Best Behaviour

04/02/2025

🐾🐾🐾 2 spaces left in puppy class

🐾🐾🐾 3 spaces available in 6 months +

Get the best from your pup , increase focus and build your relationship through fun reward based training with Dog Behaviourist/Trainer Elizabeth Steward

Starts on Monday 17th February 2025
West Barns Village hall
West barns
Dunbar

Puppy class begins at 6:10pm
Pups/dogs over 6 months at 7:10pm

6 week course every Monday evening
Course fee £130
Please PM for booking details

🐾Covering all basic training such as sit, lie down, focus, polite greetings, lead walking, recall, wait/stay, leave and much more!

🐾Also teaches fun and engaging games and tricks like, rollover, peekaboo/middle, touch, spin/twist

🐾We end each class with time for the pups to socialise with each other and people

🐾At the end of each class you will be given a paper handout which recaps the class and gives you things to work on at home

🐾Classes of 6 pups means lots of 1-1 attention and plenty of time to ask any questions or help with any area in particular

🐾Fun and positive reward based training

🐾Classes are run by Elizabeth Steward who has an Advanced Diploma in Canine Behaviour management ( provisional CAB member of the APBC) and with the assistance of Ailsa Cassidy (IMDT) you will get all the help you need with your pup to set you up for a fantastic future together!

🐾 1-2-1 training and behavioural consultations also available

🌟Please pm for more information🌟
!

30/01/2025

"In this life, you're meant to have one great dog," I said.
"One that shifts something deep inside you, in a way you never saw coming. He shows up maybe when you need him most, maybe when you're too lost to see it. And in the smallest, most ordinary moments, he changes you."

I paused thinking of all the nights, I trudged through, feeling like I was carrying the weight of the world alone.
"He's the one who brings you back, makes it bearable when you're tethering on the edge. He doesn't try to explain or preach. He just stays there, showing you a kind of love you didn't think existed."
And that's the thing about that one great dog, he makes you question how you ever got by without him. You look at him, lying there, and realize he's given you more than any person ever has - no big speeches, just a presence, that says I'm here with you. And somehow that's enough to change everything.

~ R. M. Drake from 'Dog People'

Artist Credit: Irina Kryuchkova. Latvian pet portrait painter.

27/01/2025

Last week, we were super impressed with how well you are all doing 😊

19/12/2024

25/11/2024

Week 2 , they are learning very fast! Great to see my assistant trainer ( Ailsa) with her cocker spaniel puppy Alfie ! 😊

Looking forward to week 3 this evening
See you all soon

20/11/2024

Pics from last Monday! Nice to see familiar faces and some new pups 🙂

15/11/2024

This is heartbreaking 😭

12 weeks ago today and I received the phone call from someone I trusted, someone who I now know has manipulated me and my family for their own gains. This 'professional behaviouralist and trainer' promised me that they could help, promised me they had Max's best interests at their heart, that they loved Max. When I questioned them several times with my concerns I was promised by them that their training wouldn't fail Max. For anyone that has followed our journey and that knows me knows how much I love all of my dogs and that I would go to the ends of the earth for all of them. With all the promises and dialogue since our training programme began and the way (as described by the trainer) that Max gave himself to him, I trusted this person with Max's life (I will never, ever forgive myself for this) and I agreed for him to go and stay in boarding for intense training to build Max's confidence. I received regular communication and videos of Max's progress and for the first 4 weeks seemed to be going well although I thought at a pace too fast for Max and always exposing him to dangerous situations that we never put him in. I trusted the trainer though and was assured everything was going well. When I did see Max as the weeks went on I was horrified to see his personal appearance change and his weight gain was overwhelming in such a short space of time. When I challenged the trainer I was assured he had sought expert opinion and Max was now the weight he should really be. (Although later on they called him 'fat boy' and put him on a diet).

Fast forward to Monday 4th November.... I won't go into all the details on here because it's truly heartbreaking but Max lost his life at only 3 years old through no fault of his own.

My vulnerability and desperate situation we were in was abused and used to their own gains. When Max no longer fitted into who they wanted him to be he lost his life. He died a shell of himself, I hardly recognised him at the end, both physically and emotionally. He had no will to live, his eyes were dead and he had lost every bit of his amazing, fun, enthusiastic and loving personality. He had given up😭

The last thing in the world I want to be writing is this post and I know that Max has now died under a huge cloud and can't even be allowed the peaceful journey over the rainbow bridge that he so deserves. The only thing I have left are his paw prints and our memories which are forever tarnished by the way his life was ended.

