Paw by Paw Training & Behaviour

Paw by Paw Training & Behaviour Dog behaviourist and trainer offering 121s, buddy sessions and classes in Weymouth and Dorchester Stress free dog training with compassion and understanding.

SPACE NOW GONE Due to sickness I've had a space in Reactive Rovers open up starting on the 25th February. If your dog ba...
20/02/2025

SPACE NOW GONE

Due to sickness I've had a space in Reactive Rovers open up starting on the 25th February.

If your dog barks, lunges at, tries to run away from or maybe even tries to bite other dogs this is the course for you. This course was designed for the owner who would sooner scrub the whole house with a toothbrush than walk their dog. You love them dearly but they're making walks such a challenge and you feel a little stuck.

The course is £199 for 6 weeks and this can be split into a two month payment plan if necessary.

This is the last space in Reactive Rovers until April so a great opportunity to snap up if you want help!

Message this page to secure the spot.

Remember that your dog is your dog and you can decide the rules that apply to them. Now, yes there is the caveat that yo...
17/02/2025

Remember that your dog is your dog and you can decide the rules that apply to them. Now, yes there is the caveat that your dog cannot be a nuisance out and about.

But at home, if you want your dog on the furniture, go nuts. If you want your dog on the sofa but not the beds, you do you. If you don't mind a bit of barking when someone is at the door but just want to be able to tell your dogs to stop barking and have them listen, that's totally reasonable! If you don't want your dogs to bark at all then by all means get training, dependent on breed you may have to train a lot but I support that!

Life with dogs is not one size fits all. The "bad habits" I love in my dogs you may detest, and likewise the ones that make your heart melt may set my teeth on edge. But, I don't live with your dogs, so it's not my business to say what you enjoy about your dogs and vice versa with my dogs.

When I work with clients I check what YOU want before implementing a programme. The majority of the clients I've worked with in the last week I ensured I understand exactly what solution they envisioned in their heads, or what solution out of the available choices I could offer they liked most before we started working on the solution.

There are rare occasions where I suggest that rules should be changed and every time this is due to safety of people or other pets rather than because I mind about that actual rule itself. Even when I implement these rule changes, I try my best to find a compromise between what a family wants and what is going to keep them and their dog safe. But honestly this happens maaaaaybe twice a year.

I'm here to help you implement what makes sense for you and your life with your dog. Not to insert my own opinions and preferences onto a situation I'm not going to be in for a huge amount of time!

One thing that has come up in conversation recently is human mental health and how it can impact our dogs. This can be a...
10/02/2025

One thing that has come up in conversation recently is human mental health and how it can impact our dogs. This can be a tough time of year, daylight isn't yet properly giving us all of the vitamin D we need, and bad weather can keep us inside more than is beneficial.

Here are my top tips for mitigating the impacts of human mental health on our dogs. Disclaimer, I am not a mental health professional, these are things that I have implemented myself over the years.
1. G E T O U T S I D E
I cannot emphasise this enough. This time of year I remind myself that I am a glorified plant who requires sunlight (what little there is!) and it's easier to get if I get outside. Preferably out and about in nature. It never fails to amaze me how much better I feel if I get out and about in nature with my dogs. If your dog's behaviour makes getting outside challenging, try to book a secure field, take a "bodyguard" to ensure that your dog has the space they need.
2. Rest if you need it.
There is nothing wrong with taking some time out from training/pursuing your goals with your dogs. Still try to get outside if you can but there's nothing wrong with taking some time out.

Personally my dogs tend to get one day off from walks/training a week as that works well for my brain/schedule. My dogs also get at least 2 months off of training a year.

If you know you struggle at certain times of year, or that if you go for X amount of weeks at Y intensity then you can schedule in your rest times with your dogs. I schedule in the dogs' months off at the start of the year so that I know when those periods of rest are coming.

3. Prep enrichment/plan in advance if you know you're likely to struggle.
As above, plan for times that you struggle more by preparing enrichment or other activities in advance. I know that my busy months are January, September and December. I prepare additional enrichment for my dogs in November and August so that if my dogs do get more down time, or I am more likely to feel down because of a heavy workload then I can help meet the dogs' needs better. Another thing you could do is book a dog walker or secure fields to ensure that your dogs' walking needs are met. I know I can really struggle with walking dogs in crap weather but if I book a secure field I will turn up for that booking and my dogs will get their walk.

