Sound Hound Dog Training and Behaviour

12/08/2025

01/08/2025

DOG COMMUNICATION - WHISPER SIGNALS

Recently the gorgeous Obi who is owned by my lovely friend Michelle joined me for the last session of puppy class. This was very useful for the puppies involved as he acted as a calm adult dog who was happy to interact but didn’t necessarily wish to play with the puppies.

There were a couple of times where the puppies interacted with Obi and he turned his head. He also actively moved backwards and away on one occasion.

It is very important to teach our puppies/dogs at this point to come away. Puppies and dogs are not born being able to read other dogs body language, in the same way as humans learn how to read other people via their parents and older peers.

It is our job to be clued up on what we are looking at in the body language of dogs so that we can teach and support our puppies/dogs to come away when appropriate. It is not the responsibility of an older dog to tell a younger dog or puppy off. There are situations where this is measured from the older dog and the puppy/dog listens that this is can be acceptable but this is nuanced. In this post I’m referring more to unknown puppies and dogs who may interact on walks or at family or friend gatherings.

When older dogs are left to tell younger dogs off the situation becomes more stressful for the older dog which is unfair, and there is an increasing risk that the puppy or younger dog may receive an overly negative experience from a telling off by the older dog due to these increasing stress levels.

It is important to remember that puppies and young dogs go through critical periods of socialisation where interactions must be carefully managed. Boundaries should be taught carefully, in a measured and supportive way. We need to work on skills such as recall so that puppies and young dogs can be recalled away (or we need to be ready to gently step in if they are struggling to listen). This both helps to teach the puppy/dog how to read situations and supports the older dog. It may also assist an owner who may be trying to bring their dog out of the situation but may struggle to do so where a puppy or younger dog may persist.

01/08/2025

1 last minute space has become available in my puppy class starting Tuesday the 5th of August at 5pm at Golden Valley Vets!

Contact me on 07546524031 or email me to enquire and book!

31/07/2025

Recently the gorgeous Maggie and Tilly completed their puppy class. They were also joined by Sunny who we missed for the last couple of weeks. They completed foundations such as:

✔️ Loose lead walking and recall
✔️ Asking for and rewarding eye contact
✔️ Drop
✔️ Puppy biting advice
✔️ Settle training
✔️ Self-control
✔️ Cultivating polite greetings and reading body language
✔️ And much more!

They were joined for their last session ‘in the wild’ by the gorgeous Obi who is owned by vet nurse friend Michelle. He did a really good job of being a calm adult dog for Maggie and Tilly to interact with, as well as helping me demonstrate a ‘typical outing’ and explain some really good body language.

Well done Tilly and Maggie! (And of course Obi!) ✨

31/07/2025

Upcoming spaces!

• Puppy Class •
—> 05.08.25 @ 5pm - Golden Valley Vets - 1 SPACE REMAINING
—> 16.09.25 @ 5pm - Golden Valley Vets - 3 SPACES REMAINING
—> 01.10.25 @ 5pm - Golden Valley Vets - 3 SPACES REMAINING
*Please note both of these are 5 week courses however both have a week break w/c 06.10.25*.

• Scent Skills •
—> Two 30-minute spaces have become available on a Wednesday afternoon at 4pm and 4:30pm at Golden Valley Vets.
—> I also have availability on a Tuesday afternoon at 4:30pm for a 30-minute session (this could also be general 1-1).

• 1-1 Training •
—> Spaces available for general 1-1 training for all ages of dogs for a variety of training struggles, topping up skills, scent work and gun dog training, and help with prevention of behaviour problems for example for new puppies settling in or newly adopted rescue dogs.

Not sure what the help you are looking for falls under?

Send us an email or give us a call and we can point you in the right direction!

18/07/2025

We are now out of office! 😄 we return to admin on Tuesday the 29th of July at 9am when any enquiries will be responded to (and zoom sessions can be booked). We are then back seeing clients from Monday the 4th of August at 9am!

12/07/2025

A short stroll after the vets yesterday morning and a good example of the importance of ‘reading the dog in front of you’ and how variables in their day and environment will affect their motivations.

