I joke about greyhounds, they can also often hide chronic pain well. It’s their acute pain response and that is notorious (The greyhound scream of death!) Whilst it’s difficult to hide an acute pain response, chronic pain is often easier to adapt to and hide. Whilst we may learn to function with it, it can still have an impact on things such as sleep, appetite, general energy levels and sensitivity to stimuli. This eventually impacts on emotional regulation and behaviour. Something we can probably relate to well if we reflect on our own experiences with pain. . An increased sensitivity to stim ..read more

RESOURCE GUARDING IN DOGS Even ‘swapsies’ / trading has the potential to make it worse. Amigo has suddenly taken a huge interest in toys. He will clamp and hold them, and becomes conflicted when he has them because he anticipates interest in the toy. He even attempts to create predictability by parading the item, as if goading us to move towards it. EVER FELT YOUR DOG HAS STAGED AN OPPORTUNITY TO GUARD? Now you know why some do this. Controlling a situation proactively can be less anxiety inducing than letting your guard down. Memory recollection and associated emotions can be triggered whe ..read more

PSYCHOACTIVE MEDICATIONS There is a stigma that surrounds the use of psychoactive medication for dogs, which can result in some dogs being denied support that can make a huge difference to their welfare. Much of the criticism of psychoactive medication for dogs comes from a place of being misinformed. Although, I agree that in some cases they can be too quickly recommended or prescribed, or not used to their maximum potential. To avoid this; A thorough and holistic assessment of the dog should be taken, including a thorough review of the medical history and consideration towards potential h ..read more

SETTLING IN A NEW RESCUE DOG HOME ALONE TRAINING (Applies to puppies too!) Rescues can be vulnerable to struggling home alone due to hyper attachment to their ‘rescuer’- which is often the person who was their first contact out of the shelter or their primary handler and carer (the person who does the lion’s share). Having a multi dog household works in my favour, but does not make Amigo immune to struggling in my absence. Here’s some pointers on how I mitigated risk of home alone issues and considerations I took for training. I tried to ensure I had no commitments for 3-4 weeks, or schedul ..read more

Have you ever felt uncomfortable for having someone standing up-close behind you? Have you experienced a state of anticipation for being approached by someone unfamiliar? Have you ever felt anxious for being/feeling followed? Have you ever struggled to disengage from a conversation with someone you don’t know, for fear of upsetting them? It takes a lot of confidence to turn your back on an individual who is moving into your space. Doing so or considering it can trigger anxiety for some. This is because once your back is turned you are vulnerable, your guard is down and you are at a signifi ..read more

Imagine only ever having small talk with other people, never getting the opportunity to have more personal conversations with those you have an established relationship with. For some of you who are less relaxed talking to friends and family on the phone, you may have experienced having limited diaglogue with people across the past two years- as we moved in and out of Covid restrictions. Subconsciously (or for some, perhaps very consciously) when we interact with less familiar people we start to assess their body language and the interaction: – Do they like me? – Do I like them? – How do our ..read more

“I’m Roz Pooley and I’m one of the UKs TOP dog trainers and behaviourists”……..are NOT words you’ll ever hear me say! The reason being that just because someone can talk the talk, who says they can actually walk the walk? If they say it, it doesn’t make it so! The dog training and behaviour industry is unregulated, which is a welfare issue for dogs. Anyone can call themselves a trainer, behaviourist, expert etc and there are no legal consequences for doing so, even if someone is unqualified, lacks experience, aren’t accredited with an established organisation. Basically, some one can totally ..read more

Are you getting a puppy soon? So am I!! The countdown has begun and the past few days have been a mission of getting everything prepared. I’ve tried to think of everything to make the transition for  my cat and dogs easy whilst also making the first few days and weeks as stress free as possible for the puppy and me (and my housemate and partner). Here’s a little checklist of what I’ve done so far…. 1) What time are we arriving home with the puppy? We’ve co-ordinated the pick up and journey so we will be getting home as early as possible. This will turn out to be midday, so the puppy has a ..read more

1. The dog’s internal environment isn’t at optimum. To support future learning our dogs need to be: Pain/Discomfort free (Skeletal, Muscular, Skin and Digestive issues) Low Stress. Positive or negative, too high levels of stress have a big impact on the body and mind. Well Rested. Your adult dog needs 12-16 hours of quality rest and sleep a day! It’s during sleep that stress levels lower, the body regenerates and repairs and memories are formed. A healthy attitude and reliable intake of quality food. The brain needs energy to process information, this unsuprisingly comes from their food ..read more

RUNNING WITH YOUR DOG Mohawk is now 14 months old and as of last week we started to introduce him to running with us. Exercise needs to be carefully built up! He’s an active dog so is already fit, but running at our pace may inhibit self-regulation (sniffing, checking in, slowing down). We started with 3k for his first run, today was a hilly 4K so he got lots of opportunity to slow down when I had to walk some of the uphill. Before we set off the dogs are given the opportunity to sniff, wee and poo and warm those muscles up for a few minutes. We also give them a few minutes to slow an ..read more