I can't get my head around how I was brainwashed to allow this to happen and will NEVER forgive myself for allowing what happened to Max.

I won't share all the details on here but it was a very cruel and devastating con with Max paying the price with his life. On Monday 4th November I spent 2 hours training with 2 of my other dogs with the person who arranged Max's death and they never mentioned anything about Max and the plans they had made for him until 1 hour before his time of death. I wasn't even given any time to talk to my family. I was even advised that they considered lying to me that Max had been rehomed. It was a very well planned event so that I was given no choice. The whole situation was manipulated and controlled from the beginning to the end. Answers need to be found from all involved.

Paul Garrett 'Trainer/Behaviourist' (business card in the comments below) (Hutton)
Jordan Byrne 'Trainee Trainer'(Cockburnspath)
Jordan's Dog Training Service (Cockburnspath)
Cheviot Vets
Cheviot Vets Kelso

**Please be careful who you trust**

Just like I have previously said with the littermate syndrome, the only thing I can do now is to try and stop this happening to anyone else, although I still can't believe that this could ever happen to anyone, let alone me. Please, always trust your heart and your gut feelings before it's too late.

This has left me not knowing who I am as a person as I would never have expected me to allow this situation to happen as my life was and always will be devoted to my dogs. I will never understand.

RIP Max 28.6.21 - 4.11.24 😭💙

31/10/2024

Don't forget to book your place on my next puppy/dog training course starting 11th November at West barns village hall 6:10pm & 7:10pm

28/10/2024

Pics from last week, amazing work!
Well done 👏😊

20/10/2024

Please get a dog who is a good fit for you.

It's not a pleasant post but a necessary one. Many of the "behaviour" and "training" issues we come across would not be issues if people had made different choices. I certainly don't mean to sound judgemental here, but with over a decade and a half of working with dogs and their people, I've seen a fair number of cases where people choose the wrong dog or type of dog for their lifestyle.

Some examples

Someone with 8 dogs. They didn't all get along, and the person was out of the house for 10 hours a day, 5 days a week. Some of their dogs were crated the full time, every time, they were out the house. Too many dogs, not enough space and time.

A retired couple who bought two giant breed dogs because "they had always had them." They did not training until the dogs were over a year old and over 60kg. Now reactive to other dogs and they couldn't physically control them.

A family with a working gundog breed. All the gear, no idea. They wanted to dog as a fashion accessory. No outlet for the dog's working needs, the dog couldn't settle as a result, so was now excluded, 20 + hours a day in the utility room. They had money and time, just not the inclination to take care of the dogs needs.

I don't think everyone has the lifestyle for a dog and I certainly don't think every person is suited to every type/breed of dog. When I'm in my 70s, despite being active and physically fit, I'll likely choose a smaller dog. If I live beyond that, I certainly will.

Ask yourself

Do you know what this dog was bred for? Cam you meet some of those needs?

Border collies and springer spaniels were bred to be active, throwing a ball repeatedly as theor exercise is not meeting their needs though.

Are you physically capable of controlling this dog if you need to? If you struggle to carry your shopping 10m from the car to the house, a 45kg labrador or German Shepherd isn't a good choice for you UNLESS your training is consistent and reliable.

Do you have the time in your life to train your dog (and no, exclusion and crating is not the answer to this)? Do you have the knowledge to do so? Or the willingness to learn? This takes time and effort and sometimes money.

Clients of mine years ago complained about the cost of lessons. The woman came to every session with false nails and the guy regularly went on weekend golfing trips with his pals (they were expensive from the description) but neither of them were willing to sacrifice their luxuries for a few months to help their dog (because what would their friends say?)

Who suffers as a result of all this? The dog. They get rehomed. They get ignored or excluded. They may develop destructive behaviours. They become fodder for some 🤡 to slap a shock collar or noose on the dog and hurt them for living.

Many people can have a dog, few (if any) can have any dog.

Having said all of the above, we work with truly amazing clients week in, week out, who rise to the occasion. They change attitudes, invest time and effort into understanding their dogs AND meeting their needs. We get feedback that working with us has not only helped improve their dog relationship but a greater understanding of behaviour has filtered into other aspects of their lives. The learned, adapted, overcame. It's truly awesome to behold.

Please choose wisely. Our dogs deserve it.