Parker and Pooch - Dog Training & Solo Walks

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Parker and Pooch - Dog Training & Solo Walks

Hi, I’m Clare, founder of Parker & Pooch.

Bringing the joy back to walks for stressed and struggling dog owners

1-2-1 dog training in Todmorden, Hebden Bridge, Littleborough, Mytholmroyd, Bacup, Cliviger & Sowerby Bridge

Solo dog walks in Todmorden & Hebden The lessons I learnt along the way while struggling with my own dog’s behaviour inspired me to ditch my career as an accountant and re-train as a dog trainer. And now I spend my days

supporting others who were just like me, who want the best for their dog, and just need a bit of a helping hand to get there.

10/07/2025

Not everything you read on the internet is true.

And some of it is true, but not helpful.

(I absolutely do appreciate the irony that you're reading this on the internet.)

When we first brought Alice home and we were trying to work on her recall and her ability to not go nuts every time she saw some wildlife, I read a LOT of stuff on the internet.

Stuff like: “Give her a treat every time she checks in with you on a walk.”

Ok great.

We'd be out for an hour's walk. I'd be poised and ready with my tasty snacks…

60 minutes, not one check-in. Not one single glance in my direction. Not one f*ck given that I was even at the other end of the lead.

“Give her a treat every time she checks in with you on a walk” wasn't bad advice.

[In fact its great advice: Reward and therefore reinforce the behaviours you like, the more you'll get of them. And the more engagement and connection you get from your dog, the more chance you've got of them being able to disengage and disconnect from other things, whether that's wildlife, dogs, people, or anything else they're excited about or worried by.]

But it wasn't useful advice to me. Not at that time.

Not all the advice on the internet is wrong.

But it might not be right for you and your dog. Your individual dog: their breed type, their genetics, their age, their background and life experiences. Your situation: the environment you live in, the environments you walk your dog in.

Which is why working with a trainer - who can tailor their advice to your particular set of circumstances - is invaluable.

I mean I know I would say this, I'm a trainer 🤣 But it’s true.

Want to find out more about working with me? Head to my website (the link is at the top of my page) to book a free call, or send me a message on 07866 404866, and let’s get you started 🤩

08/07/2025

Turn the sound up for the best advert ever for my dog walks… a very contented post-walk Tess ❤️ I can't decide which is cuter, the breathing or the lip smacking 🤷‍♀️

03/07/2025

Growling is good.‌

I think the growl is one of the most easily recognisable but also most easily misunderstood forms of dog communication.‌

And I say “communication”, because that's all it is.‌

A dog growling brings out all sorts of emotions in us - much more so than barking and lunging I think. Fear, and worry, and a feeling that our dog definitely should not be growling. At anyone or anything. It’s aggressive, right?‌

But a growl is just a growl.

It truly is just a form of communication.‌

Alice has her teeny-tiny-very-polite-you-can-barely-hear-it growl: a very measured “please could you stop what you're doing I don't really like it”.‌

This might come out when I’m towelling her down when she’s wet and muddy and I’ve tried to be careful but I’ve moved her off balance and she feels vulnerable. Or she’s a bit sore somewhere and I hadn’t realised. It came out at the vets last week when the vet was manipulating her hind legs to check her muscle mass and she wasn’t very keen on that idea.‌

She knows she doesn’t need anything more than the teeny tiny growl, because it’s listened to. If she’s growling, it’s for a good reason. So I stop what I’m doing, and work out what’s going on, what it is that she’s trying to tell me.‌

Then she has her “f*ck the f*ck off” growl. The one you’re more likely to hear on tv animal documentaries… not so polite, not so measured 🙈🤣‌

Usually brought out in degrees of escalation when the teeny tiny growl is ignored. Or when she doesn’t get the chance to be polite, e.g. because an off-lead “friendly” dog has charged over and got right in her face.‌

Personally I wouldn’t call either of those growls aggressive. Aggression has many (sometimes contradictory) definitions, but at the heart of it, aggression is an intent to do harm.‌

