Happy Dog

01/07/2025

If your dog displays anger or aggression if you come close to or try to take away something from their possession it is likely that your dog is a “resource guarder”.

Is this bad behaviour? Should this be punished? 🤔

Well, to answer that question let’s think about ourselves for a second…

What possessions do you guard from others, and how would you react if someone tried to take something of value from you?

How would you react if someone tried to take away…
🍫 a chocolate bar you were just about to tuck into?
🍝 your dinner you were in the middle of?
🚗 your car?
💻 your computer?
🤳 your phone?
💷 your money?

We guard our valuable items with passwords, locks and alarms and are angry and outraged if we suspect someone might try to steal them. We do not give them up without a fight.

So why should dogs be any different?

Understanding your resource guarding dog is key in helping them feel less fearful of their possessions being taken from them. We can then apply this knowledge to build strategies to help them based on trust and less on fear.

If you want help with your dog that resource guards items, food, places or people, or if you have a pup and want to make sure you are doing everything you can to avoid any potential resource guarding issues in the future, then please contact me about your situation and I will be very pleased to help. 😊♥️

22/06/2025

Walking the dog - Yo-yo style!

A common lead walking issue that I’m often asked to help with is, what I call “ Yo-yo walking”. 🦮🪀.

This is typically where the dog pulls on the lead then either comes back in close to their owner of their own accord or when prompted only to pull forward to the end of the lead again and repeats this behavioural chain over the whole walk.
Generally, in this scenario the owner is rewarding the dog with a treat 🎉🍪 when they come back in close, but then is dismayed and frustrated that the dog should almost straight away start to pull forwards again. 😩

So….what is happening here? And how can we fix it? …
…well, let’s think about it from the dogs point of view…dogs will typically repeat an action or behaviour that precedes consistent reward…so what behaviour immediately precedes the treat in the above scenario? …
…The behaviour of ‘coming back’ to the owner. Therefore, this is the behaviour that will be repeated…pull forward, come back, get a treat, pull forward, come back, get a treat, pull forward…see where I’m going with this…. And so the yo-yo has been created!! 🪀

Walking on a loose lead close to the owner is very achievable with the use of positive reinforcement such as treats 🍪, however we must make sure that the reinforcement is given for the actual behaviour we want, in this situation instance walking close on a loose lead.

I created the second image in this post to illustrate the idea that we should be delivering our reinforcement in such a way and at such a rate to ‘keep’ our dog within the loose lead reinforcement zone (The green circle in the image). As your dog realises that treats are delivered as long as they are within the zone, they will stay within that zone; the yo-yo-ing in and out will stop and your rate of reinforcement can be reduced over time. 🤩

This concept along with reinforcement delivery techniques to help your dog stay within the loose lead reinforcement zone as you walk with them is all covered within My Loose Lead Masterclass. Please let me know if you want to find out more about these classes or anything else regarding helping your dog to walk on a loose lead. 🙂📞

I can’t help you perform the “walk the dog” yo-yo trick, 🪀but I can help you walk your dog without yo-yo-ing🦮😆

09/06/2025

🦴🐶 Use your treats wisely🐶🦴

The way we use treats at the various stages of dog training affects how our dogs learn. 🧠

1. Continuous Reinforcement 💯
👉 Reward every time!
Best for teaching new behaviors. Example: If teaching a heel or loose lead, treat your dog as he takes each step beside you.

(You might be surprised how much I treat your dog during our first training sessions 😳…and this is why! Teaching new things requires a continuous reinforcement schedule to maximise learning efficiency.🦴🦴🦴🦴)

Once we have reached a reliable behaviour with continuous reinforcement we are able to move onto either a fixed ratio, variable ratio or variable interval schedule of delivering treats:

2. Fixed Ratio 🔢
👉 Reward after a set number of behaviors.
Example: Treat after every 3 steps you take where your dog walks beside you.

3. Variable Ratio 🎰
👉 Reward after a random number of behaviors.
Example: Treat after 3 steps together with you, then 5, then 2, then 6. Keeps them guessing and engaged—great for long-term reliability!

4. Variable Interval ⏳
👉 Reward after a random amount of time, if the behavior occurs.
Example: reward after 5 seconds, then 10 seconds then 8 seconds then 15 seconds, etc.
Perfect for any behaviours when you want to increase the duration.

🎯 Pro Tip:
Start with continuous reinforcement, then switch to variable schedules to build strong, lasting behaviors!

🐾 Training is science AND art—timing matters!

Want to know how to use positive reinforcement to maximise your dogs learning? Then message for a chat. 😃

04/04/2025

Obedience or cooperation? 🤔

Obedience has always sat uncomfortably with me.

