K9-5 Professional Dog Training

03/08/2024

Archie

Another big boy in for training that knows he’s a big boy 😂
This boy has become reactive to cars after getting a scare when out on a walk 😢 He also has poor lead manners, jumps up and lacks impulse control.
We worked on 3 basic exercises that will help with Archie’s excitement levels, add focus, impulse control & loose lead walking.

Something interesting with this boy is, he doesn’t always react to cars, it’s unpredictable and sometimes he does allow them to go past without kicking off.
I expressed to his owners the importance of rewarding Archie when nothing happens because we’re always quick to punish or correct the behaviour we don’t want but when the dogs offer us a good behaviour or simply ignore their triggers do we reward them for the positive thought process? No? Well you should!

01/08/2024

Last night in class we covered-
🛌 Physical boundaries
👋 How to calmly greet people coming into the home
🐕 Socialisation
🥎 How to incorporate to play into daily training

I think everyone will be able to agree that the dogs in the video are demonstrating ‘physical boundaries’ beautifully 👏🏼

28/07/2024

Floki the collie 🐾

Sometimes a little guidance can send you onto the right path.
That was definitely the case for Floki & his owners today. This boy didn’t have anything major going on with his behaviour, he just gets a little fixated/distracted on cars when he’s out on walks, pulls on his lead and is a bit jumpy with new people. They had previously attended training classes elsewhere and let’s just say, they didn’t enjoy the class and found it quite stressful 😔 I’m hoping they have a fresher take on training and that they enjoyed themselves today 😀

Floki is only 8 months old so he’s got lots to learn but I am confident his owners are going to be able to implement the techniques learned today with no problems ⭐️

25/07/2024

A brand new block of social sessions is here!🐶

Does your dog become over excited when they meet new dogs and people?🦮
Do you struggle to take them out for a walk day to day because they pull on the lead?🌲
Are the easily distracted in new places? 🌍

These are just some of the things you can work on in these sessions:
🐾 Teaching your dog to be neutral to the environment, dogs and other distractions with simple to follow exercises.
🐾 Loose lead walking.
🐾 Recall.
🐾 Socialisation.
🐾 Focus & engagement.

Come to one or come to all! No obligations to book all 4 but if you do there’s a discount. £20 per session or book 4 for £70.

🗓️ Sunday the 4th of August
⏰ 10-11
🌍 cooper park, Huntly ❌FULL

🗓️ Sunday the 18th of August
⏰ 10:30-11:30
🌍 Keith showground

🗓️ Sunday the 1st of September
⏰ 10:30-11:30
🌍 Insch leisure centre

🗓️ Sunday the 15th of September
⏰ 10-11
🌍 Duff house, Banff

There are limited spaces available so please message to book your space.

24/07/2024

Bit of fun with Millie tonight.
I told her owner if she wanted to test Millie’s down stay, she could try star jumps (I was kidding 😂). I love my job even more when the humans are great to work with too ❤️

24/07/2024

The main focus for life skills class this week was down stays for days 🤪
Some of the dogs in class have just started to learn lie down and I don’t think you would be able to tell which ones! 🤩
I use a targeting mat to teach down stay as I think a mat makes it crystal clear to the dogs, that the mat is where we work on this behaviour. Similar to teaching bed/place. The mat is also transferable so that you can take it to a dog friendly café, relatives house or if you go away on holiday with your dog.

Does your dog struggle to settle in new places or find staying in the down stay position difficult? Why not try going back to basics and working on the behaviour through mat targeting?
Or if you would like to work on other behaviours, I have a new class starting this Sunday at 9am in Huntly.

21/07/2024

We had the last social session of this block at Banff today (of course I forgot to take pictures as we were working so hard).
Joining the session we had-
Breeze the springer
Juno the foreign rescue
River the GSD
Soren the husky pup
& new boy Denver the red lab

All different breeds working on different behaviours but using the same methods. Some of these dogs & owners simply come in order to keep themselves consistent in their training and to keep up with socialising.
Training is training. You have to do it daily in order to make a difference!
Here’s a little video of Juno doing some of her training yesterday, simply working on socialisation, social exposure & just being a dog 👏🏼

20/07/2024

Otis 🐾

Here’s a big boy that knows he’s a big boy! 👀
He’s only 11 months old (& the biggest rottie I’ve seen!) and he’s quickly learned his size will get him what he wants.
Otis has a golden nature and is a real sweetheart but he needs a little help with his in house boundaries, pulling on the lead, impulse control, resource guarding food/the utility & using growling to get his own way.
I had to quickly tell this boy when I arrived that he absolutely was not going to continually jump on me, bite my clothing and be a menace. Basically to stop taking the p**s! 🛑🙈
Within 10-15 minutes while his owners were telling me their concerns, he showed great understanding of what I wanted from him and eventually lay down at my feet 🧘‍♀️
Of course we had a lot more to cover in our session but this was a great start for him!
3 more sessions booked so let’s see what he can do ⭐️

You must set clear boundaries with your dogs from day dot & STICK TO THOSE BOUNDARIES regardless of their breed or size.

