Yogi’s Dog Training

26/08/2024

Happy International Dog Day! Cherish every moment ❤️

25/08/2024

Brilliant dog walker with some spaces available!

03/08/2024

Some of the Puppy Squad Teens champions from July, what a bunch of handsome winners! 🙌🏼 So proud of this lot, we made some vast improvements in frustration reactivity, confidence building, engagement, settling around other dogs, recall, loose lead walking past each other, scent work and agility… a packed six weeks! Well done everyone 👏🏻

02/08/2024

Wonderful dog sitter available due to a cancellation!

01/08/2024

Otti, Glen of Imaal Terrier. They were bred originally to hunt foxes, badgers, otters, rodents and to kill! Gorgeous isn’t she? However she has a super high prey drive so recall training and providing her with an outlet for her needs is key! She’s on my Star Puppy Package for 3 x 1-2-1s and she’s also coming to Puppy Squad next week. Lovely to have you onboard Otti!

30/07/2024

Puppy Squad + Progression class graduates who have kept going with their training after their initial Puppy Squad classes. Such a progressive course, we saw so many improvements in their listening skills, responsiveness, recall and calm behaviour. What an amazing bunch! Don’t stop training! Keep going! We see the biggest change in these classes, then the Teens to top it up and build the best relationships. Well done everyone!

30/07/2024

Last call for Puppy Squad Teens starting next Wednesday at 10.30am for 6 weeks. If you can make only 4 due to holidays I can offer you a discount.

These classes are designed to help you through your dog’s challenging adolescent stage by rebuilding your bond and working on impulse control to improve responsiveness around distractions. Each class is an hour long and is held outdoors at the TW Rugby Club. The price is £160 for the 6 classes.

For more information, or to book a space, please contact [email protected].

22/07/2024

Some of the latest Puppy Squad grads to have made it through the 6 weeks of every kind of weather you can imagine for the summer term! Well done to all these brilliant puppies and their families 🙌🏼 🎓

15/07/2024

15/07/2024

So important… thank you Parker and Pooch - Dog Training & Solo Walks

So, off the back of last week’s post - let’s say that you’ve now got that little niggling thought in your head: “Maybe my dog is in pain…?”

So what do you do now?

Your first port of call is probably going to be a visit to the vets for a full vet check, but let’s hold fire for one second.

The vets can be a stressful place for a lot of dogs, and if that’s the case for your dog - as I mentioned before - adrenaline and cortisol will be coursing through their bloodstream, overriding any sensation of pain.

So the underlying cause of pain will still be there, but in that setting they won't be feeling as much, or even any pain. And so they're unlikely to show many physical signs of pain, even if thoroughly assessed.

Which means it can be really difficult for your vet to be able to see that anything is wrong, much less be able to diagnose the root cause of chronic pain in a 10 or 15 minute check up.

[Now you might be thinking… well what's the point of going then? 🤔 But the next step to identifying what's going for your dog is probably going to be one of three things: a pain trial, a referral to a veterinary physiotherapist, or some sort of imaging scan ie x-rays, CT etc. And none of those are going to happen without an initial vet visit]

So, help your vets out… the more prepared you are for your appointment, and the more specific you can be about your concerns, the more they can help you.

✅️ Take videos or photos of your dog, to capture anything you've spotted in terms of how they walk, how they hold themselves etc. You can show these to your vet to illustrate how your dog moves naturally when they're not in a stressful environment.

(And before you ask, yes, I have taken a video of Alice pooing before now. And no, the neighbours didn't ask what I was doing. They know me as the crazy dog lady already 🤣)

✅️ Keep a diary to track symptoms, be that behaviour or physical changes. This can help your vet to get a wider view of what's going on for your dog.

✅️ Make a list before you go of all the things you want to cover. I know from personal experience that it’s very easy to know exactly what you want to say in an appointment, and then for your mind to go completely blank when you get in there 🙈

So write down all the little quirks that are creating your suspicions about pain, all the questions you want to ask, and what you want to get out of the appointment ie your next step.

✅️ You can even email some or all of the above to your vets ahead of your appointment, so you can make the most of your time with them.

Now I said your first port of call is “probably” going to be a visit to the vets, rather than “definitely” going to be a visit to the vets.

