mypawfectk9

mypawfectk9 mypawfectk9 is run by Laura Gilmour; a positive reward based Pro-Dog Trainer. Fully accredited. We learn to listen to the dog.

Laura worked as a curriculum leader in a secondary school for 17years, but decided to use her passion of teaching to support people struggling with their dogs and re-trained as a qualified positive reward based trainer. Having 5 rescue dogs the desire to prevent more dogs entering rescue is the driver for helping people better understand the motivation of their dogs behaviour. 'Dog's do not have '

bad' behaviour, they just have behaviours, it is our job to understand what motivates that behaviour and to learn how to motivate better choices. I think very few people actually know what their dog was bred for, or what motivates training them'. My dream is that society is so much more empathetic to our dogs and that we stop placing our social expectations on to them.

24/06/2025

No classes Weeton 30th June
No classes Norbreck 1st July

Organising the groupsđŸ¶ for July for Weeton & Norbreck - Make sure I know you want to continue!

Red flags? đŸš© There are 1000’s of pages dedicated to promoting dog training (mine is one of them!) and many trai...
23/06/2025

Red flags? đŸš©

There are 1000’s of pages dedicated to promoting dog training (mine is one of them!) and many trainers forums too.

Daily I see posts where people will ask the question of ‘my trainer said this’ or ‘in a class the instructor said to do X’ is this a red flag and should I continue with this persons methods?

This is great to show people are waking up to the fact that anyone who uses punishment, pain or fear to ‘train’ should not be in a position to teach anyone, but shouldn’t we also talk about Green Flags?!

At the end of a block of lessons I always ask for an evaluation from each member.

I take this very seriously, as I do CPD to deliver the best I can for the people who choose mypawfectk9

I’m never disappointed with what I read and that means a lot to me. Here are some of the paper copies handed back this evening.

✅ Small class sizes

✅ Positive learning environment

✅Safe and controlled environment

✅ Adaptable learning style - not one size fits all approach

✅ Positive force free methods that are fun and engaging

👌 Practicing skills and layering techniques to improve bit at a time!

Thanks for signing up again for July - lots more in store for you all!

23/06/2025

6:50 and 7:40 class at Weeton tonight

Trying to even out numbers so there is 4 in both classes


Need one person from 7:40 to move to 6:50 if that’s ok for anyone?

Thanks Danny already for moving over

23/06/2025

Dogs and downtime

I saw a noticeable shift in calls post covid from people whose dogs had seemingly become more reactive, frantic and generally less calm.

The reason for this was because with us working from home we had interrupted their routine of snoozing and a calm home for extended periods of time.

They can sleep for 17 hours a day; enjoy foraging for their food as natural scavengers, sniffing out things to roll in or stuff to dig up or bury.

Routine and consistency is good, but not a rule, as naps and downtime that is planned and regular keep your pooch on an even keel, but they must also be flexible enough to not have a melt-down if nap time is missed one day!

We do not need to be entertaining them, or exercising them, or training them too much.

A good long walk with lot of sniffs is perfect. There shouldn’t be endless throwing of balls or any other kind of chase game if you do not know then how to manage the fall out and bring your dog back to calm.

The more adrenaline from chase or high arousal activities your dog gets in a day, will simply build up and compound over time to create a twitchy reactive dog that is always ‘on’.

To reduce adrenaline we need to dopamine and endorphins; produced from gentle sniffy walk, sniffing for food, licking and chewing meaty bones or frozen Kongs for example.

If you have a high drive working breed you need to provide stimulation and an appropriate outlet. If not, these dogs will become self employed and create their own job. Choose activities that play to your dogs strengths, what they enjoy doing and build from there.

When play time is over the toys need to go away.

Enrichment does not mean stimulation.

Anything that excites the dog needs to be put away. Calming toys – the sniffing, chewing and licking ones are fine – but these are not to be thrown or hidden for a scent game of ‘Search’.

For some dogs who live in busy homes with high human traffic it is harder for the dog to decompress and relax (probably for the humans too!) so you need to try to reduce the noise and the movement as best you can. Place a covered crate away from high traffic areas. Don’t constantly talk to the dog, or constantly make eye contact or give them instruction to ‘STAY’ in their beds
 all of this is ‘working’ to the dog who is still, therefore, switched on!

Have a routine for calmness. If you have a multi-dog household you need to train each a settle, use baby gates and house leads to manage interactions if needed.


and finally, out on your walks – do we need to be training all the time?

Believe me I see it
 it’s a big NOPE from me. Let them be. Just walk in silence for a bit.

A smile and eye contact to your dog is enough.

Verbal communication is simply not required 😊

Try it and see how it goes.

22/06/2025

Some lovely loose lead training homework being done from our foundations class at Weeton!

It’s all possible with time, patience and consistency!

20/06/2025

This week 121s have had me talking a lot about TRIGGER STACKING - so what is it?

Why does my dog react sometimes and other times they are fine?