Growls on the other hand, are generally designed to make things stop or go away. A dog growling is asking you to back off, so that they don’t have to resort to the next level of communication.‌

[note: there are also lots of other growls that have nothing to do with anything that you might consider to be aggression… body language and context are key: Alice for example also has a frustration growl, and a play growl, and of course her howly growly backchat growl when she wants her tea - see her photo below 😍]‌

If you ignore the growl and carry on, or worse still, punish the growl - you're not listening. And what does someone do when they're not listened to? They shout louder. And next time, the growl becomes an air snap, or even a bite.‌

No matter how disturbing you find it that your dog is growling - whether it’s at you or someone else - believe me it’s better than them NOT growling.‌

(And if your dog has moved from barking and lunging at other dogs, to just quietly growling at them? Celebrate that growl! 🥳 A dog that has progressed from feeling the need for a big showy demonstration of f*ck-off-ness, to just a little growl of displeasure - that is HUGE 🤩)‌

If your dog’s behaviour is worrying you - growl or no growl - then head to my website (the link is at the top of my page) to book a free call, or send me a message on 07866 404866, and let’s start to find out what’s really going on 🥰

01/07/2025

You can lead a horse to water...

26/06/2025

I was thinking about rainbows today. And wait, you guessed it - how they relate to reactive dogs.

Now you might be thinking this is because it’s Pride Month…. well I'd love to say that's true, but believe me when I say that my social media content is not that well planned or thought out. At all.

But, I was standing out in the rain this morning waiting for Alice to decide if she was going to actually go for a walk or not, and the sun was trying to battle its way through the cloud. And it got me thinking about rainbows.

[How are rainbows even just sitting there in the sky? Never mind the bonkersness of double rainbows. I know I could google it but who wants to spoil such things with actual science. I like to think there’s a little pixie in each raindrop, and they each hold up a little piece of red or orange or yellow (etc) glass, and it catches in the sunlight. I realise that would require a lot of organisation and coordination from said pixies, to get the whole rainbow effect shebang. But a girl can dream]

Anyhow. Rainbows. You can’t get rainbows without sun AND rain. Fact. I’m not 100% sure about the whole pixie thing, but I do know that much is true.

And how on earth does that relate to barky lungey dogs I hear you ask?

I’m so glad you did.

There’s lots of actual literal rain when you share your life with a barky lungey dog. All the wet weather walks that you learn to love because thank god the idiots with the “but he’s just friendly!” dogs never venture out in the torrential rain.

And there’s all the metaphorical rain too: the days, months, years of dreading walk times, of being out on walks wishing the ground would swallow you up when your dog kicks off. The wondering whether having a dog should be this hard, and the dawning realisation that unless something changes, it’s going to be this hard for a long long time. And you actually google how long do dogs live for, and then you feel really really guilty for even thinking it.

But. The glorious but. When you do find something or someone (hi 👋) that can help, and you start understanding why your dog is doing what they're doing, and you start learning how you can make life better for them, and you...?

Well then you're one step closer to that magical day. The satisfaction, the elation, the heartfelt joy that you experience - the first time that your dog DOESN’T react. That teeny tiny moment of pure gold, that no-one else even notices, and definitely doesn’t give a sh*t about? That is some proud dog-mama sunshine right there ❤️🌈

24/06/2025

Back in the day, when I was first thinking about starting my own business, I had all these thoughts about how could I call myself a dog trainer when I had a reactive dog myself… I mean who would want to work with someone who couldn’t even “fix” their own dog’s reactivity? 🤷‍♀️

Years down the line, I’ve come to realise that’s one of the things that people value most: that I get what they’re going through ❤️ I understand the stresses and strains that come with living with a reactive dog, and the wondering whether those hopes and dreams of how life “should” be will ever come to be.

It was an absolute pleasure working with Nell and her fabulous humans - such committed owners who just want the best for their lovely dog 🐾

Want to find out more about working with me? Head to my website (the link is at the top of my page) to book a free call, or send me a message on 07866 404866, and let’s get you started 🥰

21/06/2025

I wrote something similar to this last year but I feel like it needs saying again…

Every dog professional in the land has been busy posting infographics of what temperature you should and shouldn’t walk your dog. And I’m not disputing the facts or the sentiment.

