Geneeeeetics
Sing it from the rooftops!
Genetics are cool, they bring useful things like eye colour, your shoe size and if you have detached earlobes or not.
It’s cool in dogs to, Pepper and Clem are a gundog breed, Cocker Spaniel, mainly used for flushing and they’re SO good at flushing. They flush the cat on a daily basis when asked, well Clem not so much when asked but when she’s mismanaged by my brother oops.
Genetics also bring the not so good stuff for dogs, like people expecting a breed that was bred to focus for 8 hours on a working day, totally enthralled in working their environment all for the reward of watching a bird fly up, and expecting them to be happy with a 20 minute walk and chucka ball, and then to just sleep. Hmm. Nope
I don’t walk Pepper, I work her. Her brain. Her body. Same for Clem. They get their brains worked in activities that light up their genetics, fulfil that inner need. It’s so nice to see them sparkle.
Ever had a child that loves drawing on walls? That was me! My mum didn’t shout at me, she did tell me that walls weren’t for drawing on; bought me a sketch pad and painted chalkboard paint in my room.
She didn’t leave me unfulfilled to then cause more issues by drawing on other things, she gave me an outlet.
Different breeds have different genetic needs.
Fulfil them!
What ways do you help satiate your dog’s needs?
#thek9pt
#disableddogtrainer
#disableddogowner
Especially during the colder months, readjusting my joints after training sessions with my own dogs and clients dog, I do feel a bit like the Scarecrow from Oz. 👩🏼🌾
Caring for yourself is really important when it comes to helping your dog, so don’t feel guilty for having to put yourself first sometimes.
Saturday’s are busy for me, either stooging or working, and it’s usually with dogs that are overwhelmed by their environment (and that’s ok.)
So even if I am taped up, wearing splints, compression clothing galore… sometimes something has to give. And that’s ok.
We all have our thresholds and we learn to work with them. I used to blame my body a lot for not being able to do what I wanted it to, but blame and shame didn’t get me anywhere.
Just like it doesn’t with training our dogs 😉
I had to listen to what my body was telling me, we have to listen to the information our dogs are giving us.
That’s where progress is made.
And my body told me we really need to watch Wicked again, preferably one I can sing along to 💚 🩷
#disableddogtrainer #disableddogowner #thek9pt #ehlersdanlossyndrome #pots #wickedmovie
I went to have my hair rejuvenated this week, and my professional blondist and I were talking about how we love our jobs but not the businessy side. 😤
Honestly, if I didn’t have Michael reminding me I need to market and ya know, send invoices. I’d probably be doing it for free 🤣 but unfortunately I am a little lady with specific needs and gluten free food is expensive.
Maybe you feel the same way about your dog? You love them but don’t want to get down to business and help them be more harmonious with you… maybe you feel stuck? There’s just too much… that’s where I can come along and help unpick all the pieces and get you a starting point. 🪡 1️⃣
I’m only an email away 💌
And if you want someone who will give good blonde advice, @carysellis.hairaesthetic is your woman.
✨GOOD VIBES✨
You don’t need to click with everyone straight away, we’re all different for a reason.
It’s the reason we love different breed types, some breed attributes we dislike, others we love. A lot of people dislike how do-y Cockers are… I LOVE it.
You may also not gel with your dog straight away, Pepper and I had a weird relationship for years, it’s only since we’ve been open and working on her big feelings that we’ve clicked.
The same goes for clients, sometimes we may not click! And that’s ok, that’s why the world was made with lots of wonderful (and perhaps, not so wonderful) personalities of people to work with.
If you don’t like my vibe, I can recommend you someone else, that maybe is to more your taste.
But if you’re wanting help from someone who is passionate, empathic and has a brain like an encyclopaedia (some facts may not be relevant to dog training) then get in touch.
My biggest interest is in creating harmony between dogs and their owners who live life with a chronic illness or disability. It’s what I live and engaged with everyday myself, thanks to my unwanted collection.
