Bella's Buddies - Puppy Training & Pet Services

Bella's Buddies - Puppy Training & Pet Services Positive reinforcement based training to build happy relationships between animals & their guardians

Hi Buddies 🐾Long time, no see! I've had a few less buddies for the last little bit while I've been furthering other ende...
05/06/2025

Hi Buddies 🐾

Long time, no see! I've had a few less buddies for the last little bit while I've been furthering other endeavours but things have been ticking away outside of the socials.

A recent thing that I think is super cool and I'm excited to share, is that I graduated again and got this shiny new piece of paper 🎓

When we are working towards building or changing behaviours in our animals, we often need to make changes in our own perceptions and behaviours. It's important to me that I am able to support and empower guardians through these changes, having been there myself I know how hard it can sometimes be.

Not only is my new certificate very pretty, but it also helps me to better support you and your pet to become the dream team you're destined to be 😍

Cambridge based servicing locally and remotely with regular trips to Auckland.

Beautiful beardie x Eevee is a member of the big feelings club, where sometimes the training wins look a little differen...
28/05/2024

Beautiful beardie x Eevee is a member of the big feelings club, where sometimes the training wins look a little different than for dogs who aren't usually anxious. Being able to chill in the front yard and pause to take this picture were big wins for her 😍

Adventures with the best boy Ranger - I had the privilege of looking after this special munchkin a few months ago and it...
09/04/2024

Adventures with the best boy Ranger - I had the privilege of looking after this special munchkin a few months ago and it was such a joy to be able to go back out on all of our old favourite walks, though at a much slower pace than we once did. It had been over a year since I had seen him last and the pure, uncontained excitement when he spotted me arriving was so heart melting.

Ranger was one of the first few dog reactive dogs I worked with and one of the OG Bella's Buddies - we had trainer only adventure and training walks a few times a week for several years before I moved down to Cambridge and loved exploring the local on leash spots - on leash doesn't mean less adventure after all!

With all of my regular trainer only dogs, I pour so much time and energy in to our work together it's inevitable I get a bit attached, which is why I feel so lucky when I get given the opportunity to visit my Auckland dogs - even though they're not regulars anymore I still miss my Auckland buddies!

I hear often from guardians that they feel like they're doing everything wrong. And I get that, for sure! If you're real...
01/09/2023

I hear often from guardians that they feel like they're doing everything wrong. And I get that, for sure! If you're really struggling with some of the behaviours you're seeing in your animal it can be hard to feel like you're getting anything right.

I promise you though, for all the times people have told me they feel this way, I have not once met a single pet guardian that is doing EVERYTHING wrong. In fact, most people are doing plenty right! Often you've even got the right idea and just need to add or tweak a few things here and there for everything to fall in to place.

Even when there is lots going on and we need to change quite a few things - you're still not doing it all wrong! It's okay to be doing the best you can with what you have available right now. You can't know what you don't know yet.

Chances are that no matter what, you've still got at least two things spectacularly right - you love and care about your animal and you're learning so you can make the changes that you need to.

Nobody could ask for more than that 🐾

Branch Manager Chloe, at your service 🐶
26/08/2023

Branch Manager Chloe, at your service 🐶

Handsome giant Archie has had a bit of a break from sessions over the wetter months (who am I kidding, all of the months...
19/08/2023

Handsome giant Archie has had a bit of a break from sessions over the wetter months (who am I kidding, all of the months have been wet this past year 🙈) but is excited to be back to work on some fun new stuff! Look at that face, butter wouldn't melt! 🐶

The idea that our animals owe us nothing can be a tricky one to sit with. I once had weekly lessons with a coach that wo...
13/07/2023

The idea that our animals owe us nothing can be a tricky one to sit with.

I once had weekly lessons with a coach that would tell me time and time again that 'your horse gets 23 hours a day in the paddock with all his bills paid, he bloody well OWES you an hour of good work when you ride'.

