Sam Humberstone - Dog Trainer

04/09/2024

Yep, I know, adorable!

Dog to dog & people to people communication

Dogs sometimes develop a 'type' - a memorable event, a good run around with a suitable playmate, a good association maybe formed and our dog is more likely to have good expectations when approached by other dogs who look similar. A heated exchange of 'unpleasantries', anticipation not so good, and our dog may try to avoid, escape or sometimes object 'loudly', without the ability, in the moment, to listen to us.

If our dogs have had too much frenetic exercise they are more likely to have a heightened response.

If your dog is not comfortable with someone's approach, most people (not all) are understanding and will wait to give you and your dog plenty of space to walk by.

03/09/2024

As dogs age it is normal for once the happiest of go-lucky-dogs to become less tolerant of dogs, people, bicycles, skateboards that pass too close-by or when they approach. These dogs are not being unreasonable 'grumplestiltskins'!
More years can affect eyesight, hearing, sense of smell, with less ability to move away quickly, and there may aches & pains too - they are likely to feel more vulnerable.

On behalf of senior dogs:
R-E-S-P-E-C-T
Regular opportunities for interesting, slower, shorter walks without being hassled please!
🐾🐾

03/09/2024

Cue Training
Whether we provide information to our dogs through a verbal request or visually (through our body language) clarity for our dog matters.
What our dog actually understands and we think our dog already knows are not always one of the same.
A photo from earlier this morning, Osian coming to me, responding to information given by my body language

01/09/2024

A fab start and end to a day off 🌞

01/09/2024

Dog matters
In some cases your first point of contact may not be the professional you or your dog needs.
When that's the case their understanding of who to collaborate with or which professionals to refer clients to is imperative.
Look for professionals who are appropriately qualified for guidance and support.

A woman stands with thee dogs sitting near her in the outdoors. Abstract A Golden Retriever male was exhibiting owner-directed aggression (growling, snarling and baring teeth) and occasional avoidance behaviour of the male owner within the home environment. Blood tests and X-rays prior to assessment...

31/08/2024

Anticipation of a positive emotional experience!
One of my favourite things:
Looking at the face of a dog who knows that something good is about to happen 😊

31/08/2024

🐾
Dog Training Classes held at Littlebourne's 14th Century Barn
A fantastic venue. Building connection with your dog, learn, gain new & practical skills for life at home and out & about on walks
🐾

September classes
Tuesdays
14:00 - 15:00
on the
10th, 17th & 24th
Or Fridays
10:00 - 11:00
on the
13th, 20th & 27th

£70 for the 3 sessions

Suitable for dogs of any age over 12 weeks
WhatsApp group support between & after sessions
For enquiries or bookings feel free to contact me by
phone/message 07484 767650
email [email protected]

30/08/2024

Play & what to play, that depends on your dog!

They're great at letting us know when we get it right 🐾
A fleece dog toy on the end of a line definitely worked for our handsome whippet friend this afternoon
A few minutes at a time, and keeping the line low so he didn't have to jump up to grab - a whippet win!

30/08/2024

30/08/2024

A little over 2 months of sharing life with Osian, I think he's a very lovely dog boy.
This morning's wander we encountered several dog walkers, more than we have before. Most of the dogs we passed were on lead. His inherited & strong Border Collie traits considered, enabled for less worry & relaxed walk-bys for all.

29/08/2024

A One to One
Discussing the next step of a training plan with two fabulous clients.

Canine communication always an important topic. For 'hands-on' interactions it is good practice to continually assess how our dog is feeling. Our dogs often signal any unease by their body language, we can ease the pressure by responding accordingly.

Breaks are good before they are needed.

Sunshine, a lovely venue and time with their handsome spaniel afterwards, followed by some good feedback following this session, nice!

28/08/2024

part 1 - text shared a couple of days ago:
"Like us, our dogs behave differently depending on the environment, how we feel affects how we respond. I almost typed how we CHOOSE to respond, but our feelings and previous experiences will influence our behaviour in following scenarios that are similar, especially if something that we found significant/memorable happened in a specific place - associations are formed."
Tbc...

today ctd...

In some situations responses are instantaneous, by-passing the need to think, a time saver and potentially a life saver!

What is perceived as a potential threat is responded to in the same way as a real threat, causing the same physiological changes.

