Tarka Dog Training

22/04/2025

Happy Chewsday! 😁

🦴 Here’s why natural chews are a must-have:
😌 Calming & feel-good: Chewing releases dopamine – the “feel-good” hormone – helping your dog feel relaxed, focused, and less stressed.

🧩 Mental stimulation: It’s not just physical! Chewing keeps your dog’s brain busy, reducing boredom and unwanted behaviours.

🦷 Dental health: Natural chews help scrape away plaque, promoting healthier gums and fresher breath.

🦴 Satisfies natural instincts: Dogs need to chew. It’s a behaviour rooted in their biology and supports emotional well-being.

🧠 Long-lasting enjoyment: Natural chews like trachea, yak bars, or dried tendons offer hours of enrichment – without the additives.

Backed by science, loved by dogs.
Chewing isn’t “just a habit” – it’s a self-soothing, brain-boosting behaviour. Let’s support it the natural way.

What’s your dog’s favourite chew?

21/04/2025

Days off = Quite the adventure for my little canicross partner! 10 miles of glorious North Devon coast path and trails. I got myself a lolly and Jess had a tray of cooked chicken for post run re-fuel! The pub sold venison hide treats too 😋 🐾

20/04/2025

Easter treats for the dogs 🐰 🫣

Rabbit ears are easily available now, Though ‘fur on’ treats are not for everyone 😬 they are a healthy functional snack for our domesticated canids 😋 better than a dentastick for scraping those gnashers clean 🪥🦷

19/04/2025

Will work for porky bites 🐽 😀

19/04/2025

What is/was the toughest part of puppy parenting? What was the best bit? 🐾

18/04/2025

🐾 Most of our walks are for the dogs, I choose locations they will enjoy exploring and can have some off lead time and my only incentive is to enjoy the outdoors together and provide my dogs with their exercise and enrich their lives.

Sometimes Jess comes along for a human-centric walk! We let the dogs run and fetch on the beach but we also stopped for ice creams and chips and visited a couple of shops on the high street.

I like to reward patience in shops, cafes and restaurants. After all she would much prefer to keep moving when out and about! 🐾

I make stillness when I’m doing boring people stuff more worth her while to ensure I have a calm ‘patient’ dog that I can take out to more places without getting whining or jumping or pulling when we pause.

The treats fade out and getting moving again will become the reward for waiting 🙂 but if you have a busy dog, try offering some treats to encourage and reward waiting especially in busy distracting environments 🐾

18/04/2025

Worth a watch

TONIGHT at 8pm on Channel 4 — The Bad Dog Academy!

Don’t miss it!
Amazing transformations, real-life training, and some fantastic episodes still to come.

Tune in, get inspired, and see what’s possible!

14/04/2025

Variety is the spice of life ☺️ I hope to get a little better at sharing photos of some of the fab work my clients have been doing with their dogs 🐾

10/04/2025

Up to my eyes in it atm I love being busy 🐾 I sacked off admin this afternoon for a 10km adventure with my Jess 🐾
I’ll check in on emails tonight and then the auto response is on because I’m off to London for fun 🤩 anyone else London bound tomorrow?

09/04/2025

📣Calling new puppy parents! 📣

🐶 Puppy classes coming up in May in Landkey @ Shop Raw North Devon 😃 🐾

We have slots on Tuesday evenings and Saturday mornings, just putting the feelers out for interest and also best availability for people ☺️

We have some scent work workshops and classes coming up too 🙂

Let us know if Saturdays or Tuesday nights suit you best? Comment or send us a message ⬇️

03/04/2025

Anyone else got told you have to take your puppies food off them and give it back to prevent resource guarding??

This is one way to teach puppies that approaching humans = loosing good stuff 😬 and with that they can quickly learn effective ways to get you away from their food or toys.

Teach your puppy that they don’t have to worry about loosing out when people are around, maybe that approaching person = bonus goody? 😋 that’s a way to build trust and prevent your puppy from escalating to guard their food items.

Guarding is a natural behaviour. But If your finding resource guarding is getting worse and less manageable please get in touch. I’ll help to rule out underlying causes and safely set up training opportunities.

30/03/2025

Thursday, April 3rd at 8pm on Channel 4 in the UK, The ‘Bad’ Dog Academy is back! Join me, Sean Brown, Jo Pay, Kamal Fernandez, and support trainers Adam Daines, Shane Hartshorn and Amy Brown as we tackle some very challenging cases. And meet our fabulous new host, the one and only Nick Grimshaw.

30/03/2025

Happy Mother’s Day. As a solo parent to two teenagers, I find it important to have dogs so at least someone at home is always pleased to see me 😅

Caring for dogs is not dissimilar to parenting in many ways. We are their teachers. When we have kids or dogs we choose to take on the responsibility to teach them what’s expected and to meet their needs.

So happy Mother’s Day to all the mums and dog mums out there. 🐾

29/03/2025

Shop Raw North Devon for this weeks dinners and of course some snackies 😋 brought plenty home for Dougie too 🐾