Waggytails Dog Academy

22/09/2024

☔️ On a wet dreary Sunday letting my boys enjoy a sniffari in the rain 🌧️

I saw the below words on facebook, it’s captures everything I talk about when I say about our dogs walk are for them! It’s a time to bond and be ‘in the moment’ together - enjoy it 🥰⬇️

Walk with me; don’t just walk me. Slow down and see the world as I do. I know you’ve got things to do, places to be. But out here, with the ground beneath our feet and the sky above us, there’s a whole world worth noticing.

The autumn chill is in the air today, crisp and full of new smells. It’s different from yesterday, and different from the day before. Every day is new. The leaves crunch under my paws, and I stop to breathe in the rich, earthy scent of them. To you, it might just be a pile of leaves, but to me, it’s a story—one I can’t help but dive into, nose first.

There’s a squirrel somewhere nearby, I can sense it, darting up a tree, its tiny heart beating fast. And the wind carries whispers of things far away: a family cooking dinner, the trace of a cat that passed by early this morning, and the faint perfume of flowers holding on to their last bit of summer. It’s all here, swirling around us if you just take the time to notice.

You tug on the leash, eager to move on, and I can tell you’re thinking about something far away from here. But when we walk, truly walk, you and I can be in this moment together. Feel the cool air brush against your skin, let it wake you up. Notice how the sun filters through the branches, casting shadows that dance on the pavement. Hear the crunch of the leaves beneath our steps, like a secret rhythm just for us.

To you, it might be just another walk, a daily routine to tick off the list. But for me, every step is an adventure. Each scent is a clue, each sound a piece of a puzzle. When you walk with me, really walk with me, you’ll see it too. The world is bigger than what we’re rushing toward. It’s right here, in the small moments, in the quiet spaces between your thoughts.

So, slow down. Breathe. Let the chill fill your lungs and the colours fill your eyes. Walk with me, don’t just walk me. See the world as I do, if only for a little while. It’s all waiting for you, just beneath the surface.
Natalie P
2024

21/09/2024

📣📣 1️⃣ Space Remaining 🐶📣📣

I have one space remaining for this Workshop on Sunday 29th September.

🐾 Message to book 🐾

16/09/2024

🐶🤩 Storm is such a little superstar! She really has done amazing over our sessions.

🛏️🌟 On this session we worked on Storm having a cue for ‘to your bed’ when visitors arrive - she absolutely smashed it 👏

🐶💖 With Storm being a rescue and it’s only been 6 weeks with her new Mum, the change in her is phenomenal and the bond is really growing between them 🥰

Keep up the good work 👌✨🫶

15/09/2024

👏⭐️ A massive well done to Bessie & Cody who successfully completed the recall master class yesterday 🐶🐾

🤩🐶 These guys totally smashed it and we’re little superstars 🎓✨🌟

14/09/2024

Training in real life scenarios 🐶🐾

A training session with Mabel in a local pub to help her overcome her anxiety when in certain social situations 🥤💖

Mabel finds it hard to settle in cafes/pubs etc and will usually bark at people - during this session using some techniques to promote calmness and reading Mabels body language, she totally rocked it!! 👏

Great work team 🙌🐶💖🐾

13/09/2024

⭐️ A lovely class last night 🐶🐾 we started the foundations of loose lead walking.

🚪 We also started working on manners around doors - it’s so important to build on our dogs impulse control, a dog that has great impulse control is often calmer and tends to make the right choices.

🚪 Door manners are also highly important and could save your dogs life - teaching them not to bolt out of an open door is such an underrated skill, but so important!

🐕 We also started to ‘load up’ our recall cue, another vitally important behaviour.

Bournville and Corky did amazing and absolutely smashed it 👏🤗

Keep up the good work - you’ve got this 🙌

11/09/2024

📣🐶🐕 Neutrality Master Class 🐕🐶📣

🐾 Does your dog get over excited when they meet other dogs or people?

🐾 Does your dog ignore you when they see other dogs?

🐾 Would you like your dog to remain calm no matter the distractions?

If you’ve answered “YES’ to any of the above ⬆️ then this is the workshop for you!

Neutrality - the art of ignoring usual distractions. Learn the techniques to help your dog remain calm and focused on you.

⭐️ This workshop is open to all breeds and ages.

⭐️ All training is positive reward based, delivered by a fully qualified trainer with the IMDT.

⭐️ A friendly welcoming environment in a fully enclosed paddock, learning alongside other dogs.

