Aimee Gardiner MSc - Pawfectly Behaved

Read More ⬇️ I have seen a lot of content over Crufts about how we should move past judging dogs on their appearance and why does a dogs appearance matter. That we shouldn't be judging dogs on looks at all But are show dogs judged on their appearance? Certainly appearance comes into it. A show dog should be well groomed and well trimmed but show dogs are not judged on who looks the best and who has the best grooming and who is the most beautiful. As someone who shows dogs I can tell you that appearance is only part of what a dog is judged on. The main concern everyone has when choosing a prospect for the ring is structure. The reason the show dogs have a hands-on evaluation isn't to see the beauty up close and to have a lovely fuss of the dog. The judge is feeling the dogs musculoskeletal conformation. The reason dogs are moved is to see the structure of the dog in motion. Structure is everything. Structure affects a dog's health and wellbeing, their movement, their ability to live life. Structure is something so overlooked in many ways but it is so important. 🐕 A dog with a short upper arm or overangulated rear has to put more effort into moving around. 🐕 Dogs with feet that turn out or are cow hocked risk pain, injury and joint issues. 🐕 Dogs with an incorrect bite risk issues with eating if they are bad enough. 🐕 If the skeleton isn't made correctly, the muscles may have to over compensate causing muscular issues. The competition isn't whose dog is the prettiest but whose is the soundest and has the best breed type. Structure, Breed Type and Grooming are what are being judged. People decrying dog shows as judging dogs just on looks and saying they are irrelevant do not know what dog shows are. I don't believe that the physical structure and therefore the long term health of dogs that are being bred from is irrelevant. I know some breeds have issues with being bred for exaggerations and some breeds struggle with ill heath and I

River got 100% on her recertification test this week Dogs under ADI/ADUK take yearly Public Access Tests so thrilled this result means River can be a proud Dog Aid dog another year! Well Done River!!! Here she is practicing the stay exercise! [A black retriever lies down in a busy shopping centre. The footage is sped up]

Our Crufts Obreedience Exercise I mean it wasn't really lying down on the bed but I am proud of her anyway. She is very inexperienced at obedience so I asked a lot of her to perform in this ring. 6 weeks ago she didn't even know this exercise. I'm glad she got most of it right ❤️ Anyway here is our Crufts exercise. Enjoy the people going awwwww in the audience and her little waggy tail. ❤️

River practicing for her annual test which involves a stay with distractions! Here she is practicing and smashing it. (A black retriever lies down in a shopping centre with people walking past. The video is sped up)

I posted this video in my story and I thought you would like to see the before and after of what adolescence looks like when it comes to your puppy. You can see a clear difference between the social behaviour a month ago Vs the social behaviour yesterday. Maeve is now awful at reading social cues. This is not them 'pushing boundaries' or 'testing the Waters' or 'disrepecting you' or any other human nonsense. Her social skills servers in her head are being updated so they are offline at the moment. This behaviour could land Maeve in hot water. She knows Bianca and Bianca is tolerant but I need to watch her with dogs and be vigilant and ready to take action or put management in place if needs be. It is also not for Bianca to take the brunt of Maeve's adolescence so we stepped in in this instance. Bianca and Maeve did play too and have a good time but as owners you need to watch carefully and ensure everyone is having a good time. Bianca was not in the second video. This is not reality for the rest of your dogs life, this is just reality for now. There's nothing you can do to make your dog a more convenient adolescent. You just have to ride it out to the end 😂 [A small black retriever harasses a yellow Labrador who gives several signals to stop and the black retriever does but in the second clip the black retriever doesn't stop at the stop signals]

TW for descriptions of dog injury This clip of @retrievingassistance has sparked a bit of controversy over assistance dogs on public transport. Here are my two pennies about it! I personally don't do a lot of escalator training as standard. This is because escalators can be dangerous for dogs and it is always preferable to use stairs and lifts when able. However River's handler needs to travel through London some of the time and so learning to go on the escalator was essential for them as a team due to the underground being old and quite inaccessible.  To use an escalator safely a dog must be trained extensively to do so. They must learn to safely get onto the moving platform, must learn to stand absolutely still next to their handler, and learn when and how to disembark. If they move around the escalator, they not only risk injury to their handler, they risk having their feet degloved or claws ripped off. I am not exaggerating. This is why only assistance dogs who have been trained to go on escalators should use them and why you absolutely must not push past assistance dogs using them and understand that they cannot move out of the way.  Assistance dogs on escalators have been trained to get on, use and get off the escalator safely so the risk to them is minimal. We did not spend sessions training this to deliberately inconvenience you nor to ensure you miss your train. Our training goals were not how can we be as inconvenient as possible but rather how can we ensure the safety of both dog and handler when navigating public spaces.  Whether you like dogs or not, disabled people have the right to be in public and to be in public places as safely as possible, even if their safety mildly inconveniences able bodied people. This is not being entitled as River's handler has been accused of, but a case of protecting herself and her dog from harm as they access public spaces.  It is not worth destroying a person's independence and putting a dog and person at

