Click Trick dog training

So much of what we learn and experience is context specific. An environment, location or area becomes a part of what we learn in that moment. That includes traumatic memories. For dogs (and humans) that have experienced trauma a location, space or environment will always have that memory associated with it.

Sometimes we can over-ride memories… but not when there has been trauma. That trauma will always be there.

Learning always happens best in new contexts. That’s because your brain can make new pathways and you can ‘start again’.

Even in those environments that are associated with triggers, we can create a new context that facilitates learning. For some dogs this can work wonders. For others, we have to change location in order for the dog to be able to progress. A huge part of what we do, particularly when working with trauma (which by the way is way more common than many people think and what is traumatic for one dog may not be for another) is working out how best that individual dog can learn. That’s how we can then progress in training. And sometimes that takes time. But it’s so worth it.

I’m posting a photo of Buzz in Cornwall. This was a location for me that will always be associated with freedom and joy. It goes for us too, there are many locations for me that are unfortunately tainted with difficult memories. As there will be for us all. It’s okay to change the environment/ location in order for us to feel safe, relax and be able to make changes within ourselves and our dogs. 🐶🐾

I just wanted to share this photo… this is our Saturday morning ‘life skills’ group. 5/8 of the dogs in this group could be labelled as ‘reactive’. Those 5 dogs are all 1:1 clients that we’ve been working with for a long time and only integrated them into a group class environment when we feel confident they are ready. We are really passionate about this, we will never put a dog in a situation we do not feel they are ready for. It does take time… but it is so worth it. And sometimes we may trial a class and then it not be for them and we take them out… that’s okay too. All of our training is tailored to each individual dog.

(There are 2 dogs out of sight of the photo. Having tonnes of space is key, a photo of 8 dogs all close together may look impressive but it wouldn’t mean the dogs are actually relaxed and happy… that will always be our priority).

This is a bigger class than we would usually have as due to a bit of a class- reschedule issue we had to combine 2 classes...

We were confident all the dogs could do it, we know all the dogs well. And they all smashed it 🙌🙌. We are so proud of you all, and can’t wait to watch you all keep progressing ❤️🐾.

Just watching & observing… it’s one of the most useful things we can allow our dogs to do. For some dogs, it’s one of the most challenging things for them as if they are anxious/ reactive… just watching and learning can be really hard!

This was taken a couple of weeks back but I forgot to post it. Cheddar did so much observing in this session, it was so lovely to see!

Teaching dogs to slow down & take in what’s happening is a huge part of what we do on a day-to-day basis. For dogs that are anxious/ reactive they often rush into everything without thinking. They are usually not enjoying their walks and anticipating something scary walking round the corner at any given moment. Imagine how we would feel if we were on edge all the time like that.

Walks don’t have to be ‘walks’… just focus on letting your dog just be. Slowing down and letting your dog learn about what’s happening can be so so powerful.

Since this session, Cheddar has now become a big brother to his human baby sister ❤️❤️. He is doing amazingly well! We’ve been alternating sessions between preparing for the new arrival and continuing with his reactivity training for the past few months. We are so so proud of how well he’s done! And we are completely over the moon for his owners and their new family ❤️.

What a great week we’ve had! Lots of positive 1:1 sessions and 2 new sets of puppy classes. The heat has been causing us issues, we moved our classes forward yesterday and then it rained 😆. No matter what we do, we can’t win! Everyone still came earlier and we had a really positive class, thank you for bearing with us. ❤️

We are really looking forward to watching these next groups of puppies grow and progress in the coming weeks 🐶🐾.

I have swapped dogs for horses & donkeys for a few days of recharging in the New Forest with my oldest son. A well needed break for both of us after a very challenging few months. There is such a huge link between mental and physical health, it’s so important we take time to decompress and reset too. My body & mind have certainly been screaming out for me to stop, take a breath and just ground so that’s what I’m going to try and do.

