Pawsitive Paws

30/03/2026

I just wanted to come on and thank you all so much for the kind messages, cards and gifts as well as your patience whilst i work through this rollercoaster of emotions. The 11th March was the hardest day of my life and I truely hope I dont ever have to go through such pain ever again. In the risk of getting slated by others in the industry; Drax was my baby. He was my biggest pain in the arse, but he was also my biggest fan. He was as loyal as they come and in case you hadn't noticed, he inspired my business logo. I have never not had a rotty, and I will have another one day, but not yet.

In my social media absence I have been busy behind the scenes with video and telephone consultations, writing 'plans of action' for new and existing clients and attending an online seminar on neutering. As a behaviourist I want to make sure I'm at the top of my game and studies are constantly discovering new information. Neutering is a common topic in behavioural work, and I want to make sure my knowledge is up to date to ensure I can advise clients adequately.

The seminar has revived me, and I'm excited to get back out to see all my current and new clients. 🐾

11/03/2026

Good evening everyone. I just wanted to apologise for the ignorance to those who have tried to contact me and for those who have had messages from me requesting to reschedule their bookings.

Unfortunately my beloved rotty has passed away at only 5 years of age. I am truely heartbroken and still in shock. I am a wreck and barely functioning. He was more than a dog to me, he was my world. He was with me all day everyday and i am struggling with his absence. I will not be returning to work until I know I can fulfil my role properly. It would be a waste of everyone's time and money if I was to go back to work too soon. I hope you all understand and respect my reasoning during this difficult time for me and my family 💔.

Hug your dogs extra tight for me and cherish every moment because the last few days have shown me how quick things can change.

RIP my gorgeous boy. I will forever adore you 🌈💙🐾😢

06/03/2026

CRUFTS 🐾

A taboo subject in the dog profession world. Professionals either love it or hate it. I personally LOVE IT ❤️. Yes, there are areas of concern that I think could do with improvement. But the kennel club is making good progress in the right direction in my opinion and the pros outweigh the cons.

It is a dog lovers dream and for those of us who work with dogs it's like Christmas! If you've never been to Crufts I advise you to go! It's not all about showing pedigree dogs 🐕. Mongrels are just as welcome!

The venue is massive and there are over 500 trade stalls to browse through. Everything from collars and leads to supplements and accessories. There is also a mass of professionals on hand to talk to and get advice from such as; behaviourists, vets, groomers etc.

Even for us 'professionals' Crufts is educational and it is great for people who want to learn about different breeds. The event has a 'discover dogs' area where experienced owners, breeders and rescues talk to the public to educate and answer questions as well as raising awareness for genetic health issues and rare breeds. It is my favourite area as there are plenty of dogs to fuss 🥰.

Whose been/going to Crufts this year, and whose enjoying it from their sofa? If you've been, share your experiences in the comments 🙏.

28/02/2026

I keep banging on about breed specific genetic traits and how important shaping your puppies behaviour to make an easy adult dog is. Here's a prime example 🐾.

In this short clip you can see my 2 dogs enjoying a visit to my local dog paddock. Their behaviour and traits couldn't be any more different. Why? Not just because they are different breeds, but I had completely different expectations of them as puppies, and their training was completely different.

You'll see in the video that my rotty is carrying a ball, and he never strays too far away from me (the field is 5 acres). He never lets me out of his sight. Whereas my cocker has her nose to the ground and is happy to wander off without giving my location a second thought.

When my cocker spaniel Storm joined our family 7 years ago we already had a rotty x and a staffy who had a history of being obsessive, possessive and on 1 occasion, fighting over a ball. Due to this, we only used balls when out for walks and we always carried 2 balls (1 for each dog). Therefore we never really used a ball for play time with her as a puppy. Storm's breed is not generally feared by people, and aren't genetically prone to 'guard' their owners or home so I didn't spend much time training her to be around strangers. My main focus was her recall and lead walking.

