Please join me in welcoming Hulk into the SDS family.
Hulk joins us for walks depending on his owners shift patterns
He’s an absolute joy to keep us company on our walks
Make him feel welcome 🙏🏻😍
Keira came for a taster session yesterday.
She was brought in due to being aggressive with men, especially if they wear hats or glasses …
While we did see her outburst outside and a couple of moments of impulsiveness to lunge at us and attempt to grab us…
It was clear within 30 seconds that she felt safe and comfortable around MEN and HATS that knew how to approach her and handle her …
Dogs need clear communication BOTH ways and that includes being able to read them and their signs that they are uncomfortable BEFORE they escalate to growl or bite…
No one should be approaching them and attempting to stroke them when they aren’t comfortable regardless if they’re wearing a hat etc
Kiera was very quick to pick up the things we were working on but will require more work either with us or another trainer to desensitise her to touch in a controlled way but she did amazing for such a short session 💯
If you want success , you have to confront and get comfortable with failure !
This is not just true with dog training, it is the corner stone of pretty much everything you will ever want to get good at !
I touched upon this in my last video.
There is literally only one way “other than luck” to succeed at something and that is to repeatedly fail AND change a variable the next time you try.
I two this to MYSELF everyday , my children and my clients.
Of course I look like the bad guy to my daughter when we have a duel on Minecraft and I win and she inevitably dies, loses all her equipment and has to start again.
But if I just AVOID her disappointment and let her win, how will she learn strategies to avoid my attacks and even better … counter them and win !
If I let her win, she will NEVER be able to beat someone that is actually trying and therefore long term I am only really hurting her , limiting her growth…
At the same time, she can’t get good at combat or any game until she realises this one harsh reality :
In order to win and get good at the game, she needs to see her losses/ failures as being a good thing. She is one step closer to her goal of getting good with every failure.
She has two choices :
Play less , fail less and avoid the failures (making getting good and winning even longer)
Or
She asks to play more , and get more losses under her belt so that she can finally beat me and win
This is the same for anything!
You want to become the best carpenter ?
You need to practise getting it wrong and failing a thousand times …
You want to train your dog to stop reacting , or doing something that is dangerous/ stressful…
You have to stop avoiding that scenario and practise failing/ changing a variable (with the help of a trainer) until success is inevitable
Want to stop tantrums at a restaurant with a toddler ….
We need more visits to a restaurant/ more tantrums and failure withOUT avoiding this with help from an iPad …
What
Baby Sophie the cocker spaniel having her first puppy groom at 5 months old. Puppy grooms are a great way to introduce your puppy to the sights, sounds and smells of a salon without overwhelming them. What you don’t see on camera is that Sophie also had her nails clipped and ears cleaned - she was an absolute superstar from start to finish - well done Sophie 🥰 #dog #cockerspaniel #baby #babydog #doggroomer #doggrooming #groomer #grooming #dogsoftiktok #birmingham #business #cute #puppy #love Video Description - Video shows 5 month old Cocker spaniel puppy Sophie being groomed at Sheldon dog services. First she was desensitised to the sound of clippers by having them on next to her, we then clipped the hair between the toes and popped her up in the bath. She has a lovely scrub in the bath and was then blow dried where she sat good as gold. She was finished off with a brush through, tidy up of her feet and a pretty pink bandana 😊
We don’t always walk our dogs !
When people think of dog training or training their dog… they automatically think of commands , sit , paw etc
When owning a dog we judge how good of a “parent” we are by how long and often we walk them…
The truth is most “walks” are stressful, most dogs don’t even care that their human is there and are completely disengaged ….
We try to teach people that their dogs need to learn “skillsets” before “tricks/commands”
How many of you take the time to just sit outside the front garden and teach your dogs to be comfortable doing NOTHING ?
How many of you do the same thing at a park?
Patience, impulse control and switching off… are some of the first things we should be teaching our dogs … way before “paw” and “sit”
If our dogs have these skillsets then everything else becomes possible and more so PROBABLE !
