Gwen Bailey - Dog behaviourist and Author

21/09/2024

2nd part of our Puppy Talk video - please share with any veterinary professionals you know, thank you

03/09/2024

Please share with any vets practices you know. Thank you

📢 Attention Veterinary Practice Staff!

Transform your clients' puppy-parenting experience with the newly revised 3rd edition of The Perfect Puppy! 🎉 We’re giving away 5 signed copies of this must-have guide to puppy-raising, plus an exclusive ✨40% discount✨ on additional copies for your practice — perfect for selling to your clients. No minimum order and free UK delivery! 🚚

This book delivers trusted, time-efficient, puppy raising knowledge, ensuring your clients have the best start with their new furry friends. 🐾

To enter the giveaway and access this great offer, click here: https://puppyschool.thinkific.com/products/digital_downloads/ThePerfectPuppyBookOffer

Five lucky winners will be drawn at the end of September 2024. Good luck! 🍀

28/08/2024

Oh, it was easy after all. Thank you, Danny

09/08/2024

🐕 Looking for professional accreditation in animal training? Is it a goal of yours to become an accredited Animal Training Instructor (ATI) with the ABTC?

The Animal Behaviour and Training Council is the industry leader in providing accreditation for welfare-led animal training across the UK. Puppy School is proud to be an ABTC Practitioner Organisation, which means that we are able to teach and prepare our Puppy School Tutors to learn puppy training to a high enough standard to take the ABTC ATI assessment.

We offer comprehensive tutor training, taught by a range of experienced tutors, including Clinical Animal Behaviourists Gwen Bailey and Catherine Tomlinson.

Once you’ve qualified with Puppy School, you’ll receive free access to behaviour courses given by Nicole Harris BA(Hons) PGDip CABC CCAB (Puppy Tales - Puppy Training Specialists). Nicole is a Clinical Animal Behaviourist and ATI with ABTC, committee member of the Association of Pet Behaviour Counsellors (APBC), and a Certified member of the Fellowship of Animal Behaviour Clinicians (FABC).

📢 We are recruiting NOW for the autumn 2024 course, starting 31st August. This will be the final chance to join the Puppy School family until autumn 2025, so don’t miss out! For more details and to apply, see: https://www.puppyschool.co.uk/join-us

07/08/2024

Please share with anyone you know who works in a veterinary practice. Thank you.

📢 Calling all vet professionals! 📢

Did you see our recent free CPD video on helping make puppy weigh-ins a breeze? Well, we have another one for you...

Ever wanted a deeper understanding of what puppies are trying to say? Our latest FREE 5-minute tutorial will help you unlock the secrets of puppy body language. It’s really easy once you know what to look for. Watch it here: https://puppyschool.thinkific.com/products/digital_downloads/puppy-body-language-pt1

We’d love to keep making these resources for you, but we need YOU to tell us about the puppy training/behaviour challenges you face at work. You can help us to understand what you need to become a Puppy-Friendly Practice. Please fill in our very short survey with a chance to win exclusive free early access to our new CPD courses: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/G9676BY

Looking forward to working with you to create more Puppy-Friendly Practices!

23/07/2024

Can't wait for this to be out. It's all fully updated with the latest knowledge so quite a bit different from the 2nd edition. Hard to believe I wrote the original 30 years ago - I so wanted to change the world for dogs, still do, but now I'm less sure I can 🤣.

17/07/2024

Please share with anyone who might want to join us. Thank you. Last chance for training until Autumn ‘25

Unleash your passion for dogs and training! Become a Puppy Tutor with us this autumn. Here's why:

🐾 1. TRAINING: Comprehensive training and support during setup.

🐾 2. LEARN SKILLS: Individual coaching to learn training skills.

🐾 3. MENTORSHIP: Every tutor and associate is assigned their own Regional Manager to mentor you through your training and support you when running classes.