Drax, my rotty had a very different puppy training plan. As rottweilers are genetically prone to being reactive to strangers and unfamiliar dogs my aim was to avoid this. Unfortunately I made him a bit 'too sociable'. (Yes. Even us 'professionals' make mistakes), and at 8 months of age he became reactive on the lead due to frustration. When he was a little pup, people were more willing to let their dogs meet him, then when he started to look more like a 'rottweiler', people would avoid us. People would cross the road, change direction and sometimes even pick their dogs up! This made Drax very frustrated and he would bark, pull and bite his lead. So I had to go back to basics and teach him to be 'ignorant'. This was much harder as hormones were well and truely in full force and bad habits had been learned.

Drax has always been ball mad, so I used that to my advantage and would engage his attention with the use of his favourite ball. He is a very different character to Storm. He loves to 'work' and something as simple as carrying his favourite toy makes him feel like he's working, with the added bonus of me throwing it for him occasionally 👌. For a cocker spaniel Storm goes against the grain in many ways. She is lazy, hates water, she hates being outside if the sun isn't shining, and she hates it when I ask her to 'work'. She would much rather keep herself to herself and find her own entertainment (in this paddock it normally involves chasing the birds and rolling in pheasant or fox poo 🤢). Having said that I still make her 'work' to solidify her obedience and to exercise her brain, but unlike Drax she doesn't crave the mental stimulation.

Moral of the story is; set the expectations from the day your dog arrives and adapt to what the dog needs. Researching the breed is important, but not all dogs of the same breed exhibit the same behaviours. 🐾

27/02/2026

This week I have been to visit 'Robbie' a springer spaniel, who at 2 years old decided he wasn't going to let his owners put his harness on any more 🐾.

I am seeing a massive increase in the amount of dogs being walked in harnesses. A lot of trainers do not like harnesses. I on the other hand encourage anything that reassures the handler. You'll hear some trainers say a dog will pull more on a harness. This is true, but only because it is less painful to pull on a harness than it is on a lead attached to the dogs collar.

That being said, a lot of owners are unaware of the long term effects an ill fitting harness can have on a dog. Lots of harnesses are designed for owner convenience and not with the dogs freedom of movement in mind.

When choosing a harness for your dog, make sure it doesn’t restrict movement of the front shoulders and that its not going to rub and irritate the backs of the legs and armpit area 🚫 .

My visit to Robbie was short and sweet. We changed the harness to a completely different style, worked on some positive association with the harness (he had become resentful of the harness due to the pain the previous harness had caused), and started a training plan for lead walking to prevent pulling 🐕‍🦺.

23/02/2026

When it comes to choosing a dog to join your family, whether it be a puppy from a breeder or adopting a golden oldie from a rescue, how much consideration do you give to the dogs breed?

I reckon 90% of 'jobs' that come my way are due to genetic traits of the dog. Specific characteristics of a breed. Education is key. Please, please, please do your research before making any decisions.

Here are my top tips to helping you make the right choice about which dog to join your family;

▪️if buying from a breeder, make sure parents and pups are health tested. Each breed has different recommendations for tests so do your research. Make sure you meet at least the mum of the pups, ideally both parents. If the breeder is 'professional' then do a bit of digging. Google them, see what pops up. Trust your gut instincts. A good breeder will be very particular about who they sell their pups to, so be grateful that they are interrogating you! Expect to have to sign agreements.
▪️if going through a rescue for a puppy, research the rescue, Google them, see what other adopters are saying about them. Ask as many questions as you can. Ask what exposure the pups have had to 'home life'. Some rescues only use foster placements for litters, but some use kennels, which means the pups have never heard a washing machine before, a hairdryer, a vacuum cleaner, a door bell etc. Another thing to consider is the accuracy of the suspected breed. It is often pure guess work what breed the puppies are, so do not be surprised if your 'labrador' puppy grows to the size of a great dane!
▪️research the breed. Google the facts, check out the kennel club recommendations. Attend some dog shows to get first hand advice from fellow owners. Shows like crufts are a great way to get exposure to a variety of breeds and the opportunity to speak to knowledgeable people with vast experience of each breed.
▪️consider your lifestyle. I often hear 'i got a dog as i thought it would encourage me to be more active'. Choose a breed that fits into your current lifestyle, not the lifestyle you want.
▪️consider the age of the dog. A 10 week old puppy can be moulded and trained to your desire, but training takes up a lot of time and younger pups require a lot of work. A young dog or adolescent dog is (hopefully, but not always) house trained and used to leads and possibly trained, BUT the adolescent stage can be a tricky stage. A lot of dogs end up in rescue between the ages of 10 and 18 months because hormones wreak havoc and all the previous training goes straight of the window! An older dog may seem like the perfect option, but you must consider; vet bills and how easy it will be for the dog to adapt to a new way of life, let alone the inevitable fact that you are going to have less time with an older dog.