Realistically - we choose to bring animals in to our lives. It isn't compulsory. We choose where they live, what they eat, how much they can move, where their outings are, what enrichment they get.

Even when we aren't interacting with them directly, we are still controlling so many aspects of their lives. Then we tell them that they have to go and do things they would rarely if ever choose to to on their own - walk on a lead, sit, not sniff on walks, get in a metal box on wheels that moves, jump silly painted sticks in a funny sand square, all sorts. Why? What's in it for them? Are we paying them for their efforts or do we think that providing the basics is enough? Do they get to opt in or do we decide for them?

When you really start to unpack it, do they owe us behaviours or is it us that owes them ours?

Ellie the pony was the best girl for her co-operative care session the other day! 🐴She has to have medication via inject...
10/07/2023

Ellie the pony was the best girl for her co-operative care session the other day! 🐴

She has to have medication via injections each month and unfortunately had an iffy experience last time around and wouldn't let anyone come close to her neck anymore.

Teaching her how to be an active participant in her own care through a start button behaviour and spending time desensitizing to as many parts of the process as we can in advance will help make things nice and predictable for her so she is better equipped to cope on real injection days.

*syringe pictured is EMPTY with no needle*



This is something I needed to hear so much more often than I did when I was a newbie. I was privileged to start training...
03/07/2023

This is something I needed to hear so much more often than I did when I was a newbie. I was privileged to start training dogs force free, but I had a long history of more traditional training with horses before crossing over.

I remember right from the very beginning, being consistently shamed by coaches and other authority figures for being too soft, too kind, letting my animals 'get away' with 'bad' behaviours, not 'correcting' them, not pushing them to work hard enough or 'respect' me... if I had a dollar for each similar comment I've heard in my time with both dogs and horses, I'd be able to buy a house in Auckland.

It was such a relief to learn later on that that's not how any of it works and wanting to be gentle with my animals and being patient and respectful of where they were at wasn't turning them in to poorly behaved monsters, my issues came from me confusing the heck out of them with my inconsistency and lack of understanding how they learned. A few quick tweaks and life was much easier and less confusing for everyone!

I still hear similar comments all the time about horses and dogs alike - that training issues come from being too soft and lack of 'respect'. I know there are people out there who feel exactly like I did early in my training journey.

So here's your permission to bring all your kindness and softness to your training with your dog, horse, cat, or whichever species you choose. Just remember to learn and then bring your consistency, too.

I'm back Auckland Buddies! Well, for the week anyways. I'll have space for a bit of training and walking in the Central/...
22/06/2023

I'm back Auckland Buddies! Well, for the week anyways.

I'll have space for a bit of training and walking in the Central/Eastern Bays areas and pet feeding in Glendowie/St Heliers.

DM for booking information!

Whether we're talking about our dog 🐶 or our horse 🐴, the language that we use to do so is important! It shapes our perc...
13/06/2023

Whether we're talking about our dog 🐶 or our horse 🐴, the language that we use to do so is important! It shapes our perception of our animals and influences our expectations and the way we train them.

Remember that meme from a wee while back that goes along the line of if you invite someone to your cottage in the forest it sounds nice and cozy but if you're inviting them to a cabin in the woods it suddenly sounds far more sinister. Same, same! Just subtle shifts in language can have quite a pronounced effect.

Go have a swipe and check out a couple of easy language swaps to start you off!

If we want our animals to behave in a particular way, it is our responsibility as guardians to make sure the environment...
11/06/2023

If we want our animals to behave in a particular way, it is our responsibility as guardians to make sure the environments we put them in facilitate the performance of said behaviour.

This will be fluid too - the ideal environment will change depending on where your animal is at with their training, how they are feeling, whether you're working to teach a new behaviour, modify an existing unwanted one or desensitize triggers.

Managing the environment and learning what is appropriate for yourself and your animal's current needs is one of the most important skills we need in order to set our learners up for success, but it can take some practice with your trainer to get the hang of.

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