Bee Happy Dog Training

09/06/2024

Happy 7th Birthday to Bennie. Living his best life being all things spaniel, running through the woods. Collecting balls and twigs oh and mud.. always mud 🤣🥰🥰🎂🎂

20/05/2024

Happy

Bennie had 2 homes before he came to us. He has now been with us longer than those other homes and I’m truly grateful for everything Bennie has taught me 🥰x

Let’s see all your amazing rescue and rehomed dogs!!

17/05/2024

This isn’t just about the dog. We all have habits which become automatic. Think about driving a car. Once you have been driving years in the same car you’ll put the indicator on without even thinking. It’s when you move into another car and the indicator is on the other side and you put the windscreen wipers on instead, that you realise how automatic it has become.

We also have automatic behaviours with our dog training, which our dogs pick up on. Think about how often you say no even though the dog doesn’t really know what it means. Or putting your hand in your treat pouch before the dog has done the behaviour you are rewarding. It does take time to change habits. We need to give our dogs and ourselves more leniency… now where’s that glass of water I’m meant to be drinking rather than tea 🤣🥰

07/05/2024

Very sound advice. Also think about nesting birds on the moors 🐑🐦‍⬛

SHEEP !! 🐑🐑🐑🐑🐑🐑🐑

🐾 My dogs ignore sheep and they are pretty well trained with an excellent recall and focus off lead.

However last week I took the dogs out on a long walk.
A significant part of the walk involved walking down a lane past (not through) fields of sheep with new born lambs.

So I put them on lead. Why?
Because I respect the farmer 👨‍🌾and the 🐑 sheep. I don't want the sheep to feel worried about their lambs. My dogs have zero need to be off lead here so they are not.

If your dog is a risk to sheep, keep it away or on lead, it doesn't have to physically make contact with sheep to cause them harm.

It's stressful for a prey animal to have a predator in its environment.

🐑 If you see Sheep, put it on a lead
🐑 If you hear Sheep, put it on a lead
🐑 If you think there might be Sheep, put it on a lead

🚜The Country Code say keep dogs on a lead near livestock!

20/04/2024

When your grass needs cutting but you’ve decided it makes a perfect place for scatter feeding 🤣🤣

15/03/2024

To all the dog trainers, dog walkers and dog owners… spring is coming.. no it really is ☀️

21/02/2024

A great post, working with reactive dogs and their caregivers is something I’m passionate about. It feels me with joy when I see a person with a dog, give space to a person who is clearly trying to keep their dog under threshold. It means they care not just about their dog but about all dogs. As the post says, it doesn’t take much to be kind. 🐝😁🐶

Polite request: if you are out walking, whether by yourself or with your dog, and you can see someone else's dog reacting towards you, please do not continue to approach them: either wait til they have gone out of sight, or turn and walk another way - especially (!) If the dog's guardian has asked you to. On that note, if you see a dog guardian hide their dog up a driveway, or turn & walk/jog their dog away the moment they see you & yours, for f's sake dont follow them at a quick pace. Just pick a different route!

Yes, your dog may be non-reactive. Yes, you have every right to walk right up to/past the reactive dog. Yes, you may think it is the guardian's problem.

Knowingly & deliberately setting a reactive dog off & not giving them space means that dog (and guardian) will be in a state of high stress for days afterwards.

Kindness really does cost nothing.

With 3 reactive dogs myself, I have experienced the worst of the worst: people trying to approach & touch my reacting dog (why?!) and trying to chat to me, horse riders cantering directly at us (more than once) when we have nowhere to go, the dirty looks, the unkind comments, the 'but I/my dog/my horse is fine'. That's great, good on you (you do know its mostly luck that means you have a non-reactive dog rather than your own doing?) but forcing your horse/dog past mine that is reacting will stress your animal out too.

With my own dogs & when out with my clients, I will always ask people to pause (very nicely) & will also be very explicit if you do something really selfish & potentially harmful (you'll get a bollocking, & loudly) around them.

We are trying to protect you & our dogs, so please let us.

Please feel free to share.

09/02/2024

Perfect mug for today. So glad I have my astro. The British weather doesn’t stop play 🥰🐶

22/01/2024

Credit to love your paws for writing this so well 🐝😁🐶

💨 WINTER STORMS 💨

There’s some windy weather forecast!

