Completely Canines Dog Training

12/02/2025

What she said 👇👇

If you start your training journey with reward based training you might suck at first, and that's pretty normal for most new skills we learn. It doesn't mean it doesn't work, it just means you suck at it......but with practise you will get better and you may even become a reinforcement based ninja 🥷

Your dog will love you for it. ❤️

If you use positive reinforcement to train your dog you will become skilled at using positive reinforcement and when you come across that dog that it doesn't seem to be working with you don't resort to punishment. You talk to your other reward based trainers and someone will have a solution or you work through finding one yourself and in turn you get better and more skilled at it

It's absolutely not just about treats and harnesses. That's what it appears to be to the untrained eye of those who don't use it or understand it fully.

It goes way beyond operant conditioning because when we are working with a dog with big emotions operant conditioning often doesn't happen.

We use neuroscience, we look at emotions and conditioning. We use intrinsic reinforcement and neurochemistry as reinforcement, we use premack. Our tool box of rewards contains much more than cheese 🧀 and a harness 🦮

My goal in training is to use as little aversives as possible and I absolutely love finding better ways to train dogs with reward based training 🐾🐾

10/02/2025

09/02/2025

07/02/2025

Mango is now 7 months old-she’s a mountain mastiff. Had a little catch up with her mum to make sure we’re still on track-Mango had started planting herself on a walk as she is a bit of a social butterfly and loves greeting people 😁

06/02/2025

Completely Canines Dog Training Academy -new website!

I’m excited to share some BIG news with you—our brand new website is LIVE! After months of planning, we’ve completely revamped our online space to make it easier for you to find what you need, connect with us, and enjoy a smoother experience. Here’s what you can expect from our new website: ...

03/02/2025

A little one to one yesterday with Marceline (who came through my puppy classes), her sister and another family dog Jarvis. Marceline and Jarvis had a scuffle when she was a puppy (he’s an older gent) so the family have been working on reintroducing them slowly so that there isn’t a reoccurrence of that incident. Great to see Marcy and her owners again, she’s a gem 🥰

29/01/2025

Credit
Nathan W. Pyle

11/01/2025

New starter in puppy class Henry doing his bestest sit 🥰🥰 bloody love Viszla ears 😍

10/01/2025

One to one session today with the very gorgeous Pluto (staffyxrottiexpresacanario) who is a frustrated greeter and has become a bit reactive on walks. He’s a new rescue and his fab owners want to get it right as he’s 42kg.
His owner has worked really hard since my last visit and he’s doing really well-42kgs of lovebug is Pluto 🥰🥰

05/01/2025

A big welcome to Otto and Nessie who started their puppy classes with me yesterday (even though it was flipping freezing 🥶) 👋

05/01/2025

RIP Karen Pryor ❤️

In Memory of Karen Pryor

I'm very sad to hear that Karen Pryor, at the age of 92, has passed away.

The dog training world has lost a true pioneer, a visionary and a phenomenal human being.

Karen leaves behind a legacy that transformed how we understand and connect with animals.

Karen introduced clicker training to the world, revolutionising dog training with her science-based, compassionate and positive training methods.

Karen didn’t just teach us how to train dogs—she taught us how to see the world from their perspective and build relationships rooted in trust, kindness, and clarity.

Personally, Karen has had a profound influence on me and my journey as a trainer. Attending Clicker Expo, her books and the many courses I've completed through Karen Pryor Clicker Training have been instrumental in shaping my own beliefs, values and approach to training dogs.

Karen's legacy will live on in every click, every moment of connection, and every step forward the dog training community takes toward kindness and understanding.

Thank you, Karen, for everything you have given to us. You will be deeply missed, but I know your influence will continue to ripple through the world for generations to come.

Rest in peace lovely lady 🐾💔

31/12/2024

Wishing everyone a happy and healthy 2025 🥳🥰

26/12/2024

Please read!!

⚠️ BOXING DAY : EXTRA CAUTION REQUIRED ⚠️

Your dog or puppy may be over stimulated, tired, sore and irritable 😠 🥱 😩 😵‍💫

Take extra care today, please keep in mind that sometimes the first symptom of a dog or puppy being too tired, sore or over stimulated is behaviour change. Behaviour change which, in some instances, can appear to come from nowhere.

‼️ A dog’s usual levels of tolerance may be at risk of lowering.
‼️ Their startle responses may increase.
‼️ Their sensitivity to stimuli, including being touched, may heighten.
‼️ Their ability to recollect prior learned information (their training) may decrease.
‼️ Their social skills may become compromised, which may result in them failing to read the room or being more irritable.
‼️ They may be quicker to fatigue on walks.

Nick and I travelled to see my step mum on Monday. Christmas Eve, we spent the first part of the day cleaning the house and Christmas Day we travelled to see Nick’s parents.