#disableddogtrainer
#disableddogowner
#thek9pt
#goodvibes
#Wicked
With Pepper recovering and me in a flare up after stressing about her and then having a Bridgerton Ball to attend to that’s left me well and truly at about 20% battery 🪫 whenever I wake up, I needed low input high outcome activities for Pepper.
Mike suggested a visit to his work to say hi to everyone, keeps me in active rest and not overwhelming and Pep gets to see some new environments. Plus who doesn’t want a cheerful cocker causing chaos during office hours. She’s a professional clown at this point 🎪
Enrichment doesn’t haven’t to be expensive or tiring for us. Letting her sniff around an office space for half an hour has left to fulfilled. It did cost me some petrol to be fair.
Would you like some ideas around enrichment activities to fulfil your dogs, helping them become more settled, easier to work with and it doesn’t involve them staying hyper?
Let me know in the comments
⬇️⬇️⬇️
#disableddogtrainer
#thek9pt
#disableddogowner
#ehlersdanlossyndrome
#canineenrichment
Leave it, stay, drop
These are things I teach but there’s groundwork I put in before that, called ‘Please?’
I have SPANIELS, they’re fast little chaos goblins with a knack for thievery and flying.
You bet I’m laying some ground rules in teaching them how to act around things that move and look edible.
For me it’s my medication, 💊 my families medication. I don’t fancy emergency vet visits because Pepper has swallowed some Amitriptyline or Clem because she’s nabbed some of my brothers anti convulsion medication 😵💫
Teaching them the scenario rather than just screeching LEAVE IT every time I dropped something was imperative. My bro won’t even realise if he’s dropped meds because he’s partially sighted and usually has his headphones on 🙄
So, teaching “Please? Can I have it?” Helps on a daily basis, with this scenario. With birds. With cats. With that sausage roll that child is eating on the park bench. Yum.
There are steps to this process, it’s not magic (as much as I wish it was) so if you need help, give me a message, or sign up to emails (you can DM me for the sign up) and I’ll be letting you know when I do another in person workshop 📓 🐕 🐦
P.S - I trained this too well to the point that Clem didn’t eat for two days when she boarded with @bt_dogtraining because I forgot to tell her the release cue 🤦🏼♀️ spaniels just have to take it to the extreme don’t they 🤣
#DisabledDogTrainer
#DisabledDogOwner
#MedsAndMutts
#StimulusControl
Rewarding a dog without using food or toys to some people sounds mad. It sounds bad!
How can I reward without food or toys, or the best I hear is, my dog won’t eat out on walks or play.
There’s lots to unpack there but I’ll just talk about the first thing out the box 📦
Multi sensory beings, learners, thinkers, whatever you want to call them. Can have different rewards other than food or play. Food and toys are really lovely but functionally with some dogs they don’t solve the issues for the unwanted behaviours that are cropping up, thanks to memories that are flashing through their brains.
Rua is a great example; rescue dog, massive issues around traffic, wouldn’t take food outside, wouldn’t play, struggled to enjoy a walk because she’d haves to be pulled back so much.
As well as implementing other things I talk to with clients, finding a functional reward for Rua was important. What did she value from this scenario of chasing and lunging? The cars moving away, she liked that they left her alone. She liked that she would feel safe after an explosion of noise and fluffy fury.
So I used space, the option to leave and sniffing as her reward. Now, she still sometimes reacts, but it’s usually a spin to move away or a small jolt in her movements. And she takes food out and about now because the worry is less.
I see lots of well meaning advice online of counter condition using food, which fails as people aren’t sorting out the driver for the behaviour. I don’t know WHY Rua was worried about traffic, and I never will, that doesn’t matter. But I could help her understand new ways, new pathways for her brain to use to cope better, in a healthier way.
Remember, your dog just wants to feel safe. Always keep that at the back of your mind when training with them, interacting with them.