Because it might be that you can’t even contemplate taking your dog to the vets 🫣 They’re too scared or stressed. Maybe the last time you braved it, it was a complete car crash, and you really don’t want to put your dog and yourself through that again.

If this is the case, speak to your vets and see how they can support you:

▶️ Can they see your dog in the car park?

▶️ Can they make adjustments so that you can get into the building: Can you come in via the back door so you avoid the waiting room? Can you have an appointment at the quietest time of day? Can you wait in the car park until the vet is ready and you can go straight into the consulting room?

▶️ Can you build up to an appointment gradually? By first getting your dog used to the car park, then entering the reception area, just hanging around eating treats, and gradually work your way up to an actual appointment?

Even if it’s still a no go with all of the above, don’t worry - you still have options!

▶️ You can have a phone call appointment. Or you could attend an appointment without your dog. Either way, you can share videos and photos of your dog, and discuss your concerns with the vet.

Your vet will probably still need to see your dog afterwards, but either of these mean that you can have a good discussion and get all your points across, without also having to worry about how your dog is coping.

▶️ Or something else to consider is a Dynamic Dog assessment. This is completed entirely hands off, and so can be done virtually. It's a thorough analysis of gait and posture, with consideration of behaviour and daily activities of your dog.

Your Dynamic Dog Practitioner will provide you with a detailed report that you can share with your vet, and they can then support you through appointments and help you advocate for your dog. (I’ll pop a link in the comments for where you can find out more about Dynamic Dog).

Hopefully, based on all your input, your vet is going to take your concerns seriously and recommend one of the following:

⭐️ Further investigation via x-rays, CT scan etc, depending on the suspected condition

⭐️ A pain trial: This is where your vet prescribes pain medication for a period of time, so you can monitor whether there is any change to your dog’s symptoms/signs once they’re on pain relief.

This needs to be longer than a week or two, 4 to 6 weeks as a minimum. Sometimes painkillers can take time to build up in the dog’s system and to take effect. Also, if a dog has been in pain for a considerable amount of time, they may continue to hold themselves or move themselves in compensating ways even after the pain has gone away, because that’s what they’ve become accustomed to doing, to minimise the pain.

Keeping a diary during the pain trial can be really useful, as it means that you can be more objective about whether the meds are making any difference or not, especially when the symptoms were subtle to begin with.

Also, it’s important to note that just like in humans, different medications target different types of pain. Typically anti-inflammatory meds would initially be prescribed for a pain trial, but just because your dog doesn’t respond to the first meds you try, that doesn’t mean they’re not in pain. Perserving with further trials with different types of pain relief might be what's needed to find out what's actually going on.

⭐️ Or referral to a veterinary physiotherapist: a physio assessment is far longer than a vet appointment and therefore they can explore and investigate more thoroughly than is possible in a vet check. A physio will check joint motion, gait and posture analysis, muscle mass, and much more besides.

So what do you do if you don’t get a satisfactory response from your vets?

❌️ what if your vet says it’s a training or behavioural issue, not a medical one?

❌️ what if your vet prescribes behaviour medication, not pain medication?

❌️ what if your vet says the things you’ve noticed are normal for your dog, or their breed?

❌️ what if your vet won’t try a pain trial, won’t give you a referral to a physiotherapist, or won’t consider further investigations?

❌️ ultimately, what if your vet says your dog isn’t in pain?

If you're not happy with the response from your vet, you are absolutely entitled to seek a second opinion. You could ask to see a different vet at the same practice, or you could see a vet at another practice.

If you are working with a trainer or behaviourist, they may be more than happy to accompany you on a vet visit to help you advocate for your dog.

Legally, only a vet can diagnose a medical condition in a dog (or any other animal). But a vet cannot diagnose that a dog ISN’T in pain. Only the dog knows whether they’re in pain or not.

And unfortunately they can’t tell us in words. But if they’re telling us in other ways, it's essential that we listen to them ❤️

14/07/2024

Such a great post! My dog, Barley, has recently been diagnosed with spinal stenosis and the pain she has been in has explained so many of her behaviours. Please read, this is a really knowledgeable and helpful post…

So let’s talk about pain…

I preface all this by saying, no-one wants to think that their dog is in pain.

But it’s better to know and be able to do something about it, than be unaware as to what might really be going on for your dog.