My dogs don’t sleep deeply in the car and despite taking their beds to both family homes, they didn’t sleep for as long, nor as well as they would have at home. They were understandably easily disturbed by the activity and were even following me to the bathroom each time.
Our cleaning related hustle and bustle on 24th would have also interfered with their usual sleep quality.

Yesterday Amigo also dedicated a good hour of his day on his feet putting pressure on kitchen door activity - hoping for a management slip up that would get him access to the food being served and the plates being cleared away from the dining room. You can take the stray off the streets…… 😆

So all in all, across three days- I would guess that my dogs are about 15 hours in deficit (of sleep).

During sleep, stress hormone levels are lowered, the brain’s toxins are removed, cellular repair across the body occurs, and the immune system gets a boost. The body is given an MOT that helps regulate its responses to stimuli the next day.

This includes regulating the perception of pain and of course, quality rest supports the reduction of any inflammation.

My dogs were on their feet - getting up and down more than normal - across the past three days. Any muscular or skeletal pain can become heightened- especially for my senior dog Kanita.

Additionally, during sleep information is processed and stored. Whilst relevant for all dogs, those with young puppies should be especially considerate to the fact that there’s only so much sensory stimuli the young brain can process. A high intensity of stimuli (noise, sights, scents, and touch!) parallel to compromised sleep can lead to an over stimulated puppy- this usually results in a puppy that jumps and mouths more!

Lastly, most of us humans get tired from all of the activity. The usual level of management and ‘tolerance’ of our dogs and puppies may start to slip.

Contexts in which to be cautious:

☑️ Visitors arriving to the home- caution letting dogs greet them at the door or in narrow hallways!

Also be cautious of your dog accidentally escaping out the door or gate left open. Stay vigilant and remind guests to keep the usual doors and gates closed.

☑️ People touching your dog or puppy! Does the dog WANT to be touched? Have they asked to be touched? Is touching the puppy leading to them jumping and mouthing? Is the dog and puppy being touched and/or picked up too often?

Make sure everyone, especially children, leave a resting puppy or dog well alone and that there's understanding of what 'no thanks' looks like (they don't approach to interact when asked, or look away, move away or tense up when being interacted with).

☑️ Monitor anyone playing with the dog/puppy very carefully. Normally, it's the humans that struggle to regulate their behaviour intensity or duration - and the dog/puppy simply responds to that.

☑️ People (including children) behaving in an animated way (loud noises and sudden or unusual movement).

☑️ How WE humans respond to undesired behaviour. Are we appearing confrontational? Are we intensifying the level of stimuli or calming things down?

☑️ Leaving dangerous foods and items around. Keep things out of reach of your dog or shut them away from your dog.

If your puppy or dog 'steals' an item that they 'shouldn't have', trade it for treats. Don't rush to grab things off them and ensure everyone present knows to do the same (or better yet, alerts you to do it). You'd be suprised how many bite incidents happen towards people who aren't the dog's primary carer and who go to take things off the dog/puppy.

☑️ Interacting with unfamiliar dogs on walks (or even their buddies!). Dogs who are tired or in pain may be more quick to be defensive, over stimulated dogs and puppies may be more likely to socialise inappropriately- which may result in them being the target of defensive behaviour.

☑️ The walk itself! Pay attention to the environment, something that’s harder to do when walking in a group!
Be aware and considerate of others, but also towards livestock and wildlife if you’re walking somewhere different to usual.

Keep your dog on lead if you’re not sure their recall is up to the usual standard! Remember, memory recollection AND sensory processing is compromised when dogs are tired.

Lastly, if your dog doesn’t normally go on epic, long hikes, then stick to a distance similar to their usual walk duration. Please don’t exhaust your dog by taking them on an endurance hike they’ve not built the fitness up for, or that they may be too old or less physically able to enjoy.


Today we are meeting my brother, his wife and my two young nephews at the pub for lunch. Kanita doesn’t like children too close and Mohawk gets a bit nervous of their excitement- so we have opted to meet away from the home so my dogs aren’t put in a situation they may struggle with more than normal.

It’s just not worth the risk! I’d rather be labelled as too cautious than there be a concerning or serious incident. My dogs will be happier at home resting.

Be your dog's advocate ❤️

22/12/2024

Thanks for all of your support this year-it’s been a tough one but we’re still going strong!!
Big thanks to all of my clients who have stuck with me through moving, thanks to for giving us a new home and to those of you who share my stuff and support in other ways!!

I’m off now til 2nd Jan (except to the puppy owners I support 24/7)-see you then 🥰🎄🎁

Happy Christmas 🤶

18/12/2024

This. All of this. 👏👏👏👏👏👌