🗓️ Sunday 29th September
⏰ 11:00 - 12:30
📍The Dogs Paddocks Longendale

The cost of this workshop is £30 per dog.

☎️📞📧 Message to book ☎️📞📧

09/09/2024

💙🖤💙🖤💙 Wilson 💙🖤💙🖤💙

Last week I had the pleasure of meeting this handsome chap 🐶😍

Over the coming weeks we’ll be working on Wilson’s reactivity and also helping him with his loose lead walking 🐾🐾

Wilson is a typical adolescent, full of excitement and just wants to please, he’s also a real foodie - so that should make training his most favourite thing! 😂⭐️🐾

08/09/2024

Today is hug your dog day - but isn’t everyday 🥰😍🐶🐾

06/09/2024

🐶🐕✨️🐾 Life Skills Week 1 🐾✨️🐕🐶

A lovely start for a new group last night 🐶🐾

Week one is all about letting everyone get used to the new environment, new dogs & people 🥰

We looked at some engagement exercises to help strengthen our dogs focus as well as improving the bond, we also had a little look at where everyone is with their current skills - along with charging up our marker words 😀

A great mix of breeds, temperaments and ages, all working alongside each other in such a lovely calm manner 🐕🐶

A massive well done to Bournville, Bally, Corky & George 👏🙌

04/09/2024

🧡💛🧡💛 Freddy 💛🧡💛🧡

Freddy’s owners contacted me to help them with the ear piercing barking Freddy does when he’s out in the car 🚗

Freddy has learnt that going on a road trip always ends with him going somewhere exciting!

So we’re getting to work with changing Freddy’s emotional response to travelling in the car and that it doesn’t always mean he’s going out on an adventure 🐕⭐️

02/09/2024

🖤🤍💖🖤🤍💖 Storm 🖤🤍💖🖤🤍💖

I'm currently working with Storm and her owner to help with her reactivity and general behavior 🥰

Storm has recently been rescued and by all accounts she really wasn't in the best of places, but that has all changed for her now 😊 she really has landed on her paws 👏

It's going to be a great journey for Storm, we're working on engagement and bonding exercises and she's such a superstar ✨️ 🙌

It was lovely on our last session for Storm to completely ignore her usual triggers and strut along by her owners side 😀

Keep up the good work - you've got this!

28/08/2024

📢📢📢 2️⃣ Spaces Available 📢📢📢

‼️📣🐶🤩 Recall Masterclass 🤩🐶📣‼️

🐾 Are you afraid to let your dog of the lead?

🐾 Do you struggle to get your dog’s attention when they’re off lead?

🐾 Not sure what your dog will do when off lead?

If you’ve answered “yes” to the above, then this is the master class for you!

When ⬇️

📍Saturday 14th September
⏰ 10:15 - 11:45

Where ⬇️

In a fully secure dog paddock, you will learn how to make sure your dogs recall is their new super power 🐶🐾🌟

All training is delivered by an IMDT qualified dog trainer. In a friendly atmosphere using positive methods - learn to engage and maintain your dog’s focus, no matter the distractions!

Location 🗺️
Goyt Hall Dog Paddock,
Goyt Valley,
SK6 3LH

The price is £30 per dog with a maximum of four dogs per class.

27/08/2024

🐾 As we established that Poppy finds toys more rewarding than food, we used this to our advantage during our session 🐶

🐾 We started counter conditioning Poppy’s reaction to seeing other dogs, giving her plenty of space so she could work without being over aroused 🥰

🐾 As soon as Poppy noticed another dog in the distance, the fun with the toys started! We want Poppy to associate other dogs with the good stuff happening ⭐️

Poppy absolutely smashed it 🐶🤩🐾

22/08/2024

🤎💛🤎💛 Paddington 💛🤎💛🤎

I can definitely tell that Paddington has been working on his eye contact as part of his engagement exercises 😂😍

I’m currently working with Paddington and his family on some general behaviours 🐶

Paddington is what I like to call a ‘fizzy’ dog and what I mean by that is that he’s full of energy - a bit like when you shake a can of fizzy pop and then you open it, all that energy has to go somewhere! ✨

We’re working on giving Paddington exercises to help calm him down and help him not to always be so fizzy 🥰

He’s super clever and quick to pick up new tricks - also helps that he’s a complete foodie 😊🐶🐾

21/08/2024

✨ Super proud of Dennis 🖤⭐️ look at him strutting his stuff while walking nicely beside his human 🙌

✨ Dennis is a 9 month old Cane Corso weighing in at 53Kg so roughly 8.5 stone, we haven’t used anything other than a normal harness with a double ended lead, Dennis is so strong he could easily pull his human over!

