Katie's Canines Dog Training

Katie's Canines Dog Training Mantrailing, Scentwork, Dog Training and Dog Walking based in Okehampton Devon! Offering dog training, dog sports and dog walking in Scarborough.

Do you have an intact female dog? If you do, are you aware of this? ⏬⏬Female dogs go Into their heat cycle once every 6 ...
31/01/2025

Do you have an intact female dog? If you do, are you aware of this? ⏬⏬

Female dogs go Into their heat cycle once every 6 months. Hormones fluctuate during the cycle which can cause them to become more clingy and anxious.

But did you know, hormonal changes don't stop when the season ends?

The majority of female dogs will then proceed to have a phantom pregnancy.This is a result of a rapid decrease in the hormone progesterone and an increase in the hormone prolactin. These hormonal changes occur normally in an unspayed female dog for 6-12 weeks after their heat cycle.

For up to 3 months after your dogs season ends, they are experiencing big hormonal changes. They can go off their food, become more on edge, more anxious, more reactive and you might see an increase resource guarding.

Your usual placid dog might now be worried about a dog they see in the distance, for example.

During this time, it's really important that you protect your dog from scary experiences. If they are more worried than usual about everyday things, try to protect them from these situations as much as possible, so as not to cause fears to persist after the phantom ends.

For all female dogs, life should be a bit more gentle for a few months after their heat.

Medication from the vet canstop a phantom pregnancy, and this is important if your dog is suddenly displaying aggression or is excessively anxious. As well as in cases when dogs are obsessively collecting and guarding soft toys.

When deciding to spay a dog who experiences phantoms, whether these are silent and hormonal only, or they experience obvious symptoms, it is a good idea to wait at least 3 months post season, to ensure they are not at risk of developing chronic phantom pregnancy after spaying.

Some dogs will suffer more than others, but it is important to be aware of this to better understand problem behavior that might arise during this time.

My two border collie's look very different, but can you notice one thing they have in common?Nearly all border collies h...
29/01/2025

My two border collie's look very different, but can you notice one thing they have in common?

Nearly all border collies have a white tip on the end of their tail. Through every coat pattern, colour, and coat length, the white tip remains.

Did you know that this white tip once had a purpose?

The shepherds lantern is the name for the white tip on a border collies tail.

When a hard day's work was done, and the shepherd headed back home at dusk, their faithful collie would lead the way, with the white tip of their tail held high, the only thing the shepherd could see in the dark.

Does your collie have a shepherd's lantern?

How Mantrailing is helping me and my fearful dog!Sharing this again as we have lots of new followers 💞🐾Ember is a colli...
29/01/2025

How Mantrailing is helping me and my fearful dog!

Sharing this again as we have lots of new followers 💞🐾

Ember is a collie who unfortunately came from a bad breeding situation. She inherited a load of helpful genes from her anxious parents ( who should have never been bred from) that means she, and all of her siblings that we are in touch with, are quick to assume most things are out to get her.

Despite being promised a well bred, well socialised puppy; Upon bringing her home we quickly realised things were not right, she would tremble and p*e with fear whenever she had to interact with someone new. She was scared of most noises and household objects. After investigating we realised the truth, but thankfully, one thing the breeder did right is place Ember and all her siblings in experienced homes, because they were not your average puppies, and it would have meant disaster in the wrong homes.

To make matters worse, at 8 weeks old ( during the critical Socialisation period) only 3 days after coming home, Ember was rushed to the emergency vets after it came to light she had eaten a whole dog collar at the breeders. She was hospitalised there and, while being naturally terrified of strangers and still dealing with the stress of moving home, she was kept in a metal cage surrounded by barking dogs, strangers and weird noises.her first experience of strangers was having an IV inserted, multiple blood tests, bladder expressed and numerous other scary and painful experiences. In the coming few weeks and months she had many vets visits, plus other scary experiences out of our control, and as much as we tried to protect her this further cemented her view that the world was a scary place, especially strangers!

Ember has battled with her health all her life, possibly due to this dog collar, suffering immensely with allergies, costing us thousands along the way!