Doing something someone says “just because they said so” or because you fear the consequence of not doing as told or being guilt tripped into “you should do it because you love me”, will never be reason enough for me to do anything someone says I’m afraid.

Is requiring a reason rather than being forced disobedience? 🤷‍♀️

👰‍♀️🤵‍♂️My husband and I omitted the traditional “obey” section of our marriage vows.

🧒🧒My children were brought up without punishment.

🐶🐶My dogs are taught through positive reinforcement.

This does not mean that I don’t get annoyed, frustrated or angry, what it does mean is that I try to pause and rationalise my own emotions so that I am able to live and teach rationally, with understanding, compassion and mutual cooperation.

Of course I’ve got it wrong at times…I’m not super human! 🙈😂

But that is my aim…not to demand obedience but to strive for cooperation.

What’s your thoughts? Obedience or Cooperation? 💭💭💭

25/02/2025

Was talking to a client about how to help dogs chill and relax when out and about. And was reminded of this reel I did a few years ago with my dog Fern who passed away very recently 🥰…
Take the opportunity to take time out from all the rushing around and sit quietly with your dog, developing and rewarding calmness. Relax and watch the world go by together, taking in the sights and sounds (and scents…can you see my dog air scenting) while in the clip?) without any need to react and get involved in anything. Practice the skill of just “being” in the environment. “Observing” rather than “Doing” has its benefits for both you and your dog! 🐾❤️
(If your dog struggles with this try not to force it, instead keep yourself calm, notice and reward any disengagement from distractions and any relaxed body language your dog manages.… Still struggling? Drop me a message and I can help. 🫶🏻)

14/02/2025

Fern ♥️ 💔😢

08/02/2025

⚠️Got a dog reactive dog?

Try…

Replacing…

❌Tight leads
❌Lead jerks
❌Reprimands
❌Commands and demands
❌Leave it’s
❌Stop that’s
❌Being firm
❌Trying to distract

With…

✅Loose leads
✅Reducing tension
✅Promoting, facilitating and rewarding calmness
✅Rewarding choices
✅Rewarding disengagement from triggers
✅Rewarding engagement with yourself

⁉️⁉️⁉️OK….BUT HOW ON EARTH CAN I DO ALL THAT WHEN MY DOG IS GOING BATSH*T CRAZY AT THE END OF THE LEAD!!!!
I hear you shouting at me!…

…Well that’s where I come in…I can teach you the techniques to enable you and your dog to achieve all the ✅ points above to help reduce or eliminate your dog’s reactive emotional outbursts and replace them with calm, clear independent decision making to be able to make good alternative behavioural choices.

I will thoroughly explain, demonstrate, coach and support you through your journey with friendly one to one sessions, written step by step notes and follow ups so that you and your dog can enjoy your walks together with less stress and tension.😊 🐶 🐾🐾🤎🤎

🤎🤎🤎🤎🤎🤎🤎🤎🤎🤎🤎🤎🤎🤎🤎🤎🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾 🐾

09/12/2024

A new bed for an old dog 💤💕

15/06/2024

Yes!! 100%
I don’t have a magic wand and quick fixes are not how you teach effectively.
Helping your dog learn the things you want them to learn can be a slow process but the rewards for you and your dog as you progress will be great. 🌟
Take your time, understand your dog and where they’re at and I can help you get where you want to be with them. 🐶🥰

Here's the secret to getting the most out of working with a dog trainer:

It's all about your mindset and expectations!

Dogs are not robots. I, as a trainer, cannot come into your house, teach your dog some "obedience" skill, and fix all of your problems in an hour.

Dogs are individual beings with emotions, preferences, and past learning histories.

It is all sooo much more than sit and stay. It's about looking at the problematic behaviors from a big picture lens and helping you as the pet parent to help your dog in a comprehensive way.

So, step 1: don't look at your dog's behavior as something that needs to be fixed. Change your mindset so that training involves improving the bond, understanding your dog better, and reducing stress for both of you!

Follow for more tips!

02/05/2024

I’m often asked for dog training tips when I’m out and about when people learn that I’m a dog trainer.

The truth is I would love to give you dog training tips…it’s my absolute favourite subject to talk about! But the reality is to be properly useful to you that “tip” will take about 1 - 2 hours of time. A quick 5 minute conversation where I say “Oh just do x and all your troubles will be over!” really will not be of any help to you.

You wouldn’t expect a doctor to give you a quick tip to treat a medical condition.
You wouldn’t expect a car mechanic to give you a quick tip to solve your cars mechanical problems.
You wouldn’t expect a financial advisor to give you a quick tip to solve your financial problems.