Max ❤️ Max is 8 months old and deep in adolescence. He's not the best at making good choices in situations, particularly if overwhelmed, and he can be impulsive. All of which is normal in adolescence! However, he can do some amazing things already. Here is some excellent lead walking! Good Boy Max! ❤️

Customary use of this sound 🙄 I'm busy today so I'm going to post this now! Thank you everyone for simply the best 2024! I am so proud of all my clients for the progress they have made this year (and everyone has). You make me love my job so much. I've had an unbelievable year, both training and raising awareness! I've delivered training on how to adapt training for neurodivergent people, including to notable organisations like Battersea Dogs Home and I intend to raise more awareness of making dog training accessible in the new year. Clients have come and started their behaviour and training journeys and clients have gone into the world with their fully trained assistance dogs (I say gone, we keep in touch) or with their dogs with behaviour issues, having hitting or having made enormous progress towards their goals and I'm so proud of everyone I could burst! ❤️❤️ I had so many amazing experiences, amazing wins and amazing times. Keep it up and see you all in the new year Enjoy this montage and sorry if I didn't get you in it.

Everyone who answered my question was basically right! This is not bad behaviour, this is a tired, overstimulated puppy. This behaviour means it's time for regulation and a nap. Puppies are not really capable of being bad. I mean adult dogs aren't really but puppies really aren't. They don't have complex internal thoughts nor the life experience to make decisions. They are just miniature balls of needs that they can't meet themselves. When a need isn't met, they get stressed and dysregulated. When my older girls are tired, they make a decision to find a comfy place and rest. At 9 weeks, Maeve physically cannot make that decision during dysregulation and an unmet need. She needs me to help her. And help her I did. I took her to her pen with a comfy bed, some chews and a big stuffed animal to snuggle with. She was asleep within minutes. Reframing bad behaviour as communication opens up that communication between you and your puppy, strengthening your relationship [A black retriever puppy grabs the corner of a rug and pulls and shakes it]

I have been on the receiving end of a common issue with puppies. An episode of frenzied puppy biting! From the outside it may seem that Maeve was just being disrespectful and badly behaved but the reality is she is a baby and struggles to regulate her emotions. We had a slight difference of opinion on whether we should be pulling the tassels on the sofa throw. Maeve was for pulling them yet I was strongly against. I blocked the tassels. I did this because I didn't want her to be hurt but this was deeply upsetting to Maeve. She was so upset she started running at top speed around the room, attacking me and biting me hard. It's easy to see this as aggression or disrespect. Also puppy teeth are sharp. It's easy to be annoyed with a puppy who's painfully attached to your hand. However, in this situation I am an adult human, able to understand and regulate my emotions. She is a tiny baby, only having been in this world for 9 weeks. She hasn't got the ability to regulate her emotions in a healthy, calm way. She wanted the tassels and was upset she couldn't have them. Instead this is an opportunity to learn to regulate emotions around not getting what we want. I redirected her biting onto a toy instead of my hands and just let her zoom around the room. She shakes the toy at first but soon settles down. Her emotions around not having the tassels were completely valid. However, throwing ourselves teeth first and at full force at hands was not the answer. In time, she will get better at regulating herself without the need for violence. This can also happen when they are tired. When she started fighting the living room rug, I felt it was time for a nap. A lovely lesson for Maeve and she got to play with a crinkly cow! [A black retriever puppy shakes a toy cow before settling down to chew it calmly]

When people think of assistance dogs for neurodivergent people, they often think the dog is just there as a comfort and they don't provide any assistance outside this. But this is not true at all. Assistance Dogs can help neurodivergent people with many things. Dogs can provide sighted guide work to help with proprioception issues, interrupt harmful repetitive behaviour like skin picking and perform DPT to help with overwhelm. Neurodivergence is also highly associated with other conditions, like autonomic issues, POTS, EDS and blood sugar issues. Assistance dogs can also help with medical alerts, pushing buttons and physical help like picking things up and unloading the washing machine for related conditions. If you see an assistance dog for neurodivergent related tasks, don't just assume they are there for emotional support! Here is Bentley performing a medical alert. His medical alert was just to headbutt you in the face which wasn't ideal so here we are toning it down slightly. [A yellow Labrador is lying down in a shopping centre then stands up and paws his handler]

It's been a great week [The reel contains small clips of various dogs (A yellow Labrador, a black lab, a black and white cockerpoo, a small white cavachon, two black retrievers and a liver and white english springer spaniel) doing things like walking to heel, pushing buttons and being fed treats]