On Cloud K9 - Dog Training & Pet Services

06/06/2026

Oshi’s one tired girl.

This morning she earned her Environment certificate for mantrailing in lots of different places and this afternoon she had a play date with some of her mantrailing buddies at Motsi's Meadow.

04/06/2026

Private furnished first-floor suite in owner-occupied home | Clyne Castle development | £1,250 pcm incl. bills

Looking for a quiet, professional person to share a spacious home in the Clyne Castle development.

This isn’t a typical house share and it isn’t just a bedroom. You would have exclusive use of the entire first floor, while I occupy the ground floor. The home is shared with my friendly border collie, so applicants should be comfortable around dogs. A dog owner would be considered, subject to suitability and compatibility with the existing household.

Your private space includes:

🏡 Double bedroom with fitted wardrobes and large ensuite (bath, separate shower and double sinks)

🏡 Separate sitting room with its own ensuite

🏡 Large mezzanine area suitable as a home office, dining space or additional living area

🏡 Roof garden with sea views and views across Clyne Gardens

Shared with just one other person:

🏡 Large kitchen with two ovens, dishwasher and fridge/freezer

🏡 Utility room with washing machine and tumble dryer

The property is within walking and cycling distance of Singleton Hospital and Swansea University Singleton Campus, less than a third of a mile from the seafront, and benefits from private parking within a gated development.

£1,250 pcm including bills and high-speed broadband

Minimum 6-month term, then rolling monthly.

This would suit a professional looking for considerably more space and privacy than a typical room rental, while avoiding the cost and responsibility of renting an entire property.

Please message me if you’d like further details.

26/05/2026

A lot of modern puppy socialisation advice is actually based on studies that are over 50 years old.

And some of those studies weren’t even really studying “socialisation” in the way most people think of it today.

One of the most influential studies was by Freedman, King and Elliot in 1961. Puppies were raised in barren one-acre fields with their mothers from 2–14 weeks old, with very little novelty or human interaction. The researchers found that puppies who weren’t exposed to humans until later were much more fearful of people.

Important information, absolutely.

But that’s very different from the lives of modern pet puppies.

These puppies weren’t simply “under-socialised”. They were raised in extreme social and sensory deprivation.

Earlier work by Scott and Fuller in the 1950s also explored developmental stages and when puppies became socially responsive. Again though, these studies were done decades ago, in highly controlled and unrealistic environments.

Somehow, over time, this evolved into:
“You must expose your puppy to absolutely everything before 14 weeks or they’ll be ruined.”

That pressure has led a lot of owners to unintentionally overwhelm puppies during the exact stage where their brains are most sensitive.

Modern behavioural science is moving away from the idea of socialisation as:
“meet as many dogs, people and places as possible.”

Instead, we’re starting to understand that good socialisation is really about:
• emotional safety
• positive associations
• optimism
• calm observation
• healthy coping strategies
• appropriate disengagement
• resilience

The goal isn’t a puppy who wants to greet everything.

The goal is a puppy who can notice the world, feel safe within it, and make calm decisions.

Sometimes the best socialisation is simply:
“Look at that… nothing bad happened.”

Not every experience needs interaction.

In fact, constantly greeting every dog and person can actually create frustration, over-arousal, anticipation and future reactivity when access is later restricted.

A well-socialised puppy is not necessarily the most sociable puppy - often, it’s the puppy who can calmly disengage and move on.

Like this post and follow so you don’t miss future posts on what puppy socialisation REALLY is 🐾

24/05/2026

One of the really interesting things about the brain is that what happens immediately after a frightening experience can influence how strongly that memory is stored.

This is one of the reasons I’ll often encourage owners to calmly play with their dog after something startling or worrying has happened - if the dog is emotionally capable of engaging, of course.

Not force them.
Not distract them.
Not overwhelm them.

But gently help them transition back into feeling safe, playful and emotionally okay again.

