AB Dog Coaching

07/10/2025

Come on a little tour with me at one of the private fields you can work on your training from with me

01/10/2025

Dogs on group walks should NOT be the same personalities. But why do I say that?

Do I want multiple dogs who are all absolutely obsessed with that toy I'm carrying?

Do I want multiple high energy hunting dogs who are off in the woods all in different directions?

Do I want multiple dog obsessed dogs all constantly trying to play with each other?

The answer to all of these is no. I'm exhausted thinking about it 😂

The best group dynamics I find are all dogs who like different things, because that means they're all in different spaces allowing the others to do their own thing.

Interested in my walking services and in Tibshelf, Morton or a surrounding village? Drop me a message to discuss how I can help you and your dog(s).

30/09/2025

These are the top 5 priorities we have for our foster dog Ellie:

1. Getting her settled, feeling safe and secure. This isn't your conventional training but is a key for her as a dog who has lost trust in humanity.

2. Toilet training. Maybe obvious, but as a dog who probably hasn't spent much in time in a house, we need to break the habit of toileting anywhere asap and heavily reward toileting in appropriate places.

3. Bed/crate/place. Whatever you want to call it, it's essentially the same thing. This is all about giving Ellie a safe space that is hers and allows us to send her there when required. Getting this right will also mean quicker removal of the pen.

4. Building a positive association with her name. This is a fundamental aspect of training, for a dog to be able to hear their name and flick their head round or come running for the great thing that she's about to get. It's the basis of recall and there are great exercises you can do with this to build your relationship.

5. Fulfillment. After basic fundamentals such as food, shelter, ensuring our dogs are healthy, we want to start ensuring they're mentally enriched and getting enough physical exercise. In Ellie's case, as a dog who worries about the world at the moment, this means quite open fields or private fields with long lines, lots of exploring, sniffing and play.

Have I missed something? Let me know in the comments 👇

27/09/2025

This picture perfectly sums up why I wanted to start working with dogs...

This is me the other day with our foster dog Ellie, who we collected last weekend, and Mabel at the front with the toy from lost property.

Mabel gave me the initial idea to become a dog trainer. The thing is, when you get your first dog as an adult, you inevitably do all the research you can, but you always have things you need to work out once you bring that dog home.

Scouring the internet made me realise that there is so much rubbish information being given out by professionals, and ultimately I wanted to be able to be a source for like-minded people to come for help.

Ellie, our foster dog, represents the deeper reason I'm now a dog trainer. She represents all the dogs out there, who through no fault of their own, have had a bad start in life. These dogs need somebody to come into their life and help them, and I wanted to be able to support these dogs and their owners.

Now that I'm working with many rescue dogs, there's nothing like not seeing them in the kennel anymore, knowing they've gone to their forever home! And it's so beautiful when I get to meet people who have taken on a dog who needed a good home and be able to live amazing lives together!

I absolutely love what I do and there's no better feeling than being able to be a small part in helping a dog's life!

25/09/2025

Walks with Teddy weren't always such a breeze...

See Teddy struggled when he saw other dogs and couldn't understand why he wasn't allowed to approach them all. After all, he just wants to play!

But us dog owners know this isn't appropriate, to be letting our dogs meet every dog and person out on walks.

Reactions were bad, a lot of snarling, lunging, growling and barking. Well it's all changed now!

After many months of work, he's now not only able to see other dogs and walk on, but he's been walking with my own dog Mabel and learning that he can still enjoy doing his own thing even when other dogs are around.

We've now got to the point that me and Teddy's owner feel confident with unclipping that long line. Of course, there will still be management in place, but this is a super achievement for Teddy!

Emotional reactions like the ones Teddy was having frequently require time, patience and understanding in order to help dogs like him to feel better about seeing other dogs.

Is this something you struggle with? Feel free to drop me a message if you want to discuss more how I can help your excitable dog!

24/09/2025

Your dog's behavioural issues have a cause...

This is why as a dog trainer, I don't simply give you a load of training exercises to paper over the issues you're facing.

When you get in touch with me about your dog, I take the time to understand what it is your dog and you are having trouble with and get a wider understanding of your dog's life.

Based on this and your initial consultation, I can make recommendations about how your dogs lifestyle can be changed to make it more fulfilling and provide supplementary training to help with the issues you both experience.

If you're struggling with your dog, drop me a message and I can talk you through in more detail about how this process happens when we work together.

21/09/2025

Apologies for the lack of content recently, but we've been rather busy...

Preparing for Ellie to come and join us once we were back from a short break in Northumberland this weekend.

We're now fostering Ellie from Waggy Workers where I've been volunteering for a while now.

Ellie is a nervous young dog who was struggling with kennel life, and as such we have decided to take her in and hope this will help her develop into the lovely dog we all know her to be!

11/09/2025

We can’t stress this enough:  the stigma around muzzles is dangerous. 🤷🏻‍♀️

It stops guardians from using a management tool that could keep their dog (and others) safe.  It shames people for doing the responsible thing.  It fuels judgement, fear, and misinformation.

But here’s the thing.... a muzzle isn’t the problem.  Stigma is.

The simple fact is: ethical, well fitted muzzles don’t hurt dogs.
Stigma does – by making guardians feel isolated, judged, or ashamed for prioritising safety.

We’re here to change that.  One post, one conversation, one muzzle at a time. 🫶

Share this post to help change minds! 👌

08/09/2025

06/09/2025

I am always thinking about what surfaces my dog is walking on each day...

No, this doesn't really have much to do with weather conditions, it's about fulfillment!

As most of us know, their primary sense is smell. But not all surfaces are equal when it comes to using their nose.

Concrete, tarmac, gravel, and even grass are all surfaces that we as humans like, but they don't encourage much wildlife or hold smells particularly well.

This is why I want my dog to be off the manmade footpath, and it's also part of the reason why your dog is not fulfilled if they only ever get to smell their own garden (yes, even if you have a big garden).

I want my dog to explore shrubs, forest floors, wild meadows, streams and rivers, and the hunting instincts for a lot of our dogs will also prefer this.

On these surfaces, smells remain fresher for longer and allows for our dogs to engage with the smells and track them, which contributes towards a fulfilled dog.

For me, the manmade surfaces are a means of getting my dog to somewhere much more fulfilling for them, or my dog is coming with me to a dog friendly place, which I acknowledge is not an outing that contributes towards my dogs fulfillment.

During this time, my dog is allowed to get as muddy and wet as she likes, do whatever she wants as long as she's responding to cues when needed, and is free to explore. This is why she is so calm and relaxed at home and has no behavioural concerns.