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Q. What Do Dog Training and Jigsaws Have in Common?
A. Maybe more than you think…
 
Imagine that you give a child a simple four-piece jigsaw puzzle. They put the pieces together, and you celebrate their success.
But you (hopefully!) wouldn’t then say, “Brilliant! You can do jigsaws!” and immediately hand them a 1,000 piece jigsaw of a plate of baked beans, expecting them to complete it just as easily. That would be unfair, overwhelming, and very frustrating.

Yet, in dog training, people do this all the time. Their dog learns a simple behaviour like “sit”, in an easy environment such as the living room, and they assume the dog now knows the cue “sit.” But then, when they ask for a sit at the park, outside a busy café, or when a squirrel zips past, they are baffled and sometimes cross or frustrated when the dog doesn’t respond.

The reality is, the dog has only learned how to do the simple four-piece jigsaw, and asking them to sit in these more distracting environments becomes the equivalent of handing them that 1,000 piece baked bean jigsaw.
 
Knowing When (and How) to Help
When helping a child with a jigsaw, a good parent doesn’t sit there and point to every single piece. Instead, they let the child figure things out, stepping in only when needed:

• If the child is struggling but close to the answer, they give them time to work it out.
• If the child is stuck, they might make it a little easier—perhaps by moving incorrect pieces out of the way or pointing out an obvious edge piece.
• If the puzzle is simply too hard, they recognise that and find one more suited to the child’s level.

In dog training, we need to do the same:

• Give the dog time to problem-solve – Instead of repeating a cue over and over, pause and see if they can work it out themselves.
• Adjust the difficulty if needed – If they can’t sit in a busy park, try a quieter area first. If they struggle with recall, use a long line for safety while building reliability.
• Recognise when we’ve made it too hard – If the dog isn’t succeeding, it’s not because they’re stubborn. We might need to change the environment, use higher-value rewards, or go back to an easier step.

Good training, like good teaching, is about knowing when to guide and when to step back.
 
Learning Happens in Layers
Just like a child needs to progress through different puzzles, gradually increasing in difficulty, dogs need to practise skills in different environments, with different distractions, and at different levels of difficulty.
  
The Edge Pieces First – Building a Foundation
When tackling a jigsaw, most people start with the edge pieces to create a structure before filling in the middle. Similarly, in dog training, we don’t jump straight into advanced skills—we build a strong foundation first. For example:

• Teaching engagement and focus before expecting a perfect recall.
• Teaching loose lead walking in a quiet area before trying it in a busy park.
• Teaching “sit” in low-distraction settings before expecting it in a high-energy environment.

 
Pieces That Almost Fit – The Importance of Clarity
In a jigsaw, some pieces look like they might fit but don’t quite go in properly. If a child forces a piece into the wrong place, it might seem okay at first but cause problems later. This is like a dog learning something “almost right” but not fully understanding it.

• If a dog sits but only when they see a treat, they haven’t fully learned the behaviour.
• If they recall perfectly at home but ignore you outside, they may have only learned it in one setting.
  
  

Missing Pieces – Gaps in Training
A jigsaw with missing pieces is frustrating and incomplete - just like training that lacks key components. Sometimes, people assume their dog is being stubborn when, in reality, there are missing pieces in their training.

• A dog might not “stay” because they were never taught duration.
• A dog might not “come” because they haven’t practised with distractions.
• A dog might pull on the lead because they’ve only been trained in one environment.

If something isn’t working, it’s not the dog’s fault, it just means a piece is missing, and you need to go back and find it.
 
So, next time you’re training your dog, think about their jigsaw skills.
Are you expecting a thousand-piece masterpiece when they’re only ready for a few simple pieces?
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Training your dog isn’t about rushing to get to the final picture - it’s about making sure the pieces fit together, one by one and that you both enjoy the experience of putting all those pieces in place.

Remember being a teenager?
Ah, the teenage years, a period of emotional turmoil, poor decision-making, social awkwardness, and always thinking we knew best (even when we really didn’t).
I doubt many of us would want to relive that phase in our lives, and if we’re honest, we probably weren’t the easiest to live with at that time either!
But did you know that dogs go through their own teenage phase too!
 
​If that adorable puppy who used to hang on your every word is now looking at you like you’ve got two heads when you ask them to sit, you might just be entering the tumultuous time of canine adolescence!
 
But don’t worry - you’ve got this! With a little patience, understanding, and some practical tips, you and your adolescent dog will come out the other side stronger than ever.
 