Most people would consider not talking to their dog and just sitting here quietly in each others company “boring”
I absolutely love that my dogs have more freedom and still choose to be with ME …
It doesn’t matter how many kids are playing football near us, how many cats run by us, how many dogs walk passed … how many neighbours leave their houses….
Because we’ve taken the time to teach boundaries and an off switch… Lexi will happily take note of them all and still stay put on our grass and take in the moments of peace , tranquility together !
Long story short…
This doesn’t look like dog training … but it’s some of the best training you and your dogs can do together 💯
Ronnies magical transformation 🪄
Biscuit could give Michael Flatley a run for his money 😂 #dancingdog #poodle
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𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐬… 𝕋𝕒𝕞𝕞𝕪!
Congratulations Tammy, please contact us to arrange your appointment ☺️
And a huge thank you to everybody who took part in the raffle and has helped Millie-Mae to raise money for Matts mission, helping to grant wishes for children with cancer.
We still have some numbers left in our raffle to win a 1-2-1 dog training session (usually £45). Once all of those numbers are sold we will announce the winner of that prize 😊
As well as raising money, Millie-Mae is also donating her hair to make a wig/wigs for children with cancer - what an absolute super star she is! 🌟
Bertie and his owners have completed our behaviour and obedience course.
They have done extremely well however they asked us to have a couple of 121 sessions to tidy up a few problems that still persist such as :
He still jumps up the back of the chair and barks at passing dogs
He still goes mental when he has his doggy friends over and forgets some of his manners
He climbs onto furniture near the bedroom window and barks at passing dogs etc
He goes a bit naughty when he knows the next door neighbours dog is out.
Now here’s the important bit …:
Whenever a customer asks us to help with “their one specific problem” we CANT actually spend that session working on it.
If they haven’t already laid some foundations in multiple areas… then we have to spend that time on other things such as :
Impulse control
Patience
Loose lease walking
Threshold manners
We can’t just get a dog that doesn’t understand a basic “sit means stay” to “sit and stay” when the door goes or when there is a guest coming in …
We can’t get a dog that doesn’t understand or have the skills for “basic loose lead walking without distraction” to “stop reacting to dogs on a walk”
The great thing about Bertie and his owners is how hard they have worked on the foundations and basic understanding of much of the above.
This meant that instead of spending an hour just teach a basic “place” command…
We got to spend the majority of the hour working on their exact problems and giving “lightbulb” moments to their specific issues
With just a few tweaks to their normal routines, a few “smarter not harder” techniques to improve what he already knows… I’m confident Bertie will have the last few niggles ironed out in no time!
How awesome did he do during this video?
The amount of customers that come to us AFTER spending hundreds of pounds on different equipment to stop their dogs pulling is MASSIVE.
The truth is that you only need a collar and lead - we often use slip leads for our first training session as dogs come to us with wrongly fitted collars and slip leads fit all dogs. The added bonus is that the dog that we’ve never met and therefore don’t know what they’re going to try to do to back out of harnesses or collars… is safest to not end up in the road or running off …
I digress …
If you’re putting a choke chain , slip lead , head halti, prong collar etc on your dog and they’re still pulling …. Then you’re hurting your dogs and likely to cause damage …
You need to work with your dogs to understand what the LEAD means and how to engage with you !
I always ask this to customers :
How many times have you just stood in a room and stood still to practice patience with your dog?
How many times have you sat down during every walk and just done NOTHING with your dog?
How many times have you practiced stop/ starting with your dog and had fun showing them how to engage with you and follow you wether you turn left/ right/ backwards etc
99% of owners I meet teach their dogs PAW , roll over and the easy version of “sit” which means they don’t understand to STAY until released…
We need to do better !
We all claim to love our dogs like our children and yet many people barely spend time teaching their dogs SKILLS rather than tricks.
