Tarka Dog Training

14/02/2025

True

14/02/2025

Happy Valentine’s Day from Jess 🐾

12/02/2025

Peanut butter yak chews are a win!
Keeping them both busy cleaning their own teeth 🦷 while I study 📚

06/02/2025

We’re all off sick 🤒 taking the time to catch up on some studies for my BSc and Jess is practicing settling on her mat. 😴
Practicing lots at home will help her for when she joins us on picnics or to pub lunches after walks or of course rugby matches 😀 the Mat will have good chill vibes and help her to switch off from all the visual stimuli outside when I need her to lay calmly for a bit 🍻 🍴
(Dougie is on the arm chair under his blanket ☺️).

05/02/2025

Thank you for setting me up to train dogs without contraptions 🥰

Saddened to see UK rescue charities get a slating from a trainers page for not allowing the use of balanced training and tools for training their dogs.

Horrid accusations when staff and organisations are working tirelessly to improve welfare of relinquished dogs. 🤬

Anyway I didn’t bite 😅 here’s an unneutered California sea lion bull and African Lion who’ve never had a lead correction, choke chain or shock collar. And a ‘reactive’ German shepherd coping with dogs at the UKs most dog friendly service station.

05/02/2025

Absolutely 🙂 slings and buggies are a great way for safely exposing your pup to the sights, smells and sounds of the many environments we will expect them to behave calmly in on their older dog walkies 🐾

The WSAVA recommend a 16-week finish (or sometimes later) to the puppy vaccination schedule, meaning that puppies won’t fully venture out into the world until they are 17 - 18 weeks old. Although many core vaccine SPCs mention the possibility of a 10-week finish with their product. The risk of immunisation failure due to maternal antibodies (MDA) is the reason for this discrepancy. Although vaccine manufacturer studies support the efficacy of their product at 10 weeks, the WSAVA still advise that their recommendations be followed. In the UK, it is common for a 12-week finish to be implemented, with many puppies' explorations into the outside world commencing one - two weeks later. For socialisation needs (and they really are needs), this is a cause for concern.

Behavioural problems are the leading cause of relinquishment of dogs to shelters. 98% of vets have been asked to euthanise healthy pets due to behaviour concerns (BVA, 2016)

Whether your puppy finishes their vaccine schedule at 10, 12, or 16 weeks, safe socialisation before vaccination schedules finish is imperative. We can’t expect puppies to soundly evaluate environmental stimuli without unnecessary fear or anxiety if their first exposures are so delayed. Many are not even exposed to their guardian’s private garden for fear of disease risk.

Being ‘safe, sensible and responsible’ regarding puppy and dog welfare should not require sacrificing or dismissing their socialisation requirements in those formative first few months.

04/02/2025

Back under his blankey after a trip to the vets. Repeat bloods were required to monitor his thyroid and liver enzymes. He was such a brave boy ☺️

We practice a lot of handling and restraint at home which can help them feel better when the Vet has to check them out.

We often take for granted that as a “domestic” species they should be easy to handle and tolerant but any vet or groomer will tell you that’s not always the case!

This may be as simple as lifting an ear or a lip briefly and then playing a game together.

If your pup struggles at the vet or groomer please do get in touch and save yourselves a life time of stress and wrestling 😅🐾

03/02/2025

We’ve been learning this behaviour at home to start with against a wall and with targets at home we’re fading the targets out and using a single verbal cue, but this was a new location so it’s ok to bring back the prompts to help them out! Middle is a fab portable stationing behaviour, it can be used as recall or keeping your dog really close when needed, perhaps this would be a good way to retrain a dog who avoids having their lead clipped back on! 🙂

02/02/2025

😍

01/02/2025

Days off are for canicross with Jess! 9 miles of beautiful coast 😍 🐾 🏃🏻‍♀️

01/02/2025

Are you punishing your recall? 😬 there are many ways to recall your dog and reward them to ensure it happens again in the future! By using chasing or tugging games this may be a better reward for recall from dogs or seagulls or squirrels that they want to chase! Come here and chase this instead!!! 😃 can be much more effective than come here and let me put this tiny treat in your mouth 😅. Every dog is different! They all have different distraction nemesis’s for recall! Get in touch to see how we can tweak and tidy up your training for an enviably rapid recall 🐾 💨

31/01/2025

25/01/2025

Jess struggles to relax and switch off outside the home. She’s a busy wee collie cross kelpie, two herding breeds sensitive to movement. In puppy classes I taught settle on a portable mat which helps make it clear to the pups that it’s chill time now.

Jess is an adult dog but she’s not too old to learn how to switch off and relax in new environments.
Here’s how I set her up for success!

1. Bought a £10 crate mat from b and m

2. Taught her to lay on the mat at home with treats 🦴

3. Built duration of mat behaviour (whilst studying or watching tv!)

4. Started to select for chin down relaxed posture (Not looking at me for the treat).

5. Practiced in the garden.

6. Practiced in a new location (local rugby game! 🏉 ) AFTER a good beach run, more treats as the difficulty is increased! 🦴

7. Offered a long lasting chew in the pub on her mat whilst I enjoyed a Guinness. 🍖 🍺

23/01/2025

Paying for Behaviour support is like paying for a gym membership.

Simply paying for the service won't work, you have to take full advantage of it.

Yes, it would be great if you could reach your fitness or weight loss goals in a few weeks, but realistically that's unlikely to happen.

It's usually a slow steady process that bring the best results.

Honestly, it's also unfair to blame the gym for lack of weight loss or fitness if you have not been going or continue with bad lifestyle habits.

There is very rarely a magic wand, but paying for a reputable service is just the start, that's normally where the work really begins.

22/01/2025

Wooly walkies 5k longest since Dougie lost his sight 🥹

22/01/2025

Days off are for Canicross 🙌🐾🏃🏻‍♀️ 6.6km on the Torrs coast path with Jess today. Canicross makes running even more fun! Jess is starting to learn directional cues and runs really well on our dog fit kit 😁
Any other runners enjoying the trails with their dog? So lucky to have this one on our doorstep 🥰

21/01/2025

This handsome Chap is a rescue dog, doing amazing in his new home despite a difficult start in life. Working on a couple of things together and my goodness he’s a quick learner! 🐾