What Is Canine Adolescence?
Canine adolescence is the period between puppyhood and adulthood. It typically starts around 6 months and can last up to 3 years (it’s generally longer for larger breeds -sorry!). While your dog might appear physically mature, they are still undergoing significant physical, physiological and behavioural changes.
It’s like they have the energy and curiosity of a puppy combined with the mood swings and boundary-pushing tendencies of a teenager. Fun, right?
 
What’s Going On With My Dog?
During adolescence, your dog will undergo physical growth, sexual development and brain development.
 
Here’s some of what your adolescent dog may be experiencing:

• Growth Plates Closing: this can be at around a year old for smaller breeds up to around 2 years for larger breeds. It’s important to consider your dog’s exercise as excessive exercise while the growth plates are not closed can lead to structural problems in the future.

 

• Hormonal Changes: the onset of puberty means an increase in sexual hormones. Male dogs will become more likely to roam, they may begin scent marking and can become reactive particularly to other male dogs. Females will experience their first season and can become more clingy, or alternatively, can become aggressive, they may show nesting behaviour, resource guarding and some will show a change in their eating habits as their tastes change.

 

• Energy Competition: The brain and body compete for energy supplies (e.g. glucose) during growth. Proper rest (around 16 hours per 24 hours) and a high quality diet are essential.
  
  
• Brain Overhaul: The adolescent brain is busy reorganising itself. Unused connections are being pruned away, while behaviours they practice (good or bad!) are becoming consolidated. The Amygdala (the part of the brain that deals with emotions, memory and decision making) is not yet ‘coupled’ with the Prefrontal Cortex which is the part of the brain that helps make decisions, regulate emotions and control impulses.
  
  
• Emotional Rollercoaster: Hormonal surges coupled with the changes happening in the brain can make your dog more environmentally sensitive and they may be more reactive or unpredictable.
  
  
• Curiosity and Risk-Taking: They’re exploring the world, testing boundaries, and sometimes making questionable choices and showing poor impulse control.
  
  
• Ignoring You: They’re not being stubborn, they are at a time where they are easily distracted, struggling with impulse control, and going through neurological changes.

 
How You Can Help Your Dog Through The Adolescent Angst
This stage of your dog’s life can be challenging for sure, but it’s also an opportunity to shape your dog into a confident, well-rounded adult. Here’s how you can help:
 

• Stay Cool, Calm, and Consistent: Your dog is looking to you for guidance; even if they don’t show it! Be patient, stick to your training, use good management to prevent unwanted behaviours (eg, a long line if recall has gone a little wonky!) and be sure to encourage and reward the behaviours you like.

 

• Reinforce the Basics: Your dog might seem to “forget” cues they’ve already learned. This can be frustrating but it is normal! Go back to basics, practise at home first to build good, positive emotions around the training and the reinforcers, then practice in different environments. Keep your dog feeling motivated and confident by rewarding them for trying – even if they don’t always get it right!

 

• Keep Their World Interesting: Adolescents crave novelty, so spice things up with new activities, toys, and training challenges. Try games like hide-and-seek, scent work, or teaching fun tricks. Consider your breed’s natural drive, e.g. if you have a gun dog, you could sign up for some gun dog classes, if you have a herding breed, maybe look at something such as sheep balls or hoopers.

• Prioritise Health and Wellbeing: Ensure they get enough rest.  Sleep helps improve the immune system, reduces stress and anxiety and aids in muscular repair. Feed a high quality diet and balance appropriate physical exercise (remember they are still growing) with mental stimulation.

 
Final Thoughts...
Adolescence is a challenging but rewarding time for you and your dog. Approach it with empathy and a sense of humour, they’re not being deliberately difficult, they’re just figuring out the world while undergoing a lot of changes. The hard work you put in now will pay off for the rest of your dog’s life.

If you’ve ever had a puppy, you’ll know the pain of those tiny needle sharp teeth sinking into your skin. Puppy biting is a common issue that leaves many owners frustrated and confused. 
Let’s look at why puppies bite and how to manage and reduce this behaviour.

Why Do Puppies Bite?
Puppies bite for several reasons, none of which involve plotting to take over the world, despite what those mischievous eyes might suggest!
Biting is a natural part of a puppy’s development. Here are some of the reasons:

• Teething:  Biting helps soothe their sore gums.
• Exploration: Puppies explore with their mouths and are  curious about everything, including your fingers and toes.
• Play: Biting is part of play behaviour, they play with their littermates using their mouths, and often extend this play to their human family.
• Boredom: Biting can be a sign that your puppy needs more physical exercise and/or mental stimulation.
• Over-tired or Over-stimulated: Just like kids, puppies can get cranky when they’re over-tired or over-stimulated, leading to increased biting.
  
