Bright Animal Training

24/04/2025

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If you are going to have a dog, you are going to have to make sacrifices. You cannot expect to have an animal that was designed to live primarily outside and bring it into your house and not have to make changes or adjustments. A dog is not an ornament, a commodity or a display. A dog is an animal. You are sharing your life with another species. This is life with a dog.

Your yard will not be pristine. The grass will get burned from their p*e. Holes will be dug, bushes shredded, mud will come in the house. You cannot ask them to not p*e in your house and then also try to control even their outside bathroom. Please see how unfair this is. This is life with a dog.

You house will need management. Your counters will need to be clear. Shoes will need to be put away. Laundry room blocked. Kids toys picked up. Some things will get destroyed anyway. This is life with a dog.

They will bark at noises. They will protect their territory. Sometimes fiercely. They will not welcome strange people into the home easily even if you “know them” because this is in their genetic DNA. They don’t understand family gatherings and they don’t always see things the way we do. They won’t love playing with every dog they meet. This is life with a dog.

They will need enrichment and work and productivity. They will need training that is kind and fair and consistent and then maintenance to maintain that training. They will need guidance and coaching and lots of reinforcement to help them perform unnatural behaviors against their natural phenotypes. This is life with a dog.

They will mature and change and modify in their likes, behaviors and preferences as they age. Their behaviors aren’t guaranteed. They are not robots and they can be mercurial as they grow into their own personalities. They are allowed to change their mind and shift naturally just as we do. They need to be seen for what and who they are, not what and who YOU want. This is life with a dog.

Life with a dog is not a human right. It is a privilege and a responsibility and an education. They are animals and should be treated and expected to behave as such. That doesn’t make them any less loved or family members and it doesn’t make them any less deserving of respect, in fact it makes them more so.

Enjoy your life with a dog, and help them enjoy life with a human.

- Helen St. Pierre

15/04/2025

Happy birthday to my beautiful, sweet, anxious, loving little Freja - 4 today! ❤️❤️❤️

07/04/2025

Start 'em young

06/04/2025

My girls ❤️

03/04/2025

My little family ❤️ .

28/03/2025

Walkies to see the ponies to help my partner, who hS taken over Clio's farrier training. After a very painful abscess & then a fright during her next farrier visit (needing sedation for the next visit) I've gone back to basics to counter condition Clio's poisoned hoof handling. Whilst I was heavily pregnant & with the baby now here, I'm very grateful to my partner for caring for the ponies for me & the handling of Clio during her training. Despite irregular training due to the baby, Clio is doing beautifully. All done using positive reinforcement & cooperative care 🥶 . forcefreehorsetraining

18/03/2025

The most recent member of the Bright Animal Training family has arrived! Inka & Freja are adjusting really well to what they must consider an 'ugly bald puppy'. 😂

Just confirming that, whilst I am still for the time being not taking on any new clients, I am still contactable by 'old' clients re. Questions & updates - just please bear with me regarding sp*ed of replies!

18/03/2025

As someone who continually struggles with professionals caring for my animals, to whom consent is considered laughable & not enforced despite my requests, this message cannot be stressed enough.

Consent-based care isn’t optional. It’s everything. And last week, someone I trusted chose to ignore it.

My beautiful, gentle 14-year-old Percy came home from his groomer shaking. She claims to use a force-free, stress-free approach. She does not.

Percy is deaf. He's partially blind. He's frail. And yesterday, someone I trusted to care for him with compassion chose to do the exact opposite.

I can't stop thinking about how scared he must have been.

Here's the thing about operating without force or fear - either you're doing it, or you're not. There's no middle ground. There's no "consent-based and compassionate, except when I'm annoyed or want to get the job done quickly."

We had discussed his boundaries extensively. He doesn't like his paws touched. His nails are sensitive. His muzzle and private areas are off-limits.

She knew I'd rather he come home half groomed than been forced through anything.

She KNEW all this.

And yet, for whatever reason, she did the opposite.

She shaved his entire muzzle. Shaved his private areas. Shaved his feet and clipped his nails. All the things we had explicitly agreed she would NOT do if he showed any discomfort.

To do this she would have HAD to restrain him, to force him, to subjugate him to a process that would have petrified him.

This wasn't an accident. This wasn't a miscommunication. This was a choice.

A choice to prioritize her process over my elderly dog's emotional wellbeing.

A choice to ignore his boundaries because they were inconvenient.

A choice to send a message: "Your dog's comfort doesn't actually matter to me, even though I pretend it does."

When a groomer, vet, trainer or any professional who works with dogs puts the end result above the emotional journey to get there, they are failing that dog.

Full stop.

I would rather have the scruffiest dog in town than know my boy spent even one minute feeling afraid and helpless while someone forced procedures on him.

