Victoria Bark

Victoria Bark Force-free dog trainer close to Glasgow's Victoria Park
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K9 JETS
15/09/2024

K9 JETS

Brushing up on our aviation history before tomorrowโ€™s flight   ๐Ÿพ๐Ÿพ๐Ÿพ๐Ÿพ๐Ÿ›ฉ๏ธ๐Ÿ›ฉ๏ธ
15/09/2024

Brushing up on our aviation history before tomorrowโ€™s flight ๐Ÿพ๐Ÿพ๐Ÿพ๐Ÿพ๐Ÿ›ฉ๏ธ๐Ÿ›ฉ๏ธ

15/09/2024
The t**t in the cravat is even more of a t**t in a cravat than I previously gave him credit for โ€ฆ.๐Ÿคฌ
06/09/2024

The t**t in the cravat is even more of a t**t in a cravat than I previously gave him credit for โ€ฆ.๐Ÿคฌ

โš ๏ธ ๐‘พ๐’‰๐’š ๐‘ฐ ๐’˜๐’๐’'๐’• ๐’ƒ๐’† ๐’‚๐’‘๐’‘๐’†๐’‚๐’“๐’Š๐’๐’ˆ ๐’๐’ ๐‘ซ๐’๐’ˆ๐’” ๐‘ฉ๐’†๐’‰๐’‚๐’—๐’Š๐’๐’ˆ (๐‘ฝ๐’†๐’“๐’š) ๐‘ฉ๐’‚๐’…๐’๐’š

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

"๐‘€๐‘ฆ ๐‘›๐‘Ž๐‘š๐‘’ ๐‘–๐‘  (redacted) ๐ผ ๐‘ค๐‘œ๐‘Ÿ๐‘˜ ๐‘“๐‘œ๐‘Ÿ ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’ ๐‘‡๐‘‰ ๐‘ โ„Ž๐‘œ๐‘ค โ€˜๐ท๐‘œ๐‘”๐‘  ๐ต๐‘’โ„Ž๐‘Ž๐‘ฃ๐‘–๐‘›๐‘” (๐‘‰๐‘’๐‘Ÿ๐‘ฆ) ๐ต๐‘Ž๐‘‘๐‘™๐‘ฆโ€™.

๐ผ ๐‘ค๐‘Ž๐‘  โ„Ž๐‘œ๐‘๐‘–๐‘›๐‘” ๐‘ก๐‘œ ๐‘’๐‘›๐‘ž๐‘ข๐‘–๐‘Ÿ๐‘’ ๐‘Ž๐‘  ๐‘ก๐‘œ ๐‘คโ„Ž๐‘’๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’๐‘Ÿ ๐‘ ๐‘œ๐‘š๐‘’๐‘œ๐‘›๐‘’ ๐‘“๐‘Ÿ๐‘œ๐‘š ๐‘ฆ๐‘œ๐‘ข ๐‘ก๐‘’๐‘Ž๐‘š ๐‘ค๐‘œ๐‘ข๐‘™๐‘‘ ๐‘๐‘’ ๐‘–๐‘›๐‘ก๐‘’๐‘Ÿ๐‘’๐‘ ๐‘ก๐‘’๐‘‘ ๐‘–๐‘› ๐‘๐‘’๐‘–๐‘›๐‘” ๐‘Ž ๐‘๐‘Ž๐‘Ÿ๐‘ก ๐‘œ๐‘“ ๐‘œ๐‘›๐‘’ ๐‘œ๐‘“ ๐‘œ๐‘ข๐‘Ÿ ๐‘’๐‘๐‘–๐‘ ๐‘œ๐‘‘๐‘’๐‘  ๐‘คโ„Ž๐‘–๐‘โ„Ž ๐‘ค๐‘’ ๐‘Ž๐‘Ÿ๐‘’ ๐‘“๐‘–๐‘™๐‘š๐‘–๐‘›๐‘” ๐‘›๐‘’๐‘ฅ๐‘ก ๐‘ค๐‘’๐‘’๐‘˜ ๐‘–๐‘› ๐ฟ๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘๐‘Ž๐‘ โ„Ž๐‘–๐‘Ÿ๐‘’ ๐‘›๐‘’๐‘Ž๐‘Ÿ ๐ฟ๐‘ฆ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘Ž๐‘š.

