 𝙩𝙤𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙧𝙤𝙬? Very.
𝙃𝙤𝙬 𝙢𝙤𝙩𝙞𝙫𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙄? Not at all.

But I did it anyway because the key to progress is consistency. It's doing it day in, day out even on the days when you really can't be bothered.

Working through behavioural challenges with your dog can feel the same. There will be days you don't feel like it. Days your motivation is low. Days you just want a break and not to think about it (and the occasional rest day is fine...we all need them, including our dogs). But the teams who see the best results are the teams who show up, consistently, day in, day out, whether they feel like it or not. Your trainer can guide & support you but only you can do it.

Training works, but you have to do it.

21/05/2025

"𝘚𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘺, 𝘯𝘰...𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘱𝘦𝘵 𝘮𝘺 𝘥𝘰𝘨"
"𝘚𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘺, 𝘯𝘰...𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘺 𝘥𝘰𝘨"
"𝘚𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘺, 𝘯𝘰...𝘮𝘺 𝘥𝘰𝘨 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘩𝘪 𝘵𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴"

It's ok to say 'no'. In fact, it's our absolute responsibility to advocate for our dogs if they need us to. And it's not one we should shirk because of social awkwardness or embarrassment.

Things to keep in mind -

• Saying 'No' isn't rude and it's possible to express 'no' kindly & gently
• 'No' is a complete sentence. You don't need to elaborate or explain if you don't want to
• If someone does take umbrage that's a 'them' problem, not a 'you' problem. Shake it off...
• Practice makes perfect. The more you do it the easier it becomes. If it helps, practice a form of words in advance so that you're not left flustered in the moment
• And, if we are told "no" in our turn, then we respect it, we don't take it personally and we move on

When we abdicate our responsibility to step up and advocate for our dog we run the risk that they try to control the situation in a way that makes sense to them - and that's often not the best solution for anyone.

15/05/2025

𝙍𝙞𝙨𝙠. It's been hot here recently (well...hot for Scotland!) so we've been doing less walking and more chilling in the garden. As part of that I give Charlie a frozen bone because (a) he likes it, (b) it cools him down and (c) it gives him an absorbing activity in place of a walk. But some vets would advise against giving a dog a weight bearing bone because it carries risk (broken teeth, splintered shards etc). So why do I choose to give Charlie something which could potentially cause harm?

Risk alone shouldn't be the only thing we consider when determining what we allow or dogs to do, or not do. We also have to weigh up the 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗵𝗼𝗼𝗱 of that risk happening, the 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗰𝘁 if it did and whether there are steps we can take to 𝗺𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗴𝗮𝘁𝗲 the risk.

We can mitigate risks in a number of ways -

• by knowing our dogs and being able to predict their behaviour and their reaction to things around them;
• by teaching our dogs life skills which keep them safe like a strong recall or solid emergency stop;
• by using sensible control & management;
• by educating ourselves about canine behaviour & body language so that we can more accurately read our own dog, and others, and so be better equipped to spot potential problems before they happen

And then once we've assessed the risks we have to weigh all that up against the benefits to the dog of accepting that risk.

We can try to avoid all possible risk for our dogs - never giving them a bone, never allowing them off lead, never allowing them to interact with other dogs (assuming they want to). But at what cost? When we try to avoid all risk are we also depriving them of the enriching, natural behaviours which make up a rich & fulfilled life?

For me, giving Charlie a bone is a risk I'm happy to take. I know my dog and I know he's only interested in the meat & marrow and never chews the actual bone itself so the risk of broken teeth is minimal. The bone is raw so the risks of splintering are minimal. He's not left unsupervised so I could intervene if I had to. And the enrichment and enjoyment he gets out of an occasional bone far outweighs the risk of giving it to him. So for us it's a risk worth taking.

Risk is inherent in life. It's unavoidable for us and for our dogs. Be aware of risks, take steps to mitigate them but always balance them against the benefits and joy taking the risk will bring.

12/05/2025

A human pup is joining Phoebe's family soon and her humans are doing everything they can to make the transition from 'only child' to 'big sister' as easy as possible for her.

Things we can do NOW which will make life easier for Phoebe when the human pup arrives -

• helping her be relaxed and happy alone for brief periods while things are going on elsewhere in the home
• introducing changes in sleeping spots
• reducing FOMO when her humans attention is elsewhere
• introducing new baby equipment in advance
• introducing new predictable patterns of behaviour when exciting things happen like visitors coming to the home

Dogs sometimes struggle when a new baby joins the family because there's just too much change all at once. It's not any one thing...it's lots of little (and not so little) things. By drip feeding as many changes as we can in advance we can make life a lot easier for the dog. And if it's easier for them, it's easier for you!

