Paws to Think NZ

21/05/2026

I'm often asked "how often should I train my dog"?

Unless I'm training for a specific skill or competition, I regard the whole day as a training opportunity if needed. For example:
Puppy picks up something they should not have from the floor. You trade it for a toy and play a few seconds tug. That's training a "leave it" but it wasn't a dedicated session, it was just building on life skills.
You call your dog inside the house when they're outside and you play with them or give them a treat when they come in. That is building a recall even though you didn't dedicate some time to it.
You randomly ask your dog to sit while you are doing something completely different like cooking or something. That's training- it is teaching your dog to listen to you, even though you might look different from what you do in a training class.

The list of possibilities is endless. So unless you're training a specific skill and making time for that, treat everyday as an opportunity for your dog to grow and learn with you, randomly, at unexpected moments.

This is Jenny she is 12 months old. She knows an incredible amount of life skills and behaviors, because I built it into our daily lives from eight weeks old 💜 - plus lots of play of course 💜

12/05/2026

For the first time I can recall, I am not collecting my new puppy to live with us until he is 12 weeks old.

Over the years there has been a deeper understanding of the benefit of leaving puppies with their litter and their mums, beyond 8 weeks. Amazingly, 30 years ago - we used to collect our puppies at 6 weeks old!!

Puppies have their first fear period between 8-12 weeks, therefore it could be really hard for them if they join their new family during that period, however lovely the family.

There are also excellent programmes that reputable breeders follow, such as Puppy Culture, that ensure you get a balanced puppy that is a little bit older than you might have expected, looking at social media etc.

Marc’s breeder is following Puppy Culture, which covers a lot of aspects of the first 12 weeks of their life, including different exposures, work on potty training, and interacting with many humans. I can’t wait to meet him again when he comes to live with us in June.

Sometimes we need to collect puppies earlier - I’ve done it myself - due to a breeder having cancer, or rescuing them from a bad situation, but if you can bear to wait, do hold off.

10/05/2026

Today I chose our next puppy 💜

I based my choice on his engagement with me and his structure. He is the son of our own Staffordshire Bull terrier.

When he arrives in six weeks time I will post regular videos of his development and journey with our family of two humans and four dogs .

28/04/2026

A random selection of tonight's "last walk before bed" photos 💜

22/04/2026

Looking after and training a dog is most definitely also about problem solving. In order to do that you need to understand context and what your dog will enjoy doing.

In this video explain how I solved a problem with my young dog being annoying with one of my older dogs.
I thought her behavior was inappropriate and my older dog thought so too so we needed to change the picture - with kindness.

Jenny is a border collie and loves to chase. The reason that she is barking at Jack in his crate when she comes out of hers is because she wants to play with him but he doesn't want to, and he doesn't like her noisy attention before he leaves his crate.

So I gave her an alternative behavior. Chasing. And I made it even better by allowing her to chase food.

Problem solved. I don't know if I will ever be able to stop using food to get her out of the crate if Jack is nearby but I don't care. Maybe she'll grow out of this maybe she won't in which case I will just have treats in my pockets. Forever.

11/04/2026

Blooper 😂 I was trying to prepare a video of Lexi focusing forward on a food target. I had left her favorite toy some distance away.

I saw her race past the treat and not even eat it and I wondered what on earth she was doing 🤔
Had she not seen it?
Was the treat too small? 😂

Obviously she prefers her toy because she just went to get it instead 😂 😂 😂

Who needs food when there's a toy available? 😂 😂

04/04/2026

If you train with me you will know I am very fussy about so-called “clean mechanics”.

If you are going to tell your dog with a clicker or verbal sound that they have done the right thing, then the only thing that should be going on is that sound, but no body movement.

Otherwise, they might think your MOVEMENT is telling them they are correct - so we wait to move until after the sound is made.

I was revising this with Lexi yesterday and I was quite pleased to see that we also both understood that it can be done with a toy as well as food.

Actually - I think she enjoyed the toy reward more 😂 😂

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16/03/2026

Yesterday Jenny the 10 month old puppy went to a pre-agility training seminar

I have done a lot of work with her on recall and bringing the toy back to me. Actually - hours and hours 😂

Every time we asked her to do a skill she just came back to me when we asked and she brought the toy back right to my hand. A very proud moment 😂

If you want to do advanced stuff you have to do the basics first and then everything else is so much easier!!!!!

Jenny is the one on the left. She likes to share laps 😂

10/03/2026

If you live in a house with two or more dogs, you may have labelled at least one of them the “Fun Police”.

There’s a really easy way to tell whch dog it is - watch for a behaviour called Splitting.

The fun police dog will just quietly walk between whatever it is they wish to stop or where they wish to reduce tension. That’s all - they basically split up the fun 😂

It is primarily a technique used almost exclusively by dogs and wolves.

Lexi is my Fun Police dog ♥️

31/01/2026

Some fun to see if your dog has good toy focus when distractions are around.

Place your dog's toy some distance away. Tell them to get it and run into the opposite direction 😂

I started by walking then increasing the speed.

Post your videos here 😊