🐾 4. SPONSORSHIP: Incredible sponsorship benefits from our partner brands.

🐾 5. RESOURCES: Access to huge information resources.

🐾 6. BEHAVIOUR COURSES: APBC/ABTC-led behaviour training.

🐾 7. CPD: Exciting CPD courses, minimum of two free courses per year.

🐾 8. CONFERENCE: Exclusive Puppy School Conference.

🐾 9. FOLLOW-ON COURSES: Ready-made follow-on courses to keep your clients engaged.

🐾 10. ABTC MEMBERSHIP: Puppy School is a Practitioner Organisation for The Animal Behaviour and Training Council. Tutors are able to join the ABTC ATI register.

🐾 11. PARTNERSHIP DEALS: Exclusive partnership deals with supply companies.

🐾 12. THE PUPPY CLUB: Access to the online Puppy Club is included for all your clients.

🐾 13. ADMINISTRATION SUPPORT: Reduced administration for you.

🐾 14. WEBSITE: A ready-made, Puppy School branded website for your area.

🐾 15. ONE BIG FAMILY! Puppy School is made up of many like-minded individuals. The ethos is of encouragement for all, rather than criticism.

Applications for new tutors are now open, with spaces available for this autumn. Apply now: https://www.puppyschool.co.uk/join-us

24/06/2024

21 years and 9 conferences later, I can't believe that our Puppy School family have been such a source of happiness and inspiration for so long. It's been hard work but it's brought such lovely people (and dogs) together.

11/06/2024

Please share with anyone you know who works at a vets practice. Thank you 🙂

📣 Calling all vet professionals! 📣🩺🐕

Puppy School has been working behind the scenes on some exciting new resources for you, and we have three things we would love to tell you about...

1. Got wriggly puppies who you struggle to get on and keep still on the weigh scales? Watch our FREE 5 min micro-tutorial and you will have them calm, confident and relaxed in no time. No more struggle, just effortless getting on, waiting, and getting off – make weigh-in’s a breeze for life! Watch it here:
https://puppyschool.thinkific.com/products/digital_downloads/weigh-scales

2. Our very own Gwen Bailey, Director and Founder of Puppy School, will be giving the puppy behaviour presentation “Puppy Greetings, the new Puppy Play” at the BVNA Congress on Sunday 13th October 2024 - we look forward to seeing you there.

3. Finally, we want to know what you want from us! Would you like to be part of a package of resources for veterinary professionals to help set young puppies off on the right paw? We need YOU to tell us about any puppy training/behaviour challenges you face at work so we can offer more helpful resources. Fill in our very short survey with a chance to win exclusive free early access to our new CPD courses: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/G9676BY

Looking forward to working with you to create more Puppy-Friendly Practices 😊🐾🩷

23/04/2024

The moment when all your recall practice pays off! Evri delivery man parks closer to our gates than usual, causing them to open. The dogs spot him just as he gets out and tear up to the fence with lots of bad barking (he wears very dark clothes and is scared of dogs so bad combination for being chased). I call like their lives depend on it and they come back immediately 😅. They are not usually that good, but must have heard the panic in my voice. We had just been doing some gun dog practice on the lawn a few mins before so I think they were in that mode - phew!

23/03/2024

Happy National Puppy Day! ❤️

12/03/2024

23/02/2024

Just in case anyone is interested in joining us. It's the first time we've opened our Puppy School Conference up to others, and we are excited for our amazing line up of practical demos and presentations from such experienced practitioners and speakers. www.puppyschool.co.uk/conference

31/01/2024

I made this video a long time ago with clips of Otto gradually learning how to retrieve, but decided it wasn't comprehensive enough to be of any use. I rediscovered it recently, and it is so lovely to see how far we've come with positive methods so thought it ought to be seen. Thank you to my friend and gun dog work mentor, Helen Philips, who both bred Otto and patiently taught me about this field of dog training.

