Claire Lush, Dog Behaviour and Psychology Geek

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Claire Lush, Dog Behaviour and Psychology Geek

Welcome to Dog Matters, where your family can learn all the tools to teach your dog life skills esse Fully insured with Cliverton and basic DBS checked yearly.
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I've been working with families and their dogs for over 20 years in a variety of caring, training and behaviour modification roles. I am passionate about supporting clients to use kind and effective training and behaviour support for their animals. Some of my current client centered services include:

Owner-trained assistance dog advice and training
Animal Assisted Intervention advice and training

12 years of experience with assistance dogs and animal assisted intervention training - available to support families training their own dogs. Registered with INTODogs and qualified at level 6 Advanced Diploma in Canine Behaviour with the ISCP. Studying the level 1 CAM (canine arthritis management) Advocate course and soon to be studying a degree in Psychology.

12/08/2024

Kizzy's look just about sums it up for the both of us! 🥵😴😂

01/06/2024

Yesterday I worked with my last behaviour client 😢 while I take time to sort my health out and study...more on that later!

This handsome chap aced his last session, with Kizzy's help as stooge!

And yes we were in winter gear on the 31st May and Kizzy didn't want a selfie 🥶😂

31/05/2024

Day 31 -

Tips and Tricks - these are just some of the things that help me each day.

Image shows:

✅️ Physio / pilates equipment - lots of tools that help me feel which muscles I am engaging so I use the rights ones and actually strengthen them...something us EDS need a lot of help with!

✅️ Heated gilet, silver lined gloves, ear warmers, hand warmers, hot water bottles / heat packs, and a hand glove which attaches to my dogs lead for when I'm forever dropping it because I can't feel it. And a cool mat designed for dogs in the hot weather!

✅️ Orthotics - wrist support, knee support and insoles.

✅️ Allergy supplements and vitamin D all year round.

30/05/2024

Day 30 - "what led me to my diagnosis?"

1. Loads of weird and wonderful symptoms I thought were "normal" and gradually found out not everyone lived with!
2. Being more flexible that most people my age and then suddenly being way too stiff and sore for someone my age!
3. Google! I know...but it was right!
4. GP support - after many years I found a good one!
5. NHS nutritionist - she made me cry tears of relief after all the gaslighting from other healthcare professionals.
6. One of my owner-trained AD clients who recommended the Cardiologist who is another good'un!
7. EDS FB support group in the UK - they recommended the best consultant I have seen yet... a Geneticist. He even highlighted the study about cPTSD in patients with chronic illness from medical professionals gaslighting them. I'd already found it ready to use...I didn't need it!

29/05/2024

Day 29 - "Living well with EDS or HSD"

What's helped me so far?

1. Getting the diagnoses to help me advocate for the practical care and investigations I need for me as an individual.
2. Prioritising spending money on my health needs even at the expense of financial stress.
3. Self-discipline and boundaries to support my daily energy and mobility.
3. Seeking mental health support, making time for creative and physical activities that make me happy, and practicing gratitude as much as I can when I don't always feel like it.
4. Balancing which stress exposure is worth it for my overall well-being and which isn't and walking away from what is only going to make me ill.

With thanks to Helen Hoyte for sharing this self-care wheel created by Olga Pheonix Project.

16/05/2024

Day 15 of was yesterday - mental health.

With all the symptoms that EDS and the co-morbidities bring, mental health awareness and care is 💯 essential

14/05/2024

Day 14 of

Facing adversity.

I believe that building resilience in ourselves and our dogs will help us all to overcome life's challenges as best we can.

The only way we can help build resilience is by meeting needs and using "kind" methods to do this.

11/05/2024

Kizzy, by Darcey, aged 3 🥰

Day 11

If it weren't for my closest friends (more like family) and all the dogs I've had the absolute pleasure of loving and learning from, I wouldn't have the self-awareness and determination to keep advocating for my health that I have today 💪

Thank you all ❤️

10/05/2024

Day 10 – What You See, What You Don’t

The Ehlers-Danlos syndromes (EDS) and hypermobility spectrum disorders (HSD) can affect many areas of the body, often at the same time.

You may see someone using mobility aids and recognize a visible disability⁠.
You may also see someone and not see their disability. They may have a non-visible disability. ⁠

Having a non-visible disability can affect someone’s life as much as a visible disability.

