The Perfect Puppy Company

The Perfect Puppy Company Dog Training & Behaviour in Glasgow & beyond
Aileen Stevenson
KPA CTP, ABTC ATI, FPPE, FDM
(2)

The Perfect Puppy Company offers one to one training & behaviour consultations using simple, kind, effective techniques throughout Glasgow & surrounding areas. I also specialise in supporting families with dogs prepare for life with babies & young children and am the only trainer in Scotland with specific training in this field. Author of "Dogs, Bumps & Babies" available on Amazon now -

https://bit.ly/DogsBumpsBabies

01/12/2025

"๐™€๐™ซ๐™š๐™ง๐™ฎ ๐™™๐™ค๐™œ ๐™จ๐™๐™ค๐™ช๐™ก๐™™ ๐™—๐™š ๐™ค๐™ฃ ๐™ก๐™š๐™–๐™™ ๐™–๐™ก๐™ก ๐™ฉ๐™๐™š ๐™ฉ๐™ž๐™ข๐™š"

I saw a post this morning from a non-dog related FB account I follow. They were complaining about the behaviour of off-lead dogs and saying ๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ญ dogs should be on lead in public at ๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ญ times. And there were hundreds (and hundreds!) of comments agreeing.

Why do people feel that way? Because they've had poor experiences with off lead dogs...

โ€ข Dogs who invade the space of other dogs
โ€ข Dogs who jump up on people
โ€ข Dogs who can't be recalled
โ€ข Dogs who chase/lunge/bark at cyclists, joggers or horses
โ€ข Dogs who chase livestock and wildlife

In short, dogs who have been given more freedom than they have the skills to handle.

Off lead freedom adds so much to a dog's life*. It allows them to be a dog. But freedom brings with it responsibilities....for us.

It's ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ณ job to teach our dogs how to be off lead safely & responsibly. To teach them how to deal with temptations & distractions, to build a reliable recall and, perhaps most importantly, to recognise when they're ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฐ๐˜ต ๐˜บ๐˜ฆ๐˜ต ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ฅ๐˜บ and make the responsible choice to keep them on lead.

Off lead freedom is a gift our dogs deserve.
But not at the expense of others.

*๐˜•๐˜ฐ๐˜ต ๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ญ ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฐ๐˜จ๐˜ด ๐˜ค๐˜ข๐˜ฏ ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฆ ๐˜จ๐˜ช๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง๐˜ง ๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ฅ ๐˜ง๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฎ ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ ๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ญ ๐˜ค๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ด. ๐˜๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ ๐˜ด๐˜ฐ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฐ๐˜จ๐˜ด ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ด๐˜ฌ๐˜ด ๐˜ฎ๐˜ข๐˜บ ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ๐˜ฐ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜จ๐˜ฉ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ท๐˜ช๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ต ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ๐˜ฐ ๐˜ค๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜จ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ. ๐˜ž๐˜ฆ ๐˜ค๐˜ข๐˜ฏ ๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ญ๐˜ญ ๐˜จ๐˜ช๐˜ท๐˜ฆ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฐ๐˜จ๐˜ด ๐˜ข ๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ฑ๐˜ฑ๐˜บ, ๐˜ง๐˜ถ๐˜ญ๐˜ญ ๐˜ญ๐˜ช๐˜ง๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฃ๐˜บ ๐˜ถ๐˜ด๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ฑ๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ท๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ฆ ๐˜ง๐˜ช๐˜ฆ๐˜ญ๐˜ฅ๐˜ด, ๐˜ญ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ญ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ญ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜จ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ ๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ฅ๐˜ด.

๐Ÿ’ฅ ๐™„๐™ก๐™ก๐™ช๐™ข๐™ž๐™ฃ๐™–๐™ฉ๐™š๐™™ ๐˜พ๐™ค๐™ก๐™ก๐™–๐™ง๐™จ ๐Ÿ’ฅDaylight is in short supply in Scotland right now, so a bit of illumination can be a really helpf...
26/11/2025

๐Ÿ’ฅ ๐™„๐™ก๐™ก๐™ช๐™ข๐™ž๐™ฃ๐™–๐™ฉ๐™š๐™™ ๐˜พ๐™ค๐™ก๐™ก๐™–๐™ง๐™จ ๐Ÿ’ฅ

Daylight is in short supply in Scotland right now, so a bit of illumination can be a really helpful safety feature on dog walks. But if youโ€™re going to use a light-up collar or tag, itโ€™s worth setting it to ๐˜ค๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ต mode rather than flashing.

