Sally Tarpey Canine Behaviourist

16/09/2025

Good work PD Arlo, thank goodness the baby didn't come to any harm.

When a baby ends up in hospital because of a suspected drugs overdose, something has gone very wrong. 😡😡😡😡

Police were called to an address in Brighton after the child was rushed to hospital. Thankfully, the baby is now safe and being cared for by the right people.

Inside the home, officers found a stash of drugs. It had been hidden, but not well enough to fool PD Arlo.

Arlo (Surrey & Sussex Police Dogs) is trained to detect drugs, cash and other dangerous items. This time, his nose helped protect a baby who never should have been put at risk in the first place.

One man was arrested. The child has been safeguarded. All thanks to our amazing colleagues in the emergency services 💙💚❤️🧡🩶💜

There is no excuse for bringing a child into an environment like that. None.

Credit to the police, the ambulance crew and the NHS staff who all played a part in protecting that baby. When the adults in a child’s life fail them, the emergency services step in.

06/09/2025

Doing some promo work for dog treats here if they'd like to donate some for his ongoing work 😉.

We've been doing his rehab exercises this week from , he's picking them up really quickly, his body movements look more fluid & less stiff, he's also started to sleep in a straight line which he's never done before !

05/09/2025

Living with a dog and their emotional states can he hard, it's not uncommon for people to become emotional or struggle when I ask them to describe their relationship & feelings about their dog when they've called me in to help.
Owners are often torn between the love they have & the stress the dogs behaviour brings, feelings of guilt and overwhelm are common, so for me, I'm not just working with the dogs emotions, but also the owners & it's vitally important I get the support for everyone right to ensure the behaviour journey runs as smoothly as possible.

01/09/2025

I met this lad at the start of the year, he was demonstrating behaviour out of character, snapping & growling at people he knew well.
At the behaviour consultation I was watching him, as I do with every dog, he was showing signs of discomfort with his movement & behaviour, this combined with what his owners were telling me prompted me to contact their vet quickly & send the dog back to see them.
Unfortunately, his visit was traumatic and the vet couldn't conduct a full clinical examination but did agree that a pain trial was worthwhile, the dog was promptly started on medication for a month, at the end of the trial his behaviour declined significantly, within days, indicating he had pain/discomfort somewhere.
My suspicion was neck & pelvis based on his mannerisms & behaviour, I contacted his vet again & the pain relief was continued but because of how anxious the dog was a full examination was going to be difficult & the most they could do at the practice was xray imaging, based on my suspicions, an mri or ct scan would be more appropriate as it would be more indepth so I suggested his owners contacted in Gloucestershire, they have a vet team on site, as well as a chiropractor for therapy & rehabilitation & most importantly the scanners for the relevant imaging.
Once the referral paperwork and video footage was sent over he had his appointment a few weeks ago and although the dog was incredibly anxious having to have his sedation topped up three times before he could be safely handled & anaesthetised, the ct scan was conducted successfully.

The summary report shows boney changes to his left foreleg, his neck was locked and he had muscle tightness through his spine & pelvic area, so a lot going on for him, all causing pain.
A new painkiller is being introduced while he is weaned off the original one & he has some exercises to do at home, so we started those today to help loosen off the muscular tightness.
All being well he'll start to feel less uncomfortable in the coming days and weeks.
This is to demonstrate the importance of using someone qualified & experienced who can identify issues and read a dogs body language, if this had been someone who relies on "owning dogs all their life" as a qualification and experience they could have done considerable harm & pushed the dog to point where he is biting, or someone who uses aversives such as shocks and prongs, can you imagine, a dog already in considerable pain then having to contend with the ignorance of someone inflicting more pain, what happens to him when he retaliates because I guarantee he would, I think we can all guess unfortunately.

Thank you to his owners for trusting me & my judgement with their precious boy & for the first opinion vet for their involvement.

The rolling over pics are from this morning after doing his exercises, also images from the scan showing the boney issues.

31/08/2025

Not long now 😫🐾💩

30/08/2025

This 👇👇👇

29/08/2025

Don't forget, Lola has her own page now as I was filling this page with updates from her time in kennels.
She's no longer in kennels & has been living the dream for the last four weeks...with me and my gang 🙈.
Her page, if you want to follow her there is 'Lolas Leap of Faith'.

26/08/2025

I went to do a behaviour consultation with the Cockerpoo but her mate with the same name was there so she had a photo taken too !
Thank you to for referring the owners to me, a sudden change in behaviour towards her mum prompted a vet visit, I have some suspicions about pain so I'll have a chat with the vets about a pain trial, in the meantime I've started them off on some low level exercises to keep them mentally occupied, when I said "them" it's for the Cockerpoo but there's no reason her best mate can't do some of it too.

26/08/2025

Stewie, the blind kid will be celebrating like any other day, play, train, treats, walk, snooze, food & repeat.
To all the working dogs, the pet dogs, the therapy dogs, the rescue dogs & those in between, today is your day.
To all those who come to teach us how to be better dog people & we can always be better dog people, thank you for being you.

22/08/2025

The two faces of this handsome boy.
Bank Holiday coming up, I'll be spending time with my dogs and catching up with messages next week.

16/08/2025

Heal the Dog
This is why I always ask about parentage when I go to a behaviour consultation, mum, dad, grandparents all have a role to play in how a puppy develops and grows into an adult dog.

14/08/2025

It's not uncommon for our dogs to not enjoy a trip to the vets, what happens during that visit can have long lasting effects & make future visits stressful for all.
This is something I'm passionate about improving, with a background in veterinary practice, a & qualified behaviourist, I can help you make these visits less stressful.

Drop me a message for details.

This was a post made by Mouses mum after a difficult visit, if I'd been there, things would have been done differently.

Mouse had her yearly vaccination this week.
It didn’t go well. She loves going to the vets, everyone makes a fuss of her (a scenario set up by Sally Tarpey Canine Behaviourist).
As usual we went into the consulting room and Mouse jumped on the chair and the vet then proceeded to inject her there. Unfortunately this took a couple of attempts and Mouse was then scared and not keen to be stabbed again by the needle, it was difficult and took me, nurse and vet.
I was told she has a needle phobia (well she does now) and I need to bring her in over the next year before she has the next injection to desensitise her.
I have taken her in, and yes she definitely is not keen- so we put her on the bench and pretended to give injection and gave fuss and treats, so I will do this-question Sally Tarpey how often do I need to do it for full effect?