FurryTails Dog Training and Behaviour

14/11/2025

I think it’s fair to say that gorgeous boy Chip enjoyed my enrichment bag 🤩🧡

Yesterday was the first of our 4 Session Training and Behavioural Program for Chip and his lovely owners 🐾

Chip came to my puppy classes, adolescent classes, and my loose lead and recall courses ☺️
He’s all grown up now at 15 months and his family are becoming more concerned about his fear of children 👶💛

Dogs being worried around children is sadly not uncommon.
Children can be quite animated and often over-fuss dogs, and there could be a number of reasons why Chip finds them scary.

It’s my job to gently figure out what’s going on for Chip and help him feel safe again around children. 🕵️‍♀️🐶💕

14/11/2025

These two are like a cheeky double act 😅
Keeping me on my toes and making me laugh every day 🐾💛

13/11/2025

Otto’s become a bit of a FurryTails regular 😍

He is a gorgeous 10-month-old Cockapoo who first joined me for a 1-1 training program. Since then, he and his lovely owner have become dedicated FurryTailers 🧡

I always love to see Otto’s lovely face at Rally, Reactivity & Excitability sessions, Social sessions and they even joined our UK Sniffer Dogs Scentwork Workshop too 🏅

We even continue to have 1-1 sessions, too. There’s just something so amazing about having an adorable, friendly face enjoy all the classes I do.

It’s been such a joy watching them grow together - each week building more and more confidence ✨

That’s what FurryTails is all about - growing together as a supportive community 🐾

11/11/2025

This is a fantastic post written by a friend of mine who’s a Dynamic Dog Practitioner 🐾

Sadly, I’m seeing more and more dogs in my training or behavioural cases where what first appears to be a training or behavioural issue actually links back to pain or physical discomfort.
So many dogs are sitting, standing or walking awkwardly — subtle signs that can easily be missed or dismissed.

Dogs in pain will often still be running around, jumping on and off furniture, in and out of the car, and seeming “fine” — not what you’d expect from a dog in pain.
That’s because adrenaline and cortisol are both natural pain relievers, but that doesn’t mean there’s no discomfort.

Equally, dogs in pain might not want to get into the car, or might suddenly stop on walks for what seems like no apparent reason — their way of telling us something doesn’t feel right.

If you ever notice changes in your dog’s posture, movement or behaviour, please don’t ignore them.
Chronic pain rarely looks dramatic — it’s often quiet, consistent and hidden behind “coping.” 💛

Always trust your instincts and advocate for your dog.
You know them best. 🐕

If you see anything like the above and aren’t sure what to do, you could contact a Dynamic Dog Practitioner or book an appointment with a registered Canine Physiotherapist.
I refer my clients to Hannah Michael at Theakston Physiotherapy Services — she’s fantastic. 💛

www.theakstonphysiotherapyservices.co.uk

After a clients vet was recently VERY dismissive to very obvious gait and postural adaptations (saying "if there's no lameness, there's no pain"!!!) I felt I HAD to write this post.

We KNOW a vet clinic is not an environment conducive to testing for chronic pain. Remember...chronic pain is different to acute pain. There is usually no yelping, and it develops over time, is there all the time & causes a dog to adapt their gait and posture, as well as change their behaviour as a result. Chronic pain becomes a dog's "normal" so the pain can go unnoticed if you're looking for "obvious" pain indicators.

In the vet environment, most dogs are stressed/nervous which causes an increase in adrenaline and cortisol, which suppress pain response. Ever made a vet visit for your limping dog, only to find the limping stops when you get to the vet? That's why! Als a lot of dogs are restrained or held for exams, creating more anxiety and tension, further masking a pain response.

A vet consult is short. Chronic pain should be assessed by looking at posture, gait, sleep, behaviour, mood etc over time. Vets simply can't assess each patients gait, posture,movement, sleep patterns etc.

The best way to assess for chronic pain is by looking at a dog's behaviour...not just behaviour "issues" but at what their behaviour is telling us. Are they slowing on walks after a period of time? Are they hesitating to jump out of the car when they didn't use to? Are they not jumping up in excitement as soon as they see the harness? And their posture and gait....are they sitting "wonky"? Is their gait indicating adaptations to try and alleviate discomfort?

This dog who prompted this post is a walking red flag for pain - behaviour issues, won't be touched on her back end, always sits and lies very "wonkily", shows multiple gait adaptations...but she's not "lame"!

If a dog IS lame the pain is around an 8 or 9 out of 10 by the way!!

I rarely come across vets like this -most are amazing! And luckily my client pushed for a referral to RVC and will be going to them, where I guarantee there will be a different outcome! If you think your dog is in pain, advocate for them! Don't be fobbed off!

