Young Paws Dog Training

28/06/2025

🎉🎂 Happy 8th Birthday to my one-of-a-kind boy, Freddie! 💞🐾

Eight years ago, you walked into my life and stole my heart. You're not just my four-legged best friend — you're my soul mate, my weekend alarm clock, and the quirkiest, goofiest, most special pup I know.

Your unconditional love and loyalty have taught me more than words can say. You've helped me understand so much about life, love, and even myself. I'm endlessly grateful for every moment with you.

I’ll always be here for you, just like you’ve always been here for me. I wouldn’t change a single thing about you — you mean the absolute world to me. 💖

Here’s to many more years of belly rubs, silly adventures, and early morning wake-ups. Love you forever, Freddie! 🎊🐶💫

21/06/2025

The sunshade is in place for the dogs later, although they will not be out much once the sun hits our garden 🌞 as it gets so hot with it being south facing. They also have a sprinkler pool, which they think is just a big water bowl and will not use when the sprinklers are on 🙄🤣🤣

29/05/2025

**Photos used with consent from parents.

I had a wonderful afternoon today delivering a KADs workshop at the new Hindley Family Hub in Wigan, with my calm and trusty assistant, Jack the stooge dog. The children who attended with their parents were absolutely delightful—curious, engaged, and full of enthusiasm throughout the session.

We started off with a fun sorting activity, exploring different parts of a dog—like their mouth, eyes, paws, tail, tongue, and teeth—as well as common dog behaviours such as jumping up, licking, playing, running, chasing, and enjoying being stroked. With support from their parents, the children sorted these into two categories: “I’m okay with that…” and “I find this frightening.” It sparked some lovely, meaningful conversations between children and parents, and many parents told me how helpful it was to gain insight into what their children find scary about dogs.

Next, we introduced a brand-new language—Doglish! The children can't wait to tell their friends in school next week that they had learned a whole new language to help them understand what dogs are saying and why. This part of the workshop helped both children and adults learn when and where dogs like to be stroked. We practiced the “three-second petting rule” and coloured in pictures of dogs, marking the ‘yes,’ ‘maybe,’ and ‘no-go’ areas for stroking.

Jack also helped out by demonstrating what to do if a dog runs up to you. The children had great fun playing the “statue” game to learn how to respond calmly and safely.

Workshops like this are so important to help children and adults understand how to respect and listen to dogs, so we can all live together happily and safely. It’s just as important to let children, and adults, know that feeling scared of dogs is completely okay—and they are not alone.

24/05/2025

Another lovely local walk with Freddie this morning—on a route we hadn’t explored before. He thoroughly enjoyed the new “sniffari,” while I loved listening to the sound of birds singing.

These days, we’re venturing out on more new and longer walks together. Both of us are noticeably calmer and more relaxed. In the past, unfamiliar walks would stress Freddie out. He’d rush through them, eager to get back home, and I’d be constantly on edge, worried about off-lead dogs approaching.

Looking back, I realise that discomfort in Freddie’s hips may have contributed to his anxiety—and my own stress only added to his. Even something as simple as how tightly I held his lead would signal to him that there was something to worry about, heightening his alertness.

Now, our walks feel different. Peaceful. I’m no longer anxious about what we might encounter, and that shift has made all the difference. The connection we share is incredible. Freddie trusts that I’ve got his back, and I can see he listens to me more. I also feel reassured knowing the strategies we’ve been using are really working.

14/05/2025

Freddie had another check-up today at Veterinary Vision, and everything looks great—no more appointments needed unless we choose to have one!

His eye is healing really well. It’ll take a few more months for the indent and halo to fade, but things are on track. As always, Freddie was amazing —calm and cooperative as his eyes were tested, even with tear strips, a pressure test, and the vet having a close look at his eyes.

To celebrate, we took a walk at Cuerden Valley Park, near the clinic. I grabbed a coffee, and Freddie enjoyed a well-deserved doggy ice cream at the cafe.

The walk was lovely. Freddie enjoyed exploring somewhere new and his sniffari. He even checked out the river and walked right through the ford like a pro. I followed behind, slipping a few times, but luckily managed to stay dry and stay on my two feet!

19/04/2025

OPERATION RECALL AWARENESS WEEK
What does RECALL Stand for:

C – Control

As a dog owner you must always keep your dog under control. How you do that is technically down to you (in terms of the law).

However, we often hear when we interview dog owners following livestock attacks ‘I never thought they would do that’ or ‘they have never done that before’. These are not defences and don’t make the livestock or farming community feel any better!

With that in mind we highly recommend keeping dogs on short leads whenever you are close to livestock. Ensuring the lead is up to the job, the collar properly fitted and you are strong enough to hold your dog are all equally important.