It was hard for us to let go of the idea of the dog we wanted to have. The plans we had to take her everywhere with us and do everything with her quickly had to change. Thankfully, Nell ( my previous collie) taught me a ton about handling life with a nervous dog, and while Ember is completely different, without that knowledge I would not have been able to support her like I have, and I have no doubt she would be a LOT worse! She was definitely meant to find me, and me her.

Owning a dog who is nervous comes with a lot of challenges, and one of those challenges is being isolated from normal dog activities, and struggling to find situations which will help to build confidence.

Ember started Mantrailing at 13 weeks old. And for me, the support system I created with other instructors and dog owners who were understanding, was invaluable for me. Sessions were for training and also a time to vent my troubles and disappointments, or celebrate successes.

Since Mantrailing allows dogs to be worked in a way that suits them, and skilled trail layers are used to work with fearful dogs, even those that might be nervous or reactive to dogs and people, allowed me to safely create positive experiences with strangers. While I can't change Embers genetics or early learning, I can, and have, built her confidence so she can trail around things that worry her, and find absolute strangers rewarding.

Mantrailing won't " fix" Ember, she's not broken! But it does allow us both a fun and highly enriching activity that will aid with our ongoing confidence building and training. It gives us an opportunity to showcase actually how wonderful and intelligent she is, and in some cases, how sweet she is with people when instructions are followed!

Just like Nell, Ember has taught me so much and has increased my passion for enriching dogs lives, even those who are not "perfect".

Want to do more with your dog? 🐾🥳An extra space has come available on our February workshop!Did you know there is a spor...
27/01/2025

Want to do more with your dog? 🐾🥳
An extra space has come available on our February workshop!

Did you know there is a sport that can teach any dog to track and find people? Welcome to Mantrailing!
Do you want to?...
🐾Build a great relationship with your dog.
🐾Increase your dogs confidence.
🐾Spend time adventuring outdoors.
🐾Attend a fun social activity on a regular basis.
🐾Give your dog a Job.
🐾Do more with your dog!

Why Should you take part?
Mantrailing is a different kind of dog sport, prioritising your dogs happiness while harnessing and indulging in their most natural desires and skills. Interestingly, it is fantastic as a tool for working on behaviour problems such as fears, phobias and anxiety.

Mantrailing allows the dog to make choices independently from you, being the only dog led sport. This is great for building your dog's decision making confidence, and allowing them to choose a desirable and rewarding behaviour to redirect from problem behaviours. It is stress reducing, confidence building and empowering for your dog.

Mantrailing puts the dog in control, after all, they are the experts! Through observation, us handlers learn to read our dog's intricate and individual body language, fueling a fantastic bond and aiding in other areas of training. By taking part in mantrailing, you and your dog are one team, and achieve success by working together. When the missing person is found, you will throw a party with your dog, in whatever way they like the best! Mantrailing makes working with you the most fun thing for your dog, even when outside, building engagement and allowing you to build focus from your dog over time.

Many dogs do not cope with other dog sport classes such as agility, this is where mantrailing comes in, to allow these dogs to have a highly rewarding job to do that they can cope with, whatever their temperament or health requirements .

During training, dogs are securely away and one dog works at a time. Trails can be adapted to suit your dogs behavioural needs, mantrailing aims to be inclusive to all dogs. With care and expertise, mantrailing can be used to build confidence in dogs who are nervous of people, and to allow reactive dogs to eventually work past their triggers.

A dog's sense of smell is their most distinct sense. The nose gives your dog more information about the world than their eyes do! A dog's nose is a mechanical masterpiece for harnessing scent detection, their olfactory center in the brain is over 40 times larger than a humans, and they have up to 300 million receptor cites in the nasal cavity, compared to our 10 million! Processing the incredible amount of sensory information that your dog takes in while trailing is exhausting, so leaving a training session will be mentally exhausted with an elevated mood and reduced stress.

Mantrailing requires no previous training, in fact, "no obedience" is basically in the rulebook. Dogs are worked on long lines, so no recall is needed. And trails can be adapted for nervous and reactive dogs, as well as over friendly/excitable dogs. It is a great tool for building confidence and focus outside around distractions and is perfect for puppies and elderly dogs too, being low impact on the joints.

