Agata Brzek - Dog Focused

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Agata Brzek - Dog Focused

Helping you to raise and train your dog to be the best dog you've ever had.

Dog Training and Behaviour Consulting based on positive reinforcement techniques and protocols. Non-aversive methods, creative and effective solutions to common behaviour problems, life enrichment for pet dogs, games, everyday manners, obedience. I hold a Diploma of Dog Training and Behaviour Consulting from Companion Animals Sciences Institute, and the Pro Dog Trainer certificate with AbsoluteDOG

S, and have attended various courses, workshops, seminars and webinars related to animal training and behaviour. I have over 15 years of experience of working with dogs, including 10 years as a pet dog trainer.

25/09/2025

"How can I help my dog to be more relaxed around other dogs? He just barks at them, and lunges, and pulls me off my feet, I don't enjoy my walks any more, I've lost all my confidence!"

This is something I hear a lot, and I want you to know, if you are asking the same questions, you're not alone.

I'm Agata, and I can help you regain your confidence, teach your dog to walk better on lead, to ignore other dogs, and to relax enough that your walks will be a pleasure again.

I've worked with barky lungey dogs for many years, but it was the Training Walks programme that changed everything for me and for my clients, both human and canine.

Training Walks is a different approach than the regular weekly sessions you often hear about.

First of all I can train your dog for you. Especially at the beginning, when things may be going slowly, I can speed up the process, teach your dog what he needs to know, and then you'll gradually take over the maintenance phase.

Secondly we meet twice a week, for 4 weeks. These 8 sessions give us the consistency and momentum that we need to move training forward. I'm there with you, showing you, guiding, encouraging, and troubleshooting.

Thirdly you get additional resources, when appropriate, and a wee homework to do in between sessions. This may be as simple as enrichment ideas, but also practising the exercises you learn at the session.

Fourthly (is it even a word?) we laugh a lot. This is one of the requirements to join the programme😉. Although we both know what you're going through is serious, be prepared for a great time at our sessions. Maybe not at the first one, but I bet I will make you laugh eventually😁

It's time you make the decision to finally help your dog change his behaviour, and to change your life. You know you don't want to hide from other dogs forever, and I want you to know you don't have to.

Message me for more information and for booking. You can also have a look at the pinned post, where I talk more about the Training Walks programme.

If you'd rather have a chat on the phone, here is my number: 07593032280.

And my email address: [email protected]

I'm happy to communicate with you the way it's best for you.

Looking forward to hearing from you😊

17/09/2025

Great news!

Crazy Merrick is just back from his physio appointment, and he's doing so well that we're now allowed to train pretty much whatever we want (apart from frisbee☹️).

Of course I need to keep looking out for signs of discomfort or pain, and we still need to do our exercises every day, but there are no major restrictions for his training.

We can now play a bit more with competition obedience, heelwork to music and freestyle, dog parkour, tricks and games, and other fitness exercises that we haven't done before.

As long as he's not jumping, he's good to go.

This makes me really happy. Merrick is a joy to train, and although we'll probably never compete in anything, no doubt we'll have fun together.

For me that's what it is about: teamwork, bonding, enrichment, mental stimulation. Points and ribbons are totally irrelevant.

For a while I have been thinking about organising fun activities classes for enthusiastic dog owners and their energetic dogs. To give them something to do, a structure to follow, and some goals to achieve.

If you and your dog would like to attend a class like this, comment below. If there is enough interest, I'll get a venue and we can start having some real fun.

No previous training would be necessary, however, your dog would need to be reasonably good around other dogs.

Let me know what you think.

15/09/2025

Look at this lovely walk by Rolo (in front) and Molly. And their awesome humans, of course.

Both dogs tend to pull on lead, a lot. So we slowed everything down, made sure we were leaving the house as calmly as possible, and that we, the people, were not pulling on lead either.

We also worked on a few other bits, as there are noisy dogs next door to them, and Rolo, especially, likes to bark at them.

Rolo can also be a bit growly with other dogs, and children, so we had to come with a plan for that too.

But guess what? Working on both dogs being calmer and slower had a positive effect on all the issues!

I always like to see how my clients and their dogs go out for a walk together. It's very revealing, and just from watching that I know what to expect on walks.

There is no way you'll have a nice relaxing walk, especially with a reactive dog, if you both shoot out the door, hyper aroused, dog is pulling one way, you the other, you're practically running, trying to keep up with dog...

