On Cloud K9 - Dog Training & Pet Services

11/06/2026

Did you know that your dog’s gut might be influencing their behaviour?

When we think about a reactive dog, we often focus on what’s happening outside the dog.

The barking.
The lunging.
The triggers.

But what if part of the picture is happening inside the dog?

Let’s talk about serotonin.

Serotonin is often called the “feel good” chemical, but that’s a bit of an oversimplification. It’s involved in mood, emotional stability, impulse control, sleep, appetite, learning and how we cope with stress.

Think of serotonin as one of the body’s natural “everything is okay” signals.

When serotonin levels are healthy, dogs are generally better able to cope with the ups and downs of life. They’re more likely to think before they react and recover more quickly from stressful events.

Here’s the really interesting bit…

Over 90% of the body’s serotonin is produced in the gut.

That’s right. Not the brain. The gut.

The gut contains trillions of bacteria, fungi and other microorganisms, collectively known as the gut microbiome. These tiny organisms help influence the production of serotonin and communicate with the brain via what’s known as the gut-brain axis.

You can think of the gut and brain as being in constant conversation.

If the gut isn’t healthy, that conversation can change.

Research in both humans and animals has found links between gut health and emotional wellbeing. We know that disturbances to the gut microbiome can influence mood, stress responses and behaviour.

Does that mean every reactive dog has gut problems?

No.

Reactivity is complex. Pain, genetics, fear, learning history, lack of life skills, hormones, sleep, stress and the environment can all play a role.

But if we’re trying to help a reactive dog, it makes sense to consider the whole dog, including what’s happening in their digestive system.

This is one of the reasons I always ask about diet, digestive issues, medication, food intolerances and overall health when discussing behaviour concerns.

Because behaviour doesn’t happen in isolation.

The brain and the body are part of the same team.

Have you ever noticed changes in your dog’s behaviour after a change in diet, illness, antibiotics or digestive upset?

10/06/2026

🌳 Oshi felt very small today!

This is Oshi lying next to the largest magnolia tree in Wales, tucked away in the beautiful Clyne Gardens here in Swansea.

As dog owners, it’s easy to focus on training, walks and ticking things off our to-do list. Sometimes it’s worth slowing down and appreciating the environment our dogs get to experience. New places, different scents, unusual sights and simply exploring the world together can be enriching in their own right.

For a dog, a walk isn’t just exercise. It’s information gathering. Every tree, patch of grass and interesting smell is like reading the latest news headlines.

Oshi was far more interested in investigating the scents around the base of the tree than admiring its impressive size. Typical border collie! 😆

07/06/2026

Oshi’s Mantrailing achievements this weekend 🥰.

We’re working towards the Mantrailing UK Level 1 award, which is a 300m-400m trail, which has been aged for 30-60 minutes (the person has been “missing” for at least 30 minutes), with a least one junction (where the missing person has deviated from a path).

Today Oshi found a “misper” that had been missing for over 15 minutes that Oshi found 200 meters away through a tunnel - thanks Jocelle 😍

This was the last trail that she needed to get the Afan Adventure Dog level 2 bronze urban award.

I always recommend that clients have a hobby that they can do with their dog.

Oshi’s knackered now - mantrailing is extremely enriching. It’s great for both a mental and a physical workout 😍

06/06/2026

Oshi’s one tired girl.

This morning she earned her Environment certificate for mantrailing in lots of different places and this afternoon she had a play date with some of her mantrailing buddies at Motsi's Meadow.

04/06/2026

Private furnished first-floor suite in owner-occupied home | Clyne Castle development | £1,250 pcm incl. bills

Looking for a quiet, professional person to share a spacious home in the Clyne Castle development.

This isn’t a typical house share and it isn’t just a bedroom. You would have exclusive use of the entire first floor, while I occupy the ground floor. The home is shared with my friendly border collie, so applicants should be comfortable around dogs. A dog owner would be considered, subject to suitability and compatibility with the existing household.