⁠A person may need mobility aids all of the time. A person may need a mobility aid some days but not others, depending on their symptoms. ⁠

A person’s symptoms may fluctuate in severity on some days, requiring more support, rest, or mobility aids than on other days.

Someone may see you socializing, at work, or school and not see symptoms of your EDS or HSD. They may not see the days with fatigue, pain, and other symptoms.

Describe or visualize what people may see on the surface but what they don’t often see you going through. ⁠
https://www.ehlers-danlos.com/may-awareness/social-media-challenge/ #1679326694809-da6f7235-1ef5

09/05/2024

- forgot because of brain fog 😅.

- Last year I was still managing to camp and hike, with plenty of side effects I wasn't honest with myself or others about.

This year, I'm giving up my career as it has been. I'm OK with that now, in fact, I'm relieved and am finally starting to look after my health first.

07/05/2024

Ehlers Danlos Awareness Month day 7:

My top treatment: physio, pilates, meditation, mindfulness and counselling...and hiking when my body allows.

Back to basics, as I've been de-conditioned with all of my dysautonomia symptoms and moving discs throughout my spine. To top it off, I react to a lot of medications so I have to rely on alternative therapies to keep me functioning.

Treatment for EDS needs to be holistic as each individual can struggle with such a variety of symptoms.

05/05/2024

Ehlers Danlos Awareness Month

What can self-care look like for me?

Time in nature
Isolation
Meditation and mindfulness
Rest
Counseling
Physiotherapy
Pilates
Self-discipline
Pacing
Creative activities
Choosing between a shower or cooking for myself
Connecting with close friends and a hug
Saying no to things that aren't a priority
Walking away from judgment and gaslighting
Accepting myself and my body for who I am and what I need!

Plus, way more...

-love

04/05/2024

Kizzy is there through it all; when I'm active, when I'm over tired and irritable, when I'm struggling to even walk to the back door to let her out, and when I'm celebrating achievements. Plenty of judging, but only for reasons relating to not walking her or cuddling her on her terms! 😂

What are Ehlers Danlos or Hypermobility Spectrum disorder?

Connective tissue disorders - our bodies are made up of connective tissues.

This means that any area of our body could be affected at some point in our lives and usually multiple systems and comorbidities are at play 🤕🤒🤢🥵🥶

01/05/2024

Shout out to all of you struggling with chronic illness while still supporting your beautiful dogs 🐕

May is EDS and HSD awareness month.

01/05/2024

This month is EDS awareness month and as it took me 15 years and self-funding privately to get this underlying diagnosis, I want to help educate and highlight the need for better treatment and support for people with under diagnosed or rare conditions.

Hopefully my stories will also reassure anyone following that we all go through struggles with our dogs, especially when life happens 😅

17/04/2024

Feeling so proud today!

Working with clients and their dogs to achieve happier and more content lives, with stronger relationships, and helping them all meet their needs has been one of the most fulfilling parts of my career.

Today's client has worked so hard to understand her dog, meet his needs, accept him where he's at, and dedicate so much to him. Today, he was parallel walking with my dog, who has had her own challenges with reactivity. I'm especially proud of my client, her dog, and my own dog today! 🥰

16/04/2024

Kizzy's lesson on how to try distracting the human from their physio exercises:

1. Get as close to their face as possible and breathe heavily!
2. Try sitting on the exercises list (failed).
3. Show your human that being ignored is stressful!
4. Lie against your human staring lovingly.
5. Give up and sulk!

15/04/2024

While I'm doing a lot of my least favourite thing this month... riding the trains into London for hospital appointments... Kizzy's perfectly content at home 🤔🥰

07/04/2024

New beginnings...

It's with a heavy heart that I've had to listen to my body and stop working in the way that I have been. I've been advised that my current career is not good for my long-term health, and although sometimes it feels like I'm giving in to my chronic health conditions, I can not keep fighting against my body. I want to start working with it... which means rest for now.

I have another dream to pursue and will begin that later this year.

For now, I am in the process of selling my flat and supporting the last of my clients before I move out of the area.

I will start focusing on producing social media content to help dogs and their people, as well educating people on chronic health and the challenges faced.

I want to say a huge thank you to all of my clients over the years. You have all taught me so much and given me such a rewarding career. I will miss your dog behaviour and training consults and classes, but I'm not leaving the industry, so do keep in touch.

Claire and Kizzy 💕🐾

29/02/2024

Epic selfie fail due to belly rub demands!

