Follow My Lead Falkirk

18/04/2025

It was wonderful to spend some time with this little lady yesterday. This was my second session with Portia the Podenco, and I’m so impressed with how well she and her humans are doing!

At our first session six weeks ago, Portia was incredibly nervous and shut down. She had two safe zones - her crate and the couch beside it - and would not leave those safe zones for anything! Her humans had been waiting for three months for her to grow in confidence, but Portia was stuck in ‘survival mode’ and might never have felt brave enough to venture outside of her safe room.

It can be so hard to walk the line between supporting a terrified dog and slowly expanding their comfort zone, and Portia’s humans really didn’t want to get things wrong and risk damaging the tiny bit of progress they’d made. Our first session looked at reading her behaviour and understanding what things to push, and how, in order to help her move forward.

It’s safe to say that Portia is now thriving. Within a day of our first session, she could go out to the garden for toilet breaks. Since then, she can explore the garden off leash, go for walks, travel in the car - and she loves making friends!

Yesterday’s follow up session included some suggestions for enrichment, free work, and training exercises to help her continue to grow in confidence and strength. She even has some cheeky behaviours that we want to work on (no, Portia, you’re not supposed to sit on the human’s head and chew their glasses off their face 😂) and I’m so excited to see how this team works together going forward.

Portia is a wonderful young girl and seeing her bond growing with her humans is so special. I’m so glad I could be a part of their journey.

14/04/2025

Reminder that all classes are now outdoors, other than my Wednesday 7.30pm which is indoors for one more week 😁

Check your emails/ text messages for a link to the suggested parking and meeting point.

For tonight’s classes, the weather forecast is promising but I’d recommend bringing waterproofs just in case!

06/04/2025

Just a reminder that I’m on holiday this week - classes resume on April 14th 😊

I should be up to date with messages and training plans, but if you’ve been missed, please email me ([email protected]) and I’ll get back to you ASAP when I’m back at my desk next week.

02/04/2025

‘Tick season’ never really disappeared this year - i was hearing reports of the odd tick here and there all the way through the pretty mild winter. But the spring sunshine means that numbers are rising again, so it’s time to be vigilant!

Prevention is better than cure when it comes to tick-borne illnesses. A lot of topical (spot-on) treatments can have nasty implications for your dog and for the environment - neurotoxin-based flea and tick treatments can be devastating for the ecosystem, especially if your dog likes to jump into ponds and rivers - so I always recommend a more natural approach.

This will be our third year using Harbour Hounds EM Tick-Off necklaces, which I’ve found to be remarkably effective. Add in some CSJ Billy No Mates supplement, or K9 Herbal Solutions Bug Off spray, and you should have effective protection from ticks all summer long.

Nothing will be 100% effective against ticks, so it’s also important to check your dog thoroughly at least once per day. If you find a tick, NEVER crush, burn, or smother it with oils or alcohol - distressing the tick will cause it to regurgitate blood from its gut into your dog, which is how illnesses are spread!

Instead, gently remove it with a tick twister - and THEN crush it, burn it, or smother it to your heart’s content, because ticks are the worst 😂

02/04/2025

❗️Two spaces left - next puppy class block starting April 21st❗️

I currently have two spaces left in my upcoming puppy class block. If you've messaged me already about spaces, then I am holding a place for your puppy, but please get your registration forms/ deposits in ASAP!

£100 for an 8 week class block.

Aimed at puppies under 6 months old, my classes cover a wide range of essential basic skills to set you and your dog up for success. This year I'm also delighted to be incorporating the APDT - Association of Pet Dog Trainers Good Companion awards into my classes.

This class will run on Monday evenings, 6pm-7pm, in California. Spaces are limited so please get in touch ASAP - you can reach me via text/ WhatsApp on 07724735487 or email [email protected]

For dogs over 6 months, my Life Skills class may be suitable. There's currently a waiting list for this class but please get in touch if you'd like to be added to my list.

25/03/2025

Going by my social media posts, you’d be forgiven for thinking I just haven’t existed all through March 😆 It’s actually very much the opposite and we’re experiencing a ‘chaos month’.

This happens every now and again - my diary is pretty much full, and then I squeeze in a couple of urgent enquiries, and then it only takes one or two vet appointments/ sick days/ vehicle issues to throw everything off the rails.

My response time for messages and turnaround time on training reports has been very slow over the last couple of weeks, because there just haven’t been enough hours in the day. I’d like to thank all of my clients (and prospective clients) for being so patient while I get things back on track.

