Hels4Dogs

Rewarding your reactive dog - are you rewarding the barking?

There is so much conflicting and confusing advice out there on how to tackle your dog's behaviour, but one of the biggest things I hear dog owners asking is: "Am I…

My story

How I got to where I am today

I know I know, that picture is so grainy and old! It's got to be about 8 years old now. I think I would be about 22in this picture. Huxley was my first dog, not my first…

Why does walking our reactive dog get us down so much?

Why does walking our reactive dog get us down so much. Well, our dogs are very emotional creatures. They have feelings just like you and me, they can feel worried,…

Trigger stacking - The main thing holding reactive dog owners back

Have you ever been in that place where you have been walking your dog, they see so many other dogs (or insert your dogs trigger here), and then randomly out of…

The side of reactive dog ownership that nobody talks about

There is a side of reactive dog ownership that nobody ever really talks about. The side that is emotionally draining and challenging for you. The side that leaves you…

Vet Handling - The underlying welfare concern

Controversial opinion alert, but I strongly believe that veterinary handling has become the most overt welfare concern affecting pet dogs. Vet handling is the necessary…

Multidog households and how to manage resource guarding

Multidog households - what does it mean? Well a multi dog household would count as any household with more than 1 dog in it....But they can be a bit difficult to manage.…

Is using food a bribe and punishment a threat?

The pontifications of an animal behaviourist who doesn't get out much..... In the dog world you won't readily find a trainer that never uses food to help get dogs to do…

Setting your dog up for success with visitors during the holidays

When we have people over for festivities it can sometimes be a prime scenario for our dogs to become overwhelmed. It may be noisier than usual There may be more people…

Are you that owner that likes to geek out?

There has been a huge shift in recent years towards an emotion centred model of understanding our dogs and how they behave. This is good, it's based in scientific…

Why is the vet referral so important?

How does it work? What does it do? What is it for?

For many prospective clients, when I go through the process of how to book in, and clients hear the words "vet referral" they almost go "oh god! Another step...another…

Why are vets so important to treating our dog's behaviour?

Our dog's medical status and their behaviour are closely connected. I love to draw comparisons and analogies so bear with me on this: Imagine you have a sore back. You…

Repetitive behaviours

Repetitive behaviours, stereotypical behaviours, compulsive behaviours, or whatever you would like to refer to them as, can creep up on anyone. They are common in breeds…

Crufts

The greatest show

We generally go to CRUFTS every year, sometimes multiple days. We will find some opportunity to represent our breed, or to show off Bonnie's skills. Our first year…

Pain & Behaviour

Why your vet should take you seriously

You know when you have a feeling about something and you can't shake it. You're convinced something isn't right with your dog, or you notice something that isn't normal.…

I'm ill or injured, what can I do for my dogs?

Enrichment, training, walking?

I am currently sat at home on enforced rest, due to a bad sprain, and I have been for the last 2 weeks. It's boring for me, it's boring for the dogs. I'm going crazy,…

Consent in dog training cont.

So how can you as an owner apply consent in your training?

What does consent mean to us practically? If you haven't already I recommend having a look at my previous blog on consent here . Following on from that how can we…

Consent in dog training

How to cultivate trust between you and your dog.

How can we make use of consent when we interact with our dogs? Consent is consent. We hear about it all the time in our daily lives, whether we want to do something or…

Welcome to Hels4Dogs

Where to start....

Welcome to my blog: Hels4Dogs I want this platform to be a go to for resources, for support , for advocacy for kind and humane methods of dog training. The idea is a…