Ascendk9

06/09/2026

This is what we got up to at RISE:BASE in Epping today 🙌🏼

Working around other dogs, practicing neutrality, heelwork, place, engagement and emergency downs - with some of the dogs working off lead around the rest of the group.

And these aren’t all dogs who have always found this easy. Some have previously been extremely reactive towards dogs or people, so being able to calmly work around the group is a pretty big deal.

This is what makes group classes so useful. You’ve got other dogs, people and distractions going on around you, so your dog has to learn to listen and focus even when there’s plenty going on.

That’s the goal - not robotic, just reliable enough that you can actually enjoy doing more with your dog 😍

06/09/2026

Ever had a walk where your dog seems absolutely fine… and then suddenly reacts to something they’d normally cope with?

You might be thinking, what happened?!

Sometimes it isn’t actually about that final trigger.

Your dog may have already had a pretty full day - not enough sleep, a busy environment, seeing a few dogs, getting excited, dealing with something they found difficult - and all of those little things can add up.

This is known as trigger stacking, and understanding it can make a big difference when you’re working with a reactive dog.

I’ve put together a new blog covering what trigger stacking is, what it can look like and, importantly, what you can actually do to help your dog when their cup is getting full.

If you’ve ever wondered why your dog can cope brilliantly one day and really struggle the next, this one is worth a read ⬇️

https://www.ascendk9.com/free-resources/w9vcua7w3avxqgy2i6jstbjo9i0j3o

Learn what trigger stacking is, why dogs become overwhelmed and how understanding stress levels can help prevent reactive behaviour during walks.

05/09/2026

🐾 INCA DIARIES ENTRY #4 - Learning to Switch Off

One of the biggest things I’ve been working on with Inca is helping her learn that she doesn’t have to be doing something all the time.

When she first arrived, there was a lot of pacing around the house. Pacing can be common in rescue dogs because they may have spent long periods in environments where they were constantly alert, waiting for something to happen, moving between spaces or unable to properly settle.

Inca had gone from Bosnia, to a pound, to kennels, to foster and then into another completely new home. That’s a huge amount of change in a short space of time.

She also showed some barrier frustration around other dogs. Seeing another dog while behind a physical barrier could make her frustrated and increase her arousal, resulting in lots of barking.

This is something we’ve been working through with Kai’s help!

Kai is completely calm in these situations. He doesn’t react to her behaviour, doesn’t engage with it and simply carries on with what he’s doing.

That’s been really useful for Inca because she’s repeatedly seeing that another dog being behind a barrier doesn’t actually mean anything needs to happen. There’s no escalation, no interaction and no reward for getting worked up.

Over time, she’s been able to take more information from him, recover more quickly and start making different choices herself.

During the first week with us, Inca was drinking a lot of water, particularly when she was unsettled. Excessive or repetitive drinking can be seen in dogs coming from kennel environments, where access to water, routine and environmental stimulation can be very different from a home setting. It can also become a displacement behaviour when a dog is frustrated, conflicted or unsure - essentially giving them something else to do when they don’t quite know what to do with that feeling.

Her crate routine has been another really important part of teaching her to switch off.

She has plenty of opportunities for exercise, training, enrichment, exploration and fulfilment throughout the day, but she also has structured periods of rest. The crate gives her a predictable place where she can stop looking for the next thing to do.

As she gets more comfortable, I’ll gradually introduce place training, building her understanding that she can settle and switch off even while life continues around her.

Alongside all of this, getting her nutrition and sleep right has been really important too. She arrived needing to put weight on, so food, fulfilment, activity and proper rest have all been part of getting her into a better place.

She’s still very much a work in progress, but we’re starting to see a much more settled dog emerging.

Sometimes the training is simply teaching a dog that nothing is happening - and that that’s okay

04/09/2026

There’s so much conversation online about one training method versus another, what’s right, what’s wrong, and why everyone else is apparently doing it wrong 😂

But I’d actually love to see more trainers simply showing their work.

The behind-the-scenes. What you’re working on with your own dogs. The explanations in the caption about WHY you’re doing something. And even seeing the day to day activities with their own dogs, because that gives you another insight into how they actually live with and train dogs outside of client sessions!

I try to make time for content because I think it’s genuinely useful for owners - although I’ll be the first to admit that as life gets busier and busier, sometimes the phone is the last thing I’m thinking about during a session!

But I do think there’s real value in being able to see what a trainer actually does.

There’s so much debate about methods online, but before we spend all our time telling everyone else why our approach is better… why not show owners what we can actually do?

Show the dogs you work with.
Show the behaviours you’re developing.
Show different types of dogs and different challenges.
Explain your decisions.
Let people see the process.

As an owner, you can read opinions all day long, but seeing someone’s work gives you something much more useful to gauge their experience by.

It doesn’t mean social media is the only measure of a good trainer - some brilliant trainers are absolutely terrible at remembering to get their phone out 😂

However, I do think we should be giving owners more than opinions (and AI posters) to go on.

If you’re a dog owner, what do you like seeing from trainers online? The finished results, the process, behind-the-scenes, their own dogs - or a bit of everything? Share in the comments! 👇🏼

03/09/2026

Our client WhatsApp group is so much more than somewhere for me to send updates.

Clients can use it to ask questions, share progress, arrange walks, find someone to practice with or just have a chat with other owners who understand what they’re working on!

One of the biggest struggles I had when working through Kai’s reactivity was finding other owners who I could safely practice around - people who understood what we were working on, were happy to follow the plan and were on the same page about giving the dogs space.

That’s a big reason why I encourage my clients to help each other.

I love to see clients arranging to meet up and train together, or finding someone to go on a neutral walk with their dogs.

