Tarka Dog Training and Behaviour

12/06/2026

Great treat option for any dogs with a chicken allergy!

A LOT of treats and foods contain chicken fat even if they are marketed as a different protein so read label!
Anyone else struggling to manage/identify allergens?

It can be a real nightmare and inflammation in the body, itching and gut discomfort can have an impact on your dogs arousal levels, tolerance and impact behaviour issues.

Anyone with hayfever or IBS/IBD will empathise with the grumpy dog struggling with these things.

Always see your Vet if you suspect environmental or food allergies 🐾

11/06/2026

North Devon 😍🐕‍🦺〰️🏃🏻‍♀️

10/06/2026

New Blog post!

Many dog owners have been told that certain behaviours are "just instinct" while others are "learned." You may have heard things like: "He's chasing because he's a terrier." "She's barking because she learned it works." "You can't train that out

10/06/2026

Elsa has landed on her feet with her new home 🥰
Tuesdays are training walk days and what dog trainer doesn’t want take a Mali out for training? Absolutely adore this girl. My first two visits I got shouted at a lot! Now she sits at the door and waits to be released to me to say hi 👋 She’s settled in beautifully and after her walks she gets very excited to go home and see mum, return zoomies!

09/06/2026

All my professional memberships are up to date 🙌

To gain these certifications I completed the Karen Pryor Academy Dog Trainer Professional course in 2022. A 9 month long practical training and coaching course with assessments and a final exam to demonstrate the training of fluent behaviours with my Partner dog.

Additionally I had to complete some assignments for ABTC to ensure I understood dog law.

To maintain these certifications I have to complete and submit evidence of CPD every year. This ensures practitioners are up to date with the science and best practice.

Not long before my BSc Canine Behaviour Management results are back. 👩🏻‍🎓

08/06/2026

https://www.tarkadogtraining.co.uk/qualifications-and-experience

Dog Training and Behaviour is unregulated!

Check for qualifications, experience, certifications and methods before hiring a pet professional to help or care for your pet 🐾

I can confidently say I have both experience and formal qualifications and certifications 🙂

I’m absolutely committed to helping people troubleshoot their pets behaviour and training with zero judgement.
I’m a busy mum too, so I get that training the dog has to realistically fit into work and family life.

Qualifications BSc (hons) Canine Behaviour Management (2026)2 year level 6 science degree with the University Center Bishop Burton College.Karen Pryor Academy Dog Trainer Professional course (2023)9 month in person practical dog training course with exams. Also recognized with the ABTC. Master Cours...

07/06/2026

Teaching Jess to work for toy rewards, can she respond to cues when she’s super aroused about the toy?
And can she pause in position until she hears the ‘get it’ marker. We’re working on it previously starting at items gets them thrown for her. Chucking them at people and she was so focused on the fetch she couldn’t respond to a cue! It’s a powerful reward and motivator for Jess so it’s been worth working on the rules and mechanics of toy rewards 🙌

07/06/2026

I’m enjoying having a toy driven dog 🙂
Most of my experience has been with foodies, treat pouch and marker mechanics are different to toy reward mechanics.

Training is a mechanical skill. Timing reward, not overlapping your reward with your marker, clear cues, treat placement or toy placement, lead handling etc it really makes a difference to have clean mechanics. Some dogs or species are more forgiving than others with this.

Jess is challenging me to develop a new skill and it’s good to learn new things, it’s clumsy. But I’m practicing toy cues/markers like ‘out’ ‘tug’ ‘win’ ‘get it’

If it’s really clear to her what got rewarded, what the reward will be and how she will access that reward learning will be less frustrating and more fun and we can build engagement, motivation and new reliable behaviours.

Is your dog a foodie or do they prefer tug/fetch?