Snout and About

30/10/2025

👑 Kali update 👑

So many of you gorgeous folk have been asking about Kali and I'm very pleased to report ...... she is absolutely AMAAAAAZING and loving life at Snout HQ 😍

Her energy is endless, her smarts are way too powerful at times and my favourite bit? She's being a total sassy, demanding, cheeky madam.

Its beautiful to watch this hardcore working girl retire and be able to do the heck what she wants, all day and every day.

We're as thick as thieves from day one and I just worship the ground her wee paws walk on 🥰

To date nicknames include Kalatron, Kaliante, Kalalicious and OI 🥹

30/10/2025

In the Dog World.....

After years working in the charity sector and the same divide exists today. Animal Rights Activists and Animal Welfare Advocates across the globe.

The animal activist approach is a philosophy or political stance:

- Every animal has an absolute right to life.”
- “We don’t euthanise dogs.”
- “Any home is better than no home, they’ll thrive in time.”

To me, this isn’t welfare. It’s ideology.

Animal welfare asks tougher, more compassionate questions:

👉 Is this dog physically and emotionally well?
👉 Can they safely live alongside people?
👉 Are their needs met or are they just surviving?

It’s simply not possible to truly assess a dog’s character or suitability while they’re in a kennel.

Many rescues, underfunded and overstretched, do their best, but even amidst the big guns and top charities, hugely inappropriate decisions are made when it comes to rehoming and long term welfare.

I don’t believe every dog should be in a home. It is not safe or appropriate for some dogs to be in human homes.

I also do not believe in long term kenneling as a solution either. We see all too often the impact this has on our dogs mental and physical health.

I do believe that every dog deserves a welfare-rich life without compromising safety, and I do believe we need to do so much better in making sensible and informed judgements when it comes to rehoming.

This also means making very difficult decisions, but behavioural euthanasia is a huge part of compassionate animal welfare and needs to be seen as such, particularly when it comes to long term welfare in inadequate environments or, public safety concerns.

I know this might spark some controversial thinking, but as an advocate for animal welfare, I feel it's a very valid conversation to have and thought to sit with.

Feel free to share your thoughts....

30/10/2025

29/10/2025

If you love your dog but sometimes feel you’re winging it, you’re not alone. Most of us grew up around dogs, picked up habits from family or TV, and then… stopped. That’s normal human psychology. But dogs are living in our homes, and a little education can make life safer, kinder, and a lot easier.

Why we think experience is enough

1. Familiarity feels like expertise. When something is part of daily life, our brains label it “known,” even if we’ve never formally learned it. “I’ve had dogs forever” is often a handful of dogs in one context, helpful, but not the same as broad knowledge.

2. Dogs are tolerant. They adapt to our routines and forgive our mistakes, which can hide gaps in our understanding, until something goes wrong (a bite “out of nowhere”).

3. Survivorship bias. If the old ways “worked” for previous dogs, we remember the wins and forget the close calls or differences in breed, age, health, and environment.

4. Modern life changed. Dense housing, busy streets, fewer off-lead spaces, and more visitors/kids/pets create pressures many dogs from “back then” didn’t face.

A bit of behaviour and body language knowledge prevents the most common accidents: “sudden” reactivity that was actually clearly signposted, if we knew what to look for.

Common myths that keep us stuck

“He’s just stubborn.” Many “won’t” problems are actually “can’t” problems pain, fear, or confusion.

“He knows what he did.” Dogs read patterns, not morals. If timing or clarity is off, they learn something else.

“He’ll grow out of it.” Puppies grow out of very little without guidance; most things are grown into by repetition.

What should you do:

Learn dog body language; teach your family the early signs. It pays off for years.

Make consent a habit. Call a dog over rather than reaching in. Growling gets space and only then do you fix the reason.

Manage the environment. Management prevents rehearsals of the very thing you’re trying to stop.

Reward for calm, checking in, loose leads, and moving away from triggers. Small wins, repeated often.

You’ve had dogs your whole life. Great. Imagine how good you’ll both feel when you can also say, “I learned their language.”