I know this first hand, from us not realising for a long time that Alice was in pain - hers was muscular pain, tense overworked muscles in her hindquarters, from having to compensate for her missing front leg.

She came to us already three-legged, and when we first worked with a trainer, they suggested she might benefit from regular physio to mitigate any issues that might arise over time from her amputation.

Unfortunately our vets at the time told us this wasn’t needed, and she’d only need physio as and when she was struggling.

Sadly, this information was incorrect, and she should have been having maintenance physio from the get go.

Years later, the same vets also said there was nothing wrong with her, even after I began to suspect that there was something going on for her in terms of pain/discomfort.

Isn’t hindsight a wonderful thing? 🤷‍♀️

I share this story not to vet bash, but to explain that I know exactly what it’s like to a) be oblivious that your dog is in pain, and b) struggle to be taken seriously when you do start to have a niggling doubt that everything is ok.

So… first, we need to make a distinction between acute pain and chronic pain.

⚡️ Acute pain usually comes on suddenly, often through injury or illness. It’s usually of short duration, and is often resolved when the body heals itself. (But it can also leave lingering effects, and become chronic pain)

⚡️ Chronic pain is long lasting, it’s caused by an underlying issue, and can often gradually get worse over time. And it’s usually harder to identify and diagnose.

That’s not to say that acute pain is more painful than chronic, or vice versa. It depends on the specific pain.

The experience of pain also depends on the individual - some dogs can be incredibly stoic about even a very high degree of pain, whereas another dog with exactly the same condition might show us more signs that they’re in pain.

🗣 “She can’t be in pain, she’s not limping”

Reality: Dogs will often let you know about acute pain, but they’re usually masters of hiding chronic pain. A lot of the time, the only signs of chronic pain are behavioural, and potentially some subtle physical signs.

🗣 “He can’t be in pain, he still loves running after his ball”

Reality: Adrenaline and cortisol both mask pain. Dogs are often happy to continue with activities they enjoy and find exciting - such as fetching a ball, playing with doggy friends, or chasing wildlife - even though they’re in pain, because those activities stimulate the release of hormones which override the sensation of pain.

(And that also means it can be very hard to diagnose pain in a veterinary setting, because a lot of dogs are already stressed simply about being at the vets. Increased levels of adrenaline and cortisol can again easily mask any pain and therefore no physical symptoms are exhibited.)

🗣 “She's always moved like that / behaved like that, so it can't be a sign of pain.”

Reality: (and remember, I preface this by saying, no-one wants to think that their dog is in pain. Much less that they’ve always been in pain, and that we didn’t know about it). Sadly, if she’s always done that, it might be because she’s always been in pain to some degree.

So if chronic pain is so hard to recognise and identify, what can we do about it?

There are actually lots of physical signs of potential chronic pain in dogs, it’s just sometimes they’re quite subtle:

❎️ GAIT… there is a “correct” way a dog should move - regardless of breed - at different speeds (i.e. walk, trot, canter, and gallop) in terms of how and when they move their legs, which order and which legs move together. Abnormalities or adaptations or to this can indicate that something is going on.

This could be something like bunny hopping or skipping. Or pacing - where a dog moves by lifting their two left limbs at the same time, and then their two right limbs together - this isn’t a normal gait in any dog, and is usually an attempt to offload weight from a painful part of the body.

❎️ COAT PATTERNS & DISTURBANCES… a dog’s fur can be affected by tension held in the body. This can manifest itself as differences in texture, colour, and/or direction of fur.

(When Alice’s muscles in her hind legs were particularly tight, eg after exercise, the fur directly above those muscles wound themselves into little curls and other crazy patterns - I’ll pop a photo of this in the comments for anyone that’s interested)

❎️ POSTURE… how a dog holds themself, in different stationary positions (such as sitting or standing) and while they’re moving, can also give clues. Conformation (which means how they’re put together as a dog) varies by breed, but in principle, dogs should be symmetrical.

They should be equal weight bearing on all four limbs (unless they’ve only got three 🥰), not favouring one side or the other. And those four legs should be square and parallel to each other - if you’re looking from behind, whether they’re stood still or moving, you shouldn’t be able to really see the front legs, because they should be directly in front of the back legs.

Believe it or not, how a dog holds themself while toileting can be a big red flag! It’s not something that many people would consider, but for example, an inability to hold position while pooing, i.e. pooing on the move rather than staying in a stationary squat, or doing lots of little poos at different times can indicate that keeping still in that position is uncomfortable.