Lots of dogs may behave differently on really windy days.

Changes in atmospheric pressure.

The sensation through their fur.

The swirling of scent in the air.

Less able to pinpoint your location when you’re recalling them.

The movement of trees, branches, litter blowing around can be worrying & confusing.

If you sense that your dog is worried, err on the side of caution & keep them on lead, or on a long line to keep them safe.

Ness used to love the sensation of the wind blowing through her coat & ‘drinks’ in all the scent! 🥰

Sam isn’t too worried about the wind itself, but has been frightened by noises (things blowing over, whistling noises etc) & sudden movement of things he wasn’t expecting 😞

Lochy hasn’t yet experienced really windy days so she’ll be on a long line until I know how (or if) the wind affects her 😊

How does your dog cope in the wind?

06/12/2023

It’s Christmas 😁.. Bennie humours me and also gets lots of treats for being nice 🥰. For some dogs Christmas can be full of novelty and can be exciting and worrying at the same time. Set your dog up for success, especially puppies. If you know they are going to want to chew the wires/tree/baubles/tinsel make sure they can’t get to the tree. Boundary games is a great way to start but if they aren’t strong enough yet, supervision and maybe even a play pen around the tree. Your dog will be much happier as the won’t be being “told off” all the time which will make you happier too 🥰🎅🏻

02/12/2023

04/11/2023

This is a great trainer I follow on FB. Well worth a read and hope you come out the other side as unscathed as possible xx

For a lot of dogs, this weekend is going to be traumatic. Let’s find some ways to make it less so.

Firstly, I’ll be posting a lot more of the traditional advice in the comments. It’ll include some links to some audio recordings to down out sounds, and a few things for you to read through.

I’d like to unpack three not as commonly discussed tips for the fireworks, but I should stress that each dog is an individual. But bear these in mind:

🔹Routine🔹

If you have a dog with anxiety, massively changing up their routine may have a more detrimental effect than you think. Very often I’ll hear about caregivers altering how they behave in the evening. In reality this might need to be the case (if you eat dinner in the dining room, but that’s where the fireworks are loudest, you will naturally gravitate somewhere else).

Think about ways you can make your dog feel like everything is normal. If you normally have the TV on, but have turned it off to play Classic FM (link for that in the description), have the TV on anyway. If you tend to read a book in the evening with your dog on your lap, find a quieter space and do that.

It’s about making the way you behave as consistent as possible, when the outside world is wildly inconsistent.

Please note that I don’t recommend taking your dog out for an evening walk though. In fact, I wouldn’t go out with them past 4pm. It isn’t safe.

🔹Activities🔹

There is a huge emphasis on keeping our dogs calm during fireworks, which I 100% agree with. But so many dogs would actually benefit from doing activities over the evening.

What those activities are depends on the dog, but I love getting my dogs hunting for treats or their tennis ball indoors. I love practicing some easy behaviours, or even the occasional trick! Hell, just play with your dog! Things that aren’t difficult for your dog, and things that can be rewarded heavily.

Your dog is going to have a lot of fizz bubbling up inside them, and if we can channel that into doing some work with you that’d be ace. It’d take both of your minds off it.

One tip - don’t start playing when the fireworks begin, play beforehand. Make the games you do tonight and tomorrow a part of your evening routine for a few days. If we’re already engaging when the banging starts, we’ll be in a lot better place mentally.

🔹Decompression🔹

Unfortunately, the issue doesn’t end after the fireworks have stopped.

I’d recommend giving your dog at least three ‘decompression’ days. These are days where we’re not asking a lot of them, and the things we do with them are purely based on their own needs.

For example, if your dog is a bit nervous of people and dogs, I’d spend the next few days in woodland walks or massively reduced outside exercise.

If your dog is noise phobic, I’d probably consider very few walks at all (unless the area around your house is noisy). Focus on some training and Nosework inside.

If your dog is incredibly excitable, I’d spend some time going for some quiet, moochy walks.

All that stress and fizz won’t disappear just because the fireworks have. Keep an eye on your dogs behaviour and ensure that they have enough time to work through that stress in their system. Take it easy on them, and on yourselves.