4. Remember you're not alone.
Other dog owners are absolutely feeling the strain as well. I know it feels lonely but you really aren't alone. Always feel free to reach out if you need a reminder that it's not just you.

Let me know if these tips were helpful! I'd love to hear any tips you have for keeping a smile on your face at this time of year.

Leo had progressed on his happiness about going out on walks but then regressed again. We've checked out alternative cau...
07/02/2025

Leo had progressed on his happiness about going out on walks but then regressed again. We've checked out alternative causes for this and everything came back negative so we're sure it's behavioural. I changed the plan from one that directly addressed the area that Leo specifically struggled with to just reminding Leo that going outside can be fun. This worked instantly and he utterly shocked all of us by choosing to leave his cul-de-sac, not just happily but confidently as well! Really looking forward to the next update from this family. I'm hopeful that I'll be getting some good news!

Update on class spaces. Reactive Rovers now sold out until April so if you were wanting a space get booked in for the Ap...
07/02/2025

Update on class spaces.

Reactive Rovers now sold out until April so if you were wanting a space get booked in for the April course ASAP!

And a rare space in the Wednesday Scent Club - a space on this course hasn't been available for months so sn**ch it up quickly!

Spaces going for the March puppy class so I'm currently expecting that class to sell out.

Message this page for more information or to book in.

Gorgeous Louie made a LOAD of progress over Christmas! He's now far less reactive to people, cars and bikes. Dogs remain...
07/02/2025

Gorgeous Louie made a LOAD of progress over Christmas! He's now far less reactive to people, cars and bikes. Dogs remain his biggest struggle but we changed our tact with his programme and he was really able to watch dogs, think about how to respond and make some brilliant choices around them. I love getting to watch dogs go from making undesirable choices to desirable choices and seeing their families trust them more

05/02/2025

The start of January saw Floyd, Mavis, Ziggy, Stanley and Bear join puppy classes! Some of these pupppies were really nervous when classes started so we spent a bit of time exploring the nerves and how best to help them and then moved onto two exercises that help solve the majority of puppy woes (which the class has said have all been very helpful and has changed their daily interactions with that pups already)! By the end of the session the more nervous dogs were already starting to come out of their shell and felt safer. Well done you marvellous puppies!

Dylan had the second session in his behaviour modification programme. Everything we've implemented in our previous sessi...
05/02/2025

Dylan had the second session in his behaviour modification programme. Everything we've implemented in our previous session has helped the household relax with Dylan's behaviour around the new two legged addition to the family. One thing that remained a struggle was convincing Dylan that guests weren't solely there to see him so we implemented some skills and a method to prevent Dylan from jumping up when people first come in and barking when he decides it's his turn for attention. We've questioned some health concerns with Dylan so his programme is on pause until he can have a check up with a veterinary physiotherapist so that we can decide where the remainder of our time is used most effectively.

05/02/2025

Ooooof the Hoopers crews benefitted from the holiday break! With a lot of youngsters in the group it was hugely obvious that they grew up a little whilst we weren't at classes. We've got to be a bit careful about how many tight turns/how much we ask of dogs whose bodies are still developing and this was the first session where we were really able to ask a little bit more from them which Maisie, Harley and Atlas really seemed to enjoy! Swift and Finch LOVED this course and it really suited their crazy collie ways! Chilli and Zippy also enjoyed the course but it was a looong distance for those little legs and I suspect it was a bit of a shock to the system to go straight into a long course after their break as they both seemed a bit sleepy! I couldn't resist throwing Potato's outtake in at the very end 🤣 Potato is so subtle about when she's getting tired and wants to take a break from coursework, it's really hard to reaad her 👀🤔🤣

Well done everyone, I'm so proud of you all and I can't wait to see how you're all doing in a years' time!

I regularly get asked for places people can take their dogs to when they go on holiday. This is a recommendation I would...
05/02/2025

I regularly get asked for places people can take their dogs to when they go on holiday. This is a recommendation I would trust so worth noting for anyone looking!

04/02/2025

Lily's had some glowing comments from her family when I collected her for our first walk of the year. We're really ready to push on with her recall training so that her family can live their dream of walking with her off lead. As you can see she did really well, even if she was a smidge distracted by her reflection in a puddle!