Most of all, your dog will absolutely love it! It taps into an instinctual desire to track. Sniffing also releases endorphins, making your dog calm and happy!

You are welcome to attend as often as you'd like, there's no commitments and all assessments/levels are completely optional.

What's not to like!

To get started, just follow the link and select a suitable date for you!

https://bookwhen.com/katiescanines

Today was a Labrador day! 💜🐾We met Maple this morning for some help with lead walking & Kiwi the pup for help with engag...
22/01/2025

Today was a Labrador day! 💜🐾

We met Maple this morning for some help with lead walking & Kiwi the pup for help with engagement/ recall when out and about 🤩

21/01/2025

Sharing this again, just because she is awesome!

Lovely catch up with Dotty today!We had a follow up session today and I'm so pleased with how well Dotty is progressing....
21/01/2025

Lovely catch up with Dotty today!

We had a follow up session today and I'm so pleased with how well Dotty is progressing. In such a short space of time we are seeing a dog who is more engaged, optimistic, confident and willing to listen&learn.

Dotty and her lovely owners are able to better understand and communicate with eachother, which make a huge difference in confidence for a nervous dog. Since our last session Dottys mum has worked hard on what we practiced and it shows!

She's picking up all the cues really well and has been able to put them in for practice to manage situations which were previously challenging.

We will continue to go from strength to strength with her I'm sure, and a huge part of that is investigating and managing underlying pain/discomfort which we know she has, it's just a case of figuring out exactly what is going on! Pain and behaviour concerns go hand in hand, and resolving pain is vital when working with problem behaviour, even if they don't seem directly linked.

We sent some videos off for assessment today of her gait and there is definitely some issues here.

Until next time Dotty! 💜

21/01/2025

OKEHAMPTON DOG OWNERS! 🥳🐾

Come join us for an introduction to Mantrailing ( or, to progress your training) in February.

🐾 No previous training required.
🐾 Brilliant for puppies!
🐾 Classes welcome to nervous/reactive dogs.
🐾 All breeds/ages and temperaments welcome.
🐾 Intense mental workout but gentle on joints!
🐾 Qualified, insured and experienced instructor.

Book now at :
https://bookwhen.com/katiescanines

I had the pleasure of introducing these two lovely boys to mantrailing this morning! Womble and Zorro had a blast and bo...
20/01/2025

I had the pleasure of introducing these two lovely boys to mantrailing this morning!

Womble and Zorro had a blast and both seemed to know exactly what they were doing from the get go 🤩

I look forward to seeing them progress and I know they will both go far! 🐾🥰💞

Mantrailing sessions are all about having fun with your dog. Here are some of my favourite things we've done:🩵 Had dogs ...
18/01/2025

Mantrailing sessions are all about having fun with your dog.

Here are some of my favourite things we've done:

🩵 Had dogs trail from a "murder weapon" on Halloween, with two suspects having walked the same trail but only one the murderer! The dog had to Sus out which one.

🩵 Had the dogs find Santa's missing reindeer ( our trail layers wearing antlers!) by following their scent after smelling a carrot that they had bitten( yes, some of the dogs ate the carrot, but they still picked up the trail beautifully!).

🩵 Got one of the trail layers to walk around in a big circle and sit back in their car. Could the dog pinpoint the correct car, of course they could!

🩵 Had dogs trail from a "murder weapon" to a" dead body" the body then got up and the dogs had to find the missing zombie ( walking find!).

🩵 Had the dogs trail into a restaurant, with the trail layer sat at a table with others. Could they follow the trail inside, find the right person and indicate without disturbing others! Yes they can!

🩵 Hidden people under camo netting for the dogs to find! Lots of laughter as the trail layers all ended up tangled in the net with an excited dog on top of them at some point!

Of course we take things seriously at times, we do assessments for those who want it, you can work towards achievements, you can progress to amazing levels! But mostly, we have a great time, both human and dog!

Isn't it strange..Knowing, as owners, every single dog is incredibly unique. Yet we apply the same expectations, the sam...
18/01/2025

Isn't it strange..

Knowing, as owners, every single dog is incredibly unique.

Yet we apply the same expectations, the same training and expect the same results.