This has got to be one of the questions I get asked the most when discussing reactivity. The truth is we will never ever know, so we begin to make assumptions based on previous experiences in similar situations and how our dogs may therefore react today – but this is not a good strategy!

Why assumptions don’t work.

For one, we are a different species; we are able to analyse our human world very differently to our canine companions. Secondly, we tend to anthropomorphise animal behaviours, so we put our own feelings on to how we perceive the dog’s feelings. Dog’s do not have the same range of emotions that we do, so rather than observing how they react – objectively, looking for a trigger and what has led to this reaction, we try to consider a feeling, which isn’t always helpful or accurate.

Trying to second guess your dog’s reaction will also catch you out; and lead to a rehearsal of a behaviour that we are trying to reduce, or create a more severe reaction as you become anxious and tense.
Labels are also damaging. If you label your dog as aggressive or a resource guarder or a clown this expectation will begin to become a reality as you will begin to treat them differently or allow certain behaviours that otherwise you would not.

So what do we do?

You need to train positive responses to a trigger- which is NO RESPONSE. In-difference shows calm! We just want the dog to remain calm – and continue doing doggy behaviours.

How?

Well, we need to identify what the triggers are – and this needs to be done with careful observation and note taking.
You need to remember the 72hr rule regards cortisol build up and look for stressors over a much longer period (72hrs) that closer to the reaction.

You need to be aware of all things that create a reaction over a 72hr period – both good and bad as both fill the body with adrenaline.

You need to keep your dog under threshold through more calming behaviours (searching, sniffing games) than high arousal behaviours like ball chasing

You need to observe and record the distances between triggers and your dog where your dog remains calm and can listen to you – this is your working distance for now! Do not go closer straight away!
Look back and review your journal with your notes and look at for trigger-stacking. Be vigilant of slight changes in your dog’s body language to identify an adrenaline spike, and note it because there are only so many your dog can cope with before a reaction and they are over threshold!

You need to give your dog choice and space.

Listen to them.

Watch how they are moving their body.

Why did we do a ‘Paws on Challenge’? ‘Paws on’ has far more applications and functions than for cute photos. 1) Teaching...
20/06/2025

Why did we do a ‘Paws on Challenge’?

‘Paws on’ has far more applications and functions than for cute photos.

1) Teaching a dog body awareness, improving core strength/balance and Proprioception exercises all build confidence in a no pressure way. Dogs who have good Proprioception are less likely to injury themselves and remain flexible and fit for longer.

2) Its a bond builder - teaching your dog any kind of ‘trick’ strengthens your bond as time is dedicated to playing together. When you have a goal in mind the ‘training’ isn’t a chore but a game to be played and as progress is seen you want to do more!

3) There’s no pressure. Most ‘tricks’ are taught through shaping which is a great way for nervous or over excitable dogs to learn.

4) It’s a handler focus cue. Another tool in our toolbox for moments when we need some calm, some focus and something stationary from our dog when out and about - Paws On is engaging, highly rewarding and means they are still and looking at you, not fixating on the distraction in the environment.

5) Builds confidence and independence. Interacting with different textures and surfaces is important to build confidence in our dogs. Getting them to hold a position teaches commitment and duration to a task. Remaining in that position also teaches a good stay, thus building their independence.

There are so many benefits to things like this and Watch, Touch, Middle, Up, Behind, Chin, Close and Side. They are all ‘tricks’ but what is really happening is your dog is listening, engaged, happy, confident and values proximity to you!

18/06/2025

As you know I love your videos practicing bits from class - so here an emergency stop practice
 works lovely when we are training - such a super girl
 do we need more practice and training before it becomes embedded as a key behaviour?

Answer is in the comments!

17/06/2025

Norbreck classes

Scout hut postcode FY5 3AF

It's Back!! Opportunity to TRAIN your settle in a real life café environment. Mypawfectk9 is on hand to support your tra...
17/06/2025

It's Back!!

Opportunity to TRAIN your settle in a real life café environment. Mypawfectk9 is on hand to support your training and offer some tips on your settle coaching.

Always a fantastic night with like minded people, good coffee and delicious tray bake!

Each session is 45 minutes - a perfect amount of time for a successful learning opportunity :)

Outdoor space and a secure car park

Small numbers so everyone has the option of lots of space, or to settle next to another table to 'test' your settling skills in closer proximity to others!

Great opportunity to train in another environment - Different venue Different dogsDifferent peopleGreat test for your do...
16/06/2025

Great opportunity to train in another environment -
Different venue
Different dogs
Different people

Great test for your dog to work on something in on a task somewhere new!

Spaces available for July classes
16/06/2025

Spaces available for July classes

Address

Blackpool

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 5pm
Tuesday 9am - 5pm
Wednesday 9am - 5pm
Thursday 9am - 5pm
Friday 9am - 5pm
Saturday 9am - 5pm
Sunday 9am - 5pm

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