Blog

  • When you have a food-ambivalent dog

    When you have a food-ambivalent dog

    Recently, I’ve been thinking about how much of our interactions with dogs and “customs” around dog training are built on the assumption that a dog is interested in and motivated by food. When that isn’t the case, you have to think much, much harder and often dig deep for empathy when nothing seems to work Read more

  • Loving a dog is more than just feelings

    Leaving aside whatever views you might have on the show or the dog trainer in question, this is a good illustration what can happen when people get a dog “for the family”. Watch the video by clicking the image – it’s on Facebook and can’t be embedded. I’ve spent the past 6 weeks cleaning up Read more

  • If in doubt, don’t get a dog!

    If in doubt, don’t get a dog!

    We have been caring for a lovely 1 year old spaniel recently on behalf of her breeder who is my friend. She is the sweetest dog you can imagine, and we absolutely adore her but unfortunately Lady Grace is not a fan so we are helping to find a forever home for her. I’ve had Read more

  • What I wish my agility teachers knew

    What I wish my agility teachers knew

    I wanted to write this because these thoughts have been circulating in my head for months – often haunting me on Thursday nights after practice – in the hope that it would make me feel better but now that I’ve laid out all the reasons why, I’m less certain why it’s a good idea to Read more

  • DIY Rabbit Ball

    DIY Rabbit Ball

    I made a toy from a rabbit skin I bought at a dog show in Poland and a Kong squeaker ball and apparently it is The Best! The skin has received no love at all since we got home so I thought perhaps it needs to come alive a bit… Kong Squeaker ball found at Read more

  • Some thoughts on joint health and dog development

    Some thoughts on joint health and dog development

    I had a conversation with someone* a few months ago about dog joints, structure, movement and breeding spaniels, and during the conversation we had a hypothesis about why there are more joint problems today. Hypothesis 1: In the past hunting spaniels like cockers and springers (in the UK) would have been removed from the gene Read more