I'm exhausted just writing about it.

The bottom line is this: slow down, teach your dog a different way of going out, and a different way of walking on lead.

If you work diligently on that one thing (OK that's 2 things), your walks will be transformed, and if you have a reactive dog, they will be much calmer around their triggers.

This happens every time. But we're often so rushed and busy ourselves, that we allow this frantic, chaotic behaviour to just get worse and worse.

If you need help with this, message me, I'll be happy to help. You too can have lovely walks with your dogs😊

14/09/2025

I did remember to take photos yesterday, I just didn't have time to post them.

Here they are:

Mylo tends to get excited when seeing other dogs, and may be a bit growly up close to them. He is a bit lacking in social skills and is not sure what to do once the initial greeting is over.

We're helping him to approach dogs slower and calmer, so he can have better interactions.

Mylo is a Training Walks student.

Murdo is a puppy who's learning basic skills like loose lead walking, greeting other dogs, recall, and a few other helpful behaviours.

Murdo gets weekly sessions.

Callie is a young girl who also is excited to meet dogs, and is not great at coming back.

I met her yesterday for the first time, and took her for a walk & train session. I'm going to teach her what she needs and then have a few sessions with the whole family to transfer the skills.

3 dogs, 3 different services. Message me if you need some training for you and your dog. We'll find a suitable offer for you😊

Oh, and I totally forgot to take photos today😆😐

12/09/2025

My canine students today:

Bear, the lab puppy, had another walk & train session this morning. He was learning to be a little less excited around people. We used the Lick Stick with Primula to help us, and it was a big hit.

Rex, the GSD, and his mum, have been working with me for a while. This was a regular coaching session.

Rex is a big teddy bear, but can be noisy when he sees other dogs. No aggression there, but his size and deep voice can be intimidating to both dogs and people.

Once he gets to say hello, he's actually very respectful and polite to other dogs.

Tomorrow more fun, with different dogs. Maybe I'll remember to take some pics as well🤔😉

08/09/2025

Bear, a 6 month old lab, went for a walk & train with me today.

I've done some puppy training with him and his dad a couple months ago, but now that he's growing and entering the adolescent phase, I was asked to take him out and see how we could help him with over-arousal around people.

Bear was an absolute star, but yes, he tends to get very excited when greeting people. Although he managed to say hello to a dog walker and he was pretty good (it helped, of course, that the dog walker knew how to greet young dogs).

We're going to have a few walks together and teach him better ways of approaching people. And then we'll teach his dad too, so they both know what to do.

If you think lessons like this would be beneficial for your dog, or you're after an occasional Activity and Enrichment Walk, get in touch. £20 per hour, which is a normal solo walk rate in the area.

05/09/2025

A bit dizzying video, sorry.

How good is your dog at responding to cues when highly excited?

Merrick is pretty good, as you can see🙂

He got bamboozled with the Spin and Twist cues, but this was probably because I was holding the phone and looking into it.

Dogs are very contextual, and we have never practised this in this way.

When I finally used my hand gesture to help him, he was correct.

I'm very pleased with Drop and Get it, we don't have many mistakes here, and he just understood Stay while I'm walking around him.

I have to say he absolutely loves these play-train sessions, and demands them every day. We usually do this for about 10 minutes on our walks.

They satisfy his need for speed, movement, and fast decision making, which is so typical for the breed.

And yes, it's a lot of movement for a dog with hip dysplasia, but I can't keep him from living his best life. We'll have a nice slow physio session later.

He's having a well deserved nap right now😴

03/09/2025

As the page has reached 1k followers recently (thank you!), I thought I'll tell you more about my most popular service, the Training Walks. If you're new here, you may not know at all how it works, so this post is for you.

I've been offering the walks since October 2023, so almost 2 years. Very quickly it became my only training programme available, as I had no time for any other options.

We meet twice a week for at least 4 weeks, that's 8 sessions. The programme can be extended as needed, because no two dogs are the same, and sometimes there are multiple issues that need to be addressed, or we work with more than one dog.

Vast majority of my canine clients struggle with dog-dog reactivity on lead (occassionally off lead too). Many of them are young dogs, at the sensitive adolescent stage, when they act first and think later (if at all), and get themselves in trouble.

In these situations the owner/s feel like they lost all control, they don't enjoy walking their dogs, they may be embarassed and desperate for something to change.