At best, having a strobe light going off under your chin must be incredibly annoying and distracting (...and I often wonder how it affects a dogโ€™s vision). And, at worst, flashing lights ๐˜ค๐˜ข๐˜ฏ be a trigger for dogs (& people) who are prone to photosensitivity or epilepsy.

So save the strobe lights for the disco, not your dog walk!

๐™’๐™๐™š๐™ฃ ๐™ฌ๐™š ๐™™๐™ค ๐™จ๐™ค๐™ข๐™š๐™ฉ๐™๐™ž๐™ฃ๐™œ ๐™Ÿ๐™ช๐™จ๐™ฉ ๐™ฉ๐™ค ๐™ข๐™–๐™ ๐™š ๐™ฉ๐™๐™š ๐™ฅ๐™ง๐™š๐™จ๐™จ๐™ช๐™ง๐™š ๐™จ๐™ฉ๐™ค๐™ฅโ€ฆ ๐™ฌ๐™š ๐™™๐™ค๐™ฃโ€™๐™ฉ ๐™š๐™ญ๐™–๐™˜๐™ฉ๐™ก๐™ฎ ๐™›๐™š๐™š๐™ก ๐™œ๐™ค๐™ค๐™™ ๐™–๐™—๐™ค๐™ช๐™ฉ ๐™ž๐™ฉ.Iโ€™ve just received my ๐˜ง๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ณ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ ju...
17/11/2025

๐™’๐™๐™š๐™ฃ ๐™ฌ๐™š ๐™™๐™ค ๐™จ๐™ค๐™ข๐™š๐™ฉ๐™๐™ž๐™ฃ๐™œ ๐™Ÿ๐™ช๐™จ๐™ฉ ๐™ฉ๐™ค ๐™ข๐™–๐™ ๐™š ๐™ฉ๐™๐™š ๐™ฅ๐™ง๐™š๐™จ๐™จ๐™ช๐™ง๐™š ๐™จ๐™ฉ๐™ค๐™ฅโ€ฆ ๐™ฌ๐™š ๐™™๐™ค๐™ฃโ€™๐™ฉ ๐™š๐™ญ๐™–๐™˜๐™ฉ๐™ก๐™ฎ ๐™›๐™š๐™š๐™ก ๐™œ๐™ค๐™ค๐™™ ๐™–๐™—๐™ค๐™ช๐™ฉ ๐™ž๐™ฉ.

Iโ€™ve just received my ๐˜ง๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ณ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ jury service citation this year. The previous times Iโ€™ve been excused but this time Iโ€™m going to suck it up and go. Even though doing so comes with plenty of downsides - admin hassle, disruption for clients & loss of income.

Iโ€™m not going because I want toโ€ฆIโ€™m going to make the aversive stimulus (the constant citations) stop. Iโ€™m doing something purely in order to escape something. Not because Iโ€™m motivated or enthusiastic about it. Itโ€™s an ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด๐˜ค๐˜ข๐˜ฑ๐˜ฆ from something, not a desire to ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฐ something.

And this is a very common way dogs are pushed into 'behaving' -

โ€ข a dog sits in order to make lead pressure stop
โ€ข a dog lies down to make the looming body language go away
โ€ข a dog 'behaves' because when they do the angry tone stops

And just like me with my jury duty -

โ€ข It doesnโ€™t create warm feelings
โ€ข It doesnโ€™t build motivation
โ€ข It doesnโ€™t build trust
โ€ข It doesnโ€™t help them enjoy the task

Iโ€™m an adult human - I'm able to understand the wider context, the civic responsibility, and the behavioural contingencies. I can rationalise why it feels the way it feels. But dogs donโ€™t have our cognitive abilitiesโ€ฆthey simply feel the pressure and try to make it end.

And while that approach can work it rarely creates willingness, confidence or joyful enthusiasm. And isnโ€™t that what we want for our dogs wherever possible? If we have the opportunity to teach them without coercive pressure (and we almost always do) then why wouldn't we?

If we want our dogs to feel ๐˜จ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฅ about learning - not just relieved when the pressure stops - our training choices matter.

Do you want co-operationโ€ฆor coercion?