We also have clients who have put a huge amount of work into overcoming their dog’s reactivity who can now help newer clients coming into ASCENDK9. Their dogs can calmly walk alongside dogs who are still learning how to feel comfortable around their triggers, which can be really useful for building those positive associations.

I also organise free client meet-ups where you can come along, train, chat and have a bit of fun with your dog. And every month we have a free group walk where clients can practice their training around other dogs, proof what they’ve been working on and meet more people from the community.

It’s also a VERY non-judgemental group.

Dogs have bad days. People have bad training sessions. Including me! Sometimes something you thought was nailed suddenly falls apart 😂 That’s normal!!!

I think it’s important to have somewhere you can say “this happened today, what would you do?” without feeling like everyone is judging you or your dog.

There are clients at completely different stages, with completely different dogs, and everyone brings something to the group.

I’m really proud of that.

Having people to train, walk and learn alongside can make such a difference!

💬 Have you ever struggled to find the right people to practice around with your dog? I’d love to hear about it - tell me in the comments 👇🏼🐾

03/09/2026

If your dog’s entire life is a 20-minute pavement loop twice a day… we need to talk.

One of my all-time favourite things is heading somewhere completely new for a long hike - exploring, sniffing, climbing, wandering and just letting them be dogs!

Where’s your favourite place to explore with your dog? 👇🏼💬

02/09/2026

🍂 SEPTEMBER IS HERE- AND WE’VE GOT A FULL MONTH OF TRAINING AHEAD! 🐾

A new month means new environments, new challenges and plenty of opportunities to keep building on the progress you and your dog have already made.

From obedience and neutrality to settling, real-life distractions and community sessions, we’ve got a great mix coming up through September and into October.

Here’s what’s coming up at ASCENDK9:

Friday 4th September
🍕 Pizza + Dogs — 6:00PM
📍 Harlow
A FREE community training session for ASCENDK9 clients.

Sunday 6th September
🐕 RISE:BASE — 10:00AM
📍 Epping
Our distance-friendly obedience class.

Saturday 12th September
🐕 RISE:URBAN — 9:00AM
📍 Braintree
Closer-working obedience around dogs, people and distractions.

Tuesday 15th September
🐕 RISE:PACE — 6:30PM
📍 Harlow
Neutral walking, engagement and obedience in a real-life environment.

Friday 18th September
🐕 RISE:SYNC — 6:30PM
📍 Gunpowder Park
Our FREE monthly community pack walk for ASCENDK9 clients.

Sunday 27th September
🧘 Slow Sundays Settle Club — 9:00AM
📍 Hertfordshire
A relaxed session focused on settling and calmness around others.

Friday 2nd October
🐕 RISE:PACE — 6:00PM
📍 Sawbridgeworth
Neutral walking and obedience in a real-life environment.

Sunday 4th October
🌸 EDGE:EXPLORE — 8:30AM
📍 London
A 4-hour urban adventure in a busy environment.

PLEASE NOTE: Our group sessions are for existing ASCENDK9 clients. After your initial assessment, I’ll let you know when your dog is ready to progress into group classes and which sessions are the best fit for where you are in your training journey.

This allows us to make sure everyone is working at the right level and that our classes remain productive, safe and enjoyable for both dogs and owners.

If you’re not currently an ASCENDK9 client but would like to become part of the community, visit our website to get booked in.

02/09/2026

You can’t obedience-train your way out of unmet needs.

Before you expect obedience, reliability and good behaviour from your dog, you need to make sure you’re giving them the foundations to succeed.

That means MORE than just drilling obedience.

Environmental exposure. Building motivation. Playing with your dog. Providing appropriate outlets for breed-specific drives and fulfilment. Teaching them how to switch off and settle. Giving them time to explore, sniff, express natural behaviours and make their own decisions.

All of these things play a part in creating a dog that is not only easier to train, but a dog that is actually fulfilled and happy in their day-to-day life.

Training is important, but it doesn’t exist in isolation!

The more we understand what our dogs need as dogs, the better we can set them up to succeed.

💬 How many of these are part of your dog’s routine?

02/09/2026

One of the things I love most about dog training is how it can give dogs MORE freedom, not less.

I often start my day with Kai off lead and Inca on her flexi in the fields. Inca can have fun searching through the long grass and exploring, while Kai gets a proper leg stretch and the autonomy to make his own choices and simply enjoy being a dog.

Kai also has a proper focus heel, and we’ve built that because we genuinely enjoy training together. Teaching advanced obedience is fun for us - it gives him something to think about, builds communication and engagement, provides mental stimulation and has played a HUGE part in strengthening our bond!

BUT that doesn’t mean he spends his walks glued to my leg.

His everyday walking is a loose lead walk. He can sniff, explore and take in his surroundings, but he also understands when I need to ask him to return to my side.

If another dog, cyclist or other distraction needs to safely pass, I can ask him for a close heel and know he understands exactly what I’m asking.

Then I can give him his “break” command and he knows he’s done - and can enjoy sniffing, exploring, running and being a dog.

At liberty.

If you train with us, you’ll know that I teach my clients both a heel and a break command for exactly this reason. The aim isn’t to have your dog heeling every second of a walk. It’s to give you the communication and reliability to tell them when they need to be close and when they’re free to go.

My goal is always to give my dogs as much freedom as we can safely give them, including off-lead freedom where appropriate.

And ultimately, that’s what I want for my clients too - the skills and reliability to safely enjoy adventures together.

➡️ If nobody has shown you how to build these skills with your dog, that doesn’t mean your dog isn’t capable of them. It may simply mean you haven’t yet been shown how!

🤝🏼 If you’d love a dog who understands what you’re asking, feels more confident in the world and can enjoy more freedom, come and join our community of owners working towards exactly that 🐾