Pawfect Help

03/12/2023

Proud of this team!
The dogs are getting used to each other with the aim of spending Christmas Day together. So far it’s looking positive! Great progress has been made over the last few months!

01/12/2023

Heads up - it is this cold today. If your pup usually wears a jumper or coat can you leave them out for me? Or message where to find them 🥶🥶

01/12/2023

Happy December!!
Let’s see your pups with their Christmas trees and advent calendars 😃😃🎄

30/11/2023

30/11/2023

Be like Dexter and keep warm 👌🏻

28/11/2023

And on todays wheel of idiot

Walking a dog with an obvious “training don’t approach” lead sleeve

See a dog, wait to see which way they are going so I can change my route if needed

They’re heading straight towards us

U-turn the dog to make space so everyone is happy

Other person continues to walk directly at us (we can’t cross the road because of cars and pulling dog away from trigger will escalate the situation

Say to the person “hang on I’m trying to gain some space”

“It’s a pavement what do you want me to fu***ng do?”

“Erm, wait”

“Eugh get a life”

Now, someone who wasn’t an ass and had even the smallest amount of understanding of dogs who struggle, would wait and people would be really happy and grateful.

But because of this attitude and complete disregard for others we have a growing population of dogs who struggle and will continue to do so.

So people, if you see someone with a dog actively trying to avoid you, just help them out, don’t be an ass

24/11/2023

Darwin loves his mantrailing sessions!

24/11/2023

Sorry Dex - this is a sign that I love you 😂

24/11/2023

Dexter, your middle is backwards 😂

24/11/2023

Artemis - I love you!

24/11/2023

Love this

23/11/2023

From Doggy Devoted

Are your dogs on the list?

Mia is on the nice list, Darwin would also be there because he is my golden boy 😂

22/11/2023

Morning all

Next week I have a few slots available on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. If you would like any days let me know and I will tell you what I can do

🙂

21/11/2023

The great thing about understanding training goals and techniques as well as how the environment influences your dog’s behaviour is being able to train flexibly. We had planned on working on Nyla’s emergency stops but found we could take advantage of other people at the rec where I knew other guardians from varying places. Because of this Nyla got to engage with:
A cane corso puppy
An Italian spinnone
A greater Swiss Mountain dog
😃

19/11/2023

say it louder for the ones in the back

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19/11/2023

Neutrality NOT socialisation.

I made big mistakes with my older dogs, and here comes my rap sheet of terrible mistakes.

Trevor (the Staffordshire Bull Terrier) came to me as a rescue from Cardiff Dogs Home very dog reactive. I, as a novice owner, decided taking him to parks and exposing him to his triggers was the way to fix it. It wasn’t.

Elsie (my collie kelpie mix) came to me at 4 weeks old from an accidental litter. To avoid reactivity I took her to dog parks, I took her to busy social walks with out of control dogs, I took her everywhere. I thought it would mean she wouldn’t be reactive. It didn’t.

Peaches (my foxhound) came to me at 10 months old. She was already stable and neutral to other dogs. I took advantage of that and we started to see some reactivity kick in when I began flooding her. Thankfully I realised my mistakes before anything got worse.

Aalto (the NSDTR) came to me as an 8 week old puppy. I didn’t repeat my mistakes.

Bendy (the Labrador) came to me at first as an 18 week old puppy, then permanently as a 6 month old. I didn’t repeat my mistakes.

As a result Bendy and Aalto especially are incredibly dog neutral. I didn’t go in with the idea of ‘socialising’. I went in with the idea of ‘that dog there is as boring as this leaf over here’. I consistently set up training sessions where other dogs were under control. Agility and obedience shows. Car parks. My own field working as stooges for clients. I only ever took them to places I knew I could control the environment 99% of the time. I kept their worlds small and their friends lists even smaller. Most walks have been heavily controlled with a huge focus on engagement, recall and training. Not a single walk has been ‘just a walk’. This goes for all five of my dogs for the last couple of years and now even my ‘reactive’ dogs are neutral to dogs.

It seems quite bizarre for a trainer to say they rarely walk their dogs in normal places but for every single one of my dogs, other dogs are now totally neutral to them. As boring as dirt. Today I took Trevor, Bendy and Aalto to a place that’s often busy with off lead dogs. We encountered a few (and a remote control speedboat?) and every single one was automatically ignored. I didn’t have to use food or toys. I didn’t have to use a lead. I didn’t have to even think about it. They glanced at the dog as though it was a tree, and moved on.

So what’s the point of my post?

Stop trying to socialise your reactive dog. Expose, yes, but don’t force interaction.
Don’t mistake out of control environments for socialising opportunities.
Don’t over socialise your puppy. Aim for neutrality.
Train, don’t walk.

Go ham for neutrality and it’ll pay off. Yes you need to expose your dog to other dogs, but avoid exposing them to out of control dogs and environments. Especially through adolescence, control their environment as much as you can. Be creative with where you exercise them. Train them. Don’t just walk them. That’s how you get a reliably neutral dog who listens and behaves in appropriate ways.

19/11/2023

I won’t be responding to messages etc today because I’m am off cheering my youngest at the BJC nationals!
Wish my tiniest apprentice luck!

17/11/2023

Bertie

17/11/2023

Nyla

17/11/2023

Dex

16/11/2023

Ruby puppy who is nailing her training with me!

16/11/2023

These bros 😃

15/11/2023

Christmas!!!

Everyone here are some dates for you!

Monday December 4th - closed
Friday December 15th - closed
Wednesday December 20th - closing at 11:30
Tuesday 9th January - reopen for 2024

14/11/2023

Curly cockapoo coat 😃

12/11/2023

What a great day with 3 of my training clients!
Firstly Bertie and Nutmeg were brilliant together in Bertie’s garden as we work on Bertie’s understanding of Nutmeg and Nutmeg’s confidence.
Then this other superstar, Olive, was brilliant on her walk today acknowledging but not responding to other dogs on her training walk!

11/11/2023

Olive 😄

11/11/2023

This little champ turned 4 yesterday! Happy birthday Cody!!

11/11/2023

Nothing quite like an old dog - love you Rosie!

09/11/2023

Finishing a day of 7 hours of dog walking and training with a doggy walk with my own two 😁

09/11/2023

Picking berries

09/11/2023

Coco

09/11/2023

Ralph

07/11/2023

Gracie

05/11/2023

That’s all the admin and training plans sorted and sent out! Now wine 😄