All Posts by Sian Ryan

Covid-19 Coronavirus Policy Updates

Covid-19 Coronavirus Policy October 2020 As it gets colder, and wetter, we’ll be moving some of our classes back indoors, so we’ve made the training barn Covid-Secure. Changes that we’ve made include: 1. A new Sanitation Station at the entrance including alcohol gel, wipes, access to sink, hot water, soap

Protected: Dog Behaviour Conference Puppy Classes

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Cooper’s Story; Our Choices when our Dogs are Dying

Yesterday we hosted the Developing Older Dogs Seminar, and the reaction to Sally’s talk on your options when facing the final goodbye to your dog, means I thought it might be helpful to share Cooper’s last few days, and the choices we made. If you would also like to share

Teaching Your Dog to Cope with No Attention

Can your dog cope with being bored? Sometimes dogs need to be able to do nothing, be bored, watch the world go by without commenting. This short video will help you teach your dog this important skill, so you can take them to the pub, the cafe, chat with friends

Twenty Signs Your Dog is Part of Your Family

Twenty Signs your Dog is Part of the Family. I spent a day last week talking on various radio interviews about this lovely survey from Lintbells, which shows how much we care about our dog’s health and wellbeing and that we see them as one of the family. It takes us

Reliable Recall – How Strong is Your Safety Net?

Teaching a Recall is like Weaving a Safety Net One of the principles of effective dog training is to add a proper cue to a behaviour only when it’s understood by the dog, and performed at the level you want it to be done. During the training process you might

Housetraining, Chewing and Biting, the First Few Days with your Puppy

Housetraining, Chewing and Biting, How to get through the First Few Days at home with your new puppy; all of these could have a book of their own. To save you time we have some short videos which cover the basics. Housetraining How to Handle Puppy Biting / Mouthing The

Mythbusting: The Guilty Look

Do you believe your dog knows they’ve done wrong because of their guilty look? What if you’re misinterpreting their body language and they aren’t guilty at all, merely reflecting your anger in their behaviour? Watch our video on The Guilty Look

Mythbusting: Dominance in Dogs

Books have been written about dominance in dogs; research papers have been published; whole careers built and fortunes made on promoting the idea of pack leadership and needing to establish dominance over your dog. Here at Developing Dogs we take a different view; one which is supported by more recent

Crate and Relaxation Training for Dogs and Puppies

CRATE and RELAXATION TRAINING A crate is an invaluable tool for you and your dog – it can give them a safe, secure place to rest as well as peace of mind for you that they can’t get up to mischief when you’re not looking, and can be a great

Your Puppy’s First Few Days / Weeks – the essentials

Planning for a new puppy, or rescue dog, can be a confusing time – there’s so much advice out there it can be hard to identify what’s really necessary to have or do, what’s nice to have and what’s a complete waste of time and money. This is the Developing

You Train it Best, When You Train Nothing At All

With apologies to Alison Krauss / Ronan Keating and writers Paul Overstreet and DonSchlitz for paraphrasing their song lyrics, but this weekend I had first hand experience of training without training. Many of my regular clients have met my lurcher, the lovely and ever-so-handsome Cooper, and many more of you will

Be a Responsible Dog Walker

Almost exactly a year ago I kicked off this blog, and the business of Developing Dogs, with a post about dog poo, and now I’m at it again with the launch of the Responsible Dog Walker campaign in Ely, Littleport and surrounding villages. Along with the lovely people from Jurassic

No Walks? No Worries! Maintaining Wellbeing in Dogs on Restricted Exercise

‘Just keep him quiet for a few weeks.’ If you’ve ever heard those words from your vet and looked down at your super-excitable and active dog with a sinking feeling as you contemplate what those few weeks of restricted activity or crate rest might actually entail then hopefully No Walks?

I can listen – cues vs threats in dog obedience training

Many dog trainers, and owners, believe that obedience is at the heart of everything a dog should be. If a dog is obedient it is therefore respectful of its owner, won’t show behaviours that owners find problematic (aggression, destructiveness etc), and is easier to live with because it will always

Should you care about science in dog training?

“Dog training is an art, not a science.” How many times have you heard (or read) that statement, usually made by someone who disagrees with the latest research or whose own beliefs interfere with their ability to be objective about differing view points. And that’s fine; dogs, like people, are

I Have the Right to be a Dog – Food Toys for adult dogs and puppies

I have the right to be a dog (or a puppy) is the final life skill described in Life Skills for Puppies. The right to be a dog means having their emotional, physical and mental needs met in appropriate ways. It does not mean using misinterpreted or misunderstood notions of dominance or aggression

Muzzle Training

Teaching your dog to enjoy wearing his muzzle Whilst you could just put the muzzle on your dog and expect him to deal with wearing it, a few short training sessions can make wearing it a lot more enjoyable and therefore also a lot less stressful for both you and

I have confidence part one – what is good puppy socialisation?

The pressure’s on; you’ve collected your new puppy and everyone you meet is full of advice on what to do next. How to house train, what to do about puppy biting, where they should sleep (and the answer is discussed here), what they should eat and how often, the list goes

I can be calm – training your puppy or dog to self settle

How can I get my puppy / dog to calm down, amuse themselves or go to sleep? Something I get asked a lot, usually by exasperated owners who want to spend their evenings relaxing, not fighting off the ever-increasingly forceful, bitey or noisy attentions of their canine companions. For many puppy

Self Control in Dogs – a seminar in Italy

Today is my first day back in Ely after spending a few days in Italy giving a two-day seminar on Self Control in Dogs. In the UK, I usually present this topic with friend and my former MSc supervisor Dr Hannah Wright, but in Italy I was on my own, and included

Dogs Playing at Home

I’m going to be away for a few days teaching a seminar on Self Control and Frustration Tolerance in Italy, so I thought I’d leave you with this video of Riley and Cooper playing at home. What do you think of their play styles? Do they understand each other fully?

Let’s talk about poo

I know, I know. Not exactly an appealing topic for a post, but something that has been on my mind for a while. As a (responsible) dog owner I pick up after my dogs, which means I am acutely aware of their body’s rhythm and preferred locations for pooing. After

Do the best you can

It’s been a busy week here at Developing Dogs and at the back of my mind all week has been what topic to choose for my first official blog post on the new website. I’ve been collecting ideas, half formed thoughts and topics for a long time and had lots

Welcome to Developing Dogs

Well, it’s taken me a while but finally the website is up and running and this is my first blog post. This also means that we’re approaching opening day, and taking bookings for classes in my new centre near Ely in Cambridgeshire. I am really looking forward to welcoming you,

Nuisance Barking – Things that go WOOF! in the night

This is a copy of an article on nuisance barking that I wrote originally for the APDT,UK Dog Trainer magazine in 2013. Prolonged or unwanted barking can be stressful at the best of times, but when it happens at night and brings with it broken sleep and a high likelihood