Hels4Dogs

Hels4Dogs ABTC - Clinical Animal Behaviourist
Working with all breeds. Educating and supporting owners

Join the group to finally get proper support! Sincerely,

Helena

www.facebook.com/groups/hels4dogscommunity/ Hi it’s me Hels ☺️

I'm here to help you and your dog succeed in living the life you always imagined. The idea for this page and business is a positive but informed approach to training, and helping you to think about the behaviour you want your dog to do. I am advocating for a movement towards you as an owner, being able to consider your dog holisticall

y and as the wonderfully emotional and varied individual that they are. Consider this platform a subversion of the typical good vs bad tropes we hear so much of and an evolution towards expanding the vocabulary of owners everywhere!

​I’m offering in person sessions, zoom and virtual advice, courses, q&a’s, breed specific support, a listening ear, and a science based and informed approach to keeping your household happy and your dog’s tail waggy. We’ll be answering all the why’s around dog behaviour and helping owners support their dogs. Join me in the dog behaviour transformation and see for yourself how simple change can affect your relationship with your dog.

If you’re not feeling it neither will your dog. It was mental health awareness day about a week ago or so and I really w...
17/10/2025

If you’re not feeling it neither will your dog.

It was mental health awareness day about a week ago or so and I really was torn about what to post so I didn’t.

Mental health is one of the things that gets decimated by the isolation, anxiety and overwhelm of owning a reactive dog so it does feel important to me that we talk about it openly.

If you identify as a “reactive dog owner” then read this and get permission to be a human, a friend, a partner, a doggie cuddler, and not just a reactive dog owner.

I’ve been in that place where it’s the only thing you know how to talk about really well. How your dog is every part of your life and identity.

Well if that’s you I challenge you to do something without them that would feel tricky this weekend.

Comment below your favourite thing about your dog just to get the reframing going! 👇

15/10/2025

I know this is different to my usual content, but it’s really important that we examine the way we use language to describe the things that our dogs do.

The media have a way of influencing us and this is just a small and very rudimentary analysis of some of the ways that they use language to influence how we think. A full review of media outlets, specific editors and a deeper assessment of what words are used most in conjunction with other breeds involved in bite incidents is needed, but this does nonetheless show some trend.

As we approach the second anniversary of the XL Bully ban, I can’t help but reflect on how other breeds have been treated in the media.

The way that we talk about dog bite incidents is really interesting because there are so many words that we could use to describe a dog bite!

Don’t misunderstand what I’m trying to say here. I don’t absolve any of the dogs in this reel or in the news of the deeds that they’ve done and the injuries that they have caused but it is really important that we remain critical when there is such a stark comparison to be made.

The media want you to think that specific breeds are more dangerous but no matter your dog’s breed they can cause serious injury to a person and it’s important you seek help as soon as you can.

If your dog is causing injury to people, using aggressive behaviour towards you anyone else or other animals then please seek help from a qualified professional.

That could be someone like me a clinical animal behaviourist or anyone else on the ABTC or APBC registers. And if you have a rescue dog and you’re in need of support, make sure you understand whether your rescue will be able to support you.

The earliest intervention will give you and your dog the best chance to make change.

Over the last week or so I have spoken to so many owners that have used behaviours in the past that give me major red fl...
13/10/2025

Over the last week or so I have spoken to so many owners that have used behaviours in the past that give me major red flags. 🚩

So I’m posting my little glossary again, some of the most important terms that you need to understand in order to best advocate for your dog

It might spring to mind that we know this stuff so you don’t have to but it’s actually so important you understand or at least recognise these concepts so that you can advocate for your dog in the best way!

Not all trainers or behaviourists are equal and if you know these things then you’ll be able to spot one that might be putting your dog in dicy situations.

if you understand, for example, what flooding is you’ll be able to spot the trainer that is accidentally over exposing your dog and making them feel bad.

If you know what suppressing is you’ll be able to see what happens when we squash behaviour.

Each of these times helps you identify the right approach for your dog and when we get it right, we get progress so what I want you to do is focus on learning these in the context of your own dog.

That just means understanding their body language how they display their emotions and just being really clear on how your dog is feeling at any point.

Sometimes a lot easier said than done, but that is what us professionals are for, just make sure you can recognise some of these so you can protect your dog from the bad stuff.

How many do you know or are there any new terms here that you think you might take forward?

Barking in the house can be one of the main things that keeps your dog barking out of the house. It’s super important we...
08/10/2025

Barking in the house can be one of the main things that keeps your dog barking out of the house.

It’s super important we shelter our dogs inside to avoid them always being stressed and never having the down time to properly get things out of their system and relax.

Decompression and feeling safe is a huge part of reactive dog rehab.