10/12/2023

I had some publicity photos taken to go on the back cover of the new edition of Perfect Puppy. It didn't take long but needed a lot of skill so lucky I found such a good photographer ... 😬

30/11/2023

Our new website for Puppy School is now live! Super pleased with it. We've had the same one for 20 years, but after working with designers and developers for just 6 months, voila!, the new one is here. www.puppyschool.co.uk

23/10/2023

My lovely Otto at 6 years old. He loves to do this, thanks to positive training, and did a similar version next where he retrieved from water (dummies only, never birds due to living with a vegetarian!), then two from cover, all as fast as he possibly can go. We love training with Helen Phillips - if you want to know more about positive gun dog training, check this out https://gundogtrainersacademy.co.uk There is so much unnecessary old practices in gun dog work still, such as making them live outside in a kennel alone, but things are changing (slowly).

19/09/2023

Important Update Nov 23: The UK Government have announced that XL Bullies will be added to the list of banned types on 31st Dec 23. Due to this, sadly, we can only take these puppies into classes if our insurance allows. If you would like to bring your XL Bully puppy to our classes, please contact your local tutor to see if their insurance will allow for special dispensation to be given so your puppy can come to school.

🐾XL Bully puppies have always been welcomed at Puppy School (our classes are for puppies under 20 weeks and we focus on carefully controlled social greetings rather than puppy play so size matching is unnecessary).

🐾If you currently own a puppy, we recommend you talk to one of our tutors for information on how to introduce a muzzle positively, how to socialise rapidly and effectively, and book your puppy into our reward-based classes.

🐾All dogs can learn to be aggressive, and all puppies of any breed brought up with kind, knowledgeable owners in a stress-free supportive environment, who use only reward-based teaching methods, can learn to be peaceful and polite. Knowledge for owners is key and Puppy School aims to provide owners with a basic training for life that is ENTIRELY positive.

🐾Problems arise with any breed if outdated punishment-based methods are used or care is not taken to socialise well when young, or if they are kept in stressful conditions or those that cause physical or social deprivation.

🐾Problems are further exacerbated when dogs are very large and strong, where they have hidden accentuated genetic behaviour traits for guarding, fighting, a high play/work drive, or sustained arousal, or where inbreeding is rife, or where little consideration is given to avoiding inheritable diseases that can lead to irritability due to pain and discomfort.

🐾More often than not, it is people, not the dogs who are responsible when dogs bite, and we call for tougher and more immediate controls on members of society who use or breed dogs as weapons or for intimidation.

25/08/2023

I hate to give him the oxygen of publicity but now there is another bad person for dogs coming over here from the US that goes by the name of Dog Daddy. Just so you are aware and encourage others to take no notice of what he says (happy dog scarf photo to sweeten the pill - Lilli loves her dog daddy 🙂)

Statement from the Animal Behaviour and Training Council 25 August 2023

Subject: Statement on Augusto Deoliveira's Dog Handling Practices
The Animal Behaviour and Training Council (ABTC) wishes to express its deep concern of the dog handling practices demonstrated by Augusto Deoliveira, commonly known as the "Dog Daddy".
The ABTC believes in promoting humane, evidence-based, and ethical approaches to animal behaviour and training. Unfortunately, the methods showcased by Mr. Deoliveira are outdated, inhumane, and contrary to the principles we uphold. It is disheartening to note that despite the lack of any formal credentials or qualifications in animal behaviour or training, Mr. Deoliveira has amassed a significant social media following. This popularity, however, does not equate to expertise or ethical practice. We urge the public to be discerning and to prioritise the welfare of their pets by seeking guidance from accredited professionals.
We are saddened to learn that Mr. Deoliveira is scheduled to visit the UK in September as part of his world tour. We strongly advise pet carers to approach his teachings with extreme caution and to consider the potential harm that could arise from implementing his techniques.
The ABTC remains committed to promoting the highest standards in animal behaviour and training. We encourage the public to educate themselves about humane and effective training methods and to seek guidance from professionals who adhere to evidence-based practices.
For more information on ethical animal training and behaviour practices, and to find a list of registered practitioners that can support owners, keepers and carers, please visit our website at https://abtc.org.uk/
Thank you.
ABTC email: [email protected]