I'm devastated that I couldn't protect him from this.

That someone who used all the right words - "low stress," "positive," "force-free" - chose to do the exact opposite the moment it became challenging.

When we talk about "consent-based care" for dogs, some people roll their eyes. "It's just a dog," they say. "Sometimes you have to just get things done."

But if you've ever looked into the eyes of a dog who trusts you completely to keep them safe... if you've ever felt the weight of that responsibility... you know.

You know that "just getting it done" isn't good enough. Not even close.

I don't care how perfect a groom looks if it came at the cost of my dog's dignity and trust.

I don't care how convenient it is to force a dog through a procedure instead of taking the time to build trust.

I don't care what anyone thinks about being "precious" with my dog's boundaries.

Because at the end of the day, I'm all Percy has. I'm his voice. I'm his advocate. And I failed him by trusting someone who used kindness as a marketing slogan rather than a genuine commitment.

To every professional working with dogs:
Words matter. Promises matter. But your actions matter most.

If you claim to be "low stress", "no fear" or "force free," but get frustrated when a dog doesn't comply, you're not what you claim to be.

If you advertise gentle handling but prioritize efficiency over emotional wellbeing, you're not what you claim to be.

If you think a result justifies trauma to get there, you're not what you claim to be.

All our dogs deserve better. They deserve practitioners who truly understand that consent isn't optional - it's everything.

You have the right to demand that of every professional in your dog's life.

Percy deserved better. And I'll spend every day making sure he never experiences anything like that again.

Because real love means respecting boundaries, even when it's inconvenient.

Real care means prioritizing emotional wellbeing over results.

Really working without fear isn't just marketing - it's a promise you keep even when no one is watching.

If the process isn’t kind, the result doesn’t matter.

09/03/2025

On Wednesday, our boy Blue's health deteriorated. He'd been on a fine line for a long time with various health conditions, slowly getting worse. On Thursday morning he was put to sleep. A day I've been dreading for years.

Blue was mine & my partner's shadow for 12 years. Always there, and always where we were. He is the dog that got me into behaviour & training. My animals have always been like children to me - needing care, protecting, bringing up. But Blue has always been an equal partner. He looked after us as much as we did him. And I trusted him with my life - I knew that if anyone ever threatened or tried to harm me, he would give his life to protect mine no matter what. He protected my partner & his building site, warning off dodgey visitors. I believe Blue is the reason we have never been burgled. Even as an elderly & poorly dog a couple of years ago, he warned off a drunk bloke who was verbally abusing me through my open car window. That is a seriously special kind of dog, who also gave me a passion for guardian dogs/breeds.

If I ever felt anxious or wobbly, I'd bury my head in Blue's fur & felt like everything would be alright. I can barely remember a time where Blue wasn't in our lives. And now my rock is gone. My best friend, my shadow, my boy.

For clients who have messaged me about their dogs, please bear with me - I'll reply as soon as I can, but I need a bit of time.

Pic is of 'The Voyage' hanging in our house - the last journey of an elderly person & their beloved dog together. Pinned underneath is Blue's collar.

05/03/2025

👏

‘They can say no’: how techniques used to train zebras and rhinos could benefit horses. Read more via link below

28/02/2025

This cannot be stressed enough

The link between pain and behaviour is a topic I have a particular interest in.

With an ever increasing frequency I often meet young dogs with health issues that contribute to undesirable behaviours and/ or slow progress in terms of their training.

As I’ve spoken about so many times before- dogs don’t show pain or discomfort as we do and please do not assume that because your dog is young they do not have pain.

Have a look at some examples below of dogs I’ve seen recently in clinic

1️⃣ - 2 year old lab.

Referred to the vets for anxiety and reactivity around her owners young son- guarding the sofa from him, serious confidence issues, also becoming reactive with other dogs. No limping, lameness, no functional issues, no outward signs of pain.
Sent onto me by the vets for a pain assessment, after my assessment I recommended X-rays which led to a subsequent diagnosis of Hip dysplasia.

2️⃣- 6 year old big bull breed.

Very noise phobic and then started to become reluctant to go on walks - still really energetic and super happy to play and run and jump on and off furniture and run up and down stairs- sent for a pain check by Victoria Cooper Canine Behaviourist. On physio assessment I found pain in her low back and hip - sent her back to vets for pain relief and X-rays and she was given a subsequent diagnosis of lumbosacral disease and hip dysplasia.

3️⃣- very cute energetic 1 year old poodle cross.

Always been over excitable around other dogs and nervous of new situations. Lunges at runners and dogs when out and about. Very barkey but friendly. Again no limping or lameness. Loved chasing the ball in the garden- would play for hours until the ball was taken away from her.
Went to see the vet who passed her onto me for a pain check - I found patellas that were loose on both knees. Subsequent X-rays led to a diagnosis of bilateral luxating patellas.