Instead of trying to mould our dogs to all be carbon copies of each other, why can't dog ownership be about discovering them as an individual?

Who is your dog? What do they like? What are their strengths and weaknesses? How do they learn best?

Instead of forcing them to fit into our idea of what a dog should be,

Why don't we try create a life together where we both can thrive.

When we start to practice acceptance and embrace who our dogs are as individuals, it makes for a much happier place for everyone.

This is what it looks like when a dog is struggling to regulate the emotions they are feeling.There are many reasons thi...
17/01/2025

This is what it looks like when a dog is struggling to regulate the emotions they are feeling.

There are many reasons this can occur - fear, pain, genetics, trauma, breed specific desires, over-excitement, hormonal changes.. the list goes on.

Regardless of the cause, we need to teach our dogs how to cope better with their emotions in order to overcome reactive behavior.

Management should be put in place to reduce the likelihood the dog is able to practice (+ strengthen) this negative emotional response.

Last minute space available this Monday 🥳Snap it up while you can! This is the last slot this month. Link to book: bookw...
17/01/2025

Last minute space available this Monday 🥳

Snap it up while you can! This is the last slot this month.

Link to book: bookwhen.com/katiescanines

Welcome as a complete newbie or progression. 🐾💚

The most important thing I've learned as a Mantrailing instructor is to train the dog in front of you!The method is grea...
16/01/2025

The most important thing I've learned as a Mantrailing instructor is to train the dog in front of you!

The method is great, it works, but I'd have broken some of my students had I applied the same methods to all of them.

As trainers we can often get a bit stuck in our ways, and forget that each dog is an individual and their training plan should be just as unique as they are.

That's why I've attended workshops, seminars, shadowed trainers and taken courses constantly since becoming an instructor.

You're always learning, there is always more to learn! And that's what I love most about this sport, you really do never stop learning!

You do not need to physically tire your dog out every day! Many people are under the belief that a tired dog is a happy ...
16/01/2025

You do not need to physically tire your dog out every day!

Many people are under the belief that a tired dog is a happy dog, and that the purpose of a walk is to run your dog into the ground until he can barely breathe.

While that will likely make your dog sleep once he gets home, it will also increase his stamina. Every time you run your dog to exhaustion you are increasing their fitness and therefore making them harder to tire out. You end up with a canine athlete, who is impossible to tire and very easy to excite/ frustrate.

A dog can be physically tired, and mentally the complete opposite. In fact, games like fetch are extremely exciting and frustrating, meaning they are likely to leave a dog mentally frustrated/ pent up.

The main purpose of a walk, contrary to popular belief, is mental excercise - not physical exercise.

Socialisation, sniffing, seeing the outside world, learning and exploring are extremely mentally tiring and release a huge array of happy calming chemicals, leaving your dog relaxed and mentally exhausted without building stamina.

Providing your dog with an outlet for mental stimulation every day, is actually much more tiring and much more beneficial than running them to the point of physical exhaustion daily.

So don't worry if you dog is still not tired at the end of his walk. Try doing some scatter feeding, licky mats, food puzzles, trick training, sniffing games, chewing games, digging or any of the many forms of mental enrichment we can supply our dogs with.

My nervous dog does not get walked every day, and it's something I recommend for most dogs who struggle with reactivity or fear. Walks can be very stressful for these dogs, so opting for some scentwork or at home enrichment can be more beneficial.

While it's important to make time to exercise and mentally stimulate your dog, having them run to exhaustion every day is not necessary and can even be harmful to their long term health.

15/01/2025

A blast from the past!

Here's me at 20 years old with my rescue Border collie, Nell.

As you can see, we absolutely adored each other!

Nell was extremely reactive, and it wasn't harsh punishments, fear or control that helped her to overcome her struggles. It was this connection, love, trust and understanding.

We weren't batting against each other, we were fighting for the same team 🐾

Suppressing behaviour isn't fixing behaviour.You'll see lots of videos, particularly from " tiktok" dog trainers of dogs...
14/01/2025

Suppressing behaviour isn't fixing behaviour.

You'll see lots of videos, particularly from " tiktok" dog trainers of dogs seemingly "cured" of dog or human aggression to the untrained eye.

