Anxious and fearful small dogs support

23/05/2022

This is what every Monday should be like 🤣🤣

21/05/2022

So this selfie is when Amelia (my daughter), Clover and myself were walking 100miles in a month to raise money for

20/05/2022

Another learnt trick ...Spin.😍

Would love to see any tricks your dog does...

19/05/2022

Does your dog know who’s boss? Does the wolf in him need taming? What’s the best way to stop bad behaviours? And when reaching for those dog biscuits, who, exactly, is training whom?

19/05/2022

Have you ever given any thought to how important sleep is to your anxious dogs? I never realised how important this was - I thought they just slept when they want to but they actually need I believe around 14 hours per day. For our anxious dogs this is even more important because sleep releases good feels and reduces their anxiety. Im not talking about little 5 min nap im talking about those eye flickering, running in their dreams type sleep...😴

Since learning this when Clover was younger we use to put her in her crate at certain times of a day to induce the sleep (only when she was comfortable with her crate), as she has got older she has learnt to switch off by herself and it does make all the difference.

Her favourite place now is of course of the sofa with a blanket

18/05/2022

Wednesday words is coming direct from Clovers mouth this week. She a very vocal little dog anyway but I try and teach he to understand when its ok and not ok to be barking.

Here she is learning the queue 'talk' - when I get out the bath she is super excited so its a good time to practice. 🐾 🙉

Have any of you taught your dog anything to control behaviors you do and dont want? (only positive of course)

17/05/2022

Why should we let our dogs sniff on a walk?

1) It's how they 'see' the world
2) It decreases stress levels and heart rate
3) It improves their behaviour
4) It allows them to process the information they are receiving
5) It is mentally stimulating - you'd be amazed how much a good old sniff can tire a dog out!
6) It's their walk and that's what dogs like to do 🐾

17/05/2022

Do you ever give your dog the option to make the right decision? (at a safe distance of course)

Its amazing how giving them that little bit of control can really help with their confidence and making the right decision.

We have been working on this a lot lately with Clover - getting a safe distance between us and another dog allowing her to engage with the dog and then disengage back to me receiving a yummy treat! Positive association with scary things.

This video is a little demonstration - there is a black dog (clovers nemesis) a few meters behind us.

16/05/2022

Its Monday again where does the time go?

This weeks motivation is Clover meeting a noisy piggie..no barking, a little unsure to start with but great success 🐷 🐶

14/05/2022

So important and so true ❤️🐶

It’s mental health awareness week and it’s important to note that advocating for your anxious dog is incredibly hard and it can take its toll on you.
It can make you question yourself. Are you doing the right thing? But using your yellow is giving your dog a voice. People can visually see that your dog needs that all important distance & space.
Remember that your dog thanks you every day for being their hero. And you’re not alone in the way you feel.
You are the kind of best friend that dogs dream of. 💛

14/05/2022

Todays in from a lovely few days we spent in Wales - Clover loved this as there was lots of grass and no dogs 😁



Note - always got a treat pouch is now an everyday essential

13/05/2022

I have a massive FRIYAY this week - Clover accepted someone else into her trust circle, its taken a few calm meetings but finally my friend has been accepted into the fold. For Clover once she trusts she loves hard!!

This is how I now manage Clover and we have had a lot of success making sure I advocate for her, tell people to not touch her, or make eye contact and allow her to take it all in her own time. She is getting more and more confident at accepting people who take my instructions...of course lots of treats and telling her how brave she is helps.

These moments melt my heart in a way that someone without an anxious dog will never understand.

12/05/2022

So Clover is really scared of dogs BUT she has absolutely no fear of our Pygmy Goats. No I still havent learnt why she has fear of her own kind but not goats 🤔 Do any of your doggies react to dogs but not other things that really surprise you?

P.S Our goats are called Biscuit and Porridge.

# dogtraining

11/05/2022

Sometimes having an anxious dog can feel very overwhelming and the challenge seems HUGE....ive tried to learn to take each day at a time and not to over think the bad moments. I now know if Clover has had a busy day - the following day I dont take her out, we do enrichment at home as I know she will be trigger stacked (training term for seeing lots of her triggers and her bucket filling up and overflowing) which means no amount of training will work on these days and make both her and me feel bad.

Try and be kind on yourselves as well as your doggies.

Better illustration of dogs bucket in the photos.