Often they themselves become anxious and hypervigilant, their handling style changes, and it makes things worse. But they don't know how to get out this loop on their own.

A single session, or even a few, scattered over several weeks, does not solve anything. The Training Walks are a much better choice because they provide consistent, frequent coaching, support and troubleshooting when you need it, not a week or two afterwards.

What I found over the last 2 years, is that my human clients want to see what I do, have it explained, sometimes a few times, and then try on their own, but with someone there, guiding them and ready to step in if something goes wrong.

With time, they take over the walks, and I step back completely, only to offer occassional help and encouragement. When they regain their confidence, start using their new skills, know how to navigate tricky situations, I know I really helped them.

Sometimes there is some homework to do in between sessions, it depends on what the dog needs. If I introduce an exercise that needs more practice, I usually have a video of it, or a written detailed handout, and I send it to the client, so they can review and do it at home.

At the beginning of the programme I may advise not to walk the dog in busy areas, or on narrow paths, to avoid unnecessary encounters with their triggers. We don't want the dog rehearsing the barking and lunging, and high arousal associated with it.

We gradually introduce more challenges as the dog's skills improve. If the barking and lunging does happen, we use some of the skills we teach, then we have a break, and go back to work.

Do the walks work for every single dog in the same way? No. Simple as that. Just like any other training programme or method, it my not provide a total change in the dog's behaviour. Dogs are not programmable, and the dynamics between the dog and the handler may be complicated.

There is always improvement though, often massive, and the owners learn a lot. The maintenance work has to be carried on after the programme ends, but it's going to be easy compared to what it looked like before.

The cost of the 4 week programme is £320 (£40 per session) and it can be paid in two instalments (other payment plans can be arranged too).

If you decide to take some more sessions, the price per session will go down: 5 weeks - £370 (£37), 6 weeks and more - £35 per session.

If it sounds interesting to you, if you think it could help with your dog's struggles, pelase get in touch, I do have avilability in September. If you know someone who would benefit from this training, let them know - it may just be what they need right now.

Thank you for reading.
Have a great day!
Agata

26/08/2025

Little Daisy, the Toy Poodle, spent the first few years of her life at a puppy farm, probably as a breeding bitch.

Rescued at the age of 4, she now lives in a pretty busy place in Perth.

When I first met her she was so over aroused on walks, that she pulled all the time, panted heavily, and her heart felt like it was going to jump out of her chest.

She also barked at people, dogs, large vehicles, cyclists and motorbikes.

Anything would set her off and she would really struggle to calm down.

That's what a puppy farm does to dogs, they never develop normal abilities to regulate their arousal, and modulate behaviour.

Daisy is not aggressive, she's extremely frustrated and wants to rush to people and dogs and meet them.

I must say the first few sessions were hard. We just didn't have many opportunities to reward what we wanted, we were constantly trying to minimize the outbursts.

We used the Lick Stick with Primula from the very beginning, to offer something soothing (licking), and it slowly started having a positive effect.

Then I brought other licki mats, and we started playing around with Pattern Games.

We would scatter the mats on the ground, and walk with Daisy from one to another, and put a little Primula for her.

We also wanted her to make eye contact before we moved on.

And she was allowed to look around as well; she's generally very vigilant all the time.

Licking is a calming activity for dogs, and pretty quickly we started seeing a different Daisy - more relaxed, more responsive, walking better on lead.

She still barks at her triggers, but she is able to calm down quickly, and then continue her walk.

When she barks we interrupt it, and after a moment, let her have another look. It works really well.

The first 4 photos are from the first Pattern Games session. The last two are from this morning, on the way home from the shops, where we were watching lots of people and an occasional dog.

She's never walked on such a loose lead before. She barked at one squirrel, and one person on the way home - took everything else in her stride.

Her journey is not over yet, but she's making amazing progress.

If you struggle with similar behaviours with your dog, or know someone who does, I have spaces available in September.

Please share this with others, and/or get in touch. You and your dog can also improve like little Daisy😊

Take care
Agata

17/08/2025

Available in September

As the end of my time at PADS is quickly approaching (2 weeks left), I'm thinking about all the services I'll be able to provide.

➡️The Training Walks will continue on Tue + Sat and Wed + Sun, as this proved to be a well working system, however, some changes in schedule will now be possible, so, for instance, if you're not available on Saturday, we can meet on Friday and so on.