(And actually: go check out this week’s posts from the lovely Jo at It's All About The Dog - because it turns out you need to consider humidity just as much as temperature)

But…

Whoever the well-meaning person was who first came up with the phrase:

“No dog ever died from missing a walk. But dogs have died from one walk in the heat.”

I guarantee you that person had a garden. And their dog would toilet in that garden.

Don't get me wrong, I'm definitely not advocating taking your dog for an unnecessary walk when it's too hot for them. But like all catchy phrases, the reality is a lot more nuanced than that.

If you don't have a garden, or your dog won't toilet in the garden - then on days when it's hot all day and late into the evening, you probably are going to end up taking your dog out for a toilet walk when it's a bit too warm for them.

On Thursday I took Alice out for a wee late morning, when really it was too hot for her - but she hadn’t wanted to walk when Chris tried to take her out first thing - so we went out when I got back home after my dog walks. And I took her out again late afternoon, when really it was still too hot for her - because she needed a poo.

So I'm just here to say: You know your own dog better than anyone else.

You know what breed type they are and how well they cope with the heat. You've done the mental gymnastics of how hot it is, how much shade there is, how hot the pavement is, how long your dog can comfortably hold it in before they need to toilet, whether they’re likely to end up with a urine infection, etc etc.

And so if you fall into the above category… please ignore the local facebook group keyboard warriors - the witch hunters and the guilt trippers - and take your dog round the block to do their business, if that's what they need most ❤️

19/06/2025

I have an important but shocking announcement to make:

I'm not a perfect human being.

I know, who knew 🤷‍♀️

Chris especially will be surprised to hear this 🤣🤣

Some days I get frustrated by Alice’s absolute indifference to do what I want to do - like pop out for a quick toilet walk that doesn’t take upwards of half an hour

Some days I lose my sh*t at some numpty dog owner who thinks it’s ok to let their offlead dog run up to an onlead dog.

Some days I can’t even remember what I’ve done that makes me a non-perfect human being but I’m pretty sure there was something - hello perimenopausal brain fog 😵‍💫

I’m sure it would be lovely if we could embrace our inner zen and rise above it all.

But that’s not how real life works is it 🫣

So if you share your life with a dog who makes it feel like hard work sometimes?

(And truly, I think that means anyone who shares their life with any dog)

Then I’m just here to tell you…

…that crap days are perfectly normal, and NOT being a perfect human being? Well that just means you’re human ❤️

And if you want some help figuring out how to have less crap days - from someone who 100% gets it: head to my website (the link is at the top of my page) to book a free call, or send me a message on 07866 404866, and let’s get you started 🥰

17/06/2025

When you're out on a dog walk and you get a call from one of your training clients, asking where you are...
..because they've parked up at the same walking spot and want to give us a wide berth 🤣

(A very patient Annie, waiting behind the rocks for fellow rommie Xena to go by ❤️)

12/06/2025

So in my last post I talked about all the different reasons your dog might be unpredictable around other dogs.

There were a LOT of reasons.

So it’s kind of not surprising if they seem unpredictable to you.

But you know who your dog doesn’t seem unpredictable to?

Your dog.

They know exactly who they’re going to react to and who they don’t.

In their little doggie head they're very predictable - if they encounter something that worries them or scares them or frustrates them, they react. And if it isn't worrisome or scary or frustrating, they don't.

So the best way of trying to predict which dogs are going to be an issue?

Look at your own dog, not the other dog.

Watch their body language when they spot another dog, or when you’re approaching another dog.

You’ll start to learn their little ‘tells’, the little signs that mean they’re not 100% sure about the situation - that come before they actually react.

It can be hard to focus on everything at once, so maybe on one walk concentrate on their tail, another walk their ears, etc etc, so it’s easier to start spotting their signals.