Perception - anticipation of conflict, pain or injury is in the ears, olfactory system and eyes of the beholder. Fear responses can be inherited and learnt from life experiences.

What I am trying to explain is that reactions are not always a matter of our dogs choosing to behave in a certain way, but still get labelled as naughty, bad, aggressive and disobedient.

I am learning from Osian what he is comfortable with and what puts him on edge. The things that sometimes trouble him can be some people's voices, knocks on the door, some sounds of traffic, unknown people walking towards him. I try to balance-out any negative experiences (normal in real life outside of a bubble) with plenty of good experiences.
It is sensible not to put our dogs unnecessarily in to situations that they find difficult or are not able to cope with. We can ease pressure in situations by 'listening' to & advocating for our dog. Dogs need a certain amount of predictability, some more than others. We can't control every interaction or experience but being benevolent to our canine companions makes life together a whole heap better!

Photo - Osian waiting for me catch up in the woods earlier.

28/08/2024

😂 Great post PACT 💚
Rewarded with a share 🙌

There’s a lot of chat on social media at the moment and educational organisations, regulated businesses and trainers and behaviourists that don’t use aversive methods seem to be the subject matter. PACT fall under all of these categories so we decided it was time to stand up for what we believe in and discuss some of the big topics. Watch this space for a special edition of Barks from the Bookshelf coming soon!

28/08/2024

🐾
Dog Training Classes held at Littlebourne's 14th Century Barn
A fantastic venue to learn how to build connection with your dog, to learn new skills for life at home and out & about on walks
🐾

The next availability is September
Tuesdays
14:00 - 15:00
on the
10th, 17th & 24th
Or Fridays
10:00 - 11:00
on the
13th, 20th & 27th

£70 for the 3 sessions

Suitable for dogs of any age over 12 weeks

WhatsApp group support between & after sessions

For enquiries or bookings feel free to contact me by
phone/message 07484 767650
email [email protected]

27/08/2024

Like us, our dogs behave differently depending on the environment, how we feel affects how we respond. I almost typed how we CHOOSE to respond, but our feelings and previous experiences will influence our behaviour in following scenarios that are similar, especially if something that we found significant/memorable happened in a specific place - associations are formed.

Tbc...

26/08/2024

International Dog Day hey!
26 August
I'm not sure how many years it's been a thing, but I have had the good fortune of sharing my home with canine companions for a couple of decades, yikes!

This year has been quite challenging for me, one of emotional extremes, too often tough, wonderful at times, as life can be, bitter, heart-aching, sweet and heart-warming.

Emotions have been closer to the surface - smiles, laughter or aches and sometimes tears when reminded of Freya the Golden or Cotton the Faerie dog - each goodbye is still recent, and can feel raw.

Along came Osian, the timing, a salve and a focus. He thankfully thinks I'm alright. His joy, and how absorbed he becomes when doing stuff together, his exploring when off-lead, he has a lot of happy, which is infectious!

To live your life with this incredible species is often a joy, but also demanding of our energy, and other things often have to go on hold, but in my opinion, well worth it . To have had the time, the affection and the trust from all the dogs I have lived with is the ULTIMATE in gifts.

Each dog I live with & work with is un-mistakenly unique in character, as is our relationship with them.

Watching a dog show moments of a new found confidence - a vitality, playing with or sleeping near people, or other dogs they are happy & relaxed to be with, it's magicl!

To see dogs able to be themselves, at ease, those moments of pleasure enjoyed by dogs with their people - those are the BEST of memories.

I often feel a sense of awe and gratitude to dogs.
I have regular hits of dopamine & oxytocin in daily life.
Grateful to the honest, humble & trusting people who continue to inspire my learning -
Yes, I love my job, a lot of the time, I get to learn from & work with people & dogs! 😁🙏
🐾

25/08/2024

Benefiting you & your canine companion - Learning exercises that our dogs enjoy, helps to keep connection with each other & improves our dogs' quality of life

25/08/2024

Morning's walk, not soaked today, that was good! 😊💚

From a distance when laying down, could Osian be mistaken for a Pembrokeshire Corgi? 🧐

Relieved for his teeth that he didn't opt for carrying a massive piece of flint.