04/02/2025

Canine College crew members Hunter and Ember were back. Both of these guys being adolescents meant that they had been causing some... frustration (I think that's the politest way I can rephrase their owners' comments 🤣) over the holiday period. We got stuck in on topping up those all important life skills and getting some peace back into their households. Well done teams!

04/02/2025

Scent Club classes for the year kicked off with a bang! Everyone was so keen to get started again. There were a few change ups with Maisie coming into season so she joined the Monday group as it's an all girls club at the moment. The Monday and Wednesay groups generally being more advanced started a new scent in the form of catnip before Christmas so we bounced between some catnip and gun oil searches. The Thursday group are sticking to gun oil for the time being, these guys only had a handful of sessions before the holiday break so their first session back was just about topping up on what we did in 2024. Well done Maisie, Potatao, Sonnet, Kobie, Baz, Woody, Toby, Zippy & Sky!

This time of year can be a little tight - we can't all be purchasing Poochi Vuiton for sure! I use a few apps to help me...
03/02/2025

This time of year can be a little tight - we can't all be purchasing Poochi Vuiton for sure!

I use a few apps to help me save money that I thought I'd share with you. They're really easy to use whilst you're already out and about doing things with your dogs or walking them. I don't have any connection to these apps besides using them.

Biscuit - this app allows you to track your dog walks and you collect points. Your dog gets a daily and a weekly goal for their walks (you can't change these) and for each walk you hit you win a certain amount of points, with a bonus if you hit their weekly goal. You can register a maximum of two dogs and if I remember to track all of their walks this app buys me a small takeaway about once every other week. You can exchange points for amazon vouchers and a few high street shops so there's lots of choice. Downsides are that the app can be a bit buggy and I have "lost" walks which upsets me but tbh I'm generally off out again later that day so I tend to just record something that isn't a walk. You do have to provide your dog's microchip number to cash in on bigger reward items but that's a very mild inconvenience.

Macadam - this app tracks your steps and the steps are converted into coins. You can get a max of 200 coins/day (20,000 steps). The catch is that you have to remember to change your steps into coins and annoyingly you can only exchange steps in chunks of 2,500 so you can occasionally lose your points and if you don't exchange them by midnight they're lost! This app does take a while to cash out but if you're using an app like biscuit as well then it's an easy enough one to use for the longer term payouts. You can play games/fill in surveys that help increase the value of your coins. Personally I don't do this but it is an option for those who would be happy to do those.

I'd love to hear if anyone else has similar apps that they enjoy - drop them in the comments!

Update on class spaces. Message this page for more details or to book in.
01/02/2025

Update on class spaces.

Message this page for more details or to book in.

Open your ears for 5 top tips on making the most of out training classes!1. Pack loads of treats, bring a variety as wel...
28/01/2025

Open your ears for 5 top tips on making the most of out training classes!

1. Pack loads of treats, bring a variety as well so that if your dog tires of one you can keep them interested. Definitely pack at least double what you think you'll need!
2. Ask questions! There really is no such thing as a silly question and I can guarantee if you're thinking it, someone else is.
3. Bring something for your dog to do whilst you're listening to the coach. This is especially important for young dogs who get impatient. A KONG with a tube of primula squeezy cheese is always a good shout as you can top it up throughout the class. This will help prevent your dog trying to play with other dogs in the classes whilst owners are trying to listen, barking/jumping at you in frustration and all manner of undesirable behaviours.
4. Do your homework! Even if it's 5 minutes every day, or if you don't have 5 minutes just 5 treats worth of training.
5. This sounds really obvious but apply the training to situations where you want behaviour change. Training is about implementing new behaviours in existing situations, you have to implement the training in those situations in order to see the change. Simply training the behaviours out of context won't improve much for you. Your coach should be able to provide guidance on which exercises will benefit the situations you're struggling in most.

Would you add anything else to this list? Let me know in the comments!

Barking Out Of The Window - Step 1 - ManagementFor those who were wanting to keep track of Sonic's barking out of the wi...
27/01/2025

Barking Out Of The Window - Step 1 - Management

For those who were wanting to keep track of Sonic's barking out of the window, the first step is to manage the situation. Management isn't about actively improving the behaviour. It focuses on preventing the undesirable behaviour from happening so that it can't be practised. We all know how hard it is to stop a habit that we've done for years - dogs are the same, the more they practise a behaviour the harder it is to change.

