Talking Dogs Scentwork

03/11/2026

My ginger ninja has left the building. Pan’s full name was Pantalaimon. Anybody familiar with the origins of this name will understand the depth of pain when severed from a being so vital to them.

I’ve known Pan from when he was 5 weeks old, one of a litter of kittens born to a teenage mum. Raised by a Woodgreen Pets Charity volunteer in her busy doggy household, head of cat section Juliette knew he’d be the right one for me. So much for my blue girl (what I thought I wanted), I was now mum to a ginger boy.

Strong minded, confident, wild on occasion , he cat trained more dogs than you could shake a stick at. The eye roll I’d get when he sauntered through the cat flap to see yet another new dog was always something to behold.

I’m tempted to say he retired to Scotland, but he remained young and vital until his final months. His Scottish neighbours were soon trained to open their doors when he came knocking, demanding food and cuddles in equal measure.

He spent his last day sunbathing in his fav spot in my garden.

Spending almost 20 years with this beautiful, sociable, opinionated boy has been the privilege of my life.

29/10/2026

Received this gorgeous heart in memory of my little Ella. Such a thoughtful gift from my lovely friend Sue x

24/10/2026

Lots of articles are written about adding dogs to the family. But what happens when you return to being a single dog household? Here's my experience so far.

Lots of articles talk about adding dogs to the family. But what happens when a multi dog household returns to being single dog family?

21/10/2026

I’ve said my final goodbye to little Ella aka The Queen.

She was the best of dogs. She loved everyone, human, canine, feline, equine. A happy girl who adored Cherry Blossom, bringing her back to life the instant she joined our family.

A clever girl she loved scentwork, gundog work, TD Rally and hoopers. She loved to swim and most of all loved to search for creatures (which she rarely found) and to dig holes. Bright and always keen to do her best, she was full of joy.

Our life has been so much better with her in it, and now there is a very big space where this little dog once was 💔

15/10/2026

Maing the decision to say goodbye isn't always as straightforward as knowing that the time is right. How did you negotiate the limbo between one more day v today's the day?

'You'll know when the time is right' is a kind saying but sadly it doesn't always reflect reality.

30/09/2026

It's sneaky.

And it catches people out over and over.
There’s a particular kind of tired that we keep trying to exercise out of dogs.
But what if they're already exhausted?

Would we recognise it?
It can be hearing noises before we do.
“Dogs' hearing is always better than ours.”

She barks at people walking past.
“She's always been a protective girl.”

He's always alert.
“He's a great guard dog for our family.”

But have you noticed anything else?

Bigger emotions attached to the “ordinary”?
Ever noticed that other dogs seem to be a bit more relaxed?
Maybe your friend's dog just snoozes ten minutes after you arrive.
But your dog?

Well, you can't really remember them doing that in a long, long time.
But that's natural, right?

Dogs are all different, aren't they?
“My friend's dog is just a bit lazy.”

So here's a really tricky question to contemplate.
Is your dog “just the way they are”?

Or are they constantly on edge?
Because those two things can look weirdly similar when you've been living with it day in, day out, for months or even years.

It sneaks up.
Creeps along and can start to be explained away because we see it as something else entirely.
And that's why vigilance can be so easy to miss.
It can just look like the dog we've simply come to describe as “alert.”

Alert?

Or constantly on edge?

29/09/2026

Girls’ day out

28/09/2026

If you missed my live webinar on being a customs handler I have great news for you - you can now watch it whenever you want. I’ve made it into an On Demand Webinar 🎉

Click the link in bio to watch it.