25/08/2024

Yes indeed! 🙌

I was a professional dog trainer for years, but it never sat right with me. I was in it for the dogs, you see, and when you train dogs for roles, you have to think just as much about the position they will fill as you do the dog. And I just wanted to think about the dog. That’s why I was there. Th...

23/08/2024

I sat an online exam this afternoon, about dogs, interactions with us, their learning and behaviour, possibly not a flying colours result for this one 🙈

Osian was an absolute superstar, shut out of the room, which is unusual, but not a peep from him!
He enjoyed play time afterwards, and seemed to make allowances for my rubbish aim today 🤣

23/08/2024

a post definitely worth a read!

DOGS IN PAIN STILL RUN AND PLAY

This is Twig my yorkie, as many of you know she was born with deformed back legs. She has patella issues, cruciate issues, malformed hocks and also elbow disease.

Despite all of this, Twig would play all day. She is a young dog and would run non-stop, play with toys, play with my other dogs 24/7 if she could. She always wants to go for a walk- she never wants to turn to go home, she would walk all day if you let her.

She’s never grumpy, never shows any aggression even when she’s in pain. She partially ruptured a cruciate a few months ago and despite not being able to use her leg she was still desperate to go for a walk and kept dropping balls in my coffee (obvs I didn’t let her walk or play!) 😳

She has phases where her legs are really bad and she is in pain. It would be really easy for me to think she’s ‘fine’ and not in pain as she would still play all day if I let her. My only behavioural signs of pain with her are that she wakes in the night and takes a while to settle again and she barks a bit more than normal at outside noises.

I’ve also seen night-waking with my Dalmatian, Lucky, when he was in pain and my first sign of his back issues was that he would wake up and wander around in the middle of the night. He also still wanted to walk and play.

People often think that a dog who is in pain won’t want to go for a walk but dogs in pain are often still keen to go for a walk and they will want to chase a ball etc and play if you let them. Don’t ever assume they aren’t in pain because they want to run and play!

Signs of pain can be subtle and these are some that I commonly see in dogs I work with -

🛌 They may wake in the night or find it hard to settle in the evening, pacing or moving from bed to bed

🐕 They may vocalise more (whine or bark) and be more attention-seeking (nudging your hand to stroke them all the time or following you from room to room)

🛋️ Hesitating or unable to climb on/off the sofa, go up the stairs or get in and out of the car or needing a bigger run up to get in. Being slower to get up from resting.

😔 Being unhappy about being handled (groomed/dried etc) or unhappy about people sitting next to them on the sofa or walking past their bed

🐩 Changes in interactions with other dogs on walks- less keen on interacting or less keen on certain types of play etc

🏀. Lying down on walks or walking at a slower place but also conversely running excessively (‘runners high’ endorphins make them feel good temporarily)

You may also notice physical changes (the way your dog moves or the way their body looks.

💊 Please chat to your vet if you see any changes, dogs don’t suddenly change and start or stop doing things for no reason.

Pain is one of the primary causes of many aggression in dogs. Dogs also often don’t stop running and playing when they are in pain- signs of pain can be subtle and easy to miss so please, please seek advice from your vet if you see changes

Laura McAuliffe, Dog Communication 2024

22/08/2024

Osian's morning's walk included some time to explore off-lead, a couple of fresh molehill mounds to dig and paw the loose earth, with some deep inhalation of scent, large decaying logs good for a bit of gnawing, and some play with me, that helps us to keep connected.
Back to me for two separate approaching on-lead dogs, into a down (a favoured position) for one, but with enough space no over-arousal for either dog, and moving away from the road with me, as a car passed - the dog boy did good!

Home - A contentment celebration jigging about on his back, chew in mouth, before serious chew eating - a good start to the day

22/08/2024

The importance here of considering and working to understand breed traits, as well as observation to learn an individual dog's preferences, and to respect these. Always learning 🐾
🙂

The sheep were going back to their night pen after a day on the hill side grazing. They are keen to get back, to sit down and relax. They have to pass over a...

21/08/2024

🤣

www.thepoke.com

20/08/2024

Osian is able to have a bit more freedom, longer off-lead time in the woods today, our foundation training is paying-off - and it was a good break from today's desk & study time.

A short eared owl flew over and ahead of my car on the way home, an absolute treat, I think they are magnificent looking birds 💚