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30/09/2026

Play is part of every training plan, and the spring pole is one of my favourite ways to incorporate it.

If you’re unfamiliar with this, the spring pole is a hanging tug toy. It’s brilliant for high-drive dogs who need somewhere to put all that intensity.

Used well, and it’s so much more than just a game.

It builds impulse control - can your dog let go of something they desperately want, mid-tug, when you ask?
It builds your relationship through cooperative play (you release the tug).
It builds confidence through the wins.
And it builds your dog’s musculature, keeping them strong and reducing injury risk as they age.

If your dog has a lot of drive and nowhere productive to put it, this might be exactly what they're missing.

28/09/2026

How good is this!!

Ollie and I have been working on leg weaves during his Walk & Trains as a fun trick to get his brain going, and his mum has been working on it at home, too!

The real win here isn’t him learning the weave with me, it’s his owner taking what we’ve built and practicing at home. Training doesn’t hold if it’s only done with me for one hour each week, so the families that see real results are the ones who put in the work at home.

Shout out to Ollie and team! 👏🏼

What should our next fun little skill be? 🤔

Marty is a 2-year-old Kelpie x Border Collie adopted from the RSPCA six months ago. He came from a difficult background ...
25/09/2026

Marty is a 2-year-old Kelpie x Border Collie adopted from the RSPCA six months ago. He came from a difficult background after experiencing neglect, but despite that, he's about as friendly, fun and eager to please as a dog gets. He loves people, he's high drive, and he genuinely wants to work.

The one place that's still hard for him is other dogs. He's fear reactive around them, which is a common pattern in rescue dogs who've had a rough start.

We did an initial consult focused on setting him and his owners up properly, including changing the equipment he was walked on to enable clearer communication through the lead.

Marty loves food and praise, but he can shut down fast if he doesn't get enough wins along the way. Because of this, we worked on keeping training fun so he doesn't give up, clear leadership, desensitisation around other dogs, and understanding his thresholds and body language well enough to truly advocate for him, rather than putting him in situations he's not ready for.

Marty doesn't have to love other dogs; we just want him to be able to see them without losing his mind.

Rescue dogs will always have a special place in my heart, and I have seen firsthand that their pasts do not need to dictate their future. Anything is possible with the right guidance!

23/09/2026

Some dogs need a bit of extra time and encouragement to get into play… Then there's dogs like Badger.

In only our second Walk & Train together, I introduced him to the spring pole for the first time. He was an absolute natural!

The spring pole is one of my favourite tools for dogs like Badger: high-drive dogs who struggle to switch off. It gives him somewhere to put all that intensity rather than the energy manifesting as undesireable behaviours.

Used properly, the spring pole builds impulse control, confidence, and a real way to use their drive instead of just holding it in. For a dog like Badger, who finds it hard to come down from "work mode," having an outlet like this helps him find calm afterwards, rather than just revving him up further.

Not every dog takes to it instantly like Badger has, but when they do, it's one of the best outlets!

Has your dog met the spring pole?

Meet Badger 🐾Badger's not new to me. I first met him about a year ago while he and his owners were staying with another ...
20/09/2026

Meet Badger 🐾

Badger's not new to me. I first met him about a year ago while he and his owners were staying with another client of mine, Renny, and his family. There were some teething issues between the two boys living together which we addressed, then I saw Badger again for an individual consult once he’d settled into his new home.

Now, I’m lucky enough to be seeing Badger for Walk & Trains!

It’s been so great to see firsthand proof that his owners have been putting in the work since I last saw him - his obedience is rock solid! The real focus now isn't teaching Badger new skills, it's helping him find calm. He struggles the moment he's not actively "in work mode," so we're building drive outlets, a calmer baseline, and the confidence to just exist without needing a job every second.

Badger also has the tendency to only respond when he knows treats are coming his way, so we’ve introduced him to intermittent reinforcement to reduce his food-dependency. This means that instead of getting a treat every time he does ‘the thing’, sometimes he will, sometimes he won’t, and sometimes he’ll get a jackpot.

When reinforcement becomes too predictable, it’s easy for dogs to rely on that and only respond when treats are around, but the best training will stick even when they’re not!