Messages/ enquiries may be slower to be replied to. We will catch up on admin as soon as we can. We’ve had an influx of 1:1 enquiries recently and are really busy, which is lovely and thank you all so much for supporting us. The main part of our job is being out with the dogs and often the admin part slips down the list a bit. If you are waiting on anything from us, please do give us a nudge and we will always do our best to respond as soon as we can.

Our next puppy and life skills groups start this coming Thursday & Saturday, if you’d like to join us you can book via https://bookwhen.com/clicktrickdogtraining. Lorraine will send out emails with forms etc. over the next few days.

Thank you as always for all your support ❤️.

I am looking after lovely Marius the Malamute tonight. He’s such a lovely boy who gives just the best cuddles 🥰🥰. Much needed, this week has been rather intense and busy… and it’s not over yet 🙈. Marius cuddles are just what I needed ❤️❤️.

Our next puppy training classes start 1 week today! Thursday evenings 7.15-8.15pm and Saturday mornings 9-10am (in hot weather this may get moved earlier).

Cost is £84 for 6-weeks.

All our classes are focused on building important life skills in a fun and relaxed way. We make sure every puppy has plenty of space on our large, private field and at the forefront of everything we do is making sure every puppy is relaxed and able to learn.

If you would like to join us you can book via https://bookwhen.com/clicktrickdogtraining.

As always, any questions please do not hesitate to get in touch 🐶🐾.

On this day 4 years ago I had a bit of a mad idea. An idea that had been forming over some time but I never thought I’d actually be brave enough to do it. I had just left my previous job working in dog rescue as the hours did not fit in with having a 1 year old child. Being my own self-employed dog trainer was a bit of a dream…

All my choices in life tend to be spur of the moment. Sometimes over-thinking gets us nowhere! On this day 4 years ago I put the feelers out there to see what the demand would be if I started offering dog training… I remember it so well. I was sat at the bottom of my stairs and I said to my husband ‘shall I just do it? See what happens?’ I didn’t really care on his response to be honest… I don’t even remember what it was 😆.

I saw my 1st clients on the 27th July. So that is officially the ‘click trick’ 4th birthday. We haven’t really decided yet how to celebrate but I do think it deserves a celebration!

After putting the feelers out I started getting enquiries… and within the first 6 months I saw at least 110 dogs on 1:1 sessions. I say ‘at least’ because when I was going through all my records my head hurt so I do think I missed a few 😂. One of those clients was Lorraine…

This photo of Buzz was taken 1 year ago today. Even just in the past year it’s amazing how much has changed and how far we’ve come.

I am so proud of where the business is now and how many dogs we’ve been able to help. Never in a million years would I have seen where I’d be now when I started this 4 years ago. I feel so lucky to have met the people and dogs that I have along the way, every single one has taught me something and helped me progress further. I have learnt so much over the past 4 years and continue to learn all the time. It’s such an exciting industry to be in because it is changing quickly as we deepen our understanding of dogs, emotions and the effect trauma can have on us all.

I have been on a bit of a self-discovery journey the past 6-7 months and I did lose pretty much all my self-confidence along the way. It’s so easy to forget what we can do, what we have achieved and what our values are. Having this birthday pop up has helped me to bring some of that self-confidence back and remind me of what I can achieve. We all just need a bit of reminding sometimes in this crazy, hectic world.

But I wouldn’t still be here 4 years down the line without all of you supporting the business. So a huge thank you to every single client past and present who has allowed us to be a part of your journey. As a result, we get to continue doing what we love every single day.

And obviously a huge thank you to Lorraine too who started off as one of my early clients. 2 years ago (it’s actually the 2-year birthday of when she joined on the 29th July) she reached out when I desperately needed someone I trusted to take over when I was pregnant with my 2nd child… and since then we haven’t looked back! I am so very lucky that she joined when she did and is still putting up with my chaos… I don’t know how she puts up with my madness but she does and the business is certainly where it is now as a result of her being a part of it. This job is tough at times… it can be challenging, mentally taxing and it’s easy to burn-out. Running a business and having 2 young children… plus all the other challenges of life… I can say with confidence this business wouldn’t be where it is right now without Lorraine joining when she did.