๐‘Š๐‘’ ๐‘Ž๐‘Ÿ๐‘’ ๐‘ ๐‘โ„Ž๐‘’๐‘‘๐‘ข๐‘™๐‘’๐‘‘ ๐‘“๐‘œ๐‘Ÿ ๐‘ ๐‘œ๐‘š๐‘’ ๐‘“๐‘–๐‘™๐‘š๐‘–๐‘›๐‘” ๐‘œ๐‘› ๐‘‡๐‘ข๐‘’๐‘ ๐‘‘๐‘Ž๐‘ฆ 10๐‘กโ„Ž ๐‘†๐‘’๐‘๐‘ก๐‘’๐‘š๐‘๐‘’๐‘Ÿ ๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘‘ ๐‘Ž๐‘Ÿ๐‘’ ๐‘™๐‘œ๐‘œ๐‘˜๐‘–๐‘›๐‘” ๐‘“๐‘œ๐‘Ÿ ๐‘Ž ๐‘๐‘’๐‘Ÿ๐‘“๐‘œ๐‘Ÿ๐‘š๐‘–๐‘›๐‘” ๐‘‘๐‘œ๐‘” ๐‘ก๐‘Ÿ๐‘Ž๐‘–๐‘›๐‘’๐‘Ÿ ๐‘’๐‘ฅ๐‘๐‘’๐‘Ÿ๐‘ก ๐‘ก๐‘œ ๐‘๐‘œ๐‘š๐‘’ ๐‘œ๐‘›๐‘๐‘œ๐‘Ž๐‘Ÿ๐‘‘ ๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘‘ ๐‘“๐‘–๐‘™๐‘š ๐‘ค๐‘–๐‘กโ„Ž ๐‘ข๐‘  ๐‘“๐‘œ๐‘Ÿ ๐‘Ž๐‘Ÿ๐‘œ๐‘ข๐‘›๐‘‘ ๐‘Ž๐‘› โ„Ž๐‘œ๐‘ข๐‘Ÿ ๐‘–๐‘› ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’ ๐‘Ž๐‘“๐‘ก๐‘’๐‘Ÿ๐‘›๐‘œ๐‘œ๐‘›. ๐‘Š๐‘’ ๐‘Ž๐‘Ÿ๐‘’ ๐‘™๐‘œ๐‘œ๐‘˜๐‘–๐‘›๐‘” ๐‘“๐‘œ๐‘Ÿ ๐‘Ž ๐‘๐‘Ÿ๐‘œ๐‘“๐‘’๐‘ ๐‘ ๐‘–๐‘œ๐‘›๐‘Ž๐‘™ ๐‘ก๐‘œ ๐‘ โ„Ž๐‘œ๐‘ค๐‘๐‘Ž๐‘ ๐‘’ ๐‘ ๐‘œ๐‘š๐‘’ ๐‘ก๐‘Ÿ๐‘Ž๐‘–๐‘›๐‘–๐‘›๐‘” ๐‘ก๐‘œ โ„Ž๐‘’๐‘™๐‘ ๐‘œ๐‘›๐‘’ ๐‘œ๐‘“ ๐‘œ๐‘ข๐‘Ÿ ๐‘‘๐‘œ๐‘”๐‘  ๐‘ก๐‘œ ๐‘›๐‘œ๐‘ก ๐‘Ÿ๐‘’๐‘ ๐‘๐‘œ๐‘›๐‘‘ ๐‘ก๐‘œ ๐‘Ž ๐‘ก๐‘’๐‘™๐‘’๐‘โ„Ž๐‘œ๐‘›๐‘’ ๐‘Ÿ๐‘–๐‘›๐‘”๐‘ก๐‘œ๐‘›๐‘’.