10/11/2025

What do you and your dog wear when it’s cold and raining? ☔️

River’s rocking her waterproof jacket that was kindly gifted by the gorgeous boy Otto 💛
And me? I’m rocking the soaked dog walker look 😅

Would love to know your go-to rainy-day gear — especially any favourites that actually keep you dry! 🐾

10/11/2025

Me thinks that Nellie cat has settled in very well into the FurryTails household 😅

Queen Nellie has officially claimed her kingdom 👑
Supervising River ✔️
Stealing the best spots ✔️
Keeping me us all in line ✔️

The FurryTails household is now under new management 😹💛

10/11/2025

When you share your life with three beautiful dogs, no two days are ever the same 🐾

I recently visited this lovely family and their three gorgeous Goldens for a 1-1 program - mum Juno, and her two sons, Percy and Bertie. All three have such wonderful personalities, but each one also faces their own challenges.

💛 Bertie struggles with reactivity and finds walks extremely stressful.
💛 Percy is a dream to walk, but tension has been building between the two brothers at home.
💛 And Juno, who came to my puppy classes a couple of years ago, is caught in the middle trying to hold it all together.

Life for their owners has become challenging - juggling three big dogs and preparing for a big move overseas in six months.

When I first visited, it was clear this family deeply love their dogs and want what’s best for them. My job now is to support in making the best decisions for both dogs and humans.

That means looking at the full picture: behaviour, health, pain, stress and relationships between each dog.

We’re working together to bring calmness back into the home, build confidence and make realistic progress - step by step 🐶

If you’re juggling more than one dog and things are starting to feel a bit overwhelming at home, I offer 1-1 programs tailored to your dogs and your family.

📞 07973 216148
📧 [email protected]
🌐 www.furrytails.dog

09/11/2025

Maybe we’re getting somewhere with this!!

06/11/2025

Autumn adventures with River 🍂 One very happy spaniel after our woodland wander today 🍁

06/11/2025

Every now and then, I have to swap my trainer’s hat for a detective’s one… 🕵️‍♀️

Meet gorgeous boy Loki, a 19-month-old Border Collie cross Whippet! His owners got in touch after some reactivity seemed to appear out of nowhere. Loki had started barking at people in caps, reacting to visitors and even nipping at his poorly grandad - something completely out of character for him.

When behaviour changes suddenly like this, there’s always a reason. My job is to find it.

Is it the sound of Grandad’s big bunch of keys? The cap that hides facial expressions? Something that startled him? Or maybe a deeper link with stress, diet or pain?

So for now, I’ve got my detective hat firmly on 🕵️‍♀️ (well… off, actually - I was asked to remove mine before meeting him! Cue panic about my hat hair 😂).

We’re working step by step to rebuild Loki’s confidence, reduce his stress and help everyone at home feel more relaxed again.

Because when we look a little deeper, we can start to uncover what our dogs are really trying to tell us 🐾💛

04/11/2025

Love this post, such an important reminder that what looks like “nothing” to us, can feel like “something big” to our dogs 🐾

Dogs experience the world through their senses so differently to us.
Their sense of smell is thought to be up to 100,000× stronger than ours 👃✨
So while we enjoy fresh scents in our homes, cars, clothes (and ourselves!), imagine how overpowering that can be for them.

Add in things like air pressure changes, wind carrying unfamiliar scents and sounds, or those high-frequency noises we can’t hear… and suddenly a “normal” day can feel quite overwhelming for our dogs.

If your dog ever seems a little “off” without an obvious reason, it might just be their amazing senses working overtime 💛

Have a little look around your dog’s world and see if there are any simple tweaks or improvements you can make to help them feel more comfortable 🐕‍🦺🌿

They're just "off".
Something has unsettled them and we just cant see it.
There's no dog around.
No people either, but they are struggling.
Time to look a bit deeper.

Candles, diffusers and even a change of your perfume can be deeply unsettling for a dog.
If you have two dogs and need to take one to the vet or the groomers, sometimes the welcome home is confusing.
Colder or even aggressive.
Their friend looks the same but they smell totally different (and scent is everything to a dog).

Of course dogs can be stressed by storms but before that thunder and lightning they may be acutely aware of a change in the atmosphere, long before we even notice.
It doesn't need to be an actual storm either, a change of weather is sometimes enough to unsettle dogs.

Those ultrasonic devices we have in our homes, the pest control devices can cause dogs anxiety but so can our modern TVs and devices on standby. Some can emit high frequency sounds that we can barely hear. Even a heat pump turning itself on and off and adjusting output can trigger dogs and even the compressor unit outside cause stress.

We often think of triggers they can see and miss all the other ways our dogs can be affected.

Back to the candles, oil burners and plug in air freshener units for a second.
They may be pleasant for us, but deeply disturbing for a dog.
For some dogs, they can really take a toll.

Maybe rethink if you really need them.

You may be surprised just how relaxed your dog is when you don't use them.