The Mutty Professor

09/09/2025

Nick and I went away for two nights over the weekend. Somehow we have gone the whole year with just a single overnight stay away together and I’ve really started to feel the effects of not having a holiday all year.

We stayed with my brother (and his wife and my two young nephews) in Swansea, giving me an opportunity for some quality family time.

On route down Nick and I ran the four waterfalls walk (highly recommend) and then went with the family down to the beach in Mumbles for a refreshing dip in the sea.
Sunday morning’s activity was a hilariously chaotic game of four a side tennis 🎾 before a nice pub lunch.

One of the many hard things about having a geriatric dog is going away. It can be anxiety inducing to organise anything in advance (time off together, dog sitter) because you’re just not sure how they’re going to be when the scheduled break finally comes around.

It’s quite possible now that the holiday abroad we were hoping to take in November is not going to happen. I cannot risk not being there for Kanita nor putting that responsibility onto someone else.

So for now I’m going to savour the immense feeling of being behind a giant waterfall and cherish every moment that I get with my ol’ gal!

08/09/2025

I often get compliments as to how I respond to the low blows, personal insults and criticisms directed at me in response to some of my posts on here.

Let it be known that Kanita (brown dog) is my inspiration 😂

(Video taken back in 2021)

06/09/2025

Bristol dog folk - please sign this petition to challenge our greedy council who have proposed a license for commercial enterprises (that’s dog walkers, dog trainers and other businesses, such as personal fitness trainers) to use their public parks.

The issue we take is not with being licensed. It’s with the following:

1. One month notice to pay a £900 fee PER PERSON plus £50 admin fee or £450 per year plus £50 admin fee PER PARK/LOCATION PER DOGWALKER. Additionally, if you work with people (as we do) you need a first aid certificate (for humans), which is fair, but is an additional cost not only in terms of money but professional time taking a course (should one be available in there mere 25 days notice given!).

This demonstrates that the council is totally naive to how hard it is to be a self employed person, in terms of financial resources AND time.

Do they think everyone has £900 sitting in the bank and lots of free days every month available to attend a first aid course?

With this 25 day deadline, can we trust that the council has appropriate application resources in place to allow for swift completion?

Based on previous communications with the council- I can personally envisage contacting them to chase an application as the end of September approaches and getting an unhelpful automated reply or being told that it will get done when it’s done. So then what? What happens in the meantime?

2. Licenses are non transferable. For us, that’s not a problem because our team is dedicated to our roles having spent years studying to our level. But for companies such as dog walking, you could train someone up to join your team, buy them a license and then loose that £900 license completely if that new team member decided after one month it wasn’t for them.

3. Many of the sites/parks have parking fees already! So on top of this license - add £5-10 per day and it all adds up. Our parking fees already contribute financially to the use of these spaces.

As a limited company we already pay a huge amount of VAT and corp tax. We already pay hundreds annually for public liability and professional indemnity insurance.
As UK tax payers, we already pay towards using these spaces through our ever increasing annual council tax.

This ill thought out proposal has been hurried out as a cash grabbing opportunity and has nothing to do with public safety nor the other proposed benefits.

With some companies looking at paying as much as £15k per annum this threatens the closure of small businesses, stifling entrepreneurship and growth which can lead to a reduction in jobs created by expanding companies.

Alternatively, there will be a knock on effect. Prices will go up, adding to the ever increasing financial pressure many people feel under the existing economic climate.

The current rate will undoubtedly force some to take the risk of not paying it, making it unfair on those that do.

I’m all for licensing, but create an affordable fee per person or business and show businesses some respect and impose a realistic deadline.

Please sign the petition and thanks to Jurassic Bark for making it.

Reduce Parks Business Licensing Fees in Bristol

06/09/2025

It’s important to arrange your dogs around the home in a nice and orderly fashion!

This week’s win was Amigo recalling off what looked like two deer yesterday

🦌 🦌 💨 🐕 💨

Stomping up a hill I briefly put my head down for two seconds. With Mohawk and Kanita next to me I looked up and left to see Amigo accelerating after two large, running and bouncing silhouettes about 5 metres ahead of him.

I instantly put my whistle to my mouth, but angled it wrong and my cue was muffled.
They disappeared over a camber in the terrain, heading downhill on open ground. I blew the whistle again, nothing. I sounded it again and he appeared over the camber at high speed towards me.

Whilst it took three cues, this was a win.

He clearly had encountered them up close (hence why he was so close to them and the other two dogs were none the wiser). The sudden fast movement of the deer startling and taking off is a huge stimulus for your cue to break through.
I honestly think - had I got the angle of the whistle in my mouth correctly - he would have responded first time as he has done off deer before.

Once dogs have committed to the chase, with a rapid increase in heart rate and laser beam focus on their goal- this can be the hardest part to achieve a recall.