๐‘Š๐‘’ ๐‘ค๐‘œ๐‘ข๐‘™๐‘‘ ๐‘–๐‘‘๐‘’๐‘Ž๐‘™๐‘™๐‘ฆ ๐‘›๐‘’๐‘’๐‘‘ ๐‘“๐‘œ๐‘Ÿ ๐‘ฆ๐‘œ๐‘ข ๐‘ก๐‘œ ๐‘๐‘Ÿ๐‘–๐‘›๐‘” ๐‘ฆ๐‘œ๐‘ข๐‘Ÿ ๐‘œ๐‘ค๐‘› ๐‘‘๐‘œ๐‘” ๐‘ก๐‘œ ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’ ๐‘“๐‘–๐‘™๐‘š๐‘–๐‘›๐‘” ๐‘ก๐‘œ ๐‘ โ„Ž๐‘œ๐‘ค ๐‘ ๐‘œ๐‘š๐‘’ ๐‘Ÿ๐‘’๐‘ ๐‘๐‘œ๐‘›๐‘ ๐‘–๐‘ฃ๐‘’ ๐‘ก๐‘Ÿ๐‘Ž๐‘–๐‘›๐‘–๐‘›๐‘” ๐‘ก๐‘œ ๐‘›๐‘œ๐‘›-๐‘ฃ๐‘’๐‘Ÿ๐‘๐‘Ž๐‘™ ๐‘๐‘œ๐‘š๐‘š๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘‘๐‘ , ๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘‘ ๐‘š๐‘œ๐‘ ๐‘ก๐‘™๐‘ฆ โ„Ž๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘‘ ๐‘”๐‘’๐‘ ๐‘ก๐‘ข๐‘Ÿ๐‘’๐‘ .

๐‘ƒ๐‘™๐‘’๐‘Ž๐‘ ๐‘’ ๐‘™๐‘’๐‘ก ๐‘š๐‘’ ๐‘˜๐‘›๐‘œ๐‘ค ๐‘–๐‘“ ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘–๐‘  ๐‘–๐‘  ๐‘ ๐‘œ๐‘š๐‘’๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘–๐‘›๐‘” ๐‘ฆ๐‘œ๐‘ข ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘–๐‘›๐‘˜ ๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘ฆ๐‘œ๐‘›๐‘’ ๐‘ค๐‘œ๐‘ข๐‘™๐‘‘ ๐‘๐‘’ ๐‘–๐‘›๐‘ก๐‘’๐‘Ÿ๐‘’๐‘ ๐‘ก๐‘’๐‘‘ ๐‘–๐‘›. ๐‘‚๐‘“ ๐‘๐‘œ๐‘ข๐‘Ÿ๐‘ ๐‘’, ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’๐‘ฆโ€™๐‘‘ ๐‘›๐‘’๐‘’๐‘‘ ๐‘ก๐‘œ ๐‘๐‘’ โ„Ž๐‘Ž๐‘๐‘๐‘ฆ ๐‘ก๐‘œ ๐‘๐‘’ ๐‘œ๐‘› ๐‘๐‘Ž๐‘š๐‘’๐‘Ÿ๐‘Ž, ๐‘๐‘ข๐‘ก ๐‘–๐‘ก ๐‘ค๐‘œ๐‘ข๐‘™๐‘‘ ๐‘๐‘’ ๐‘Ž ๐‘”๐‘Ÿ๐‘’๐‘Ž๐‘ก ๐‘œ๐‘๐‘๐‘œ๐‘Ÿ๐‘ก๐‘ข๐‘›๐‘–๐‘ก๐‘ฆ ๐‘ก๐‘œ ๐‘ โ„Ž๐‘œ๐‘ค ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’๐‘–๐‘Ÿ ๐‘ ๐‘˜๐‘–๐‘™๐‘™๐‘ !"

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 โ€œcravatโ€ unwell, and they needed a stand-in? I'm a nobody โ€“ 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 โ€“ all while filming it for his TV show!

