Charles Gray Dog Training

30/10/2025

30/10/2025

HELP YOUR DOG COPE WITH FIREWORKS 🎆

Every year, people say, “My poor dog’s terrified of fireworks!” — as if it’s just bad luck.
It’s not. It’s training. Or rather, the lack of it.

Dogs don’t come preloaded with a fear of bangs. They learn it — usually because something loud happened, and nobody helped them understand it wasn’t a threat. The good news? They can unlearn it too.

That’s where counter-conditioning comes in. Sounds fancy, but it’s simple:
You take the scary thing (say, fireworks on YouTube), play it quietly, and pair it with something your dog loves — food, play, affection. Their brain rewires itself:
💥 “Fireworks = chicken. I like chicken.”
💥 “Loud noise = ball time. I love ball time.”
Repeat, slowly turn up the volume over time, and boom — resilience built.

But here’s the bit nobody wants to hear: if you’re nervous, your dog will be too.
Dogs are emotional mirrors. When you flinch or over-comfort, they read that as “We’re in danger!” and their fear locks in deeper.
And don’t be tempted to stroke or comfort your dog when it’s afraid — to them, you’re saying “Yes, good dog, be afraid.” It rewards the emotion you actually want to reduce.

So this year, before you blame the fireworks, check your own vibe. Be calm, be normal, and use the noise as an opportunity — not a disaster.

Teach your dog that life’s bangs and booms are just background noise.
Confidence is contagious too.

—
Charles Gray Dog Training
www.charlesgraydogtraining.com

22/10/2025

🧨 🐾Stop Treating Your Dog Like a Child 🐾🧨

I see it every week.
Lovely people. Big hearts.
And dogs that run their homes.

Somewhere along the way, we started confusing love with leadership.

We stopped setting boundaries because we didn’t want to seem “harsh.”
We started negotiating with our dogs like toddlers —
asking instead of guiding,
bribing instead of teaching.

Here’s the hard truth:
your dog doesn’t need your sympathy,
it needs your structure.

Dogs don’t feel safer when we coo at them
or when we let them decide everything
from where to walk to who to bark at.

They feel safer when they know exactly what’s expected —
clear, calm direction from someone consistent and confident.

You can love your dog deeply
and still hold rules.

In fact, that’s the most loving thing you can do.
Because dogs, unlike children, don’t grow out of bad habits —
they grow into them.

So stop treating your dog like a child - it's cruel
Start treating it like a dog —
a brilliant, sensitive, intelligent animal
that thrives on clarity and leadership - not cuddles and a 5 minute farewell every time "mummy/daddy" goes to the shop.

That’s when you’ll finally see change.

👉 www.charlesgraydogtraining.com

19/10/2025

❌🐾 FED UP WITH WALKING THE DOG ? 🐾❌

If you’re simply taking your dog out to tick “walk done” off the list, chances are you’re missing the real point.

The real magic happens on the move, in the big wide world, with all its excitement and potential hazards.

This is exactly where you get to build your leadership, establish real communication, and strengthen your relationship with your dog. Walks aren’t just about letting Fido out; they’re about YOU stepping up, showing up, and guiding.

Here’s what’s going on when you walk with purpose:
You and your dog navigate new sights, sounds, smells — the perfect terrain to read each other, respond, connect.

You set boundaries, rules, expectations: you lead, they follow. Without that, behavioural problems creep in.

You’re not just moving; you’re training in motion. Every walk becomes a live session of communication, clarity and leadership in action.

So next time you clip the lead on, ask yourself: Am I just walking my dog — or am I leading my dog?

When it’s about leadership, connection and communication — that’s when the walk ceases to be a chore and becomes something you both look forward to.

If you need any help in achieving this or advice on any behavioural issues, please contact me on my website or just give me a call

www.charlesgraydogtraining.com

17/10/2025

🔰🐾 Shouting at Your Dog? That’s Not Leadership 🐾🔰

Shouting is what happens when calm authority has gone missing.
It’s the interest rate you pay on inconsistency, frustration, and uncertainty.

Dogs don’t follow volume. They follow clarity.
They thrive on leadership, not love alone. Affection’s easy — it’s the steady, confident direction that gives them security.

If your energy is calm, predictable, and grounded, your dog listens. If it’s tense, emotional, or reactive, they tune out — just like people do when a manager loses their cool in a meeting.

You can’t “out-volume” confusion.
You fix it by leading clearly, setting boundaries confidently, and following through calmly — without the noise.

The funny thing is, when you stop trying to control your dog and start leading them, the need to shout disappears altogether.
It’s not magic — it’s communication.

