Puppy Plus

03/06/2026

This is Elsie. She is a lovely little Shih Tzu rescue who came to me for a Behavioural Consultation last November after being adopted from Dogs Trust by her guardian. She was thought to be around 18 months old at the time, although we suspect she may actually have been a little younger.

Elsie was very worried about other dogs and would lunge and bark at them in order to create space and encourage them to move away. We often refer to these as distance increasing behaviours, because the dog is attempting to make the situation feel safer for themselves.

Our initial focus was on reducing some of the stressors within Elsie’s environment, helping lower her overall stress levels, and arranging a veterinary check to ensure there were no underlying medical factors contributing to her behaviour.

From there, we gradually began working on increasing her comfort around other dogs in a way that felt safe and manageable for her. Initially a lot of the work involved barriers and fence lines, allowing Elsie to observe and process other dogs without feeling overwhelmed. Her guardian has worked incredibly hard outside of the sessions too, practising his lead handling and training consistently in a range of different environments and progressing everything at Elsie’s pace.

Recently Elsie spent some off lead time in the paddock with Prue, and then came into the barn with her to do some exploring and snuffling in the snuffle mats together. It was a lovely moment.

When I first met Elsie at the end of last year, this would have felt almost impossible for her.

01/06/2026

These beautiful dogs are Czechoslovakian Wolfdogs.

I met one of these dogs recently for a Behavioural Consult. Ragnar was finding daily life quite difficult due to high levels of environmental sensitivity and anxiety both around unfamiliar people and dogs, both in the home, and out on walks.

He is extremely aware of movement, sound, changes within the environment, and the proximity of people around him, and much of his behaviour appears to be connected to a need for safety and predictability within environments he finds overwhelming.

Dogs who are highly environmentally sensitive are often constantly processing information around them, which can leave them struggling to fully relax. Sounds, movement, unfamiliar people, changes in routine, visual triggers, and busy environments can all contribute to dogs remaining in a heightened state of arousal for long periods of time.

In breeds such as Czechoslovakian Wolfdogs, some level of suspicion around novelty and environmental awareness can also be quite typical, which is why understanding breed tendencies is so important when supporting any dogs.

Behaviour change for dogs like this is not about obedience. It is usually about reducing stress, increasing predictability, and creating emotional safety.

Don't get me wrong - we will be training, but it will be in relation to setting up scenarios which teach Ragnar that the outside world is safe. Luckily I have access to some amazing stooge dogs (namely Prue) that can help to build stable behaviour around other dogs also.

Ragnar's guardian sent me this feedback after her visit to the training barn;

'I just wanted to say huge thank you for yesterday, Ragnar was the most relaxed he has been in an unfamiliar situation, bless him, he was so tired on his way home, he actually fell asleep!

I have just seen your email, and look forward to reading it and moving forward on this journey with my boy..

Thank you again so much, we came away with smiles a light heart, and no tears 😊'

I'm looking forward to meeting up with Ragnar again this month to move forwards with his progress x

28/05/2026

My little super star x
If you are interested in therapy dog work with your dog, just get in touch to find out more ❤️

Congratulations to Emma Stoker who is one of our Trusted Trainers at Puppy Plus and the lovely Doris who smashed their Therapy Dog Training UK Assessments yesterday

You will both make a great visiting therapy team!

Thankyou Train Your Dog- Kerry Attwood for doing the Assessments.

28/05/2026

Dogs are incredibly observant of us. Our movement, body position, lead handling, breathing, pace, tension, verbal cues, and even where we look can all influence the way a dog works within a search area.

Sometimes handlers inadvertently slow down near a hide location, hold their breath, tighten the lead, repeat cues, or unintentionally direct dogs towards source. This is how dogs begin learning patterns within training and start relying more heavily on handler behaviour than independently working odour.

This is one of the reasons good scentwork instructors spend so much time observing handlers as well as their dogs.

