Dog Citizen

25/08/2025

The Countess of Warwick Country Show dog show and scurry team ready for another fun-packed day!

23/08/2025

Dog Citizen Woody testing out the scurry run for Sunday & Monday’s Countess of Warwick Country Show 😀

22/08/2025

Just a few days left until Countess of Warwick Country Show
and we are delighted to be joint sponsor of the Dog Show again!

Dog Citizen, based in Dunmow, is a force-free dog training service providing personalised 1-2-1 training in your home or nearby outside space.

Chris, trainer and founder of Dog Citizen, will be in and around the Dog Show arena on both days, August 24th and 25th from around 11.30am until 4.30pm and available for a chat or advice. Or just come and say hello! Looking forward to meeting dogs, puppies and their parents and to hear about your experiences!

06/08/2025

Life as a Dog Citizen® Paws for thought: How surfaces affect dog behaviour...

Eastside Tails is the Dog Citizen blog. Read the latest views and news, this blog: Paws for thought: how surfaces affect dog behaviour

29/07/2025

A day in the life….
What do dog trainers do in their spare time?

Decompressing and relaxing are high on my own list – ok, ok, usually with my dog! As is NOT watching every dog show on telly. (Ever asked a chef about food on their day off? Better duck!) I do have a lot of (probably) geeky interests outside work. But also part-time professional study too. I don’t think learning (real life or study) should ever stop.

To that end, I recently gained another qualification, a Diploma in Canine Aggression. A journey that began in 2023! The biggest take-away for me was confirmation that force-free training is now totally dominant in canine behaviour academia. Nice to feel vindicated. But still much work to do. And so we press on, spreading the message. 😉

02/07/2025

When a resident dog struggles with a new arrival…

Introducing a new dog into the house with an existing dog will go one of two ways. And when both dogs in question are adopted adults, it can be particularly challenging. In this case, the new arrival showed signs of aggression and the resident dog became depressed and retreated, also showing potential guarding tendencies. This had to be handled very carefully because in this case a ‘leave them to it’ strategy could have had heartbreaking consequences.

Of course we can’t make two dogs co-exist or even like each other, but we can create conditions to allow each dog space and to control their interactions in a measured and sensitive way with positive reinforcement. This allows them to slowly build a more positive association with each other, to indeed gradually work it out for themselves. But safely, with us intervening when appropriate.

Their human mum is brilliant and knows instinctively what she wants to do. I was simply guiding them along, making some suggestions where appropriate, and keeping everyone pointing in the right direction. With their mum’s sensitive and diligent approach, the results have so far been amazing. Rather than stressful stand-offs we are now seeing, like here, some calmer, gentler, positive interactions and even some play! It will take time, but I am very confident in the happy ending all three of them so deserve. Kudos, Ann!

01/07/2025

Saw this sign while on holiday…

Good idea to remind folks, especially on popular urban routes.
This was in a very dry climate, so in a humid climate like ours lower 20Cs is more accurate than 25C. And I’d never heard of the 7 second rule.
I prefer to keep it simple: if it’s hot, don’t walk! 😉

09/06/2025

Life as a Dog Citizen® Adrenaline & Your Dog.....
And what it means for you....
BLOG - DOG CITIZEN - EASTSIDE TAILS

Eastside Tails is the Dog Citizen blog. Read the latest views and news from Dog Citizen, this blog: Adrenaline and your Dog.

28/05/2025

We are delighted to be joint Sponsor of the 2025 Dog Show at this year’s Countess of Warwick Country Show

Dog Citizen is your local force-free dog training service providing personalised 1-2-1 training in your home or nearby outside space.

Chris, trainer and founder of Dog Citizen, will be around in the Dog Show area for both days of the show - 24th and 25th of August from around 11am until 5pm and available for a chat or advice, or just come and say hello! And if you have your dog or puppy with you, it’s always nice to meet them and hear about your experiences!

Woody, our Springer might be making a come-back in the Scurry competition following a year out, otherwise he will be hanging around at the Dog Citizen table keeping an eye out for any stray biscuits. 😉

14/05/2025

It’s warmer weather
But the grass is greener
And smells even better
Tail end of the day!
😉

02/05/2025

Smile with your eyes!

Here’s a tip for you for the summer months if you wear sunglasses. If you are training your dog, let them see your eyes. The first thing they reference with your face is your eyes. Human smiling for a dog is not intuitive for them – showing teeth is normally used to signal aggression. Of course, puppies learn that our ‘smile’ is just that. But this is mainly because we are smiling with our eyes at the same time, so our dogs learn to understand our intentions. Allegedly some dogs have even learned to smile this way this way themselves, but I have never seen this!

But if we are wearing shades, we are blocking this important communication, and dogs can find it unsettling or confusing, especially if you are training or asking them to do something. And especially if we are praising them and trying to smile, all they can reference is we are baring our teeth!

So let them see your eyes!