✨ This is what hard work, commitment and consistency has earned ⭐️ still some fine tuning but this boy is smashing it 🙌

Massive well done, be proud of what you’ve achieved so far - you’ve got this 💪🐶🐾

17/08/2024

🖤💖🖤💖 Mabel 💖🖤💖🖤

Yesterday I met Mabel and she is starting her journey on 1-2-1 sessions 🐶🐾

Mabel’s owner contacted me to help with her issue of barking at people she doesn’t know, especially when in social situations 🥰

Reactivity comes in all shapes and forms, Mabel isn’t aggressive just very vocal, to the point where her owners have been asked to leave when in a cafe/restaurant and Mabel starts barking 🥺

Reactivity is often seen as a negative term but it is simply your dog having a reaction to a trigger of some form 🥰

It is often difficult for all involved as you are made to feel as though you have failed, but there are so many things that lead to reactivity including genetics!

I can’t wait to see Mabel’s transformation and help her to feel more comfortable around her triggers 😍

We’ve got this! 🐶💖🥰🐾

14/08/2024

🐶📚🎓🐾 Training Classes 🐾🎓📚🐶

Are you looking to brush up on your dog’s training and have some fun strengthening your bond? 🐶🤩

Then these are the classes for you! 😊

Suitable for ages over 6 months old, all breeds welcome 🫶🐾

🗓️ Course starts Thursday 5th September.
⏰ 19:15 - 20:00
📍 The Together Centre, Birch Lane, Dukinfield, SK16 5AU

The course runs for 6️⃣ consecutive weeks and costs £90, that’s just £15 per class 😊

All classes are run by a accredited trainer with the IMDT, positive reward based training in a friendly atmosphere - classes are limited to four dogs per class to make sure everyone gets time to shine ✨

☎️📧 Message to book your place 📧☎️

12/08/2024

🎓🐶📚🐾 Classes/Workshops 🐾📚🐶🎓

Dates for the diary 📔🗓️📚

Below ⬇️ are all the classes and workshops available for booking - limited spaces so book early to avoid disappointment as they sell out ⭐️🤩🐶🐾

⭐️ Workshops ⭐️

Recall Master Class - Saturday 14th Sept 10:15 - 11:45 at Goyt Hall Dog Paddock.

Neutrality Master Class - Sunday 29th Sept 11:00 - 12:30 at The Dogs Paddocks Longendale.

Loose Lead Master Class - Sunday 13th Oct
11:00 - 12:30 at The Dogs Paddocks Longendale.

Recall Master Class - Saturday 19th Oct 11:15 - 12:45 at The Dogs Paddocks Romiley.

⭐️ Group Classes - 6 weeks ⭐️

Puppies start 5th Sept 18:15 - 19:00

Older dogs start 5th Sept 19:15 - 20:00

Puppies start 17th Oct 18:15 - 19:00

Older dogs start 17th Oct 19:15 - 20:00

Held at The Together Centre, Birch Lane, Dukinfield SK6 5AU

☎️📧 Message for more details 📧☎️

10/08/2024

💜💖💜💖💜 Poppy 💜💖💜💖💜

I’m currently working with Poppy and her owners on her reactivity 🥰

During training it’s always about rewarding the behaviour you want, up until now we’ve been using food during Poppy’s sessions 🌭🐾

In this session we introduced toys 🧸 the reason being I wanted to lean into Poppy’s natural instincts by allowing her to go through her predatory motor pattern ⭐️

Every dog has a predatory motor pattern and there are certain parts of the sequence that once your dog is allowed to follow through with them, they become very reinforcing for them. They get a rush of dopamine, a natural high that makes them feel good - so why wouldn’t you lean into that during training 🐶🐾

07/08/2024

📣📣 Easy Peasy Puppy Classes 📣📣

Limited spaces available on my new set of Easy Peasy Puppy classes 🐶🤩

Have you got a puppy and want to develop your bond while training, if the answer is ‘yes’ then this is the course for you! ⭐️

🗓️ Starting Thursday 5th September
⏰ 18:15 - 19:00
📍 The Together centre, Birch Lane, Dukinfield, SK16 5AU

The course costs £90 and runs for six weeks, so that’s just £15 per class!

