Much Ado About Dogs

11/08/2026

I saw a post recently from someone whose anxious/reactive dog had a pretty horrible run-in with several off-lead dogs in a local park.

One line stuck with me. They felt that all the work they had done building their dog’s confidence had been undone in that one incident.

I can understand why it would feel like that. But I don’t think it’s necessarily true.

A bad encounter can absolutely knock a dog’s confidence. It can knock the owner’s confidence too. But regression isn’t the same thing as erasure, and sometimes the bigger challenge is what we carry into the next walk: tighter leads, more scanning, more avoidance, and an expectation that the dog is now going to struggle.

So this week’s Dog House blog is about what happens after the incident.

What do you do that day? What about the following day? And what happens the next time you go back to the same park, route or environment?

Most importantly, how do you work out what impact the experience has actually had, rather than deciding in advance that you’re back to square one?

One bad afternoon does not get to define everything that came before it — or everything that comes next.

What to do in the minutes, hours and days after an unwanted dog encounter.

13/07/2026

A lot of dog training is judged by the big moments.

Will your dog come back when called?
Can they walk past another dog without pulling?
Can they settle in a pub or café?
Can they cope when visitors arrive?

Those moments matter - of course they do - but they are the end goal not the starting point.

They are built in the quieter, more ordinary parts of daily life — the waiting, the settling, the walking past, the noticing something interesting and choosing not to react.

This month’s blog is about neutrality: teaching dogs that not everything in the world needs a response and why we train for the days when nothing happens!

You can read the full blog here:

When I talk about neutrality, I do not mean turning dogs into robots. I do not want dogs to lose their spark, their playfulness, their curiosity or their character. Most of us like dogs precisely because they are animated, social, funny and occasionally ridiculous. Neutrality is not about flattening...

23/06/2026

Cwtch is back home after having the abscess on her neck drained and treated.🙏

A week or rest and recuperation ahead of her and quite a bit of medication. 💊

Now we just need manage this crazy weather! ☀️

23/06/2026

21/06/2026

Off to the vets this morning with Cwtch. She’s been subdued for a few days and yesterday we found this lump on one side of her throat. I’ll update later!

08/06/2026

One of the most useful things to remember about dogs is that they are learning all the time.

Not just when we decide we are “doing training”.

If your dog pulls towards another dog and gets there, he’s learned something.

If he jumps up and gets fuss, he’s learned something.

If he pesters at the table and eventually someone gives in, he’s definitely learned something.

That’s why I’m quite firm on a few things. Not because I want dogs to be robots, and not because I enjoy being strict for the sake of it. But because the stuff we allow dogs to practise has a habit of becoming the stuff we later want help fixing.

This month's blog is about some of the lines I tend to hold with dogs, including on-lead greetings, food manners, front door chaos, too much freedom too soon, setting dogs up to fail, and why embarrassment is such a terrible basis for training decisions.

It also talks about neutrality, which I think is massively underrated.

A neutral dog is not a miserable dog. It’s not a shut down dog. It’s a dog who can notice the world without needing to react to every single thing in it.

For a lot of dogs, and their owners, that is life-changing.

Full blog here:

Every good dog trainer has lines they hold.Mine are not about being strict for the sake of it. I am not trying to turn dogs into robots, suck all the joy out of their lives, or pretend every walk should look like a police dog display.That is not the point.The point is much simpler: Dogs are always l...

13/05/2026

A surprising number training problems are not really training problems.

They are lifestyle problems.

Poor sleep. Too much stimulation. Inconsistent routines. Lack of fulfilment. Confusing communication inside the home.

These things shape behaviour far more than most people realise.

I was reminded of that recently after chatting to somebody in the park who was convinced their dog was “stubborn” and “just not listening anymore.”

A few small changes around rest, structure, and engagement made a much bigger difference than they expected.

So this month’s Dog House blog looks at 10 questions worth asking yourself before blaming the dog, the breed, or the training itself.

Including:
• Why crates and x-pens can be hugely valuable
• Why many dogs are actually overtired
• The difference between management and training
• Why consistency inside the home matters so much
• How fulfilment and breed instincts influence behaviour
• Why progress should be judged by trajectory, not perfection

Sometimes improving behaviour starts long before the lead goes on.

Before you assume that the training isn't working, ask yourself these 10 questions first.

04/05/2026

You see it every year.
Same walk, same time, same routine… even when the mercury tops 25C.

And to be fair, I get it.
“I’ve got to get to work.”�
“He won’t go in the garden.”�
“He needs to get out.”
All fair enough.

But the dog doesn’t know any of that , they just feel the heat on their fur and their paws.
They tire quicker. They recover slower. What would normally be fine suddenly isn’t.

That’s the bit that matters.

On days like that, it’s on us to adjust.
Short walks are fine.
Even if it’s just out to toilet and back.
Not ideal, but it’s not the end of the world either.

Dogs get used to routines, but they don’t need to be followed blindly. A missed walk or a change in timing isn’t going to harm them.

What can cause problems is sticking to the usual plan when the conditions have changed.

Hot weather isn’t the time to be rigid.
It’s the time to step up and do the smart thing.

Dogs don’t get to choose the conditions they’re exposed to.
We do.

P.S. I am fully aware that by writing this I have likely doomed us to a cool, wet summer!

25/04/2026

Another quiet moment in front of the TV ruined by the hound gestapo!

21/04/2026

Most dogs are used to food just appearing. Bowl goes down, they eat it, job done. There's nothing wrong with that, but it can also be a missed opportunity.

If you take some of that food and feed the dog from your hand, even just part of a meal, you may start to see an important shift.

The dog pays more attention.
Engagement improves.
Drive increases.
Food stops being something that just turns up and starts being something that comes through you. Which, in turn, increase your value to the dog.

You can also ask for small bits of behaviour before they get it. Nothing complicated, maybe some obedience, a bit of focus or even a pause.

They start to work for it.

It’s quite common to do this with puppies, but it’s not just for them. It can work really well with older dogs too. Sometimes it just takes them a little while to adjust because the picture you’re presenting them has changed.

It’s not about getting rid of the bowl or turning everything into a training session. Just a small shift that can help make everything else a bit easier.

Photo by Kacper Chrzanowski