Today's been a long one, travelling to London for an upright MRI and it just so happens to be

14/02/2024

Happy Valentines Day 💝

19/01/2024

Authentic training post - Recall training tips!

1. Arm yourself with lots of patience and let some of those non responses go.

2. Make sure you take the really good treats! And if you have a golden retriever or a cockerpoo, be sure to change the type of treats daily 😜.

3. Use a long line for safety. Millie is now at a stage where we can let the long like trail for most of the walk, but it's taken practice to get here.

4. Forgive and forget. Dogs get overwhelmed by their environment just like we do and may not hear our calls if they're engrossed in a smell. Go back to the drawing board and assess what other steps you can take to make recall a fun and successful training game.

17/01/2024

16/01/2024

Tongue out Tuesday!

Who needs a dog bed when you have the whole sofa!

[Image: tricolour border collie laying on her back on the sofa with her tongue out, relaxed.]

13/01/2024

'Treat stations' - treats in pots around the house for easy access.

These are great for teaching our dogs things, as they occur naturally.

Kizzy was on guard duty as the front window was open while I did some DIY. By rewarding her and thanking her for letting me know each time someone walked past, her barking intensity and the duration both reduced.

We've bred our dogs to alert bark, and no amount of training is going to stop their innate need to bark.

#

10/01/2024

This handsome boy has perfected his windswept modelling pose 🥰.

He can get frustrated when exciting things happen in the environment, and this can come out as chase behaviour and lunging and barking. We saw none of this today as we kept his arousal levels at a level where he could learn - this meant using the right amount of distance from triggers (dogs and fast moving things) to help him. That distance can be shorter on some days than others, and the aim is to reduce it over time!

05/01/2024

Me in December: "I hate December, it's too dark. I look forward to January as the days get longer and lighter."

Me in January taking photos on a walk at 5:30pm 😂

[Image: a border collie sat posing in the dark with a headtorch making her visible and an image of the silouette of a monument, dark sky, and the lights of a town.]

03/01/2024

Millie was chilling out in the supermarket today after working her paws off.

Listen to the overwhelming auditory stimulation! Remember, when thinking about whether to train your dog as an assistance dog, think about their behaviour and wellbeing needs first and decide whether it's right for them.

Millie chose this role from a young age, bossing her caregiver around and indicating when her heart rate gets too high...as well as leading her to chairs in shops and on walks without anyone teaching her or asking her to do the job 😇.

02/01/2024

5 tips to help your dog(s) recover from the holidays...

1. Rest - plenty of quiet time to sleep, chew, stay home, and relax.

2. Days off walks if they find walks stressful. Give your dog around 72 hours away from known triggers to help bring their stress hormones back to baseline.

3. Play - play helps release "feel good" hormones, so play your dog's favourite game with them.

4. Reduce your expectations and be patient. If your dog is barking at things, struggling to settle, or is practising destructive behaviour, remember... this is a byproduct of stress! Make things easier for them. Close the curtains to reduce visual triggers, manage the home environment to set them up for success, and...

5. Provide your dog with enrichment toys to help them sniff, chew, lick, and dig. Providing your dog with an outlet for their natural behaviours will help them self-regulate.

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Tuesday	09:00 - 19:00
Wednesday	09:00 - 19:00
Thursday	09:00 - 19:00
Friday	09:00 - 19:00
Saturday	09:00 - 17:00

Telephone

+447921551433

Website

http://www.dogmatters.org.uk/

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Videos

Having a conversation with my dog using my knowledge of her communication and the training I've taught her for being comfortable for vet checks, medication administration, and grooming. Do you wait for your dog to show that they are comfortable before you brush them, look at their teeth, give them a tablet, etc? Note - Kizzy knows when tablets are hidden in food, so there's no point even trying as she prefers the fun training method, believe it or not 😂. #consent #positivereinforcementtraining #dogbehaviour #bordercolliesofinstagram #forcefreedogtraining #consentbasedtraining #dogtrainersofinstagram

#ehlersdanlosawarenessmonth #walkandrollwednesday - forgot because of brain fog 😅. #throwbackthursday - Last year I was still managing to camp and hike, with plenty of side effects I wasn't honest with myself or others about. This year, I'm giving up my career as it has been. I'm OK with that now, in fact, I'm relieved and am finally starting to look after my health first.

Never have I met a goldie with such fast problem solving skills!