Your private space includes:

🏡 Double bedroom with fitted wardrobes and large ensuite (bath, separate shower and double sinks)

🏡 Separate sitting room with its own ensuite

🏡 Large mezzanine area suitable as a home office, dining space or additional living area

🏡 Roof garden with sea views and views across Clyne Gardens

Shared with just one other person:

🏡 Large kitchen with two ovens, dishwasher and fridge/freezer

🏡 Utility room with washing machine and tumble dryer

The property is within walking and cycling distance of Singleton Hospital and Swansea University Singleton Campus, less than a third of a mile from the seafront, and benefits from private parking within a gated development.

£1,250 pcm including bills and high-speed broadband

Minimum 6-month term, then rolling monthly.

This would suit a professional looking for considerably more space and privacy than a typical room rental, while avoiding the cost and responsibility of renting an entire property.

Please message me if you’d like further details.

26/05/2026

A lot of modern puppy socialisation advice is actually based on studies that are over 50 years old.

And some of those studies weren’t even really studying “socialisation” in the way most people think of it today.

One of the most influential studies was by Freedman, King and Elliot in 1961. Puppies were raised in barren one-acre fields with their mothers from 2–14 weeks old, with very little novelty or human interaction. The researchers found that puppies who weren’t exposed to humans until later were much more fearful of people.

Important information, absolutely.

But that’s very different from the lives of modern pet puppies.

These puppies weren’t simply “under-socialised”. They were raised in extreme social and sensory deprivation.

Earlier work by Scott and Fuller in the 1950s also explored developmental stages and when puppies became socially responsive. Again though, these studies were done decades ago, in highly controlled and unrealistic environments.

Somehow, over time, this evolved into:
“You must expose your puppy to absolutely everything before 14 weeks or they’ll be ruined.”

That pressure has led a lot of owners to unintentionally overwhelm puppies during the exact stage where their brains are most sensitive.

Modern behavioural science is moving away from the idea of socialisation as:
“meet as many dogs, people and places as possible.”

Instead, we’re starting to understand that good socialisation is really about:
• emotional safety
• positive associations
• optimism
• calm observation
• healthy coping strategies
• appropriate disengagement
• resilience

The goal isn’t a puppy who wants to greet everything.

The goal is a puppy who can notice the world, feel safe within it, and make calm decisions.

Sometimes the best socialisation is simply:
“Look at that… nothing bad happened.”

Not every experience needs interaction.

In fact, constantly greeting every dog and person can actually create frustration, over-arousal, anticipation and future reactivity when access is later restricted.

A well-socialised puppy is not necessarily the most sociable puppy - often, it’s the puppy who can calmly disengage and move on.

Like this post and follow so you don’t miss future posts on what puppy socialisation REALLY is 🐾

24/05/2026

One of the really interesting things about the brain is that what happens immediately after a frightening experience can influence how strongly that memory is stored.

This is one of the reasons I’ll often encourage owners to calmly play with their dog after something startling or worrying has happened - if the dog is emotionally capable of engaging, of course.

Not force them.
Not distract them.
Not overwhelm them.

But gently help them transition back into feeling safe, playful and emotionally okay again.

For example, imagine your dog is startled by:
🐾 a loud noise
🐾 a scary-looking object
🐾 another dog barking
🐾 a sudden movement
🐾 something novel in the environment

A lot of owners understandably focus entirely on the frightening moment itself. But the emotional state that follows afterwards matters too.

If the dog stays emotionally “stuck” in that stress response for a long time, the brain is more likely to strongly encode:
“This was scary. Remember this.”

Whereas if the dog is able to recover, feel safe again and engage in something positive afterwards, it can help reduce the emotional weight attached to the experience.

Humans do this too, by the way.

Think about the difference between:

* having a stressful experience and then sitting alone replaying it in your head for hours
vs
* having something stressful happen but then laughing with a friend, feeling supported or doing something enjoyable afterwards

The experience often feels very different emotionally afterwards.

Dogs aren’t robots. Their brains are constantly processing emotional experiences and deciding:
“Was that dangerous?”
“Should I worry about this again in future?”
“How important was that event?”

This is also why recovery is such a huge part of resilience.

Not whether a dog ever experiences stress - because stress is part of life - but how quickly and successfully they can come back down again afterwards.