For first time dog owners it can seem like a minefield. My advice is to reach out to someone in the dog industry; the local kennels, a vet, a groomer, a trainer, a dog walker. Ask them their opinion. Anyone in the industry would be willing to help, as we all want what's best for the dogs. Don't be afraid to reach out.

22/02/2026

Meet the team 😊
For those of you new to my page I am Shelley, pictured here with my pooches Storm and Drax 🥰. I did a foundation degree in animal management and then a bachelors degree in animal behaviour, specialising in canine behaviour 🐾. I am duty manager at a local boarding kennels and work with various dog rescue organisations. I love my work and although I often work 7 days a week, I wouldn't have it any other way 😀.

21/02/2026

This week I met with a new client who was having issues with their Romanian rescue dog, and it sparked a conversation between myself and some colleagues; why adopt from abroad when UK rescue centres are full to the brink?

As most of you know, I do a lot of work with rescue charities, my reason for wanting to become a qualified behaviourist was to help dogs in rescue centres and recently adopted dogs. I know first hand how desperately over run rescues are at the moment. Its quite honestly heartbreaking. Organisations have waiting lists for dogs waiting to be accepted. They are having to make very difficult decisions on a daily basis. Funds are being stretched far more than ever before as costs rise at the same rate as demand. But so many families are opting for a rescue from overseas.

The family I am currently working with have been very honest and open about their reasoning for opting for a Romanian rescue. They were rejected from numerous UK organisations for a variety of reasons which included;
▪️age of the children in the home
▪️size of their garden
▪️the fact they worked full time
▪️their lack of experience with dogs having never owned one before.

What isn't well publicised is the behavioural issues that often accompany these over seas rescues. I'm sure every behaviourist in this country has worked with numerous rescue dogs that have been brought in from over seas. These dogs have often had horrendous starts to life and have rarely ever lived in a home environment. It often becomes apparent the adopters cannot cope with the behavioural issues and the dog ends up in our already full rescue centres.

I adore all dogs, and would help them all if I could. I can't bare the thought of dogs being left to roam the streets, but surely we need to fix our own rescue crisis before assisting other countries?

I am genuinely interested to hear your thoughts on the matter, as always I am keen to learn. 🐾

20/02/2026

Its been another busy week and still 2 days to go 😬. Tomorrow involves a German shepherd puppy that chases the resident cats, and on Sunday I am meeting with a family who own a rottweiler x with reactivity issues. Such a variety of jobs coming through this year and I'm loving it 🥰.

Apologies to those who have had their action plans/reports/invoices delayed. My lap top is still not running and my phone has decided it will no longer tolerate large word documents 🤦‍♀️. I think it may be time to invest in some new technology 💻.

14/02/2026

I couldn't have said it better myself 🙌

What Is ‘Woke Dog Training?’

Recently there was a short piece on BBC Radio Lincolnshire where a popular social media trainer came on air and stated the reason for dog bites increasing in recent years is down to ‘woke dog training’ (which by the way is a clickbait nonsense description that means nothing and only shows absolute ignorance to true, modern dogmanship) This was further broken down into ‘because of the force free movement no one tells their dog no any more, so now we have more aggression and bites’.

