FurryTails Dog Training and Behaviour

08/10/2025

Love this post 💛
It really breaks down just how fragile a dog’s neck is.

I sadly see so many dogs being pulled or dragged along by their leads on collars, or even yanked 😖
Imagine if we were being dragged by our neck with a rope — or worse!

That’s why I always recommend dogs wear a harness.
My favourite is the Perfect Fit harness as it comes down into a Y shape at the front, protecting the dog’s neck and avoiding any stress or pressure on their shoulders. It allows for comfort and natural movement 🐾

KNOW ABOUT MY NECK!

A dog’s neck is really not that much different to ours.

In fact, it may be even a little more sensitive, as the outermost layers of the skin are thinner than ours.

In additional to the damage that using choke collars, prong collars, slip leads or shock collars cause in a psychological and emotional way, the physical risks are also often not acknowledged or understood.

Here are just some of the physical risks these aversive tools can cause –

The Vagus nerve runs down both sides of the neck and controls so many vital functions - heart rate, breathing, digestion, emotional regulation and communication between the brain and other major organs.

Pressure on the neck can compress the trachea, making it hard to breathe properly -decreases oxygen to the brain and other organs, potentially causing long-term damage.

Pressure can also damage the thyroid gland, injure nerves and muscles and bruise soft tissue.

Compression of the neck can cause intraocular pressure which affects vision.

The neck and cervical spine contain the spinal cord, where the nerves of the front legs originate. Excessive paw licking is often misdiagnosed as allergies, when it’s actually caused by pain.

Compression of the Esophagus – the tube that carries food to the stomach, can cause digestive and gut issues.

I find it really hard to understand why these tools are still so widely used and promoted.

What could possibly be admirable or intelligent in using force, inflicting pain, causing physical and emotional harm to control another sentient being, when there are far more effective, humane, ethical ways?

"The least I can do is speak out for those who cannot speak for themselves" – Jayne Goodall

05/10/2025

29.4.10 – 5.10.21 💛

I can’t believe it’s been four years today since I said goodbye to my beautiful girl Frankie.

Such a special girl, nothing ever fazed her. She was confident, full of character and just the right amount of cheeky. Everyone who met her fell in love with her 💛

She was there when FurryTails began back in 2011 when it was just my Dog Walking, Daycare and Home Boarding business. She was by my side every step of the way.

She was there when I started my dog training journey through IMDT, and even came away with me on my IMDT 4 Day Practical Dog Trainers course. Not only did she do all the exercises with me, but others were queuing up to borrow her for their training demos too ☺️

She was there for me as I transitioned into becoming a full time dog trainer. Always eager to please, always ready to learn, she was an incredible sniffer dog and gave her whole heart to every task. She gave so much love, asked for nothing in return, and brought joy to everyone who met her.

She was there when my marriage ended, when I had to rebuild my life from scratch. She moved with me up to North Yorkshire and loved making new human and doggy friends. Through every chapter, she stayed her happy, cheeky self 💛

She truly was the best friend I could ever have wished for. Even in the last two years of her life, when her health declined, she stayed bright eyed, robust and full of spirit.

She’s still with me every day. I talk about her all the time and miss her dreadfully.

We never replace our pets, they leave such a huge hole in our lives and hearts. But they also remind us how special it is to share our lives again with another loyal companion 💛

04/10/2025

Love this post 💛

It’s such a great reminder of how we can build focus and engagement with our dogs just by changing how we use food.

I’m always talking about making food an experience for our dogs rather than just boring fuel in a bowl.
Dogs are natural seekers, they love to forage, chase and catch. When we feed or reward them in ways that use those instincts, we’re giving them so much more than just food.

It encourages problem solving, builds confidence and creates brilliant teamwork between you and your dog.

You’ll see calmer, happier dogs who feel fulfilled and actually want to be with you.

Make it fun. Scatter, roll or hide their food and watch how much more focused and happy they are 🐾💛

03/10/2025

Two days packed full of learning, catching up with old friends and making new contacts ☺️
I’m coming away with so many fresh ideas to put into practice 💡🐾

Dogs bring so much joy into our lives. Their love is unconditional, and we owe it to them to help them live their very best lives 💛 But sometimes, it isn’t always easy — whether it’s training challenges or behaviour struggles.

That’s where the right support makes all the difference. When choosing a trainer or behaviour specialist, make sure you:
✅ Look for reward-based methods
✅ Check their qualifications and courses

Your dog deserves nothing less 🐾

👉 If you’d like support with your dog, whether that’s training or behaviour, I’d love to help.
Call me or drop me a message to chat about the best way forward for you and your dog 💌

www.furrytails.dog

02/10/2025

This is what Jo from FurryTails gets up to when away on a course 🫣🤪🤣

02/10/2025

Day one on my course with The Mutty Professor learning even more about dog-to-dog reactivity 🐾
The sun was shining and it was so lovely catching up with familiar faces too ☀️

Can’t wait for day two today, more brilliant learning on how I can help dogs and their owners even more 😁

01/10/2025

💬 “𝐉𝐨 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐞𝐫. 𝐖𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐞𝐧𝐣𝐨𝐲𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐤 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐧𝐢𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐩𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐞.”

Last week I had the pleasure of being invited by 𝐁𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐭𝐨𝐧 𝐕𝐞𝐭𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐤 to give an evening talk to their wonderful veterinary team on how to support nervous dogs (and their owners!) during vet visits.

