DogScentric - Dog Training and Dog Walking Darlington

02/11/2024

This fabulous lot completed their Pet Gundog Life Skills and Obedience course today!

A big thank you and congratulations to…

Paul, Emma & Charlie Cocker,
Lana, Simon & Mabel Springer
Terry & Morris Cocker
Hilary & Moss Lab

The last course of the year is fully booked so if you’d like to get started in the new year keep your eyes p*eled for January start dates that will be added to the website soon!

01/11/2024

Here are some do's and don'ts to help your puppy through their first firework season.

26/10/2024

The 26 gorgeous faces I've said goodbye to this week 💔

Everyone has had their final activity walk and after 7 fabulous years, the Gundog Activity Club is no more.

I've been truly spoilt by everyone and feel incredibly lucky and grateful to have met the most amazing people. Thank you 🙏

Now that the worst bit is over with, I'm excited to start a new chapter with the business and push on with growing the training side of the business even more!

19/10/2024

Next week I’m going to be saying goodbye to 26 dogs and their wonderful humans 💔

After sadly saying goodbye to Rachel who has been running the dog walking side of the business since January, I have made the very devastating decision to discontinue the Gundog Activity Club.

Three years ago, I knew I needed to take the plunge into ending the service or hiring someone to take over it. The thought of it coming to an end made my heart hurt so I knew I had to give employment a good go. It's been the biggest challenge of my business so far and unfortunately, it just wasn't meant to be.

The Gundog Activity Club is where it all started 7 years ago - small group walks packed with training games and breed-specific activities. A service I am so proud of. Some of the dogs I’ll be saying goodbye to have been with me from the very beginning and watching them grow into the amazing adults they are today has been an absolute pleasure.

I feel incredibly lucky to have had the support of my wonderful clients, particularly over the last couple of years while I’ve been riding the very rough rollercoaster of employment!

I know this is an exciting new chapter for the business as I get to open up more availability for training clients and focus all my time and energy on continuing to grow that side of the business, but at the moment, it just feels like a huge loss.

Thank you to all you wonderful people for the continued support, the laughs, and most importantly, the trust ❤️

15/10/2024

This fabulous group of puppies and their humans completed the Pet Gundog Life Skills course on Saturday 🤩

A big thank you and congratulations to:

Julie, Chris & Isla Lab
Will & Chester Cocker
Rachael & Nova Cocker
Jane, Paul & Lyra Lab
Joe, Alyx & Bruno Lab

As the end of the year is quickly approaching, we only have one more Pet Gundog Life Skills & Obedience course with availability left for 2024!

08/10/2024

26/09/2024

Part 1 of avoiding firework phobias developing with your young dog.

19/09/2024

Eve has been a challenging dog since her mum got her as a puppy 5 years ago.

She had zero ability to switch off and relax and she’s grown into a stressed and anxious adult. Outside she is a hunting machine and loses her marbles easily so giving her the exercise she needs has been difficult.

Our priorities with Eve are to help her relax more at home and to ensure we are meeting her physical and mental needs by building outdoor skills to work towards off lead reliability.

Eve’s mum is an amazing human who has done nothing but educate herself over the last few years so she can give Eve the best life possible. She’s worked with five other trainers, some helpful, some not, and some causing more harm than good.

We are two sessions into a training programme which includes in-person 1-2-1 sessions, follow up videos and plans, and unlimited WhatsApp support in between.

So far we’ve looked at structuring Eve’s time at home so she has more clarity and guidance, and less options available to her. Loads of choices, freedom, and stimulation is often more harmful than helpful for dog’s who are unable to switch off and relax.

We’ve switched up her exercise to structured activity walks to include the outlets Eve needs as a Working Cocker Spaniel, to challenge her mentally, and to manage her arousal levels better.

We’ve started building some important outdoor skills such as heelwork and recall, and this week we’ll be getting started with stopping at a distance and turning on a whistle for better off lead control.

We’ve got a big project ahead of us but Eve’s mum is up for the challenge and I am so much enjoying watching this fabulous team progress together 🥰

17/09/2024

NEW BLOG POST!

4 steps to an awesome recall!

The recall cue is THE most important cue you can teach your dog. Here are 4 steps to an awesome recall!

08/09/2024

We’ve had a brilliant little adventure day in Ulverston! Thanks so much to Chelsea at LakeSUP for making our first paddleboarding experience an awesome one! All of the dogs did us proud and not one of us fell in 🎉

28/08/2024

Devastated to be saying goodbye to Dexter and Lottie for a few days for my annual dog-less holiday 🥹

I'll be back to it on Thursday 5th September and will get back to all messages then. I've got some social media posts scheduled while I'm away but it is most definitely a phone-less break!

27/08/2024

This delicious ball of cuteness is 13 weeks old. He’s a bold and confident boy who is already showing a keen desire to learn and “do”…aka…he’s going to keep his humans on their toes!

Bruno and his humans started the Puppy Pre-School Programme at 11 weeks old and will soon be starting the Pet Gundog Puppy Life Skills course alongside their 1-2-1 support.

He has an awesome future ahead of him filled with adventures and van life which means he and his humans have lots to learn for Bruno - a high-energy Gundog breed - to grow into a dog that can go everywhere with them and it be a pleasure for them all!

He is super confident with people and dogs so our focus for his socialisation is definitely NOT to introduce him to every dog and person he sees. We’ll be focusing on building his self-control skills around unfamiliar dogs and people and creating a neutral response to them. The goal is to reduce the value he has in external distractions which ultimately we’ll want him to learn to ignore, whilst increasing the value he has in his humans outdoors.