If you’re experiencing lots of barking in the house then let’s just have a free no pressure chat and see what’s going on 🤗

I’d love to help you and your dog live the life you deserve! Go to the link in my bio to book a call with me 🩵

Sunday Evening Reminders are backIf you are feeling overwhelmed with your dog after a weekend of people being judgementa...
05/10/2025

Sunday Evening Reminders are back

If you are feeling overwhelmed with your dog after a weekend of people being judgemental, unhelpful or just unfair then this is for you.

Your dog’s behaviour doesn’t define you.

I know you try and you work hard to help them feel better and their behaviour is hard or not relaxing or restful.

You don’t get those walks that feel easy or those family gatherings with everyone together and the dogs around.

The next few months might be tough with the holidays coming etc but always know this:

You are never alone with your dog, this is a safe, inclusive and non-judgemental space.

If you’re new here…welcome to this community.

Pop something you love the most about your dog in the comments 🩷

It might seem overkill, to create a whole strategy around Bonfire Night, Diwali, New Years Eve, but let me tell you why ...
03/10/2025

It might seem overkill, to create a whole strategy around Bonfire Night, Diwali, New Years Eve, but let me tell you why it’s actually so important you do:

Not having a strategy this year means not only will you be caught off guard, but you have such a strong likelihood of being in an even worse position next year.

Each time our dogs get that confirmation that the scary thing really is scary, they are likely to feel soooo much worse about it long term and again and again.

Let me help!

My proposal to you: Create an emergency strategy that works this year, and work on the sound sensitivity next year in prep!

Join my 3 part workshop series that starts 21st Oct and let’s start as we mean to go on!

If you’re serious about your dog’s welfare, your dog’s long term ability to cope with these things, and your dog managing through out the season then comment Sound Solution below to get all the details and join me for 3 nights of learning, strategy and implementation!

01/10/2025

Teaching your older or inexperienced dog to do tugging is hard!!

What would be my top 3 tips:

⚡️keep it low and slow
Slowly dragging your tug toy in a sloooooow quick quick sloooow kind of pattern can make your dog engage with the toy.

⚡️let them win
Parading is a really core element behind empowering and play. Parading is where we let them win…they run off with the toy we run away and let them enjoy the win!

⚡️pressure will kill the fun
Let them come to you, keep it short. Tug for a small bit then let them parade then encourage some more tugging.

How do you find tug with your dog?

30/09/2025

Picture this:
It’s the week before Bonfire Night and your neighbours have been letting off fireworks w***y nilly. Your dog is struggling to find a way to cope and the fear has just been getting worse. Your dog was quite worried last year, but this year it’s a whole new level.

You know deep down that there isn’t enough time to get rid of the noise fear, but, what if I told you we could create an effective and kind strategy that worked for fireworks that you can use all Winter long?

Sound good?

If so, then you’re in the right place.

Together over the course of 3 weeks we will put together a safe, clear and well thought out strategy that will work for you and your dog. One that we are sure will make things better than they were last year.

This is how we’ll do it:

21st Oct Day 1:
Understand the ins and outs of what we’re dealing with.
You’ll leave knowing exactly how to tackle this problem long term, why it’s so important and what you need to go away and do in the lead up to fireworks night.

28th Oct Day 2:
Strategise our management plan for the whole period.
We get super clear on what management strategies will be effective, you’ll decide if you need to introduce anything new and what this looks like for your dog.

4th Nov Day 3:
Create a game plan for the big night!
Develop a clear strategy to mitigate your dog’s stress on the night. Q&A plus feedback on our plans if you need it!

If you want to join us just comment below with the words: Sound Solution!

Can’t wait to share all this info with you.

29/09/2025

Scatter feeding is one of my most implemented strategies for reactive dogs.

Why??? I hear you ask… well so much of the time we are looking for that sweet spot of distance, triggers and optimum timing of rewards, that we actually just need a way to make everything feel better and to create some calm.

That is what scatter feeding does… in some scenarios.

Picture this:

A dog has a huge reaction and we’re finally back to safety - the trigger is gone, we’re needing to recover. Scatter feeding - where we throw lots and lots (as in 20 pieces) of food on the floor for them to sniff out - is what can help us do that recovery.

Sniffing is inherently calming, it helps to calm dogs down from those big big emotional outbursts and if we do it for a prolonged period like…30 seconds (without them looking up)….we get a much more level headed dog at the end of it.

Picture this as well:

A dog sees their trigger at a safe distance. The trigger is still there and we want to monopolise on that perfect opportunity.

We scatter feed. The dog sees their trigger, lots of nice sniffing and eating happens and we actually get to monopolise on an instance of them having a nice thing when they see their scary or frustrating thing.

What this does is set our dogs up to start the process of saying “hey my trigger makes nice things happen”.

Do you use scatter feeding with your reactive dog? If so how?

Address

Coventry

Opening Hours

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

Telephone

+447414840540

Website

http://www.facebook.com/groups/hels4dogscommunity/

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