Nina's Wolfpack

04/06/2025

https://www.ninaswolfpack.co.uk/post/understanding-the-decompression-period-for-rescue-dogs

Bringing a rescue dog into your home can be one of the most rewarding experiences, both for you and for the dog. However, it’s essential to remember that many rescue dogs come from environments that may have been stressful, frightening, or even traumatic. The transition from a shelter—or any pri...

04/06/2025

https://www.ninaswolfpack.co.uk/post/preventing-resource-guarding

Whatever age your dog is, resource guarding can be very challenging once it starts so here are a few things you can do to help prevent resource.Firstly, if your dog suddenly develops resource guarding behaviours where there have previously been no issue, get a full vet check to rule out pain or disc...

04/06/2025

New blog post on what too look out for on those first few walks with a new rescue dog!

The first few walks that you take your rescue dog on are key to understanding how to proceed in training. Whether you got a rescue from the UK or abroad, those first few walks will give you a tonne of information... so lets break it down.Firstly it's important to wait a while before taking your dogs...

14/05/2025

Training help given to any fosterer & adopter for this lovely boy! Would be amazing to find him a new home asap ❤️

07/05/2025

About Dudley & His Training:

Dudley was found on his own, without mum or litter mates when some people contacted

Then he unfortunately broke his leg when he was still very young - he had to be taken to the vets (which could have contributed to his intense fear of the car - wherever there is a pain response, big learning occurs to avoid in the future) + the long drive to the UK meant that the car generally was a really negative thing for Dudley. This is very common for foreign rescues as the drive is a long one!

He missed some key dog socialisation because of this as well which means that he doesn’t quite know how to socialise - including where boundaries are for play which means he’s learning that through the help of another dog named Elton who is telling him when he’s gone too far.

In the shelter he would bark at dogs outside of his area and showed some red flags of reactivity. We discussed all of this before he arrived & decided to take socialisation very slowly - over the last 6 weeks we have gone from freezing up & panicking at the sight of a dog to now just being a little bit over excited (now we aim for neutrality!)

We are desensitising Dudley to the car and started to work on some obedience that will open up his world but with the biggest focus remaining on his emotional responses & calm behaviours at the sight of dogs & people!

07/05/2025

CLIENT TESTIMONIAL:
"Dudley and i have been working with Nina since he, a 7-month old labrador cross rescue, arrived from Bulgaria seven weeks ago. Nina's knowledge and experience of working with rescue dogs, particularly those from Eastern Europe, has been invaluable in helping Dudley settle in to his new life and, equally important, in helping me be mindful of, and prepare for situations and interactions which might otherwise have been negative. Things such as taking introductions to other dogs more slowly than I might otherwise have done, along with some great insights on reading his body language and subtle signs that he might be finding a situation more stressful than I realised.
Nina's passion and enthusiasm for what she does is both obvious and infectious. We've been working with her primarily via Zoom and Whats App, and have also had two 1-2-1 sessions. She is always on hand if one has questions or needs advice on a particular issue. We'll definitely continue working with Nina in the months ahead.
She has helped build on the foundations laid for Dudley by StreetHearts, the rescue charity from which he came, by emphasising the fundamental importance of focusing initially on developing calmness and confidence in one's dog, and of taking things slowly, before turning one's attention to obedience training. That may sound obvious, but it's easy to forget in one's enthusiasm, be it conscious or sub-conscious, to see 'results'.
Nina's guidance, encouragement and support have been invaluable over the last few weeks. And yes, the results are clear to see. Dudley's confidence has grown significantly since he arrived. He is much calmer when meeting other dogs and new people, thanks to Nina's guidance as to how to set up and manage those situations on a carefully managed, incremental basis.
She's a natural with dogs, that's obvious as soon as you see her engage with them.
I have no hesitation in recommending her if you're seeking a trainer to help you navigate those early weeks and months with your dog, be it a rescue or otherwise"

07/05/2025

If you walk your dog in local parks/social groups of dogs - please don’t hand out dog treats to dogs that aren’t yours!