29/10/2025

I'm still alive Yo 😆🙈
Extremely exciting albeit busy times... cant wait to announce our goings ons 🔥

29/10/2025

🎉 Exciting News! 🎉

We’re thrilled to officially welcome Caroline to the Snout & About team as our new Dog Sports Specialist bringing her incredible experience, energy, and expertise to clients across East Cork, Waterford, and beyond.

Caroline is one of Ireland’s most accomplished and qualified dog sports trainers, with over 20 years of hands-on experience and certifications including:
🐾 Certified Pro Dog Trainer (Absolute Dogs Ltd.)
🐾 Pro Dog Trainer Geek – Behaviour Course (Absolute Dogs Ltd.)
🐾 Certified Mantrailing Global Instructor
🐾 Certified Bronze Scent Detection Instructor (UK Sniffer Dogs)
🐾 Certified Canine Hoopers World Instructor
🐾 Canine First Aid Qualified (Absolute Dogs & AniEd)

Her work focuses on helping dogs thrive through structured, play-based training using movement, enrichment, and reward to build focus, confidence, and emotional balance.

Caroline will be offering virtual training, in-person sports sessions, seminars across Ireland, and group classes in East Cork and Waterford.

Whether you’re looking to explore Mantrailing, Scentwork, Hoopers, or Treibball, Caroline will help you and your dog discover the joy of learning and teamwork together.

Stay tuned for upcoming class dates and workshops, this is one you won’t want to miss! 🎯
ie

26/10/2025

18/10/2025

There’s a very good reason why we refer to the incredible Orlaith O’Mahony and the team at Animal Care Hospital, Douglas.

Orlaith is one of those rare vets who combines sharp clinical insight with compassion, curiosity, and genuine collaboration. She listens, she questions, she investigates and she cares.

We are endlessly grateful for her commitment to getting to the heart of each case, especially when behaviour and medicine overlap.

At Snout & About, we believe no single professional can do it all and that’s exactly why collaboration matters.

When behaviour consultants, vets, trainers, physiotherapists, groomers and nutritionists come together, we create something far more powerful than any one discipline alone:

A complete, welfare-centred support system for both dogs and their people.

Every time we work with Orlaith and the Animal Care Hospital team, we’re reminded how transformative this approach can be for comfort, confidence, and quality of life.

Here’s to the power of collaboration, compassion, and community.

Thank you to Orlaith and her team at

17/10/2025

10/10/2025

AUTUMN 🍂
What a glorious time of year for our dogs.
We made some tweaks to Ziggy's passive habituation session, increased intensity, decreased proximity and my gawd did she do well.

Happy hound, happy human.
SWIPE FOR DOGGO CONTENT 🐾

Absolute STAR ✨️

10/10/2025

🐶New dog study alert!!
'Influence of early life adversity and breed on aggression and fear in dogs' (open access).
The crew have just published this study on how early life stress affects dogs, gathering data from a whopping 4,500 pooches!!
🐶Guardians were asked about traumatic events in their dog's lives, such as abandonment, physical abuse, dog/animal attacks, being frightened by a person, physical injury, physical punishment and being tethered outdoors.
🐶Such early life adversity - especially in the first 6 months - increased the risk for both fear and aggressive behaviour.
🐶Similar findings have already been documented. However, what this study also found is that the impact of this early life stress 'is not evenly distributed across breeds, with some being especially sensitive, and others less so.'
🐶But they also point out that breed and life history are just 'part of the puzzle' and the importance of always considering each dog as an individual.
🔴Unfortunately, reporting on this study by some media outlets has included false information on the groups findings relating to pit-bull type dogs (no surprise there 😢), so be aware!
See my stories for clarification on this from themselves!

10/10/2025

Is Dog Day Care Good or Bad for Dogs?

The truth is, it depends.

For some dogs, a well-run day care offers safe play, structure and companionship.

For others, it can be noisy, overwhelming, and lead to over-arousal, stress or frustration.

Every dog is different and so is every day care.

The key is knowing what your dog needs, how to spot the signs of stress or fatigue, and what questions to ask before enrolling.

We’ve created a free evidence-based guide to help you make the best decision for your individual dog.

It includes:
✔️ Questions to ask when choosing a day care
✔️ Behaviour and health considerations
✔️ Signs your dog may not be coping
✔️ What a “great” day care looks like

📩 Email [email protected]
to request your Free Day Care Decision Guide.