Paws to Think NZ

29/07/2026

I realise that in the last five years I've introduced four new puppies into the household.
My rules have been the same for each one
Don't force any interactions, respect the older dogs needs for peace and privacy, and let everyone gradually find their feet. Or paws 🐾
I'm lucky because I've got a big space at home so I always start my introductions outside.
This video made my heart sing today. After nearly 6 weeks in our home, Jack decided that it was okay to play with the puppy.
Jack is actually his dad but has no idea of course that is the case.
My older dogs come first in these situations - the puppy will settle in their own time but my older dogs need support if they're unsure what's going on

19/07/2026

Yesterday I was at an indoor dog sports competition with Jack the Stafford (who did really well, gaining three Qs).

I also took Jenny with me. Jenny is 14 months, and very lively! She is a typical border collie, quick to observe and quicker to react 😂

We spent time just standing around, and letting her look. Every time she checked back in with me - she got a treat delivered from my hand to her mouth. No other behaviour wanted - just a treat for looking at me.

This is a very powerful idea. If something she sees is confusing or very exciting, I want her to look at me to check it’s OK - and the delivered treat tells her that it is OK. If it had become too hard for her, then we would have left the area.

Thinking under threshold - so important. Our role as guardians is to make sure these experiences do happen under threshold, not when the doggie is past thinking and over aroused, and unable to learn from the situation.

Photos of Jenny and with her new best friend, Marc our new puppy.

15/06/2026

I often use my dogs to demonstrate the power of having a great “leave it” command which is so important for fun and safety.
I found this video on the topic from the wonderful UK trainer Chirag Patel, and thought it was worth sharing here ♥️
This is almost identical to the method I use.

This video takes a look at an alternative way of teaching a "drop" ...

11/06/2026

In 10 days time a new puppy is joining our household of three female collies, a male Staffordshire bull terrier and two adults. He is the son of our Stafford.

I am considering doing a FB diary of his first few months which would be in a new FB group.

If you would like to be part of that group, please comment below, and I will look at setting it up.

Meet Marc ♥️

Here's the new group https://www.facebook.com/share/g/17EaQJtnBa/

21/05/2026

I'm often asked "how often should I train my dog"?

Unless I'm training for a specific skill or competition, I regard the whole day as a training opportunity if needed. For example:
Puppy picks up something they should not have from the floor. You trade it for a toy and play a few seconds tug. That's training a "leave it" but it wasn't a dedicated session, it was just building on life skills.
You call your dog inside the house when they're outside and you play with them or give them a treat when they come in. That is building a recall even though you didn't dedicate some time to it.
You randomly ask your dog to sit while you are doing something completely different like cooking or something. That's training- it is teaching your dog to listen to you, even though you might look different from what you do in a training class.

The list of possibilities is endless. So unless you're training a specific skill and making time for that, treat everyday as an opportunity for your dog to grow and learn with you, randomly, at unexpected moments.

This is Jenny she is 12 months old. She knows an incredible amount of life skills and behaviors, because I built it into our daily lives from eight weeks old 💜 - plus lots of play of course 💜

12/05/2026

For the first time I can recall, I am not collecting my new puppy to live with us until he is 12 weeks old.

Over the years there has been a deeper understanding of the benefit of leaving puppies with their litter and their mums, beyond 8 weeks. Amazingly, 30 years ago - we used to collect our puppies at 6 weeks old!!

Puppies have their first fear period between 8-12 weeks, therefore it could be really hard for them if they join their new family during that period, however lovely the family.

There are also excellent programmes that reputable breeders follow, such as Puppy Culture, that ensure you get a balanced puppy that is a little bit older than you might have expected, looking at social media etc.

Marc’s breeder is following Puppy Culture, which covers a lot of aspects of the first 12 weeks of their life, including different exposures, work on potty training, and interacting with many humans. I can’t wait to meet him again when he comes to live with us in June.

Sometimes we need to collect puppies earlier - I’ve done it myself - due to a breeder having cancer, or rescuing them from a bad situation, but if you can bear to wait, do hold off.

10/05/2026

Today I chose our next puppy 💜

I based my choice on his engagement with me and his structure. He is the son of our own Staffordshire Bull terrier.

When he arrives in six weeks time I will post regular videos of his development and journey with our family of two humans and four dogs .

28/04/2026

A random selection of tonight's "last walk before bed" photos 💜

22/04/2026

Looking after and training a dog is most definitely also about problem solving. In order to do that you need to understand context and what your dog will enjoy doing.

In this video explain how I solved a problem with my young dog being annoying with one of my older dogs.
I thought her behavior was inappropriate and my older dog thought so too so we needed to change the picture - with kindness.

Jenny is a border collie and loves to chase. The reason that she is barking at Jack in his crate when she comes out of hers is because she wants to play with him but he doesn't want to, and he doesn't like her noisy attention before he leaves his crate.

So I gave her an alternative behavior. Chasing. And I made it even better by allowing her to chase food.

Problem solved. I don't know if I will ever be able to stop using food to get her out of the crate if Jack is nearby but I don't care. Maybe she'll grow out of this maybe she won't in which case I will just have treats in my pockets. Forever.

11/04/2026

Blooper 😂 I was trying to prepare a video of Lexi focusing forward on a food target. I had left her favorite toy some distance away.

I saw her race past the treat and not even eat it and I wondered what on earth she was doing 🤔
Had she not seen it?
Was the treat too small? 😂

Obviously she prefers her toy because she just went to get it instead 😂 😂 😂

Who needs food when there's a toy available? 😂 😂