The Creative Canine

18/09/2025

Meet Bracken 🥰

Bracken is a gorgeous Springer Spaniel who joined my scent sports class full of bubbly energy. At first glance she looked like a confident girl, but it quickly became clear that she wasn’t sure of herself at all. She often looked to her guardian, Faith, for reassurance and struggled to work away from her “safe spot” in the hall.

Rather than push her, we adapted things for Bracken. We kept her searches within her comfort zone and celebrated the little wins. Over time, those little wins grew bigger. From a hesitant sniff at one pot, she’s now finding the right scent between two, and has even begun working on Scent Match, learning that the sample she sniffs leads her to the same scent hidden elsewhere.

Watching Bracken’s confidence blossom has been incredible. She’s gone from uncertain and worried to a girl who’s learning to trust her own nose and choices, and I couldn’t be prouder of both her and Faith. 😍

🐾 Why does Scentwork help dogs like Bracken?

When dogs use their sense of smell, it activates the part of the brain linked to problem-solving and reward. Sniffing lowers heart rate and reduces stress hormones, helping them feel calmer and more in control. For dogs that are anxious, nervous, or reactive, Scentwork provides a safe outlet where they can succeed, build confidence, and feel good about themselves, simply by doing what dogs are designed to do.

This is why I am so passionate about Scentwork. It’s not just a fun game, it’s a powerful way to help dogs grow, thrive, and shine.

Pop me a message if you’d like to know more about how Scentwork could help your dog.

🐾🐕

17/09/2025

The thing that I love most about my Scent Sports Classes, might surprise you…

It’s not just about the training part, and teaching dogs to search.

It’s the community that grows around it, the people who come once to a workshop not sure what to expect, unsure if their dog will “get it” or if they will fit in.

What starts as a room full of strangers quickly turns into teams who cheer each other on, laugh together when things don’t go to plan (because it happens to us all), and who build friendships along the way.

One of my favourite things to watch as an instructor is the moment when something clicks, and the human handlers eyes light up when they realise just how capable their dog really is. 😍

It honestly makes me so proud of both the dogs and people who come along every week.

Watching the progress, and confidence grow in both the dogs, and their handlers once they realise that nobody is there to judge them or critic them or their dog.

This really is the magic of Scent Sports, it’s not just training, it’s confidence building and a whole lot of fun rolled into one hour a week.

I have a few rare spaces opening up soon through the Autumn and Winter months.

If you are already on the wait list you should have an email but, if not, pop me a message if you are interested and I can tell you more about how you and your dog could get involved.

🐾🐕

16/09/2025

Back to it today after a lovely few days off! 🐾
I’ve already seen a client this morning and I’ve got my mixed sports class this evening, so a nice busy start back.

I’ve also been trying to tackle some admin… but my email has decided it doesn’t want to play 🙈
I can receive messages but for some reason, I can’t reply. Hopefully my in-house IT man (aka hubby 😂) will get it fixed later! So if you’ve emailed me today and not had a reply, that’s why – I’m not ignoring you, promise!

This week is full of Scentwork and training – with 1:1 sessions, Scent Sport classes and some training too.

Over the next few days I’ll be sharing some stories about the amazing dogs I’ve worked with, and how Scentwork has helped them grow in confidence, work through reactivity, and discover just how clever their noses really are 🤩

Keep an eye out for those posts – and if you’d like to find out how Scentwork could help your dog, just drop me a message.

🐾🐕

12/09/2025

If you’d love your dog to:
🐾 Build confidence
🐾 Be calmer and more focused
🐾 Use their brain in fun, rewarding ways
🐾 Have a safe outlet for natural instincts…

…then Scentwork is perfect ❤️

I run friendly, supportive classes and 1-2-1 sessions designed for all dogs; from young pups to golden oldies, and everything in between.

I have a rare 2 spaces available in my more advanced Scent Sports class!
Wednesday evenings at 6pm, starting 24th Sept
Suitable for anyone who has trained Scentwork with me before, or for dogs already familiar with working on Kong or Catnip scent.

Here’s what you can expect:
🐾 A calm, encouraging space where every dog can succeed
🐾 Step-by-step guidance so you feel confident too
🐾 Fun activities you can practise at home straight away

I am also going to be running a scent workshop in October, the perfect opportunity to try things out before signing up for a class block.

Pop me a message if you’d like to be added to the waitlist for the workshop, would like to book one of the class spaces, or to chat about starting with a 1-2-1.