The goal is not simply for the dog to find the odour, but for the dog to confidently work odour independently and communicate clearly to the handler when they reach source.

Handlers don't often realise just how much information they are giving away without intending to.

Learning to stay neutral, allowing dogs space to problem solve, resisting the urge to overhelp, and trusting the dog more within searches can sometimes be one of the hardest parts of scentwork training for people!

A photo of Moxie, one of our less experienced dogs, working an odour hidden in an Easter Egg on the desk. Moxie's handler is standing back giving Moxie the space and time to work the odour to source. This photo was taken at Glansevern Gardens. On our Easter Egg hunt. Because why not?

25/05/2026

One of the questions people often ask when they begin scentwork is why we use particular odours and how dogs learn to recognise them.

Dogs are not naturally searching for Clove, Gunoil or any of the other target odours we may choose within training. What they learn is that a specific odour predicts reinforcement and that locating source has value.

Over time, dogs build a clear association with that odour picture through repetition and carefully structured training.

It is incredible watching dogs learn to separate target odour from the huge amount of environmental information around them. Every environment contains layers of scent, including people, food, animals, cleaning products, outdoor contamination, residual odour, and airflow, and within all of that dogs gradually learn that one particular odour is important.

This is one of the reasons we introduce distraction odours early within training, so dogs begin developing discrimination skills rather than simply searching in very clean and predictable environments.

As training progresses, searches become more complex and dogs learn to work around contamination, inaccessible hides, novel environments, high hides, outdoor conditions, and increasingly difficult odour pictures.

This is Molly, a border collie sourcing a Gunoil hide on my husbands mini digger, which is covered in grease, other oils, mud and goodness knows what else.

Isn't she incredible?

24/05/2026

Physiotherapy Sessions available with Amy Jones Veterinary Physiotherapy on Tuesday 2nd June.

My usual spot is available as I’m away at a trial, and we’ve had a cancellation session also. So slots at 11am and 12pm available.

Book here; https://puppyplus.as.me/physio

I get my dogs checked over by Amy regularly. It’s super easy to assume that our dogs are doing ok, when in fact injuries and changes are happening regularly x

How early we spot these injuries / changes, put in exercises to help, or seek further investigation from the veterinary profession, can really improve our dog’s welfare.

And they are worth that xx

22/05/2026

One of the things that can initially feel quite confusing within scentwork is understanding contamination, residual odour, and what people sometimes refer to as “corporate odour.”

People often imagine odour as being very neat and contained, but odour moves, settles, clings to surfaces, and gradually changes within an environment over time.

Training equipment also absorbs scent.

Tins, soaks, cloth, containers, gloves, vehicles, search areas, and even storage boxes can all begin carrying residual odour after repeated exposure. A blank piece of material stored alongside scented hides may eventually carry enough residual scent for a dog to show interest in it, despite it not intentionally containing target odour.

Search areas themselves can also develop an overall odour picture through repeated use, particularly within indoor environments.

This is where understanding contamination and corporate odour becomes important, because dogs are constantly working far more information than we are aware of.

Dogs may investigate pooling odour.
They may work inaccessible source.
They may respond to residual odour left behind from previous hides.
They may show interest in an area because airflow has carried odour away from source.

It's easy to assume a dog is 'wrong' when actually the dog is detecting odour we do not fully understand ourselves.

I think this is one of the reasons scentwork teaches handlers to become more observant and thoughtful. Rather than simply focusing on whether the dog gives a final indication at source, handlers begin looking at the whole search. Breathing changes, movement patterns, commitment to odour, changes in speed, head turns, lingering in an area, frustration, re-engagement, and how the dog works the environment all start giving us information.

Good scentwork training is not simply about hiding odour and waiting for a dog to find it.

It involves understanding how odour behaves, how environments influence scent movement, and how individual dogs process the information available to them.

That is why it is so fascinating. And a little bit addictive.