WTF ๐Ÿ˜ณ๐Ÿ˜ณ๐Ÿ˜ณ

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 Countryโ€™s Best Dog Trainer," as the *Daily Telegraph* calls him. He has no formal training in canine behaviour or training. Heโ€™s essentially winging it with the help of whatever trainers are willing to show up and assist him.

According to his website, he charges ยฃ875 per session ๐Ÿค”๐Ÿ˜ง

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

However, I couldnโ€™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 heโ€™ll be using week to week, and given that most qualified and accredited trainers want nothing to do with him, the quality of training youโ€™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.

๐‘ท๐’๐’†๐’‚๐’”๐’† ๐’…๐’๐’'๐’• ๐’‘๐’–๐’• ๐’š๐’๐’–๐’“ ๐’…๐’๐’ˆ๐’” ๐’Š๐’ ๐’•๐’‰๐’† ๐’‰๐’‚๐’๐’…๐’” ๐’๐’‡ ๐’„๐’‰๐’‚๐’“๐’๐’‚๐’•๐’‚๐’๐’”!

Slumming it in an inside cabin on the Harwick to Hook of Holland ferry โ€ฆ..
12/08/2024

Slumming it in an inside cabin on the Harwick to Hook of Holland ferry โ€ฆ..

10/10/2023

What Larry learned today...

โ€ข The world is an interesting place
โ€ข My humans allow me to watch for as long as I need
โ€ข My humans understand what I am telling them and listen to me
โ€ข I can see other dogs without needing to say hi
โ€ข Saying hi to other dogs isn't scary
โ€ข Strange humans aren't something to worry about
โ€ข If strange humans get too close my humans will create space for me
โ€ข There are lots of different kinds of humans...big ones, little ones, some in funny uniforms, some that carry things, some with dogs and some without, some in big groups and some alone
โ€ข There are lots of different kinds of dogs...big ones, little ones, barky ones, quiet ones, some that want to say hi and some that don't
โ€ข When I am off lead sticking close to my humans is the best place to be
โ€ข Checking in with my humans always makes me feel good
โ€ข I can relax outside around lots of distractions

And all we did was walk around the park. No formal 'training'. Just seeing the world through his eyes to give him good learning opportunities, moving at his pace, reinforcing good choices, supporting him to be a little bit brave when he needed it and giving him space when he needed it.

The most important thing you can ever teach your puppy is how to be relaxed & confident in the world around them. This is what socialisation is. It's so much more important than sit or paw or down. Never underestimate the lifeskills they can learn from a simple walk around the park (if you do it right!).

Balls! Remind me not to buy squeaky ones agains though ๐Ÿพ๐Ÿพ
27/07/2023

Balls! Remind me not to buy squeaky ones agains though ๐Ÿพ๐Ÿพ

A rare treat..Bo (centre) managed to stay still long enough to be included in the group shot ๐Ÿ˜๐Ÿ˜๐Ÿพ๐Ÿพ๐Ÿพ๐Ÿคช
27/07/2023

A rare treat..
Bo (centre) managed to stay still long enough to be included in the group shot ๐Ÿ˜๐Ÿ˜๐Ÿพ๐Ÿพ๐Ÿพ๐Ÿคช

Interesting read from the very wise Aileen at the perfect puppy company.  I see lots of posts on Facebook and the like f...
23/06/2023

Interesting read from the very wise Aileen at the perfect puppy company. I see lots of posts on Facebook and the like from people who are looking for walks or a dog walker to socialise their reactive dogs โ€ฆ this is like throwing somebody is who is scared of water into the deep end of a swimming pool .. definitely going to work ๐Ÿคช

๐™‹๐™–๐™˜๐™  ๐™ฌ๐™–๐™ก๐™ ๐™จ (๐™–๐™ก๐™จ๐™ค ๐™˜๐™–๐™ก๐™ก๐™š๐™™ ๐™ฃ๐™š๐™ช๐™ฉ๐™ง๐™–๐™ก๐™ž๐™ฉ๐™ฎ ๐™ฌ๐™–๐™ก๐™ ๐™จ ๐™ค๐™ง ๐™จ๐™ค๐™˜๐™ž๐™–๐™ก๐™ž๐™จ๐™–๐™ฉ๐™ž๐™ค๐™ฃ ๐™ฌ๐™–๐™ก๐™ ๐™จ) ๐™›๐™ค๐™ง ๐™ง๐™š๐™–๐™˜๐™ฉ๐™ž๐™ซ๐™š ๐™™๐™ค๐™œ๐™จ.