Ozzie doesn’t enjoy vets visits bless him, he’s had quite a few this year due to finding liver cancer and thankfully being able to remove this. However, with systems in place he has coped with each one very well.

Yesterday morning I thought I would take him for a short sniffy stroll after his visit to help him to decompress and destress which is something that he has previously really benefited from & enjoyed.

However, he started off well but became a little manic, sniffing but rushing, not listening/not checking in (so he went on a lead - not intended as a punishment more to keep him safe) and then pulling back to the car.

I didn’t get annoyed, I didn’t repeat myself, I just made sure he was safe and went with him. What I thought would be a nice walk to destress, wasn’t what Ozzie wanted on this occasion. He wanted to get in the car, with the windows down so he could sniff out of the window (safely) and to get home where he felt safe and happy.

A few possible reasons for this:

• Due to the temperature we don’t think he slept very well the night before. Meaning he would’ve been tired and not feeling his best. Adding in a vet visit likely resulted in a dog that had had enough and just wanted to go home rather than take on more stimuli from the environment (another example of how variables can contribute to how our dogs feel on their walks).

• It wasn’t too hot to walk him but an already over-tired dog in a warm environment may have resulted in less optimism and less tolerance to stimulus around him.

• He was hungry due to not having had any breakfast due to having bloods taken. The food he had had likely wouldn’t have reached his digestive system yet. In the past this hasn’t been problematic but on this occasion it may have been.

• He simply may have found the environment we were walking in too much as there were a few noises from surrounding houses. Though I didn’t see any changes in his body language, this doesn’t mean he wasn’t starting to feel a little anxious. I’m only human, I may have missed subtle signs.

11/07/2025

Communication comes in many forms, not just in ‘overt’ behaviours.

This is often referred to in terms of ‘whisper’ signals in behaviour (more on this in another post) but I also often explain this to clients when referring to toilet training puppies. However, Ozzie’s change in behaviour around toileting also highlights it.

One of the struggles with toilet training puppies is that when they’ve learnt that going outside is rewarded, there is a need for them to communicate that they need to go outside and for us as owners to read this and let them outside. This can take a bit of trial and error and isn’t always obvious!

My top tips are to look for behaviours such as:
• Pacing
• Circling
• Pawing at the door or the ground
• Sniffing
• Staring at you
• Vocalising
• Or anything else that you may recognise as their signal
—> If in doubt, let them out! 😄

Ozzie used to pace back and forth from the door and if this didn’t work he would jump on the door. However, this year this has gradually changed and become much more subtle. He will sometimes pace, but he will often just stare at me, struggle to settle or pant excessively. This doesn’t mean he doesn’t need to go to the toilet, he has just changed his way of telling me (possibly due to some cognitive decline - he is well vet checked). In addition he doesn’t always like going in our back garden (see previous post) which can give the illusion that he doesn’t need the toilet; though this is not the case, he just lacks confidence. Therefore, I take him out to our front garden/on a short walk instead.

A similar mentality to puppy toilet training is followed. If he’s showing signs, and he hasn’t been to the toilet recently we go outside to see. This is especially important at night as he can’t always hold his motions and he’s equally subtle at night if he needs to go which means I don’t always hear him.

If he’s gone in the night I’m usually awoken to him telling me after the event; I don’t tell him off, I just calmly clear it up and give him some reassurance, ensure he has opportunity to go again if needed and then go back to bed.

11/07/2025

Excellent post from Roz at The Mutty Professor, take a look!

HOT WEATHER & AN INCREASE IN BITE RISK 🥵

We've had some very hot weather recently in the UK, and for many parts of the UK- the next three days are going to be scorchio!

It's important to be aware that being too hot can lower thresholds for tolerance and overt reactions- and not just in 'reactive' dogs.

And not just in dogs!

There's a correlation between human riots and an increase in crime during a significant rise in temperature (27 to 32 degrees).
It is well established that in people, heat stress causes irritability and an increased likelihood of aggressive behaviour.

Being hot and bothered is a physical stressor - the body works hard to return to homeostasis.

Cognitive processes can be negatively affected. So if your dog is not responding to as they would normally, consider the effects of heat.

Furthermore- being too hot can interfere with a dog's ability to rest and sleep. During rest and sleep, stress is lowered, and subsequently compromised rest and sleep affects behaviour.

