Dog training advice for real life

As our dogs get older, life often starts to feel a bit different. Their walks might become shorter, they may take longer to get moving in the morning, sleep more deeply or need more breaks throughout the day. Things they once found easy, such as jumping into the car or chasing after a ball, may no longer feel quite so comfortable. It can be hard to watch this change. But supporting an older dog does not have to mean their world becomes smaller. In fact, senior dogs can stil

Does your dog seem to go from relaxed to 100mph in seconds? Perhaps they bark at every sound, jump all over visitors, grab the lead when it comes out, become wild after a walk, struggle to listen outside or find it almost impossible to settle at home? Owners often describe these dogs as “hyper”, “too excited” or “full of energy”. And while some dogs are naturally lively, the behaviour we are seeing is not always a sign that they need more exercise. Sometimes, they are over-a

When a dog’s behaviour changes, it is easy to focus on just what we can see: the barking, growling, ‘being stubborn’, reluctance to walk, pulling away, snapping or seeming “grumpy”. Dogs may behave differently when they feel frightened, frustrated, overwhelmed or confused. They may also behave differently because something hurts. Pain can often be difficult to spot, particularly when it develops gradually. Dogs are very good at carrying on with life, even when they are in pai

If your usually attentive puppy has suddenly become more distracted and excitable, isn’t listening to you and has seemingly forgotten everything they have ever learned, don’t panic, they may have entered the amazing world of adolescence! Adolescence can feel like a really difficult time for both you and your dog. A dog who was settling really well may start finding it harder; a puppy who previously greeted dogs nicely may become more cautious or over-excited; recall may beco

Bringing a new puppy or rescue dog into your family can be incredibly exciting. However, if you already share your home with a cat, it is important to remember that they may not be quite as enthusiastic about the new arrival as you are! Your cat already knows where everything is, has established routines and probably believes the entire house belongs to them. Suddenly introducing an excitable puppy or unfamiliar adult dog can make their home feel unpredictable and unsafe. A

If you share your home with a puppy, there is a very good chance they have already made off with a sock, a slipper, a toy or something they absolutely should not have. It can be scary and frustrating, particularly if the item is valuable or unsafe, but rest assured that stealing is a totally normal puppy behaviour. From your point of view, understanding why it happens makes it much easier to respond in a way that keeps your puppy (and your stuff) safe and stops the stealing b

Does your dog growl when you approach their food bowl? Run away with stolen objects? Freeze when you reach towards something they have? Perhaps they guard toys, chews, their bed or even a favourite person. This is known as resource guarding, and although it can be worrying for owners, it is important to understand that your dog is not being dominant, naughty or trying to take control. Resource guarding is usually about one simple thing: your dog is worried about losing so

A visitor walks through your door and your dog launches themselves at them. You ask your dog to get down, turn away or gently push them off, but moments later, they are jumping up again. Jumping up can be frustrating, embarrassing and, with a larger dog, potentially dangerous. Quite often we humans train our tiny cute puppies to jump up by giving them a huge fuss every time they do it! When they get bigger and are jumping up on us, we wonder what they are doing it! Some of

Barking can be incredibly difficult to live with. Perhaps your dog barks whenever somebody walks past the window. Maybe they become noisy when they see another dog, hear something outside or want your attention. Sometimes it can feel as though the barking begins the moment you sit down - and never stops! When we are tired, embarrassed or worried about upsetting the neighbours, it is understandable that our first thought is to make the barking stop! But what if we asked ourse

Many people start to worry about fireworks around October, when the evenings begin drawing in. In fact, August or September is a much better time to start preparing your dog for what can be a terrifying ordeal. Once fireworks have begun and a dog is panicking (panting, trembling, pacing, hiding, barking, trying to escape or unable to eat), learning becomes extremely difficult. Starting early gives you time to help your dog feel safer, introduce firework sounds carefully and

Before I became a dog trainer, I already knew that dogs had a wonderful way of bringing people together. So many of my friendships begin with a conversation on a dog walk. You see the same people in the park, your dogs stop for a sniff and, before you know it, you are chatting about everything from training and treats to work, family and life in general. Our dogs give us a reason to get outside, explore our local area and speak to people we might never otherwise have met. Ove

Were you dreaming for years about getting a puppy? Did you spend hours, days and weeks planning every single detail, from the perfect breed for your family to puppy proofing your home and spending LOTS of money on every bit of kit imaginable? And did you dream about the day your would bring this little fur baby home and how wonderful it would be? Did you then discover that this perfect little ball of fluff is actually a little shark disguised as a puppy and now you’re cove

(Dog Training Advice in Romford, Essex & Surrounding Areas) If you feel like you have the most stubborn dog in the world, you are not alone. Many owners struggle with what feels like stubbornness in their dog. They won’t walk, won’t come back when you call them, pull on the lead and switch their ears off. It can feel frustrating and sometimes overwhelming when you run out of ideas of what to do! The truth of it is that dogs generally aren’t being stubborn at all. In this bl

Why Your Dog Doesn’t Come Back Outside (And How to Fix It) Does your dog have perfect recall at home, but none outside? You’re not alone! This is one of the most common struggles many dog owners face. Teaching your dog a strong recall is one of the most important skills you can give them. If they slip their lead or get out the front door, you need to know they’ll come back to you and not run off expecting a game of chase. So how do we build a recall that actually works in

If your dog pulls on the lead, you are not alone. It’s a very common problem that many people experience. Your dog walks should be the best bit of the day, both for you and for your dog, but when your dog is pulling on the lead, it can be stressful, frustrating and sometimes even dangerous if your dog is particularly strong. Sometimes people think that their dog is just being stubborn by pulling, or deciding not to listen to them. But the truth is that there are many reason

In the last blog, we looked at some of the reasons why dogs pull on the lead. These range from excitement and frustration to fear or anxiety, and in some cases, a lack of clarity about what we expect from them. Also, dogs often have a history of being reinforced for pulling, making this their default behaviour. In this blog, I want to talk about something that can make a huge difference to both loose lead walking and recall: engaging with your dog while you are out on walks.

In the last blog, we looked at the many reasons why dogs pull on the lead and why it’s never about them being stubborn or choosing not to listen to you. If you haven’t read that yet, it’s a great place to start. This blog is going to help you work on laying strong engagement foundations that will set your dog up for real success, not just with their loose lead walking, but also with recall and other behaviours. As we laid out in the last blog, you are effectively competing

This is blog 3 in a loose lead walking series, so if you haven’t yet read the first 2 blogs, you can take a look at them here as this one will make more sense to you then. In the last blog, we looked at how building engagement through eye contact and response to name can really help your dog start to communicate better with you on walks. This alone can really transform how they walk on the lead. Adding some additional methods can get you from good to great, so read on to fi

This is the final part of 4 blogs in my loose lead walking series, so if you haven’t yet read the previous blogs, I’d really recommend going back and starting there, as this will make more sense to you then. In the previous blogs, we covered: Why dogs pull on the lead How engagement and communication change everything How to set yourself up for success before you leave the house Now it’s time to put it all together so you can have a successful loose lead walk. You are all

Does your dog often feel like they never switch off or have to be on the go all the time? Do they get over excited, jump up a lot, bark, nip, pull on the lead, do zoomies? Fear not, there is nothing wrong with your dog, this is all perfectly normal behaviour, but there are things you can do to help them regulate all this energy and emotion so that they can feel more relaxed and content. Often I hear people talk about this in terms of their dog having too much energy. While