Marta's Dog Behaviour

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Marta's Dog Behaviour

BSc(Hons) PGCert Registered Animal Training Instructor with the ABTC and member of the APDT (01587).
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25/11/2025

Do you have a frustrated dog? Be careful when giving them mental 'enrichment'!

Enrichment is great for all dogs, however you need to be extra careful when you try to occupy a dog that gets frustrated easily. 🧠
By making enrichment extra difficult for them to 'tire them out' we can do the opposite.

If they find the toy or puzzle too difficult, we will simply ADD to their frustration leading to a mental overload, resulting in more whining, barking, excessive pawing etc.

Remember, enrichment only works when it regulates, not overwhelms. Your frustrated dog needs easy success not a challenge.

Here are some enrichment exercises that are great for those dogs:

1. Easy scatter feeding. Choose a patch of short grass or use a pavement, keep the treats large and close together so your dog can find them easily.

2. Give them a Kong with something they can easily lick. Don't freeze it and stuff it full of treats and pate, keep the contents to a minimum, making it easier to finish.

3. Easy scentwork. Place treats around the room where your dog can easily find them, instead of hiding them in difficult to reach places.

4. Teach them an easy trick! Never underestimate the power of tricks! hand touch or chin rest are great ones to teach.

If you are still struggling with your frustrated dog, let me know and I will be able to help you!

21/11/2025

One behaviour I wish every dog owner understood is...

🌟Sniffing🌟

Sniffing isn’t 'being stubborn.'
It isn’t 'ignoring you.'
It’s not even a distraction.

Sniffing is how dogs process the world!
It’s their version of reading the news, scrolling social media, and catching up with friends all at once.

🐾It lowers stress and anxiety

🐾Helps dogs decompress after stimulation

🐾Builds confidence in nervous dogs

🐾Reduces pulling and reactivity on walks

🐾Mentally tires them

When we give dogs time to sniff, we’re not just giving them enrichment.
We’re giving them control over their environment, which is something many behaviour struggles stem from lacking.

You don't need to do fancy scent-work or tracking, you can incorporate simple exercises to your daily walk.

Try this:
On your next walk, pause at a patch of grass and simply let your dog choose how long to sniff. You could even encourage them to sniff by throwing a handful of pea-sized high value dog treats or cheese and asking them to 'go sniff'. Point toward the treats.

You’ll be amazed at how much calmer and more connected they become when they’re allowed express their natural behaviours.

18/11/2025

Just because your dog wants to do something that requires a lot of physical effort, does not mean they’re not in pain!

Dogs have a different way of choosing what feels good to them when they’re in discomfort to us. To us, it may not make any sense at all.
Why on earth would Bruce rather jump up into the car than use the ramp when he has a flare up? Because that feels safer for him, it’s what he’s done for 6 years of his life, it’s familiar.

My next job is to make his ramp as steady and secure as I can!

17/11/2025

Book in now if you want a Saturday 121! This is for training and behaviour clients.

I am also quickly running out of weekday availability too so if you want to be seen before Christmas, please reach out asap!

Marta ☺️🐾

11/11/2025

Nothing better than a gorgeous working Lab! 😍

Ottie has never walked on a loose lead, this was a first. She naturally tried to pull like a steam train as soon as we put the lead on so we had to show her that actually it really pays off when the lead is loose. 🦮

We covered some very easy basics and added a mix of rewards. Ottie finds sniffing extremely rewarding so instead of giving her a treat directly in her mouth every time, we have dropped some on the grass for her to find.

This video was at the start of our loose lead walking training, she was super engaged by the end of our session and we also managed some beautiful recall 💛

And yes, we do use a lot of treats, especially to start off with. Because it works!!!!

07/11/2025

Christmas Sunday Social Dog Walk! 🎄🎅

Join us on the final Sunday Social dog walk this year! Let’s make it different by putting our Christmas jumpers and Santa hats on. If your dog is happy with wearing a jumper, why not put a Christmas jumper on them too?

If more than one handler is coming, feel free to bring a hot drink along with you to keep warm☕️

The walk is on 14th of December at 10am at Great Hockham woods.

Book a spot here (only 5 spaces available to ensure we have control of all dogs):

https://MartasDogBehaviour.as.me/?appointmentType=82391699

Hopefully see some of you there ☺️

05/11/2025

Just in the last week, I’ve had some amazing dog owners say things to me like:

‘I was worried you would tell me it’s all my fault’

‘Previous trainer said it’s because we spoilt him’

‘He sleeps in my bed, I know he shouldn’t’

‘I didn’t like previous trainer’s methods, my gut was telling me this isn’t good for my dog’

And all I want to say is: trust your gut!! If you are working with someone who uses methods that you are not comfortable with, question them! Or seek someone who uses different ones.

Just because you offer your dog comfort when they are worried, scared, anxious, stressed or frustrated does not mean you are spoiling them. It does not mean you are doing the wrong thing. Just because your dog is reactive does not mean you’ve done something wrong! Some dogs (like humans) are just born like this and it is up to us to make the world around them smaller and easier to cope with.

It breaks my heart to think there are people out there who blame owners who are just trying to help their dogs💔

The real dog professionals do not judge, they don’t blame, they don’t make you feel guilty. They just want to help, in a kind and caring way.

So if you have a dog and you are scared to reach out for help because you are worried you’ll be blamed or judged, that is not the case at all. There are amazing dog trainers and behaviourists out there 💙

04/11/2025

How handsome is Wilbur?! 😍

Wilbur is a gorgeous Cocker who has learned that pulling on the lead is the only way to walk! He also doesn’t like certain dog breeds that he meets on his walks.

We practiced some loose lead walking and engagement skills and he was walking beautifully on his lead by the end of our session.

He is a very fast learner and did amazingly!

31/10/2025

Happy Halloween! 🎃 👻

I LOVE Halloween! We live on a very busy estate and I have lots of sweets for kids prepared every year, it’s amazing seeing everyone dressed up.

However this year we’ve had to do things a little differently as Treacle is still with us. I put up a sign asking people not to knock and I put a chair in front of our door with the sweets on top, so people physically can’t get right up to our front door.

How do your dogs cope at Halloween? Do you have trick and treaters or do you shut your blinds and pretend nobody’s home?😆

29/10/2025

Teaching Treacle a little bit of independence using her mat.

Treacle is a young puppy who was found as a stray, we have no idea what the first few months of her life looked like but she is definitely worried about a lot of things in life. She naturally follows me around the house, which is perfectly fine! However, I want her to realise that when she settles on her mat while I’m doing things around the house, really good things happen.

This was probably the second session we practiced this and this morning she happily took herself to another room while I was preparing breakfast!

I’m keeping training to a minimum and keeping it very easy as she is mid season and she’s been through a few different homes over the last few weeks.

She is still available if anyone is looking for a small dog or knows of someone. I’ll happily help with the transition into the new home too 🥰

dog

22/10/2025

Some lovely tricks for our week 6 puppy class!

Week 6 is such a bittersweet time as it’s hard not to get attached to these little faces! 🐶

There will now be a short break in puppy classes and we will resume them again in January! 🐾🐾

21/10/2025

Treacle update day 3!

I must admit, I forgot what it’s like having a dog that is so chilled about everything! Especially when they’re a puppy 😅

Giving her plenty of time to just sleep and settle, we practiced some basics (quickly realised that chicken was FAR too exciting to use for indoor training) but for now I just want her to feel safe and slowly work on proving to her that the world isn’t as scary as it seems.

Address

Attleborough
NR171

Telephone

+447463643227

Website

https://www.martasdogbehaviour.co.uk/

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