I love working with this fabulous team and I’m excited to watch them grow together 🥰

24/08/2024

Our Spaniel babies completed their Pet Gundog Puppy Life Skills course today!

Congratulations to…

Holly, Jonny & Ozzy
Graeme, Katie & Saffie
Caitlin & Bruce
And Jack, Grace & Peggy who couldn’t make the last session!

An awesome little group of Cockers ❤️

21/08/2024

Luna is terrified of strangers.

She's the offspring of two lovely sociable Labradors, the sibling of bold and confident puppies, bred by lovely people, and taken home by lovely people.

It’s often assumed that puppies need to have a traumatic experience with something to be fearful and that’s just not the case.

We get what we get and our approach to socialisation and training needs to be specific to that individual's needs.

If we take the “she’ll get used to it” approach with a sensitive puppy like Luna and introduce her to loads of people, we’d ruin her as an adult. I have absolutely no doubt about it.

A scared puppy who has something forced upon them over and over and over again, at the most impressionable time of their life, is not going to wake up one day and just get over it.

Taking a blanket approach to socialisation with a sensitive puppy is a pretty sure-fire way of raising a dog who screams, shouts, lunges, and possibly even bites the scary thing to prevent interactions. Dogs learn to shout when we show them that their polite requests for space will not be responded to appropriately.

I should know - I did it myself 7 years ago!

Luna’s family have some strategies under their belt to protect Luna from the inevitable approaches of strangers which at the moment, is going to cause her significant stress and big problems for the future.

They also have a fun, HANDS-OFF game for Luna to play with people who will be respectful of their wishes. This is how we’re starting to convince her that humans aren’t scary!

A polite reminder to all…if you see a puppy out for a walk, no matter how squishy and delicious that puppy is, just keep walking. We don’t know anything about the individual needs of somebody else's puppy, and pushing ourselves on them to satisfy our own needs could be doing a huge disservice to that puppy, their human, and their future together.

21/08/2024

One space left on the Pet Gundog Life Skills for Puppies starting soon!

For Spaniels, Labradors, and other Gundog breed puppies in pet homes, under the age of 20 weeks at the start of the course.

Getting started with calmness, engagement outside, Gundog games, recall skills, lead skills, impulse control, and distractions.

For more information and to grab the last spot:

https://www.dogscentric.co.uk/pet-gundog-life-skills-and-obedience-classes

20/08/2024

https://www.dogscentric.co.uk/post/4-reasons-why-ignoring-unwanted-behaviour-isn-t-working-and-what-you-need-to-do-instead

If you have a frustrating behaviour you’d like to change, there are two things you need to do alongside each other...

19/08/2024

Here are 5 things your puppy needs to avoid long-term behaviour problems at home!

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Our Gundog breeds have been bred to work in partnership with us which makes them fabulous companions. But it also makes them predisposed to becoming completely dependent on us for constant stimulation and attention which means we have an obligation to develop their independence at home, for their welfare and our sanity!

Without developing these skills we are setting them up for a future of chronic stress, frustration, anxiety, and sleep deprivation.

Here are 5 things they need you to do for them…

1️⃣ Create a den and condition it to become their happy, independent zone.

Feed them high value treats, chews, and long lasting food activities in their zone while you sit next to them.

2️⃣ Structure their day and include regular independent time.

Maintain a cycle of physical and mental exercise, followed by low-energy activities such as food searches, followed by independent time with a chew in their den so they can fall asleep.

3️⃣ Desensitise them to your movement.

Puppies don’t hate dens, they hate separation which we then pair with their den. Once they are happy in their crates, start moving around the room and briefly flitting in and out as they start to learn that your movement is no consequence to them. It’s not exciting and it’s nothing to worry about.

4️⃣ Gradually increase absence from the room.

Start to include longer periods of absence from the room sprinkled amongst the moving around and briefly flitting in and out. Don’t go too quickly and undo all your efforts by pairing the den with you disappearing.

5️⃣ Gradually increase absence from the house.

Once you can move around the house and be absent from the room for a period of time, follow the same gradual process to include leaving the house. Start out small and gradually increase the duration of time.

17/08/2024

PUPPIES 🐶

Puppies bite, they chew stuff, they can keep you awake at night and take time to learn a sleep routine, they p*e and poo and sometimes do it inside. It can take time to house train, some more than others.
They can easily get confused about our expectations, they can get frustrated when learning about life and get shouty and bitey, they get tired and bitey and don't want to sleep.

They go through different development stages as they grow having constant new and different experiences, sometimes they deal with these changes sometimes they don't. They make mistakes, they get overaroused, the arousal makes them behave in certain ways like, barking, grabbing, lunging.
They just act on their impulses and they need us to guide them. We need to be kind, understanding and tolerant.

They're beautiful little beings, learning every day, having new experiences every day. Humans brought them into the world, humans give them a home. We have a responsibility to guide and support them through their development with kindness and compassion.
Puppies are hard work but I love the experience, the good and the bad. They are all individually beautifully unique.

We NEED to meet their NEEDS.

They are never with us long enough, before you know it you'll be walking out of the vets with nothing but a collar, lead, a broken heart and loads of memories ...

Enjoy your puppy, embrace the journey, make beautiful memories, even if they're dicks sometimes 🐾❤️

Jane Ardern BSc (Hons) Dip Cabt
Kennel Club Accredited Instructor in Working Gundogs
The Gundog Club Accredited Instructor and Assessor
Member of the Association of Pet Dog Trainers 1058