Creaturekind by Helen Greenley

07/08/2025

"I am so happy I contacted Helen when Dustin started having issues with his litter tray. One online consultation was all it took for Helen to get to the root of the problem. After implementing the changes Helen suggested, Dustin’s issues completely resolved—he’s now happily using his tray again!” – Susan
Dustin was adopted by Susan two years ago, but only recently began struggling with his tray use. After a behaviour consultation, we identified that early signs of osteoarthritis were making it harder for him to access, and feel comfortable using his litter tray .
By adapting the tray set-up and making small changes to the litter and environment, Susan helped Dustin feel confident and pain-free using his tray again. She was absolutely brilliant at supporting him through this.
If your cat's toilet habits suddenly change, it’s always worth investigating. Age, pain, and social stress, confidence and prior learning can all play a role—and small tweaks can make a big difference.
Get in touch if you’d like support with your cat’s behaviour, we are here to help.

21/07/2025

'Sparky is doing well; he seems much calmer. He definitely still has his barky moments, but he seems happier, and we feel we know how to "communicate" with him better, so thank you for your help. We even had the blinds open the other day and didn't seem too fussed when people walked past, (or he would huff and look back at us, not bark).'

Sparky's owners asked me for help with his barking, and I have been working with them to help him to feel safer and more confident around strangers. Our sessions are now finished, and it was lovely to hear he is continuing to improve. Changing behaviour is never a quick fix, and Sparky's owners now have the knowledge and skills to continue to support him on their own.

If you would like help with your dog's behaviour, please get in touch via the website www.creature-kind.co.uk
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24/04/2025

I worked with Wendy & Tabitha back in 2023, I can't believe I missed sharing their story! How beautiful is Tabitha? 🥰
"Tabitha was a re-homed from a rescue charity, so I had very little idea of her past experience. When she first arrived, as a family, we struggled for a number of months with her toileting outside her tray, albeit in the right room. I knew enough to appreciate she was trying to communicate she wasn't happy with something, but couldn't put my finger on the problem. At this point, I thought we were going to have to re-home her again, and as a last resort, I sought help from Helen.
Helen, methodically worked with me to establish Tabitha's preferences and was fundamental in liaising with Tabitha's Vet to diagnose and gain treatment for her anxiety. Helen kept me on track, documenting and evidencing Tabitha's behaviour. This allowed us to build a picture, that Helen helped me understand, from Tabitha's point of view.
I am so glad we took the decision to look for behavioural help from Helen. Tabitha is a much happier cat these days, she is consistently using her litter tray and I know Helen is on hand for advice if I need it in the future. "

24/04/2025

🐶🐶 MAY ‘25 PUPPY CLASS - STILL has a FEW spaces!
🐕🐕 ADOLESCENT/ADULT CLASS - I am taking names for another class to start shortly please get in touch …
🐾🐾 BEGINNER PET GUNDOGS NEXT CLASS OPENS JUNE
🥰🥰 PROGRESSIVE GUNDOGS … if interested in continuing your Gundog training …
‼️‼️KARL CHEATHAM TRAINING WEEKEND STILL HAS 3 HANDLER & A NUMBER OF SPECTATOR SPACES!!!!

PLEASE email: [email protected] for ALL/ANY of the above information and questions … and PLEASE KEEP SHARING it means so much - THANK YOU ALL 🥰🐶🐾

24/04/2025

This! I can highly recommend puppy and adult classes with Callimuir Canines.

Ethical training not only requires a trainer capable of reading and reacting to your dogs emotional state, they should also be capable of helping you, the owner, be able to read and react to these emotions too.

10/02/2025

“I can only thank Helen and her team for such great support and wonderful experience. Hector is my best pal but was struggling with his reaction to other dogs when we were out. Through Helen’s patience she really got to know us and understand what would work for him. Through gentle coaching, guidance and practice she was able show me how better to interact, respond and reward. We are continuing to follow up all the advice but Hector is so much more chilled and I am definitely a better dog owner. It really is a 2 way process and I am eternally grateful for the help and guidance Helen provided.”
Thank you Susan, and Hector, it's been a pleasure working with you.

23/11/2024

We have an EXCITING give away - thanks to Performance Dog UK

Thankfully, dog training today is light years away from the dark days of making a stark choice between reward and punishment. Alongside Vickie Davenport, Melissa Fallon, an APBC Academic member, has written this new book 'Training for Dog Trainers'.

They review:

Which training method should we use?

What are the pros and cons?

What are the consequences?

What effect is it having on the dog?

In this book, the authors have gone back to basics and imposed a structure on all the methodologies using a variety of diagrams and tables, to make complex material more accessible, allowing readers to make informed choices and, most important of all, to train every dog as an individual.

It is essential reading for all students and professionals involved in dog training and behaviour as well as providing guardians with the resources to better understand their dogs.

