Sam Humberstone - Dog Trainer

01/03/2025

Brilliant 😂

01/03/2025

In a small class this morning - Observation, Participation, Processing, Learning & Play!

The dogs and their people all did good - Really enjoyable! 🐾 😊

Note to oneself - take photos!

28/02/2025

Recently, I've been inaccurately referred to as a Behaviourist, this could be due to now being registered as an Animal Behaviour Technician, as well as a dog trainer.

Underlying health issues can cause behaviour change & training may not be part of the solution or may not initially be required. In some circumstances, to benefit your dog, I may refer you to other professionals such as Clinical Animal Behaviourists or Veterinary professionals.

I work collaboratively with Vet teams, Behaviourists, Canine Physiotherapists, Hydrotherapists and Dog groomers.

I do help people who live dogs with building confidence on dog walks, helping dogs to feel more settled at home, introducing a harness, reducing stress around vet visits, and more!

"ABTC Standard - Animal Behaviour Technician
• Devise and/or implement procedures to safeguard against the development of undesired
behaviours
• Provide preventative information to owners/guardians/handlers, and co-professionals
• Provide behavioural first-aid information to owners/guardians/handlers prior to referral to a
suitably qualified practitioner
• Implement a behaviour modification plan developed by a Clinical Animal Behaviourist (CAB),
Veterinary Behaviourist (VB) or Accredited Animal Behaviourist (AAB), following an
assessment/evaluation by that same CAB, VB or AAB. This could be alongside the
CAB/VB/AAB or independently – as agreed by both parties"
The above speech-marked text is from the standard of an Animal Behaviour Technician, to be found via The Animal Behaviour & Training Council website https://abtc.org.uk/practitioners-info/

Osian - paying attention & looking gorgeous!

27/02/2025

Adolescent pups aren't always fantastic decision makers, they can be total mindless tearaways at times! From an evolutionary perspective there's some good reasons to why taking risks can be a good thing.

Enabling young dogs to learn by themselves and build confidence, in a safe environment, alongside our planning and management of teenage puppies can make this life stage feel like less of an ordeal.

Opportunities to visit new places, without being overloaded enables them to experience new scents and explore, it's great physical and mental stimulation, and good for their development in to maturity.
New situations often require guidance and input from ourselves, for example using a long line when Recall isn't a guarantee. Frank here is definitely more confident in a new environment with another dog for company.

A balance - Sometimes we try to play with an already revved-up, yet overtired teenager dog, then we get an extra mouthy wild thing!!! Comfort, calm and quiet can help with moving down a gear or two.

A warm lap and a rest worked after our walk, as Frank pup decided to clamber on to me.
He's had a nice combination of doing, with adequate rest and sleep.
Osian came and sat beside us, he wasn't too sure. I think he's pleased to have more of my attention without this youthful visitor.

26/02/2025

Essential to what we want our dogs to learn well is building salient memories, we are more likely to elicit the actions and behaviours we want from our dog when asked.

In training, dogs that are motivated, listen and are confident in appearance are likely to have previously experienced good associations and formed positive memories.

https://www.news-medical.net/news/20250218/Researchers-discover-direct-feedback-loop-in-brain-circuit-connecting-memories-and-emotions.aspx

photos A Golden, rays of light 🥰

25/02/2025

"I just wanted to show him I'm safe so I keep stroking him and giving kisses" - I hear a variant of this too often with our dogs from abroad. Because most of them have never had family life we want to show them ALL THE LOVE to make up for what they've not yet had.

But it can backfire. Catastrophically.

Trying to show your rescue that you're safe by invading their personal space is a dangerous move to make. For some dogs it may work, genuinely! They may deal with the anxiety/fear of being intruded upon and learn that you are indeed just a bringer of positive things like attention and food. For more dogs though, it can really have the opposite effect.

"He was fine at first, but all of a sudden he is getting aggressive towards me"
"I used to be able to touch him but now he is growling when I go near!"
"He used to roll on his back for tummy tickles but now he grumbles if you try"

When you're invading the personal space of these dogs who are worried by human contact you're telling them that their feelings don't matter, you're going to do what you want anyway. You're telling them that they are helpless to protect their own sense of boundaries unless they start showing teeth.

A big way to trigger a dog's aggressive side is by giving them absolutely no control over their own sense of self.

