Take the Lead Dog Training

05/09/2026

Often, my dogs go through the doorway before I do.

They also cuddle up to me on the sofa and bed.

I couldn’t care less.

They still do what they’re told to do when they need to be told to do it.

This truth has proven itself to be a truth over decades.

Some things cannot be faked - AI or no AI.

05/09/2026

Preventing dogs from attacking other animals is one of my main reasons for doing what I do.

I care.

I have rewritten this blog to bring it bang up to date.

Everything is relevant if you walk your dog where livestock such as sheep might be present.

Please read it, and encourage anyone you might know to read it.

https://www.joinardo.com/livestock-worrying

05/09/2026

Some E-collar truths from 2018…

One of the questions I have been asked countless times over the years is: “Have you tried the E-collar on yourself?”

Yes, I have. But there is a much more interesting question:

Why do we think that matters?

There seems to be a peculiar insistence that, before using an electronic training collar on a dog, a human being should experience the sensation themselves—as though feeling stimulation through human skin somehow tells us how another species, with different anatomy, perception, learning history, motivation and circumstances, will interpret that experience.

Yet we rarely apply the same reasoning elsewhere.

Nobody suggests that we should undergo elective castration before deciding whether to castrate our dog.

Nobody expects us to experience an ovariohysterectomy before electing to spay a bitch.

We don’t spend hours confined inside a dog crate to establish what prolonged confinement feels like before using one. We don’t kennel ourselves to determine how a dog experiences kennelling.

And how many owners attach themselves to a 15-metre retractable lead, accelerate to full speed and repeatedly hit the end of it before deciding that this is an acceptable way of managing their dog?

These examples aren’t being offered to suggest that these experiences are equivalent. Clearly they aren’t.

That’s precisely the point.

Trying something on ourselves doesn’t establish how a dog experiences it.

Many perfectly lawful and widely accepted aspects of dog ownership, training, management, husbandry and veterinary care can involve restraint, frustration, discomfort, pain, confinement or invasive procedures. Some are medically necessary. Others are elective. Some may provide substantial benefits. Others involve balancing potential benefits against potential welfare costs.

And, importantly, the dog doesn’t understand our explanation of why we have chosen them.

So why has “Would you put it around your own neck?” become such a prominent test of the ethics of an electronic training collar when we don’t routinely apply an equivalent test to the countless other interventions we impose upon dogs?

The relevant question shouldn’t be whether a human would volunteer to experience something intended for a dog.

The questions should be:

What does the dog actually experience?

How does the dog behave?

What does the evidence demonstrate?

What is the purpose of the intervention?

What are the welfare costs of using it—and what might be the welfare costs of not using it?

Does it achieve an important outcome efficiently, proportionately and without causing unnecessary suffering?

Those are questions about animal welfare.

“Would you do it to yourself?” is largely a question about human emotion and intuition.

If we’re going to make serious claims about canine welfare, we should be prepared to distinguish between the two.

Originally filmed in 2018.

04/09/2026

04/09/2026

Short outtake here from an older video, showing Truman ignoring a ‘high value’ reward in favour of a ‘lower value’ reward as a result of understanding the WAIT command - nothing else …

Makes you completely rethink the concept of ‘higher value’ being ‘tastier’, ‘more expensive’ or ‘more of’!

Have you been told that you need to use ‘higher value rewards’? Do you have ‘extra special treats’, ready to reward your dog’s best efforts?

Are you wasting your time?

Want to understand more? Jamie Penrith’s Canine Classroom now features a ‘taster tier’ so you can have a look and get a flavour of what the classroom offers, for just £4.99 (+vat)!!

02/09/2026

I recorded this several years ago.

It isn’t a bashing video of vets, but it IS a bashing of the political groups who claim to represent vets, without seeking the opinion of the vets they represent.

It is the kind of counter-question that the anti-aversive (despite the aversive experience saving multiple animal lives) veterinary trade unions fail to answer.

