Wutheringhounds

05/11/2025

Yesterday in the advanced pet gundog class we worked on…

✅Leave it when running towards a food bowl.
✅Marking a retrieve then turning 180 and being sent for a blind.
✅Retrieving past a bolting rabbit distraction.

Well done guys, awesome as always! 🙌

Startrite Dog Training - Kathryn Wellock Cert.TPTD

04/11/2025

The benefits of teaching your dogs to retrieve owt 😂.

I dropped my hankie yesterday and it blew up the road. My hat blew off the other day, then I dropped a poo bag that was swiftly taken off by the wind too, she retrieved those more competently…the hankie was much more exciting apparently 😂

03/11/2025

Yesterday we ran our last pet gundog connection workshop of the year. The weather forecast was good… but we still got rained on a bit even though no rain was forecast initially 🤦‍♀️🥶😂. Despite the weather, these lovely dogs and their handlers did a smashing job at working through the exercises, finding out what makes their dogs tick and hopefully having lots of fun in the process. Well done everyone, we hope you’ve all taken something away from the workshop that you will find useful and can implement these new skills in to daily life.

We have already got a waiting list for the workshops in 2026 ( dates tbc, but we are looking at running them as the weather starts to warm up a bit). If you would like to go on the waiting list, drop us a comment/message and we’ll make note and contact you when we have dates in the new year.

Startrite Dog Training - Kathryn Wellock Cert.TPTD

31/10/2025

𝙒𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙙𝙤 𝙩𝙧𝙞𝙘𝙠𝙨 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙨 😋

Halloween can be fun for some, but can pose various challenges for dogs. Below are some things to be mindful of this Halloween to keep your canine friends happy and safe.

🎃𝙆𝙚𝙚𝙥 𝙘𝙝𝙤𝙘𝙤𝙡𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙨𝙬𝙚𝙚𝙩𝙨 𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙘𝙝. Many Halloween treats can be toxic to dogs, especially chocolate.

🎃𝘾𝙤𝙨𝙩𝙪𝙢𝙚 𝙘𝙖𝙪𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣. Dressing up can be fun for humans, but a lot of dogs will not appreciate wearing an outfit. Take into consideration your dog’s feelings on this matter, it may be fun for us but if it’s scary for your dog, it’s just not worth it. (This may seem hypocritical advice seeing as though I will often dress my dogs up for seasonal pictures…. however I spend time training my dogs to accept wearing these novel things for short periods of time to get pictures to make people smile. I take the same approach to wearing rabbit ears or a witches hat etc as I do co operative care, or muzzle training. In the case of dressing up for pictures, if they weren’t comfortable or didn’t want to do it, that would be that!. I actually think training them to accept novel items is useful, as they learn to accept new strange things, and not find them scary).

🎃𝙎𝙖𝙛𝙚 𝙨𝙥𝙖𝙘𝙚. People in costumes, trick or treaters or parties can be noisy and scary to some dogs. Create a safe quiet space for them to get away from it all and relax without being disturbed.

🎃𝘿𝙤𝙤𝙧𝙬𝙖𝙮 𝙨𝙖𝙛𝙚𝙩𝙮. If you have a dog that is prone to bolting out of doorways, make sure safety measures are put in place to avoid this occurring. These safety measures may include making sure your dog has a collar with ID on it in case of the worst case scenario. Also, keeping your dog separate from the main thoroughfare ( safe space for them, peace of mind for you).

🎃 𝙆𝙚𝙚𝙥 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙙𝙚𝙘𝙨 𝙥𝙚𝙩 𝙛𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙡𝙮. Some decorations can pose hazards to dogs, be mindful of where you place things like candles for example.

🎃 𝙆𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙙𝙤𝙜𝙨 𝙡𝙞𝙢𝙞𝙩𝙨. Not all dogs are social butterflies, and that’s fine. Bear them in mind when you make your Halloween plans.

Happy howl-o-ween to all those who celebrate! 👻🎃👻

Thankfully our living room is at the back of the house, so we’ll have the lights off and be living our best undetected life watching a scary movie with the log burner on. Is there a bah humbug version for Halloween does anybody know? 🙊😂😂😂

30/10/2025

Last night was the final class of the pet gundog foundation course for this lovely lot. Some of these dogs really struggled to work around other dogs at the start of the 6 weeks, but the difference by week 6 was incredible!

Nellie, Russel, Tab, Stanley, Frodo and Maya and their handlers all smashed it. Hopefully we will see some of you again in the outdoor progression classes, in the meanwhile keep those progress videos coming, we love seeing them 🙌🐾😊.

Startrite Dog Training - Kathryn Wellock Cert.TPTD

28/10/2025

As of this morning I am now officially on the ABTC website listed as an animal training instructor (ATI) after submitting all relevant paperwork and documents. Along with being an improved instructor with the Gundog Trainers Academy.

