Dog Squad Bridgnorth

20/11/2024

20/11/2024

Some beautiful snowy days in the woods ❄️

23/10/2024

A big welcome to Moose today. Another energetic chocolate spaniel joining the Squad! 😍

25/09/2024

Great course from Nick!

One of the things I felt like I made a bunch of mistakes on with Onyx was neutrality. That is, making distractions like dogs and people just noise in the environment and not valuable.

Like so many people I was so keen to prevent reactivity that I let her socialize more than I should have.

Then once I did realize this, I hit the brakes but I didn't really fully understand what to do instead. Online it seems like there aren't really a lot of resources about WHAT to do, just a bunch of WHY neutrality is so important.

Unfortunately although the best trainers are very aware of this and are implementing it as standard - I don't think this has fully hit the mainstream yet.

I meet a bunch of people raising dogs and see them socializing in the old way. Letting them play constantly, letting them meet everyone and thinking they're doing the right thing.

Sadly it's often really difficult to get people to embrace this quickly enough to prevent problems. Usually they end up having to try to fix issues like lack of control and reactivity later because they messed it up early on following the conventional wisdom.

Even if you do have the right mindset going in you will be hard pressed to find anything that really breaks it down and tells you what to do (not just what not to do).

I've decided to make an online course to do exactly that. This will essentially be the course that I wish I had a few years ago.

And the timing is perfect because I can show you what I'm doing with my newest puppy 👇

This is for you if...
✅ You have a young dog and want to get it right from the start
✅ Your dog is easily distracted on walks
✅ You are a pet trainer that wants to learn more about raising dogs to be neutral to distractions

The course will be out soon. If you'd like to be notified when it's out and get an early sign-up discount then join the wait-list here: https://nick-swwseuop.scoreapp.com

07/09/2024

Adolescence occurs between six months and 18 months of age—a time when guardians typically struggle the most with their dogs. Some guardians are so overwhelmed and underprepared for this developmental stage of their dog’s life, they choose to surrender the dog to a local shelter or rescue group. In a recent study published in the Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science found that the majority of the surrendered dogs (47.7 percent) ) were between 5 months and 3 years of age (M.D. Salman,John G. New, Jr.,Janet M. Scarlett,Philip H. Kass,Rebecca Ruch-Gallie &Suzanne Hetts, 2010)

The neurobiology of adolescence is fascinating, with some key events that alter both the structure and function of the brain.

During canine adolescence, changing s*x hormones effect the animals stress responses. Adolescent dogs have a decreased ability to process information they are receiving from the environment including the presence of dogs, vehicles, people, or really anything around them. They behave in ways that might feel frustrating or upsetting for the dog’s person.

The connectivity between the frontal cortex (responsible for decision making) and amygdala (responsible for emotional processing) decreases, resulting in less behavioral control. We see increased risk taking and more sensitivity to fear.

So what does this mean? This could mean that what was once no big deal to the dog now feels scary; what was once easy to do is now stressful; what once made sense is now confusing. At times, the world can feel like ‘too much’ for the adolescent dog.

As your puppy undergoes this transition into adulthood their inner world is intense, even chaotic. Many pet owners experience an increase in undesirable behavior and find themselves becoming increasingly frustrated. In turn, our own frustration and impatience can cause us to act unpredictably. This adds to our puppy’s inner turmoil. When the inside and the outside are both unpredictable it can be difficult for our dogs to adjust.

If you have an adolescent dog, what can you do? You can give your dog the time and space to observe what is going on around them when on leash at a distance away from the activity when possible. You can give your dog long walks to sniff and explore in nature, giving their brain time to decompress. You can offer your dog a quiet space to sleep so that they can consolidate memories effectively. You can continue training various skills, breaking them down into easier steps that can be generously reinforced.

By understanding what our adolescent dog is experiencing we gain greater compassion and understanding. When we approach adolescence with patience we create a world that is predictable and gentle so our puppies grow up to be their best adult selves.

05/09/2024

A big Welcome Back to the lovely Freddie 🖤 It makes me so happy to have returning clients after they take a break for babies/house moves/career changes. Not only is it wonderful to see the dogs again but it’s great to know that people don’t feel the need to look elsewhere and trust us enough to come back to the Squad after some time away 🥰

03/09/2024

Hello Newbie! A big welcome to the Squad Winnie 😍

26/08/2024

15/08/2024

A couple of members of the Squad made famous on their Dog Friendly holidays 😍 and their wonderful humans as well of course!

03/08/2024

Yesterday we took the cavies down to Maverick Mutts at Halfpenny Green. Everyone was very helpful and supportive of Teddy and Lexi who were a bit unsure of the water. We fitted them up with the life jackets that are available in different sizes for you to use with your dog. Paul and I went in with them to give them both some confidence. You are in a secure area so the dogs can be off the lead. It’s under cover with space to change and leave your personal items. There is a ramp down into the *heated* pool and lots of toys to entertain! We had a great time! You can book private swims or there are group options 🐶 definitely recommend if your dog enjoys the water and you’re looking for somewhere safe and clean for them to swim!