18/08/2023

I've never been one for campaigning, but shock collars are so disgusting and having been at a DEFA meeting with people who are making money from their sales, we need numbers to stand up against their forceful defence of their hideous products. The RSPCA have made this really easy, and if you follow the link it will only take a few moments of your time. Thank you on behalf of all the dogs who won't be frightened, terrified, scary into living a sad and anxious life if this ban goes ahead.

Don’t let the UK Government back out of banning shock collars. Help us increase the pressure and contact your local MP today.

08/08/2023

This is a little video we made in 2012. I found it again recently and thought it was worth sharing. Nicky Hutchison and I had the idea and had a lot of fun making it but the dogs were too well-behaved dogs, and we couldn't get them to be naughty enough! We are going to do a re-make so if you have any video of naughty doggy antics, please send it to me.

Funny things puppies do when they are not trained

04/08/2023

🌟Dog Mum Mindset Podcast with Gwen Bailey launched today🌟

🌟Our Founder and Director of Puppy School Gwen Bailey - Dog behaviourist and Author features as a special guest on the Dog Mum Mindset Podcast today, called Training 100,000 puppies positively and sharing the wisdom behind it all.

Gwen shares a wealth of knowledge during the podcast that she has gained across her incredible career and reaching a milestone of over a 100,000 puppies graduate through Puppy School classes across the UK.

Please do take a listen here….
https://open.spotify.com/episode/1bqpJ3R8vO2UocG9kgRHzB?si=gjKHNB2JSoG7GRtMnFpiwQ

or search for the Dog Mum Mindset Podcast.

26/05/2023

A quick update - Lilli has told her friends 🤣

25/05/2023

Just wanted to share a video of my lovely postman. Good girl, Lilli 🙂

02/02/2022

Interesting. Lots of different views about pet dog breeding but something should be done about the poor animals that have a lifetime of suffering because of a small number of people who set the breed standards and keep the stud books closed.

This week the Norwegian Government have announced a ban on the breeding of English Bulldogs and Cavalier King Charles Spaniels, ruling that the health problems they suffer are so bad, they contravene animal welfare legislation.

I am genuinely sorry that it has come to this, I have always hoped that breeders would take the lead in improving the lives of the dogs they love so much but despite ample opportunity to so, they have not and so the decision has been taken out of their hands.

The Norwegian Kennel Club are already claiming this will leave the door open for ‘unscrupulous’ producers to thrive but seemingly fail to recognise it is their stubborn adherence to closed stud books and damaging breed standards that left legislators with no choice.

People can still import these dogs if they wish but I hope that this move will make the majority think twice before making the purchase.

I also hope other countries take note of this move, particularly as many, including Britain, have similar laws against ‘torture breeding’.

But actually what I hope for most is that Kennel Clubs and breeders, of these two breeds and the many others that struggle so much for their looks, see now that the consequences of not making significant changes and work with vets and scientists to ensure their dogs can thrive and be fitter in the future.

Read the statement from Animal Protection Norway here; https://www.dyrebeskyttelsen.no/2022/01/31/full-seier-for-hundene/?fbclid=IwAR3gDupyJZK2oyLLz_RzR5E-zQTxTDY9wBwhq71HqWb9cmrj1vciPPqf5hg

Read the Norwegian Kennel Club’s statement here; https://www.nkk.no/aktuelt/et-steg-tilbake-for-hundevelferden-article201089-985.html?fbclid=IwAR2hXt_suMLN-BXkGmTVTZR_aphLzMFFG2r9zVSMJxhMLPAUdnpqhCfSQTQ