Action 4 Dogs Edinburgh & Lothians Dog Trainer

22/10/2025

In for a swim….

Rest in a rocky island!

22/10/2025

I’m Calling You! Yes…You!

I fully believe in a strong verbal recall command that is backed up with solid whistle training, 100%.

I have used both since I was a boy and used my first whistle, a silent, with my coursing lurchers.

However, the dog does not solely come back to you the command or the whistle…

This is often where owners can struggle. Responses from the dog range from completely being unaware of command or whistle, responding briefly to the owner and going back to what they were doing, or ignoring the owner completely having heard and understood the command and association.

There are several factors missing:
• The strength of the relationship between owner and dog. [This is an ongoing pricesss throughout a dog’s young development]

• Lack of encouragement and motivation from the owner. [if the spirit of training is absent, the commands and whistle are merely sounds]

• Lack of generating momentum and emotional content into the training.

• No negative markers taught to let the dog know it is deviating from the task.

• Lack of leadership, routine, and structure in other parts of daily life.

Blending these together forms the characteristic traits one needs to employ particularly if you have a confident, bold, and testy dog. If you have acquired a working line breed then the above traits are structure are all the more important.

Not to mention that if you desire successful recalls a good level in other areas such as lead walking, general obedience, focus, and daily parenting are vital to the relationship.

Ultimately, the dog comes to the person uttering the command and using the whistle.

Who you are to your dog is how you live with it and what you struggle with in everyday life.

Struggles are great with a young dog, a young dog will present challenges and if you dedicate the time needed it will bring out the best in your relationship.

Many dogs know what to do but choose not to…

How do you deal with that…?

I always say you will train and hone your recall over the first 2-3 years of your dog’s life, for challenges will inevitably present themselves during that time that will test the work you have done and the person you are to your dog.

Recalls are both a training process and a test of how your relationship develops. One cannot do without the other.

21/10/2025

Advice and tips here if you own or are thinking of taking on a rescue dog.

What is in the mind of a rescue dog? Dogs find themselves in rescue for a variety of reasons ranging from behavior issues to upset family dynamics and abando...

17/10/2025

Puppy session with this lovely cavapoo and a lovely temperament to match.

As always the focus is on reducing those antagonistic puppy behaviours of mouthing and biting, excess energy, and providing the ever important brain work with problem solving activities.

This is not only an excellent temperament test to understand your puppy’s character but a way of helping the puppy to grow in self-confidence and to teach it to deal with frustration.

That last part is very important.

I love the end of these sessions when we see a calm and relaxed puppy tapering off into a deep sleep, tired but satisfied.

Are you having difficulty with your puppy?

Have a look at my puppy options:
www.action4dogs.co.uk

15/10/2025

Hunters to the very core!

Working dog or pet dog…it does not matter.

Spaniels while popular pets are hunters to the very core of their being. It is what they live for. You will notice the hunter emerge from a very young age. Spaniels can also by nature be quite testy little souls and if you give them an inch they may literally take a mile.

My advice…

Work on them closely from the very outset. Teach and instil the basics well and persist with a solid foundation…for they will treat your character and spirit.

Oh…and watch and be careful not to give too much in the way of free roaming in rich habitats. If you have had trouble getting your spaniel’s attention when it picks up on a scent you will know exactly what I mean.

If your dog is ‘only’ a pet a solid foundation in gundog obedience and retrieve training will serve you well.

Spaniels take time, dedication, commitment, and character to train and own. If you can do that they’ll bring out the best in you.

13/10/2025

Steady until release.

It’s a beautiful thing and not only for gundogs. Training a dog to be emotionally steady has huge benefits in daily life.

It’s not so much that you are controlling your dog, but that your dog learns self-control. This contributes to any and every exercise you can do and teach your dog.

There’s such a thing as a dog being socially steady, where those difficult areas you have in daily life due to over excitement and arousal are markedly better once self control is worked established.

It also helps with obsessive behaviours relating to play where a dog learns to temper its emotions and keep its focus on the task until it is released.

Steadiness cures:
Jumping up
Over excitement
Lack of Attentiveness
Pulling on walks
Recalls

It’s an integral ingredient to any success. If you have a steady dog you have behaviours you can rely on!

11/10/2025

An early shot of Degas’s early retrieving instincts before we did any type of gun dog or retrieve work.

When we lived on the farm he used to collect sheep skulls, or anything else like that he could find.

If you excuse the expression, he was like a dog with a bone when he found these things, totally elated and running over the moors wild and free and in his element.

I got him at 7 months and he’s been crated for most of the day. From the day I picked him up he has never seen a crate again. He has been off lead from day 1 and in all sort of environments. He found a life full of purpose with me.

We bonded, I cared for his needs and instincts, we trained, and we established the relationship in how we live together.

We both enjoy the best life making sure the important and simplest things were cared for and in place.

That’s what important and what makes any ‘training’ you do effective. The relationship IS the key!

Training does not take care of what is missing in a relationship. That is something closer between owner and dog, it is about how you live together and teach those things.

Take care of that snd your training will go well and you will have a willing canine partner.

Once that is achieved…

It’s a dog’s life, and an immensely enjoyable one for the human partner.

10/10/2025

My boy Lewis up to the sound of the geese!

10/10/2025

Degas perks up to the sound of the geese!

08/10/2025

Fond memories of this dog I had bonded with on one of my annual block training weekends at Dingwall in the Scottish Highlands.

What I am perceptive to after 20 plus years working with dogs of all breeds and walks of life is how they assess us humans on first meet.

Of course there is a wide range of reactions from interested to completely aloof. However, as the clock ticks away and you spend some time in the company of a strange dog sooner or later they’ll look you over, suss out your intentions, mood, and your nature, including your smell.

On that basis they’ll decide if they want to or are cautious about interacting with you. If you understand them and give them respect as to their space, movement, and not be too keen to touch those that are naturally cautious, they are more likely warm to you gradually and in their own time.

That is why it’s good we are not in a hurry to dish out treats, pull toys out of the bag, and have our hands all over them. Let a dog suss you in its own way and give it the time and space to do it.

It’s sets up any work you may be doing with them on the right track. I met this boy Basil several times and he is one of the many dogs I developed a keen fondness for on my highland visits.

Likewise I have many clients down my neck of the woods who’s dogs I am fond of and I can see that mutuality in the dog’s eyes when we meet, even if weeks or months pass before I see them again.

Training aside, that is one of the real core rewards that I get in working with my clients and their dogs.

07/10/2025

Taking a look back at some my boy's training over the last couple of few years.

It is a good thing to do when you reflect where some things took time to train and where other parts of your training went quickly, and also how well you both learned to communicate and work together.

It also lets you know how far you have come and gives a great insight into the dog's own individual journey with you. Picking those quiet locations and places to work together are very important. It is what really makes the difference in progress through the earlier stages of your training.

One of my own takeaways on reflection was not to be a stickler for too much control, which can dampen a dog's enthusiasm, a few standards here and there is fine but keeping the dog's head in the game rather than persevering with what looks good is what is important.

He came on really well.

04/10/2025

A recall isn’t just a recall!

Here is a great point to start your recall training.

I often ask my clients, ‘Can you go to any given area and unclip the leash from your dog and have it stay steady beside you until you release it? ’

If not, or you are unsure, then that is a great place and exercise to begin your training. If you cannot control your dog within one step from you, you will not be successful when the dog is at distance from you. 

I usually work with varying durations of this exercise and up to a minute before giving the release.

It is an exercise that can be proofed and tested in a variety of environments that maintain the behaviour and keep it sharp . That initial connection is essential if we are to create a reliable recall command..