Dogs Matter

30/04/2025

22/04/2025

Now Full 🧡

New Positive control around sheep (and other distractions!) course available to book link here:
https://bookwhen.com/dogsmatter/e/ev-syvs-20250601100000

The course is so much more than you might think it is, we know how complicated and stressful it can be to walk rascal dogs, but it doesn't have to be that way.

Suitable for anyone who wants to build their relationship with their dog, make walks more enjoyable, and the animals around you safer.

Dog trainers and pet owners equally welcome 😊🐾

4 in person training sessions, working with real dog savvy sheep, Homework notes and videos for between sessions, everything is trained force free and with everyone's needs in mind (yours, the sheep's and your dogs) any questions email: [email protected]

21/04/2025

Practicing what we preach 🥰 lovely hike through the breathtaking Devon countryside, we came across sheep with lambs, cows, horses and pigs! The Cattle dogs were awesome hiking company, utilising skills from the positive control around sheep course, new dates added to the system, emails and more dates will be going out tomorrow, for now I need to recover 😆 🐾🙂

04/03/2025

Positive control around sheep and other distractions - follow up!

This is for anyone who has attended a positive control around livestock course.
I tried emailing but there seems to be gremlins in the system.

Training is a muscle and sometimes it's great to set aside some time to top up our learning and keep check that all is going as it should.

We will be developing skills learnt and learning some new skills and games to help you on your journey to stress free walks.

Applying what we learn to real life situations.

https://bookwhen.com/dogsmatter/e/ev-sgxm-20250419100000

Feel free to email if you have any questions [email protected]

24/02/2025

Be careful what you wish for . . .

Something to think about before you get a dog and also once you have one is their individual differences and how that might affect your day to day life.

Hopefully people are aware that what breed of dog you bring into your life will make a difference - a pug will have completely different needs to a greyhound.

But also their genetics, their upbringing and even their parents upbringing will make a difference to your dog's personality and individual needs.

The media has us believe it's all about the size of your house and garden, and how many hours you can dedicate to walking, but as with most things it goes deeper than that.

I have been lucky enough to share my life with a wide variety of breeds and types of dogs, all have taught me more than any book or course. The latest configuration of our family is a perfect example of this, and it couldn't really be more extreme in needs and personality types! And I think a perfect example of understanding the dog you have in front of you and also what really is important to you, and how much you are willing to adapt your life to the dog you are sharing it with.

Kashoo and Daphne are fair weather dogs, they love a sofa, a bed, but especially a sunspot, they need companionship, and comfort to be happy. They do love a walk but they will seek a divorce if you tried to walk them in the rain. Being content and chilling takes very little effort for these two girls, it is their default.

Pie and Relish like doing, they don't care what the weather is, they would like to do, and then maybe do some more. They want to work, train, walk, run, swim, explore, do chores, guard, bark, sniff, etc etc basically any doing. They struggle to not do. To be happily contentedly chilled they would need to have done some doing, or have promise to do so. Being chilled and calm is VERY far down their list of priorities.

But then what has this to do with sheep? Well….

Kash and Daff make for very easy pet dogs, they are wimps when it comes to the pressure that sports training can bring, so helping them to be brave in different situations is their battle.
Kash and Daff would be prone to sheep chasing because they are afraid, I know that sounds mad, but it is true, they both are prone to woooowoooing at anything they think is potentially scary, and what do sheep do when they get shouted at, well they often times they will run, and what do dogs do when something runs, well they chase. Our job with them is to help them feel self confident enough around livestock to not engage in chasing away ‘monsters’.

Pie and Relish, well they like control, they would not be afraid of sheep and they like to work, so our approach to help them be safe around livestock is actually to teach them to herd and make sure they have an on/off switch to their work. If given the opportunity to do what is completely natural for them in a safe way they are much less likely to ‘steal’ opportunities.

This is just another way that it's not so simple… but it really doesn't need to be difficult.

Before you get a dog take time to consider if you are willing and able to adapt to accommodate their needs, and that their likely personality traits are compatible with yours. This is something I (and every other dog trainer/behaviorist) wishes people took more time to consider.
But also if you are struggling with your dog it might just be that you need a different approach with them, so reach out to someone who understands a variety of human and canine challenges.

https://bookwhen.com/dogsmatter/e/ev-sg7h-20250302100000

19/02/2025

So many times I have heard people comment that all a dog needs to be safe to be off lead is a great recall, so we are going to talk about why yes, it IS important to have a dog that is responsive to cues, but also why cues are only a TINY part of the puzzle…

As with anything, it is both simple and complicated, and one of the ways that dog training goes deeper than what people might have you believe.

I think it is important to think about what you want from your dogs and what you want for them, it's also really important to think about what you want from your walks.
I personally think it is vital that dogs have as much opportunity to be dogs as possible, as much opportunity to freely explore and engage with the environment - even though, or maybe especially when they are sports dogs.

What this means for our walks is that I actually want to say as little as possible to my dogs, I also want to walk in peace without micromanaging their behavior.

It is also important to me (and my legal responsibility) that everyone is safe, my dogs, me, the other people and animals we share our spaces with, so I need to consider what skills we need to do so.

Which leads me onto two areas of dog training thought - Self control and imposed control.

self control; which can be described in two ways - your dog's ability to independently resist, or some people describe it as your dog making 'good' choices.

