Canine Confidence Club

Woman attempts to produce seasonal content, produces only bloopers

Feeding raw on a budget? Here’s how you save a bit of money with maximum faff I’ll start off by saying, this doesn’t save me life changing amounts of money. It saves me 17p per day, which adds up to just over £5 a month. Not much in the grand scheme of things, but on the modest wage of a dog walker you have to shave off a little wherever you can. Depending on the size of your dog it may save you more or less. Yes, this is an annoying job it takes me like 20 mins every 40 days so I live with it. My freezer is itsy bitsy, I do what I can. Bella & Duke is really good value high quality raw food, I have tried many. This is not an ad, I am not in any way sponsored, I’m just a happy customer. If you opt for working dog raw you save a bit of money there too. Any questions?

Are you someone who has a ‘pet all the dogs’ approach to life? Here are some hot tips for keeping your fingers. 1. Look the person in the face and ask permission before approaching. Don’t ask the dog, don’t speak to the dog, please for the love of God don’t make kissy noises at the dog. A lot of dogs find that kind of social pressure intimidating and challenging. It can set them down a short path to frustration and also make them harder to handle. 2. Be respectful of the answer you’re given - even if you didn’t think to ask. The phrases STOP and NOT FRIENDLY are both full sentences which do not require follow up from you, a stranger. Today a woman approached Moss and I talking only to him and staring unblinking into his eyes. I said ‘not friendly’ and she said ‘oh, really?’ And went back to approaching Moss with oodles of eye contact. By then he’s growling and I follow up with a firm ‘really not friendly’ which gets a smirk! We end up in the avoidable situation of Moss snarling and growling at a person who couldn’t respect his space or his handler. Moss is a good boy and I told him so. How do you advocate for your dog in this scenario? Let me know in the comments

To certify or not to certify, that is the question. For me at the moment, I’ve made the decision to not pursue a behaviour or training certification. It was a hard decision to make, and I got there by asking myself at each juncture: who is this for? Every course I consider: who is this for? My clients don’t need me to study things I’ve already learned for £1000+ to get a certificate right now, and neither does Hector (my No. 1 dog). Being an unregulated industry means that certifications and accreditations are not a reliable benchmark for ability or experience. Being an unregulated industry also means that you can find your own path through it without being beholden to certifications and accreditations, and that you can choose to do that in a way that makes you very qualified - or in the case of some, very rich and woefully unqualified. It all relies on your own personal ethics, and whether or not you are someone who takes on cases you’re not ready for or misleads clients about what you’re able to offer. I feel nervous talking about these things because my entry to the dog world was through Force Free Instagram, which is a place that can be quite militant and unforgiving of the human end of the leash. This makes a lot of these sense because we are fighting a constant battle against quick-fix-grot-yanking sh*t bags who are out there selling people a hideous fantasy of punishment without fallout. But this atmosphere also makes it intimidating to join this branch of the profession and I think it puts established professionals who haven’t taken the academic route off from talking about how they got to where they are, which in turn makes it seem even less accessible to new talent. Are you trying to change career to become a dog trainer or behaviour consultant? Are you absolutely at sea about what course to do or how to get certified? I would love to hear about how other people have navigated this or how you’re feeling about tackling it right now.

I saw someone comment on instagram the other day that they couldn’t wait for their new muzzle to arrive so they could start training. Good news! You don’t have to. If a coffee cup is too small for your big hound you could try a yoghurt pot or a large PB tub. Too big? A smaller cup, a paper espresso cup, an empty petit filous. There’s a lot of novel ways to approach muzzle training, and it never hurts to think outside the box because the same cookie cutter training method isn’t going to work for every dog. If muzzle training hasn’t been working for you, shake it up and try a new approach. Muzzle training and conditioning is a vital skill. Any dog can bite. Your dog may have zero behavioural problems but if he or she gets seriously injured they will likely need to be muzzled for treatment at the vet - this could be super traumatic if you haven’t already built those positive associations. It’s not all about avoiding bites either. Got a dog who scavenges and eats potentially harmful things on walks? Muzzle training can help you manage that until the root of the problem is solved. #muzzleup #muzzletraining