My book, 𝘿𝙤𝙜𝙨, 𝘽𝙪𝙢𝙥𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝘽𝙖𝙗𝙞𝙚𝙨: 𝙋𝙧𝙚𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙔𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝘿𝙤𝙜 𝙁𝙤𝙧 𝙇𝙞𝙛𝙚 𝙒𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙔𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝘽𝙖𝙗𝙮, can guide you through this. It's available on Amazon now. And I also offer 1:1 consultations tailored to you & your dog both in person in the Glasgow area and remotely UK wide. Just click the links on the image for more information!

Are you, or someone close to you expecting a baby? Do you have concerns about how your dog will cope? Any questions pop them below!

12/05/2025

🐾🎓 Pawsitive Training, Perfect Results! 🌟
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💡 Whether it's basic obedience or behavior transformation, they’re here to help your pup become the best version of themselves!

🌐 Training that builds trust and tails that wag!
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08/05/2025

"𝘏𝘪 𝘈𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘦𝘯,

𝘐 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢 𝘸𝘦𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘶𝘱𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘔𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘺.

𝘠𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘬 𝘖𝘍𝘍 𝘓𝘌𝘈𝘋 (5𝘮 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨). 𝘞𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘢 𝘧𝘦𝘸 𝘥𝘰𝘨𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘢 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘭𝘺 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘰 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘴 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘔𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘺 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘴𝘰 𝘐 𝘳𝘦𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘸 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘢𝘭𝘭. 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 2 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘰𝘺𝘴 𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘩. 𝘔𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘺 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘰𝘥𝘥𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘺𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘴𝘴. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘧𝘦𝘸 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳. 𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘴𝘰 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘦𝘳!"

Miley has not been an easy first dog for her lovely humans. She is not at all motivated by food which makes training trickier, she can become very overexcited and overwhelmed by the world around her and was hyper social with both people & dogs and found disengaging from both very hard indeed. Add to that her considerable size & general bounciness and it was a heady mix!

So getting this lovely update on her progress has really made me smile. Her owners have been exemplary in their dedication to her training, even when things were tough. Miley is still a work in progress (but then who isn't...?) but their hard work is paying off.

During one of our early training sessions I remember Miley's human looking at someone walking past us with their dog off lead and calm by their side and saying to me "how do people do that?". Being able to do that with Miley seemed out of reach to them at that point, and yet, here they are.

Be consistent. Keep going. Trust the process.

07/05/2025

Perhaps the best piece of training advice for reactive dogs? "𝙎𝙡𝙤𝙬 𝘿𝙤𝙬𝙣".

Bertie gets a bit overwhelmed & uncertain around other dogs and then he does lots of noisy Schnauzer barking with a bit of lunging thrown in for good measure. But today he had a lovely walk round a busy park (a new environment for him) with almost no barking or over arousal and we even had a lovely polite up close greeting with another dog...a big breakthrough for Bertie.

How?

✅ By putting in lots of foundational work in easier environments (Bertie's humans have been dedicated to his training and have done the work religiously)
✅ By taking things really gently - moving slowly, plenty of pauses, light lead handling, plenty of space
✅ By giving him lots of time to assess and think
✅ By heavily reinforcing everything we liked, no matter how small
✅ By being patient...we were over half way through our session before we attempted a greeting

If we rush Bertie - by moving too quickly, approaching dogs too soon, not allowing him time to process, moving him on while he's still thinking - we vastly increase the chances he'll make a "wrong" choice. Whereas when we slow down, are patient and take our time he's able to make much, much better choices.

You get nowhere fast by rushing. Remember the story of the tortoise and the hare....going too fast, too soon can backfire on you while consistent, steady progress will get you where you need to be in the end.

05/05/2025

𝘿𝙤𝙣'𝙩 𝙜𝙚𝙩 𝙜𝙧𝙚𝙚𝙙𝙮! A few months ago Bulmastiff, Tubbs, was spooked on a walk and since then he has refused to get into the car. And when your dog weighs over 60kg that's a problem because you can't simply pick him up and put him in.

Today was our first session and we made some really nice progress. He started the session unwilling to take a piece of food in the vicinty of the car and ended it walking up the ramp and into the car. We could perhaps have pushed and asked for a bit more - more duration in the car, starting to shut the boot, turning on the engine etc. But he'd already done a lot better than I expected given his history so we quit while we were ahead. We didn't get greedy.

For now all we need him to be able to do is happily & confidently walk up the ramp, into the car and then come straight back out again. And he gets rewarded for both going in & coming out. We're keeping it light, keeping it easy and not asking for too much, too soon. Because if we do that we risk him losing his trust in us and saying "no". Again.

It's so tempting, especially when your dog is doing well, to ask for just a little bit more...just one more rep, just a little bit longer, just a little bit closer...but in our haste to push on we risk pushing too far.

(NB we haven't ruled out the possibility that Tubbs's refusal to get into the car is rooted in physical discomfort but we're in a catch 22 situation where we can't get him to the vet because he won't get in the car! Once we have made more progress on the car issue we'll re-assess)