If you find yourself shouting — at anyone other than Norwich City's midfield — that’s your signal: somewhere, leadership has slipped.
Get that part right, and the rest follows. Quietly.

—
Charles Gray Dog Training – Behaviour-Focused Dog Training with Owner Education.
www.charlesgraydogtraining.com

13/10/2025

🐾 Do you know what you're doing ? 🐾

Quick request: if you're thinking of getting a dog, or if you know someone who is thinking of getting a dog, please ask three things.

1. Why am I getting a dog?
2. Why am I thinking about a particular breed?
3. Do I know what a dog needs?

08/10/2025

🩸 “Another Child Mauled. Another Dog Blamed. When Will Owners Wake Up?”

Look closely at this photo.
That’s not just a statistic. That’s someone’s little girl. A child who’ll carry those scars — and those nightmares — for life.

Meanwhile, police data shows dog attacks in Norfolk have nearly doubled since 2018, with over 400 cases in 2024 alone. That’s 400 families whose lives were changed by something entirely preventable.

Let’s be clear: dogs aren’t the villains here — people are.
Every aggressive or fearful reaction comes from confusion, poor handling, or lack of education. Too many dogs are loved but never taught how to handle the modern human world — and too many owners are never shown how to teach them.

This is why Behaviour-Focused Dog Training exists. It’s not about obedience for show — it’s about understanding your dog’s psychology and changing your interaction style so your dog feels calm, secure, and responsive. No gimmicks. No endless commands. Just simple, practical education that works.

We don’t need more bans, more fear, or more headlines like this one.
We need more owners who take responsibility before something goes wrong.

👉 If you live in Norfolk and you own a dog — especially one that’s nervous, reactive, or unpredictable — do something now. Don’t wait for the headline to be yours.

📞 07438 340058
💻 www.charlesgraydogtraining.com
⭐ Read my Google Reviews

04/10/2025

Looking for love and leadership 🐾❤️

04/10/2025

🐕 🐾You’re Walking Too Fast 🐾🐕

Why Your Dog Doesn’t Care About Your Step Count

As the weather turns colder and wetter, it’s easy to fall into the “let’s just get it done” mindset — quick lead on, round the block, back inside. But for your dog, that rushed march isn’t a walk; it’s a missed opportunity.

Dogs don’t walk for fitness, they walk for information. Their nose is their main source of engagement with the world, and every blade of grass holds a story worth reading. When you rush the walk, you’re effectively cutting short their chance to decompress, learn, and simply be a dog.

A slow, sniff-heavy stroll — even if you barely move 50 yards — is far more valuable than a brisk lap of the neighbourhood. Let your dog sniff uninterrupted on grass, follow their curiosity, and decide where to linger. It’s not lazy; it’s enrichment.

So when the rain’s coming sideways and you’re tempted to rush, take a breath. Let them sniff, pause, and process. This isn’t about distance or duration — it’s about fulfilment. The perfect walk isn’t measured by how far you go, but by how relaxed your dog is when you get home.

01/10/2025

🐾 Dogs: An Inconvenient Truth 🐾

Most people welcome a dog into their life for companionship. We want loyalty, friendship, and a sense of family. That bond, built on affection, makes the first weeks with a new dog feel incredibly rewarding.

But once the honeymoon period ends, dogs stop viewing us through the lens of sentiment. They view us through the lens of survival. What matters to them is not the quantity of love we give, but the quality of leadership we show.

Here’s where things often go wrong: when a dog is showered with affection but offered little direction, it doesn’t feel cherished—it feels responsible.

And responsibility is not a gift to a dog; it’s a burden. Expecting them to carry the weight of protecting and organising you or your family creates anxiety, stress, and insecurity - because leadership is the one role they were never meant to fill.

Every form of dysfunction we see - reactivity, separation anxiety, aggression, pulling on the lead - is not a dog being “bad.” It’s a dog doing its very best to keep everyone alive, because it thinks survival is its job.

The truth is, rebalancing this relationship is far more straightforward than most people imagine.

Change begins the moment your dog recognises you as the leader.

And here’s the surprising part: results can come within 24 hours.

You don’t need fancy equipment, endless training drills, or gimmicks. You need just two things: clear rules, and the confidence to protect your personal space. Those two signals alone tell your dog, “Relax - I’ve got this covered.”

If you’d like to know how to apply this in your home, feel free to contact me - or simply explore my previous posts

FYI - I shall be bringing my business to Australia for four months next year.

https://lnkd.in/enene5s4

26/09/2025

26/09/2025