These are often marketed to owners of reactive dogs as a way to socialise and train their dogs. But they are fraught with risk (as events reported yesterday showed).

โš ๏ธ A group class for reactive dogs requires rigorous control & management in place to keep everyone safe. This is impossible to do in a public space as itโ€™s just not possible to control the environment well enough to avoid risk.

โš ๏ธ Many of these are run on a โ€˜pay & playโ€™ basis so the trainer has no advance notice of who will turn up, how many will turn up, what issues the dogs have, the severity of those issues, the equipment the dogs are walked on etc.

โš ๏ธ Working with a reactive dog in public requires the trainer to give their full attention to the dog, the human client and the ever changing environment at all times. Things can change in a moment and it is simply not possible for a trainer to give that level of focus to every dog in a group setting.

โš ๏ธ They are cheap. Some trainers charge as little as ยฃ10 per dog which means they need higher numbers to make them economically viable.

Large groups of reactive dogs with a high dog:trainer ratio in a public space where the environment cannot be controlled poses a real risk to the dogs, the human participants & others in the environment.

My strong advice would always be to avoid these but if you are considering taking your dog to a reactive group โ€˜packโ€™ walk ask the following questions -

โ“how many dogs will be there
โ“what is the dog:trainer ratio
โ“what equipment does the trainer stipulate you should (or should not) use
โ“will dogs be on lead at all times
โ“ have all the dogs attending been previously assessed by the trainer
โ“can you see a copy of their risk assessment

If they canโ€™t, or wonโ€™t, answer these questions or if the answers concern you in any way think seriously about whether this is a situation you want to put your reactive dog, and yourself, into.

Wow, been a while since I have been this far out of my comfort zone but made it through the institute of modern dog trai...
17/06/2023

Wow, been a while since I have been this far out of my comfort zone but made it through the institute of modern dog trainersโ€™ four day practical course in Herts this week .. could have done without the 30 degree heat (most of the dogs werenโ€™t exactly fans either ๐Ÿฅต). Learnt so much though and canโ€™t wait to try it out my new found skills on the Victoria Bark pooches next week!

Puppers on Tour. The majestic Ratagan Pass with the majestic Angus and Betty enjoying the weather, the scenery and some ...
05/06/2023

Puppers on Tour. The majestic Ratagan Pass with the majestic Angus and Betty enjoying the weather, the scenery and some amazing sniffs !

Puppers on tour! Betty is taking in the view of Skye from our terrace in Glenelg! Off to take on some more sniffs shortl...
04/06/2023

Puppers on tour! Betty is taking in the view of Skye from our terrace in Glenelg! Off to take on some more sniffs shortly ๐Ÿพ๐Ÿพ

Moved my walks forward today to take advantage of the cooler temps and stuck to shade and made time for some swimming to...
31/05/2023

Moved my walks forward today to take advantage of the cooler temps and stuck to shade and made time for some swimming too. definitely too hot for lots of puppers at the moment!

30/05/2023

Looking at the holes in my lawn, I have another theory โ€ฆ

Just throw the balls !!!
26/05/2023

Just throw the balls !!!

Itโ€™s my ball now mwahaahaa ๐Ÿคช
22/05/2023

Itโ€™s my ball now mwahaahaa ๐Ÿคช

The most handsome boy in the world ๐Ÿ˜โค๏ธโค๏ธโค๏ธ (aka the fun police)
18/05/2023

The most handsome boy in the world ๐Ÿ˜โค๏ธโค๏ธโค๏ธ (aka the fun police)

Monday morning album cover attempts ๐Ÿ˜
15/05/2023

Monday morning album cover attempts ๐Ÿ˜

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