R. Barker's Pet Services Cumbria

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Happy Friday everyone! Hope you all have an awesome weekend 😀
29/08/2025

Happy Friday everyone! Hope you all have an awesome weekend 😀

I don't get to walk this guy anywhere near often enough 😍 I mean, just look at him.
28/08/2025

I don't get to walk this guy anywhere near often enough 😍 I mean, just look at him.

24/08/2025

Your dog might not like physical praise !

We humans have a natural tendency to want to stroke, cuddle, and hug our dogs. It feels good to us… but did you know not all dogs enjoy physical contact? For some, it can even feel aversive.

Dogs are always having conversations with us through their body language and behaviour. The problem is we don’t always listen because we don't 'see' what they're saying. When those conversations go unheard, dogs often end up stressed, showing displacement behaviours like:
👉 Mouthing
👉 Over-arousal
👉 Hu***ng
👉 Silly “zoomy” behaviour

These are not “naughty” dogs. These are dogs working hard to cope with something they find difficult, and sometimes the only option left is to bite.

💡 My work with these dogs is about listening first. We find their baseline: what they like, what they tolerate, and what they really don’t. From there, we can build two-way conversations and where it’s needed begin counterconditioning so grooming, vet checks, or daily handling become safe and comfortable.

✨ But equally important we respect who they are as sentient beings, and we don’t force unnecessary touch just because we want it.

From a social point of view, dogs can value two very different things:
1️⃣ Being close to you, hanging out, even leaning against you, wanting to lay next to you on the sofa.
2️⃣ Physical contact, touch, stroking from you

The dogs who love 1️⃣ but not 2️⃣ are the ones who often get misunderstood. They want to be with you but not necessarily be touched by you. And that’s okay.

Some dogs even change their minds mid-fuss thinking they want it until they don’t. That’s okay too.

I get it, because I’m the same I like people, but I don’t like hugs.

Here’s Huey 🤎 we’ve done lots of work so he can cope with handling and grooming. He can even enjoy a fuss now. The key was that he felt understood and listened to. Having a voice that is heard is empowering.

When people meet Huey I tell them, he might look like he wants you to fuss him, but he doesn't. I know the people that meet him might not speak his language so I speak for him. That's my role as his guardian.

❤️ this old lass. I'm walking her for a few weeks whilst her human recovers from surgery. She didn't have the best star...
22/08/2025

❤️ this old lass. I'm walking her for a few weeks whilst her human recovers from surgery. She didn't have the best start in life as she was used for breeding for 10 years. 10 bloody years 🤬. She is just the sweetest, if somewhat stary 👀 , girl.

I've been doing this job for around 15 years now. Before that I worked in a kennel for around 7 years. I could easily re...
19/08/2025

I've been doing this job for around 15 years now. Before that I worked in a kennel for around 7 years. I could easily rest on my laurels safe in the knowledge that I have worked with dogs for 20 odd years so I must know all there is to know about dogs. Yet the more I learn, the more I realise there is to learn. One thing I know for sure is that I will never choose aversives as a way to 'train' a dog. It would be neither fair nor helpful.
As an example, yesterday I was walking these two guys and Mr left hand side labrador started to get himself a bit worked up in the middle of the walk. He started looking over his shoulder, sniffing the ground, sniffing the air, putting himself into a heel position, giving his canine friend a few nose pokes, doing a few playbows, and trying to hump his friend. I could have told him off for his silly behaviour. I could have put his hu***ng down to dominance or something sexual. But I also knew that Michelle had walked another dog in the same woods about half an hour earlier. And I knew that Mr left hand side labrador was a big fan of Michelle, he also liked to know where everyone was on a walk and that he liked to keep everyone together. If I were to tell him off for simply using his canine senses and responding to them, that would have done nothing other than to confuse him/upset him/ negatively affect our relationship. So what I actually did was scattering plenty of treats on the ground and using the counting game to bring him back to me. Popped him back on the lead because he didn't have his thinking head on and could potentially make a hasty decision. Then we did some loose lead exercises and some pattern games to encourage him to engage with me and take his mind off potentially worrying about the whereabouts of the lovely Michelle! Us humans are so quick to react without thinking but we still expect our dogs to be perfectly level headed at all times... hmmmm 🤔

I wonder where the cat is...? 🤔
17/08/2025

I wonder where the cat is...? 🤔

Eeeeeeh, he's such a hunk 😍
06/08/2025

Eeeeeeh, he's such a hunk 😍

Got my Nettle Fascinator on tonight cos it's Friday and I'm going out somewhere fancy 💃
01/08/2025

Got my Nettle Fascinator on tonight cos it's Friday and I'm going out somewhere fancy 💃

When you try to catch a passing fly whilst having your photo taken 😮
31/07/2025

When you try to catch a passing fly whilst having your photo taken 😮

Oh hey 👋! I was off my nut today 🤪 Can you tell?! 😆
28/07/2025

Oh hey 👋! I was off my nut today 🤪 Can you tell?! 😆

The sun is shining (kind of). 🌞😁 Have a great week everyone!
28/07/2025

The sun is shining (kind of). 🌞😁 Have a great week everyone!

Those "I would like a biscuit please" eyes 😍 *swoon 😍
25/07/2025

Those "I would like a biscuit please" eyes 😍 *swoon 😍

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