You’ll learn lots of new skills and plenty of bonding and engagement exercises, including:

Recall, Loose Lead Walking, Magic Blanket, Baby Bird, Handling, Socialisation, Confidence building, plus many more 🐶🐾

All training is positive reward based and delivered by a fully qualified IMDT dog trainer.

Want to book a place, it’s easy, message for more details ☎️📧💬

06/08/2024

🩶🖤🩶🖤 Dennis 🖤🩶🖤🩶

Dennis enjoying a play towards the end of his 1-2-1 training session tonight 🥰

Training should always be fun for our dogs, so take tonight, after 40 minutes of recall and loose lead training, Dennis had clearly had enough as he was tired 😴

At that point there was no point in pushing on as no actual learning would take place, so while his parents and I talked through homework and their next session - Dennis had the time of his life being the big goofball that he is! 😂🐶🩶🐾

04/08/2024

🐶🙌🤩🐾 Getting it done! 🐾🤩🙌🐶

I absolutely love getting sent videos of how well past or present students are doing 😍

I first met Bessie when she attended my puppy classes with her humans 💖 Bessie is a little bundle of energy, a real bum wiggling full of beans kind of girl 😂

Now that she has hit the adolescence stage of her life, she came along to my loose lead walking master class a couple of weeks ago - as you can see from the video, she is absolutely smashing it 🙌 A massive well done to TeamBessie ⭐️💖🙌

I always talk about consistency and taking small baby steps to get to your goal. If you start of thinking about perfection, you’ll be setting yourself and your dog up for failure, as perfection doesn’t really exist. In training like with everything in life, there will be good days and bad….. but it’s remembering that you’ve come along from the start of your journey. Celebrate the wins 🥳💪🤗

A wise person once said “To change something you have to change” now let that sink in for a minute 🤔💡💭

If you’re sat reading this and it resonates, get in touch and let’s be that change together ⭐️🐶🐾

01/08/2024

I couldn’t have put this better myself! 🙌

This is exactly what I talk about day in day out, if you’ve been to any of my classes, workshops or 1-2-1’s, you’ll know I always explain why these tools are just quick ‘fixes’ and why they don’t actually work in the long run 🐶🥰🐾

The trouble with ‘training tools’

Force free trainers are firmly opposed to using training tools that are aversive in nature, including slip leads, electric collars and prong collars as some of the most widespread that are seen.

Proponents of their use will point to how well they ‘work’ – for example we’ll often see people proclaim that using a prong collar has completely revolutionised their walks with their dogs and they go on to say that ‘used correctly’ it’s an excellent training tool. So let's use that as an example to see what the issue is with these tools.

The problem is that it’s not actually really training the dog.

Look at how positive reinforcement is used to train a cue in dogs. When the dog makes the right choice, does the right thing then they get a reward. They like the reward and so are more likely to do the same thing again in an attempt to get that same reward.

Once the association is firmly made and the dog is able to reliably respond to the cue in the way we’d like, we start to fade out the use of the reward. If using treats, the dog might start getting a reward every second time, third time, then randomly so they are never quite sure when the reward is coming (but it might be the next time they do that thing, so they will keep trying). Eventually we are using the reward very little, but the dog is still responding to the cue in the desired way.

Ok, you might say, how is that different to the prong collar?

The prong works by contact of the prongs on the skin of the dog’s neck (remember that a dog’s skin is 3-5 cells thick compared to the human’s at least 10-15 cells thick). This is uncomfortable. Some people will say they tried it on themselves and it was fine – look at the difference in skin, and also remember that the dog has no way to know when the collar is going to be tightened.

I’ve had people tell me that the dog’s neck is the strongest muscle in their body equivalent to the human thigh. Not only is this physiologically incorrect (to say the very least!) it is also dangerous. Think about the delicate structures in the human throat.

The windpipe.
Oesophagus.
Lymph Nodes.
Carotid artery.
Jugular vein.
Thyroid.

All of these are in the dog’s neck as well and are very vulnerable to injury. The result of pressure on the dog's neck, especially firm and rapid pressure like a 'lead pop' (even from a flat collar) can be potentially catastrophic.

Danger and discomfort aside, the fact is that, while these collars might stop pulling while being worn, they fail as training devices because no actual training takes place. Take that prong collar off of the dog, put a normal flat collar back or a harness back on, and see how long it takes for the dog to realise they are able to pull again without the pain?

