WOWdogs Edinburgh

06/09/2024

This is why you need to be very aware of TV dog trainers (or presenters who pretend to train dogs!).

⚠️ 𝑾𝒉𝒚 𝑰 𝒘𝒐𝒏'𝒕 𝒃𝒆 𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒏 𝑫𝒐𝒈𝒔 𝑩𝒆𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 (𝑽𝒆𝒓𝒚) 𝑩𝒂𝒅𝒍𝒚

Yesterday, I received the following email from a researcher for the TV programme *Dogs Behaving (Very) Badly*:

"𝑀𝑦 𝑛𝑎𝑚𝑒 𝑖𝑠 (redacted) 𝐼 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑘 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑇𝑉 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑤 ‘𝐷𝑜𝑔𝑠 𝐵𝑒ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑖𝑛𝑔 (𝑉𝑒𝑟𝑦) 𝐵𝑎𝑑𝑙𝑦’.

𝐼 𝑤𝑎𝑠 ℎ𝑜𝑝𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑒𝑛𝑞𝑢𝑖𝑟𝑒 𝑎𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑡𝑒𝑎𝑚 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑏𝑒 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑖𝑛 𝑏𝑒𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎 𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑒𝑝𝑖𝑠𝑜𝑑𝑒𝑠 𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑐ℎ 𝑤𝑒 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑓𝑖𝑙𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑛𝑒𝑥𝑡 𝑤𝑒𝑒𝑘 𝑖𝑛 𝐿𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑎𝑠ℎ𝑖𝑟𝑒 𝑛𝑒𝑎𝑟 𝐿𝑦𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑚.

𝑊𝑒 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑠𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑑𝑢𝑙𝑒𝑑 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑓𝑖𝑙𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑜𝑛 𝑇𝑢𝑒𝑠𝑑𝑎𝑦 10𝑡ℎ 𝑆𝑒𝑝𝑡𝑒𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑙𝑜𝑜𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑎 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑑𝑜𝑔 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑟 𝑒𝑥𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑜𝑛𝑏𝑜𝑎𝑟𝑑 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑓𝑖𝑙𝑚 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑢𝑠 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑎𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑 𝑎𝑛 ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑎𝑓𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑛𝑜𝑜𝑛. 𝑊𝑒 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑙𝑜𝑜𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑎 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑓𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑡𝑜 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑤𝑐𝑎𝑠𝑒 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 ℎ𝑒𝑙𝑝 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑑𝑜𝑔𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑝𝑜𝑛𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑎 𝑡𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑝ℎ𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑡𝑜𝑛𝑒.

𝑊𝑒 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑛𝑒𝑒𝑑 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑜𝑤𝑛 𝑑𝑜𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑖𝑙𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑤 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑝𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑛𝑜𝑛-𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑏𝑎𝑙 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑠, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑚𝑜𝑠𝑡𝑙𝑦 ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑔𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒𝑠.

𝑃𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑒 𝑙𝑒𝑡 𝑚𝑒 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤 𝑖𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑖𝑠 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑘 𝑎𝑛𝑦𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑏𝑒 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑖𝑛. 𝑂𝑓 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑠𝑒, 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦’𝑑 𝑛𝑒𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑒 ℎ𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑦 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑒 𝑜𝑛 𝑐𝑎𝑚𝑒𝑟𝑎, 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑖𝑡 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑏𝑒 𝑎 𝑔𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑡 𝑜𝑝𝑝𝑜𝑟𝑡𝑢𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑡𝑜 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑤 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑠𝑘𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑠!"

My first thought was to delete the email. I'm not a fan of Graeme Hall. I've watched a few episodes of his show, and in my opinion, he seems to make things up as he goes along, relying on outdated training methods.

However, I was puzzled. Was the “cravat” unwell, and they needed a stand-in? I'm a nobody – why on earth would they want to film me training a dog when there are so many high-profile trainers out there? Curiosity got the better of me, so I decided to give the researcher a call.

I'm still in shock as I write this. The researcher explained that they wanted to invite me to Lytham with my Border Collie to "demonstrate" to Graeme Hall how I would train my dog not to respond to a phone ringtone.

Graeme would then take my training method and use it to teach the Border Collie of the family seeking help – all while filming it for his TV show!

WTF 😳😳😳

I decided to dig a bit deeper and reached out to the force-free dog training community to see if anyone else had experienced something this bizarre.

It turns out that many trainers had also been asked to attend filming sessions to show Graeme how to train dogs before the cameras rolled. Most reported that they refused because of his methods, but a few had shown him and his team how to train a dog, only to be dismissed without any credit for their expertise.