Working on your dog’s recall is still a good idea though, so if you do drop the lead you have a plan B!

17/04/2025

Update on Freddie.

After a week of him being quiet, not wanting to do anything and so uncomfortable, this morning he has woke up with his mischievous head on, tormenting the girls, wanting to play and trying to pinch the toilet roll 😂😂. It's lovely to see after such an awful week. Although the girls are like "on no!"

Fingers crossed it is good news today 🤞

16/04/2025

Apologies for the long post, but I just have to share how proud I am of this little guy.

Freddie has had a rough few days.

Last Friday, he couldn’t open his left eye and was clearly uncomfortable and quiet. A quick dash to our vet revealed an ulcer, and by Monday morning—despite antibiotic and Remend drops—it had gotten significantly worse.

Another urgent trip to the vet on Monday led to a referral to Veterinary Vision in Bamber Bridge, where we saw a specialist on Tuesday afternoon. Sadly, the news wasn’t great. The ulcer had been caused by something poking into his eye, likely from sticking his head into bushes. It had gone deep, forming a crater and allowing bacteria to cause further damage.

After talking through our options, Freddie underwent eye surgery. The specialist cleaned out the ulcer, took a bacterial swab, and performed a corneal cross-linking procedure to strengthen the cornea and kill the infection. (It’s as advanced as it sounds!)

I was able to stay with him while he was sedated and during recovery. We didn’t get home until after 6pm, and poor Freddie was totally spaced out. He hated the cone, of course.

Now, every four hours—day and night—I have to put in three different eye drops, five minutes apart, plus a fourth drop at least 30 minutes after the others. Last night, I stayed downstairs with him, applying drops at 2am and 6am, just trying to keep him as settled and comfy as possible.

We’re heading back to Veterinary Vision tomorrow morning to check how his eye is healing—fingers crossed it’s good news.

On top of all this, Freddie was also diagnosed with uveitis (inflammation inside the eye) and the early stages of cataracts in both eyes.

We’ve been incredibly lucky to have Alice, our amazing vet at Anrich Vets who quickly spotted how serious this was becoming and got us an urgent consultation with the eye specialist. The team at Veterinary Vision were also outstanding—gentle, understanding, and aware of how sensitive Freddie can be (thanks to Alice keeping them in the loop).

Despite everything, Freddie has been an absolute star—calmly letting me open his eye for his drops. His resilience is just incredible.

Having a vet who truly gets your dog is priceless. We’re so grateful to have found that in Alice.

And a reminder to fellow pet parents—if your dog or cat has sore eyes, don’t wait. I didn’t see any sign that Freddie had hurt his eye, and a delay in treatment could have meant losing it.

(Here’s a photo of Freddie from a couple of weeks ago, before all this started.)

10/04/2025

I had such a lovely afternoon yesterday running a KAD Kids Around Dogs ‘Understanding Dogs’ workshop! It was great to see so many families take time out of their Easter holidays to come along.

I’ll be announcing more dates soon for the ‘Understanding Dogs’ workshops—both at Clifton Street and, hopefully, at other Family Hubs too!

Photos taken and posted with parents/carers permission.

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/15wZvWgy5y/

09/04/2025

This afternoon, I'll be at the new Family Hub at Clifton Street, Wigan, which officially opens on Saturday, April 12th. I will be delivering a KAD Kids Around Dogs 'Understanding Dogs' Workshop for children and their parents/carers. The workshop is designed to teach both children and adults how to respect dogs, stay safe around them, and understand dogs by learning a new language—'Doglish.'

I'm really passionate about this topic, as I believe children and dogs can live together safely and happily.

Kids Around Dogs (KADs) 🐕🐩🐕‍🦺🐶

KADs work with children to help them feel confident and comfortable around dogs. The sessions aims to teach children how to understand dogs better, behave appropriately around them, and most importantly, how to RESPECT both family dogs and unfamiliar dogs.

In this workshop, children will learn how to respect dogs by understanding how to behave around them, the best spots to stroke a dog for maximum comfort and happiness, and how to read canine body language – we’ll be learning ‘Doglish’ together!
Let’s work together to create a world where children and dogs can live happily and safely side by side.

📅Wednesday 9th April
⏱️1.00-2.30pm
📍Family Hub at Clifton Street Community Centre

Booking is essential, please book a place by emailing [email protected]

For further information about KAD's please visit 🔗https://kidsarounddogs.co.uk/

09/03/2025

Freddie looking very dapper, yesterday, in his new KAD Dog vest and badge, ready to go and support a child who is fearful of dogs. He was amazing once again 🌟

26/02/2025

Freddie is now a KAD Dog in his new vest which arrived today from Wuffable 🤩🥰