For example, imagine your dog is startled by:
🐾 a loud noise
🐾 a scary-looking object
🐾 another dog barking
🐾 a sudden movement
🐾 something novel in the environment

A lot of owners understandably focus entirely on the frightening moment itself. But the emotional state that follows afterwards matters too.

If the dog stays emotionally “stuck” in that stress response for a long time, the brain is more likely to strongly encode:
“This was scary. Remember this.”

Whereas if the dog is able to recover, feel safe again and engage in something positive afterwards, it can help reduce the emotional weight attached to the experience.

Humans do this too, by the way.

Think about the difference between:

* having a stressful experience and then sitting alone replaying it in your head for hours
vs
* having something stressful happen but then laughing with a friend, feeling supported or doing something enjoyable afterwards

The experience often feels very different emotionally afterwards.

Dogs aren’t robots. Their brains are constantly processing emotional experiences and deciding:
“Was that dangerous?”
“Should I worry about this again in future?”
“How important was that event?”

This is also why recovery is such a huge part of resilience.

Not whether a dog ever experiences stress - because stress is part of life - but how quickly and successfully they can come back down again afterwards.

Would you like to know more about the science behind why play can influence how memories are stored in the brain? 🐾

24/05/2026

😍

Osian is sporting her new handmade cooling dog bandana 🥰.

I’ve wet it and put it in the fridge, ready to be used on the evening walk.

22/05/2026

Following on from this week's post about the stress bucket… I present to you: adolescent border collie arousal levels in photographic form 😅

This is Oshi after playing with her friends.

Tongue hanging out.
Eyes like dinner plates.
Brain cells temporarily unavailable.

And this is something I think is really important for owners to understand:

A dog can look incredibly happy and still be massively over-aroused.

Arousal isn’t always “bad” stress. Excitement fills the stress bucket too.

This is one of the reasons dogs can sometimes seem:
🐾 unable to listen after play
🐾 extra bitey afterwards
🐾 zoomy
🐾 unable to settle
🐾 reactive on the walk home
🐾 suddenly “naughty”
🐾 emotionally all over the place

Their nervous system is still buzzing long after the exciting thing has finished.

Humans do this too, by the way.

Think:
“I’m so tired but I can’t switch off.”

Or when you’re overtired and slightly feral after too much excitement, caffeine, social interaction or lack of sleep 😅

That’s why I’m such a big believer in helping dogs learn:
🐾 calmness
🐾 emotional regulation
🐾 how to come back down again
🐾 how to disengage
🐾 how to rest

…rather than assuming a tired dog is automatically a calm, regulated dog.

Also, before anyone asks - yes, she absolutely sprinted around the house afterwards with her squeaking ball like an overstimulated goblin 🩷 - sound on for proof 🐭(beware if your dog is sound-sensitive).

20/05/2026

One of the most important concepts in dog behaviour is something called the “stress bucket”.

Once you understand it, so much behaviour suddenly starts to make sense - not just in dogs, but in humans too.

Imagine your dog has an invisible bucket.

Throughout the day, different experiences add water to that bucket. Some add a tiny drip. Others pour in stress much more quickly.

That “water” can come from all sorts of things:
🐾 excitement
🐾 frustration
🐾 lack of sleep
🐾 pain or discomfort
🐾 novelty
🐾 over-arousal
🐾 busy environments
🐾 social pressure
🐾 scary experiences
🐾 lack of downtime
🐾 conflict
🐾 even positive excitement

A lot of people think stress only means fear, but physiologically, excitement and stress are very closely linked. A dog that’s overexcited isn’t necessarily emotionally regulated just because they look “happy”.

Now imagine the bucket keeps filling throughout the day.

Your dog sees another dog.
A delivery driver arrives.
They struggle to settle.
They get frustrated on a walk.
They hear barking outside.
They become overexcited playing fetch.
The children come home noisy from school.

Each thing adds a little more to the bucket.

Eventually, the bucket overflows.