They failed to answer it then, they fail to answer it now.

Please, have a listen … Then ask yourself, ‘Why is the veterinary industry knowingly risking the lives, health and wellbeing of millions of dogs through invasive, surgical intervention, if a secure lead and ‘reward training’ is sufficient to maintain the safety and control of any dog, regardless?’

If you want non-judgemental, highly experienced help with the chasing behaviour of your dog, please get in touch.

01/09/2026

Puppies … Turning away and waiting patiently to positively reinforce the desirable behaviour in their littermates ….

But on a serious note …

Puppy biting is a perfectly normal and important part of early social development.

These Labrador puppies were approximately five to six weeks old when this video was recorded. Although the interaction may look rough—with two puppies biting, holding and pulling at another puppy—this is part of the process through which young dogs learn how to communicate, coexist and use their mouths safely and appropriately.

Puppies explore and interact with the world through their mouths. During play with their littermates, they learn that the way they use their teeth has consequences. Their brothers and sisters provide immediate feedback: play may continue, become more intense, pause or end altogether. A puppy that bites too hard may be met with a yelp, withdrawal, resistance or an equally physical response from another puppy. Through these repeated interactions, puppies begin to develop bite inhibition, self-control and an understanding of the social signals and boundaries communicated by other dogs.

Importantly, not every one of those consequences is pleasant. That is not a defect in the developmental process; it is an essential part of it.

From a natural, ethological perspective, it is remarkably misguided for dog trainers, behaviourists or veterinarians to suggest that puppies should be protected from experiencing even the mildest negative consequences as part of their learning. That position flies in the face of how social development occurs across mammalian species. Dogs, humans and other socially living animals learn to cooperate safely and effectively within a group partly because their behaviour produces consequences—some rewarding and some discouraging.

This does not justify frightening, hurting or overwhelming a puppy. Nor does it mean that every unpleasant intervention is necessary, proportionate or appropriate. It simply recognises that learning cannot realistically or naturally be reduced to the receipt of rewards alone. Social boundaries have meaning precisely because crossing them sometimes produces an outcome the individual would prefer to avoid.

This is one reason why growing up among littermates is so valuable. Singleton puppies, or puppies separated from their litter too early, may miss some of these important learning opportunities and can consequently find appropriate social interaction more difficult. They have had fewer opportunities to discover how their behaviour affects others and how the behaviour of others should influence their own.

When a young puppy mouths or bites its owner, it does not necessarily mean that the puppy is aggressive, dominant or badly behaved. In most cases, it means that the puppy is behaving like a perfectly normal puppy. Our responsibility is not merely to suppress that behaviour, nor to pretend that every learning experience must be entirely pleasant. It is to help the puppy continue learning when, where and how the use of its mouth is appropriate.

This short video offers a glimpse of that learning taking place naturally within the litter: through play, communication, resistance, feedback and consequence, during one of the most important stages of a puppy’s social development.

31/08/2026

We’ve added a ‘taster tier’ to the Canine Classroom!!

Just £4.99 (+VAT) per month, unlocks a selection of videos that will be added to every fortnight. This gives you the opportunity to look inside the Classroom and get an idea of what we demonstrate and discuss!

I seriously cannot possibly offer anything better than that for the content available. I just want to encourage as many people as possible to understand more and realise what makes your dog tick, without cost being a barrier to learning.

Google Jamie Penrith’s Canine Classroom and hit ‘join!

I look forward to helping you!

30/08/2026

It doesn’t cross my mind, to go onto another dog trainer’s social media pages and criticise what they’re doing, just because I do things differently.
It CERTAINLY never enters my head, to personally and publicly insult that trainer, purely for my own gratification or to throw some red meat to entertain my followers.

29/08/2026

A tiny example of what we discuss, demonstrate and dissect in the Canine Classroom!

If you have a genuine interest in expanding your knowledge of dog training and behaviour, raise your hand and I’ll message a link!