The layout of our house is such that I can't block Sonic's access to the window unless I crate her and that's not something I want to do. Especially given that the undesirable behaviour could happen at any point so crating for that duration of time is a smidge unethical.

I can however block her visual access to people/dogs out of the window with window film. So here starts my DIY career. Safe to say I won't be giving up the day job (give me a dog with a bite history over anything that requires a tool any day 🤣) BUT if I can do this, anyone can! There is a really nice range of window films nowadays, I opted for something slightly decorative so that if it has to be up for any period of time I don't have to look at something I find hideous (although - maybe looking at something hideous would motivate you to work harder on the training side so pros and cons to this)!

This should simply stop Sonic from barking at things she sees out of the window. Unfortunately she's learnt that if someone knocks at the door or if she hears car doors shut she can jump at the window sill to see outside and I suspect she'll continue to bark in these contexts so this isn't a perfect management solution but it should help reduce it massively.

Other management ideas include:
- simply closing the curtains, this did work for me but I didn't want Sonic learning to shove her nose under the curtain or to live in the dark
- blocking access to your window by using a pen to keep the dog away from the window sill
- moving furniture away from the window if your dog is jumping on the furniture to see outside (this is what had worked with Pumba to prevent this behaviour, sadly Sonic has longer legs 🤣)
- removing the dog's access to the room in question
- if you own the house, and have options you could build something outside of the window that blocks visual access to the road. We have a front garden that with 6 foot fencing would totally block visual access but as we rent that's not an option (and window film is much cheaper!) but if that's a development you were looking to make for other reasons it can impact the barking

If you have any questions about how to manage the window you're struggling on this with, pop a picture of the layout in the comments and I'll do my best to shoot some suggestions your way.

Stayed tuned in for the training element coming soon!

My mum wasn't at all surprised when I became a dog trainer, the picture shows me with a dog we had when I was really you...
18/01/2025

My mum wasn't at all surprised when I became a dog trainer, the picture shows me with a dog we had when I was really young, Tessy. I actually wanted to be a dog trainer at 15, but I decided to study zoology and work with wild animals as that was a "proper" job. I followed through on the zoology ambition right up until the third year exam for my undergraduate zoology degree. In one of our last lectures, we were told that it was near impossible to change laws to help animals in the wild and I decided that was a fight I couldn't face. I had been training dogs on/off throughout my time at university and saw that I was helping people and dogs when I did that so I decided I was going to stick with a career where I could more concretely feel that I was making a change.

Honestly, I've not looked back. Even in the worst weeks of this job, there is still a 121 or a class that got me so excited that I can't wait to turn up for the next week despite the challenges of the job.

I eat, sleep and breathe dogs. My favourite thing to do on a day off is find a beautiful walk with my own dogs. I love nothing more than a day out training and exploring my own dogs. I adore the challenge of working towards obedience and agility goals with Pumba and Sonic. I've done two dissertations on dogs and have been accepted on a PhD programme for further study on dogs. I read about dogs, I listen to podcasts about dogs. If you want to get me talking, you merely need to mention the D-O-G word. I truly love my job. Meeting all of the wonderful clients I have and seeing the moments of joy they have with their dogs, either through the work I do with them or simply just through their interactions with their dog light my world up. They are burned into my brain and when I think back on these moments it's like a cheesy highlight reel out of some rom-com movie.

If your dog displays undesirable behaviours that you would prefer didn't happen, or you'd like to know about fun activities for you and your dog to enjoy together shoot me a message. I'd love to hear from you.

Address

415a Chickerell Road
Weymouth
DT49TP

Opening Hours

Tuesday 6pm - 9pm
Wednesday 9am - 9pm
Thursday 9am - 9pm
Friday 9am - 3pm
Saturday 8am - 6pm

Telephone

+447775448828

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Videos

Puppies 10th January
Puppies 10th January

The start of January saw Floyd, Mavis, Ziggy, Stanley and Bear join puppy classes! Some of these pupppies were really nervous when classes started so we spent a bit of time exploring the nerves and how best to help them and then moved onto two exercises that help solve the majority of puppy woes (which the class has said have all been very helpful and has changed their daily interactions with that pups already)! By the end of the session the more nervous dogs were already starting to come out of their shell and felt safer. Well done you marvellous puppies!

