K9 Insight

05/11/2024

We are very excited to announce our new service!

🐕Walk Talk Train – for dogs aged 7+ months
🐾Walk Talk Train (Puppy) – for dogs under 7 months

Join one of K9 Insight's trainers for a one-hour walk in and around the Inverurie area, where we focus on:

🐕Strengthening engagement
🐕Building better obedience
🐕Refining communication skills
🐕Understanding how structure supports success
🐕A qualitative approach to time spent with your dog
🐕Access to an experienced trainer
🐕Appropriate socialisation

£20 per session
Includes Q&A
Bookable through your Client Portal (once approved)

To apply:
https://portal.busypaws.app/customers/k9-insight/forms_and_contracts/new?id=3572

04/11/2024

What a lovely day yesterday with the Puppy classes!

Some excellent progress from everyone and here are some pics of puppies practicing recall!

Still a space left on our last class of the year that starts on Saturday - get in touch for more information.

01/11/2024

Why Don’t Fireworks and Dogs Often Mix?

🎆 Why Fireworks Are Hard on Dogs 🐶

Dogs have incredibly sharp hearing—up to four times better than ours! This means they hear fireworks much louder and over a broader range of frequencies, making the sounds startling and even painful. Fireworks also create shock waves and vibrations that dogs feel intensely, which can trigger their instinct to flee, hide, or panic.

🧠 The Impact of Past Experiences

If a dog has been exposed to loud sounds or fireworks in a gentle way, they may cope better. But if they’ve had a scary experience, fireworks can become a major stressor.

💡 Tips to Help Your Dog Stay Calm

If your dog is OK with fireworks: Brilliant! Keep it up by gradually introducing mild noises, rewarding calm behavior, and making sure they associate loud sounds with positive things, like treats or playtime.

If your dog is afraid of fireworks:

Conditioning & Counter-Conditioning:
Play recordings of fireworks at a low volume, gradually building up tolerance with treats and positive reinforcement.

Create a Safe Space:
On fireworks night, have a cozy, quiet area ready for your dog to retreat to. Background noise like TV or music can also help muffle fireworks sounds.

Try Calming Aids: An Adaptil diffuser or other calming aids can create a more relaxing environment.

For severe anxiety, consult your vet—there are options to help your dog stay calm and comfortable.

Feel free to reach out if you’d like more tips or guidance on managing your dog’s fireworks fear.

29/10/2024

For more posts like this and information on Scentwork and Mantrailing, like our sister page Shire Trailing and Scentwork

🕵️‍♀️Buck and the Case of the Lost Phone🕵️‍♀️

Buck has definitely earned Employee of the Month!

This weekend, one of our clients lost her iPhone somewhere between her car and the training field. Despite her search, she couldn’t locate it as it was set to silent. With a few helpers joining in, Alex had a light-bulb moment while scanning the long grass—why not let Buck have a go?

Buck was given his cue to let him know he was searching for an object rather than a person. Alex reinforced this by letting him take a good sniff of the phone’s owner. Off Buck went, retracing her route step-by-step. He soon gave a clear signal in an empty spot, suggesting that the phone might have already been moved. The client decided to give her phone a ring just in case, and, sure enough, a man on the other side of the field waved at us. When asked where he’d found it, he replied, "Right where your dog’s standing."

Buck is officially the best boy around and is now available for lost property searches—for a bone or two!

23/10/2024

Motivation & Focus Intermediate

Upcoming course - This Saturday!

This is a fantastic next step for anyone who has completed the foundation level or for puppies who smashed our puppy course.

For those that have done the foundation course, the motivation and focus course needs no introduction.
In the intermediate we raise the distractions, take the show on the road and build on your handling skills and your dogs ability to make good choices out and about.

This is a 6 week course and will be the last time we run it in 2024.

For more information or to book drop us a line on FB or email us on [email protected]

21/10/2024

Trick or Treat

Depending on the type of dog you have, lots of people coming to your door can either be a trick (a negative) or a treat (a positive). Regardless of how your dog feels about these extra visitors, one thing is certain: having people at the door is likely to trigger a different behaviour compared to when they are calm and relaxed.

Like humans, dogs are creatures of habit and get used to a certain level of stimulation. For instance, someone living in a busy city becomes accustomed to the noise and activity around them, whereas someone moving from the countryside to the city will be much more aware of all the sounds and commotion. Applying this to Halloween, your dog is used to a typical level of ‘traffic’ at the door. An increase beyond what’s normal will likely heighten your dog’s arousal levels and, in most cases, start to affect their behaviour. As your dog begins to anticipate the doorbell or knock, their overall state of alertness will increase. So what can be done?

*Prevention*

Prevention is always better than the cure. So what does prevention look like? In this context prevention is trying to remove the trigger (people coming to the door or approaching your home), which should then stop the dog having an emotional and physical reaction.

So apart from canceling Halloween how do we go about removing the trigger(s)?
If you are lucky enough to have a gate or some sort of perimeter before the front of your house then this is a great start. Claymore mines or a pit with spikey sticks can be used very effectively in this situation.

In the event that you do not have access to military grade explosives or cannot be bothered whittling sharp sticks - then using a sign is a fantastic alternative. By using a sign to ask people not to approach the house or knock on the door we can stop or minimise your dog being triggered. By reducing the triggers we stand a much better chance of keeping our dogs in a calmer head space.

*Targeted help*

If preventing people from approaching your house isn’t an option, it’s important to consider what you want your dog(s) to do. As dog owners, we often focus on what we don’t want our dogs to do, but forget to show them the behaviour we actually desire.

Start by thinking of this desired behaviour as a chain of smaller actions. For example, if you want your dog to go to a specific place when the doorbell rings, first ensure they can do this without the added excitement or stress. Can your dog go to their bed or designated spot when asked? From there, can they stay in that spot until released? Finally, can we train the dog to do this when a visitor arrives at the door?