Would you like to know more about the science behind why play can influence how memories are stored in the brain? 🐾

24/05/2026

😍

Osian is sporting her new handmade cooling dog bandana 🥰.

I’ve wet it and put it in the fridge, ready to be used on the evening walk.

22/05/2026

Following on from this week's post about the stress bucket… I present to you: adolescent border collie arousal levels in photographic form 😅

This is Oshi after playing with her friends.

Tongue hanging out.
Eyes like dinner plates.
Brain cells temporarily unavailable.

And this is something I think is really important for owners to understand:

A dog can look incredibly happy and still be massively over-aroused.

Arousal isn’t always “bad” stress. Excitement fills the stress bucket too.

This is one of the reasons dogs can sometimes seem:
🐾 unable to listen after play
🐾 extra bitey afterwards
🐾 zoomy
🐾 unable to settle
🐾 reactive on the walk home
🐾 suddenly “naughty”
🐾 emotionally all over the place

Their nervous system is still buzzing long after the exciting thing has finished.

Humans do this too, by the way.

Think:
“I’m so tired but I can’t switch off.”

Or when you’re overtired and slightly feral after too much excitement, caffeine, social interaction or lack of sleep 😅

That’s why I’m such a big believer in helping dogs learn:
🐾 calmness
🐾 emotional regulation
🐾 how to come back down again
🐾 how to disengage
🐾 how to rest

…rather than assuming a tired dog is automatically a calm, regulated dog.

Also, before anyone asks - yes, she absolutely sprinted around the house afterwards with her squeaking ball like an overstimulated goblin 🩷 - sound on for proof 🐭(beware if your dog is sound-sensitive).

20/05/2026

One of the most important concepts in dog behaviour is something called the “stress bucket”.

Once you understand it, so much behaviour suddenly starts to make sense - not just in dogs, but in humans too.

Imagine your dog has an invisible bucket.

Throughout the day, different experiences add water to that bucket. Some add a tiny drip. Others pour in stress much more quickly.

That “water” can come from all sorts of things:
🐾 excitement
🐾 frustration
🐾 lack of sleep
🐾 pain or discomfort
🐾 novelty
🐾 over-arousal
🐾 busy environments
🐾 social pressure
🐾 scary experiences
🐾 lack of downtime
🐾 conflict
🐾 even positive excitement

A lot of people think stress only means fear, but physiologically, excitement and stress are very closely linked. A dog that’s overexcited isn’t necessarily emotionally regulated just because they look “happy”.

Now imagine the bucket keeps filling throughout the day.

Your dog sees another dog.
A delivery driver arrives.
They struggle to settle.
They get frustrated on a walk.
They hear barking outside.
They become overexcited playing fetch.
The children come home noisy from school.

Each thing adds a little more to the bucket.

Eventually, the bucket overflows.

And that overflow is often the behaviour we notice:
🐾 barking
🐾 lunging
🐾 zooming
🐾 biting
🐾 inability to settle
🐾 reactivity
🐾 frantic behaviour
🐾 emotional “over the top” responses

What’s important is that the final trigger is often tiny.

People will often say:
“He reacted out of nowhere.”
“She’s never normally bothered by that.”
“It was only a small thing.”

But it usually wasn’t “just” that one thing. The bucket was already full.

Humans work exactly the same way.

Most of us cope perfectly well with small inconveniences when we’re rested, regulated and feeling okay. But if we’re stressed, overwhelmed, overstimulated, running on no sleep and emotionally exhausted, suddenly something tiny can tip us over the edge.

The slow WiFi becomes infuriating.
We cry because we dropped a spoon.
We snap at someone we love.
We feel unable to cope with things that normally wouldn’t bother us.

Dogs are no different.

Understanding the stress bucket is essential to understanding behaviour because behaviour doesn’t happen in isolation. It’s influenced by physiology, emotions, stress levels, environment, learning history, health, genetics and nervous system state.

This is why I care so much about helping dogs develop skills like calmness, disengagement, optimism and emotional regulation, rather than simply trying to suppress behaviours after the bucket has already overflowed.

Behaviour is communication 🐾