The other day, whilst out walking my two nutters, we happened upon a lady and a little girl with their german shepherd puppy (on a guess about 6-8mths old) and a Jack Russell.
As soon as her german shepherd spied my two, he began barking and whining and pulling on the lead to get to them.
We walked straight past as my older boy can be a little funny with dogs who get a bit exuberant and carried on throwing the ball as normal (we always have a ball on us as …

When you first get a puppy, one of the main things you learn is that puppies like to mouth and play bite. It is part of their natural behaviour - so what’s the problem? It doesn’t even hurt that much really. So we don’t need to teach them bite inhibition right? WRONG.
As renowned behaviourist Ian Dunbar states ‘teaching bite inhibition is the most important aspect of your puppy’s entire education.’ (Dunbar, 2007-2010) This is supported by another expert in the field, Karen Pryor, who confirms ‘If you teach your …

The first thing any reputable rescue, trainer, behaviourist, vet or indeed any good breeder will tell you when you first bring home your puppy is that socialisation is incredibly important. They need to get used to lots of strange people, dogs and situations…and even ’scary’ objects such as bikes, hats, large coats and so on.
And being puppies, they tend to absorb everything like a sponge and can learn very quickly that lots of different people, children, adults, grandparents mean more treats and cuddles and aren’t very scary at all. Going …

After the many, many years of research into the subject, there still seems to be a great divide in the world of dog trainers and behaviourists which has resulted in a long-continuing debate on which dog training methods are ‘correct’ and which behavioural philosophies ultimately explain why dogs behave as they do.
Standing either side of this great divide are celebrity dog trainers Cesar Millan and Victoria Stilwell.
Both parties are familiar and well-loved household names but each holds an opposing view as to how dogs should be trained and understood.

Cesar’s Way
Cesar’s …

We all know the old adage that dogs are a man’s best friend, but I have to say, I really think it’s true.
I was lucky enough recently to be given the opportunity to have a little look into what Guide Dog Trainers do as well as meeting some of the dogs they work with and it is truly remarkable how bonded they are with the dogs, and brilliant to see the dogs eager to work but having fun at the same time.
The dogs they work with are a complete mix …