What the slip lead, prong collar (or electric collar if used to shock the dog when they pull) does is suppress the behaviour in that moment. It does nothing to show the dog what they should be doing or deal with why the dog is actually pulling - which is generally because they have not been taught properly to and so don't really understand what we want from them. And also dogs often naturally move faster on their four legs than we do on our two, so again they need to be taught how to match themselves to the pace that's needed.

The absolute best way to do that is to reward the dog when they do what they want, when they are in the right place for loose lead walking. Yes, this can take time and so the 'quick fix' can seem appealing, but the danger of using anything that the dog actively seeks to avoid is that it could damage their trust in the people around them and have serious consequences for the relationship between you.

Teaching them what we would like them to do and how we can both be comfortable during the walk is so much more effective than trying to just stop a behaviour, and using positive reinforcement and force free methods build their confidence and trust in us.

And no, I’m not expecting people to immediately take off the tools, but what you can do when you become aware of the problems of relying on aversive measures that cause discomfort, pain and fear, is find a force free trainer who can help you see how to show your dog where to walk nicely and comfortably for you both, or find other tools that are not aversive, for instance a harness with 2 points of attachment so the dog can be walked from the back clip but the front clip allows for steering the front end if needed while training is ongoing.

31/07/2024

How’s the puppy training going?

If you’ve recently got a puppy or are planning to, I’ll be launching my new puppy classes on Thursday 5th September 🐶🌟

If you’d like the tools to set your puppy on the path to success and to have fun building your bond together then this will be the course for you! 👈

Tomorrow you’ll be able to book the brand new ‘Easy Peasy Puppy Squeezy’ classes 🥰🫶🙌🐾

30/07/2024

The boys enjoying keeping cool with doggy ice pops in their UFO likimat’s. Such great enrichment for them 🛸🫠☀️🐾

29/07/2024

Last weeks 1-2-1 dogs 🐕🐶🐕‍🦺🦮🐾

Whenever I start training with clients, I always look at engagement first - if you can’t capture your dogs attention and keep them engaged, you’ll be training like a headless chicken 🐔

Engagement is the foundation to everything, we make it fun 🤩 and really work on the bond between owner and dog.

Once we have proofed these foundation exercises in all scenarios we then weave in the real nuts & bolts of whatever we’re working on as our long term goal 🫶🌟

27/07/2024

🐶🤩🎉🐾 Recall Master Class 🐾🎉🤩🐶

A massive congratulations to Bailey, Rosie, Kaiya & Frank 🌟 who all did brilliantly on todays master class 🎓👌

How wonderful was it to see all the dogs having an absolute blast, who would have thought they were actually training - to them it was just fun 🤩 which is how it should feel for them 🐶🤗

You all did amazing and should feel super proud of yourselves and your amazing dogs who were the next Olympians at recall! 🥇

Just think by the end of class all dogs were recalling back 💯% with the distraction of running towards the other dogs 🫶🥳🐾

Massive well done guys 🎓🎉🐶🐾

26/07/2024

🙌🎉 Easy Peasy Puppy Squeezy 🎉🙌

I’m absolutely chuffed! Today I found out that I’ve passed my assessment to be a Easy Peasy Puppy Instructor 🫶🌟

A few weeks ago I attended the course which was run by the legend Steve Mann Dog Training, who is the founder of The Institute of Modern Dog Trainers and best selling author ✍️🐶

This course looks at puppy training in a completely fresh way turning conventional puppy classes on their head!

I’m so excited to launch my new puppy classes, which will look completely different to the way they used to be!

If you’ve got a puppy or are planning to get one - look out for the launch of my new classes in September 🐶🌟🤗🐾

21/07/2024

🐶🎓🤩 Todays LLW master class 🤩🎓🐶

A big well done to Bessie & Frank who completed the loose lead walking master class 🌟🎓

Over the course of the workshop we looked at why our dogs pull on the lead, what drives this behaviour, we looked at the pros and cons of the many different types of equipment 🐶🐾

We worked on some engagement exercises before moving on to the methods of LLW.

All of this in as real a situation as possible, so an outdoor venue with the added distractions of people, dogs, horses, birds, aeroplanes etc 🐴🐦‍⬛✈️🧍‍♂️🐕

You all did amazing and to think at the end you were all LLW side by side with your dogs focused on you and getting those nice steps in 🌟🤩🙌

To round it all off Bessie & Frank got to cut loose and have fun chasing around, new BFF’s 💖💙🐾