It's easy to forget but dogs are not computer programs you can wipe clean and re-write. A dog with aggression issues, is likely to be suffering a lack of confidence and frustration issues. They are then displaying a well practiced response to certain triggers that will take months or years to overcome.

Punish the dog severely enough, for example with an electric shock however, and this behaviour, for some dogs, will look like it has stopped. The dog will walk past triggers without displaying natural space creating behaviours as he did before.

What you have done here, is mentally shut the dog down and turned them into a ticking time bomb. You've punished out their communication, so they stop communicating, but they have not stopped being fearful or aggressive. When the threat no longer is present, aggression will resurface and be much more severe.

Study after study has shown that dogs trained in this manner, are much more likely to display aggression of all kinds later in life, particularly aggression towards the handler. But these trainers don't care, because they've got your money and your " results" at the dogs expense.

Remember, no qualifications are required to be a dog trainer. Anyone can go out tomorrow and call themselves a professional, damaging dogs left right and centre and making a killing doing it. Choose your trainer wisely, and ensure they are fully qualified ( not with a £13 dog course they got on Facebook) and don't do anything to your dog that makes you feel uncomfortable.

There is so much more to "fixing" a dog than punishing the behaviour, it's much more complex than that, and those qualified will do this properly with lasting, realistic, results with the dog and your welfare in mind.

It's about time this industry was regulated, because the videos of "trainers" are very worrying.

Meet Dotty!This sweet girl has been through a lot, not even two years old, but has dealt with pretty severe health issue...
13/01/2025

Meet Dotty!

This sweet girl has been through a lot, not even two years old, but has dealt with pretty severe health issues which have meant she has missed out on all the usual joys of puppyhood.

She can struggle with some fear reactivity to people in some situations, as well as a few other issues such as cat chasing. We worked today on building her confidence, disengagement skills and impulse control, ready to put these into practice later on.

She really is a total sweetheart and loves to learn, I loved working with her and look forward to next time! 💜

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Okehampton
Okehampton

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Monday 8:30am - 6:30pm
Tuesday 8:30am - 6:30pm
Wednesday 8:30am - 6:30pm
Thursday 8:30am - 6:30pm
Friday 8:30am - 6:30pm

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OKEHAMPTON DOG OWNERS! 🥳🐾 Come join us for an introduction to Mantrailing ( or, to progress your training) in February. 🐾 No previous training required. 🐾 Brilliant for puppies! 🐾 Classes welcome to nervous/reactive dogs. 🐾 All breeds/ages and temperaments welcome. 🐾 Intense mental workout but gentle on joints! 🐾 Qualified, insured and experienced instructor. Book now at : https://bookwhen.com/katiescanines

start mantrailing with your dog in okehampton!
start mantrailing with your dog in okehampton!

Due to demand we have added some extra Mantrailing dates in Okehampton, with more to come for February too. Spaces are booking up fast, we can't wait to show you what your dog can do! 🐾 💚Qualified and experienced instructor! 💚 All dogs welcome. 💚 No previous training required. 💚 All Classes suitable for nervous/reactive dogs. Use code : FEB1 for 10% off at checkout ( Expires 28th Feb!) www.katiescanines.co.uk 07375500903 [email protected]

You can't train prey drive without harsh punishments? When we first moved here in November, our walks even here on private land were on a lead. Ember being mostly collie and part spaniel has a very high chase/prey drive. Moving objects must be chased after. If she spotted a deer she was gone, and although I knew she couldn't catch them, she could easily end up chasing them ending up in a livestock field or onto a road! You'll hear trainers tell you, you can't train a dog with prey drive without electric shock collars, I'm here to prove that is false. You absolutely can, with a good understanding of dog behaviour, drives and motivation. In this video you'll see Ember clearly sports 3 running deer not far from us, I don't say anything to her, she takes one step forward then stops and turns to me, which is exactly what I want her to do, so I mark this behaviour with a "yes!". Ember has never, ever been punished for chasing deer, running of or anything else! We simply built engagement, and an understanding through games. We built control around moving objects by having fun together, in small increments until she mastered the games. I didn't raise my voice, electrocute or scare her. Once these skills were mastered, we started to implement them around wildlife. She learnt alternative responses to seeing deer, through positive reinforcement and practice. Don't let anyone tell you, you need to electrocute your dog. If they feel that way, they just need to learn how to train dogs! 🙊