I then did some open-source research on "The Country’s Best Dog Trainer," as the *Daily Telegraph* calls him. He has no formal training in canine behaviour or training. He’s essentially winging it with the help of whatever trainers are willing to show up and assist him.

According to his website, he charges £875 per session 🤔😧

Now I’m not someone who normally criticises other trainers. I prefer to let my clients decide if I’m the right trainer for them based on how I work with their dogs.

However, I couldn’t let this pass without making it public knowledge.

If you're looking for a dog trainer, please avoid this programme and this man. You have no idea whose techniques he’ll be using week to week, and given that most qualified and accredited trainers want nothing to do with him, the quality of training you’ll receive is questionable at best.

Instead, do your own research and find a local trainer who aligns with your own dog training ethics. Organisations such as The IMDT or APDT - Association of Pet Dog Trainers can help guide you to qualified & accredited trainers in your area.

𝑷𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒆 𝒅𝒐𝒏'𝒕 𝒑𝒖𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒅𝒐𝒈𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒔!

01/09/2024

Thank you to Colinton Village Enterprise SCIO for organising this fantastic event Art in the Park 2024. I loved being part of it and met loads of lovely dogs (and owners!) They enjoyed the sniff zone where they found tasty treats! All great for confidence building! Here are a few pics!

30/08/2024

Would love to see some friendly faces at my stall tomorrow at Art in the Park! 🌞 should be out as a bonus!
Check out the dog show too! Tiggy won’t be entered (due to logistics) so everyone else has a chance to win 😂😂😂!
Some sniffing fun for the dogs, free treats for pups (and maybe older dogs) and some homemade snuffle mats or long lines for sales or training discounts!

28/08/2024

It's Rainbow Bridge Remembrance Day today.

It's horrendous losing a pet, I wasn't prepared for just how bad it was, we had no warning with Amber and it physically hurt for months.
She was a beautiful soul and died suddenly at the beach on holiday.
Post a pic of a pet you have lost and let's enjoy the memory of our rainbow bridge pets 🌈

26/08/2024

Let’s celebrate our dogs on international dog day! Post the last pic of your pup!

18/08/2024

Come and say Hi! I have a wee stall here!
Discounts on training, free puppy treat packs, grab a treat for your dog, homemade doggy things for sale and some sniffy things for your dog to do!

Who's coming to at on Saturday August 31st in Spylaw Park?

You can book here in advance -
https://bookwhen.com/cventerprise

15/08/2024

You don’t need expensive things to give your dog some enrichment! This is her dinner but you can hide other treats etc.
Go on give it a go!

10/08/2024

Sharing in case anyone wants to fill in a consultation about fireworks within Edinburgh. I know many dogs who are terrified of fireworks and IMO should be some regulation around their use so pet owners can be prepared.
However, there are many ways we can help our dogs and this should probably start asap if you have a fearful dog! Happy to help! 🐶

Find and participate in consultations run by City of Edinburgh Council

09/08/2024

Holly is forever snapping photos of Tiggy 🥰

02/08/2024

Puppy/Dog classes🐶

Are you looking for something different, but fun, to do with your dog whilst growing their confidence and skills?

As a trainer, growing confidence and optimism in puppies & dogs is a passion of mine. It can really help with many struggles dogs may have, whilst helping them navigate the world. We can grow this through games and play, and see the progression into real life and the relationship boost it can give.

A confident puppy or dog is going to be more relaxed, happy, less likely to react, bark or develop other struggles.

If this interests you or you have a dog that would benefit, I’m running a block of 5 practical classes at St Fillan’s Hall, Buckstone on a Friday afternoon 4-4.55 from 30th August.

Suitable for:

Puppies, great to go alongside some training (I can also help with early training)
Any dog that is cool around other dogs/kids - if any doubt, drop me a message.
Senior dogs- never too old to engage their brain and keep them moving and active, often we make their world smaller and evidence suggests we should not do this.
If you have a very anxious dog, it might be too much but we can have a chat or do an intro session first.
Family friendly - kids welcome with supervision.

Not suitable for:

Dogs in season
Puppies not yet vaccinated
Dogs who genuinely dislike other dogs, as it is not fair to put them or other dogs in this situation, however could explore doing individual or very small group sessions for these dogs as it could massively help them.

We will be using food treats, (high quality treats available to buy on the day) or you can bring lots of small treats. If your dog wont take food, I would suggest a session with me first to build this.

I have attached a rough guide of the sort of things we will cover but will flex this as required.