So the point of this post really is to say a huge thank you to everyone. To every single dog and their caregiver that has trusted us to be a part of their journey. Thank you for allowing us to continue doing a job we love so so much. We hope to be doing this for many more years to come and I’m excited to see what the future holds. I am thinking of what to do to celebrate this birthday… open to ideas/ suggestions ❤️🐾.

Today I’ve been on an ACE Free Work Workshop with Dee from Redefined Dog -Behaviour and Care held at Canine Paws Academy. What a great day, thank you so so much. I loved getting to spend some time just observing Incy and learning a bit more about him, I’ve certainly got some things to think on. It’s always a joy to connect with others in the industry who are on the same wavelength and get the opportunity to further my skills as a trainer.

I’m so proud of Incy and how far he’s come. He’s an anxious, complex boy but he did so well today in a completely new environment with strangers. Such a super boy ❤️.

Last Friday we met Nellie who is a spaniel x Dachshund x Lurcher (what a mix!). Her new owners have recently rehomed her and she really has landed on her paws ❤️. She’s an anxious girlie who finds the world overwhelming and scary at the moment. We are stripping everything back so that we can then gradually expose her to the world whilst helping her feel safe, relax and be able to enjoy all the world has to offer.

It’s amazing how much difference just making small changes can have in such a short space of time! We are really excited to continue working with Nellie and see her confidence start to bloom.

We got this feedback from them yesterday and it honestly made our day! Full credit to Nellie’s owners though, they have taken everything on board and started implementing it straight away.

We are so so excited to be a part of such an exciting journey with Nellie and her owners ❤️🐾.

Often in our crazy world we are so busy running round like headless chickens that it can be hard to see what is right in front of us. Sometimes we just need to take a step back, breathe, ground ourselves and focus on our own wellness.

When we live with a dog with complex needs it can take over our lives. It can be really hard to see how far we have come and what we have achieved.

This is your reminder to focus on those wins…

• Compared to this time last year, what are your walks like now?

• How much better do you understand your dog?

• Do you feel you can read them better?

• Has your self-confidence in your own handling of situations improved?

• Have your skills as a trainer improved?

• What new things have you taught your dog(s) in the past 6 months?

• What was your life with your dog like 6 months ago compared to now?

Focus on where you are right now. Don’t think about the past, any mistakes you’ve made along the way (we’ve all been there) or where you wish you were. Because I am certain you are a lot further along than you think you are.

I am hugely grateful for every single dog and their humans that we get to work with. It is a privilege to be a part of your journeys. A privilege we never take lightly. I am honoured that so many of you trust us to be a part of your journey.

Thank you so much for allowing us to have a job we love so much. It can be a very taxing job emotionally and physically but we would not have it any other way. There are lots of things that can make our job harder such as this ever-changing weather (!), getting stuck in traffic, the unpredictability of dogs/ general public whilst on 1:1 sessions in public places… the list goes on.

But when we see the progress as the dogs we work with gain confidence, their humans gain confidence and both their worlds open up it makes every second worth it.

For all our classes and 1:1 sessions we have WhatsApp groups set up for ongoing support. I want to encourage you all to share your wins in these groups. Often we only reach out when we need help or don’t understand something. But it’s so important to shout about the good stuff too! If it’s recorded somewhere it allows you to look back on those bad days and remind yourself how far you have come.

A huge thank you to you all for allowing us to be a part of your journeys. We hope you all have a lovely weekend! Share those wins, embrace those positive moments and let go of any past negativity that may be holding you back in moving forwards. Because you are all doing a fabulous job ❤️🐾.

I am just coming to the end of another little holiday with Rupert. He’s certainly kept us on our toes… we may be dog trainers but trying to convince a Golden Retriever that LOVES the sea it was time to go home completely beat us 😂. Lorraine had to come rescue me, and even then it took us 45 mins and moving the car closer to him before he actually decided to go home.