❎️ OTHER MOVEMENT… difficulty or hesitancy in navigating changes in height can also be an indicator - this could be jumping on or off furniture, jumping in or out of a car, or going up or down steps or stairs.

Or the opposite can also be true - hurtling up or down stairs can be a telltale sign that they’re not able to do a controlled slow ascent or descent, because it would hurt to do so.

❎️ EARS… and another little known sign is that tension in the ears can often indicate tension in the hindquarters. If one ear has a tendency to stay more rigid and flops less than the other, this can correlate with tension in one side of the hindquarters.

(This was something I’d noticed with Alice but not realised the significance. Now, I find it fascinating to watch - her left ear will be held tighter first thing when we head out on a walk and she’s stiff, and it gradually relaxes and gets more floppy as she loosens up.)

There are also lots of behavioural signs of potential chronic pain, that again can often be subtle and therefore easily overlooked. Here’s just a few:

❎️ Avoidance of being touched, or sensitivity to being touched, maybe to only certain parts of their body

❎️ Sensitivity to noises… this might mean they startle when they hear a sound that doesn’t seem that loud to us, or might be full blown panic at certain sounds

❎️ Hyperactive, restless, an inability to settle… if you're in pain, it's hard to get comfortable

❎️ Moving away, or even growling, when you sit on the sofa or get on the bed next to them… growling in this instance might make some people’s minds immediately jump to resource guarding: “they’re being possessive about the sofa / the bed”.

But sitting next to them disturbs the soft surface that they’re lying on, which means they get moved out of position, which could cause discomfort if there’s underlying pain. And if this happens a lot, then they will anticipate pain as soon as someone even approaches the sofa or bed, and react accordingly.

❎️ “Stubborn” or “naughty” behaviours… refusing to do something - especially something they have previously been taught, or previously were happy to do - can actually be a reluctance to do something that is going to cause them pain, rather than that they’re ‘misbehaving’ on purpose.

Phew! Well done if you’ve made it this far, that turned out to be a far longer post than I originally thought it might be 🙈

So. That’s not to say that the existence or occurrence of any of the above definitely means your dog is suffering with undiagnosed pain.

But it’s enough to consider exploring and investigating further, to start observing your dog a little more closely, and see if you spot any other potential indicators of pain.

The next post is going to cover what to do next when you do have a sneaking suspicion that there might be something going on for your dog in terms of pain or discomfort.

But in the meantime, if you want to know more about anything I’ve mentioned, or reading this has created a little niggling thought in your head - feel free to message me and we can have a chat about it ❤️

26/06/2024

Puppy Squad Social drop-ins are being held on Friday 12th July at 3.30-5pm and Thursday 18th July at 6-7.30pm.
These sessions are for socialisation of young puppies under 5 months to help with confidence building, calm greetings with other puppies and also for the puppy guardians to ask questions on the challenges of raising their puppy. Some foundation training exercises will also be included.
The price is £25 per session. To book a space please email me - [email protected]

31/05/2024

Imagine an adolescent dog so strong that she could rupture your bicep when she pulled away. Yep, here she is, and yep, she did that (not mine)! Dakota the Newfoundland is back for training now she’s 1 and her human Dad and I are working on her arousal levels whilst out on walks. For the first session we started in an easy environment and progressed to some road walks with calm loose lead walking, she was brilliant. Next session we’re heading to the park to a quiet corner to work with other dogs in the distance - wish me luck 💪🏼 if I remember I’ll do a video of our focus games!

26/05/2024

More of the lovely Puppy Squad + and Puppy Squad Teens graduates from last term. Well done to you all 🙌🏼 I miss you already so you have to come back for Yogi’s Achievers adult classes!

22/05/2024

Last minute spaces have become available on the Puppy Squad Teens course starting at either 10.30am or 6pm on Wednesday next week for 6 weeks! This course is perfect for dogs aged between 6 months to 2.5 years and no previous training is necessary.

The course covers:-
🔸Focus around distractions
🔸Loose lead walking past other dogs
🔸Recall
🔸Emergency Stop!
🔸Intro to scent work
🔸Intro to agility

Location - TW Rugby Club, Frant Road
Price - £160.00.

Please contact [email protected] to book.