I’m hoping to catch up with admin between now and Friday - if you’re currently waiting for a reply/ report and haven’t heard from me by the end of Thursday, please drop me a(nother) message as you may have been missed.

Thank you everyone - it’s a great sign that I’m so busy but it’s been a very intense start to the year!

25/02/2025

It was lovely to get a bit of sunshine for this afternoon’s session with this beautiful girl 😊

Miniature labradoodle Keira is a happy pup who just wants to say hello to everyone - but this leads to a lot of stress and frustration for Keira and her humans when she constantly pulls on the lead, dances on two legs, or barks at other dogs.

Today we slowed things down, switched the short leash for a long line, and worked on a lot of different skills - engaging with her human, enjoying the environment, and making good choices around exciting or scary distractions. We even managed a few calm, polite greetings with off-leash dogs.

Keira was fab, despite lots of distractions in the park, and her human picked up our new handling skills very quickly too. Lots of homework for this pair but they’re off to a great start!

24/02/2025

Consent-based handling has come up in a few conversations with my clients recently. Tonight’s puppy class included some cooperative handling for harnessing and towel drying wriggly puppies, and reading the body language when puppies are keen to cuddle versus when they find physical contact overstimulating.

Here’s a video I filmed on this subject a while back - it includes a nice example of consent testing with Gimli, and how I handle situations such as medical handling when I can’t take ‘no’ for an answer.

What does 'consent' mean to your dog? Consent is about trust, and listening to your dog when they're telling you how they feel. Consent-based handling is an ...

18/02/2025

I also worked with handsome Rayito during last week’s session, and he’s yet another gorgeous sighthound that I would have just loved to bring home 🥰 Rayito is more dog selective than foster brother Carito, and will need patient and understanding humans who can keep working with him, but they’ll be rewarded with the most loving companion who will cuddle up on the couch with them all day. If Rayito sounds like your perfect match, get in touch with PINS for more info ❤️

18/02/2025

I had the pleasure of working with this lovely boy last week. Careto is around three years old, sweet natured, playful, and very trainable. He was a little shy with me initially but by the end of our session he was starting to feel very affectionate, which just melted my heart 🥰 If you have a galgo-shaped space in your life, consider getting in touch with PINS and enquiring about this charming goofy boy.

18/02/2025

I’ve been very behind in posting my class awards, but over the last few weeks we’ve had some wonderful hard-working teams achieve their APDT Good Companion awards 🥰

Congratulations to Bones, Riley, Holly, Innis, and Guinness on achieving their Improver awards, and to Juke and Snoopy for passing their Foundation awards.

Well done teams!

11/02/2025

This isn't listed as a current outbreak on the Scottish Government website - but better to be safe than sorry! Avoid contact with birds at the Helix and keep your dogs on leads or under close control.

Customer Notice

05/02/2025

🔥 UPDATE - One space left in my next class block - please get in touch if you'd like to sign up! 🔥

❗️New puppy class block starting February 17th❗️

£100 for an 8 week class block.

Aimed at puppies under 6 months old, my classes cover a wide range of essential basic skills to set you and your dog up for success. This year I'm also delighted to be incorporating the APDT - Association of Pet Dog Trainers Good Companion awards into my classes.

This class will run on Monday evenings, 6pm-7pm, in the Shieldhill Welfare Hall (moving outdoors when the evenings get lighter). Spaces are limited so please get in touch ASAP - you can reach me via text/ WhatsApp on 07724735487 or email [email protected]

For dogs over 6 months, my Life Skills class may be suitable. There's currently a waiting list for this class but please get in touch if you'd like to be added to my list.

27/01/2025

Reminder that there are NO CLASSES this week as I’m off on a girl’s trip 😁 Back to normal next week!

23/01/2025

Storm Eowyn

A red weather warning should be taken very seriously! I don’t have any client-facing appointments tomorrow so I’ll be venturing out to sort the horses and then battening down the hatches for the rest of the day.

If possible, walk your dogs today and then skip tomorrow’s walks - instead work on training in the house, scent work, or other fun activities that you can do safely indoors.

Remember to check fences and gates before letting your dogs out into gardens!

And if you must walk your dogs tomorrow, it’s advisable to keep them on leash (high winds can be very disorienting, making recall unreliable) and avoid areas with risk of falling trees or flying debris.

Stay safe everyone!

20/01/2025

I just know I’m going to regret this one in the long run, but when the 19kg child wants to sit on my knee RIGHT NOW, who am I to argue? 😂

What sort of nonsense are you accidentally encouraging from your dogs?