Oh Rupert 😂🙈. I still absolutely adore him though and have loved looking after him (and his 2 cat pals) again. ❤️🐾

Today we met 10 month old Gucci who has only been with her new owners a month. She’s a worried girlie having had very limited exposure to the world so far in her life. As a result she does bark/ lunge on lead, particularly at bikes and other dogs. Despite her limited exposure to the world she is such a lovely girlie who gives the best cuddles 🥰. We introduced some easy training games including 1-2-3 and a hand touch that we can then progress to using outdoors in future sessions.

We are really excited to work with her further and help open up her world whilst teaching her to relax and enjoy all the positive things that the outdoors has to offer.

What a lovely, positive session to start the week ❤️🐾.

Isn’t Oscar the Spanish Water Dog cross Cavalier just the sweetest boy? Here he is in this evenings puppy class showing off his mat training. He struggled initially so we had to help him work through his frustration, but we got there 🙌. Definitely something that will benefit him to practice lots as he’s a very frustrated little puppy bless him 😆. Learning to cope with frustration is such an important skill for all puppies as unfortunately it is a part of life… for all of us! We can’t avoid getting frustrated but we can learn how to work through it.

Our August puppy and life skills classes are available to book at https://bookwhen.com/clicktrickdogtraining if you’d like to join our summer courses running all through the summer holidays 🐾. We do welcome children to all our classes and 1:1 sessions so don’t let the school holidays put you off training!

Please note we are very busy with 1:1 training at the moment and our availability is limited.

As always, any questions please don’t hesitate to get in touch 🐾🐶.

As humans we are obsessed with labelling everything. There has to be a reason for everything so that we can go ‘oh yes that’s that and that’s why it’s that’. In our heads that reassures us and we can then move on from that. But how useful is a label? The problem of a label is that we all have a pre-conceived idea of what that label should ‘look’ like.

If I told you I was stressed every single one of us would have our own version of that. Our brain would fill with what that looks like depending on our own individual upbringing, opinions, prior learning, genetics and personality. Some people might go ‘oh yes makes total sense’ whilst others may go ‘really?! You don’t look stressed!’ How often do we look at a person and think or even say out loud ‘that person looks stressed!’ But actually… are they sleep deprived? Have they been given some bad news recently? Are they overwhelmed? The list is endless…

Stress… there are so many emotions that come under stress! But every single one of those emotions is actually just another label. There have been studies done where scientists tried to quantify exactly what each emotion is. The thing is… they couldn’t. In every single person emotions are unique. We all know what we think sadness should look like. But actually… when we are sad is that what it looks like? I know my sadness looks very different depending on the context, the reason behind it, how I’m feeling on that day, who I’m with… the list goes on. Isn’t that the same for all of us? Same with anger… something might really anger me but I will show it in completely different ways on completely different days. And sometimes the way I deal with anger may look very similar to frustration, despair, sadness… and vice versa!

It’s mind boggling isn’t it. If you’d like to read more about emotions there is an amazing book worth reading called ‘how emotions are made’ by Lisa Feldman Barrett.

Let’s transfer this over to dogs… we are constantly labelling dogs! Dogs can be anxious, shy, reactive, confident, happy, sad, aggressive, friendly… the list goes on. What does a friendly dog look like to you? What does an anxious dog look like to you? We all get these ideas pop up into our head… that is part of what makes us human. But actually, an anxious dog may be in pain. An anxious dog may have a traumatic memory that has been triggered. They may find things overwhelming rather than be anxious. They could be in pain. Again… the list goes on! The possibilities are endless.

This one might surprise some of you… but it’s the same with dog breeds. Is it really any different to labelling someone as Chinese? As Spanish? As black? As white? Having brown hair? Having ginger hair? Is it? Does that label define them? Again, when I mention each one of those we all get images pop up of what each of those should look like. We all know that it doesn’t matter what we look like or where we come from. We are all completely unique and it doesn’t define who we are. Yes there may be some similarities… people from similar cultures may prefer similar food for example. But why is that? Upbringing? What’s available in that country? Prior learning? Epigenetic’s? It’s so complicated isn’t it!

