19/10/2026
A little reminder that even dog trainers have imperfect dogs… 🐾
Exhibit A: The muddy paw prints all over my trousers, courtesy of one little lady who simply cannot keep all four paws on the ground. 😂
My little Velcro dog, who thinks personal space is completely optional.
Do I care? Not particularly. She’s small, she’s a spoilt princess and yes, she probably gets away with more than she should! 🤣
But here’s the thing…
Dogs aren’t robots, and I would never want them to be.
You can have a beautifully trained dog who still has their own quirks, habits and a whole lot of personality.
Sometimes I think we get so caught up in wanting our dogs to behave perfectly that we forget they’re just that… dogs!
They get excited, muddy, distracted, make mistakes and sometimes do things we’d rather they didn’t. And that’s okay!
This is exactly why I run my training sessions the way I do. 💚
Whether it’s group classes, 1:1s or our Pawsitive Field Trips and walks, training should be fun, relaxed and enjoyable for everyone.
There’s no pressure to be perfect, no judgement and no expectation that every dog should be at the same level.
I always explain not just what we’re doing, but why we’re doing it. We start with achievable exercises, gradually build up the difficulty and adapt things to suit each individual dog.
Some dogs pick things up quickly, others need more time. Some are easily distracted, some are full of beans and some have their own funny little quirks.
And that’s absolutely fine!
We’re all learning, we’re all going at our own pace and we’re allowed to have a laugh along the way.
My dogs aren’t perfect, and quite frankly, I wouldn’t want them any other way.
Because well-trained doesn’t mean perfectly behaved 100% of the time.
Sometimes you’ve just got to embrace a little chaos. After all, isn’t that part of the fun of having dogs? 🐾💚
