Seven Paws Dog Training

21/10/2026

Why these guys so angry! Why would we bring home a baby puppy and think “right you need to be put in your place and I’m going to show you who’s boss around here”. I sadly got into a conversation the other day with a man who had a dachshund, a gorgeous little angel, he did a little bark at my dogs as we approached, nothing major, instantly got shouted at, I then reminded the man that they were bred to bark…the man then went on to tell me he “held his mouth closed every time he barked when he was really young” IMAGINE getting a breed of dog who was literally bred to bark and then punishing it for the doing the job humans created it to do….wild 🤯

20/10/2026

🐾 WELCOME TO PUPPY SCHOOL 🐾
Feel so lucky….another gorgeous little group! Can’t wait to spend the next 5 Tuesday mornings with these cuties 🫶🏼

18/10/2026

15/10/2026

3 things to focus on in the early weeks as soon as puppy comes home and no it doesn’t involve any formal training of commands 😱

1. Making them feel safe….obvious right? But this is somewhere people go wrong very early on, they think by responding to our puppy’s needs we make them less independent, the opposite is true. Imagine being taken away from everything you know and then the new people you’re with don’t comfort you when you need it, you would be more worried and feel less secure in your new environment. Making them feel safe means training like learning to be left alone will be easier and we are also more likely to have better success and fewer issues with many areas of training if we have a strong secure attachment with our puppy!

2. Toy play, something else which is massively overlooked and solves so many puppy challenges that people face. The more we play with them then they have less of a reason to bite us to initiate play as those needs are being met. They can walk for hours but still have energy to use up, after 1-2 mins of good play they should be tired. How to play…long, soft fluffy toys are the best, get the toy moving close to the floor to get their interest, build up the excitement by letting them chase but not win it and then let them win and gently tug on the toy, see what they want to do they may want to run around with it or carry on tugging, breed specific influence may happen here. You can also start teaching them to retrieve, especially useful if you have a gundog. Short bursts multiple times a day and you must be a part of the play!!
DON’T DO TOY PLAY ON SLIPPERY FLOOR!!

3. Socialisation, it’s like a buzz word these days isn’t it but again a very important part in the early weeks. Your breeder should have begun this as the critical socialisation window is 3-14/16 weeks roughly. Just because they have completed their vaccination course it doesn’t mean they can’t be out. Using common sense is a big factor here!! But I would rather your puppy had the opportunity to become a well rounded, resilient adult dog because you got them out experiencing the world safely even when they hadn’t finished their vaccinatio

09/10/2026

Such a gorgeous, gentle girl 🫶🏼 would have her if I could. Share with all so we can find this sweetheart a forever home

08/10/2026

🌟 Happy Graduation Puppies 🌟 and extra special as they are my first group of graduates as a Puppy School trainer down in the South Hams 🥰

Wow where to even begin with this group of pups and their families! A complete joy from the 1st week all the way through to week 6. The puppies made some amazing progress with their training and working around each other and other distractions! Their families are also the most dedicated, wonderful people and when I have a group like that I always wish all new puppy families were like that! 🥰

01/10/2026

🐾 What to look for when choosing a breeder - PART 2
🐶Catch up on part one post previously….now for part 2.
🐶Not an exhaustive list but this gives hopefully gives people an idea about how important it is to consider the mentioned points.
🐶Of course that’s not to say that unless you have ticked all those boxes that you won’t get a nice, healthy puppy.
🐶However it is good to support the best breeders around, the ones who are diligent, knowledgeable, passionate and picky because with more of those breeders around there will be less irresponsible breeding and fewer dogs who end up in the wrong homes and therefore in rescue centres 🐾

26/09/2026

Simple 🙃 dogs want to do dog things but we want them and expect them to live in a human world. We can however guide them, teach them and give them appropriate outlets to ensure they have opportunities to fulfill those natural desires. But remember if you don’t want your dog to do dog things then next time get a cuddly toy version 😏