To reserve a place or for any further information, t&cs, drop me a message, whats app or email. 🐶

22/07/2024

If anyone in the Bonaly, Colinton, Fairmilehead, Buckstone, Craiglockhart areas or close, my dog walker Meg has some availability for group dog walks on a Monday/Tuesday/Wednesday. I have used her for my dogs for over 15 yrs and she is amazing! Pentland Paws or drop me a message and I can put you in touch.

27/06/2024

So cool to be back working with Ernie the standard poodle. He came to puppy classes and now back for some 1-2-1 training to help his lovely owners with some adolescent struggles - pulling on lead, recall and jumping up! I actually can’t believe how much he has grown! He is a gorgeous boy and made loads of progress already! Well done Ernie!

19/06/2024

I try really hard not to do this but it does pop out now and again!

Why saying “NO” to your dog is unlikely to make any difference, despite what you think!

1. Lack of Clarity - The word "no" has no training behind it and does not give the dog any idea what they should stop doing or what behaviour is desired instead.
2. Confusion - Dogs may not understand which specific action "no" refers to, SEE EXAMPLE BELOW.
3. Negative Associations - Repeating "NO” with increasing annoyance can create stress, fear, and anxiety in dogs without teaching them what they should do instead.
4. Does not help with dog learn - The dog may stop behaving altogether to avoid the negative reaction. It will reduce their engagement with you and window of learning. It might stop the immediate behaviour but highly unlikely to stop them doing it again!
5. Reinforcement of Unwanted Behaviour - Sometimes, saying "no" gives the dog attention, which might inadvertently reinforce the undesired behaviour.

Example

Imagine you are in an Alien’s house, and they speak a different language. You are walking around their kitchen and pick up a cookbook, and they say "BOOP to you in a neutral tone. You don't understand the word, so you continue what you were doing. They then say "BOOP” in a harsher tone and look annoyed. You realise something is off but you still don't know why.

They then shout "BOOP” so you move away, put the book down, looking confused. They stop shouting. You have learned through intimidation that "BOOP" means they are displeased, but you don't know whether it was being in the kitchen, picking up a book, leaning on a counter that caused the issue.

Next time, you avoid that spot in the kitchen but lean on a different counter, but they still say "BOOP” at you. You get frustrated because you cannot figure out what they want (it was picking up the cookbook) Eventually, you decide to avoid the kitchen altogether.

The points are:

1. Attaching Meaning - The word "BOOP” or ‘NO” doesn't tell the dog what specific action needs to stop. It needs context and clarification.
2. Lack of Guidance The word "BOOP” or “NO” doesn't tell the dog what you would like them to do instead, this leads to confusion, stress and frustration for both you both.

Try an attention noise instead, aim to avoid the wrong doing, when possible (management will reduce the chances of the dog going wrong) or directing to a previously trained alternate behaviour instead.

18/06/2024

Look beyond the label to help your dog. Behaviours are driven by emotions so we need to identify the emotion and work on that before we can change a behaviour we may not like or want more off.

LETTING GO OF THE LABEL
People love to label things - from containers to personality types, physical or mental differences and everything in between.

Why do we like labels so much? Labels are comforting, they help us to feel more secure.

Labels allow us to close that particular “box”, because it now has a label and we no longer have to think about it or be concerned about it.

It’s been judged, identified, labelled and we can now move on, confident in the belief that there’s nothing more to be done.

We may also be very good at labelling dogs. My dog is stubborn, aggressive, lazy, shy, timid, greedy, jealous, untrainable…. It’s comforting for us to assign a label because it takes the pressure off trying to find out why they behave that way because we might believe that it’s just the way they are.

If we remove the label and take note of the behaviour in context and the circumstances or environment it’s happening in, we may realise that our dogs need our help to cope, not our labels.

Look into what can be done to improve or change that behaviour if it's something you’d like to change.

Sometimes a label does fits, it’s just the way it is and we need to accept that, but sometimes labels hide the need to look beneath the surface and discover what the real cause of that behaviour is.

16/06/2024

🌟 Happy Father’s Day to all the paw-some dog dads out there! 🌟

To the dog dads who who have become skilled at the art of belly rubs and treat giving, and who always have a pocket full of poo bags, but not yet mastered ignoring the puppy dog eyes as they beg for a piece of toast, today is your day! 🐾

Remember when you said, "The dog is not allowed on the bed"? Now look at you, tucked up beside your furry best friend every night. 🛏️🐶

Hope your day be filled with slobbery kisses, wagging tails, and long walk or perhaps even a peaceful, undisturbed nap (if your furry friend allows it)! 💤

Cheers to you, the unsung heroes who make sure every stick is thrown, every walk is an adventure, and every poo is picked up.

