Puppy Education Solihull

15/12/2025

Is a puppy on your Christmas wish list? 🎁

Before you fall for those puppy-dog eyes, take a moment to research, research, research! 📚

Every breed is different; energy levels, grooming, training needs, health considerations... and knowing what to expect is the best gift you can give your future pup. ❤️

Not sure where to start? Try:
🔍 Searching reputable sites about breed traits
📝 Learning how to find a responsible breeder
📚 Checking out trusted training and behaviour books (like The Perfect Puppy by our founder Gwen Bailey)

And remember, we have loads of free advice on our website, find the link in the comments. 👇

A little homework now = a lifetime of wagging tails later.

20/09/2025

Just training at home isn’t enough, train your dog wherever you want them to perform the behaviour. As this video shows just a small change to an environment can have a big impact on a dog’s ability to learn.

08/05/2025

Looking at the why behind a behaviour is the best thing we can do for our dogs, and ourselves.

When we see behaviour for what it really is, we realise it’s not personal, just practical for our dogs at the time.

06/05/2025

𝙋𝙖𝙘𝙠 𝙬𝙖𝙡𝙠𝙨 (𝙖𝙡𝙨𝙤 𝙘𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙙 𝙣𝙚𝙪𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙮 𝙬𝙖𝙡𝙠𝙨 𝙤𝙧 𝙨𝙤𝙘𝙞𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙨𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙬𝙖𝙡𝙠𝙨) 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙙𝙤𝙜𝙨*.

These are often marketed to owners of reactive dogs as a way to socialise and train their dogs. But they can be fraught with risk.

⚠️ A group class for reactive dogs requires rigorous control & management in place to keep everyone safe. This is impossible to do in a public space as it’s just not possible to control the environment well enough to avoid risk.

⚠️ Many of these are run on a ‘pay & play’ basis so the trainer has 𝙣𝙤 advance notice of who will turn up, 𝙣𝙤 idea how many will turn up, 𝙣𝙤 idea what issues the dogs have, 𝙣𝙤 idea of the severity of those issues, 𝙣𝙤 idea if that dog is ready to be walked in close proximity with unknown dogs etc.

⚠️ Working with a reactive dog in public requires the trainer to give their full attention to the dog, the human client and the ever changing environment at all times. Things can change in a moment and it is simply not possible for a trainer to give that level of focus to every dog in a group setting.

⚠️ They are cheap. Some trainers charge as little as £5 per dog which means they need higher numbers to make them economically viable.

Large groups of reactive dogs with a high dog:trainer ratio in a public space where the environment cannot be controlled poses a real risk to the dogs, the human participants & others in the environment.

My strong advice would always be to avoid these but if you are considering taking your dog to a reactive group ‘pack’ walk ask the following questions -

❓how many dogs will be there? Is there a maximum number?
❓what is the dog:trainer ratio
❓what equipment does the trainer stipulate you should (or should not) use
❓will dogs be on lead at all times
❓have all the dogs attending been previously assessed by the trainer
❓can you see a copy of their risk assessment
❓can you see copy of their public liability and professional indemnity insurance certificates
❓what qualifications does the trainer have

If they can’t, or won’t, answer these questions or if the answers concern you in any way think seriously about whether this is a situation you want to put your reactive dog, and yourself, into.

Social walks can be hugely beneficial for reactive dogs under the right conditions (which would include assessed dogs who have worked with the trainer previously in strictly controlled small numbers). But 'pack walks' with unknown, un-assessed dogs and little control of numbers isn't that.

(* 𝘐'𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘐'𝘮 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘐'𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘶𝘮𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 "𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘴" 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘶𝘱 𝘰𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰𝘥𝘢𝘺...𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘴 £5. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘩𝘶𝘨𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘰 𝘣𝘢𝘥𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐'𝘮 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯.)

06/05/2025

I was working at a park recently where another trainer was also working. They worked with 3 dogs over the course of the afternoon. All of them on e-collars.

The trainer's website states that they use positive reinforcement techniques and are committed to ethical training. There's no mention of e-collars or physical punishment anywhere. So an unsuspecting owner looking for a rewards based trainer would be forgiven for thinking this trainer might be a good fit for them.

If it's important to you to find a trainer who doesn't use physical punishment or force the ONLY way to to do that is to ask an explicit question and make sure you get a clear, unequivocal answer...

"𝘿𝙤 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙩𝙤𝙤𝙡𝙨 𝙙𝙚𝙨𝙞𝙜𝙣𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙗𝙚 𝙖𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙨𝙡𝙞𝙥 𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙨, 𝙚𝙘𝙤𝙡𝙡𝙖𝙧𝙨, 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙣𝙜 𝙘𝙤𝙡𝙡𝙖𝙧𝙨, 𝙜𝙧𝙤𝙩 𝙘𝙤𝙡𝙡𝙖𝙧𝙨, 𝙗𝙤𝙣𝙠𝙚𝙧𝙨?"

Don't rely on what a website or a page might say...they are marketing tools, remember. Always, always ask if it's important to you....even if you think you already know the answer. It's up to you to be an informed consumer and understand the product you're buying.

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(𝘍𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘷𝘰𝘪𝘥𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘥𝘰𝘶𝘣𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘢 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘭𝘴. 𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘢 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘺. 𝘈𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘴, 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘶𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴, 𝘰𝘸𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘤𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘯𝘰 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘳, 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘶𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘰𝘣𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘤𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘥𝘴)

05/05/2025

SETTING THE TONE
The tone of voice we use when speaking to a dog matters!

When someone is talking to us or asking us to do something, are we more likely to respond and want to connect with them if they’re using a specific type of tone than if their tone is harsh, shouting or domineering?

The more we use positive tones of voice with our dogs, the more they will want to connect with us and be more interested in doing what we are asking.

Some examples of why tone matters –

Calling your dog to come back to you in a happy, excited, high-pitched tone is far more likely to work than using a stern, loud, angry tone. Would you want to return to someone who sounds really angry?

Yanking on a leash and shouting at a dog for reacting to another dog or situation is far less likely to work than saying “lets go this way!” in a happy tone and creating distance to where a dog feels comfortable.

Saying “Yes!” when a dog has done what you ask will increase the behaviour you’re looking for instead of yelling “No!” in an angry tone when they don’t get it right.

Although these examples are based on positive reinforcement training, a study has also shown that dogs respond and pay more attention when we speak with a higher pitch and more variation, similar to how we would talk to a baby.

Given that a dog’s emotional capability is similar to that of a young child, this all makes sense and fits together, in my opinion.

Here’s a link to the study if you’d like more information -

https://www.nature.com/articles/s42003-023-05217-y

28/04/2025

22/04/2025

For those interested in the science this is why we place the verbal cue ahead of the hand signal once the hand signal is reliable in training. Essentially we are avoiding ‘blocking’ the learning of the verbal cue as the dog focuses on the already well understood hand signal and pays no attention to what we are saying (if we do both at the same time).

14/04/2025

The force-free way to a happy, confident pup, and a great relationshipBy Sally Bradbury There are four steps to a harmonious relationship: Prevent Prevent what you can wherever possible and manage the pup’s environment so that he has little or no opportunity to go wrong. This means puppy-proofing ...

10/03/2025

You can control anyone or any animal through punishment & anyone can do it.

You just need to find something your subject finds punishing & apply this punishment with good timing to get results.

It doesn’t mean you should.

I’d say the majority of people who train like this don’t fully understand the potential fall out & why it can actually be dangerous as well as distressing and psychologically damaging for the subject involved.

If your trainer is guaranteeing quick results I can guarantee you don’t want to do that to your dog.