4️⃣- 2 year old cocker spaniel

Normally no issues ,very sociable and friendly - suddenly started serious resource guarding at home and then bit his owner - sent to me by the vet for a pain check and afterwards subsequently diagnosed with elbow dysplasia

I could go on and on with these examples but I think they paint the picture.

⚠️ All these dogs have one thing in common. They were experiencing pain⚠️

They were not being naughty or aggressive or dominant or testing boundaries.
Their pain was triggering undesirable behavioural changes.

It is now accepted that the most accurate method for evaluating pain in animals is not by physiological parameters but by observations of behaviour.

None of the above issues would be resolveable with addressing behaviour modification .
Indeed if your dog is not responding to a treatment programme as you would expect, in many cases this means that there is pain present limiting the animals ability to proceed.

Some of them will have drastic improvement from the moment the pain is addressed however often, once pain is addressed , behavioural intervention will then be required to address established and learned avoidance responses.

If your dog has any behavioural issues, take them to a vet and ask for a thorough examination or a referral to a suitably qualified physiotherapist. If you’re still not sure, get a second opinion.

You CANNOT train the pain or discomfort out of your dog. Address this first and foremost before you consider trying to modify their behaviour .

If your behaviourist or trainer doesn’t immediately advise a veterinary visit if any aggression, excessive ‘naughtiness’ or strange behaviour is present, walk away.

Please always rule out pain being the cause of your dogs behaviour change first.

Please share to increase awareness

28/02/2025

28/02/2025

Horsey spring clean (with a before shot of my buckets 🥴)

27/02/2025

Who are we to say a dog, or person isn’t in pain?

How do you know?

If you think of it in human terms I’m sure you must know if people who live in chronic pain who still get on with their lives. Go to work, raise a family, laugh, have fun and be kind to other people.

Pain isn’t always indicated by screaming and crying. We as humans often hide our pain and just push on through.

The same applies to dogs. When I hear humans say I’ve checked my dog all over in they aren’t in pain it makes me sad. We just don’t know. Being able to touch your dog all over and move their limbs doesn’t mean they aren’t uncomfortable. Dogs that are in pain can still love life and run around like loonies.

I hear all the time that they aren’t in pain it’s just a behavioural issue. I agree the unwanted behaviours we see are a behavioural issue but what is the under lying cause if these?

I also often hear “my dog limps but she’s not in pain”. If that is the case then why is she limping? It’s harder to walk in 3 legs rather than 4! The behaviour of ‘limping’ must be caused by something?

Pain can look like crying and screeching but it can also look like…

💤 being unable to settle

🥩 loosing their appetite

📣 excessive barking

🧸 resource barking

💥 reactivity to dogs and humans

🦴 shaking

🛌 excessive sleeping

🫦 biting, jumping, grabbing & hu***ng

🚗 not liking the car

🦮 not being able to walk nicely in the lead

😤 grumpiness

🪮 not liking being groomed

👃🏼 not liking other dogs sniffing them

The list goes on and on. So if you are even slightly concerned about your dog you should get them checked by a Vet or Vet Physiotherapist. If you are told your dog isn’t in pain but they are still showing lots of unwanted behaviours then it’s fine to get a second opinion.

If I ask you to see a vet or vet physio then this is only ever for your dogs benefit. I gain nothing from this apart from knowing I have done my job properly by having a holistic approach and checking out every element of your dogs life and health.

21/02/2025

Just gutting that this is going on & a dog is losing it's life due to no fault of his own, having suffered on his own in kennels for 2 years. The xl bully ban has a hell of a lot to answer for

💔 ZEUS UPDATE 💔

Today was the last day to lodge an appeal hearing for Zeus, we are very sad to tell you that after much thought and soul searching his owner has decided not to proceed further.

Zeus has been held in police approved kennels since 2023, long term kenneling of dogs is not ideal. His Dad feels that as the appeals process is not a quick route, it would be unfair to leave Zeus in the kennels for another extended period of time.

We are so sad that Zeus won't be saved but we absolutely respect the decision of his owner.

Zeus is a gentle boy caught up in legislation through no fault of his own, or of his owner. It's a sad reflection of a law which targets dogs purely on appearance. Zeus was seized when one of his owner's other dogs was involved in an incident, all 3 dogs were seized.

After a lengthy investigation one dog was returned as no involvement in the incident, the dog which did cause injury was also returned home. Zeus sadly was in police kennels when the ban was brought in and couldn't be registered under the amnesty due to this.

An exempt dog can only be away from the registered keeper for 30 days, if his owner had registered him he would have been in breach of this exemption condition by the time the police investigation was completed.

10/02/2025

10/02/2025

When the “Do Not Pet” signs are a little too subtle...