I’d missed my initial optimum window (the initial take off/decision to chase!).

I sounded the whistle a second time, the gradient of the terrain (downhill drop) and direction of wind (likely amplified to those running at speed into it) worked against me.
By pausing 2 seconds or so before the third pip, rather than constantly blowing the whistle, I created a contrast in audible stimuli (no whistle > whistle).

Considering by that point he had the gradient (downhill), terrain (open) and proximity (hot on their heels) all working in his favour- to come off that was worthy of celebration- especially as he’s a very fast dog who LOVES hooning!

It’s even possible that he responded to the second whistle and just didn’t appear over the camber until after the third.

As professionals, we often want immaculate training results. First cue responses, no exceptions. We can easily think “that’s not good enough”.

Whilst we shouldn’t give up efforts in raising the bar…we also need to accept that living beings are not robots who do exactly as you want when you press a button.

There are so many things than can influence the processing of stimuli - whether that’s visual, audible or tactile - and sometimes human error plays a role (me putting the whistle in my mouth at the wrong angle).

Coming off chasing deer in approximately 8 seconds....I’ll take that.

And I’ll endeavour to put the whistle in my mouth properly next time

04/09/2025

Dog mum low point:

Walking home through my village while clutching the pink ladle of shame and a ramiken of dog urine….. after a car passes by at the critical moment of collecting said urine with said ladle and another two cars passing by while I’m decanting one into the other!!

Welcome to my world….caring for a geriatric dog who point blank refuses to toilet in the garden 😂

03/09/2025

It’s going to be a week of quick n easy algorithm maintenance posts as I’m assessing the five cases taking part in my October seminar (on dog-dog issues).

Here’s my gang enjoying a walk last week with me and a friend, with their young baby in tow.
My dogs have limited experiences with tiny humans and I was expecting them to be curious or even cautious of the baby in the pram and was on standby to support them.

But they all surpassed my expectations and were completely nonchalant!

02/09/2025

Cedric enjoyed his social experience with helper dog Juno!

He’s a big, emotionally and motivationally conflicted, lovable do**us!! 🥰
He’s keen to socialise, so gets frustrated! But he has little flurries of fear, resulting in brief defensive outbursts!

Prolonged exposure (after gradually getting closer) with rock solid helper dogs often helps dogs work through these little panic points.

It’s not about throwing them in the deep end and letting them sort it out themselves, but instead recognising that - providing the helper dog is truly comfortable - their response (or lack of!) to these brief moments of uncertainty can provide a beautiful opportunity for learning!

We’ve reached out to to our client base for some new girlfriends for Cedric to practise with!

Well done team Cedric! X

01/09/2025

We squeezed in a walk with Hayley and Otto before her big honeymoon trip!

Hopefully Otto will sort out his attitude towards group shots and practise how to pose for pictures while she’s away! 🤣

31/08/2025

Dennis has completed his 3 session behaviour modification package with team CAB Emily!

He and his owners signed up after two incidents with other dogs and increasing postural and growling displays on his street walks.

✅ Muzzle training was introduced - he has a muzzle movement one on order and this one ticks all the welfare boxes while we wait!

✅ Longline handling skills were introduced, but he’s now dragging the longline for 90% of his walks.

✅ He walks on a loose lead and can walk past dogs on the other side of the street without reacting.

✅ He is able to play nicely or calmly sniff other dogs on his walks.

➡️ Next steps are to work on creating a social group with well suited dogs for more prolonged exposure (rather than relying on brief chance encounters to meet social needs) and also to get gait analysis as he gets a bit shakey and uncoordinated on his back legs as a walk progresses (something we see quite a lot in staffies!).

Obviously losing the longline is a goal and with enough evidence it’s no longer needed- the muzzle can be carefully faded out too.

What awesome progress! Well done team Dennis! 💥 💪

29/08/2025

Bruce came to me with a big fixation (on dogs) problem!

He’d fixate on dogs and then launch into interactions, which would then often lead to dogs correcting him harshly. These repeated corrections resulted in him becoming more anxious entering interactions, pre-empting tension and escalating his behaviour in a proactive defensive manner.

Adolescence didn’t help matters, nor did being a gangly Boxer with testicles!

Unfortunately, some breeds are at risk of being on the receiving end stronger responses from dogs if they don’t have impeccable manners. Breed related traits- such as Boxers using their arms and paws to initiate social interactions- is not every dog’s cup of tea, especially when they don’t know the dog!

Some dogs can even find breed specific physical traits tricky to read, such as a slightly jutted forward jaw or heavier breathing, which can give the impression of high arousal and antagonistic behaviour or tension- even when initial social motivation is positive.

If the dog is of a large size, this adds an additional layer of challenge too and these factors are one reason why some of the dogs we rehabilitate are trickier than others.
We have to factor in that little bit harder how the other dog feels regardless of how well the client’s dog is doing!