This can affect (lower) the dog's threshold for emotional stress.


🐕 Two unfamiliar dogs meeting while both are hot and bothered is less likely going to result in a healthy interaction. Now is the time to largely keep yourselves to yourselves on walks, or monitor the body language of both dogs very carefully.

🏡 Extra caution should be taken in situations that your dog may struggle with, such as around visitors to the home.

🧒 But the greatest caution of all should be taken around up-close interactions in ALL dogs, especially those who live children.

Remember these basic safeguarding rules;

1. No faces near faces.

2. Let sleeping dogs lie.

3. Do not forcefully take resources (toys, food or anything the dog has found/picked up) off a dog.
Children should never take things off a dog.

4. Do not 'box dogs in' with your interaction.

- Always ensure they can easily move away by not blocking a dog's ability to move forward/away (for example, wrapping your arms around to hug a dog front on makes it near impossible for them to easily disengage).

- The safest way to interact is to invite a dog to come to you.
Alternatively, if you do approach then do so when they are awake and instead of swooping straight in with strokes- wait for them to signal to you they are keen for an interaction.

- Stop stroking after 2-3 seconds, and see if your dog communicates to you they would like more, or if they are done.
This is called the consent test, and it's something all children (and adults) should be aware of.


Most people who get bitten by a dog know the dog well, didn't think their dog would ever bite someone and didn't see the bite coming.

Most dog bites are on faces and hands of someone close to the dog, and this tells us a lot about what the person was LIKELY doing (Note, there are always exceptions).


As I always say to my clients ......

🗣️ Never take your dog's current level of tolerance for granted.

10/07/2025

“My dog won’t take treats out on a walk”.

This is a common statement that owners tell me in 1-1 sessions which are often focused around loose lead walking and recall as both of these require rewards and very commonly food is used as the reward.

There are however so many nuances to the giving of rewards and if your dog is in the right mindset/head space to take these rewards.

Some factors to consider:

✔️ The value of the reward - this is up to the dog, not us and will depend on the environment. For example, they may find lower value treats rewarding in low distraction environments doing a behaviour they already know, however, these are likely not reinforcing enough in high distraction environments or for behaviours they are just learning.

✔️ The reward itself - this doesn’t have to be food. Yes, in some situations food may be the preferred reinforcer and there are ways to help dogs become more motivated by this, but in appropriate situations we can use toys and/or the environment (otherwise known as the ‘Premack principle’), even asking a dog to do a trick that they love doing can become a reinforcer.

✔️ Reward delivery - very often, simply giving a treat to a dog may not be enough of a reward in certain situations. It could also be suggested that we are missing a trick here by simply dispensing a treat. Instead, other options which are more exciting include:

- Scattering food on the floor (really helpful for spaniels and dogs who LOVE to sniff as this gives them a double whammy of reinforcement in the experience, as well as the treat).

- Throwing a piece or pieces of food for the dog to chase and eat or rolling it along the floor.

- Throwing a piece of food to the dog for them to catch.

*This should be done with no other dogs close by to prevent potential resource guarding situations*.

✔️ How busy the environment is - very often interacting with and processing an environment is taking up all of our dog’s brain space. Giving the illusion that the dog is being ‘ignorant’ or ‘choosing not to listen’. This is often frustrating for owners as they know their dog can do the behaviour that is being asked, but it seems to be falling on deaf ears. In this case, the dog may be struggling to listen because everything going on is over-stimulating them. Have you ever been concentrating so much on a task that you struggle to interact or listen to those around you? Here, we need to look at WHY they are struggling and then help them to succeed by gradually, at their pace, equipping them with the skills to succeed in that environment. I don’t tell them off and I don’t keep repeating myself until they do what I ask. I look at what support they need from me to help them out.

If this sounds like you, please get in touch and let’s see how we can help you!

08/07/2025

Congratulations to Dasha, Reacher, Ruby and Lola (and their guardians) on completing your puppy course! ✨

A fantastic last session where we practiced the skills learnt in class ‘in the wild’.

You’ve been a pleasure to teach and I wish all of you and your puppies all the best; I hope to see you again for future fun!