Upon adopting Lily I didn't sit and hug her, stroke her, kiss her. I still don't 9 months down the line! Dogs are nowhere near as physically demonstrative as we are. They don't handshake or hug or pat each other on the back. We need to be more aware of this when we are trying to form a secure attachment with a dog.

There is SO MUCH you can do to put a Romanian rescue at ease with who you are:

🐾 Be a calm predictable presence without being intrusive
🐾 Offer good things without requiring anything first e.g. don't ask them to come closer to you to get treats etc
🐾 Be aware of your own body language: no looming over them, no long direct eye contact
🐾 Allow them to check you out without putting your hands all over them

I am remarkably hands off when it comes to dogs, probably because I speak their language better than I speak English by this point 😂 It isn't comfortable for any dog to have hands constantly fussing them and it is especially uncomfortable for a dog who came from a life of minimal human contact at all to be suddenly bombarded.

Aggression can be the result of that and that isn't because the dog has changed in their feelings towards you, it is more often because the dog is becoming less and less able to tolerate the discomfort they are being put in, and more comfortable in escalating their communications if need be to keep themselves feeling safe.

No one likes a love bomber at the end of the day. It's a red flag in human to human relationships. Let's be sure we aren't doing it to our dogs 🐾💜

24/02/2025

23/02/2025

💥 New class dates Tuesday evenings

Learn to keep connected
Cue teaching (aka command)
Improve Walks Together
Motivation for Recall.. and more
or come along for the pure enjoyment of doing something together with your dog

Littlebourne 14C Barn

Tuesday Evenings 18:15
8 April
15 April
22 April
29 April
6 May

5 sessions £110

Dogs and their people are given plenty of space if and when needed
I offer
🐾 One to One Training

🐾 Small classes - regularly held in Littlebourne

🐾 I also provide preventative and behavioural first-aid
Happy to work collaboratively with Vet teams, Behaviourists, Canine Physiotherapists, and Dog groomers

[email protected]
07484 767650

21/02/2025

Vet Visits, for some dogs and their people they become a thing of dread!
How (much) you feel impacts on how (much) you respond, flight, fight, freeze or fidget/flirt/fawn!
If you are returned to a place where something you perceived as really frightening happened, the chances are you could soon be in a state of real panic, and no amount of reasoning will help!

We can't erase those memories but we can change how to approach experiences and make new memories

This week, a previously extremely scared spaniel had medical treatment in a way that last year his people did not think would be possible! An excellent Vet and good veterinary practice made this happen.

Previous experiences, meant he was very scared, muzzled before reaching the Vet's reception area - in the consult room "they were practically chasing him round the room syringe in hand, throwing blankets over his head etc - ... Traumatised all of us..."

This week, no muzzle
"Feel much better about the prospect of future vet visits... X###x wasn't stressed about being there or seeing X###x vet. On the contrary he was pleased to see her - wagging his tail etc. The other lovely thing was she talked to him the whole time even though he was out for the count."

A much happier dog about visiting the vets, and relieved clients too!

A BIG thank you to this Vet & Veterinary Practice for their enduring patience, ability, professionalism and care!

Learning continues, yet I valued lessons and zooms from an exceptionally clever and caring and thankfully influential Veterinary Behaviourist. New knowledge and looking on how to improve on previously negative experiences changed Vet visits for the Golden Freya. It made life easier for me too as she became a frequent visitor to veterinary professionals in her last 6 months of life.

I sometimes work collaboratively with other canine professionals to help clients and their dogs too! 🐾

Photo - Freya the Golden

19/02/2025

🥰 Shattered after a long walk, almost asleep, enjoying the comfort and warmth of his person's lap. Stanley is a Whippet
Today is National Whippet Day.

19/02/2025

Inquisitive and lots of energy 🥰
An absolute pleasure to meet Miss Maggi and her lovely family to discuss activities that she will enjoy and to help her feel more settled afterwards.

18/02/2025

Expect the unexpected!
A client's neighbour's cat is a regular and passing-by visitor. It was interesting to witness this interspecific social interaction, a 'mini-break' from our One to One training session 🤣

18/02/2025

ℹ️ 👍

Did you know that dogs will attend to different types of scent with a nostril bias?

In a 2016 study, researchers observed that dogs will attend to the scent of a stressed dog with a right nostril bias, whereas they attended to the scent of stressed humans with a left nostril bias.