With ears like this, it’s really no surprise that Lulu has been flying through her training! ✈️If you remember Lulu’s in...
18/09/2026

With ears like this, it’s really no surprise that Lulu has been flying through her training! ✈️

If you remember Lulu’s intro from a few weeks back, she’s been joining me for weekly Walk & Trains to work on her reactivity on lead, at the gate, and general overarousal. She may be tiny, but she makes her presence known!

A lot of the behaviour that looked like Lulu being “too much” was energy and drive with nowhere to go. Give the same dog a job and direction, and that energy goes to much more productive places rather than barking from behind a fence.

Lulu’s been progressing so well each week. She’s calmer, more engaged, and an absolute joy to work with. I love our outings!

Her owners recently told me they've seen a big improvement in her reactivity, both on lead and in the yard, since we started Walk & Trains. They even managed to walk Lulu and their other dachshund, Tapioca, to their local cafe without any issues — Lulu just chilled out under the table while other dogs sat nearby!

If your dog seems like they’re constantly “too much”, it might simply be something that needs to be directed rather than corrected. If you’re unsure, reach out - I would love to help!

In the great age of social media, it’s easy to fall into the comparison trap.Scrolling through all these amazing owners ...
16/09/2026

In the great age of social media, it’s easy to fall into the comparison trap.

Scrolling through all these amazing owners and their dogs doing great things can be both inspiring and disheartening.

But it’s important to remember that the people you’re watching with their solid connections with their dogs and enviable lifestyles did not start that way.

You’re only seeing the finished product.

Every "finished" dog you see online has months or years of unglamorous, frustrating work behind it that never made it into a reel.

Wherever your dog is right now isn't behind schedule. It's just where you are.

We first met Macy last year for an initial consult, helping her settle into a multi-dog household with her older housema...
14/09/2026

We first met Macy last year for an initial consult, helping her settle into a multi-dog household with her older housemate, Kobe.

Then she hit adolescence, and a whole new set of behaviours showed up.

Adolescence can be an extremely difficult period of development to navigate. The dog who was manageable at six months suddenly seems overstimulated, reactive to people or other dogs, destructive out of boredom, or unable to settle without you in the room.

This doesn’t necessarily mean something's gone wrong; adolescence brings a flood of new hormones, confidence and independence, and most dogs test every boundary they've got during it. This means they need a little extra guidance through this important developmental period.

For Macy, that looks like learning to regulate her arousal and settle around people and activity, building confidence around visitors and unfamiliar faces, working on focus and neutrality around other dogs, and getting comfortable entertaining herself instead of needing constant company.

We've also been building her confidence in new environments, like car trips and safe introductions to extended family's dogs, and finding her the right outlets at the right moments rather than just piling on more exercise.

If your "easy" puppy has suddenly become a lot more work, it doesn’t necessarily mean you’re doing anything wrong, and you're definitely not alone in the struggle. Adolescence is a trying time for everyone - dog included!

Has your dog's adolescent phase thrown you a curveball you didn't see coming?

11/09/2026

As a dog trainer, only a small part of my job is actually about training dogs. Most of it is training the humans on the other end of the leash.

There are dogs that will be all but perfect for their trainer, but fall apart with their owner. Cadbury here is one of them.

While some of the reason behind that can be pre-existing associations and practiced behaviours, it’s more to do with the skills, knowledge, and confidence of the person holding the lead. Skills and knowledge are easy to pass on. Confidence, however, comes with time and practice.

When I was first beginning my training journey with Spike, one of the best pieces of advice I ever received was to take a breath and relax. Without even realising it, I was tensing up on the other end of the lead, anticipating a reaction that hadn’t happened yet. I didn’t have the confidence and trust in myself to navigate those situations, even though I did have the skills.

That’s exactly the gap that I aim to help people like Cadbury’s owner bridge, because at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter how well a dog responds to me if their owners are unable to do the same.

Welcome Clay 💗Clay recently joined me for a Walk & Train and he was an absolute delight to work with!He wants to work an...
08/09/2026

Welcome Clay 💗

Clay recently joined me for a Walk & Train and he was an absolute delight to work with!

He wants to work and loves to please, but sometimes he can feel unsure and just needs a bit of guidance to figure things out.

In his sessions, we’re working on building his confidence and trust in his handler, as well as addressing his leash reactivity and noise sensitivity. It’s not about ‘fixing’ Clay, but rather giving him the clarity he needs to navigate our world.

Border Collies will always have a special place in my heart, especially ones who need a bit more of a helping hand.

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