10/05/2022

About 6 months ago I never ever thought we could take Clover into a coffee shop and her not bark at everyone. I knew I needed to find a way that I could take her with us so not having to leave her in the car that she would also feel safe. I bought a bag (cool quilted black one of course) and started to introduce it at home. Everytime she went in their of her own free will she would get a treat, now when this is out at home and im cooking or we are eating she goes in her bag by herself as she knows there she gets treats. We have now moved this to when we are out and she now goes in the bag while we are in a cafe etc and I gave her something yummy to eat. This way she gets a break from everything around her and we get to eat!



The photo is Clover sitting in her bag in a cafe 😍 🐾 🐾

09/05/2022

Morning everyone and its the start on another week.

This is my Monday motivation the sun shining on my fur baby. Whats yours?

08/05/2022

Are yours sleeping? 🥰

07/05/2022

Simply as it says - we would love to see you and yours 😍 🐾 🐾

06/05/2022

My Fridays post is just to say you are all doing a great job, dont let anyone tell you otherwise - love your doggies with all your heart and protect them.

Has anyone experienced negative comments when their dog has been reacting or nervous?

05/05/2022

When we first got Clover we also had a 16 year old dog and Clover just loved her. Unfortunately we lost Lilly when Clover was a few months old and its strange because Lilly and one other dog are the only dogs that Clover will accept. Id like to think one day we could rehome a rescue dog and keep thinking that a calm confident dog may help Clover as when she is with her 'uncle' a calm Cavalier King Charles she copies everything that he does - hes goes for a wee she goes for a wee, he sleeps she sleeps its really heartwarming.

Id love to hear from any of you that have been in a similar situation and been able to introduce another dog into your family

Photo of Clover and our gorgeous Lilly

04/05/2022

I think it would be fair to say with anxious, fearful and nervous dogs we all have our good and bad days including our dogs. Everyday has certainly been a learning curve for me and has sparked even more of a passion in me to work with animals. Ive just signed up to start my dog training qualifications in July on the road to hopefully helping out owners with their training journeys. Ive done lots of short courses already, volunteer at puppy classes and volunteer for an amazing behaviourist - I want to try and learn as much as I can. Im just also starting to reads lots of books.

03/05/2022

Clover likes to bark at everything when she is in the car and not in her crate so quite often we just sit in a carpark and watch the world go by. You will see in the video that I reward when Clover disengages from the thing she finds scary and is barking at - positive reinforcement that scary things actually mean yummy treats.

Have you tried any of this with your doggies and have you seen any improvement?

Please come on over to our group we would love to hear from you - anxious and fearful small dogs group

02/05/2022

Well this Mondays motivation is just our Clover loving a game of ball - shes so noisy I think she loves the sound of her own voice. Any of your furbabies love their own voice?

# dogtraining

28/04/2022

What has been your biggest challenge having a anxious and fearful small dog?
For me it was the lack of understanding that these type of dogs even existed, I had no idea that a puppy could be scared and nervous. You just see all these happy go lucky little pups having had them myself since a child and never did I imagine they could feel like this.

It took me about 4 months to really understand, after much studying, reading, researching and now have a completely different outlook.

Id love to hear your challenges.

Photo of the day she arrived 😍

'cute # dogtraining

27/04/2022

Ever thought what your dog may be trying to communicate by watching their body language??

What do we think Clover is trying to tell us here??🐶

26/04/2022

26/04/2022

Today im going to share with you a tip that has helped us with keeping Clovers claws short. Im not sure if your doggies are like ours but she hates the nail clippers coming anywhere near her. So I did some research and found that you can buy scratch boards. Instead I got a piece of wood and some strong sandpaper and made my own.

Several weeks training Clover to touch the board, hiding bits of food underneath to start, when she scratched she got the treat. Then move on to adding a que 'scratch' everytime she scratches the board and treat.

Now we dont need to hide the treats and just use the que 'scratch' and it helps to keep her claws short without the drama of the clippers.🐾

Come on over to Anxious and fearful small dog support group to see the video

25/04/2022

Hi Everyone, So we are starting the week a fresh with a new # for each day -

Please come on over to to join in we would love to chat to you.

Our Monday motivation is a picture from our recent holiday, here's Clover enjoying watching the ducks without any barking or reaction 😍

18/04/2022

Making people aware of our anxious dogs in yellow...love my new car sticker My Anxious Dog UK x