Dogs be Dogs

29/05/2026

Harnesses teach dogs to pull.

That's one of the most common things I hear from owners who've been told to ditch the harness and use a collar instead.

This is Elphaba. Four months old. In a harness. On lead. Off lead. Walking beautifully.

The harness didn't teach her this. I did.

Equipment doesn't train dogs. People do.

Know someone who's been told to ditch the harness? Send them this.

20/05/2026

4 months old. Watch what she does with a crisp wrapper.

Elphaba is a Stabyhoun - a rare Dutch gun dog breed. But her brain works exactly like your Cockapoo, your Labradoodle, your Spaniel, your Lab.

Bred to hunt and retrieve alongside a human. That working partnership is in their DNA.

I haven't taught her to sit. Or stay. Or give a paw.

What I have done is make her name the best sound in the world. Every single time I've said it, something good has happened. So when she picked up that crisp wrapper, I called her name once.

She dropped it and came back to me.

A behaviour that gets rewarded gets repeated. The more your puppy learns that their name predicts good things, the less you ever need to worry about what's in their mouth.

This is what we build from day one in our puppy classes in Berkshire and Oxfordshire. Not tricks. A dog that actually wants to be with you.

Follow us for more on raising gun dogs and their crosses to actually fit real life.

If you're local - link to puppy classes in the comments.

08/05/2026

This is usually when the biting starts.

Earlier on this walk, Elphaba met bin men for the first time. At the time, she actually seemed to cope really well.

But puppies don’t always show overwhelm in the moment. Sometimes it shows up later as jumping up, panting, zooming around, grabbing sleeves or suddenly struggling to focus.

A lot of puppy “bad behaviour” starts with a puppy whose nervous system has simply had enough.

This is why puppy socialisation is about so much more than just puppy play.

03/05/2026

Most cockapoo owners don’t realise what their dog was bred to do.

They’re usually described as friendly, low-shedding, easy family dogs.

But when we start looking at what their puppy is actually doing — constantly picking things up, running off with things, always on the go, struggling to switch off — it starts to feel a bit less “easy”.

That’s because a cockapoo isn’t just a companion dog.

They’re a mix of two gundog breeds, both bred to retrieve and work closely with people.

So a lot of what gets labelled as “typical cockapoo behaviour” isn’t random at all. It’s instinct.

What catches people out is that this doesn’t just disappear on its own. If anything, it tends to become more obvious as the dog gets older and more confident.

That’s usually the point where things start to feel harder than they should.

This is exactly what we focus on in puppy classes — understanding what’s driving the behaviour, and what to do with it.

I’ve put this together in a bit more detail, including what to do about it — I’ll add the link in the comments if you want to have a read.

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If you’ve got a cockapoo, cavapoo or labradoodle, what’s the one thing they always pick up or carry around?

29/04/2026

Your puppy isn’t tired after walks… are they?

Most people try to fix that with longer walks.

But it’s not about distance.

It’s about what they’re actually experiencing.

New places.
New smells.
Time to take things in properly.

That’s what does the work.

That’s what gets you a puppy who comes home and settles like this.

If yours comes back more wired than when they left…
it’s usually not because you didn’t do enough.

📍puppy classes Berkshire & Oxfordshire
🔗 link in bio

20/04/2026

Puppies are hard.

Not just “they’re a bit cheeky” hard…
I mean biting your ankles when you’re walking through the house, grabbing sleeves, hoovering up everything outside and then acting like it’s the best treasure they’ve ever found.

And you start thinking… am I getting this wrong?

You’re not.

Most people are just trying to figure it out as they go. Bit of Google, bit of advice, none of it quite clicking.

Meanwhile the puppy is learning anyway.

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Something I see all the time with labs, spaniels, cockapoos, labradoodles, goldendoodles, vizslas, weimaraners…

Underneath that cute, fluffy, family-pet exterior…
👉 there’s a hard worker in there

These dogs are wired to:
pick things up
carry things
use their mouths

We can’t switch that off.

So when your puppy is constantly grabbing stuff…
they’re not being “naughty”

They’re doing exactly what they’re designed to do.

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What we can change is:

👉 what they pick up
👉 and what happens next

Simple example:

If your puppy is constantly grabbing clothes, shoes, random bits off the floor…

have things ready that they’re allowed to pick up.

Toys, soft dummies, even a rolled-up sock.

And when they go for the wrong thing, don’t just say “no” and hope for the best.

👉 swap it
👉 make the right thing more rewarding

So they start practising the behaviour you actually want.

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It sounds simple, but this is where a lot of things either improve… or slowly get worse.

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I’ve been putting something together around this, because I see the same patterns again and again with these breeds.

I’ll share more soon.

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If you’ve got a lab, spaniel, cockapoo, labradoodle, goldendoodle, vizsla or weimaraner puppy and you’re thinking “this is exactly it”…

follow along. I’ll be sharing advice that actually makes sense for these dogs.

And if your puppy currently has a favourite “illegal item”… I’d love to know what it is 😅

16/04/2026

If your puppy is leaving you covered in scratches and bite marks… same.

This stage can feel overwhelming.

But biting like this is normal at this age.

The goal isn’t to stop it overnight,
it’s to guide it into something more appropriate.

14/04/2026

Do you actually need puppy classes?

After my last post, quite a few people asked me this.

And the honest answer is… you can absolutely do a lot at home.

But there are some things you just can’t recreate.

You can’t recreate other puppies.
You can’t recreate real-life distractions.
You can’t recreate that moment where your puppy has to choose between you and everything else going on around them.

And not all puppy classes help with that either.

Some are brilliant.
Some… not so much.

I’ve written something properly on it — how to choose a good class, what to avoid, and what actually matters (especially if this is your first puppy).

Link’s here if it’s helpful:

https://www.dogsbedogs.co.uk/do-i-need-puppy-classes-how-to-choose-the-right-one-and-avoid-costly-mistakes

If you’ve done puppy classes before, good or bad, I’d be really interested to hear your experience.

Professional dog trainer and behaviourist in Reading Berkshire Puppy classes Gundog Classes Aggressive dogs Reactive dogs