Barking Up the Right Tree

04/07/2025

Let’s flip the script. 🌀

Think about a time you felt really confident.
What helped?
– A calm environment?
– A cheerleader at your side?
– Doing something you knew you could succeed at?

Your dog’s not so different. 💛

💬 Tell us: What helps your dog feel more confident?

03/07/2025

A confident dog:
✅ Knows what works
✅ Trusts their human
✅ Has predictable routines
✅ Feels safe enough to try

An overwhelmed dog:
❌ Can’t think
❌ Can’t learn
❌ Can’t even hear your cue sometimes

Confidence changes behaviour from the inside out.
And that change sticks.

02/07/2025

Dash has been acting… off.

He seemed giddy all the time - more than his usual happy self. Then he started p*eing in the house overnight, which he’s never done. He was drinking loads of water too.

I figured it was probably a UTI, so off we went to the vet - p*e sample in my pocket. But nope - urine came back clear. The vet ran some bloods just to be safe. Again, everything looked normal… except one thing: his thyroid levels were high.

The vet was stumped. Overactive thyroid? That’s a cat thing - not something you usually see in dogs. But if it does show up in dogs, there are three possible causes:

They’ve been over-medicated for an underactive thyroid (nope, not Dash).

They’re raw fed and accidentally eating meat with thyroid tissue in it (possibly - my dogs are raw fed).

They have a thyroid tumour. (gulp.)

Obviously, I hoped it was the diet. I switched it straight away. Meanwhile, the vet sent another sample off for a full thyroid panel. She’d felt something in his neck but wasn’t sure if it was anything to worry about…

Two days later, the results came back. Dash’s thyroxine level was even higher.

The vet said she wasn’t convinced diet alone could explain levels that high. And it was bugging her that she thought she’d felt something. So she got a second opinion. The second vet couldn’t feel anything. Dash had officially become a medical mystery.

We got a referral to a specialist the following week. In the meantime, we had to have some hard conversations at home. If Dash did have a tumour, the odds were high that it would be malignant (90%). But the only way to find out for sure would be a biopsy - and that carries a serious risk of catastrophic bleeding.

Treatment would involve major surgery, and possibly chemo. Dash is 11½. We made the decision not to go down that road. It felt like it would be more for our sake than his.

Still, the referral felt right. We needed to know what we were dealing with.

The specialist was amazing - but even she looked a little confused. Because thyroid tumours in dogs are usually big, gnarly things. Dash does have a tumour… but it’s small, hard to feel, and honestly? It behaves more like a cat tumour. 😂

On top of that, it’s extremely rare for a tumour to actually cause hyperthyroidism in dogs. So now Dash isn’t just unique. He’s ultra-rare. Possibly… a cat?

There’s no standard medication for hyperthyroidism in dogs, so we’re trialling a cat medication. It might help, it might not. We’re back to the vet in a week to see.

Until then, we’re focusing on just one thing:
Making sure Dash is living his absolute best life. 💛

01/07/2025

💛 Save this post if you're ready to practice confidence, not chaos.

30/06/2025

Confidence doesn’t come from exposure.
It doesn’t come from ‘just let them figure it out.’
And it definitely doesn’t come from chaos.

Confidence grows through:
🟡 Safe, structured practice
🟡 Predictable routines
🟡 Small wins stacked gently

If your dog’s struggling out in the world, maybe it’s not that they’re bad at it.
Maybe they just haven’t been set up to succeed - yet.

27/06/2025

Let’s get real for a second.

Which of these do you find hardest to stay consistent with?

🛡️ Safety
🩺 Health & Nutrition
👀 Awareness
💪 Practice & Confidence
🐕 Enrichment & Exercise
💛 Self-Care

💬 Drop the emoji below—we promise, no judgement here.

25/06/2025

Tommy came to us from the local shelter.
He was a border collie cross and the reason I fell in love with this breed type.
At first Tommy seemed perfect. He was a young dog, but very calm, he loved to snuggle on the couch and he NEVER pulled on the lead.
I had it in my head that Border Collies need to work so we joined a local agility group.
I loved it, Tommy not so much.
He was not a confident dog, and uncomfortable with the proximity of other dogs. The practice sessions happened in a local park and the environment was very busy, Tommy didn't like the pressure of the training, which was old style, very task oriented.

I was oblivious to every signal the Tommy gave to signal his discomfort.

It didn't take long and Tommy started to react towards the other dogs.
Things escalated quickly and one day Tommy made a beeline to attack a dog that was new to the group, a puppy.

Growling and lunging was considered bad, and a dog that attacked a puppy was a hound from hell. I was expected to correct my dog's behaviour.

But that didn't feel right.

I started to do research and the more I learned the more I started to understand what it was like from Tommy's point of view. He was insecure, he was scared and he lashed out as a result.

When I started meeting his needs instead of managing the symptoms?
Everything changed.

He was never a performance dog, but he enjoyed playing agility. He even won a few ribbons.

But most importantly, he felt safe and loved life.

Tommy lived with us for more than 10 years. He travelled to Canada and Germany and back to Namibia. Wherever we went, he enjoyed hiking both on and off lead.

He never had another incident.

24/06/2025

23/06/2025

So often we’re told:
💬 “Just distract him!”
💬 “Use a firmer tone!”
💬 “Correct it immediately!”

But barking, lunging, hiding, freezing… they’re all just the tip of the iceberg.
This week, we’re going deeper.
Because when you understand what’s really going on, everything changes.

20/06/2025

Reactive dogs can make you feel like you’re failing.

Like you’re the problem. Like you should just “be firmer.”

Nope.

The pain grows when we turn struggle into self-blame.
There’s another way.

You and your dog deserve support that’s kind, structured, and grounded in real-life experience.

That’s why we built Barking Up The Right Tree.

Drop a coment or DM us—we love hearing about your dogs.

And we’re here, cheering you on—every step of the way.

19/06/2025

You’ve read the books. Tried the tips.
You thought you had it figured—and then your dog loses it again.
You feel awful. You’ve tried everything… but nothing seems to stick.

That’s because reactivity isn’t a one-problem, one-solution kind of thing.
It needs structure, support—and a kind approach that looks at all the layers: emotions, environment, health, and you.

That’s what we do.

If you’re ready to feel hopeful again, come take the first step:

👉 https://barking-up-the-right-tree.newzenler.com/courses/dog-training-planner

You don’t have to wait for “rock bottom” to begin.

18/06/2025

I’ll never forget the first time it didn’t happen.
The first time Dash didn’t react.

He used to react to everything—barking, lunging, or freezing in place, completely overwhelmed. He was that dog.

We were walking in a quiet field when a dog appeared, about 10 metres away. My stomach dropped. I braced for it.

But Dash… stopped. Looked. You could almost see the hamsters turning the wheels in his little brain - should I react? Should I panic?
And then… he looked at me.

Those big, brown, trusting eyes.
They said: “I trust you. You’ve got this.”

That one look meant everything. It was a choice - a moment of trust and calm.
I took action to keep him feeling safe, and we carried on. No drama. No meltdown.

That’s what we help our students build. Step by step.
Want to feel that shift too? We can show you how.