Agata Brzek - Dog Focused

Agata Brzek - Dog Focused I help owners of young, energetic dogs who struggle with recall, pulling, over-excitement, chasing, and reactivity across Perth and Kinross area.

Dog Training and Behaviour Consulting based on positive reinforcement techniques and protocols. Non-aversive methods, creative and effective solutions to common behaviour problems, life enrichment for pet dogs, games, everyday manners, obedience. I hold a Diploma of Dog Training and Behaviour Consulting from Companion Animals Sciences Institute, and the Pro Dog Trainer certificate with AbsoluteDOG

S, and have attended various courses, workshops, seminars and webinars related to animal training and behaviour. I have over 15 years of experience of working with dogs, including 10 years as a pet dog trainer.

This is Roo, a handsome boy I recently worked with. His owners just needed to know that they were on the right track. An...
02/09/2026

This is Roo, a handsome boy I recently worked with. His owners just needed to know that they were on the right track.

And they absolutely were.

I don't often work with puppies, most dogs come to me when they're adolescents, and sometimes adults.

And they already pull on lead, have no recall, never even look at their owners, run away to every dog and person they see, jump all over people, and so on.

And all these issues would be so much easier to address in puppyhood.

You see, a puppy is easy to handle. He's small, can't pull you hard, comes back because you're the centre of his universe, may be a bit apprehensive to approach unfamiliar dogs and people, is not interested in other animals.

So what do we do, as owners? Nothing. We take them out, follow them on lead, show them the wonderful world, love on them, and smile when they're bumbling around and exploring.

Soon they bumble a bit farther and maybe put a little strain on the lead because they really want to smell that tree, or to say hello to that dog.

But they're still so cute and small, that we let them, after all they still come back, and are manageable on lead.

Then, when they're about 4-5 months old, they may ignore your recall from time to time, suddenly lunge forward on lead, barely look at you any more as everything is more interesting.

By the time they're 7 months old, you have a dog that is constantly on lead, after he runs away after another dog, he drags you around to sniff everything, and doesn't listen to anything you say.

It all could have been avoided, if you didn't take puppy behaviour for granted, and made sure to actually train the puppy on your walks.

A puppy needs to learn that good behaviour brings great consequences, like treats, toy play, interaction with you, or access to something in the environment.

And if they don't listen they might lose their privileges for a moment, might be put back on lead, or even told no ( yes, you can do that).

When you work on their engagement, lead walking and recall right from the beginning, it tends to stick, because it's not only a natural puppy behaviour, but a trained and reinforced skill.

If you do have a puppy right now and need some guidance, like Roo's owners did, send me a message and I'll help you to raise an amazing dog.

If you're planning to have a puppy soon, remember: puppyhood is the best time to instill all the awesome life skills.

So don't take your puppy's behaviour for granted.

A.

Collies in paradise 😆Both boys love their balls, but until today they played with them separately. I didn't want to crea...
29/08/2026

Collies in paradise 😆

Both boys love their balls, but until today they played with them separately.

I didn't want to create any issues between them, especially that Frankie is a bit possessive and sometimes guards his stuff from Merrick.

But now they know each other better so I decided to do a supervised ball play session.

It went really well, no issues at all. There were so many balls around that Frankie couldn't guard them all, so he gave up and enjoyed the play.

Merrick was a good boy too and even allowed Frankie to sn**ch a few balls from under his nose. Not that I approve of that behaviour, but at the moment that's what Frankie does.

They were tired and happy afterwards, which was my goal, as I needed to go out for another session.

After the play the balls were collected and put away again. Firstly I do this anyway, as Merrick would just stare at them forever. And secondly with two dogs around it's just safer for everyone.

Have a good weekend! Don't forget to play with your dog😊

27/08/2026

I take Frankie to the village every day. We walk on a country road for a while and then on the streets, usually to the park. And back.

Frankie struggles with vehicles, but also dogs and people. And walking on lead.

So we leave my house calmly, and I keep him as calm as possible throughout most of the walk. If his arousal spikes at something, I slow everything down and we move on only when he's feeling better.

