BARK9

12/01/2024

So today I had an extremely enjoyable client. This is Kali! Kali is a Mali cross bull mastiff and she’s absolutely mint! 6months old and ready to do some stuff! Kali’s owner got in touch as she recognised Kali needed more to do. She’d like to get Kali doing some sport protection, agility and some more high level obedience. For now, Kali and Cleo are going to work on her engagement and building a really strong bond through that, we’ve got another session in a couple of weeks, which if Cleo if having any troubles we will bring forward. Spending a couple of weeks solidly on these foundations will be a solid start for this pair and I’m really excited to help them on their journey.

11/01/2024

I went to see Loki in his home today, Loki is an absolutely massive 2 year old German Shepherd. He was stressing his owners out by kicking off whenever people moved around outside the front of the house and is an extremely intimidating dog who continues barking and moving forward as you enter the house. To solve this we put several management techniques in, to prevent him from performing the behaviours in the first place, and then working on training some incompatible behaviours and putting value in those incompatible behaviours. He was also in general massively over stimulated by someone being in the house, so I gave his owners some homework, increasing engagement, giving him some behaviours he can perform, getting a crate for him to ensure he’s not interacting with people who are coming into the house, lost of different things that reduce his overstimulation to people entering the house. He truly is a beautiful dog that just needs some things for his brain to be doing in order to prevent him finding his own behaviours to entertain himself, as dogs finding their own way to entertain themselves is always problematic for owners. By the end of the session, Loki was laid on the floor, not even noticing when people pulled up outside the house and just chilling out. Keep up the good work!

11/01/2024

Today I went to see Alfie! Alfie is a 5 year old German shepherd who’s been difficult for his owner to walk due to his reactivity. Alfie’s reactivity stems from over excitement towards other dogs. All he is interested in is the rest of the world and other dogs. We put the foundations in today with Alfie and gave his owner some homework to get more engagement from Alfie rather than Alfie just doing his own thing and taking his owner along with him. His owner did extremely well closing working with Alfie on a much smaller threshold than we started with. Originally, we had to be about 25meters away from the dog he was reacting to, and by the end of it, we were less than half that away from the other dogs. Alfie got tired bless him so we finished where we were, and took him back to his home. No point pushing the issue as we were either going to get false results, thinking he was getting better, when in reality, he was just tired, or due to him being tired his reactivity could’ve easily taken a down turn and got worse, and due to him being tired there would’ve been no recovering from it. Well done Alfie and Mark! You did brilliantly today, keep at it and you will improve, consistency is the key!

08/01/2024

Let’s talk about muzzles. In particular the muzzles you can buy in the pet shops we have in the UK and order easily on the inter.

The muzzles you see pictured below are not suitable for the majority of XL bullies. They are fine for training a dog to wear a muzzle, but they simply don’t offer enough pant room for a dog. Now this might not seem like much of an issue right now, but please please be aware that panting is extremely important for dogs to be able to cool themselves down, therefore, using these muzzles for long periods of time when we start reaching the summer months really puts your dogs at risk of overheating. We all know that dogs die easily in the heat and these muzzles will only make that happen faster.

Furthermore, these muzzles are not biteproof and will not prevent a dog from biting. Which is the whole point of having to muzzle your XL bullies now (regardless of whether they’re actually a bite risk)

Muzzles that XL bullies need, in order to be able to wear them for long periods of time, aren’t cheap and take a while to arrive, so these muzzles will do until you can get one that fits properly, but in the long run they need better muzzles.

This is just an FYI post as these companies sell their muzzles as biteproof and suitable for long periods of time, while they are absolutely fine for thin faced dogs like my Malinois, they aren’t suitable for your XL bullies which also have to wear them in cars while travelling, which can get pretty hot, even with aircon with the dog sat in the boot of the car.

In the photos below I have also added a picture which gives examples of good and bad muzzles that a lady on one of the groups I shared this post to very kindly put together.

08/01/2024

Let’s talk dog reactivity!

Do you have a dog that barks at the sight of other dogs? Dragging on the lead to get to the dogs on the other side of the road? Generally just difficult to walk if your dog spots another dog? Or human for some dogs, but this is much less common.

