Harbour Tails Dog Walking

Hey there, we're Harbour Tails! Est 2019. We prioritise quality over quantity. Instead of walking 7+ dogs at once in the same field daily, we walk safely sized groups in diverse locations. All off-lead dogs wear GPS trackers, and we ensure every off lead dog has reliable recall, which we positively reinforce during walks. We invest thousands into safety equipment and regularly updating our qualifications, listed on our website. Dani's latest endeavour to become an accredited dog trainer involves a credible 6 month research course followed by a phase of practical courses with IMDT. At Harbour Tails, we put your dog's mental health and safety above profits. We know there is always more to learn about canine well being, psychology behaviour and training. We know new research is carried out all the time and the importance of investing to ensure our knowledge and practices are up to date and credible. Harbour Tails: Redefining Professional Dog Walking.

🐾 **Keep Training Fresh!** 🐶 Did you know? Practicing and rewarding your dog's skills is key to maintaining them —like loose lead walking. Even if your furry friend already "knows" something well , regular practice with intermittent and random rewards will keep these skills sharp - and your bond tight! 🦴✨ **Tip:** Intermittent rewards work well for skills your dog performs reliably across different settings. However, if you're teaching a new skill or your dog is finding it challenging, or has perhaps lost a skill due to lack of practice, stick with continuous reinforcement in various environments. This approach ensures they fully grasp and master the behaviour before moving to less frequent rewards. #DogTraining #PetCare #LifeWithDogs @uptoncountrypark @dorsetdogs

In the predatory motor pattern of dogs, the "dissect" phase involves mimicking the behavior of shredding or tearing apart prey. This phase often includes actions like biting, shaking, tearing and de-stuffing. For some dogs / breeds this phase is very important and rewarding for them and they need an outlet for it. Also, please never take something away from your dog like the person does in this video. It will put you on the path to having severe guarding issues. Instead, try offering a trade.

Picnic season is fast approaching, although you wouldn't think it with current amount of rain 🤣 but, practicing some engagement games in readiness. Dorset Dogs

A Mother's Day Poem.

Unbox our delivery of dog treats with us. Thank you to Marshalls Pet Food Store Ltd. for this kind gift which Cali has agreed to share around. We are donating some of the bags to Waggy Tails Rescue Dorset

For dogs, Learning social skills doesn't just mean playing with other dogs. It's being able to see other dogs and remain under threshold and it's being able to be polite and read if the other dog would like to interact or not. Here we are helping Bruce to learn so she might be able to join group walks in the future.

Some time ago, after seeing an unethical "door threshold" training video using aversive tools, I decided to recreate it to show the power of science based and ethical training. No pain, no fear, no shouting, no yelling, required. Just small steps, patience, kindness and a long history of positive reinforcement.

Happy 2024 New Year, same us! Cali and I want to continue to offer a high quality and safe service for your dogs. We remain the only dog walking service in our area investing in GPS tracking on all off lead dogs, helping to ensure their safety and to give our customers full transparency. We also continually update our learning and qualifications with a a strong focus on canine mental health and how this can affect behaviour. I am continuing studies with the Institute of Modern Dog Trainers the next 12 - 18 months to become a accredited dog trainer. For 2024 I will continue to raise awareness and advise about canine mental health, while continuing to invest in my professional development.

Positive reinforcement based training has its limitations. It's limited by our ability to apply it. It's limited by our knowledge of it. It's limited by our ethics. It's limited by our willingness to apply it. When people say that positive training is limited, they are limited only by themselves, not in the science. It is limited by the human's knowledge, willingness or ability.

We usually practice a bit of recall on the lead before unclipping. Today as an experiment for our lunch walkers I tried whispering it 🤣💕 Also it was nice to talk to ladies from Dorset Dogs on this walk about the importance of dog friendly spaces.

Harbour Tails Dog Walking is a Hamworthy, Poole based dog walker specialising and trained in canine mental health, behaviour and training. With over 7 years of experience, Dani is also on the road to becoming an IMDT dog trainer. Harbour Tails promotes a good balance of calm and focus while letting dogs display natural behaviours and enjoy their environment in a safe way. All Harbour Tails walking customers currently benefit from complimentary canine mental health and training advice and well-being visits as part of their membership to our club. Oh, and all off lead dogs are @tractive GPS tracked for extra peace of mind. #dogwalker #dogwalkeruk #dogtrainer #poole #dorset

1. What happened here? Carson is a young Labrador boy. Here he spotted some people in the distance using a "ball chucker". Carson loves balls 🤣. You can see it caught his eye, and then he started moving towards it. Despite the temptation Carson remembered he has been consistently rewarded well for a recall. He made an EXCELLENT decision and recalled back. What an amazing young man. 2. What happened next? It would have been tempting to risk keeping Carson off the lead at this point since he had succeeded. However he almost didn't and I didn't want him to get too tempted again and fail at recall as that would equate to step backwards in recall training. Which would be a big shame after he did such a good job here. You should always end on a positive. So on this recall I rewarded heavily and popped his lead on until we were far away from these people and their ball chucker 🤣 #dogtraining #dogbehavior #dogbehaviour #labrador

Crappy weather is worth it sometimes. With everyone else indoors we had the place to ourselves! Upton Country Park

Dani’s Tail … As well as owning dogs throughout my life, I started volunteer dog walking in 2015 to help local military families. I continued this free service in my spare time until 2019, gaining experience until I decided to complete a dog walking and canine first aid course (updated every 3 years). From there I’ve set up a professional, safe and reliable dog walking service you can trust, covering Hamworthy and surrounding. I’m DBS cleared and keep up to date with learning and qualifications. You can see a list of these on my website. I know first-hand what a worry it is when you have to leave your dog in someone else’s care. You can rest assured that your dog’s safety and wellbeing is my top priority. That’s why I use an unbranded vehicle for discretion and tracking devices when dogs are off lead. I will look after your pet as if they were my own and play stimulating games as I do while walking with my dog, Cali. With the help of my 4-legged best friend, Cali the Cockapoo, Harbour Tails provides an exceptional dog walking service you can rely on. The tail continues… I am currently studying to be an accredited dog trainer with IMDT, due to complete by the end of 2024. This involves studying from home as well as attending theory and practical seminars and completing assessments including being assessed while providing training classes. I have no plans to stop dog walking on completion but I do plan on offering training options as additional service.