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61560960668782

01/08/2024

A big welcome today to two lovely Golden Girls 😍 Ella and Mabel joining the Squad and I can already tell they’re looking forward to exploring Bridgnorth and finding new things to roll in! IYKYK!

23/07/2024

**Group Dog Walking Spaces Available!**

We have some spaces on our group dog walks which are suitable for sociable, adult dogs with good recall. Group walks are £13.50 for around an hour, plus travel time. Come and join the Squad! 🐾 (please note we only cover Bridgnorth town to keep travel times as low as possible)

21/07/2024

✨️ Dougies ✨️

Now stocking the full range from Dougies Raw. I love this brand for many reasons but just to name a few...

* Single protein
* Affordable price range for a quality brand
* Conveniently sized, pre-portioned blocks
* Extensive range of flavours
* 80:10:10 & Superfood ranges
* Great for first time raw feeders

For full stock and price list please send me an email to [email protected]

Keen to feed your dog a raw diet but don't know where to start? I'll happily put together a transition to raw starter box for you and give you all the info and help you need to get started and continue your dogs raw fed journey.

It's a whole lot easier than you might think 😁

06/06/2024

🗣️ “What about dogs with actual drive?"

Was a comment made to me yesterday on my remote control car recall video.

My primary response was "can you specify what you mean by 'drive'?"
Driven to do what? What behaviours are you expecting to see?

"Dogs with prey drive", they said.

Apparently, according to their response, show line dogs and 'mongrels' don't qualify. As it happens, Mohawk has some agility lines in him.....but anyway! 😆

Annoyingly, I couldn't respond to their last comment as I appeared to then be blocked by that person. Although, not blocked before having a good snoop at their own content 🤪
I deleted their comments, as a one way contribution doesn’t represent both participants fairly.

So often, in response to contesting the use of aversive tools in dog training we are told to 'show us your work'.

So, I do. Time and time again.

Videos of my dogs (in a group!), recalling away from other dogs, videos of my dogs in wild locations, videos of our clients' successes, videos of a dog having their first sniff of another in years, videos of owners successfully handling their dogs.

All trained without corrrections and aversive tools.

But it's never good enough for some, is it?

It's not a malinois...... so it doesn't count apparently!

"It's not a working breed"

"That dog is not REALLY aggressive".

Why? Because I don't video them being set up to fail and show you them at their worst? Is it not enough that the client is allowing me to publically describe their story?


'Drive' aka Motivation comes in many shapes and forms.

Such as being driven to pummell through undergrowth or engage in high speed ‘hooning' across the coombe, like Amigo, my impulsive, action packed 'mongrel’ who rarely completes a risk assessment prior to action.
A dog who ironically everyone compliments on his 'drive' to engage in training when they meet him and see him in action.

Or stalking and giving eye like my Border Collie, Mohawk, who looks seriously 'on the job' when we play our stalking games together. As it happens, he killed a rabbit two years ago (albeit what appeared to be a sickly one!). But obviously as a ‘show line’ collie ….that’s not REAL prey drive 😆

Or Kanita, my street dog, who is NOT driven to play stupid little training games, but who has a MASSIVE prey drive, including a livestock worrying track record (11 years ago now!).
She still excels at the fox pounce, managing to recently kill a mole (plucked from beneath the ground in a milisecond) at the age of 12!

Furthermore, dogs can be less 'driven' when solitary and more 'driven' to respond to stimulus as a group. Ie, Engaging in territorial behaviour or chasing prey as a group, whilst otherwise ignoring or not overtly responding to the trigger stimulus when on their own.

You can find plenty of videos of my dogs exhibiting 'drive' for a variety of behaviours as individuals and as a group.

Drive is not limited to working line dogs nor dogs who do sports. It is not limited to dogs who are observed in elevated states of arousal, working hard to maintain control over their intense intrinsic motivations until cued otherwise by their handler.

Additionally, if a dog doesn't look excessively driven to you, then it's quite possible that the layers and layers of training historically applied to set that dog up for success and to teach them self- control and self- regulation is what is at play.

Whilst it's undeniable that there is a variation in the level and intensity of ‘drive’ between breeds and lines, there is also variation at an individual level. You can get show line dogs with high drive for some behaviours and working line dogs who will favour the sofa over a job.

Please reconsider downplaying the efforts and achievements of others. If you wish to offer critique, I personally feel the fair thing to do is to have a good delve into the backstory of whom or what you are critiquing before taking to the keyboard.

If your criteria for dog training skill or success is to observe the presence or application of aversive tools, then at the very least recognise that this has nothing to do with so called ‘drive’ or levels of ‘aggression’, and has everything to do with your confirmation bias.

29/04/2024

A welcome to Beau’s little sister Belle who has started on group walks now she’s old enough. Full of beans and making friends in the squad 🐾🖤