For the dog mums, don’t you just love seeing them interact when they don’t think you are watching and thinking they have got you right where they want you 😂😍🐶

Happy Father’s Day and Dog Dad Day from WOWdogs! 🎉

Let’s see your dog dad pics

13/06/2024

5 Things to do when teaching a recall

12/06/2024

Guess which game? 😃
Lots of energy this week! 🐶

10/06/2024

5 things NOT to do when teaching a recall!

09/06/2024

Have had my busiest training week yet! Lots of amazing dogs and owners and some serious good progression going on! So pleased! Here are a few :

Labrador with barking and reactivity to children/visitors- (made huge progress already after one session).
Daxie cross- general reactivity, visitors and barking, again huge progress reported today!
Show cocker spaniel - barking, general training top ups.
Poodle- adolescent struggles, pulling, not listening, no recall, jumping - 1st session and owners so on board!
Working cocker spaniel - powering up recall and barking- also loads of improvement!
Puppy classes too!

And most challenging yet - AI for dog trainers course! 🤯

Do you know I can fit in sessions in the evenings and weekends! I was prepping for todays session, turned away to find this 😭, Tiggy thought it was for her, bless her 😍

29/05/2024

5 reasons why you should let your dog sniff!

25/05/2024

Great confidence game. For a nervous dog, I would preload with treats initially and make it easier!

25/05/2024

Shared from another group, if walking near Braids.

21/05/2024

Disengagement- in almost all dog behaviour struggles, the dogs inability to disengage will likely be part of it.
Pretty much in every training I do, we will focus at some point in growing disengagement, the ability to move away from something eg another dog, sheep, person, squirrel, cat, even their owner (separation) etc etc.
This is one of my favourite games to teach as part of the plan- Rewind!

Here are a few dogs and owners practising it!

20/05/2024

This gorgeous girl has had a wee procedure so it was shady lead walks today. Had a treat hunt at the wigloo! Lots of things to explore at the grounds of the Royal Edinburgh Hospiral

18/05/2024

My week!

It’s been a good one!

I have met lots of dogs this week, including a few new dogs signed up for training who I have enjoyed meeting with amazing owners too.

Have been working with a labrador, Irish setter, show cocker, dachshund cross with a mixed bag of training struggles including dog human reactivity, excess barking, dog dog reactivity, loose lead, confidence and general training struggles. (Have been too involved to take photos, will do next time)
Some adhoc walking too with the usual suspects and a wee cavachon whose dog walker was on holidays.

Study wise, have immersed myself more (not sure I can do much more)in dog dog reactivity training as this is definitely one of the areas I love and separation issues.

Hope everyone enjoying the sun this weekend!

15/05/2024

Male dogs - Should you neuter?

This can be an emotive topic, but these are some facts, (detailed by an experience vet/behaviourist) to help decision making but should always be discussed with your vet in relation to your individual dog. However, it is good to be informed and know your options.

Owners may choose to neuter, under the pretence of improving behaviour struggles. However, it could be more likely to make struggles eg reactivity, separation or exuberance worse. There is limited evidence to support any improvement.

Testosterone and behaviour

Testosterone is primarily produced in te**es, but it is also produced in other body parts. When castrated - te**es are removed so the main source of testosterone is gone.

What does testosterone do?

It increases confidence - Within the brain the amygdala’s purpose (or drama almond) gets activated when danger or worry is anticipated eg dog reacting to noise, separation, other dogs etc.

Testosterone increases the threshold level to when dog may feel anxious about other dogs ie makes amygdala a bit numb. This is reflected in increased confidence so less likely to react.
However, it can also be the volume dial on the brain, hence make responses that are already present, more active or intense, reduces their ability to disengage so can’t be distracted.

These behaviour struggles wont just stop without testosterone & may make them worse if they are less confident. Very small change of improvement.

There shouldn’t be a blanket approach to all dogs. Some options:

Work on behaviour and skill up confidence/calmness
Non permanent option - test it by an implant which will block effects of testosterone for 6/12 months to test it first. It can be reversible.

What to do if castrated already?

Don’t worry, we can still skill up our dog, and change behaviour struggles. testosterone is nice to have but not essential, as can be produced in other parts of the body eg adrenal glands. Short bursts of exercise can lead to increased production. If too much exercise, then cortisol pushes it down again (bucket filling)

Short fun games are great as boosting testosterone
I can signpost to a great resource on this topic.