My dog growled at me today Yes, I am a dog trainer, and my dog growled at me. And you know what, I liked it. I reinforced it! I am often called to see ‘aggressive’ dogs who have been so labelled because they have growled, but what is it about growling that gets us so […]
Apparently, it’s impossible to train dogs completely without force? Dictionary Definition of force: “coercion or compulsion, especially with the use or threat of violence.” I stand by my force-free stance, and I make a promise to you as my client or potential future client. As a force-free behaviour consultant, I promise: I will explain fully […]
Firstly, let me state that I am a force free, reward based trainer. Now, I’m going to tell you something about punishment that some reward based/force free trainers don’t want you to know. It works. Of course it works! We’ve seen it work in all sorts of animals and it’s scientifically proven through hundreds of […]
On getting a new puppy, one of the first things people think of (after ‘man, this puppy pees a lot!!’) is socialisation. It’s a word that’s well associated with puppy ownership. But what does it mean? Socialisation is a process by which animals learn what is safe and what is rewarding to interact with. This […]
I recently had the pleasure of discussing the challenges, benefits, and details of raising children around dogs with mum of two, Rachel Fletcher who also owns a Basset Fauve de Bretagne, Kipper. Below is her interview. Have you grown up with dogs? Mostly, though I wouldn’t say I had a good understanding of their behaviour […]
Last week I wrote about giving our dogs more control over their everyday lives and allowing them to make choices of their own. This week I move on from the ‘why’ to the ‘how’. I received a good question on last week’s blog regarding how you can allow a puppy to have more choices whilst […]
What if I told you that tomorrow, I would be the one to decide when you get up – and you are not to get up before or after that, I will then decide when, and what you can have for breakfast. After breakfast, I will tell you to put on your coat and shoes […]