🔹Survival🔹

Tonight, for a lot of you, is about survival. My inbox is open for anyone concerned about their dogs behaviour over the next few days. Drop me a message and I’ll offer some free advice, no questions asked. We won’t be able to work miracles now, but we might be able to stop your dog feeling like they’re in hell.

13/10/2023

Bennie getting Autumn ready 🐶🍂🍁

11/10/2023

Have you ever seen conkers lying around near your home or during walks with your dog? In that case, this post is for you.

Conkers or horse chestnuts are often found on the floor during the autumn months. Dogs might find them interesting to chew or to play with, but owners should be aware that they are poisonous to our canine companions.

Conkers come from the horse chestnut tree and they contain a substance called aesculin which is toxic for dogs. Unlike sweet chestnuts (which are delicious and harmless), these chestnuts tend to be bigger and have a lot less spikes on their husks.

Signs of toxicity depend on how many conkers have been ingested and generally include vomiting, diarrhoea, lack of appetite, abdominal pain, excessive thirst, and more serious cases can present with muscle tremors and seizures.

Keep an eye out for these conkers and, if you notice any of the signs mentioned above, bring your dog to the vet as soon as possible!

09/10/2023

Found on swan Ave x

If you are out and about please keep an eye out for Cooper. Let’s get him home 🐶🐶

10/09/2023

When you wake up to this you 🥰. Was trying to sit with a cuppa but Bennie had different ideas. He wanted to practice agility so we did.. it’s ok to do it in your dressing gown right 🤔🤣🤣.

28/08/2023

Good morning ☀️. Have a great bank holiday Monday wherever you are 🥰

26/08/2023

Happy International Dog Day… though Bennie tells me every day he wakes up ready for a great day, so he doesn’t need a specific day. We should all be more Bennie 🥰

26/07/2023

When you’re in an office during the day doing the “other job” when the sun is out and you come home to rain. I had the right clothes on and a good companion.. what’s not to love 🥰🐶

23/07/2023

When a picture says a thousand words to what the weather is like today. We played lots of scent games and fitness indoors today but I needed to get out and Bennie obliged 🥰🐶.

14/07/2023

Finished yesterday with a trip to the beach. It was a little busy so did the right thing and kept Bennie on a long line. He still had a great time playing in the sea with his ball.

Today it’s been a full day of travelling, setting off at 9.15am and just got to the M62! The car is telling us we need another break 🤣. Bennie has been brilliant, he wasn’t always the best traveler but with lots of little journey’s he’s now a star. I think he’s pleased for a rest after all the amazing training he’s had this week. Can’t wait to share it with you all 🥰🐶x

14/07/2023

Love this by Best Behaviour Dog Training and had to share. There’s so many reason why a dogs on lead. The owners and dogs will thank you for being considerate around them 🥰🐶

13/07/2023

I can’t believe today is our last day 😢. Focused fitness is the plan - we think dogs needed to run to stay fit and health, however for some dogs that’s not physically possible and for others it’s not practically possible. Like with humans, if all we did was sprint, we’d end up with injuries. We need different types of fitness to balance everything out. Can’t wait to see what there is to learn 🥰🐶

12/07/2023

From sunrise to sunset we’ve had amazing learning. Firstly, practising the skills needed to support dogs who struggle with dog dog interaction. Next visitor strategies, our aim is for dogs to calmly meet visitors.. and for visitors to calmly meet the dogs.. not sure which is the hardest to learn 🤣. Finally glitter on the day, an online scent course. Bennie is now snoring 🐶💤🥰

12/07/2023

When it’s too beautiful to have a lie in. Now back in both of us playing boundary games ☕️

11/07/2023

So todays learning was about how many different ways you can use figure of 8 walking, AtoB and always a staple of all behaviours.. boundary games. Also got a sneak peak of some new AD troubleshooting videoing. Bennie is now snoring on his boundary, I don’t think I’ll be too late snoring on mine 🛌 . Ready for Dog Dog interaction tomorrow 🥰🐶

10/07/2023

Bennie and I are taking a week off to top up our learning at Devon Dogs. As a trainer you should always have some CPD in place, I’ve lots going on but nothing beats in-person if you can.

We arrived this afternoon and to help Bennie get settled in we played some scent games. He loved finding the toy that was a gift from DD. Can’t wait to start training tomorrow and to share the journey with you 🐶🥰