๐™ˆ๐™–๐™ ๐™š ๐™ž๐™ฉ ๐™š๐™–๐™จ๐™ฎ ๐™ฉ๐™ค ๐™™๐™ค ๐™–๐™ฃ๐™™ ๐™ฉ๐™๐™š๐™ฎ ๐™ฌ๐™ž๐™ก๐™ก ๐™™๐™ค ๐™ž๐™ฉ...Archie is a super friendly, sociable, inquisitive puppy who gets very excited w...
12/11/2025

๐™ˆ๐™–๐™ ๐™š ๐™ž๐™ฉ ๐™š๐™–๐™จ๐™ฎ ๐™ฉ๐™ค ๐™™๐™ค ๐™–๐™ฃ๐™™ ๐™ฉ๐™๐™š๐™ฎ ๐™ฌ๐™ž๐™ก๐™ก ๐™™๐™ค ๐™ž๐™ฉ...

Archie is a super friendly, sociable, inquisitive puppy who gets very excited when he meets people. That excitement can make his greetings a tad overenthusiastic - jumpy, mouthy and just a wee bit OTT.

But when we set the stage thoughtfully this is what we get when a guest comes to the house....totally relaxed, no jumping, no mouthing.

Here's what we did -

โœ… Kept him away from the door while I was coming into the home
โœ… Waited a bit before bringing him into the room - excitement is highest just after the doorbell rings, so we gave him time to settle before adding more stimulation
โœ… Brought him in on lead so we could prevent any launching (which he didn't even attempt to do because of all the steps above)
โœ… Rewarded calm, settled behaviours around his human
โœ… Gave him more freedom in small, easy steps as he stayed relaxed

Result....a dog who's more interested in chilling than jumping on the guest!

What we didn't do -

โŒ Put him in a situation he couldnโ€™t handle
โŒ Give him more freedom than he could cope with
โŒ Wait for him to get it wrong and then correct him

When we make it easy for dogs to get it right they ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฐ get it right. Set them up for success and they'll do the rest!

08/11/2025

Freshly jumped on mid-run... ๐Ÿ™ƒ

Consideration goes both ways. If we want the wider community to be considerate of our dogs we have to be considerate in our turn...

"๐˜ฟ๐™ค๐™ฃ'๐™ฉ ๐™˜๐™ค๐™ข๐™›๐™ค๐™ง๐™ฉ ๐™ฎ๐™ค๐™ช๐™ง ๐™™๐™ค๐™œ ๐™ž๐™› ๐™ฉ๐™๐™š๐™ฎ ๐™–๐™ง๐™š ๐™จ๐™˜๐™–๐™ง๐™š๐™™"If I had a pound for every time Iโ€™ve seen this advice over the last few days,...
06/11/2025

"๐˜ฟ๐™ค๐™ฃ'๐™ฉ ๐™˜๐™ค๐™ข๐™›๐™ค๐™ง๐™ฉ ๐™ฎ๐™ค๐™ช๐™ง ๐™™๐™ค๐™œ ๐™ž๐™› ๐™ฉ๐™๐™š๐™ฎ ๐™–๐™ง๐™š ๐™จ๐™˜๐™–๐™ง๐™š๐™™"

If I had a pound for every time Iโ€™ve seen this advice over the last few days, I could take next week off! Why does this unhelpful and, frankly, unkind myth refuse to die?

Dogs are sentient beings capable both of feeling fear and of being comforted. And, like us, they are also capable of choosing what comforts them. For some dogs that means taking themselves off somewhere quiet and being left in peace. But for others it will be close contact & reassurance from their trusted human.

Seeing a dog you love in distress and then deliberately choosing to withhold the comfort they seek is neither helpful nor kind.

Of course, ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ๐˜ธ we comfort matters. Making a huge fuss or panicking will only add to the stress. But calm, quiet reassurance - a hand resting on them or a gentle word - can help your dog feel safer in the moment.

To support your dog when they are stressed -

โ€ข Stay calm & relaxed. No drama required!
โ€ข Be guided by them. If they want their own space, give it. If they seek comfort, offer it
โ€ข Provide simple, soothing distractions like a chew or a stuffed KONG but if they don't want it, don't push it

If your dog needs your help, help them.