I have been working in a lot of parks recently and you can always tell the dogs that have been fed by everyone because they won’t leave people alone. Why is this a problem for them, you and everyone else?

1. Diet & health of the dog (including weight management - you have no idea if the dog has allergies, gastric issues or organ issues that are not compatible with your treats.
Or if the owner has put the dog on medication or structured meals for diet related issues.

2. Training - if your dog is getting food from random people, it’ll likely not listen when you call them away (and I’ve seen owners getting angry at their dog for pestering people which isn’t fair on the dog - they’re only doing what they know)

3. Your dog may go up to adults or children who are scared of dogs - this isn’t fair on other people in the park

4. Resource guarding - if you (the owner) are giving treats to other people’s dogs, you can cause resource guarding issues with your dog & the dog you’re handing food too - to your dog, your treats are theirs, they’re valuable & should not be given to others.

19/04/2024

I see this term get thrown around a lot in many outdated methods of training or overly aversive methods… “respect”
It’s the idea that your dog is maliciously disrespecting their owner when they do behaviours that the owner considers to be “bad”
In both ways it over complicates and over simplifies dogs behaviour at the same time. The same people will say you should never baby your dog, you should withhold affection unless it is earned and that you should never compare dogs behaviour to humans behaviour…. But by saying a dog is “disrespecting” you when they ignore a recall cue to chase a squirrel is humanising a dog in an incredibly detrimental way.
It also over simplifies behaviours such as reactivity and aggression… if your only answer is that a dog is behaving aggressively because they do not have respect for their owner, you ignore ALL of the actual reasons such as frustration, fear, pain, previous learnt behaviours or trauma, etc.

Your dog performs behaviours that work for them either to achieve or avoid an outcome or perceived outcome… they do not have the concept or social dynamic of respect… and as I’ve mentioned before, good and bad behaviours are also a human concept as well… when you say your dog is disrespectful, you are projecting your own ideas of good and bad onto a dogs behaviours, rather than getting to the root of the problem.

03/03/2024

READ MORE ⬇️

1. As much as people try to brand their shock collars or e-collars as a “stim” that term still means electrical current. The term “stim” is used to change what people think about the device and often said “the same used in physical therapy”… I’ve had this kind of physical therapy and it is really unpleasant. The “stim” as well is ONLY meant to go into muscle, not around the neck and when used in dog training they are DESIGNED to cause discomfort to your dog for “communication” purposes.

2. I can’t believe this is still an idea that people hold onto with so much research out there that has CONFIRMED that this is not the way your dog views you (the owner/handler). If you work with a trainer that is still using these terms, it displays how uneducated they are and have not progressed their understanding of dog training in the last 20 YEARS!

3. Treat training is not “bribery”. When we use food it spikes dogs interest in problem solving (“what do I need to do to get that reward”) and makes dogs learn FASTER and more CONSISTENTLY. By tapping into your dogs reward system of their brain you create reliable behaviours and a positive response to you as the trainer/owner/handler. Not to mention the amazing results you can get through counter conditioning of fear or anxiety through reward based training.

4. Yes, some harnesses are designed for pulling for sledding or canicross… but day to day harnesses are just designed to make walking way more comfortable for your dog. Good lead walking comes through training and dogs on harnesses won’t automatically pull. Just as dogs don’t just magically stop pulling with a slip lead.

24/02/2024

Thank you to Piper’s human for leaving a review. I got to do training walks piper all summer and absolutely loved working with her on her frustration reactivity. We had a session the other day to progress in a few areas and hand over before I go and she is doing so well ❤️ I left her owners with a progression plan and how to structure training walks to continue with the training.

Online consultations and progression training plans will be available on my website (link in bio)

21/12/2023

Love this! Dog behaviours always have a reason behind them so if you are worried or frustrated by your dogs behaviours, ask why are they doing them, what is the reason and what does the dog achieve by doing these behaviours.
Are they reacting because of pain? To make space? Frustration?
Are they chewing because they’re stressed? Bored?
All behaviour has a reason ❤️

29/11/2023

Pippin is half way through her 4 week adolescent package working on her recall, lead walking and general obedience around other dogs. She’s doing so well ❤️