Quick tips don’t solve problems; they don’t tell you what you really need to know and have the potential to make matters worse.

But….book in with me for a dog training session, and I will go above and beyond to give you proper structured advice, with demonstrations and tuition and structured detailed written notes so that you have the very best chance of success. Nothing makes my heart sing more when I pack my client and their dog off after that first session to start their training journey armed with new knowledge and understanding and complete with big smiley faces and waggy tails!! 🥰

So don’t ask for a tip; ask for a training session! You will love it, your dog will love it and so will I! 👍❤️🐶😃

24/04/2024

Reactivity is an emotional issue not an obedience issue. So trying to get a dog to comply with obedience commands when they have a reactive emotional outburst will not address the underlying reason for the reactivity.

Facilitating calmness gives them the opportunity to be able to think instead of immediately reacting. Then we can help them realise they are able to make different behavioural choices rather than the barking lunging etc.

Reactivity happens due to a lack of being able to control a situation (in humans as well as dogs) but if we allow dogs to think for themselves we give them back a little bit of control so they don’t feel like they need to immediately launch into a reaction! 🧠⚙️

When I work with a reactive dog I want to orchestrate situations where the dog is in a mindset to think, to learn and to choose a behaviour based only on the positive outcomes they have achieved by doing so in the past. This mindset can only be created by facilitating relaxation and calmness, without stress, anxiety or tension, where reactive emotional outbursts can be replaced by conscious calm decision making.

In some cases we can facilitate this calm mindset and achieve behavioural change very quickly; much to the fascination and delight of the owners of a particular dog I was working with yesterday evening.
We achieved this within an hour and a half last night, with Bleu, a golden retriever who is prone to reactive emotional outbursts when excited and frustrated by the sight of another dog.

Meeting Bleu and his owners for a 1:1 session, I began straight away to facilitate relaxation by changing Bleu’s lead and lead handling so that he was under much less stress and tension. Then took Bleu through the foundations of focus and engagement where we reward Bleu’s choice to engage with and focus his attention on his humans. We then built on this by rewarding his choices to disengage from something he wanted and to choose to re-engage with his humans again.

Within an hour and a half Bleu was able to maintain a relaxed attitude while seeing another dog, was able to refrain from any emotional outbursts, was able to disengage his focus away from the dog and re-engage his attention and focus back with his humans again all while staying calm and relaxed throughout.

No commands, no reprimands only rewards for his own free choice to focus and engage.

A lovely session with a happy waggy tail from Bleu and happy smiley faces from his owners!!👌⭐️😃
Now let the journey of practice and progress commence! ❤️

04/04/2024

🐾 PAWTENTIAL IMPACTS ON THE COUNTRYSIDE

🪧Signs are going up all over the countryside right now asking that you walk your dogs on a lead in certain places. 🦮

This is because this is the start of a very sensitive time for wildlife and farm animals. And no matter how cute, fluffy, adorable or well behaved our dogs might be, it’s vital that we are aware of and appreciate the predatory nature of our four legged friends. Even if they have no predatory intent, they will be viewed as a predator by birds and other animals. Exposure to a perceived predator can lead to a stress response which may result for example, in lambs being aborted, deer calves becoming lost and dying, nests being abandoned by ground nesting birds, and chicks becoming lost and dying without their mothers protection.

Even if your dog has fantastic recall they could very easily disturb wildlife in the thick undergrowth without you even realising. You do not need to see your dogs chasing wildlife for them to have a detrimental impact.

The scent of an animal that has recently crossed the path that you and your dog are walking on can excite some dogs who may dash off the path into the undergrowth to investigate, which may mean that your dog will find it more difficult to respond to your recall.

Walking your dog on a lead in areas where there is a high chance of coming across livestock, or wildlife is the best way to mitigate against any of the above scenarios.

In the Badenoch and Strathspey area of Scotland where I live many of the woods where people walk their dogs are home to the rare and magnificent capercaillie, a ground nesting bird that is now “red listed”, which gives it the highest level of protection a species can receive due to its declining population. Capercaillie are incredibly sensitive to disturbance from people and their dogs and so if we want to help this species from extinction it really is vital that we make sure that if we are walking dogs in woods and see signs asking us to walk our dogs on the lead we do so.

If anyone else walks your dog for you let them know of your desire to make sure your dogs don’t have detrimental impacts on the countryside and make sure they are being responsible for your dogs and also to the local wildlife.

Let’s make sure the love and care we have for our dogs extends to the wildlife we share our dog walks with and act responsibly so we minimise our pawtential impacts. 🐾🥰