Let’s break this down.

Firstly, the notion that dogs bite because we don’t say no is absurd. Dogs bite for a myriad of reasons such as pain, genetics, fear or frustration for example. To ascribe the current problem of a rise in dog bites to something that simple is ignorance at best, and absolute nonsense at worst.

Secondly, it’s fine to tell your dog no. I’m a science based, force free leaning dog trainer and I tell my dogs no. I think there has been some problematic social media presence from ‘our camp’ that has led to owners being totally confused about how to handle their dogs. I get two types of clients. Ones that will yank and jerk their dogs around because that’s what they saw online, and clients that will stand still while their dog reacts, panicking because they ‘shouldn’t use lead pressure’ because that’s what they saw online. The industry is in a sorry state and my job more and more recently is becoming one of putting out the fire and trying to ‘unteach’ what has been watched and learned online in terms of handler skills.

So what IS this ‘woke’ or ‘force free’ or ‘science based’ or ‘positive reinforcement’ (insert catchphrase label here) all about?

Put quite simply, modern dog training is about addressing the why, not the symptom. Dog bites people? Let’s work out why, and then go from there to adjust the underlying cause, rather than actively punishing the symptom which is the bite. It’s not a new ‘woke’ method and it’s been used successfully for decades. Is punishment used? Sure! But it is not used in a way that deliberately and harshly applies direct, frightening and painful consequence to the animal. There’s a nuance there that is often entirely missed out by folk that like to hate on modern dog training methodology.

So why IS there an increase in bites and aggression?

- There has been an increase of 2.3 million dogs in the last ten years in the UK. More dogs? More bites. Simply a huge increase in population means there WILL be more bites. More cars? More car crashes.
- The calibre of breeds is changing. Ten years ago, Cardiff Dogs Home was full of mix breeds, lurchers, terriers and the occasional staffie. Now it is full of Presa Canarios, Cane Corsos, Belgian Malinois etc etc. The breeds are more known, and more available to unequipped homes.
- Breeding practices broadly suck. A lack of health testing, a lack of temperament testing, a seeming disinterest in what home the puppy goes to, an increase of puppy farms and an increase in value of puppies means dogs are now money making machines, and for the less scrupulous breeder (which is a huge percentage) they don’t care about any of the above, only their bank account and the kudos. Only two weeks ago I met a dog with hip dysplasia, elbow dysplasia and severe dog aggression that was genetic and the owner had paid £25k for the dog.
- Dog training is seen as a luxury not a necessity. 10 years ago, you got a dog and you went to classes. Now, you get a dog and watch some online videos. They are not the same. Same with the ‘well I’ve had dogs all my life I know what I’m doing’. My response? I’ve had teeth all my life, doesn’t make me a dentist.
- Our lives were getting busier. Parks are busier. Cities are busier. More dogs, closer contact with people. Less tolerance and sensibility from the general public. More bites.

Think what you like in regards to training methodology. I’m not here to change your mind on that, and I know I’m shouting into the overcrowded online ether about this, but training methodology isn’t the cause of the rise of bites in the UK.

More dogs, higher calibre breeds, sh*tty breeding practices, poor initial training, online advice being seen as the same as real, in person training and busier lives are why there’s more dog bites. Not ‘woke training’ whatever the hell that even means.

07/02/2026

So I had to jump on the chat gbt band waggon...

Its been a busy couple of weeks with jobs ranging from a 12 week old cocker spaniel that was resource guarding to a 9 year old labrador that refused to walk on a lead.

I had a rare day off today to recharge the batteries but couldn't resist an hour of admin. Who else struggles to switch off? How ironic that my job entails me teaching dogs to switch off, but I cannot do it myself 🤦‍♀️

A day at the kennels tomorrow and then an appointment with a German shepherd monday morning and a doberman monday evening 🤩. Let's hope the rain is done by then 🙏.