Out of all my dogs, my Labrador is my most likely dog to bite. He is the one that finds social situations the most challenging. He is the dog I walk the least and actually he never ever asks to go out, he is completely content just having our garden to mooch around in. I have lost count of the number of times I’ve been told ‘really? That’s unusual for a Labrador!’ Is it? Or is it just him? I’ve worked with plenty of complex Labradors, each completely unique in their set of issues. The same goes for any breed, if you google a Dalmatian one of the first things that pops up is that they are usually quiet. Anyone who has ever met Buzz will laugh, he’s the loudest dog I have ever had the pleasure of sharing my life with. This goes for every single breed. Yes, there are some similarities as genetics does play a role in this. Lots of Labradors are genetically predisposed to being obsessed with food for example. I can tell you my Jack Russell is way more food motivated than my Labrador… so yes although there are lots of food obsessed Labs out there it still isn’t the big picture.

As humans we label everything. Of course we do, that’s part of being human. Even I do it all the time! But let’s question the labels. That dog is reactive… yes but why? Actually, is the dog in pain? What is causing that pain? Is the dog reacting because actually they are fearful? They are worried? They are frustrated? They are hungry?! They need a poo?! The list is endless.

Let’s focus on the individual. Let’s tailor what we do to that individual dog. That is what dog training is all about. And actually, I strongly believe it should be the same in the human world. Let’s celebrate the fact we are all completely unique. Every single dog or person that enters my life teaches me something completely new. That’s amazing! That’s what makes life so exciting. Gosh wouldn’t life be boring if Labradors were all just Labradors. Terriers were all just terriers. People with brown hair were just all people with brown hair?!

Next time you catch yourself labelling someone… human or dog… it’s really worth thinking about… is that label actually a true representation of them? And the answer to that will always be no… 🐾❤️

Lots of happy, focused dogs in our group classes today ❤️. What fun we all had, even with the wind making for an extra challenge 😆.

If you’d like to join our August groups you can book via https://bookwhen.com/clicktrickdogtraining.

Ziggy chilling on the seafront yesterday 🙌❤️. He has come such a long way since we started a few months ago. This would have seemed impossible just a few weeks ago 🙌. One of the things his owner said to us whilst we were here ‘oh we’d love to walk him places like this’… our reply was ‘we are here and we are doing it!’ It was a fabulous moment, we are so so proud of Ziggy and his owners.

One of the things that has helped Ziggy hugely is reducing his daily walks. This can sometimes be a scary concept, it is drilled into us we must walk our dogs every day and we are bad dog-parents if we do not! Less is more in the dog world… this is a phrase we say all the time. Ziggy is so much happier and more relaxed not being exposed to triggers every day. As a result, we’ve made huge progress in helping him be able to genuinely relax and enjoy being outdoors.

Imagine if everytime we left the house we saw a spider, or a snake, or a July bug (😩)… I know I’d never want to leave the house again! Dogs are not that much different to us and we can very quickly cause a dog to just tolerate walks rather than genuinely relax and enjoy them. So much of our daily work is helping dogs to know they do have a choice, teaching owners how to listen and read their dogs so that both dog and owner can have more enjoyable, relaxed walks.

We love working with Ziggy’s owners, they have taken everything we’ve said on board and the progress is clear to see. We are privileged to be a part of their journey. ❤️🐾

Bella is a Spanish rescue who finds new people really scary! We’ve been working with Bella a long time now gradually building up her confidence, helping her relax and helping her to feel safe. This was session 2 of meeting someone completely new (one of our clients who also has an anxious/ reactive dog, she has started assisting/ shadowing some of our sessions). It once took months for Bella to feel comfortable to take food from someone new… so for us to achieve this in session 2 was such a huge win 🙌🙌.

We are so so proud of how far Bella has come… the progress is clear to see! What a journey… one that we are so privileged to be a part of ❤️🐾.

We have now released booking for our August puppy and life skills groups 🙌🐾. Thursday evenings and Saturday mornings all held outdoors on a large, private field.

Full details and booking can be made at https://bookwhen.com/clicktrickdogtraining.

Any questions please do let us know 🐾.