This way he is able to walk at a normal pace instead of dragging me forward and getting frantic. A dog that pulls constantly is much more likely to react to something, than a dog that walks well on lead.

Pulling is an effort, and it takes higher arousal to generate all this energy to pull, so if the dog then sees a trigger, he's already high enough to just explode.

Occasionally I play with him with food, have him chase me, or throw treats for him to catch or chase. This is to release some of his energy, and engage him in some fun activities. We do it in safe places, not in front of a car or a dog.

I don't want the village walks to be all about mental work and managing emotions. We need to have a bit of fun too, to balance it out. Especially with such a young dog.

Adolescent dogs can be a lot of work, but it's so rewarding to see them maturing into confident and well balanced adults.

Drop me a message if you need help with your doggy teenager. They are not that bad, you just need to know how to motivate them to listen to you😊

Gorgeous Frankie came to us on Sunday for a bit of residential training. He will stay for a couple of weeks. At the mome...
25/08/2026

Gorgeous Frankie came to us on Sunday for a bit of residential training. He will stay for a couple of weeks.

At the moment he struggles with lead walking, over arousal, reactivity to dogs, some people, and vehicles. Recall needs some improvements too, especially around distractions. Fairly typical for an adolescent collie.

I've known Frankie for a few months, we had some sessions together, but he still needed a bit more work. He looks sweet but he's a strong dog, and he knows how to get what he wants.

Luckily he and Merrick get on well together, otherwise he would not be able to stay.

So far we've had a couple successful walks to the village, we started his head halter training just in case he ever needs it, he had a blast with Merrick in the stubble fields, and we're working on walking to heel and a release cue.

I always wanted to do residential training, but I didn't have the space for it before. Now, in this house, it's possible, and hopefully I'll enjoy it enough to offer it as a regular service. Time will tell. I may be absolutely exhausted after Frankie and abandon the idea before it even takes off😆

17/08/2026

When even a walk outside your house turns into a struggle, you need a structured plan to get your life back.

Nala, an adolescent German Shepherd, managed a good 20 minutes of walking on her street today.

For a while that was nearly impossible, or at least very hard, as she would get very overwhelmed and would bark the moment she got out.

And if she saw anyone, or a dog, she would lunge and shout at them even louder.

Her amazing owners realised that exposing her to the street was going nowhere, so they got in touch.

They were already doing the right things, so I added a bit more, like relaxation training, more play and engagement, and managing Nala at the window and doors, and it's all working!

Look at them, enjoying their walk as if that was the easiest stuff on Earth.

Of course we made sure there was nobody around, as we wanted Nala to experience a different walk, one when she was relaxed and engaged rather than hyper vigilant and tense.

We will add people and dogs later.

At Nala's age, the breed tendencies come out and a young dog doesn't always know how to handle the newly developed urges.

They may get territorial and defensive, but at the same time they may still want contact with people, so they go through an internal conflict when they see a stranger.

I was not welcomed in her house the first time I visited, but today she barked much less, and quickly came to say hello and then relaxed.

We have a lot to work on, but the progress so far has been phenomenal. Hats off to Nala's owners! You rock!

➡️ If you're in a similar situation with your dog, please reach out. You don't have to do it alone, help is just a phone call away.

07593032280
[email protected]

02/08/2026

A walk is not just moving from A to B. It's an opportunity to really be with your dog, play, engage, do something together, bond.

There are many activities you can do and some of them don't require any equipment at all.

Grab a stick, hold it for a moment, and then hide it somewhere. Send your dog to find it. Help him if he's not sure what to do or it's too hard.

After a few reps he'll race out and bring it to you with excitement.

You can reward that with a treat, or just praise and repeat. Searching and bringing the stick may be rewarding enough for your dog.

Enrich your walks, make them a quality time with you.

A.

For a dog trainer, education should never stop. There are so many different ways of working with dogs, so many activitie...
01/08/2026

For a dog trainer, education should never stop. There are so many different ways of working with dogs, so many activities to do with them, so many ideas and concepts.