17/07/2024

Week 1 of class done and what a brilliant group of 7 this is!
Absolutely everyone is already training hard at home and I was super impressed with all their efforts. Looking forward to seeing what we can achieve in the next 5 weeks ⭐️
We also had an extra member to class tonight, baby Charlie 👶🏻 his mum is one dedicated dog and human mum 😂

Tonight we covered-
Engagement 👀
Pressure and release for lead walking 🦮
Confidence building 💪🏼
Marker training 🥩
Communication 🗣️
& enrichment 👃🥎

A new block of this class will be starting on Sunday the 28th of July at 9am. Have you booked your space yet?

16/07/2024

Next block of classes are now available to book ⭐️ 💪🏼
Whether you have a puppy or reactive dog, these classes suit all! We cover absolutely everything you need to raise a social, confident, well mannered family member 🐾

In this block we will cover-
⭐️ Focus & engagement
⭐️ In house behaviours (jumping up, barking)
⭐️ Loose lead walking
⭐️ Recall
⭐️ Confidence building
⭐️ Communication
⭐️ Over excitement around dogs and people

🗓️ Class starts on Sunday the 28th of July
⏰ 9-10am
💴 £85 for a 6 week block
🌍 Cooper park, Huntly

Message to book 📖

12/07/2024

Know your breed well.

Mya the collie started her training with me through puppy classes at the beginning of the year, it soon became clear very quickly that the basics were no issue for this clever clogs (of course not, she’s a collie 😉).
Mya’s issues all stem from typical collie behaviours and lack of breed outlet.
She liked to chase, bark out of nerve, become over aroused and has a lack of impulse control.
Her family chickens and pig were under threat so this was a priority to work on 🐷🐔
She also needed general engagement, recall and lead work.

4 sessions later and everything is falling into place for this lovely lass.

26/06/2024

❌FULL

Next block of classes are now available to book ⭐️ 💪🏼

Whether you have a puppy or reactive dog, these classes suit all!
We cover absolutely everything you need to raise a social, confident, well mannered family member 🐾

In this block we will cover-
⭐️ Focus & engagement
⭐️ In house behaviours (jumping up, barking)
⭐️ Loose lead walking
⭐️ Recall
⭐️ Confidence building
⭐️ Communication
⭐️ Over excitement around dogs and people

🗓️ Class starts on Wednesday the 10th of July
⏰ 6-7pm
💴 £85 for a 6 week block
🌍 Cooper park, Huntly

Message to book 📖

25/06/2024

Sylvi & Henry 🩷🩵

This lovely pair have come all the way from Tarland for a block of training so already that told me their owner is one dedicated lady!
I get some people that message and say they can’t manage even a 15 minute drive to my classes or social sessions which is disappointing as I’d just assumed people would want to make sure their dog has successful learning experiences in lots of new environments.

Surely your dog isn’t going to just live out its life only seeing your own village or town? 👀
How can you be sure they will cope when you take them to a new place? 🏡
Don’t you want to proof your training to make sure when you do venture to different places, it’s easy and stress free? 🧘‍♀️

These 2 are super friendly, loving dogs, working through very different behaviours.
🩷Sylvi is going on 7 months and is working on her car reactivity, loose lead walking, engagement and learning that not everyone needs to be her friend 😂
🩵Henry had his turn today to have a look at his dog reactivity. We started with his lead walking, teaching him about pressure & release, engagement, play (he loves a ball but doesn’t like to let it go 😬) and neutrality.
I got Rumour out to see how he’d work through another dog being around and there was absolutely no issue. He actually offered a few play bows at the end so Im definitely swaying towards barrier frustration being this boys problem!

Stay tuned for their progress ⭐️

24/06/2024

Reggie

The back story.
Reggie is a 1 year old working line Labrador. His owner hasn’t been able to have visitors to the house due to his aggressive behaviour to strangers. Boy can this boy make noise 🙉🙉
To an uneducated eye, this behaviour would absolutely appear aggressive. He’s actually the total opposite! He’s the sweetest, softest boy that is just full of nerves and doesn’t know what to do with himself.