So what does all this mean for my customers? You can be assured that I have undertaken thorough assessment both written and practical, demonstrating my knowledge and skills. Both the ABTC and the GTA also require their instructors to commit to regular CPD that is reviewed on a yearly basis, this means the commitment to learning never stops. I will have to submit evidence and reflections on any courses I have taken, books I have read, webinars or seminars I have attended etc. This ensures that trainers continue to stay up to date, and also continue to learn and develop and not stagnate. These are obviously all things that I already do, but from a customers point of view, having a trainer affiliated with certain professional bodies gives you the confidence that these things are happening, as otherwise your trainer wouldn’t remain accredited.

Being affiliated with these two associations also means that I have to adhere to both the ABTC, and GTA’s code of conduct. So as owners you know what to expect, fair reward based training helping you to achieve your goals with your dog.

I currently have availability for 1:1 training, get in touch for more information.

27/10/2025

A lovely start to the week for me. This morning I got to meet the very clever and cute Fin, and his owner for his first 1:1 session.

Today we…

✅Introduced a marker word.
✅Started to build value in the heel position.
✅Worked on strategies to increase connection to help with recall down the line. This included reinforcement strategies, playing games and having fun together.
✅Discussed how we will start to condition his recall, building it up gradually.

Well done to Fin and his owner, you both did so well. It was lovely to meet you both and I’ll hopefully see you soon.

26/10/2025

I got Kath a goose for her birthday, if you want to have the pleasure of being the one who names the goose head over to Kath’s page and let us know what you think they should be called 😂

We’ve got a new team member ..the Goose! 🪿
He’s calm, biddable, and has excellent recall (mainly because he can’t actually move).
I think he’s going to fit in just fine… but he still needs a name! Any ideas? 👇

25/10/2025

𝙈𝙐𝙇𝙏𝙄𝙋𝙇𝙀 𝙈𝘼𝙍𝙆𝙀𝙍𝙎.

Thursdays post explained how and why markers are used in dog training, if you haven’t seen it it might be worth having a read.

Today I’m going to discuss having multiple markers. Now unless you’re a dog training geek you probably won’t want to bother yourself with having multiple markers that mean various different things to your dog. However, a fair few of my customers and followers are a bit geeky, so if that’s you, keep reading.

Having multiple markers can add another level of clarity to your training, and can give information as to what reward will be given or where the reward will be delivered. I do have multiple markers for my dogs, more than demonstrated in this video but I’m a geek and dog training is my job, and hobby 😂🤓.

Now I don’t think it’s really necessary to have loads of markers if you don’t want to. Or to get into the complexities of what you can use and how. I do however think having the 2 demonstrated in this video are very useful. My ‘yes’ marker is a terminal marker, which means it ends a behaviour and communicates to Newt that she can move and a reward will follow. My ‘good’ marker communicates that she should stay in position and the reward will be delivered to her, the reward when I say ‘good’ will always be food. You may notice that when I say good I elongate it, this isn’t normally what I would recommend when marking behaviour ( as I said yesterday your marker word should be quick, like a click), but in this instance it also works as a keep going cue for her and I only use it when working on building duration.

I think it’s useful when building duration in behaviours to have a marker that indicates to your dog that they will be rewarded but are expected to remain in position. In order for this to be successful you need to work on impulse control around food, so your dog doesn’t jump out of position to meet the treat in your hand.

If you would like to add clarity to your training, and work on teaching your pet gundog impulse control I currently have availability for 1:1 customers. Contact me for more information.

24/10/2025

𝙇𝙊𝘾𝙆𝙀𝘿 𝙊𝙐𝙏 𝙄𝙉𝙉𝙄𝙏 😱☔️😂

You had one job human… and you failed! ( luckily Matt came back not long after so we didn’t have to wait too long!)

23/10/2025

𝙒𝙃𝘼𝙏 𝙄𝙎 𝘼 𝙈𝘼𝙍𝙆𝙀𝙍 𝙄𝙉 𝘿𝙊𝙂 𝙏𝙍𝘼𝙄𝙉𝙄𝙉𝙂?

Markers communicate to your dog the exact moment they have done the correct thing and that a reward will subsequently follow.

When training with rewards, using a marker word or a clicker enables us to communicate clearly what it is they have done that we like, and what has earned them the reward. A marker should be a quick single syllable word or a click, this ensures that the exact thing they have done is marked. Some examples of marker words commonly used are ‘yes’, ‘good’, and ‘nice’. It really doesn’t matter what word you use, as long as it is short and succinct.

Why use a marker?

✅Markers can add clarity to your training, dogs like clarity.
✅This clarity can speed up the learning process.
✅Markers act as a bridge, so your dog knows they have done the correct thing when you are unable to deliver the reward immediately.
✅They can increase focus and motivation when training.
✅They allow us to use rewards when training without ‘bribery’. Dogs learn to work for their marker and not just because you have the reward visually on offer. Eventually your rewards will become increasingly varied as behaviours become more established.