Personally I can't get enough of learning about dogs, other animals, and people.

This little course is by a great trainer Jay Jack, who uses a ton of play and games in his work, also with severe aggression cases.

The Windows Theory is very simple. It comes from observations that dogs spend their time divided between 4 windows, or modes:

the Play window, which is an interactive activity with you
the Find Your Own Joy window, where they can entertain themselves
the Free and Calm window, where they rest and just chill
the Work/Training window, which is obedience, or life skill that you ask them to do

Our job is to teach the dog the cues for each window and how to transition between them. When you have it, life with a dog becomes easy, and the dog understands what's available to him at any given moment.

So, if you want to play, you say your cue, and you play for as long as you wish. But then when you finish, you give another cue, let's say Chill Out, and your dog should understand that play is over and now it's time to rest calmly.

Without it you can have a situation where your dog constantly prompts you to interact with him, is pacing around, hoping for more play, gets in trouble just because he can't calm down.

Some dogs naturally get it, adjust to the system and just fit in. Others struggle big time and we need to help them.

I totally enjoyed the course, and will implement clearer cues for Merrick now, as he can get carried away with play, and always wants more.

Plus we need to work on Find Your Own Joy window, because right now we don't have it at all! He doesn't do anything on his own, he wants me to be involved in every aspect of his life🙄 I have no idea how to change it yet, so it will be interesting...

Have a nice weekend
A.

30/07/2026

This is Toffee, a 5 year old Sprocker. He was adopted from a rescue a few months ago.

It turned out that Toffee's only goal in life is to track and chase animals, and he would do anything to run away to pursue his pleasures.

Spaniels...

Unfortunately he lives rurally, and is surrounded by wildlife, so walks became very hard for his owner.

She sought out help from a gundog trainer, and it helped with walking and having more control of Toffee's behaviour, but he still dreams of bunnies and pheasants all the time.

He broke a few slip collars and leads, and ran into fields to chase something until he was too exhausted to do it and then he came back.

We are in the middle of our training together and working hard on engagement on walks. It's not easy, and it's patchy. One moment he's with us mentally and physically, the next he's gone and pulling away from us.

But all in all he does engage more, and we're testing ways of interacting with him that are fulfilling for him and give him outlets for his needs.

This morning we managed to play at the dodgy end of the field, where hares and deer often are.

We first tried to hide the dummy and have him search for it, but it seemed to be too slow pace and he would get distracted.

Throwing it and fetching, however, was much better and he loved it, and it made him forget about the bunnies for a moment.

He is also very foody, so we play with food too.

With a dog like Toffee it's not about what you have; nothing is better than a scent of a hare. We offer activities and experiences as rewards, not treats or toys. It's the interaction that counts and whether or not it gives them the feeling they seek.

We also work on impulse control, disengagement, high arousal recall, etc, all skills that are absolutely crucial if we want to see improvement and success.

And still we don't really know what the outcome will be. Some dogs can be trained to redirect their instinct onto our selected targets, others not so.

That's why many spaniels end up with shock collars, because nothing else worked. Or they're forever on long lines.

As always it's easier to raise the puppy well than to fix what was neglected during the most important phase of their life.

A.

23/07/2026

If your dog is distracted, or even reactive, teach him to follow your fist, aka The Fist Magnet.

It's not a training technique, but rather a management strategy.

In case a dog, a jogger, a car is approaching and you have no time to train, you can always distract your dog and refocus him on you.

But you need to teach it, and practise, first, so you are both fluent at it in a variety of environments.

You can also attach a cue to it, something like Follow, so your dog knows what's about to happen next.

You give the cue, your dog looks at you, and you present your fist loaded with treats for him to touch and follow.

This way you can move and position your dog where you want him to be, instead of letting him get excited or worried about the trigger.

Fist Magnet makes passing distractions, and moving away from them, much easier.

Have fun training😊

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Dunning
Dunning
PH29BX

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