Puppy Pals Cumbria

03/05/2026

Bark in the Park dog show today. It’s a super busy and can be a very tough environment for some dogs. So it was lovely to meet lots of dogs and their humans today and give them the chance to have a go a Scentwork which is amazing for helping the dogs decompress a bit 🥰 they all got the hang super quickly even with so much going on around them. Apologies I got so few pics 🤦‍♀️. Che k out our website for more details of the upcoming Scentwork course

01/05/2026

We are at Bark in The Park on Sunday, so come and say Hi, we will be running a have a go at scentwork, if you fancy teaching your dog a trick come on over we can show you how, or just come and have a chat about your training needs. Looks like rain, so bring your big coat!

Book your pooch a place at our Charity Dog Show, Bark in the Park on Sunday 3rd May! This paw-some event is raising money for not one, but two...

24/04/2026

Gundog club
Glorious sunshine 🌞 n Wednesday for gundog club. A bit breezy but dogs doing amazing with stuff being chucked about. Superstars 🤩

23/04/2026

Foundation Agility Week 3
These guys smashing it 😍

22/04/2026

🧠 What if exercising your dog wasn’t about doing more… but doing it smarter?

🌿 Scentwork, parkour, and tricks are a bit like sudoku or mindfulness for your dog

🐕‍🦺 Instead of constant go-go-go, they learn to slow down, think, and make good choices

💡 Scentwork taps into natural instincts — sniffing, searching, problem-solving

🪵 Parkour builds body awareness, confidence, and focus using the world around you

🎓 Tricks aren’t just “party pieces” — they’re brilliant for
• building communication
• boosting confidence
• giving your dog a clear way to learn and succeed

🚶‍♀️ And the best bit? You can use all of these out on your walks or at home — no fancy kit needed
✨ Better connection
✨ Mental stimulation
✨ Calm, fulfilled dogs

🙌 Perfect if your dog gets over-aroused, distracted, or just needs a job to do

📅 Scentwork tricks & parkour classes coming up

📩 Message to book or check the link in bio

21/04/2026

🐾 Eddie the Labrador… one of my longest standing clients 💛 (we go all the way back to 2021!)

🤯 The first time he came to the field he couldn’t even take food. He was so over-aroused and overwhelmed by the environment that everything just tipped him over the edge

💛 A lot of that was anxiety bubbling up as excitement, and his mum has put in hundreds and hundreds of hours helping him learn how to add cope with the world around him

🌿 Along the way we’ve worked through sensitivities, managed his allergies, and slowly built his confidence back up piece by piece

🎾 These days? He’s living his best life doing gundog work, agility and scentwork – all his favourite things

🐕‍🦺 From barking intensely at dogs on the horizon… to now walking off lead in pretty much any environment, giving other dogs space when he needs to and even choosing to say hello and have a play when he feels comfortable

✨ The compliments his mum gets out on walks are so well deserved – this didn’t happen by accident, it’s the result of consistent, thoughtful training over time

🧡 Absolute superstar of a dog… and an equally brilliant owner behind him

16/04/2026

🐾 Your dog doesn’t need constant calling to stay connected on walks.

📸 Torvi the Vizsla absolutely smashed her session this week.

👀 Photo one: fully switched on, eyes on her humans, totally engaged.

😴 Photo two: completely out for the count afterwards with dad’s perfect “tired, thank you for today” update.

🌿 Today we worked on keeping that connection stronger out on walks.

For a HPR breed, wanting to range well out in front is completely normal — she always knows exactly where her humans are. But the goal was to shorten that invisible lead just a little.

🚶‍♀️ We kept it really simple: as soon as she drifted too far ahead, we quietly turned and walked the other way.

💨 The moment she realised we were further away than she was comfortable with, she came racing back to catch up.

✨ After just a few repetitions, she was choosing to stay at around half the distance she’d usually range.

🎾 Reward-based training isn’t always about food or toys. Sometimes the biggest reinforcer is the environment itself and how we use our movement to influence behaviour.

🧡Such a clever girl.

14/04/2026

✨ First off-lead adventure for Monty yesterday and what a little superstar he was!

🐾 Letting your puppy off lead out in the big wide world can feel really daunting. We often imagine they’re going to disappear off over the horizon… but in reality, most puppies really don’t go far at all.

🧡 As you can see in the video, Monty barely wanted to leave our sides! He was beautifully offering connection back to his mum and even throwing in some lovely auto sits for me too.

🌿 This is exactly why all that work on a longer line pays off. When we reward check-ins, connection, and choosing to stay close, puppies learn that being near their human is the best place to be.

🎾 Try not to keep recalling them over and over on walks. Use it a couple of times so it stays special, rather than constantly calling them away from everything fun.

🪶 Yesterday’s real-life challenge was a few very exciting gull feathers on the shore at Grange. Instead of making a big fuss, we used it as a lovely opportunity to practise a swap for a tasty treat, which he did beautifully.

🌟 Such a brilliant first off-lead adventure and a lovely reminder that most puppies don’t shoot off — they stay close because you are their safe place.

13/04/2026

I missed Ginny's certificate off my reel......she's absolutely devastated 🙈

13/04/2026

✨ Huge congratulations to our Foundation and Progression Gundog groups who have just completed their 6-week courses!

🐾 Every single dog and handler team has come on amazingly over the past few weeks, and we couldn’t be prouder of the progress they’ve made.

🌬️ Despite battling some very wild, windy weather pretty much every week, everyone turned up, put the work in, and kept going — and it has absolutely paid off.

🎓 Well done to all of our fabulous graduates and their brilliant humans. Your consistency, patience, and hard work have been fantastic to watch.

💚 Happy training, and we can’t wait to see what you all go on to achieve next!

12/04/2026

✨ Massive client win for Kuro!

🐾 Kuro joined us on our Tier 2 package to work on his reactivity around other dogs. As a rescue with very little history, he had been finding walks tricky, often barking and lunging when dogs appeared.

🎯 In our first session we introduced marker training, some simple pattern games, and helped him learn that it’s absolutely okay to notice another dog… and then choose to check back in with his human for a reward.

👏 Fast forward just two weeks and the progress is amazing. On a narrow pathway, Kuro calmly looked at another dog walking past, then chose to look back at Dad and continue their ABC walking game.

💛 That is HUGE. Real-life progress, in a real-life situation. What an absolute legend, Kuro!