Let’s unlock the magic of your dog’s nose together

🐾🐕

11/09/2025

Yes, Scentwork is amazing for dogs, but it’s just as powerful for us humans too 🥰

Here’s why:

🐾 A stronger bond – Scentwork is teamwork. You learn to watch your dog’s body language, celebrate their wins, and trust each other. It deepens your connection in such a lovely way.

🐕 It helps with reactivity & focus – For those dogs who are anxious or over-excited, Scentwork provides a calm, structured focus. Instead of worrying about the world, they’re busy problem-solving. Over time, this builds calmness and resilience.

🏡 Easy to do at home – No fancy kit needed. A few tubs or boxes can create a brilliant search game in your kitchen or garden. It’s flexible, fun, and doable even on a busy day.

🤩 Training that feels like play – There’s no pressure to get it “perfect”. It’s about enjoying the process and celebrating your dog’s natural abilities. Many guardians tell me it’s the first time training has felt truly relaxed.

For me, the best bit is seeing how proud people feel when their dog succeeds, it’s such a confidence boost for both ends of the lead 😍

🐾🐕

11/09/2025

Sniffy walks are the best walks for our dogs 🐾

🐾 Sniff walks aren’t a waste of time they’re therapy for dogs.

For reactive or spicy dogs, sniffing can help lower stress hormones, helps them process the world calmly, and turns an ordinary walk into real enrichment. 🌿✨

Choose a quiet spot, clip on a long line, and let your dog set the pace. 🚶‍♂️👃💛

Sometimes slowing down is the most powerful thing you can do.

Share if you agree

10/09/2025

Ever noticed your dog is calmer after a sniffy walk?

That’s because sniffing relaxes the body and brain.

Scentwork takes this natural behaviour and turns it into an activity that’s fun, rewarding, and hugely beneficial.
Here’s how:

🐕 Confidence building – Nervous or shy dogs sometimes feel unsure of the world. In Scentwork, the “answers” come from their nose. Every time they find the scent, they succeed. Repeated success = a massive confidence boost.

🧠 Mental stimulation – Searching is like solving a puzzle. Your dog has to problem-solve, focus and ignore distractions. Just 10 minutes of sniffing can be as tiring as a long walk, perfect for rainy days or when physical exercise is tricky.

🐾 A safe outlet – Dogs are born to sniff, track and hunt. Without an outlet, those instincts sometimes show up in unwanted ways (like scavenging, chasing, or digging to name a few). Scentwork channels those natural behaviours safely and positively.

And the beauty of it? Any dog can do it – young, old, nervous, confident, big or small.

🐾🐕

09/09/2025

Why Dogs LOVE to Sniff

👃 Your dog’s nose is nothing short of incredible.

While we humans have around 6 million scent receptors, dogs can have up to 300 million 😮That means their sense of smell is up to 100,000 times stronger than ours.

And it’s not just numbers, it’s how their brain is wired:

🧠 The part of a dog’s brain devoted to analysing smells is about 40 times bigger than ours (proportionally).

🐾 Dogs can smell in “layers”. Imagine being able to smell every ingredient in a stew separately; that’s how they experience the world.

Here’s the real magic: sniffing doesn’t just give information, it changes how they feel. It lowers heart rate, reduces stress hormones, and helps dogs relax.

So when we give them the chance to sniff, or do structured Scentwork, we’re not just keeping them busy, we’re meeting a fundamental need.

Tomorrow I’ll share exactly how Scentwork can boost your dog’s confidence, calmness and overall wellbeing.

🐾🐕

08/09/2025

The glasses are back! 🥳 Normal service can resume!

Messages and emails will now hopefully make sense again and no more indoor sunglasses wearing 🤣

Just a heads up for you all, I will be taking a few days off this week to spend some time with my hubby and the boys.

I will be off from Thursday 11th through to Monday 15th. Messages and emails will be responded to however, I may be slower than usual.

Keep an eye on the page this week, as I’ll be sharing more about how Scentwork can really help your dog 👀

🐾🐕

04/09/2025

Glasses left behind = squinty Krysia this week 🤓😂 so I’ve been a bit quieter on here!

I wanted to give you a heads up; I’ve got lots of good info around Scentwork coming your way next week - why it’s so good for dogs, how it helps with confidence, calmness, focus and builds a brilliant bond between you and your dog, and how you can get involved in classes or 1-2-1’s with me.

Watch this space 👀🐾

🐾🐕

31/08/2025

Day 2…..