And imposed control - that is your dog's ability to respond to cues such as recall. Imposed control is often what people think of as dog training, how obedient your dog is, how promptly and reliably they respond to “commands” and how well they behave.

This is where understanding what relationship you want with your dog and what you want for them and you is again really important.

As I've said before I want a cooperative relationship with my dogs, I want my dogs to experience as little aversive as possible and I don't want to be constantly managing or installing rules or directions, and btw this isn't through naivety, when I began dog training aversive training was all there was, so I know first hand how different training methods and ideologies work in practice.

Self control is important to be a good working dog but also a good companion dog, it breeds freedom, for you and for your dog, it is also like a muscle, the more the skill is reinforced the more it happens! But it isn't infallible, our ability to exhibit self control is affected by many things, our personality, our stress levels, the context, how many times we've had to use it that day/week, etc etc

But having clear communication skills with our dogs will also prevent all sorts of issues, being able to cue my dog to return to me, or ask them to wait on the side while someone is passing helps us safely share the environment with others. However overuse and under reinforcement of cues will render them ineffective, harboring feelings of frustration in me and my dogs.
Connected to that is also how my dogs feel when they hear me cue something, I want cues to be a signal that triggers feelings of joy and purpose, I want my dog to react with gusto, not fear or to be reacting because of intimidation. I believe this is the way to get the most reliable responses and also not insignificantly the most fun way to train.

Understanding the differences between self control and imposed control is one aspect of helping our dogs be safe when we are walking them, and one of the reasons the course we offer is not a simple recall class.

Have you ever thought about what you want from your dog walks? Are they just about exercise or something more?

11/02/2025

Walkies!
For me and my mental health walking is absolutely vital, I know the same can be said for my dogs.

But believe it or not but whether we should walk our dogs is a controversial topic, and essentially it comes down to stress.
Chronic stress is no good for anyone, and if your walks are stressful then they will be adding to you and your dogs 'stress bucket' and not reducing it.

I am sure you will have experienced that when you are stressed its REALLY difficult to make good calm decisions or think clearly through situations, same for your dog, and so this adds risk to any unpredicted events that might happen - like a deer jumping out on the path in front of you for example.
But getting outside and exploring is SO important, so what can we do?
In the Positive Control around sheep course we look at ways of reducing stress on walks, for the benefit of you, your dogs, but also for the animals we share spaces with.

We do this with the goal of improving everyone's quality of life, reducing the barriers for getting out, and learning how to do it safely.

Over the next few posts I will cover some of the topics that we cover - some of the skills I help you to build and their importance, and some of the things that you may not have considered - which all come together in helping us enjoy our dogs and the spaces around us.

https://bookwhen.com/dogsmatter/e/ev-sg7h-20250302100000

04/02/2025

I believe in positive relationships, relationships not based on fear, but rather love and fun. not based on coercion but rather cooperation and respecting each others needs.

This extends to how I train and live with my dogs, and hopefully the people and animals we share our environment with.

Positive control around sheep (and other distractions!) is a course that really deep dives into this, with the focus being to be safe around livestock, to help livestock feel safe, and the goal being stress free and enjoyable walks.

more info here:

https://bookwhen.com/dogsmatter/e/ev-sg7h-20250302100000

But if you do have any questions do ask 🙂

The course is about as far from a one trick pony (or dog!) as is possible - its a rounded and sensible approach to all the issues that are faced. we have amazing facilities and super helpful experienced sheep.

04/02/2025

Hello - Long time no see!

I haven't been here for a good ol' while, for a whole host of reasons, and I missed you all!

I am sorry to everyone that has sent messages that haven't had a reply, I am bad at admin on good days and for the last 8 months admin tasks have very much been bottom of the VERY large todo pile!

This is me seeking some accountability to reemerge out from under my rock, its a scary thing, but the time is now.

So what's been happening?... the main reason I took a step away from work and social media is well, life really, we welcomed a gorgeous son into our slightly bonkers family, he is an absolute delight but as an older mother its taken me a bit longer to recover than with our first.

Although I have been off the scene I have stayed engaged with the dog behavior and training world as much as possible, more on that later.

So you will hopefully be seeing more from me, the first course that I have available is a Positive Control around sheep course, I will do a separate post for that though, I just felt that I needed to explain my absence first.

My first real dog outing and the source of the photo was to the Detection Dog Championships with Pie at Blenheim Palace! a rather splendid venue, with a rather splendid dog! she did so well.

Happy New year (even though we are now a month in!) I hope 2025 is a good one for you and your dogs.

15/09/2024

Dogs Matter are delighted to be hosting a canine first aid course with training provided by Dog First Aid Training. There are 9 million dogs in the UK and the majority will require First Aid in their life. As owners and carers we never know when an accident may happen and they will need our help 🐾🐾

26/08/2024

This is at our Silverton venue 🙂 Jenny is a super instructor and useful whatever Sport you compete in 🐶

🌟🌟 LAST MINUTE OPPORTUNITY TO BOOK A 1-2-1 SESSION IN DEVON 🌟🌟

I will be offering a handful of 1-2-1 sessions this Wednesday afternoon (Wednesday the 28th) at Dogs Matter in Silverton, Devon. Message me on here or 07795053623 to secure your space 💪🔥

16/08/2024

Such a valuable course to do, we are very much looking forward to hosting this!
🤕🙂💜🐶
https://bookwhen.com/dogsmatter =ev-sya2-20241013100000