Bear Basics Canine Academy

17/12/2025

Play is such an underrated tool for helping with many behavioural issues, not just resource guarding! 🙌🏼

15/12/2025

Less is more 💪🏼🔥

11/12/2025

10/12/2025

Client success story ⭐️

Loki, being an HPR, came with some serious drive and plenty of challenges. His biggest struggle was his intense prey drive. We’re talking reacting to pigeons in the garden from inside the house. He also found it hard to regulate himself which made settling pretty much impossible. Walks were tough, and even something as simple as following basic cues from Becca was a battle because of the party always going on inside his head.

Throughout our programme we focused on clearing the fog that was making everyday life so hard for both Loki and his family. We taught him how to regulate so he could settle, how to pause and think instead of diving straight into instinct, and how to cope around wildlife so the world stopped feeling like one giant trigger.

Week by week everything started to fall into place. Once we stripped things back and reset the foundations, Becca could finally understand what was driving his behaviour. That’s when the real change happened. Loki became calmer in the house. He started listening. He could take himself off to his bed instead of ping-ponging off the walls and Becca herself. Walks began to feel manageable. And the biggest win of all… he’s now been off lead for the first time ever. For a dog with his level of drive, that’s huge.

There’s still work going on with things like his stop whistle, settling in busy places, and staying calm around other dogs, but the foundations are solid and the difference in both Loki and his family is incredible. Becca no longer dreads walks or feels overwhelmed. She understands him, he understands her, and they finally feel like a team.

We couldn’t be prouder of how far they’ve come 🖤🪶
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09/12/2025

Punishment is a bit of a dirty word (and no,it doesn’t mean giving your dog a twatting), but once you understand that it’s the quickest way to stop unwanted behaviours, and implement it correctly, you’ll see your dog making better choices with far less fuss or confusion. Therefore making your life 10x easier 🙌🏼🐻

08/12/2025

Does your dog do any of these behaviours? 👇🏼

04/12/2025

Have you found gundog training has helped with your dog? 🙌🏼🪶

03/12/2025

I was on a call with a client the other day and they asked me, quite rightly, “what if training changes my dogs personality”. And I’ve seen similar questions such as “what if it makes them normal” or “I’m worried they won’t be the dog we knew”.

Well I’m here to tell you that this won’t be the case. We’re big on harnessing your dog’s personality and helping that shine through in their training. I mean… look at Sid, he’s as mad as a box of frogs and he’s highly trained.

I never want to shut a dog down or alter them in any way, and I think that’s one of the best bits of my job. The fact I get to know so many different personalities and work with that! 🙌🏼

01/12/2025

Client success story ⭐️

When Lucy reached out to me, it was clear Saige was a lovely little soul who found the world just a little bit much. Roads were difficult to navigate without overwhelm, seeing other dogs made her frustrated and seeing other people made her feel like she needed to react to them, both at home and out on a walk. Her prey drive was also mega strong so wildlife was a challenge for both Saige and Lucy. Everything felt like too much, and it was spilling out into her behaviour.

Lucy had tried a local trainer before, but it left her more unsure and put too much pressure on Saige by just throwing her in at the deep end instead of really understanding and supporting her.

When they joined Calm By Nature, everything finally started to make sense. They got stuck into the platform, the videos, the community, and my 7 core-pillars gave them the missing “why” behind all her behaviours.

Theee months in and the change in Saige is amazing. Her lead walking is calm, she’s looking to her owners for guidance instead of panacking, and she’s no longer launching at people or dogs. She can even chill in the garden without having to let the neighbour know she’s there. Her recall is stronger and more reliable which makes walks far more enjoyable and less stressful.

Seeing her confidence grow has been the best thing. She’s happier, more settled, and her owners finally feel like they’ve got their girl back in a way that feels manageable and enjoyable.

So proud of this little Vizla and her owners. They put the work in, trusted the process and it’s paid off massively 🧡🙌🏼🐻

29/11/2025

Reggie is looking for his forever home 🏡

So the time has come for Reggie to start a new chapter in his forever home. Those of you who have been following along, we fostered Reggie a few months ago. He didn’t have the best start in life, he was passed from pillar to post and hadn’t been shown right from wrong. He was quite anxious and struggled massively in a lot of situations landing him the label of human aggressive (he does have a bite history).

We have worked super hard on him and gotten him to the point where we’re ready to pass him onto his forever home so they can continue what we’ve started. Reggie is around 3 years old and he’s a chocolate working cocker spaniel (he is entire). He’s got bags of drive and would do really well in a home that understands his needs and can give him the outlets he requires. Reggie has incredible recall, doesn’t pull on the leash, social with other dogs and would be best suited with a household that doesn’t have children, or someone who’s going to treat him like one either.

He requires patience, effort and someone who is experienced with a dog of his calibre, like all WCS, he isn’t a walk in the park and he requires an active home who’s going to give him the life he deserves. His gundog potential has only scratched the surface so there’s plenty of room to develop that further. He’s fully e-collar trained, recalls on whistle and verbal, hunts on whistle and retrieves as well (has a basic drop cue), and honestly is a natural with it. I believe if someone was looking for a basic gundog prospect, Reggie would smash this role. He’s crate trained and can settle outside the crate as well, isn’t door reactive (anymore). The reason he requires a dedicated home is he needs time and effort due to his aggression, which now only showcases around grooming and other co-op care scenarios and sometimes the crate. He’s not thrilled by being in these situations but will tolerate them. He can also be muzzled very easily, making these scenarios easier to handle.

Working him has honestly been a delight and I cannot wait for his next venture! If you are interested or know someone who might be, please drop us a DM 🙌🏼

27/11/2025

HPRs are brilliant but they get misunderstood way too often. People call them difficult when really they’re just not being given the right guidance for the brains they’ve got.

They’re built to hunt, point and retrieve, so if we don’t tap into that, they end up making their own decisions… usually the ones we wish they wouldn’t. And naturally, you’ll find them stubborn or difficult 🤷🏻‍♂️