If available, we can also meet on Mon + Thu or Fri. It's always good to ask for a combination that will work best for you.

The price stays the same, starting at £320 for 8 sessions, but if more sessions are needed, the price per session will go down. For programmes 6 weeks and longer you'll pay £35 per session.

➡️More time means I can go back to weekly sessions to help with training and behaviour. In the past 18 months + I offered only Training Walks, and they took all my available time and energy.

Now I can take single sessions and smaller packages too. Prices remain the same as before: £85 for a behaviour intake, £60 for single training lesson and behaviour follow-up, £150 for 3 session package.

➡️New service in September: solo walks with a twist. There are lots of dog walkers in the area, and they all provide great help for busy dog owners. Most of them focus on physical exercise, which is, of course, super important.

But in 14 years I've trained dogs, I have never met a dog that was physically under-exercised, quite the opposite to be honest. We all walk our dogs more than enough.

I have met a lot of mentally understimulated dogs though. It's just not a habit for many owners to take care of their dogs' minds. And if you have an active, intelligent dog, like a Border Collie, Cocker Spaniel, Jack Russell Terrier, German Shepherd, walks just don't cut it.

Many behaviour problems could be avoided if dogs had more mental stimulation in their lives, if they learned something on a daily basis. If we provided meaningful activities for them.

This is what I'm offering now: an hour walk that will give them physical exercise and mental stimulation. Your dog will learn some life skills, tricks, dog parkour elements, self control, and anything that he and you may need.

So, while you're working, I'll take care of your dog's needs. After the walk you'll have a nicely tired pooch. You'll get updates on what we're doing, and once your dog learns it, you can use it in your daily life too.

There will only be 1-2 spaces available per day, as I'm always busy with training. The walks can be regular, or sporadic, just ask for availability.

Dogs of any age are welcome. If your dog is anxious or reactive, the walks will be tailored to boost their confidence and aid resilience, but there will be no specific reactivity training provided, as I have other services that take care of that.

*there are no details of the solo walk on the website yet.

Looking forward to meeting new dogs and their people soon!

All the best
Agata

12/08/2025

Luna is a young collie x kelpie, who was adopted from PADS a few months ago.

Very quickly it turned out that she was reactive to traffic and would lunge and try to pull her owner onto the street.

Due to where they live Luna has to walk along the street for a while, before they can get out of town.

She's also sick in the car, so her options are a bit limited.

When I came to help, Luna was already better at street walking, but would still get really focused and creepy when a car drove by.

Walks were a struggle, as she is a strong girl. She was pulling like a train in some locations, where the pavements were narrow and cars passed very close to her.

We fitted her with a head halter, to make walks safer, introduced some changes in handling, and started them both on a training journey.

This was our session no 7, and the difference is amazing! Luna's mum did such a great job, I'm extremely proud of both of them.

There is still a lot to do to help Luna relax around traffic, but they're absolutely on the right track.

Well done Team Luna!👍

09/08/2025

Would you say both my dogs have orthopedic issues?🤔

Old Arco, a few weeks short of his 9th birthday, was just put on Previcox, in addition to Paracetamol, which he's been taking for a few months.

He has arthritis in his spine, back legs including hips, and front left wrist, and that's only what's obvious. He'll start physiotherapy in a couple weeks.

The new drug has certainly given him more spark, and he's very keen to chase Merrick around the woods now.

The little boy is doing well with is physiotherapy, there are still some minor issues with the rear right leg, but we're hopeful this will get better.

He's only 10 months old, so still developing, and it's difficult to assess what's normal and what's not at this age.

Although there was nothing I could do for Merrick to prevent his issues, I could have definitely done more for Arco.

He has always been a very active dog and would have greatly benefited from conditioning exercises, but I wasn't interested in this topic back then.

Running free is not enough. Some targeted exercises a few times per week would have helped with strength and mobility, but also serve as an assessment to see if there is anything brewing.

Often there will be subtle changes that we can see only when the dog is encouraged to move in a specific way, and slowly.

If you see it, you can work on it, and make it better. I really wished I had known that 9 years ago.

There are free resources available online for learning about canine fitness and conditioning. I can give you links if you're interested.

Take action now, before it's too late. It's truly heartbreaking seeing your beloved dog limping or being stiff and sore, and wondering how long do you still have together...

Address

Forteviot
Perth
PH29BS

Telephone

+447593032280

Website

http://www.dogfocused.co.uk/

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