๐™๐™ž๐™ง๐™š๐™ฌ๐™ค๐™ง๐™ ๐™จ! ๐ŸŽ†If your dog struggles with fireworks, try playing the sound of Japanese Taiko drumming. The deep, rhythmic b...
05/11/2025

๐™๐™ž๐™ง๐™š๐™ฌ๐™ค๐™ง๐™ ๐™จ! ๐ŸŽ†

If your dog struggles with fireworks, try playing the sound of Japanese Taiko drumming. The deep, rhythmic beats seem to mask the bangs far better than classical music โ€” at least in my (highly unscientific!) study of one.

Itโ€™s made a huge difference for Charlie, whoโ€™s definitely ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฐ๐˜ต a fireworks fan.

Link in the comments

And, remember, itโ€™s okay to calmly comfort your dog if theyโ€™re worried. Good luck!

๐—ฃ๐—ฎ๐˜๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ป๐˜€, ๐—ฅ๐—ฒ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ฐ๐—ฒ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜ & ๐—ง๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—š๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐—•๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐˜๐—ถ๐˜€๐—ต ๐—•๐—ฎ๐—ธ๐—ฒ ๐—ข๐—ณ๐—ณIโ€™m a creature of habit. I tend to do the same things on the same da...
04/11/2025

๐—ฃ๐—ฎ๐˜๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ป๐˜€, ๐—ฅ๐—ฒ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ฐ๐—ฒ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜ & ๐—ง๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—š๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐—•๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐˜๐—ถ๐˜€๐—ต ๐—•๐—ฎ๐—ธ๐—ฒ ๐—ข๐—ณ๐—ณ

Iโ€™m a creature of habit. I tend to do the same things on the same days, and that routine helps me find my rhythm for the week.

For years, Iโ€™ve gone to the gym every Tuesday afternoon without fail. Tuesday also happens to be the night one of my favourite TV shows, ๐˜›๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜Ž๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ต ๐˜‰๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ด๐˜ฉ ๐˜‰๐˜ข๐˜ฌ๐˜ฆ ๐˜–๐˜ง๐˜ง, is on.

This week, though, I went to the gym on Monday instead. Fast forward a few hours and Iโ€™m sitting at my desk doing admin when I glance at the clockโ€ฆ 7.50! Just ten minutes until Bake Off - and Iโ€™m still working! Cue mild panic and much running about like a headless chicken before the penny droppedโ€ฆ itโ€™s Monday. Itโ€™s not Bake Off day....

My brain had done two things -

โ€ข Predicted that it must be Tuesday because gym day is ๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ธ๐˜ข๐˜บ๐˜ด Tuesday; and
โ€ข Predicted the opportunity for an activity Iโ€™ve previously found highly reinforcing (watching Bake Off).

That combination made me move (and fast!) - wrongly, as it turned out ๐Ÿ˜‚ - but the point stands: predictable patterns and a strong history of reward can have a real impact on behaviour.

Dogs learn in exactly the same way -

โ€ข When a puppy learns from the start that a walk is always followed by quiet time, that becomes their pattern
โ€ข A consistent evening routine can cue calm and relaxation
โ€ข A pause at the door before going out can become automatic because โ€œthatโ€™s just what we do"

Patterns are powerful - so use them!

03/11/2025

๐™„๐™› ๐™ฎ๐™ค๐™ช๐™ง ๐™˜๐™๐™ž๐™ก๐™™ ๐™ง๐™š๐™ฅ๐™š๐™–๐™ฉ๐™š๐™™๐™ก๐™ฎ ๐™™๐™ง๐™š๐™ฌ ๐™ค๐™ฃ ๐™ฉ๐™๐™š ๐™ฌ๐™–๐™ก๐™ก๐™จโ€ฆ
โ€ฆwould you keep leaving them unsupervised with crayons?

๐™„๐™› ๐™ฎ๐™ค๐™ช๐™ง ๐™ฉ๐™š๐™š๐™ฃ๐™–๐™œ๐™š๐™ง ๐™ฅ๐™ง๐™–๐™ฃ๐™œ๐™š๐™™ ๐™ฎ๐™ค๐™ช๐™ง ๐™˜๐™–๐™ง ๐™š๐™ซ๐™š๐™ง๐™ฎ ๐™ฉ๐™ž๐™ข๐™š ๐™ฎ๐™ค๐™ช ๐™ก๐™š๐™ฃ๐™ฉ ๐™ž๐™ฉ ๐™ฉ๐™ค ๐™ฉ๐™๐™š๐™ขโ€ฆ
โ€ฆwould you keep handing over the keys?

