When you’re looking for a trainer, behaviourist or other pet professional, I think it’s worth thinking about a few things. How do you feel after working with them? How does your dog feel? And here’s an important one that doesn’t get talked about nearly enough: what happens when you ask questions about their approach, or even say 'I don’t want to do that'? Anybody on my email list will probably recognise the subject line 'Boundaries'. Some of you may even have received that e

I don’t think I could get up from a chair these days without saying the word 'right' and slapping my thighs. I am very definitely British 🙈 My dogs have definitely noticed.

Only the learner can decide what is rewarding. It's as simple as that; the dog gets to decide what they do and don't like, and we can only know the effect of an offered consequence (treat/toy/tug) by the impact it has on whatever we were training at the time.

One of those days where you think you've got it all planned, but forget some crucial bits...

I mean, how, why and when did somebody decide that throwing a thing, gettting the dog to go and get it, bring it back and repeat was a...

Not going to lie, Loose Lead Walking (LLW) is one of the most common issues that people post about in dog training related groups....

A question I've seen asked more than once goes along the lines of 'when do you use 'stay' versus 'wait'?' For the most part, my answer is...

One of the hottest talking points in dog agility at the moment is the ever-increasing speed of our dogs, and the impact this has on their...

Does your dog default to take it or leave it? Stay or go?

This morning we went for a walk in the woods - a location we go to at least once a week (although we'll be taking a break as they're...

A common issue I see mentioned goes along the lines of 'I've tried food, but my dog's just not that interested'. At the basic level,...

A question that has come up a few times recently in one of the canine fitness groups I'm in is how to build duration in conditioning...

This is a question that comes up time and again - what is/was/should be the first thing to teach a new puppy or dog in you household? ...

Cue related things have come up a few times in my training in the last week, so I thought I'd write about them! Let's start at the...

It doesn't matter what you're training, whether it's the basics or complex competition skills, there are only three reasons why your...

I wrote a lengthy Facebook post last week, which you can read here. This Facebook Live by Denise Fenzi covers what prompted it. I'm...

I live with a spaniel. Until recently I lived with two. I'm a member of a few spaniel related groups on Facebook (not many - more on...

I video a lot of my training, and I share many of those videos in different places - to help answer questions, or maybe get feedback on...

Ripley LOVES to tug! The first thing that Ripley does when he gets up in the morning is to find something to pick up and carry around....

Stationing is where your dog gets on to a platform, mat or other defined area and stays there until asked to do something else. It has...