Love this ❤️. Secure attachments are vital… for us and dogs. 🐾

Dogs need an anchor in the world; someone they have a secure attachment with based on a loving relationship and someone who makes them feel safe. There’s a lovely quote from John Bowlby about child/parent secure bases that says ‘all of us, from the cradle to the grave are happiest when life is organised as a series of excursions, long or short, from the secure base provided by our attachment figures’.

What this means is that dogs do best if they feel safe and have a secure bond to someone. This means they need contact- both physically and emotionally and they need to feel safe and with no concern that they will be punished. This secure attachment helps them to be resilient and cope with the world as they always have a safe base to return to.

I’ve seen this in action with my little hand reared yorkie. From 6 days old she lived attached to me, to keep her warm she mostly lived inside my jumper (actually in my bra really 😂). She slept next to me, I bottle fed her and cared for her every need. You’d perhaps think this would create a needy monster who would never cope without me being right there- who would have awful separation issues and who would really struggle emotionally in life. Quite the opposite occurred, she’s the most independent and confident dog I’ve ever had. When she was a few months old she decided she didn’t want to sleep in my bed anymore- she’s big and brave enough that she doesn’t need me like that now. She’s grown her wings to fly the nest. She returns in the night if she gets cold and always every morning for a cuddle under the covers when I’m half asleep-it’s like I’m her docking station for a recharge and then she’s off, without a backward glance (actually maybe she silently swears at me 😂) and she’d face the world alone if she could, she is totally fearless.

There’s no short cuts to a secure attachment- you can’t achieve it by using food and you can’t get it by training. You can’t get a secure attachment by using coercion, quite the opposite occurs- if you punish your dog they won’t feel safe. It takes time, trust and understanding. If you haven’t had your dog from a puppy you can still have a really strong, secure relationship. I’ve had a mix of puppies and adult rescues and some of my strongest relationships have been with my adult rescues but it all takes time, and if they’ve had a series of broken attachments in the past it can take time for them to trust but it’s so worth it.

Don’t ever worry about loving your dog ‘too’ much or giving them too much care or attention, just like children, they need to feel safe and understood to thrive.

We had so much fun in our puppy and life skills classes today, such lovely groups ❤️. It was a warm one so we kept everything short and easy. We focused on lead-walking skills and health-checks in the puppy class. In our life skills class we practiced some ‘instant stop’, settle and introduced checking teeth/ chin-rest. You all did such an amazing job!

We are on it, our next group classes booking will be released tomorrow evening. Apologies for the delay, we’ve had a lot of messages asking but I promise we are going to sort it tomorrow evening 😆🐾.

We hope you all have a lovely rest of your weekend ❤️🐾🐶.

We had such fun in our puppy class this evening focusing on those lead-walking skills… particularly important with this group as most of the puppies are going to grow into big, strong dogs! You all did amazing ❤️🐾.

This week the heat has caused a bit of havoc with rearranging 1:1 sessions. We are just finalising details for our next group courses, we are getting a lot of messages about when they are going to be! We will release the booking link ASAP, bear with us 😊.

Summer has finally arrived… and with it all the complications heat brings to our job 😅. Bear with us, we are having to reschedule sessions during the day and move things around.

We all say it every year, but remember to walk dogs early/ late… or not at all. Evenings at the beach are my favourite and so much more enjoyable than in the blazing heat of the day, for us and the dogs!

Keep cool 😎.

Yesterday I was contacted by Monty’s owners as they were in desperate need of someone to sit with him in the evening and struggling to find anyone. I last saw Monty over 2 years ago, he’s a fearful boy particularly around new people. We did a lot of training around introducing him to strangers and he progressed really well.

I didn’t have any plans yesterday evening so I was more than happy to help. I had no idea how he’d feel about seeing me again after over 2 years… but he did so well ❤️. I was armed with lots of cheese and hotdog which obviously helped! It was lovely seeing him and even more lovely that he recognised me and even let me touch him.

This was why I started offering sits, dogs like Monty who can’t just be left with anyone and takes time to feel safe with new people. I am so happy I was able to help and it was a pleasure seeing sweet little Monty again ❤️🐾.