Hopefully, the answer to both is ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฐ! Because itโ€™s basic common sense โ€” if the same unwanted thing keeps happening, we need to take steps to stop it happening again.

And yet, when it comes to our dogs, we sometimes forget that simple logicโ€ฆ

๐™ƒ๐™š ๐™ ๐™š๐™š๐™ฅ๐™จ ๐™Ÿ๐™ช๐™ข๐™ฅ๐™ž๐™ฃ๐™œ ๐™–๐™ก๐™ก ๐™ค๐™ซ๐™š๐™ง ๐™œ๐™ช๐™š๐™จ๐™ฉ๐™จ.....then maybe we keep him on a lead until we've taught him how to say hi politely?

๐™Ž๐™๐™š ๐™ฃ๐™š๐™ซ๐™š๐™ง ๐™˜๐™ค๐™ข๐™š๐™จ ๐™—๐™–๐™˜๐™  ๐™ฌ๐™๐™š๐™ฃ ๐™„ ๐™˜๐™–๐™ก๐™ก ๐™๐™š๐™ง.....then maybe we stop giving her total freedom until her recall is stronger?

If we keep ๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ญ๐˜ฐ๐˜ธ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ our dogs to do the thing we donโ€™t wantโ€ฆ then we can't really complain when they do it! Every time your dog practises a behaviour that works for them that behaviour becomes stronger - more fluent, more automatic, more hardwired into their behavioural repertoire.

The first step in changing any unwanted behaviour is stopping the dog rehearsing it.
Because if nothing changesโ€ฆ nothing changes ๐Ÿคท๐Ÿปโ€โ™€๏ธ

Iโ€™m delighted to share that The Perfect Puppy Company has been recognised as one of ๐—š๐—น๐—ฎ๐˜€๐—ด๐—ผ๐˜„โ€™๐˜€ ๐—ง๐—ผ๐—ฝ ๐Ÿฏ ๐——๐—ผ๐—ด ๐—ง๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐˜€ by Thre...
29/10/2025

Iโ€™m delighted to share that The Perfect Puppy Company has been recognised as one of ๐—š๐—น๐—ฎ๐˜€๐—ด๐—ผ๐˜„โ€™๐˜€ ๐—ง๐—ผ๐—ฝ ๐Ÿฏ ๐——๐—ผ๐—ด ๐—ง๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐˜€ by Three Best Ratedยฎ - for the ๐™›๐™ค๐™ช๐™ง๐™ฉ๐™ consecutive year.

Iโ€™m so grateful to every client who has trusted me with their dogs over the years. Awards are lovely (who doesn't love a bit of external validation?!) but it's your commitment to kind, cooperative training which is the best reward of all.

To all my clients and everyone who follows this page - thank you for continuing to support kind, ethical training. Your dogs love you for it! โ™ฅ

๐—๐˜‚๐˜€๐˜ ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐˜‚๐˜€๐—ฒ ๐—ฎ ๐—ฝ๐—น๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐—ฒ ๐—ถ๐˜€ โ€˜๐—ฑ๐—ผ๐—ด ๐—ณ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐—ฑ๐—น๐˜†โ€™ ๐—ฑ๐—ผ๐—ฒ๐˜€๐—ปโ€™๐˜ ๐—ป๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐—ฒ๐˜€๐˜€๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—น๐˜† ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ป ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ณ ๐—ฑ๐—ผ๐—ด ๐˜„๐—ถ๐—น๐—น ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐—ท๐—ผ๐˜† ๐—ถ๐˜.Considering he only rarely visits...
19/10/2025

๐—๐˜‚๐˜€๐˜ ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐˜‚๐˜€๐—ฒ ๐—ฎ ๐—ฝ๐—น๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐—ฒ ๐—ถ๐˜€ โ€˜๐—ฑ๐—ผ๐—ด ๐—ณ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐—ฑ๐—น๐˜†โ€™ ๐—ฑ๐—ผ๐—ฒ๐˜€๐—ปโ€™๐˜ ๐—ป๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐—ฒ๐˜€๐˜€๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—น๐˜† ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ป ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ณ ๐—ฑ๐—ผ๐—ด ๐˜„๐—ถ๐—น๐—น ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐—ท๐—ผ๐˜† ๐—ถ๐˜.