Authentic training post - Recall training tips! 1. Arm yourself with lots of patience and let some of those non responses go. 2. Make sure you take the really good treats! And if you have a golden retriever or a cockerpoo, be sure to change the type of treats daily 😜. 3. Use a long line for safety. Millie is now at a stage where we can let the long like trail for most of the walk, but it's taken practice to get here. 4. Forgive and forget. Dogs get overwhelmed by their environment just like we do and may not hear our calls if they're engrossed in a smell. Go back to the drawing board and assess what other steps you can take to make recall a fun and successful training game. #dogofinstagram #ownertrainedassistancedoguk #assistancedogintraining #assistancedogsofinstagram #dogtrainersofinstagram #goldenretrieversofinstagram #doglaw #dogsafetyfirst

When you look down at your dog who's joined you at heel with a deer leg in her mouth 🙈😅😂 Kizzy keeps me laughing even during the hard days 🥰. Note - swapping the high value deer leg for chicken and not putting my hand straight in! #dogtrainingtips #dogsofinstagram #bordercolliesofinstagram #dogtrainersofinstagram #dogbehaviourist #chronichealthwarrior #dogsmakemesmile

This handsome boy has perfected his windswept modelling pose 🥰. He can get frustrated when exciting things happen in the environment, and this can come out as chase behaviour and lunging and barking. We saw none of this today as we kept his arousal levels at a level where he could learn - this meant using the right amount of distance from triggers (dogs and fast moving things) to help him. That distance can be shorter on some days than others, and the aim is to reduce it over time! #reactivetoresponsive #reactivedogsofinstagram #germanshepherdsofinstagram #dogbehaviourist #dogtrainersofinstagram #dogtrainingadvice #dogtraining

Millie was chilling out in the supermarket today after working her paws off. Listen to the overwhelming auditory stimulation! Remember, when thinking about whether to train your dog as an assistance dog, think about their behaviour and wellbeing needs first and decide whether it's right for them. Millie chose this role from a young age, bossing her caregiver around and indicating when her heart rate gets too high...as well as leading her to chairs in shops and on walks without anyone teaching her or asking her to do the job 😇. #ownertrainedassistancedoguk #ownertrainedassistancedog #assistancedogsofinstagram #goldenretrieversofinstagram #dogbehaviourist #dogtrainersofinstagram #POTSsyndrome #potsawareness

Have you taught your dog to 'shake' on cue? It's helpful when your dog rolls in stinky 💩 and you have a small flat, so you'd rather she shakes outside 😅😂 [Image: video of a wet tricolour border collie, shaking the water off of her coat.] #dogsofinstagram #bordercolliesofinstagram #dogtrainersofinstagram

Behaviour is Communication #bordercollie #germanshepherd #dogtraining #dogtrainer #labrador #scentwork

📢 Recall training with Stan Stan can be a handful in so many situations, and his incredibly dedicated humans have worked so hard to understand his needs while teaching life skills that will keep him and others safe. When there are bunnies around and Stan's mental stamina is slowing, his people know to increase the excitement in their voice, alongside a whistle, and get those high value treats out asap for him. Keep up the great work, 'team Stan' @the_stangram #dogtrainersofinstagram #foxredlabradorsofinstagram #postivereinforcementdogtraining #positivereinforcementdogtrainer [Video shows a labrador recalling to his caregivers whistle cue, in an open space.]

Food refusal training in action in real life! The dog treat delivery turned up 😂. Kizzy likes to make it harder for herself by standing over the food I've accidentally left down 🙈. Yes, she did get some as her reward!

Food refusal training 💯. Clever girl, Kiz! Didn't have to stand over it 😂 #dogtraining #dogtrainersofinstagram #bordercolliesofinstagram

Monday motivation...or not 😆🤦‍♀️ #mondaymotivation #likedoglikeowner #colliesofinstagram

It's Friday and Coco would like her favourite treats..."they're in here, Mum!" #caninebehaviouruk #dogsofinstagram #cockapoo #communicationskills #fridayfeeling [Video of a cockapoo standing by her treat cupboard vocalising and looking at it to communicate that she wants her treats.]

On Good Friday my friends welcomed their beautiful twins into the world. Following my advice, their Daddy introduced Rupert to his new family members through scent, ahead of their return home. Roo is taking in the scent of his own free choice and once he'd finished examining the clothes, he took himself off. The family have been preparing Rupert to the sounds of babies, the pushchair and how to walk next to it safely, setting the house up with safe areas and getting plenty of enrichment toys ready. 🥰🐕👶👶

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