In between door knocks, it’s helpful to engage your dog in positive, calming activities. These will reduce stress and discourage them from waiting anxiously for the next visitor. Ideal activities include food-based ‘find it’ games around the house, offering Kongs or appropriate chews. There are also plenty of enrichment activities on YouTube that you can try with your dog.

If your dog has an extreme stress response to people coming to the door or to the other stimuli around Halloween, it’s definitely worth speaking to your vet. They can collaborate with your behaviourist to explore additional ways to help your dog during this period.

16/10/2024

Great opportunity for someone.

🐈‍⬛🐕‍🦺🐾 New Role 🐾🦮🐈

We are developing a new role within the clinic to assist on a daily basis in a fast paced Veterinary Practice.

This fulltime role will encompass a wide range of tasks including helping to maintain our high levels of infection control, keeping on top of daily tasks and some contact with animals in our care.

May suit a school leaver or someone with a keen interest in joining the Veterinary profession.

Salary varies depending on experience £18,304-£23,920 FTE.

For further information please contact [email protected].

14/10/2024

**Halloween & Bonfire Night**

As we approach the time of year when things go bump and bang in the night, K9 Insight will be focusing on how we can best support our dogs. Over the coming weeks, we’ll be sharing posts that explore the potential challenges Halloween and Fireworks Night can pose for your canine companions.

Our posts will cover the key issues to be aware of, what you can do in the lead-up to these big events, and the best ways to help your dogs during them.

The first posts and topics will be released this week. Like and share to stay up to speed.

30/08/2024

**Limited Spaces Available**
Starting Sunday 15th Sept.

Our Introduction to Scentwork course is crafted to build a strong foundation for you and your dog. Whether your dog is new to formal training or needs a refresher, this course is ideal for all levels of experience.

Our classes offer a supportive and encouraging environment, ensuring both you and your dog are set up for success. We are dedicated to helping you uncover and develop your dog's full potential.

For more information or to reserve your spot, please contact us.

05/08/2024

Can you help?

Our Scentwork/sniffer dog group are on the lookout for some interesting new training locations. If you have a space and are open to dogs having a sniff then get in touch.

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/AZmZLKxavyUpmHxu/

**Locations - Locations - Locations**

We need your help! As we continue our mission to train top-notch pet sniffer dogs, having access to a variety of new environments and locations is crucial.

We are looking for both indoor and outdoor spaces of all shapes and sizes. Examples include:

-Warehouses/Barns
-Schools
-Football/Rugby Clubs
-Shops
-Office Spaces
-Builder Merchants/Yards

If you have access to a space and would be willing to discuss, please get in touch. Dogs are worked one at a time and are always kept under control. Training sessions typically last between 1.5 and 2 hours.

Thank you for your support!

31/07/2024

NEW - Intro to Mantrailing - Delivered by Shire Trailing

Are you looking to try something new with your dog? If so, mantrailing might be just what you need. This activity is suitable for all dogs, including those that are reactive or anxious.

Mantrailing harnesses your dog's natural sniffing abilities to seek and find people. It's a highly rewarding activity for both dogs and their owners, promoting a calmer state within your dog.

To learn more or book your spot, drop us a message.

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/XuoCoaTTuxLk4weZ/

NEW - Introduction to Mantrailing

Are you looking to try something new with your dog? If so, mantrailing might be just what you need. This activity is suitable for all dogs, including those that are reactive or anxious.

Mantrailing harnesses your dog's natural sniffing abilities to seek and find people. It's a highly rewarding activity for both dogs and their owners, promoting a calmer state within your dog.

To learn more or book your spot, drop us a message.

31/07/2024

"I don't understand, my dog was wagging its tail right before."

This is something we hear at least once a week when working with new clients. For years, there has been a misconception that a wagging tail means a dog is happy. While this can be true, it is not always the case.

Typically, a tail held above horizontal and wagging indicates a dog experiencing a high arousal emotion. These emotions can include positive excitement but can also signify negative states such as curiosity (with uncertainty), unease, and anxiety.

To determine how your dog feels in any given situation, observe their ears, head position, mouth, and posture. The answer lies in the sum of all these parts.

29/07/2024

Morning all,

That's everyone back from their shenanigans today. We are working through the mountain of emails and enquiries that have come in over the last 3 days and if you are waiting on a reply we will be with you as soon as we can.

We are looking forward to jumping back in and working with some amazing dogs and people.

Team K9 Insight

27/07/2024

Nikki and Alex are at Belladrum this weekend. Due to the limited mobile signal all emails and messages will be replied on their return on Monday.

10/07/2024

Tonight's reactivity sessions cancelled.

Due to the heat wave we are experiencing we have taken the decision to cancel tonight's sessions.

Please check your client account for further details.

19/06/2024

Exciting new sessions starting Mon 24th June!!

We will be running obedience and sports sessions for anyone looking to work on elements of obedience or dog sports. These will be on a fortnightly basis and will be on a trial basis to gauge interest.

We have had a number of past clients of our UKDS course and Good Dog Award looking for further opportunities to hone their skills. The aim of these sessions is to work collaboratively with the other attendees and coach to work through problems and help provide an element of accountability.

Sessions will be held every second week, Mondays at 7 pm, starting on the 24th. Sessions are priced at £20 for the 90 min session.

This is open to everyone and not just previous students of the above mentioned courses. Dogs should be capable of working around other dogs and should have a base level of obedience. This is NOT a foundation level activity and is NOT a class.

For more information or to book get in touch.

17/06/2024

Last minute place available - due to cancellation.

We have a space available for our puppy course starting tonight (Monday 17th).

For more info or to reserve this space get in touch.