  

Effective Strategies to Manage Puppy Biting
Here’s the good news: you can manage and reduce puppy biting with patience and the right techniques.

• Redirect to Toys: When your puppy starts biting, redirect them to an appropriate toy and engage them in a game with toys instead of games with your hands. . 
• Provide Chew Toys: Make sure your puppy has plenty of appropriate things to chew on to help satisfy their need to bite and soothe their teething pain. Make sure you offer chews of different textures.
• Establish a Routine:  Regular feeding, playtime, exercise, mental stimulation, and plenty of quality rest time are essential for puppy development and behaviour management. A well-structured routine helps prevent boredom, overtiredness and overstimulation, which can all lead to increased biting.
• Engage in Mental Stimulation: Use puzzle toys, simple scent games and short training sessions to keep your puppy mentally stimulated.  

What Not to Do
It might be tempting to use quick fixes, but some methods you might see suggested can actually be harmful or counterproductive:

• High-Pitched Yelping: It's often suggested to yelp or squeal like a puppy, but  this can actually encourage more biting, as it can make you seem like a fun target - think giant squeaky toy!! 
• Physical Punishment:  Bopping puppy on the nose, spraying them with water, scaring or shouting at them, can all damage your relationship with your puppy and create fear or aggression.
• Encourage Rough Play: Playing rough games that involve your hands, like wrestling, can encourage biting. 

Final Thoughts:
While puppy biting can feel very overwhelming, it's a normal phase that can be managed with patience and kind, consistent training.  By understanding the various reasons behind it, and using appropriate management strategies to guide your puppy, you can navigate through this phase while building a bond of trust with your puppy. Before you know it those sharp little teeth will be a distant memory.

Welcoming a new puppy into your life is an exciting adventure, but it also comes with its share of challenges!
One of the first & most important tasks you’ll face is toilet training.  It can sometimes seem overwhelming, but with a clear plan and a bit of patience, you and your puppy will soon master it.
Tips for Success

1. Outside Is Best
   While puppy pads can be helpful in some situations, they can also create confusion by signalling that toileting indoors is acceptable. It's better to start training your puppy to toilet outdoors from the beginning.
2. Establish A Schedule
   Puppies do best on predictable routines. At eight weeks old, take your puppy outside every 20-30 minutes (when they’re awake.) Keep a toilet diary so you can begin to track and predict their toilet habits, this will help you begin to extend the gaps between garden trips as they grow.
3. Go With Them
   Always accompany your puppy outside so that they are confident and you are there to praise and reward them after they go.
4. Don't 'Access All Areas'
   Don’t give your puppy unsupervised access to the whole house.  If you’re not right there to supervise, pop them into a safe, smaller area like a crate or pen.
5. Handle Accidents Calmly
   If your puppy has an accident indoors, clean it thoroughly with an enzymatic cleaner to remove odours and prevent repeat incidents. Never scold or punish them – more on this later.
6. Stick to regular feeding times.
   Stick to consistent feeding times to help regulate their digestive system and make toileting times more predictable. Avoid free feeding your puppy. Regular meal times are best.

Learn The Signs
Pay attention to your puppy’s body language and you will soon spot the early warning signs, these include things such as;

• Sniffing or circling
• Moving towards the door
• Whining or barking
• Disengaging from play
• Looking at you expectantly

Be sure to take your puppy to their toilet area if you spot any of these tell tale signs.

Key Times
As well as taking your puppy outside every 30 minutes or so, you will also want to take them out after events that make them more likely to need the toilet, such as:

• Immediately after waking up
• 15 minutes after eating
• After play or training sessions
• During or after periods of excitement, e.g. when visitors arrive

Common Mistakes To Avoid

1. Relying on Puppy Pads
   Unless absolutely necessary, avoid using pads as they delay outdoor toilet training, teaching your puppy that it's ok to toilet inside.
2. Leaving Your Puppy Unsupervised
   If your puppy roams freely, accidents are more likely. Supervision is essential until they’ve mastered the basics.
3. Skipping Night-time Toilets
   Puppies can’t hold their bladder all night at first. Be prepared for a few trips outside during the night in the early weeks.
4. Being Inconsistent
   A clear and consistent routine works best. Share your puppy’s schedule with all family members to keep things consistent.
5. Accidentally Punishing Them For Going
   If your puppy enjoys being in the garden and you take them straight inside after they toilet, they might begin to hold off on toileting because they learn it will end the fun.  Avoid this by letting them have a little free time after they’ve gone as a reward. 
6. Grabbing and Scaring Puppy
   If your puppy does begin to go in the house, it can be tempting to try and grab them to quickly put them outside.  However, this can make you quite scary to the puppy who doesn’t understand why their human is suddenly rushing at them!  If you’re not able to use an attention noise (eg the kissy noise) to get them to come outside, it’s better to wait for them to finish, calmly clean it up and chalk it up to experience.