Considering he only rarely visits a pub, Charlieโ€™s a pretty good pub dog. He settles well, stays quiet and doesnโ€™t get in anyoneโ€™s way. Even so, Iโ€™m aware it wouldnโ€™t be his first choice - so itโ€™s not something we do at home, where we have more options. But on holiday, when we canโ€™t leave him alone, he comes with us.

More & more places - shops, pubs, cafes, even cinemas - are marketed as โ€˜dog friendlyโ€™ but theyโ€™re still fundamentally ๐—ต๐˜‚๐—บ๐—ฎ๐—ป spaces. And not every dog will enjoy, or cope well in, that environment.

So before you take your dog to โ€˜dog friendlyโ€™ places or events ask yourself honestly -

โ€ข is my dog's temperament suited to busy, restricted spaces?
โ€ข can they settle calmly in that environment?
โ€ข are they likely to become overwhelmed or over stimulated?
โ€ข is it possible they'll be a nuisance to others?

It's great to have more dog friendly options but not every place will be right for every dog. So although it might be tempting to take our dogs everywhere with us sometimes the best choice (if you can) might be to leave them snoozing on the sofa at home ๐Ÿ’ค

Just because we ๐˜ค๐˜ข๐˜ฏ take our dogs with us doesn't mean that we ๐˜ด๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ญ๐˜ฅ. Because 'dog friendly' doesn't always mean 'dog happy'.

(๐™‹๐™Ž ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฐ๐˜จ๐˜ด ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ญ๐˜ฐ๐˜ธ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ด ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ด ๐˜ฑ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ค๐˜ถ๐˜ญ๐˜ข๐˜ณ ๐˜ฑ๐˜ถ๐˜ฃ ๐˜ข๐˜ด ๐˜ญ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ข๐˜ด ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜บ'๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ข ๐˜ฃ๐˜ญ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฌ๐˜ฆ๐˜ต!)

๐™’๐™๐™ฎ ๐™„ ๐™™๐™ค๐™ฃโ€™๐™ฉ ๐™ช๐™จ๐™š ๐™ฅ๐™–๐™ž๐™ฃ, ๐™™๐™ž๐™จ๐™˜๐™ค๐™ข๐™›๐™ค๐™ง๐™ฉ, ๐™›๐™š๐™–๐™ง ๐™ค๐™ง ๐™ž๐™ฃ๐™ฉ๐™ž๐™ข๐™ž๐™™๐™–๐™ฉ๐™ž๐™ค๐™ฃ ๐™ž๐™ฃ ๐™ฉ๐™ง๐™–๐™ž๐™ฃ๐™ž๐™ฃ๐™œ...โ€ข I don't think it's fair to a captive animal who h...
18/10/2025

๐™’๐™๐™ฎ ๐™„ ๐™™๐™ค๐™ฃโ€™๐™ฉ ๐™ช๐™จ๐™š ๐™ฅ๐™–๐™ž๐™ฃ, ๐™™๐™ž๐™จ๐™˜๐™ค๐™ข๐™›๐™ค๐™ง๐™ฉ, ๐™›๐™š๐™–๐™ง ๐™ค๐™ง ๐™ž๐™ฃ๐™ฉ๐™ž๐™ข๐™ž๐™™๐™–๐™ฉ๐™ž๐™ค๐™ฃ ๐™ž๐™ฃ ๐™ฉ๐™ง๐™–๐™ž๐™ฃ๐™ž๐™ฃ๐™œ...

โ€ข I don't think it's fair to a captive animal who had no choice in joining our lives. If we bring a dog into our family I believe it's incumbent on us to treat them with kindness & respect.

โ€ข Relationships built on co-operation, rather than coercion, are stronger, safer and more joyful. And for many owners, thereโ€™s a huge sense of relief in discovering they donโ€™t have to be โ€œthe alphaโ€ or use force to be effective.

โ€ข Punishment can work which makes it highly rewarding for the punisher. And therein lies the trap...what starts out as a last resort can all too quickly become our go to. The laws of behaviour tell us that when something works for us, we do it more. So the more punishment works, the more we'll do it because those laws apply as much to us as they do to our dogs.

โ€ข Punishment risks fallout - fear, anxiety, insecurity, avoidance, aggression*. Not for every dog, every time. But certainly for some dogs, some of the time. And the problem is you won't know 'til you've done it which dog will walk away unscathed and which one wonโ€™t โ€” and by that time itโ€™s too late.

