05/08/2026
A Little Debbie Rant… (A Muted One!)
When you choose to call yourself a professional, work with people-clients and their dogs and accept payment for your services, you also accept responsibility.
Owners place enormous trust in us. They believe we have the knowledge and experience to guide them safely and to make decisions that are in the best interests of their dog. That trust should never be taken lightly.
Being a good trainer or behaviour professional isn't just about understanding how dogs learn. It should also include a sound understanding of canine anatomy, biomechanics and developmental stages. You don't need a veterinary degree, but you do need a solid foundation of knowledge that allows you to make informed decisions and minimise the risk of injury.
Take this cute AI-generated image of a puppy jumping.(I certainly would not condone using a real picture, though I have seen them and videos 🙄)
What's the first thing you notice?
For me, it's 2 things, the floor and the fact it’s a puppy!.
Laminate, tiles, lino, polished wood and other smooth surfaces offer very little traction for dogs. Unlike us, dogs cannot simply change their footwear to improve grip. When they lose traction, they compensate by altering their posture, tensing muscles and changing the way they move. Those compensations increase the forces placed on joints, muscles, tendons and ligaments.
Imagine walking across a sheet of ice. You instinctively slow down because you know one slip could send you windmilling to the ground.
Now imagine crawling across that same surface on your hands and knees while trying to move quickly. Every muscle is working harder just to keep you stable.
A dog experiences similar challenges on slippery flooring, except they don't have the luxury of choosing a different route.
Now let's think about puppies.
We've all heard the term growth plates, but do we truly understand what they are?
In simple terms, a puppy's long bones are still developing. Through a process called endochondral ossification, cartilage is gradually replaced by bone. However, the ends of the bones remain as specialised areas of cartilage called growth plates (physes). These growth plates are responsible for increasing the length of the bone until skeletal maturity is reached, after which they fuse into solid bone.
Until that happens, they are one of the weakest parts of the growing skeleton.
Every jump, awkward landing or slip will place unnecessary forces through these immature and important structures.
This is why so many professionals advise against repeated jumping in puppies, including jumping on and off furniture, repeatedly negotiating stairs, or encouraging jumping exercises during training sessions. The risk is increased further when those landings occur on slippery flooring where the puppy cannot grip or control its movement effectively. Also the same risk is on concrete such as patios, driveways and pavements, the impact will cause high mechanical stress.
None of us can prevent every accident, but we can prevent unnecessary risk.
As professionals, our responsibility is not simply to teach behaviours. It is to consider the physical wellbeing of the dog in front of us and adapt our training environment accordingly.
The information is available. The research is available. Continuing professional development is available.
We all have a responsibility to keep learning because our knowledge directly affects the welfare of the dogs entrusted to us.
Do better.
Keep learning.
Educate yourself—because our dogs deserve nothing less.