And that overflow is often the behaviour we notice:
🐾 barking
🐾 lunging
🐾 zooming
🐾 biting
🐾 inability to settle
🐾 reactivity
🐾 frantic behaviour
🐾 emotional “over the top” responses

What’s important is that the final trigger is often tiny.

People will often say:
“He reacted out of nowhere.”
“She’s never normally bothered by that.”
“It was only a small thing.”

But it usually wasn’t “just” that one thing. The bucket was already full.

Humans work exactly the same way.

Most of us cope perfectly well with small inconveniences when we’re rested, regulated and feeling okay. But if we’re stressed, overwhelmed, overstimulated, running on no sleep and emotionally exhausted, suddenly something tiny can tip us over the edge.

The slow WiFi becomes infuriating.
We cry because we dropped a spoon.
We snap at someone we love.
We feel unable to cope with things that normally wouldn’t bother us.

Dogs are no different.

Understanding the stress bucket is essential to understanding behaviour because behaviour doesn’t happen in isolation. It’s influenced by physiology, emotions, stress levels, environment, learning history, health, genetics and nervous system state.

This is why I care so much about helping dogs develop skills like calmness, disengagement, optimism and emotional regulation, rather than simply trying to suppress behaviours after the bucket has already overflowed.

Behaviour is communication 🐾

19/05/2026

Hello again 👋

I’ve been a bit quiet on social media for a while, so I thought it was probably time to properly reintroduce myself.

I’m Emma, the human behind On Cloud K9 🐾

I’m a dog trainer based in Swansea, specialising in puppies, adolescent dogs and behaviour support using modern, ethical, reward-based training methods. My focus has always been on helping dogs develop great life skills - calmness, optimism, disengagement, confidence, emotional regulation and the ability to make good decisions - rather than simply teaching obedience.

Because behaviour is communication.

Dogs aren’t “giving us a hard time” - they’re having a hard time.

I’m already qualified as a dog trainer through the Dog Training College and Absolute Dogs, but over the past year or so I’ve been continuing my education through the Level 6 Diploma in Clinical Canine Behaviour.

One of the things I’ve really loved about the diploma is how deeply it explores the science behind behaviour - not just what behaviour looks like on the surface, but what’s happening underneath it. We’ve covered things like arousal, stress physiology, emotions, nervous systems, neurobiology, learning theory, body language, ethology, behaviour problems, brain health and the consultation process itself.

It’s reinforced something I already believed strongly: behaviour change isn’t about suppressing behaviour. It’s about understanding the dog in front of us and helping them feel, cope and respond differently.

At the same time, I’ve been living with my own adolescent border collie, Osian… also known as Oshi 😁

And honestly? Living with a clever, sensitive, sometimes chaotic teenage collie while studying clinical canine behaviour has been both humbling and incredibly valuable. She keeps me grounded in the reality that even when we understand the science, dogs are still individuals with emotions, genetics, sensitivities, needs and opinions of their own 😅

Like so many owners, I’ve experienced the adolescent chaos, the over-arousal, the selective hearing, the “why are you barking at that?” moments and the tiny wins that feel absolutely huge when you’ve worked hard for them.

So many owners are trying their absolute best while feeling overwhelmed, frustrated, embarrassed or like they’re failing their dog.

You’re not failing because your dog struggles.

Over the next few weeks I’m going to start posting much more regularly again:
🐾 training tips
🐾 behaviour science explained simply
🐾 real-life training with Oshi
🐾 puppy and adolescent dog support
🐾 concept training
🐾 collie chaos
🐾 myths I wish would disappear from dog training forever 😁

I’m also currently revising my training services and programmes, which I’m really excited to share properly soon.

It’s good to be back 😊

17/05/2026

Can you keep a lookout for this dog, please.

Rehomed without the rescues permission. The dog may be in a good home, but the rescue doesn’t know.

17/05/2026

Oshi interacting with the story tree 😀