Focus Dog Training

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Focus Dog Training

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Focus Dog Training offers an unrivalled choice of puppy & dog training options.

We are passionate about using modern, reward-based methods to help you and your dog. Book a free consultation https://calendly.com/focusdogtrainingleeds/initial-consultation

31/10/2026

Stop ‘walking’ your spicy dog.

If you have a dog who barks and lunges at other dogs, pulls like a steam train, or turns their ears off mid walk, going for a traditional ‘walk’ is likely holding you back from making progress with training.

I’m not telling you to stop exercising your dog, but I want you to think differently about what that exercise looks like.

Marching on a short lead from A-B and back again is very different to what our dogs actually need to succeed in training.

Instead of going for a ‘walk’ go somewhere where you can play games with your dog, or where your dog can move freely either on a long line or off lead, follow their nose, do the things they were bred to do, and enjoy being outside. Then, go out and work on training in a place where you know they can succeed.

29/10/2026

Absolutely over the moon with this lovely review from Moth's family. He's recovered so well from being bitten by another dog in the Summer and it's been lovely seeing his little wiggly personality shining through again!

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
I am so happy I found Lauren. She is a cut above any other trainer I haved worked with. She really knows about dogs and takes time to sit down with you and learn about your challenges.
I have learnt so much about my dog's behaviour. My sighthound was unfortunately attacked and really lost his confidence. With the help of Lauren, my pup is slowly returning to his happy sociable self. Lauren has been there to support me every step of the way, she has helped me to be a calmer and more confident owner - I particularly like that you can do the training sessions in person together, practising for all the eventualities of real life. Thank you so much Lauren - I'm excited for the next step of group walks 🥰

27/10/2026

An unexpected explanation for your dogs behaviour change...

The change in seasons!
It’s easy to forget that the dogs feel the change in seasons as much, if not more so, than we do.

As we move into autumn, lots of things change that can influence how your dog behaves.

Wildlife
Foxes, squirrels, hedgehogs and all sorts of interesting furry creatures become more active, leaving lots of interesting smells for your dog to follow or tempting them to chase them through the trees.

This increase in activity and change in scent can be overstimulating and distracting.

Your dog might find it harder to focus, be more easily distracted or struggle to listen to you

Weather
Strong wind and heavy rain impacts how your dogs see, hear, and smell the world. This can be super overstimulating.

Changes in temperature can also impact your dogs physical comfort, particularly for older dogs and dogs with muscular skeletal conditions.

The wind and rain can also disturb their sleep if they can hear it at home.

Darkness
Although dogs can see better than we do in low light, things still look different to them.

Familiar objects might look different which can be unsettling.

The shorter days often means to our dogs having shorter walks or less off lead time.

Changes to their exercise routine can lead to a whole host of behaviour changes related to boredom or frustration.

25/10/2026

If you’re feeling overwhelmed with your dogs behaviour I have some questions for you.

When did you last spend time doing something for yourself that didn’t involve your dog?

How much time have you spent ruminating on what you could or should have done differently?

Have all of those hours spent googling solutions helped or hindered?

What’s holding you back from reaching out for help?

I'm not asking these questions to call you out, but to get you thinking! Sometimes the things we do when we feel stuck are the things that are keeping us stuck.

If you don't know where to start, get in touch to book a free, no obligation call with us

21/10/2026

De-spooking spooky season!

Halloween can be a confusing time for our dogs, people in strange costumes, spooky decorations hanging from the neighbours house, and little ghosts and goblins knocking on the door.

So how can we help them?

🎃Trick or Treaters
Costumes can be confusing for dogs and may spook them.

The safest thing to do is keep your dog away from the door. Pop them behind a baby gate or a closed door before you answer the door.

If your struggles with people knocking at the door but you still want to get involved, you can put a table of treats at the end of your drive to discourage people walking up the path

👻Spooky Decorations
If you can, walk your dog before it gets dark around Halloween, especially if they’re easily spooked.

If your dog does get scared, allow them to move away from the scary thing.

If they want to explore the thing that spooked them, let them do so at their own pace. Don’t force them or try to lure them with food

🎃Fireworks
Lots of dogs struggle with fireworks each year. Once fireworks have begun your best bet is managing exposure until firework season is over. Then start your training in spring.

Walk your dogs before dark, use sound masking at home to cover the sound of fireworks at home.

Speak to your vet about a pain check and pharmaceutical support if they’re really scared.
(check our fireworks survival guide for more help)

👻Feed the spook
You can start to change how your dog feels about potentially scary things by pairing them with food rewards.

When your dog spots or hears the potentially spooky thing, pair it with something they love!

19/10/2026

You got home from work, put some classical music on, made your dog's crate nice and cosy, but they still panicked when the fireworks started...

Maybe you’d been playing firework sounds for weeks in preparation. So why is your dog still panicking?

Because the sound of fireworks is just one piece of the puzzle.

Our firework survival guide helps you see the whole picture, so that you can successfully reduce the stress of firework season and help dogs overcome their fears.

Comment ‘Firework’ below and I’ll send you the link

14/10/2026

To the dog guardians who are finding that life with a dog is different to what they imagined...

We’re sold an image of the ‘perfect pet dog’ which doesn’t actually align with who dogs are as a species, and as a result, the reality of living with dogs often doesn’t match up with the image we had in our heads.

Does this mean it always has to be difficult? Absolutely not!
What it does mean is that we often need to spend time learning about what our dogs actually need, and adjusting our expectations to suit that.

If this is something you’re struggling to navigate, reach out to find out how I can help!

12/10/2026

In the spirit of spooky season, here's some of the scariest puppy training advice I've heard.

😱Just let them cry it out
Puppies need to learn to feel safe and secure, leaving them to 'cry it out' doesn't teach them to feel comfortable being left, it just teaches them no ones coming to help them.

😱Take their food away and touch them when they're eating
We hear this all the time as advice to allegedly prevent resource guarding. In reality, this is more likely to create resource guarding.

😱Push down on their teeth when they bite
This is just awful and completely unnecessary. Using physical punishment of any form is a sure fire way to damage your relationship with your puppy

😱Don't take them out until they're fully vaccinated
Of course we need to be careful with our puppies when they're not vaccinated. However, not taking them out at all until they've had all their vaccinations seriously limits socialisation opportunities and risks behaviour problems developing as they grow.

If you need help navigating the nonsense and finding puppy training advice that will actually help, drop us a message to find out how we can help

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https://www.focusdogtraining.online/

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