TO WIN A COPY - please comment 'TRAINING' below and we'll do the draw on Friday 29th November at midday.

If you'd like to buy a copy - there is a pre-order special currently running via:
https://bit.ly/4hVE19u

Facebook is not the sponsor, endorser, administrator, or associated with this competition.

21/11/2024

The gorgeous Twiglet was struggling with aspects of settling into a new home, and her wonderful owner was worried and wanting to get things right for her. So I was super pleased to have this feedback, following our consult.
'Twiglet the young rescue cat came to live with me a few weeks ago. She’s my first cat, so I read lots of website information about the various ‘dos and don’ts’. However, I found some of it confusing and there wasn’t everything I needed in one place. I wanted to make sure I was doing my best for Twiglet to settle her in with me. Helen was very thorough and gave me lots of good advice which has really helped. She has given me the confidence to carry on doing things that work, and ideas on some things I hadn’t thought about. She has a real feeling and understanding for animals, cats in this instance. I really liked how we were looking at things from the cat’s perspective and what would help Twiglet feel more at home. It’s still early days, but I feel the benefit of being able to talk to someone with Helen’s depth of knowledge.'

15/05/2024

Happy birthday Best Girl! The goodest girl ever there was, so much love for you our very special Smidge 🤎🤎🤎

26/04/2024

I don't use TikTok so had no idea that a 'pet vacuum' was a thing, until I was asked to comment from a behaviourists perspective.
I think as a general rule of thumb, for husbandry stuff, we should be asking 'How can I get this done in the least stressful way possible for my animal?' rather than 'How can I make this more convenient for me?'

They might be big on TikTok but are pet vacuums the secret to a hair-free home – or do they just suck? We spoke to a pet behaviourist and a groomer to find out more.

26/04/2024

So much this!
So often dogs are expected to fit into lifestyles that they are just not equipped for.
When we take on the responsibility for any animal, the question should be asked ‘What accommodations do I need to make to meet their needs?’.

Yesterday I read a post on a colleague's page which should have been entirely noncontroversial. The post stated that dogs shouldn't be regularly crated for 8 hours or more at a time. Incredibly some people pushed back hard on that point on the basis it excluded people who worked full time/long hours from having a dog.

And there's the rub. 𝙉𝙤𝙩 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙖 𝙙𝙤𝙜. Much as they might want one. Not everyone's lifestyle is compatible with dog ownership. Which can be a bitter pill to swallow if you desperately want a dog in your life but that doesn't make it any less true.

Dogs need social contact*. They need space to move*. To deprive them of these things has a detrimental effect on their well being, no matter how loved they may be. So if the only way someone can fit a dog into their life is to leave it alone & crated for 8-10 hours every day they really need to do some soul searching and consider the dog's experience, not just their own wants.

If you do work out of the home for long hours and still want a dog in your life then you have to be prepared to pay for support to help you care for your dog - a dog walker, pet sitter, day care etc. And high quality, ethical pet care costs.

Does that mean that those who work long hours out of the home and can't afford high quality pet care can't have a dog? Yes, very possibly.

Owning a dog isn't a right. It's a responsibility which means that you have to consider the dog's welfare ahead of your own wants. There will be many such decisions along the way and the first one is whether your lifestyle can meet a dog's most basic needs. And if it can't, the answer should be 'no'.

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*𝘙𝘦𝘧𝘴:
• 𝘉𝘦𝘦𝘳𝘥𝘢 𝘉, 𝘚𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘔 𝘉 𝘏, 𝘷𝘢𝘯 𝘏𝘰𝘰𝘧𝘧 𝘑, 𝘥𝘦 𝘝𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘏 𝘞, 𝘔𝘰𝘭 𝘑 𝘈 (1998). 𝘉𝘦𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘭, 𝘴𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘢, 𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘴𝘰𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘺𝘱𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘶𝘭𝘪 𝘪𝘯 𝘥𝘰𝘨𝘴, 𝘈𝘱𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘈𝘯𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘭 𝘉𝘦𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘚𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 58: 365-381.
• 𝘉𝘦𝘦𝘳𝘥𝘢 𝘉, 𝘉𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘢 𝘞, 𝘚𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘔 𝘉 𝘏, 𝘔𝘰𝘭 𝘑 𝘈, 𝘷𝘢𝘯 𝘏𝘰𝘰𝘧𝘧 𝘑 (1999𝘢). 𝘊𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘤 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘥𝘰𝘨𝘴 𝘴𝘶𝘣𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘰𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘰𝘯𝘦: 𝘣𝘦𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘦𝘴, 𝘗𝘩𝘺𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘉𝘦𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘰𝘳 66: 233-242.

11/12/2023

Could you let people know this dachshund has been handed into Fraserburgh police station this morning. Thank you