One of the lovely RVN’s brought along her gorgeous working cocker, who happily stepped in as my demo dog — and what a star he was ☺️🐾

I even managed to get one of the vets up to try out some of the exercises, which the rest of the team definitely enjoyed watching 😉

I’m really looking forward to our follow-on session next week — we’ll be recapping and adding in more confidence-building strategies and practical techniques that can be used straight away in clinic.

𝐇𝐮𝐠𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐭𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐦 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐨 𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐝, 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 ☺️

01/10/2025

I’m really excited to be at The Kennel Club Building, Stoneleigh Park, for more fun learning ☺️

I’m on another reactivity course -
Assessing & Training Dog-Reactive Dogs with Roz Pooley Mutty Professor. Reactivity is a subject I’m extremely passionate about — helping dogs live their very best lives 💛

Roz is such a brilliant behaviourist, so as soon as I saw she was running this two-day in-person course I jumped at the chance to book on.

It’s packed with case studies and carefully managed dog-to-dog reactivity sessions — absolutely brilliant learning. Plus it’s been so lovely seeing some familiar faces too ☺️

Even better, I get to share it with my lovely behaviourist friend Pippa from Pippa’s Pooches ☺️

30/09/2025

Helping our dogs to problem solve isn’t just fun, it’s brilliant teamwork, a fantastic confidence builder and it helps to promote quality sleep 💛

Dogs have an amazing natural ability to work things out. They don’t always need us to show them how toys or puzzles work, their curiosity and instincts drive them to explore, figure things out and keep trying until they succeed ✅

Dogs are so clever, they’ll spot moving parts or little compartments on a toy and quickly work out how to use them. It really shows just how sharp and adaptable they are 🐾

Fun activities like this also help release lots of feel good hormones. As with any enrichment activity, make sure you start nice and easy and supervise so they don’t accidentally chew off any parts they shouldn’t.

The teamwork is you being there to gently guide them if it’s a new activity and praising them as if they’ve just found buried treasure 🥳

So next time your dog is working away at a puzzle toy, remember it’s not just play.
It’s confidence, brain training, calmness and a happy snooze afterwards 💤

Dogs have an impressive ability to figure out how toys work without needing prior training. Their natural curiosity and problem-solving instincts drive them to explore and interact with objects in intelligent ways. According to research published in Cell Press Journal, dogs can observe moving parts, levers, and compartments, and quickly learn how to manipulate them. This ability highlights their sharp cognitive skills and adaptability, traits that have helped them thrive alongside humans. It also suggests that play for dogs is not only fun but a true test of their mental abilities.

29/09/2025

Great post from The Golden Academy 💛

This dog does not look comfortable here 💔
If you look closely, you’ll see the ears pinned back, the eyes tight, and the dog is averting his eyes away from both the camera and the girls. Sadly, this dog is merely tolerating what is being done to him right now — not enjoying it.

These kinds of photos might look cute, but they can actually send out the wrong message. Many children (and adults) don’t recognise when a dog is uncomfortable, and this can sadly lead to bites. Most bites happen at home, often with a family’s own dog.

We need to do better at respecting dogs’ boundaries and teaching children safe, positive ways to interact with them.

Let’s make sure our dogs feel just as safe and happy in our homes as we do 🐾💛

Hey Primark, this isn’t cool.

The golden and that gorgeous family? Absolutely Hallmark-card-worthy. I get why you shared this to market your new Christmas PJs (which, btw, are super cute 🎄✨)

But here’s the thing: the majority of dog bites to children happen at home (47%), by their own dog (44%), and over half are to the face or head (52%). And one of the triggers? Kissing the dog—accounting for 14% of bites that end up needing medical attention.

Please, reconsider this post. Remove these images, and reshoot with this beautiful family in a way that’s safe and happy for everyone at home - goldens included 💛

Comment the code 'PRIMARK' and we will DM you a completely free eBook on keeping kids & dogs safe. Let's do better 🫶

29/09/2025

Great post from The Golden Academy 💛

This dog does not look comfortable here 💔
If you look closely, you’ll see the ears pinned back, the eyes tight, and the dog is averting his eyes away from both the camera and the girls. Sadly, this dog is merely tolerating what is being done to him right now — not enjoying it.

These kinds of photos might look cute, but they can actually send out the wrong message. Many children (and adults) don’t recognise when a dog is uncomfortable, and this can sadly lead to bites. Most bites happen at home, often with a family’s own dog.

We need to do better at respecting dogs’ boundaries and teaching children safe, positive ways to interact with them.

Let’s make sure our dogs feel just as safe and happy in our homes as we do 🐾💛

Hey Primark, this isn’t cool.

The golden and that gorgeous family? Absolutely Hallmark-card-worthy. I get why you shared this to market your new Christmas PJs (which, btw, are super cute 🎄✨)

But here’s the thing: the majority of dog bites to children happen at home (47%), by their own dog (44%), and over half are to the face or head (52%). And one of the triggers? Kissing the dog—accounting for 14% of bites that end up needing medical attention.

Please, reconsider this post. Remove these images, and reshoot with this beautiful family in a way that’s safe and happy for everyone at home - goldens included 💛

Comment the code 'PRIMARK' and we will DM you a completely free eBook on keeping kids & dogs safe. Let's do better 🫶