Briar Dunn Dog Training

28/05/2026

And well done to Storm and Bertie from our Thursday beginner's class for passing their Good Citizen Dog Scheme Bronze Award also tonight! 🎉🌟🙌

As a show dog, Storm can now enter the Good Citizen class at his breed shows!

28/05/2026

Well done to Friday mixed ability class dogs Sissi, Sully, Maggie, and my Ocean joining along- who passed their Royal Kennel Club Good Citizen Dog Scheme Bronze Award tonight! 🎉🌟🙌 All of these puppies have trained with us since puppy courses!

(Sully was too tired from all his hard work to sit up at this point 😂)

27/05/2026

Ocean is now 16 weeks old and today we introduced him to wearing dog booties! 🧦 He looks adorable in them, but it's all for a purpose!

There's lots of reasons why a dog, particularly a future working dog like Ocean, may need to wear boots, including:
🧦To prevent injury on hot tarmac, ice, sharp glass or sharp rocks if this is unavoidable
🧦Prevent grit or ice getting between toes that may not be able to be washed off quickly
🧦For extra grip on slippy surfaces (such as some indoor flooring)
🧦 As protection and cleanliness following injury, such as a cut or friction burn to a paw pad
🧦To help prevent claws wearing down past the quick (which can happen with some dogs that do a lot of pavement walking and have naturally softer nails)
🧦For hygiene reasons (In the UK, I have known a hospital insist assistance dogs wear foot coverings in certain areas for hygiene purposes)

My previous assistance dog was boot trained from a puppy, and being a city dog back then, it definitely helped keep him safe on numerous occasions!

Most dogs walk ridiculous when they first have booties put on, but with some positive reinforcement and training in short sessions, most dogs get used to them and start to walk normal! You can even start off training using baby socks or trainer socks to get your dog used to the sensation of something soft and light on their paws.

Ocean is wearing Protector booties in large.



Reel ID: a golden retriever puppy wearing black shoes enthusiastically does a down, sit, 3 spins to the right, and a down.

24/05/2026

⚠️ Couple of big announcements! ⚠️

1. I've made the decision that moving forward, for new 1:1 training and behaviour clients, I will be moving to focus on only working with dog owners who are disabled, living with chronic illnesses, mobility difficulties and/or who are neurodivergent, as this is where my specialism lies, and the sheer number of enquiries I get from people who fit within these groups, struggling to find appropriate training elsewhere, says everything about where I need to focus my work.

This will only be for new clients, any existing or prior 1:1 clients can continue as usual.

2. We've been getting lots of enquiries these past few weeks that I'm gradually making my way through (thank you for your patience!), but this is just a public announcement that currently my next earliest availability for new 1:1 training and behaviour clients (in-person or Zoom) is late AUGUST/SEPTEMBER!

Existing clients on my waiting list will get priority, followed by working my way through a new interest list I'm setting up- so if you're interested in training with us, please complete the form below and I will get back to you when space becomes available:

💻 https://forms.gle/9SCF15pXcS5TdNMCA 💻

3. Our final classes at The Canine Academy, before the venue closes down, are now available to book online- all are welcome!

💻 https://BriarDunnDogTraining.as.me/ 💻

4. I will be taking a "sabbatical" from training in the summer to concentrate on finishing my degree, and will not be running training classes, or taking on new clients, during this time.

For Friday classes, this will be from 28th June
For Thursday classes, this will be from the 24th July until 17th August

(Classes will hopefully recommense in September once we
find a new training venue 🙏)

For 1:1s, this will be from 13th July until 17th August

12/05/2026

If you're a dog owner with ME, you're not alone- I'm a professional dog trainer living it too. 💜

It's something I haven't spoken about publicly, but I was diagnosed with moderate-severe ME last October following 10 months of deterioration following a series of infections, and it's had a huge impact on my life (including my decision to downscale the business last year). I was already disabled before ME and living with multiple life long conditions, but ME really put the nail in the coffin so to speak health wise! To the point that I'm now too unwell to go on the inpatient rehabilitation program I'd been waiting a few years for, for one of my other major conditions. Most people wouldn't even realise you can be too unwell to go to hospital!

Unfortunately there's no cure or treatment, and doctors have been honest that prognosis for recovery is very unlikely for me. It's about "accepting" life will be different and trying to manage day to day, which can be extra challenging when combined with also dealing with my other health conditions. On my worst days I'm bed bound, can't move or sit up unassisted and unable to speak coherent sentences. Through self-management of symptoms by pacing and completely changing my life around, aids like my electric wheelchair, PAs, carers, friends doing unpaid care, I'm able to spend as much of the functioning time I have doing what I love -training dogs and doing a bit of work, helping others train their dogs. ♥️

Is owning dogs harder when you have ME? Absolutely yes. But I wouldn't be me without my dogs around me keeping me going.

