Pets Ahoy Plymouth

03/06/2026

"𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮."

It's a phrase that can make many professionals feel a little uncomfortable these days.

Not because the principle is wrong, but because it has often been used to justify the use of punishment, aversive tools, and force.

However, when I talk about working with the dog in front of you, I'm talking about understanding the individual in front of you and adapting your support to meet their needs.

This does not mean, changing your ethics, changing your commitment to welfare and reaching for harsher methods because progress isn't happening quickly enough.

Just recognising that every dog is different.

🐾 A fearful Romanian rescue may need much more distance from people than a confident Labrador.

🐾 A dog reacting because they are frightened may need a completely different approach to a dog reacting because they are frustrated and desperately want to interact.

🐾 A puppy struggling with confidence may need gentle exposure and opportunities to explore at their own pace.

🐾 An elderly dog with arthritis may need environmental changes and adapted enrichment rather than more training.

🐾 A dog who finds vet visits overwhelming may need months of preparation and confidence-building before they're comfortable being handled.

The principles remain the same.

We use positive reinforcement, we build trust, we listen to what the dog is telling us and we move at a pace the dog can cope with.

What changes is how we apply those principles to the individual in front of us.

For example, I recently worked with a dog whose reactivity was driven by frustration. He wasn't trying to make other dogs go away. In fact, his biggest struggle was when they left!

If I'd treated him like a fearful dog who needed more and more distance, I wouldn't have been addressing the real emotion behind the behaviour.
Instead, we focused on helping him cope with dogs moving away and building emotional regulation around that frustration.

Same force-free principles, just a different plan for a different dog.

That's what working with the dog in front of you means to me. Not changing the method or changing the route.

Because ethical, force-free training isn't about making the dog fit the plan.

It's about making the plan fit the dog. ❤️

28/05/2026

🎉 5 𝒀𝑬𝑨𝑹𝑺 𝑶𝑭 𝑷𝑬𝑻𝑺 𝑨𝑯𝑶𝒀 🎉

🎂 Today marks a special day on the Pets Ahoy calendar as it is officially 5 years since I started my business! That’s half a decade already! Half a decade of picking up poos, getting the perfect photo angles and overpaying for cloud storage 😅

📈 I never started this with the intention of turning this into a full-time venture. To begin with, it was just a few walks here and there and it took a while to build a steady client base, but as demand grew, it made sense to focus on my business full-time.

🏆 I’d like to thank each one of you that have been part of the Pets Ahoy journey, past and present, especially those of you who have been here from the start. I wouldn’t be where I am without you, and I certainly wouldn’t have won any awards without the support of my wonderful clients.

💩 This past year has been tough for many small business owners, so to make it to 5 years really is a massive achievement in today’s economy. Current market research shows that less than half of UK small businesses make it to five years (and the figures are even worse in the South West!)

⭐ At a time where it feels like new dog walkers are popping up every week, it is important to stand out and advocate for better industry standards for the animals that people have trusted us so highly with.

🐶 One of the biggest reasons that keeps me going even on tough days is the excitement from the dogs when I arrive as they know it’s time for their walk. For many it is the highlight of their day and their reactions are the best and most honest reviews! This is even more rewarding when reactive and nervous pets feel safe enough to relax with me and finally enjoy the simple pleasures in life without feeling overwhelmed.

💕 Thank you for your continued support! It means everything!

21/05/2026

Be careful if you want to go on a bank holiday hike!!

Tick-borne encephalitis cases confirmed in UK last year! ⚠️

20/05/2026

Drop-in visits for the adorable Archie 🥰

Despite how grumpy he looks, he’s one of the few cats who actually enjoys belly rubs!! He enjoys sitting outside and listening to the birds as well as getting lots of chin scritches!! 💕

05/05/2026

Are you dreaming of becoming a dog trainer?

If you’re considering a career with animals, join us for a FREE webinar with our industry experts, to discuss financial viability, qualities needed, pros and cons of self-employment, maximising income, and any of your questions.

📆 Friday 5th June, 7pm

Sign up now: https://puppyschool.thinkific.com/products/live_events/dog-trainer-webinar

10/04/2026

I loved making a new friend this week! Jax was the friendliest, most gentle boy who loved his walks in the sun on Tuesday!! 🐾

I recently reactivated my Rover account, so if you’re looking for short-term or one-off care, please get in touch! I do solo (or same household) walks and drop-ins for any species!

If you’re new to Rover, you can benefit from £15 off your first booking! ⬇️⬇️
https://www.rover.com/sit/sarahb31460

07/04/2026

🤎 𝑹𝑶𝑿𝒀 🤎

📚 Last week I had a 121 session with 2 year old staffy-cross, Roxy. We covered a lot in our session together including:

🦮 𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒔𝒆-𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒅 𝒘𝒂𝒍𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈
🗣️ 𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒍𝒍
🤝 𝒄𝒂𝒍𝒎𝒆𝒓 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒅𝒐𝒈𝒔
🍗 𝒉𝒊𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒓𝒄𝒉𝒚 𝒐𝒇 𝒓𝒆𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒅𝒔

🐶 This sweet gentle girl was very enthusiastic to learn and is proof that no breed needs a heavy hand!

⭐ Her mum says that she found our session useful and feels reassured that she doesn’t have to spend every moment with Roxy on training. She can now relax knowing that the best way to train is in small intervals, and remembering to let Roxy have fun on walks and just be a “dog”.

01/04/2026

🐶 APPEAL FOR SOFT DOG TREATS! 🐶

Can you make Kevin's day by donating his favourite snack of soft, chewy dog treats! 😋

We use these treats daily for training, and with so many dogs in our care that's a whole lotta treats! If any of our wonderful supporters can help we're open 9am to 4pm weekdays, 9am to 3.30pm weekends to accept donations.

Treats can also be purchased through the links below:
🔸 https://www.amazon.co.uk/hz/wishlist/ls/2KRFV547X7GOQ/ref=nav_wishlist_lists_1
🔸 https://linktr.ee/gablesdogsandcatshome
(or on Instagram through the links in our bio)

Thank you to all the amazing supporters who can help... 🧡

01/04/2026

I had an incredible two days at the Pet Remedy Emotional Wellbeing in Animals conference, the first conference of its kind focused solely on animal wellbeing!

“Welfare” and “wellbeing” are often used interchangeably but there is a key difference! Wellbeing goes beyond just meeting our animals’ basic needs, and refers to how we can make our animals thrive, not just survive. Without good welfare, we can’t have good wellbeing and without good wellbeing, we can’t have good welfare.

This was my first in-person conference and it was truly inspiring to be surrounded by so many like-minded individuals who all want to share their knowledge so we can all do better for animals.

All of the speakers were amazing and I took something away from each talk. I truly feel like I left a different person and have so much new knowledge to share!

The main things I took away from this is the importance of collaboration between different animal professionals as well as not forgetting to focus on helping the humans too. Often, dogs who are struggling to cope in this world just need relief and many dogs are actually suffering in silence from pain that gets missed and manifests as reactivity and “difficult” behaviour and we forget to dig deeper and ask “why” a dog is doing something.

And of course, I can’t forget to mention Sarah Fisher, who was meant to speak at this conference. Although I never met her myself, it is clear from speaking to others that she left a huge impact on the dog training world and truly was a huge inspiration for so many of us, and changed so many animal lives for the better.

As animal professionals, there’s always more to learn, no matter where you are on your journey or what area you’re in. We can all learn something from each other whether that’s dog trainers, behaviourists, walkers, groomers or vets.

When you know better, you do better.

17/02/2026