Helena and the rather handsome Mr Storm, working an odour placed higher up on the stands at Ludlow Race Course a few weeks back.

20/05/2026

Working line v non working line dogs in Scentwork

One of the things I find really interesting within scentwork is the difference people often see between working line dogs v non working line dogs.

Working line dogs may often bring higher levels of intensity, stamina, persistence, and environmental confidence into searches, particularly if they have been bred for generations to work cooperatively with people and to maintain motivation over longer periods of time.

However, those same traits can also create challenges within training.

Some working line dogs struggle with over arousal, frustration, impulsivity, vocalisation, or rushing searches, particularly in the early stages when they are still learning how to work methodically and thoughtfully. They may work at such speed that handlers initially miss a great deal of body language and odour change because everything happens so quickly.

Non working line, pet dogs, on the other hand, often work at a steadier pace and can sometimes show incredibly thoughtful searching patterns, particularly when training has been allowed to develop gradually without too much pressure or expectation.

These dogs also bring softer body language and slower movement into searches, which can actually make it easier for handlers to learn how to observe changes in behaviour around source.

Scentwork really is for 'every dog'.

A picture of Alys with a rather squashed pineapple, which she wants me to hide. So she can go and look for it again, and again, and again...

19/05/2026

This was written by the fabulous Claire Brown of North K9 Training. Claire is visiting us in September this year to offer her Accept and Respect 2 day Course.
You can book online from our website;
www.puppyplus.co.uk

18/05/2026

The anacronym EMIST - helps us to remember all the important components of teaching scentwork.

Environmental Suitability - Building our dog's confidence in a range of environments before we introduce odour. This is an important part of socialisation - when you have a puppy you are hoping to introduce to scent detection training. Many people use scent work to build confidence in new areas, when the dog is actively searching for odour - this can help overcome all sorts of environmental challenges, but we need to be careful that we are not pairing odour with feeling fearful. This is why introducing the basics well matters x

Motivation - Searching for food or toys - building motivation to find 'something' is hugely important in our pet scent dogs. Alys was crazy about searching for kong long before I taught her to search and formally indicate on her target odour. Sula preferred searching for food, or a clam food ball. It doesn't matter what we use, we just need to make sure it's of value to our dogs.

Indication - This is a taught behaviour which allows our dogs to communicate to us that they have found odour. This may look like a dog in a standing freeze position with their nose almost touching the odour, another dog may withdraw from odour and sit starring at the odour, another dog may sit and look at their handler. At Puppy Plus we teach an indication that suits that dog and handler, using a method that suits them also. That's the value in having trainers that are experienced training a range of different breeds of different temperaments.

Search - Search experience teaches the dogs how to work that particular odour, problem solve, manage frustration, navigate environments, and remain engaged even when searches become more complex. Then there the search systems needed to clear areas successfully too! There's so much more to becoming a competent search team than just letting the dog 'sniff'.

Target Odour - Different odours behave differently. There is lots of discussion around when we should be introducing target odour. I don't believe there is a single method that suits every dog. With Alys she searched for Kong for a long time before I introduced her target odour of gunoil. Kong is easy to transport, and handle, and it's easy to set up searches out and about using kong. For Sula, and with out clients, we generally introduce Clove first, as it's easier to handle than Gunoil, and is great for building confidence in both the dogs and their handlers, especially in they are teams who are completely new to scentwork. Then we introduce Gunoil later. These teams may also be building search motivation alongside teaching an indication, using food or other toys.

Our philosophy is basically that you can never know too much about teaching scent detection, and that flexibility in approach is key. We believe that each team is individual, and that there is no 'one size method' that suits all.

Working with my very high drive working bred lab, was very different to working with my Showbred Chocolate Lab, getting the best out of both has been a learning curve I have thoroughly enjoyed.

A photo of Miss Impey sourcing a hide on a children's climbing frame. Impey is a sensitive Welsh Sheepdog, who is very much enjoying her scentwork journey with us.