Punishment can work. There's no denying that. But it also carries risks. And they are risks I don't want to take with my own dog or with the dogs in my care. We all have to make our own decisions about how we live with our dogs but those choices should be informed choices.

We need to consider not just what works, but also what it costs...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
* ๐™๐™š๐™›๐™š๐™ง๐™š๐™ฃ๐™˜๐™š๐™จ -
โ€ข ๐˜๐˜ช๐˜ฆ๐˜ช๐˜ณ๐˜ข ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฆ ๐˜Š๐˜ข๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ณ๐˜ฐ ๐˜ˆ๐˜Š, ๐˜๐˜ถ๐˜ค๐˜ฉ๐˜ด ๐˜‹, ๐˜”๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ญ๐˜ญ๐˜ฐ ๐˜Ž๐˜”, ๐˜—๐˜ข๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ถ๐˜ณ ๐˜š, ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฆ ๐˜š๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ด๐˜ข ๐˜“, ๐˜–๐˜ญ๐˜ด๐˜ด๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ ๐˜๐˜ˆ๐˜š. ๐˜‹๐˜ฐ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด ๐˜ต๐˜ณ๐˜ข๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฎ๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ? ๐˜Œ๐˜ท๐˜ช๐˜ฅ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ค๐˜ฆ ๐˜ง๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ๐˜จ๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ท๐˜ฆ ๐˜ช๐˜ฎ๐˜ฑ๐˜ข๐˜ค๐˜ต ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜ข๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ด๐˜ช๐˜ท๐˜ฆ-๐˜ฃ๐˜ข๐˜ด๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฅ๐˜ด ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ค๐˜ฐ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฑ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ช๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฐ๐˜จ ๐˜ธ๐˜ฆ๐˜ญ๐˜ง๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ. ๐˜—๐˜“๐˜ฐ๐˜š ๐˜–๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ. 2020 ๐˜‹๐˜ฆ๐˜ค 16;15(12):๐˜ฆ0225023. ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฐ๐˜ช: 10.1371/๐˜ซ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ณ๐˜ฏ๐˜ข๐˜ญ.๐˜ฑ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ.0225023. ๐˜—๐˜”๐˜๐˜‹: 33326450; ๐˜—๐˜”๐˜Š๐˜๐˜‹: ๐˜—๐˜”๐˜Š7743949.
โ€ข ๐˜๐˜ช๐˜ฃ๐˜บ ๐˜Œ, ๐˜™๐˜ฐ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ๐˜บ ๐˜•, ๐˜‰๐˜ณ๐˜ข๐˜ฅ๐˜ด๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ธ ๐˜‘. ๐˜‹๐˜ฐ๐˜จ ๐˜ต๐˜ณ๐˜ข๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฅ๐˜ด: ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ช๐˜ณ ๐˜ถ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ, ๐˜ฆ๐˜ง๐˜ง๐˜ฆ๐˜ค๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด๐˜ด ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ข๐˜ค๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ธ๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ฉ ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ท๐˜ช๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ณ ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ธ๐˜ฆ๐˜ญ๐˜ง๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ. ๐˜ˆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ช๐˜ฎ๐˜ข๐˜ญ ๐˜ž๐˜ฆ๐˜ญ๐˜ง๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ. 2004;13(1):63-69. ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฐ๐˜ช:10.1017/๐˜š0962728600026683
โ€ข ๐˜š๐˜ช๐˜ฅ๐˜ฎ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ, ๐˜”. (1989). ๐˜Š๐˜ฐ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ค๐˜ช๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ด ๐˜ง๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ญ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ต.

Address

71 Laburnum Drive, Milton Of Campsie
Glasgow
G668JS

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 6pm
Tuesday 9am - 6pm
Wednesday 9am - 6pm
Thursday 9am - 6pm
Saturday 9am - 1pm

Telephone

+447905531858

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Welcome

The Perfect Puppy Company specialises in family dog training and helping people understand their dogs, and their behaviour, better.

Founded by professional dog trainer, Aileen Stevenson, it offers effective, ethical, practical training and advice to help families and their dogs live happy and stress free lives together. The Perfect Puppy Company offers a range of services from puppy training to behavioural consultations. Aileen has particular interest in working with families with children to build safe and harmonious relationships.

Aileen is a Certified Training Partner of the Karen Pryor Academy, a full member of the Institute of Modern Dog Trainers and Scotlandโ€™s first and currently only, Family Paws licensed trainer.