This suggests that different pathways in the dog’s brain are involved in processing emotional olfactory cues from conspecifics (other dogs) and heterospecifics.

17/02/2025

Introducing your dog to our and their worlds can be planned and managed, even for adult and 'new to us/foster/adoption' dogs, as for many of us the the most critical stages have already happened by the time our dogs join our life.
"Ensuring every single exposure is a calm and positive one because pup is learning 'how' to respond to these things every single time. What they learn now will continue into adult life." Emma So Help Me Dog

🐾A REMINDER OF THE IMPORTANCE OF SOCIALISATION🐾

🧠 Did you know that your puppy's brain growth is at its fastest between the ages of 3-16 weeks old?

Wait. What?

Yup. Read that again.

🧠 At birth, puppies have pretty much all the brain cells they will ever have but loads of those cells aren't connected. And between 3-16 weeks, your puppy is busy growing their brain by connecting, or wiring, all those cells. They make these connections through repeated learning about their environment - what's good and what's bad. The more they learn, the more they are exposed to, the more connections they make, the bigger the brain grows.

‼️What is learned during this time impacts a dog for the rest of its life across all areas including fear responses, reactions to emotionally challenging situations, learning capabilities, social relationships and reactions to novelty....

And what do we call this period? It's the SOCIALISATION PERIOD.

🛑OK. Confession time. I have a BIG problem with the term 'socialisation'. There. I said it. Why? Because when us humans think of socialising, we put a completely different spin on it - we think 'mixing socially with others'. I would rather we called it the Brain Wiring Period, or the Critical Learning Period. But we don't and so, when we get our puppies, knowing socialisation is important, we set out with the goal of getting our puppy to mix with as many different dogs and people as possible. But by solely focusing on this as our aim, we are in serious danger of overlooking many more important elements of socialisation. BECAUSE...

‼️‼️What the puppy isn't exposed to during this period but which they encounter later in life will be viewed with fear. Your handling of your pup's socialisation period will dictate how well your pup deals with that novelty, whether they are able to cope with it, habituate or adjust to it, how resilient they are in the face of it.

✅ Good socialisation is:

- Positive, consistent, and not overwhelming. Between 12-16 weeks, puppies get increasingly sensitive to psychological stress so it’s important we manage their emotional state appropriately.

- Careful exposure to most things pup will encounter during their life including objects, sounds, situations, travel, surfaces, textures, places, other people and animals, and any combination of these. Think VARIETY, not quantity.

- Ensuring every single exposure is a calm and positive one because pup is learning 'how' to respond to these things every single time. What they learn now will continue into adult life.

📧If you need help with puppy socialisation, please get in touch at: [email protected]

🐶 If you know someone who is getting, or has a puppy, tag them below ⬇️ ♥️🐾

16/02/2025

Scent!
Trained or relaxation? Different benefits?
I love watching dogs being given plenty of opportunity for sniffing with a degree of autonomy 🐾

15/02/2025

👏 ℹ️

13/02/2025

22 years ago today was the 1st evening of many together with Mr Bill aka Billy.

He'd spent over a year in a rescue, and not the new arrival dog I'd been recommended by a friend who worked there.

It took over a week of evenings of me sitting on the floor, before he felt safe enough to approach and lay next to me and rest his head on my lap. He had broken a leg whilst in the kennels, rumoured to be an act of anger by someone with a short fuse of a staff member.

He adored people and thanks to building a wonderful friendship with a young black lab called Merlin, over the years he also made lots of dog friends too.

Now almost 12 years without sharing our evenings. He won my heart fairly quickly and he filled many hearts with happiness in our time together 😊 🐾

13/02/2025

"My main concern walking him. ### just pulls and pulls" why this client contacted me in the first place, after being kindly recommended by a previous client on a local Facebook group.

Part of an email received after our first One to One earlier this week
"It was so good to meet you too and thank you so much. ### was a lot calmer after you left. Today ###x and I followed your advice and it was incredible the difference in ###'s behaviour... He had a good walk with ###x - no pulling all very calm"

We changed a few things, including how they left the house, and contrary to the advice from a bloke on TV we didn't pull on the lead if ### started to pull. We listened and took everything a little bit more slowly.
Making walks more enjoyable is one of the several reasons I am very pleased to do what I do.

Photo - an attentive JRT, not of these specific clients