The first time I met Reggie was through a glass kitchen door where he was making the most amount of noise possible and trying to look scary. I opened the door, took him through the house on his lead and he actually wee’d himself due to fright.
He also
* Wouldn’t make eye contact with me & if I made contact with him he would bark
* Wouldn’t take food from me or off the floor
* Wouldn’t come to me or anywhere close and quivered
* If I moved even my foot he would start to bark
* Wouldn’t let me go past him

He is definitely the most nervous dog I’ve had to work with and we had a lot of work to do to get him feeling comfortable.

Fast forward to session number 4 today.
* I was able to enter his home with no furious barking
* He came willingly for pets & his food
* Played ball with me
* I was able to move freely through his house, he even came looking for me a few times
* Fell asleep in my company
* Performed basic behaviours for me (sit, down, stay)

None of this would have been possible if his amazing owner hadn’t followed by advice, stayed consistent and worked hard every single day to help Reggie. She also has another dog and works full time as a nurse. Not once did she make excuses or tell me she didn’t have time 👏🏼

Looking forward to seeing what more we can achieve with Reginald 😂

24/06/2024

Good advice from the local dog shop to help your dog through this heat 🥵

24/06/2024

What a fantastic sunny social session we had on Sunday! So many things conquered for each dog. We had human reactive dogs, dog reactive dogs, over excitable youngsters looking for guidance & socialisation, loose lead practise in a new area, communication, recall, you name it we worked on it ⭐️
Would you like to make a change to your dogs behaviour but don’t know where to start?
I have a new block of classes starting soon! Keep your 👀 peeled.

05/06/2024

Absolutely agree with this.
It’s even worse hearing “I don’t have time” from new puppy owners. It doesn’t bode well for the dogs future if you cannot make the time when they’re 6 months old…

"I don't have time to train my dog. ".. I call BS.
If you really wanted to, you can MAKE time.
At weekends, I leave for work around 7:30am. Spot, Riot & Ice still all get worked separately before I leave.
This excuse that you don't have time just doesn't work.
Get up earlier. Late night sessions. Lunch breaks. Whilst you're cooking dinner. Making a cuppa. School run.
There's so much you can do. You just gotta do it.
I'm sick of hearing, "I don't have time for that." That's a lie. You DO have time for it. You just don't want to do it. Do not complain about your dogs behaviour if you aren't willing to do anything about it.

01/06/2024

It’s just basic manners 🐇
Does it matter to you?

01/06/2024

Social sessions

🐶 Does your dog become over excited when they meet new dogs and people?
🦮 Do you struggle to take them out for a walk day to day because they pull on the lead?
🌲 Are the easily distracted in new places?

These are just some of the things you can work on in these sessions:
🐾 Teaching your dog to be neutral to the environment, dogs and other distractions with simple to follow exercises.
🐾 Loose lead walking.
🐾 Recall.
🐾 Socialisation.
🐾 Focus & engagement.

Come to one or come to all! No obligations to book all 4 but if you do there’s a discount.
£20 per session or book 4 for £70.

🗓️ Sunday the 9th of June
⏰ 10-11
🌍 cooper park, Huntly ❌ FULL

🗓️ Sunday the 23rd of June
⏰ 10:30-11:30
🌍 Keith showground ❌ FULL

🗓️ Sunday the 7th of July
⏰ 10:30-11:30
🌍 Insch leisure centre

🗓️ Sunday the 21st of July
⏰ 10-11
🌍 Duff house, Banff ❌ FULL

26/05/2024

Reactivity.

There’s nothing particularly exciting going on in this video IF you don’t have a reactive dog but if you do, you’ll know what a big win training sessions like this are 💪🏼

Controlled exposure to other dogs is a massive part of your reactivity training, along with communication ⭐️
Dogs who've been practising reactivity for a long period of time start to habituate the response to their triggers so sometimes there’s a lot to unpack for the dog.

You have to learn
A: How to set your dog up to succeed 💪🏼
B: Communicate effectively enough that your dog understands what the criteria is 🗣️
C: How to decompress yourself and your dog on those not so good training days🧘‍♀️

If your dog cannot pass other dogs or people without having a reaction have you considered an alternative approach to your training?

There are no short cuts around these issues for anyone BUT you do not have to day in and day out hold on to that lead for dear life. You can make a change to your dogs behaviour and make life easier for you both 🦮👩🏼🧑🏼

26/05/2024

It doesnt need to be complicated!