It’s so much more important BUT harder to teach our dogs ongoing :
Patience
Impulse control
Confidence
Manners including:
All four paws on the floor
Wait at thresholds like doors/ gates/ crates / stairs
Not to be demanding/ entitled
Don’t pick up food/ items unless I’ve given them to you…
This handsome dog learned all of this within 45 minutes
He was HAPPY and ENGAGED with us when walking
Waited at the door even when I stepped outside until I said it
Isla came for a taster session last night.
Isla has started to become reactive towards any dogs she sees in the distance or close by on her walks with her owners.
Its started to become very stressful and so they reached out to see what was going on.
We spent an hour watching and listening to both her and her owners interactions and trying to understand how they communicate with each other.
During that time we also took the lead and did some A/B tests to figure out if this was really some deep seeded problem or something easily remedied once clarity was introduced.
We look forwards to seeing them on our weekly social training walks in order to gain some experience and exposure in the right ways.
Who else sees the same behaviours in their dogs ?
How well did both Isla and her owners do by the end of the video?
Get in touch if you’d like any information on our grooming, dog walking or training services 🙏🏻😊
Shelby came for a taster session the other day.
His owners said:
“I know he will never heal perfectly but we can’t deal with all the pulling so need to reduce that”
“He just can’t seem to grasp lie down”
“He won’t drop things”
“He won’t stop jumping up”
We had him understanding the “down” position in seconds…
We had him walking to heal and loose lead walking within minutes
He quickly understood “stop jumping all over us and being demanding”
He learned to drop toys in seconds ….
At Sheldon dog services we keep things simple … we give your dogs clarity and above all… look how much enjoyment / engagement Shelby has while working with us !
His owner thought he understood “leave it/ stay put until I give you permission to go for your food”
Once we took away body pressure / blocking and asked his owner to just walk away… notice how Shelby takes her movement as “permission” and an OPPERTUNITY to go get the food.
We absolutely loved this session and the speed in which Shelby picked up everything we wanted him to understand and learn.
We know Shelby and his owners loved it too…
So much so that when we asked if it was worth the £20 their response was “it’s worth so much more”
As mentioned in January … taster sessions will be going up to £25 (still a massive steal) starting from March.
Any bookings made and paid for before March will still be £20
Get in while you can 🙏🏻 We promise it will be the best £20 you’ll spend 💯
Comment below your thoughts and observations of the video/ Shelby/ our training 🙏🏻😊
Today in our taster session, we were asked to help stop Marley the puppy being so jumpy, stop nipping/ jumping up everyone, chasing the grandkids when they’re excited/ running …
We had Abi running around being as excitable as she could and showed just how easy it is to teach a puppy what we want them to do and what we DONT want them to do !
Our taster sessions are 45 mins to an hour and currently cost just £20 .
How awesome did Marley do ?
During this taster session… we showed a completely different side to our customers dog…
We unlocked a dog that wanted to work, was happy to learn and looked so happy to follow direction and work through puzzles ….
Apparently he just jumped up and thrashed about for an entire hour with their last trainer …
Within seconds , Richard had him under control and understanding what was acceptable and what wasn’t …
Look how happy and fulfilled he looks !
Taster sessions are 45 minute to an hour for new customers - this is a great way to see how we work and train and what’s possible if even more work is put in …
From 1st February any new bookings will be £25 so grab a bargain and save some money by contacting us sooner rather than later !
Vinnie came for a taster session a week or so ago…
He pulls, drags and chokes himself out to get anywhere ….
Whenever a customer came In the shop while his owners held him he wanted to drag them to go and say hi 👋
Here’s what we managed to get working on during a taster session.
The truth about collars and slip leads is that they are NOT designed to choke a dog and should not be used in that way …
Notice how loose we hold the lead and how little pressure is on Vinnie’s neck/ my arms compared to the beginning part of the video…
Our jobs as owners and trainers is to teach our dogs and ourselves how to understand each others communication or lack thereof …
Does your dog pull or drag you everywhere ?
Are they and YOU stressed on walks or in physical pain from straining or pulling on their neck/ your arms?