A blast from the past! Here's me at 20 years old with my rescue Border collie, Nell. As you can see, we absolutely adored each other! Nell was extremely reactive, and it wasn't harsh punishments, fear or control that helped her to overcome her struggles. It was this connection, love, trust and understanding. We weren't batting against each other, we were fighting for the same team 🐾

What do you think when you see a nervous dog? A dog that growls, barks, cowers or hides? Do you think, why didn't they socialise that dog? Why didn't they train that dog? That is a nasty dog? Some dog's struggle with everyday life more than others, just like some people do. More often than not, that isn't because of a lack of socialisation and training! While this sometimes is the case, there are many more much more likely causes of fearful behaviour in dogs; Genetics, early learning and trauma are some reasons a dog might grow up to be reactive or nervous, regardless of the amount of socialisation or training they receive. Now, does that mean these dogs can't be helped? Of course not! Naturally nervous dogs can be taught to cope with their fears without reacting, they might never be completely normal, but they can build confidence, they can learn to be more curious and less fearful, and they can learn to ignore things that worry them. Ember had a tendency to be reactive as a young pup, but now she is more than happy to ignore most things and isn't reactive, her confidence with people has grown in some situations, she is no longer worried by traffic, even though once she couldn't be walked near a road, but she isn't your average dog, and still worries about life a lot. It also doesn't mean socialisation and training isn't important, it very much is. It is just one piece of the puzzle. Puppies are not blank slates, all good socialisation and training will help, but it won't change genetics, early learning or personality. So next time you come across a dog who is nervous, try not to judge. Instead have some sympathy, and know that the behaviour you are seeing, is not representative of how lovely that dog truly is in the right situations.

My heart is happy again!🤩 Here's to all the dogs out there, healing a broken heart that they didn't break.

Happiness is - a dog mantrailing!
Happiness is - a dog mantrailing!

How happy are these dogs to find their missing person?! 🥹🥰 It's Lots of fun trailing in our indoor venue, an old abandoned care home. Nothing beats witnessing the pure joy of our mantrailing dogs, finding the person they were searching for! Everyone's reward looks a little different, Alfie the lurcher jumps straight in for cuddles before wolfing down his favorite treats. Bella the shepherd, would you believe, can be fearful of new people and strange situations. Here she is, bouncing for joy enjoying her favorite game with a stranger at the end of her trail! Eevee and Thumber were both super excited today, so speedy we could barely keep up! I'm really going to miss these wonderful dogs when I leave Scarborough😔 and can't wait to find some equally wonderful Devon dogs to fill their boots! Thanks teams for a great morning!

Eevee tackling the crowds!
Eevee tackling the crowds!

Eevee tackling the crowds! Eevee has been mantrailing with us since she was just 16 weeks old! She is now two years old and has completed her level 1 assessment, and has many mantrailing achievements under her belt. We challenged Eevee to trail through a heaving park on a sunny morning in Filey, and she amazed us by making it look easy! Eevee is a social butterfly and can get distracted by passers by, but today she kept herself focused on the task at hand, only stopping once briefly to say hello to a dog on a bench! To follow the scent of a single person through a sea of others, while also tackling lots of distractions and fun things, is incredible. It just goes to show the power of working on foundations, and teaching things in small manageable steps. Eevee is not highly driven, she's not a huge foodie, she's not a working dog and would quite happily stay in bed all day. Despite this, we've made sure she finds this game so much fun she wants to do it more than anything else! Well done Eevee!

Watch this amazing cockapoo, tackle a trail through a busy sea front, even getting run at by an off lead dog, didn't stop him working! A lot of people don't recognise the cockapoo as two very intelligent working breeds - the spaniel and the poodle. Yes, they are fluffy and cute, but that isn't all they are! There is a lot of decision making here, so while you see him change direction it's important to remember this is not him " going wrong". Albie is simply following a scent trail which has blown around, been thrown about by cars, and trampled on by passers by. This takes a lot of figuring out! Well done Albie!

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