This was one of Rumour’s first training sessions outside and I tried to keep in mind a few things when I took her out to experience some of the world:

1. Keep it short
2. No pressure on her
3. Let her see things

The things I wanted her to achieve in this session:

1. For her to have her breakfast
2.To be confident with traffic but not show too much interest (collie 😉)
3. Physical & mental stimulation

What she gave me:
1. Engagement & focus
2. Offered behaviours (sit, loose lead walking)
3. Confidence

Do you have reasonable expectations for your dog?

Would you like to start your puppy training journey?

25/05/2024

This lovely girl had 1 training session last week to work on her loose lead walking.
Safe to say she’s doing brilliantly in the space of a week 🌟
So simple when you know how. The next step for them is walking alongside a pram in preparation 👶🏻

17/05/2024

Multi dog households.

If you’re considering adding another dog to your household have you thought about how that might affect your current dogs behaviour and their current training?
Adding another dog to the family is so exciting and should be a joy.
BUT, it is hard work 😉

Pictured below is the handsome Behr and his sister, Nolas bottom 🍑😂
Behr was working on his reactive behaviour towards dogs and people which has improved hugely since I saw him.
However, his sister Nola has now become reactive through copying her brothers behaviour which is such a shame as I feel it’s clouding Behr’s progress a bit. To help with Nola’s socialising and mannerisms (she likes to pull on that lead 😉) she has enrolled in a block of my training classes and last week she really turned a corner!

The next step for these 2 is putting into practise their training as a pair, out in public 🤞🏼

14/05/2024

Brand new block of Life Skills classes ⭐️

For all dogs from 10weeks old & up 🐶

🗓️ Sunday the 2nd of June to run for 6 weeks
⏰ 9-10am
🌎 Cooper park, Huntly
💴 £85

In this block we will cover-
⭐️ Focus & engagement
⭐️ In house behaviours (jumping up, barking)
⭐️ Loose lead walking
⭐️ Recall
⭐️ Confidence building
⭐️ Over excitement around dogs and people

13/05/2024

🌟 Our rescheduled social session is now taking place on Friday the 17th, 6pm at Keith showground 🌟

There are a few spaces available for those that are looking to make a change to their dogs behaviour.
Is your dog….
…Over excitable?
Reactive?
Has no lead manners?
Doesn’t come when called?
Struggles with motivation & focus?
Perhaps you have a puppy that you would like some pointers with.

1 hour session at £20 and you could make an instant change!

11/05/2024

What we do on hot days.
After a short walk this morning the dogs are currently keeping cool under the gazeebo with their frozen, yoghurt filled kongs.

After they’re finished they will be put inside for a while to sleep then this afternoon I will do training indoors with each of them.

There’s plenty you can do with your dogs indoors on days like today, that keep them mentally and physically tired.
Missing a walk or 2 won’t kill them, but heatstroke might!

11/05/2024

❌SOCIAL SESSION AT KEITH CANCELLED❌
Due to the temperature already hitting 19 degrees I have decided to postpone today’s session ☀️
My dogs had a short 20 minute walk this morning and that will likely be all they have until 8/9pm tonight.

Please be vigilant with your dogs and exercise in temperatures like these.

03/05/2024

Work on your foundations and set your dog up for success!

What do you see here? 👀

What I see-
6 owners and their dogs taking steps to improve their dogs behaviour so they can enjoy day to day outings.
Some of these dogs have reactive based behaviours that they’re working on, while others are just learning to calmly co-exist.

No big deal right? Can your dog be this calm around other dogs and people?
If your dog can't sit & stay when a dog is walking past how can you expect your dog to listen to you off lead?

30/03/2024

First social session of block 2 at Insch today

Any guesses as to how many reactive dogs we have on this class?

14/06/2023

A little goes a long way.

Young Baxter had a 121 today to look at some separation related behaviours. He and his owners took to them brilliantly and before the session was over his owners both agreed there was a visible difference already ✅ 🐾
Which is brilliant for them 🤩
BUT…this post is more to help people understand with mental stimulation, you and your dog can benefit hugely day to day. This is also why I teach a trick session in my block of classes! It doesn’t specifically matter WHAT you train your dog, it just matters that you DO ⭐️ DO MORE WITH YOUR DOG. See the instant benefits.
Tonight my own dogs won’t be getting out for a walk due to the heat but mentally they will still need worked so we’ll be doing some training and tricks instead 👌🏼