Hoopers 7th-10th January
Hoopers 7th-10th January

Ooooof the Hoopers crews benefitted from the holiday break! With a lot of youngsters in the group it was hugely obvious that they grew up a little whilst we weren't at classes. We've got to be a bit careful about how many tight turns/how much we ask of dogs whose bodies are still developing and this was the first session where we were really able to ask a little bit more from them which Maisie, Harley and Atlas really seemed to enjoy! Swift and Finch LOVED this course and it really suited their crazy collie ways! Chilli and Zippy also enjoyed the course but it was a looong distance for those little legs and I suspect it was a bit of a shock to the system to go straight into a long course after their break as they both seemed a bit sleepy! I couldn't resist throwing Potato's outtake in at the very end 🤣 Potato is so subtle about when she's getting tired and wants to take a break from coursework, it's really hard to reaad her 👀🤔🤣 Well done everyone, I'm so proud of you all and I can't wait to see how you're all doing in a years' time!

Lily Training Walk 7th Jan
Lily Training Walk 7th Jan

Lily's had some glowing comments from her family when I collected her for our first walk of the year. We're really ready to push on with her recall training so that her family can live their dream of walking with her off lead. As you can see she did really well, even if she was a smidge distracted by her reflection in a puddle!

Canine College 6th January
Canine College 6th January

Canine College crew members Hunter and Ember were back. Both of these guys being adolescents meant that they had been causing some... frustration (I think that's the politest way I can rephrase their owners' comments 🤣) over the holiday period. We got stuck in on topping up those all important life skills and getting some peace back into their households. Well done teams!

Scent Club 6th-10th Jan
Scent Club 6th-10th Jan

Scent Club classes for the year kicked off with a bang! Everyone was so keen to get started again. There were a few change ups with Maisie coming into season so she joined the Monday group as it's an all girls club at the moment. The Monday and Wednesay groups generally being more advanced started a new scent in the form of catnip before Christmas so we bounced between some catnip and gun oil searches. The Thursday group are sticking to gun oil for the time being, these guys only had a handful of sessions before the holiday break so their first session back was just about topping up on what we did in 2024. Well done Maisie, Potatao, Sonnet, Kobie, Baz, Woody, Toby, Zippy & Sky!

Hoopers 7.20pm 6th December
Hoopers 7.20pm 6th December

The 7.20pm class also worked on their layering and these dogs smashed it! Finch is still only a few weeks into this class and is getting some seriously impressive distance and listening skills going on and Atlas did the most distance he has ever covered and is still very much a baby. Well done boys!

Hoopers 6th December
Hoopers 6th December

After the stables had an exciting delivery of some new show jumps, my lesson plans for Hoopers had some quick alterations. We started to work on the skill of layering which is where an obstacle is between the handler and the obstacle the handler is sending the dog to - helpful for hoopers and our distance work. This wasn't a skill I was planning on working on for a while but actually the 6.30 crew did a bloody good job of it and I think all of them made the most progress they have made over recent weeks! Blooming good job Zippy, Chilli and Ozzy!!

Scent Club 6th December
Scent Club 6th December

The new Friday Scent Club crew, Ozzy and Milo had a fantastic session. Ozzy can get a bit distracted by environmental opportunities to sniff so working out and about round the stables is a great way to help him work through those difficult challenges. Milo has really started to "get" scent work and is now able to work through distractions, search exterior walls and tractors! He tuned in so well to the tasks I set him which is amazing considering he can be reactive to horses and he didn't get distracted even once! Well done boys!

Wednesday Scent Club saw Ozzy come to work on some of his fears around the venue, by the end of the session Ozzy was loads more confident in the environment - the magic of scent work! Woody, Maisie and Baz all started learning about cat nip and the new indications we're going to be working on from there. These guys flew through their indication work so we started some very basic baby searches! Well done everyone!

Delicious puppy Dave worked on the basics of recall in his most recent class. As you can see, he did really well!

Reactive Rovers Buckley, Teddy and Maya had a flipping brilliant session! Teddy and Buckley worked on exercises that made them look like the other was going to come over and invade their space a little and they absolutely smashed it. Maya worked on making her own choices and how to trust her feelings around other dogs which worked really well for her. I love ensuring that each of the dogs have a tailored plan to their needs rather than having all of the dogs work on a cookie cutter method, this is so crucial for progressing a dog's reactivity training most effectively.

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Stress free dog training with compassion and understanding. Working with owners to overcome any problems encountered in a way that builds the relationship between owner and dog.