Dog Squad Bridgnorth

19/03/2025

Big welcome to little Ralph! Settling into groups by making friends and acing his recall 🥳😍

18/03/2025

A sunny start to the week at last! ☀️

07/02/2025

Thinking of changing to raw food? Get in touch with Liv Bridgnorth Raw Food 🩷 Liv will help with transitioning into raw and feeding the correct weight one protein combination for your dog 🐾

Stock & Pricing List for Dougies Raw.
To order or for any enquiries please feel free to email me on [email protected]

25/01/2025

Saturday Delivery! Thanks Lucie! Cosmic Dog Gear

18/01/2025

🖤 Small Biz Saturday 🖤

Appreciating fellow small business owners is all part of the journey!

Here’s some of our faves 👇🏼

🖤 Dog Squad Bridgnorth
🖤 Caitlyn’s K9’s Natural Treats
🖤 Slee'paw'vers Bridgnorth
🖤 Dinky Dots Dollhouse
🖤 NT Beauty
🖤 Sarah Ann Outdoors
🖤 The Bridgnorth Dog Club

www.cosmicdoggear.co.uk

15/01/2025

Don’t listen when anyone tells you your dog isn’t your baby! 🤪 Here is your reminder to always make a trade with your dog when they have something they shouldn’t. This prize was bought off Nely for 6 pieces of kibble (prices may vary).

25/12/2024

🎄 Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas 🎄 Thank you for another great year of the Squad 🐾

20/11/2024

20/11/2024

Some beautiful snowy days in the woods ❄️

23/10/2024

A big welcome to Moose today. Another energetic chocolate spaniel joining the Squad! 😍

25/09/2024

Great course from Nick!

One of the things I felt like I made a bunch of mistakes on with Onyx was neutrality. That is, making distractions like dogs and people just noise in the environment and not valuable.

Like so many people I was so keen to prevent reactivity that I let her socialize more than I should have.

Then once I did realize this, I hit the brakes but I didn't really fully understand what to do instead. Online it seems like there aren't really a lot of resources about WHAT to do, just a bunch of WHY neutrality is so important.

Unfortunately although the best trainers are very aware of this and are implementing it as standard - I don't think this has fully hit the mainstream yet.

I meet a bunch of people raising dogs and see them socializing in the old way. Letting them play constantly, letting them meet everyone and thinking they're doing the right thing.

Sadly it's often really difficult to get people to embrace this quickly enough to prevent problems. Usually they end up having to try to fix issues like lack of control and reactivity later because they messed it up early on following the conventional wisdom.

Even if you do have the right mindset going in you will be hard pressed to find anything that really breaks it down and tells you what to do (not just what not to do).

I've decided to make an online course to do exactly that. This will essentially be the course that I wish I had a few years ago.

And the timing is perfect because I can show you what I'm doing with my newest puppy 👇

This is for you if...
✅ You have a young dog and want to get it right from the start
✅ Your dog is easily distracted on walks
✅ You are a pet trainer that wants to learn more about raising dogs to be neutral to distractions

The course will be out soon. If you'd like to be notified when it's out and get an early sign-up discount then join the wait-list here: https://nick-swwseuop.scoreapp.com

07/09/2024

Adolescence occurs between six months and 18 months of age—a time when guardians typically struggle the most with their dogs. Some guardians are so overwhelmed and underprepared for this developmental stage of their dog’s life, they choose to surrender the dog to a local shelter or rescue group. In a recent study published in the Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science found that the majority of the surrendered dogs (47.7 percent) ) were between 5 months and 3 years of age (M.D. Salman,John G. New, Jr.,Janet M. Scarlett,Philip H. Kass,Rebecca Ruch-Gallie &Suzanne Hetts, 2010)

The neurobiology of adolescence is fascinating, with some key events that alter both the structure and function of the brain.

During canine adolescence, changing s*x hormones effect the animals stress responses. Adolescent dogs have a decreased ability to process information they are receiving from the environment including the presence of dogs, vehicles, people, or really anything around them. They behave in ways that might feel frustrating or upsetting for the dog’s person.

The connectivity between the frontal cortex (responsible for decision making) and amygdala (responsible for emotional processing) decreases, resulting in less behavioral control. We see increased risk taking and more sensitivity to fear.

So what does this mean? This could mean that what was once no big deal to the dog now feels scary; what was once easy to do is now stressful; what once made sense is now confusing. At times, the world can feel like ‘too much’ for the adolescent dog.

As your puppy undergoes this transition into adulthood their inner world is intense, even chaotic. Many pet owners experience an increase in undesirable behavior and find themselves becoming increasingly frustrated. In turn, our own frustration and impatience can cause us to act unpredictably. This adds to our puppy’s inner turmoil. When the inside and the outside are both unpredictable it can be difficult for our dogs to adjust.

If you have an adolescent dog, what can you do? You can give your dog the time and space to observe what is going on around them when on leash at a distance away from the activity when possible. You can give your dog long walks to sniff and explore in nature, giving their brain time to decompress. You can offer your dog a quiet space to sleep so that they can consolidate memories effectively. You can continue training various skills, breaking them down into easier steps that can be generously reinforced.

By understanding what our adolescent dog is experiencing we gain greater compassion and understanding. When we approach adolescence with patience we create a world that is predictable and gentle so our puppies grow up to be their best adult selves.

05/09/2024

A big Welcome Back to the lovely Freddie 🖤 It makes me so happy to have returning clients after they take a break for babies/house moves/career changes. Not only is it wonderful to see the dogs again but it’s great to know that people don’t feel the need to look elsewhere and trust us enough to come back to the Squad after some time away 🥰

03/09/2024

Hello Newbie! A big welcome to the Squad Winnie 😍

26/08/2024

15/08/2024

A couple of members of the Squad made famous on their Dog Friendly holidays 😍 and their wonderful humans as well of course!