 
Why Punishment Isn’t Helpful – And Will Likely Make It Worse!

Old fashioned advice to yell, shake a bottle of stones, hit puppy with a rolled up newspaper or rub their nose in it are not only unethical and cruel, they can actually lead to more problems, not just in the relationship you are trying to forge with your puppy, but with the toilet training process itself.
 
Punishment can lead to your puppy trying to hide when they need to toilet, which makes accidents harder to predict and address.
Your puppy can associate the act of toileting itself with being punished, and can become too scared to toilet in front of you, leading to unproductive garden trips and hidden accidents in the house.
 
What to Do Instead

• Focus on setting your puppy up for success with regular opportunities to toilet in the right place.
• Celebrate and reward every success with treats, praise, or play to help them associate toileting in the desired location with positive outcomes.
• Be kind and patient—accidents are a natural part of learning. Simply clean up accidents calmly and thoroughly to prevent lingering odours that might attract them back to the same spot.

 
Final Thoughts...
Toilet training is a process, but with patience, consistency, and positive reinforcement, it can be a smooth and rewarding experience.
Remember, every puppy is different, and their ability to control their bladder will develop over time.
​Stay encouraging and celebrate small wins along the way!
 
Need more help? Get in touch.
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Maximizing the Benefits of Your Dog Training Class: Why Practice Makes Perfect:

Signing up for a dog training class is a great step toward building a strong, healthy relationship with your dog. But attending the class is just the beginning.
To truly reap the benefits, you must put in the work between sessions. If you regularly practice what you've learned, the results will come much faster.
Here’s how you can make the most of your dog training class by practicing at home.

1. Repeat What You Learned
Imagine you’re taking a dance class. The instructor shows you the steps, and you follow along in class. But if you wait until the next class to practice, you’ll likely forget the rhythm and stumble through the moves. Dog training is no different. What you and your dog learn in class needs to be practiced so that you can both become fluent at it.
Try to set aside 10–15 minutes each day to practice the cues and techniques taught in the last session.
This consistency will help solidify the behaviours in your dog’s mind, improve your skills and progress you both more quickly.

2. Create a Routine That Works
Life can get busy, but integrating training into your daily routine doesn’t have to be difficult. Consider pairing your practice sessions with something you already do daily. For example, you could practice for a few minutes after your morning coffee, during your lunch break, or before dinner.
Practice doesn't have to be at home either, spend some time on each walk going over the things you've learned, this will help proof the behaviours by teaching your dog to do them in different locations.  

3. Break It Down into Manageable Chunks
When learning a new skill, it can be overwhelming to try and master everything at once. If you’re teaching your dog a complex behaviour, break it down into smaller steps. Focus on one part of the behaviour at a time, and gradually build up to the whole thing.
For instance, if you’re working on “stay,” start by rewarding your dog for holding the position for just a second, then gradually increase the time and distance. Just like building a tower, a strong foundation ensures stability as you add more layers.

4. Make It Fun!
Training shouldn’t feel like a chore — for you or your dog. Incorporate play and rewards to keep your dog engaged and excited. Use their favourite treats, toys, or games as a reward for a job well done. A positive, fun environment makes your dog more eager to learn and strengthens the bond between you.

5. Stay Patient and Persistent
Remember, progress may be slow at times, and that’s okay. Just as you wouldn’t expect to master a musical instrument after a few lessons, don’t expect your dog to be perfect right away. Stay patient, keep your sessions short and upbeat, and celebrate the small victories.
Consistency is key, and with time, you’ll see significant improvement.

6. Communicate with Your Trainer
Your dog trainer is there to support you, so don’t hesitate to ask questions or share concerns. If you’re struggling with a particular cue or behaviour, your trainer can offer tips or adjust the training plan to better suit yours and your dog’s needs. Open communication ensures you’re getting the most out of each class and helps tailor the experience to you and your dog.
If you are having particular difficulties with something, consider booking a 1-2-1 session to help you out.

In Conclusion:
Your dog training class is an invaluable resource, but the real magic happens when you apply what you’ve learned outside of the classroom.
By practicing regularly, staying consistent, and maintaining a positive attitude, you’ll set the stage for lasting success.
Remember, the effort you put in between classes is what will ultimately lead to a well-behaved, happy companion.