Drop us a message !
Taster sessions are 45 mins to an hour and cost just £20
These will be going up to £25 in the near future
Which is still an absolute steal 💯
Did you know ?
Our staff volunteer their time on Saturdays to conduct our social training walks.
This allows us to use any funds raised from them to allocate to our vulnerable customers discounts scheme
We have many customers with disabilities , financial hardships , anxieties etc that just couldn’t afford a dog Walker, groomer or trainer.
Some people pay us £5 if it’s affordable , some dogs get it for free.
We’ve been visiting hugo once or twice a week now for many months just to give him some walk time while his owners are at work.
This wouldn’t be possible for many people as solo dog walks cost more money than group walks
We’re so thankful to everyone that donates towards our social walks and/ or pays the monthly £25 / joins a course that includes them for free.
Without your support and our teams help… we wouldn’t be able to help the many people and dogs that we do each month!
Ps: as you can probable tell from the video… we still walk, train, groom and welcome all breeds onto our services.
Our dedicated team have a wealth of experience with every shape, size and temperament of dog !
Hugo is such a big baby even if the muzzle does put some people off he’s the biggest softie.
😍
Post us some videos or pictures in the comments of your oversized babies 🙏🏻💯
Meet Beau. Beau is extremely barky and lunges / barks at people and/or dogs al of the time.
There is lots to work on in order for Beau to become more patient, less demanding and less reactive as a whole.
It’s easy for us to show snippets in videos and photos during sessions like this taster session where WE can show a different side to your doggos.
For more long term results that you as owners can experience … there is always lots of small and sometimes BIG changes to the way you live with your dogs in the 23 hours a day outside of a training lesson .
There is only so much we can do in a short one off hour with your dogs (Although we’re still proud and humbly happy with ourselves after Beau’s time with us yesterday)
Our taster sessions are just £20 and are a great way to get some immediate help without having to invest a fortune before you’ve even met the trainer 💯
Get in touch if you’d like to start working on similar behaviours or even other things you’d like to improve with your dogs lives 🙏🏻
Billy came in for a taster session yesterday.
Notice how stressed he is to start with?
Many people resort to baby speaking … “it’s ok” and fussing their dogs.
Their intentions are to calm their dogs down and reassure them… the reality is that I doubt anyone can say “this has ever worked”
Billy just needs some guidance and clarity. Within moments of taking his lead he just “understood” exactly what was being asked and thrives from being given clear direction.
One of the patterns you will notice with all of our training is this:
Our default stance when holding a lead is “loose”
It doesn’t matter if a dog is a puller, lunger , people or dog reactive …
We never pre-empt what’s about to happen by tightening the lead
We are always ready to deal with anything AS IT happens NOT before it happens.
Most owners default their mindset to “please don’t do it” or “I hope my dog doesn’t do what I think they’re about to do”
Our mindset is the complete opposite . “Please do” we literally see future mistakes/ problems as OPPORTUNITIES.
An example of this:
An owner will see another dog coming towards them , tighten up the lead and think “please don’t lunge at them”
As a trainer we are simply thinking “be my guest”
We allow all the room on the lead for the dog to choose what they’re going to do so we can either praise the right choice …. Or clarify a teachable moment
With a “please don’t” mindset, you and your dog will never grow or learn
With a “be my guest” mindset you’re able to learn, grow, teach and get better 💯
Zena came in for a taster session yesterday.
She can be quite difficult to walk on the school run so her owners would like to be able to push a pram and walk zena at the same time.
We worked on engagement and loose lead skills to save her from choking herself to get ahead 🙈
Just look at the difference in her positioning and the change from tight lead to relaxed (as a default)
If you’re struggling with anything dog related … Sheldon Dog Services Ltd is your one stop shop.
From our highly sought after grooming team… our experienced dog walking team … our dog behaviour and obedience team to all your product needs all under one wooof 😊
Contact us with any enquiries or if you’d like to book a taster session for just £20