Today (12th May) is ME Awareness Day.

ME (Myalgic Encephalomyelitis) also known as CFS (Chronic Fatigue Syndrome) is a complex, multi-system disease involving the brain, muscle, immune and neuroendocrine (hormone) systems.

ME/CFS has 4 key symptoms required for diagnosis; one of these being Post-Exertional Malaise (PEM), which is a delayed and significant exacerbation of symptoms that follows physical and cognitive (mental) activity. Other symptoms include cognitive issues such as brain fog, profound fatigue, unrefreshing sleep & disturbance, chronic pain, headaches, muscle aches, dizziness, temperature dysregulation, muscle aches, and sensitivity to stimuli (such as light, sound, and touch).

ME/CFS affects over 400,000 people in the UK, 25% of which are severely or very severely affected, the latter group requiring 24/7 care as their condition leaves them incapacitated, and unable to even carry out simple tasks of daily living (washing, brushing teeth etc). The 2021 NICE Guideline (1.17.2) states healthcare professionals should recognise that symptoms of severe or very severe ME/CFS may mean that people are unable to eat and digest food easily and may need support with hydration and nutrition.

Research suggests the prevalence of ME/CFS has increased by 62% since the pandemic, yet this disease is still so often misunderstood. The ME Association continues to work hard to change this - through spreading awareness, campaigning, supporting the ME/CFS community and funding research. You are not alone - and we'll continue to work tirelessly to bring about positive change.

Please share this post, to help raise awareness.

If you wish to donate to the MEA, you can do so here: : https://meassociation.org.uk/donate/

12/05/2026

Hearing assistance dog in training Bryson was exhausted after his hard work training practising his sound alerts at a shopping outlet! 🥹🦻

Even though he'll never hear his actual doorbell or home fire alarm in public, we still train these away from home. It's an important part of the training process to help generalise the task so he can help his mum wherever they may be when we introduce sound alerts such as a phone ringing or public fire alarm!

12/05/2026

Assistance dog task training doesn't happen overnight! ⏰

It takes strong foundations, built up over months and even years, to create a solid task that an assistance dog can perform in any environment, on the first cue, without reliance on food.

And at the route of that foundation is fun and play!

If Ocean doesn't enjoy playing tuggy and retrieving small items in a variety of environments, how can I expect him one day to retrieve my wheelchair like Bramble did?

Task training for many tasks can start early- but it's all about fun foundations, not expecting puppies to actively work for their handler performing a task. This is where many handlers go wrong, expecting their puppies to actively aid them too soon, rather than viewing it as training without any pressure.

Want to learn more about raising a future assistance dog? Join up to our online puppy diary membership, following raising a future assistance dog! https://www.briardunndogtraining.co.uk/member-site-homepage-1-2-1

10/05/2026

Interested in joining our Raising Ocean membership, but wondering what we cover in the first 4 weeks?

👀 Here's your sneak peak!

From first introductions to household dogs, to first walks and early foundations for future assistance dog training, follow Ocean and Briar, a disabled professional dog trainer, in real time in his first month home with easy training exercises to follow with your own dog.

PLUS fortnightly live Q&As, where you can ask questions about Ocean, puppy raising and your own puppy dilemas, and the chance to help shape what areas of training you want to see videos on!

Month two's videos going online starting next week!

💻 Join now at https://www.briardunndogtraining.co.uk/member-site-homepage-1-2-1

08/05/2026

I don't start training impulse control early for the sake of strict obedience, but for functionality and as a life skills! And rewarding it doesn't need to be boring!

A minute stay backing away and stood still staring at my dog has no functionality for me. I need a stay where I can do real life stuff at the same time, and as someone with multiple dogs and a wheelchair, having a solid stay young is hugely helpful for me personally. At 13 weeks old Ocean can stay with the other dogs whilst I move freely with a high value toy, to be rewarded with the same toy. This puts a solid foundation for future training when I need him to wait his turn on a spot whilst I ask another dog to do something, whilst I free his lead from my wheelchair wheels (it happens to us all!) and asking him to wait for me to go through my rather wheelchair unfriendly front door, before recall to join me.

Does your puppy need to be at this stage at this age with their stay? No. This stay has been built up slowly over the last 5 weeks, in a couple of minutes sessions at a time a couple times a week alongside general impulse control games, to get to this point already. But working on some form of stay and impulse control is hugely valuable for all puppies!

(And yes, he had a slight shuffle forward at one point (which I had spotted at the time) which I'm sure some would criticize. But I still rewarded because ultimately, he still didn't go anywhere, and that shuffle can be shaped out with time. Reward the effort before the precision!)

Join our ParaCanine Academy for videos every week on raising a future assistance dog puppy in real time, including how I got to this stay!

https://www.briardunndogtraining.co.uk/member-site-homepage-1-2-1