22/05/2024

Oooh I haven’t tried this yet… have you?
Thanks Avon Dog Services

22/05/2024

Puppy Squad + graduates 🙌🏼 This awesome bunch came back for more classes after Puppy Squad. We continued their training with impulse control exercises, more loose lead walking past other dogs, calm greetings, recall, gate/door manners and much more. It’s such a fun class with so much improvement achieved by every puppy. Well done everyone!

There’s a couple of spaces left starting next week for any puppies/adolescents who have done puppy classes (with anyone) previously and they want to continue training. Please reach out for more information - [email protected]

17/05/2024

The next Puppy Squad course has a few spaces left including puppies under 5 months and mixed groups up to 10 months.

🔸Location: TW Rugby Club, Frant Road (we have parking!)
🔸Price for 6 week course is £135.00
🔸Sessions last 45 minutes
🔸IMDT certified positive reinforcement trainer
🔸Fun and informal classes
🔸We cover focus, recall, lead walking, settling on a mat, stay, middle and much more!
🔸Families welcome!
🔸Tunbridge Wells location

Please reach out via email - [email protected] with any questions, or to book 👍🏼

14/05/2024

This is Timothy, a Dogs Trust rescue dog who’s super happy with his new life, as you can see 😃 We’re helping him to settle in, calm down around other dogs who currently trigger him into over arousal which makes him bark on the lead, and also some resource guarding. He’s on my Behaviour Package so we have a plan in place with further sessions, support calls and then he’s joining Puppy Squad Teens to learn to focus around other dogs. Welcome to Yogi’s Timothy ❤️

11/05/2024

If you have a teething puppy these dried sweet potato chews made by are available on their stall at The Pantiles market today! Get down there and get some, they last for ages and are super healthy! 👌🏼You can also buy them online.

09/05/2024

Beautiful Wout ❤️ such a lovely puppy home visit with this little keen bean. She’s a super star already at 10 weeks and has an amazing life ahead of her 🙌🏼 See you at Puppy Squad in a couple of weeks little one 🫶

30/04/2024

Slippery Elm Powder Is Nature’s Remedy for Diarrhea 💚

This soothing, neutral fiber coats and soothes your pet’s GI tract and can help reduce gastrointestinal inflammation. 🌿👌

Read today’s article to learn more about slippery elm and other natural ways to deal with your pet’s diarrhea (link in the comments). ⬇️

27/04/2024

Believe it or not this tiny angel has been causing havoc. However the toilet training is almost done, we’re changing the association with her pen and making it a super fun place to be, she’s got plenty of chews available to her, toys to replace hands and arms of her teething victims and she’s getting more sleep at night and during the day. Puppies are hard work!

27/04/2024

25/04/2024

⭐️ ANNOUNCEMENT!⭐️

I have recently qualified as a Predation Substitution Instructor with Simone Mueller.

What does this mean? It means I can help you with dogs who love to chase prey such as squirrels, rabbits, birds and deer using proven and successful positive methods so that you can enjoy off lead walks together.

Does your dog like to do any of the following?
🔸run off into the woods to go hunting and only come back “when they’re ready”
🔸pull on the lead and not listen to you
🔸pull towards and bark at wildfowl
🔸chase squirrels in the park
🔸run after birds and not listen to you
🔸chase rabbits
🔸chase deer
🔸run after joggers

If so, please contact me for more information - [email protected]

17/04/2024

The Teens class this morning all practicing their settles very close together with a giant lawn mower going up and down behind them! At the front of the photo you can see Luna, a reactive Border Terrier who I’ve been working with in a 1-2-1 basis to help her frustration reactivity. This is her second class and she’s blown my mind with her new ability to focus and remain calm in the presence of other dogs! Feeling proud, well done everyone! 🙌🏼

06/04/2024

Seriously though… can you have a better job? This is Oona and she’s on my Super Star Puppy package. She’s going to be a big girl with big brain power and high drive. I feel so privileged to be part of her development. Oona, we’ll bring out your greatness 🙌🏼

06/04/2024

Some of the early spring Puppy Squad and Puppy Squad + graduates 🎓 Well done to you all for being brilliant! 🙌🏼 Such a fun term, and the last of the indoor classes until Autumn… fingers crossed for the sunshine appearing at the TW Rugby Club next week! ☀️🤞