Confidence is King! Dixie is a sensitive boy. In the early days of our walks (almost a whole year ago!) he couldn’t even go through a gate on the first go. He seemed so scared of getting caught in it, or hit by it, he would have to psych himself up to leg it through at full speed. The first time we tried to cross this stile it took about 5 mins, and that was ok - it has to be ok. That’s the thing about confidence building, you really can’t force the dog into doing the thing until they are ready to take that step on their own. Coercion is a confidence killer. This is where lures can really backfire on you if you rely on them to get the dog to do what makes them uncomfortable or afraid. So how did I get Dixie over the stile? Patience and quiet encouragement. No pressure. Gentle reassurance. Remember it’s ok to comfort your worried dog, it won’t make them worse and it will strengthen your bond. The first time he went over the top I stood at the bottom and held onto his harness. As he jumped I lifted and he gently soared to the ground. The second time I crossed first and took up my post as cheerleader. He jumped on his own. By the next week he was racing over, doing bigs jumps and having a little puppy parade at the bottom. Celebrate 👏 all 👏 your 👏 wins 👏 Before we came to cross for the first time we had passed it and said nah lots of times. I had already started to put in the groundwork for my relationship with Dixie, to make him feel like he’s a winner when we’re together. How? 1. I engaged with him actively on every walk, but made sure most of his time was spent doing what he wanted 2. I started rewarding him for doing what he wanted, things I knew he liked doing already, for doing the things dogs are born to do 3. I never rushed him. Not to finish what he was doing, nor to do anything he wasn’t ready for Watching Dixie open up has been one of the greatest joys of the last year. He’s a wonderful, tap dancing little prince an

One year! What a year it has been. It has been such a pleasure to work with so many unique individuals, each and every dog has taught me something new or helped me to refine a skill. Thank you so much to every human who has trusted me with their dogs over the last year. It has been completely transformative. I can only hope that I have helped make a difference in your lives as well. I’ve spent a year figuring out how to do this whole thing, and year two is all about consolidation and taking on new challenges. As some of you know, this year is also Hectors year. Everything I take away from doing this job, I bring home to find and create new ways of improving his life with me and his life out in the scary scary world. I know this is a long video, I hope at least one person makes it to the end. I promise the next one will be concise and to the point (aka actually planned). Please let me know if you would like me to speak about anything in particular, I’m an open book. Thank you again for all your support! Special thanks go to some wonderful colleagues and role models who have really helped me along the way, and who have been so generous with their knowledge, support and wisdom: @calmthepupdown @doggo.lingo_eps @dog_atheart @eartothehound @gwenschoice @happyhoundgang

It’s only horrible weather if you’re not prepared! I go out in any weather which isn’t actually dangerous for the dogs or for myself. (Unless the dog doesn’t want to go out which is utterly utterly acceptable!) I don’t have bad weather days any more because I’ve invested in clothing that keeps me warm and dry 95% of the time (all things are fallible and sometimes I do get wet toes, but that’s we keep a spare set in the car). The really important takeaway here though, is you totally don’t have to go out at all. I do because I need to eat and keep my rat horse lurcher fed and clad in the finest pyjamas. But if it’s not your job and it’s going to be sh*t, stay in! Grab this opportunity the universe has handed you to get creative and deepen your relationship with and understanding of your dog mates. Those things mentioned in the video are Enrichment and Free Work - both very valuable skill sets to add to your arsenal whatever the weather. Google is your friend, a lot of incredibly generous pet professionals have made a wealth of free resources for you to discover - just remember to keep it kind, keep it force free. How do you approach ‘bad’ weather days?

Trying out these walk recap reels because I am very bad at posting regularly to the grid! Let me know what you think in the comments