This isn’t something you have to live with and just accept, this is can be stopped with a bit of help! It can also be prevented! You don’t have to wait until your dog has a problem in order to get a trainer in and help prevent these behaviours from developing.

If you’d like some help with your dogs reactivity and want to have more enjoyable walks with your dogs, drop me a message and I’ll be able to help!

06/01/2024

XL Bully Owner!!!

I’m offering free muzzle training sessions and discounted training sessions for XL bully owners (and owners of dogs who fall into the measurements that the government have decided is a XL Bully).

Muzzle training will be 100% free, lead training and obedience training will be 50% off.

With the new restrictions in place owners will need to find new outlets for their dogs, brain games and obedience training will help massively with replacing the fun and freedom they used to get on their walks, with engaging their brains in other ways. We all know we can never truly replace what these dogs have lost, but we can do our best!

Muzzles being on your dog is now a legal requirement. I know it’s awful, and no one with a brain agrees with what’s going on, but the reality is, if you want to keep your dogs, and keep them safe, you need to comply with the measures that have been put in place. Rebelling against these new laws by endangering your dog will only end up in heartbreak and no one wants to see these dogs sat in police kennels waiting for a behavioural test I am amazed that any dog passes with how intrusive and disrespectful they are to the dogs throughout the test.

01/01/2024

Happy new year everyone! Hope everyone has had a good day and nursing your hangovers is mostly over now 🤣

10/12/2023

Meet Poppy! Young rescue dog, currently in rescue waiting for her new home. She’s a lovely dog that’s just been used to breed and make money from so has no experience of the world. Going from out of control young dog bouncing on the lead to a nice easy stroll in the countryside with just the correct guidance and being shown the correct way.

If you’re having similar issues with your dogs, feel free to drop me a message and we can get you booked in. Don’t be struggling with your dogs taking them for a walk and having a miserable time, it’s a behaviour that can be fixed and you can enjoy your walks with your dogs again! Stop having walking your dogs be a chore and make it a nice experience for both you and your dog.

02/12/2023

Today we worked on Luke and Gunner ignoring outside influences while training. Reward markers, commands and food.

This all stems from the engagement and relationship Luke has with this dog, if you’d like this kind of relationship and training with your dog, drop me a message and we can get you booked in to start your journey!

30/11/2023

Last night I restarted Roxy’s transitions from left heel to reverse guard thinking she wouldn’t remember them as we haven’t worked on this for over 2 years. It’s safe to say, due remembered!

If you have any training out pet care needs, feel free to drop a message and we’ll can sort something out!

29/11/2023

Tonight I decided to work on tactical heel entrances with Até outside Leeds uni, safe to say she’s doing well. Lots of distractions from people and vehicles so good environmental session with her too.

If you’re wanting help with any behavioural issues or wanting to learn how to do a bit more with your dogs, feel free to drop a message and we can sort something out!

29/11/2023

Been a very cold day today. After taking Loki our boarder for a before the sun ups walk this morning, I took him for a mid afternoon walk again and we got totally lost and anyone who knows me knows I absolutely hate climbing hills of any sort. So this was fun 😂

29/11/2023

It’s dark. It’s cold. It’s 7am. But what a nice view and Loki is absolutely adorable

26/11/2023

Even when it’s wet, muddy, cold and late at night, dogs boarding with me will still get all the exercise they need! Even if it does mean I’ve got two dogs to bath before I can go to bed, the dogs come first here!

Took Loki and Até for a nice long walk in the dark tonight. They had fun…. Safe to say I regret my decision to bring them here at this time of night as the last thing I want to do is bath 2 dogs when I get home 😂 but hey ho. They’ve had fun I suppose that’s what’s important 😂😂 oh, and the Lovely Até who is in the crate in the boot has rolled in fox poo so it smell lovely for me right now. Loki also jumped in a pond so he’s not smelling the freshest either 😂😂

25/11/2023

BAR K9 is happy to announce that I’ll be holding some intro classes into protection sports.