If you have a disability and/or chronic illness and you need help training your dog, perhaps to help them feel safer in the world, then get in touch with me. Let
Your dog is tapped in more than you know.
Multi sensory thinking and feeling is something that as we grow, we push out. Neurodivergent brains often keep this skill, whereas others have to relearn it. It’s what makes us sensitive, like that’s a bad thing?
I’m sensitive but I’m also REALLY in tune with the clientele and dogs I work with, it’s why I have to have strict business boundaries or I’d have no down time 😅
Our dogs are multi sensory creatures too.
Memories can be brought up, behaviours can be conditioned accidentally to certain stimuli, are we sure we’re teaching the dog they don’t have to bark via desensitisation or are we accidentally creating a bunch of criteria by the dog connecting, sound, scent, visual, temperature, how they feel in their body that day? Ever taught your dog that putting on a certain coat, at a certain time of day means walkies, but any other time they’re suspicious because that one time you took them to the vet? Or ooo! Another one I’ve seen is a dog that is fine with the male guardian but not the female guardian, due to a firework going off just once with the female owner, during a walk.
Conditioning! You never know exactly what you’re teaching/ training/ conditioning until the holes start showing, and the information starts flowing back from your dog.
Brains take time when it comes to rewiring, especially when it’s a ‘negative’ memory, their neuron pathways are strong, designed to keep the body and sometimes the brain safe. Sometimes the dog (or the human) can’t even remember why they react that way, the original memory has been lost, but the body remembers.
Start to LISTEN to your body when you’re training your dog, LISTEN to the feedback your dog gives you, don’t take anything they say as criticism, they don’t have morals after all, just in the moment creatures that want to stay safe and be happy.
If you need help training your dog and you have a chronic illness and/or disability, get in
Small update video
I’m still here
Just not as active on social media, but I am squirrelling away behind the scenes and still working with dogs and their guardians every single day.
Posting on socials is usually the first thing to go when I don’t have more to give, being present for clients in my care, for my dogs and my family is much more important.
Hit me up if you did indeed want a summer newsletter, I have about 10 spare if you would like one. Remember, my newsletters are catered to the disabled and a dog guardian community, so if it doesn’t interest you, you don’t have to like it 🥰
TTFN
#DisabledDogTrainer
#SavingSpoons
#TheK9PT
Getting soggy with the doggy
I like to ensure my dogs get different sorts of walks; we practice tight heelwork on busy streets, we do suburban trundles but my favourite walks are where they get to explore, sniff and roll, and just get to be a DOG.
Clem made sure to try and rescue as many rocks as possible from the River Dee 😇
My frequent training walk dogs get the same treatment, but they can only join my training walks if they’re currently doing training with me or I know the dog and you well. If this interests you email me as I am about to offer certain days to awaiting clients
#TheK9PT
#CockerAtCarrog
#Wales
Access: a video of Demi, a blonde woman, and her black cocker spaniel Clementine, splashing around in a river.
It’s so nice to wake up to amazing progress stories from clients!
Nel is a Springer who loved her mum but didn’t really understand the point of checking in or coming back, and her mum drew the line at her escaping the house and chasing prey!
Nel’s mum has put in some serious graft, creating new patterns in behaviour and teaching Nel not only a recall, but how to use her gun dog skills and not just run off at the first sight of a bird.
Nel came to me through @bt_dogtraining as a part of the Reassure and Train programme (thank you for giving me the spaniels 🤩)
If your dog is ignoring you out on walks, get in touch, between me and @bt_dogtraining we are bound to have the right style for you whether it be classed, pack walks or 1-2-1
💌
#Recall
#Preydrive
#TheK9PT
Access: a screenshot of a text saying ‘I have just had Nel off the lead in an enclosed secret garden thing. She was so good-kept coming back to check in and came back every time I called. She was so good! Only a smallish area and not for that long but she has definitely improved so much!! Thank you!‘