Bruce is now turning a corner and making some great progress, meeting some dogs on his walks and making more friends!

Bruce doesn’t tend to sniff dogs on greeting nor does he often take the time to invite dogs to engage, and we want him to build this skill. So this session focused on managing his expectations - that not all dogs want him right in their space- and to help him discover that simply cruising along with dogs can be enjoyable in itself or that he can invite them over with less invasive behaviour. That sets the scene for calm sniffing!

Despite getting out much earlier in the day and having lots of water stops- he was getting hot- so we cut the session short.

When dogs are too hot taking treats becomes less enjoyable and subsequently motivation to respond to cues can drop. Responses become slow and thresholds can lower - as being hot is a physical stressor.

But this was a great session for Bruce, helping us identify things to tweak (such as removing reliance on leash pressure for recall so to work towards him getting off lead more than he is already!) and diversifying his social experiences that little bit more.

Well done team Bruce! 🤘

27/08/2025

Bristol Folk: A chance to WIN 4 tickets to DOG FEST!

I have been given four tickets for dogfest (6 & 7th September, Ashton Court Estate) festival to give away for FREE!

To try and win them, upload a video of your proudest training achievement in the comments.
It doesn't have to be flashy heelwork, although that still counts! It could be settling in a context that is big progress for you and your dog.

Whether it's a fun trick at home, something more simple but around distractions, not reacting at something that was normally difficult to ignore- the main thing is that you feel it represents YOU AND YOUR DOG'S progress and relationship.

Competition will close tomorrow (Thursday 6pm).

Please note- only take your dog with you to Dog Fest if you feel that they are going to enjoy the experience.

26/08/2025

‼️ MISINFORMATION ‼️

I’ve seen this word thrown around a lot recently and I thought it may be helpful that I explain what misinformation is, and is not.

WHAT’S MISINFORMATION?

I’m going to use describing Border Collies, otherwise known as Turbo Badgers as an example of misinformation.

Border Collies will likely chase cars.

90% of Borders Collies will stalk other dogs.

If your dog goes up to a Border Collie who is playing ball, they are likely to snap at your dog out of frustration.

Border Collies will bite when scared or in pain.

You should not let a Border Collie stalk other dogs because they will start to perceive them as sheep and will stalk them all the time. The other dog will be scared by being stalked.


WHAT’S NOT MISINFORMATION

I’m going to use describing Border Collies, affectionately referred to by me as Turbo Badgers, as an example of INFORMATION.

Border Collies can be a breed that’s at risk of chasing cars- but this risk is not exclusive to Border Collies.

I would estimate that 90% of the hundreds of Borders Collies I have observed on walks and training sessions over my 15 year career, have exhibited stalking behaviour of varying intensity and frequency towards dogs.

If your dog goes up to a Border Collie who is playing ball, there’s a risk they may snap at your dog out of frustration (Note, this is an example of wording and this risk is not exclusive to Border Collies!).

Border Collies may be at risk of escalating their behaviour (towards aggression) when scared or in pain. (Note, this is an example of wording and this risk is not exclusive to Border Collies!).

My personal choice and the reasons why I will not let my Border Collies stalk other dogs is that the stalking behaviour is highly rewarding (intrinsically) and there is a risk that this behaviour is likely to increase in frequency.
It’s also likely to be unpleasant for the other dog.

ADDITIONAL NOTES

Something that makes you feel uncomfortable or that you disagree with is not automatically misinformation.

Another person’s experiences and/or personal opinion that differs to your opinion/experience is not automatically misinformation.

Information easily found across a broad range of literature being applied to a specific context is not misinformation. Unless you can prove that the information is being presented incorrectly and/or grossly exaggerated in its application to that context.


Saying something WILL definitely happen is different to saying it MAY or MIGHT.

Saying that something applies to EVERY single individual (100%) is different to acknowledging that there will always be exceptions.

Carefully considered language, such as the words MAY or discussing someone’s PERCEPTION is what separates misinformation from information.

The choice of language used is really important.

I personally feel a lot more people will do well to pay closer attention before throwing this word around - especially to content that they find personally challenging.

Calling something out as misinformation when it is clearly NOT, is in itself misinformation.


Note- despite how it may read, this isn’t a post that aims to ignite discussion on Border Collie behaviour. It’s using them as a specific example that is less likely to trigger emotional pushback. Although, anything is possible on social media 😂

Within the comments, you can note some are discussing Border Collies. I have no problem at all with pictures, videos and discussions of Turbo Badgers - but these contributions demonstrate nicely how easily bias can influence how information is processed and ultimately- misinterpreted.
For e.g., someone having experience with a Border Collie potentially overlooking the underpinning message of this post.
Or perhaps, they just want to show off their dogs or talk about them? Which is fine as I love Turbo Badgers! 😆