This is for anyone with or without a dog currently! If protection sports is something you would like to get into, but you’re not sure where to start or how to get involved, this is the class for you!

This isn’t a class all about getting your dogs to bite as in protection sports, the biting is often a small part of it! This class will have a lot of information about what it’s like to own these kinds of dogs, training them, how much time needs to be put into them, and if you have a dog that you currently own and would like to do a little more with them and think protection sports might suit them, this is the place to find out.

This isn’t about making dogs nasty and out of control aggression. This is about giving dogs (and their handlers) an outlet for their drives and potentially find people a new hobby to get into with their best friend beside them!

There will be lots of information about several different types of protection sports you can get involved in, in the U.K. the different trials that are currently being held across the country, the different types of protection dogs you can have and lots more!

For those that are interested in getting a dog with the intention to compete in protection sports, there will be information about what to look for in a dog, the pros and cons of starting with an older dog or a puppy, where to go to look for a dog that would suit the type of sport you are looking at getting into and again, loads more!

Please do get in touch, if this is something you’ve thought about! Or even if you don’t want to do the biting side of things, the obedience in protection sports is great fun to get involved with!

24/11/2023

Loki was such a good boy getting his nails trimmed today by Barking with style dog grooming. He’s a bit nervous getting his nails trimmed and it’s something I’m not right confident doing myself as all my dogs are pretty good at keeping them short themselves so the few times I have done nails, I end up taking too long and adding to the dogs discomfort. That’s what groomers are for! Could I have done it myself, probably, would it have been as quick and easy, definitely not. No point in putting him through more stress than he needed to be in for it to be done. Now they’re short they’ll be much easier to maintain with walking and do some work with him on getting him better at having his nails trimmed, although, with the groomer the worst he did was lie down so he’s not exactly a large problem.

Also, they weren’t horrendously long, just wanted to get them sorted before they became an issue and didn’t want them catching on anything. So best to get them done before a problem arises.

23/11/2023

BAR K9 is now able to offer pet drop in services. For people who are away all day at work or for any other reason and just needs someone to nip in a few times a day to check on your dogs, cats, parrots or whatever animal you have, whether it be just to let them out to the toilet, make sure there’s plenty of water and just spend a little time with them so they’re not alone for the whole work day. Drop me a PM and we can sort something out that works best for you and your pets. Very experienced handler with all different kinds of pets. Whether they’re confident and friendly or nervous and need a bit of time to come round to new people, can even help out with more spicy dogs which maybe make their owners a bit anxious about having someone drop in to take care of them. I am happy to accommodate whatever you need.

22/11/2023

Luke and I took dogs to the field tonight to do some blinds. Até did great tonight!

18/11/2023

The dogs are enjoying some very well deserved free time in Scotland with no one around.

Due to the nature of their training it’s often very difficult for me and my partner to find places for our dogs to have a blow out and just enjoy themselves without having boundaries, concrete floors, and high levels of control to keep everyone safe. Out here, there is no one, there are no other dogs to come running over, there’s no people wanting to stroke the dogs or get their attention, they can enjoy their time without a worry in the world and so can we.

12/11/2023

Running through some simple entrances with Até today at the park with lots of kids on swings and climbing around behind us.

If this is something you’d like to learn how to do with your dog, or need help with behavioural issues like reactivity drop me a message

09/11/2023

Our working dogs really enjoy their down time. And Roxy is such a fusspot, nagging Luke for cuddles is her favourite thing to do when she’s not getting stroked.

04/11/2023

BARK9 is now available for all your dog training needs. Currently based in Grimsby. Whether it be behavioural, obedience training or if you are looking for something to do with your dog more than the normal pet life but don’t know where to start, drop me a message and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can.

21/05/2022

Flirt poling is a great way to exercise your high energy dogs. It’s great for those dogs that can’t go off lead and get energy burned off by running around the park. It keeps your dogs fit and fulfils the prey drive for any dogs that like chasing things. There are many ways to exercise your dogs like this. So even if normally an hours walk for your dog isn’t enough, starting or ending the walk with flirt poling is something I can do for your dog.

21/05/2022

21/05/2022

21/05/2022