So for example with their ears, do the base of their ears start to move back and flatten, or do they tense up and their ears prick up? Do they lower their tail, or start wagging it stiffly?

If you have enough hands, or even better, if you’re walking with someone else, you can even video them - so you can watch it back, out of the moment (frame by frame if needed).

First, you’ll be able to spot the pre-reaction ‘tells’, what happens JUST before they react. You might know some of these already: the fixating, the weight shifting forward, or backwards, the stillness, or maybe the tippy tappy feet

And then over time, you’ll start to spot the ‘tells’ BEFORE that - the subtle little signs that say they’re feeling unsure or a bit het up. And then - you can take steps to create space for them, before they feel the need to react.

10/06/2025

Unpredictableness.

Is that even a word? It feels like it should be.

"He's so unpredictable"

"I can never tell if she's going to react or not"

I get it. I've been there.

If you could just tell which dogs were going to be an issue for your dog, life would be so much simpler.

(Sometimes it feels like it would almost be easier if your dog just reacted to ALL dogs. And then at least you'd know where you were. Generally hiding behind cars and up driveways 🤣)

❓️ Which are the ones they’re going to turn into a hot barky lungey mess over

❓️ And which are the ones they’re just going to blank (often after you’ve already explained to the other owner that they’re probably going to kick off - just to prove you wrong 🙈)

Unfortunately, there are about a million reasons for their unpredictableness [I figure if I keep using it, it must be a word]. Reasons like:

🟠 What the other dog looks like - yes, dog breedism is a thing. I mean not really - but what they look like matters:

▶️ if the other dog is hard to read, this can unsettle your dog… black dogs’ facial expressions are hard to make out, so are flat-nosed breeds like pugs and french bulldogs. And dogs whose tails naturally curl over their back (think northern breeds like akitas, shiba inus, chow chows, malamutes) can appear antagonistic, just because their tails are raised

▶️ if your dog has had a bad experience with another dog previously… (and that doesn’t need to be an actual attack - what might have seemed quite trivial to you might have really un-nerved your dog) any dog that looks a bit like them might be a no-go - that could be breed specific, or it could have generalised to all small dogs, or all large dogs, or all white dogs etc etc

🟠 What the other dog is doing… a dog bouncing around full of energy can be intimidating to your dog if they’re nervous. But on the flipside, a chilled dog who is ignoring them can be more infuriating to your dog if they’re the frustrated sort. And of course any dog who is eyeballing your dog (yes my border collie friends, I’m talking about you 👀) is potentially going to be intimidating for your dog

🟠 Where the other dog is… what distance they are from you matters, but also are they walking towards you (head to head approaches are more confrontational) or away from or parallel to you (might be a relief for a fearful dog, might be even more frustrating for a dog who barks and lunges because he wants to say hello to other dogs)

🟠 How long the other dog is in sight for… duration is just as important as distance. Your dog having to watch another dog walk for sixty long seconds the other side of a field can be just as hard if not harder then seeing a dog close up but they disappear behind a parked car after a second or two.

🟠 What’s happened on the walk previously… have there been other stressful moments already on the walk? Are they already riled by the time they've seen dog number 4 or 5? And it doesn’t just have to be bad experiences - if they’ve got all excited over a squirrel, it’s the same adrenaline and cortisol running through their bloodstream, leaving them less able to cope with the next potential trigger

🟠 What’s happened earlier… it’s not just what’s already happened on the walk, but what’s happened (or even hasn’t happened, if a change in routine can be unsettling for them) earlier today, or even yesterday - for some dogs, stressful experiences can take longer than you’d think to recover from

So… it’s little wonder if they might seem unpredictable to you.

The good news is there IS a way to make sense of their unpredictability 🥳

But the bad news is this post has got long already (I know, a long rambly post, from me - who’d have thought 🤷‍♀️) so you’ll have to wait til Thursday to find out…

08/06/2025

When you take your always-on-a-lead dog to a secure field so she can have some quality off-lead time, and you feel like she hasn't really grasped the concept 🤣

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http://www.parkerandpooch.co.uk/

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