Category: Scent work
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Why Is Sniffing So Important for Dogs?
You’ve left the house with your dog, planned a decent walk and perhaps even imagined returning home before the kettle has completely forgotten about you. Then your dog finds a particularly interesting patch of grass. They sniff it from one direction, approach it from another, investigate the neighbouring lamppost and then return to the original…
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Scentwork Classes for Dogs in Kent
Our scent work courses are an introduction into the world of scent work for your dogs…we will not teach them to search for explosives…but we will teach them how to train for a scent!
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The Dog Training Questions Everyone Asks – And Where to Start
If you’ve ever typed “How do I stop my dog from…” into Google, you’re certainly not alone. In fact, I’m fairly sure the words “stop my dog” have been followed by everything from pulling on the lead to stealing socks, barking at the window and disappearing after a squirrel. Many of the most common dog…
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Scentwork: A Practical Guide to Building Your Dog’s Confidence Through Nosework
Scentwork: A Practical Guide to Building Your Dog’s Confidence Through Nosework Scentwork is a rewarding dog sport and enrichment activity that encourages dogs to use their most powerful sense: smell. It is suitable for almost any dog, from high energy youngsters to older dogs who need low impact exercise. Better still, it is easy to…
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Why Connection Is the Foundation of Everything We Do at SkellyWAGS
A Busy Week That Reinforced an Important Lesson As another busy week at SkellyWAGS comes to an end, I’ve found myself reflecting on just how many different dogs, people and conversations I’ve been fortunate enough to be part of. It’s been one of those weeks where no two days have looked the same. There have…
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SkellyWAGS Adventure Dogs
A New Adventure Every Week! Beginning August 2026 What if your dog’s next training class wasn’t about getting everything right? What if it was simply about having fun, trying something new and building confidence along the way? Welcome to SkellyWAGS Adventure Dogs a brand new weekly class where every session is a different adventure. Designed…
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Looking for More to Do With Your Dog Without Committing to a 5-Week Course?
Flexible Dog Training in Kent That Fits Around Your Life One of the questions I’m asked more than almost any other is, “What can we do after we’ve finished our course?” It’s a great question. For some people, another five-week course is exactly what they’re looking for. For others, life simply gets in the way.…
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When a Dog Says “Not Yet”. We Should Listen
Every dog deserves to have their voice heard Yesterday I spent some time working with a lovely dog called Nala who is weary of strangers. Like many dogs, she wasn’t being naughty or difficult, she was simply unsure of the unfamiliar person standing in front of her. That person happened to be me. Normally, I’m…
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Looking Ahead… We’re so Ready to Get Back to It!
Well… that wasn’t quite how any of us imagined the last couple of weeks would go! The prolonged heat meant making the decision to cancel all of our classes and 1-1 sessions. Of course it was disappointing, but when it comes to the welfare of the dogs there really wasn’t any other choice. They’ll always…
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A slightly different couple of weeks
If you’ve been following along, you’ll know the weather has had other ideas recently. Between the heat/humidity causing us to cancel and reschedule classes, workshops and 1-1’s etc, it’s certainly not been the summer I had planned! From a business point of view it’s never ideal, but I’ve always believed there’s little point in fighting…
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The SkellyWags Foundations
What Great Dog Training Is Really Built On. Discover the SkellyWags Foundations,Trust, Communication, Choice, Safety and Fun. Learn why building a strong relationship with your dog is the key to successful puppy training, recall, lead walking and positive reinforcement. If you’ve spent any time following SkellyWAGS, you’ve probably heard me say “Connection Before Training.” It…
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Hot Weather and Dogs: Why Sometimes the Best Walk is No Walk at All
As dog guardians, many of us are conditioned to think that our dogs need a walk every day. But when the temperature starts to climb, it may be time to rethink what our dogs really need. At SkellyWags, dog welfare will always come first. Sometimes that means cancelling classes, changing plans or swapping a walk…
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Introduction to Scentwork
Saturday 25th July, 14.00 start at Waggy Tails Field, Old Romney, Kent. On Saturday the 25th July we will be opening the gates to Waggy Tails field, for a special SkellyWags Introductions to Scentwork session. This relaxed 45 minute mini workshop is designed to give you and your dog a fun introduction to the world…
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Taking Time to Just BE with your Dog.
Taking Time to Just Be with Your Dog Why slowing down might be the most important part of your training journey We had a day off on Monday and it felt a bit odd! No clients. No sessions. No building projects.Just me and Bert. We wandered through the Meadow, checked out the Scent Shed, strolled…
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The Scent Shed.
More Than Just a Scent Shed – A Space Built for Dogs (and Their Humans) When I first started building what we now lovingly call the Scent Shed, I had one main idea in mind: creating a safe, calm, weather-proof space where dogs could sniff, search and just be dogs. But as the build has…
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I’m a Dog Trainer… Not a Social Media Content Creator
Somewhere along the way, dog training became very cinematic. Perfectly timed recalls.Dogs trotting politely past distractions.Slow-motion treats.Uplifting music.And not a muddy paw, chewed lead, or “what on earth was that?” moment in sight. And while I absolutely get it — social media is a powerful tool and, yes, it drives a lot of business these…
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“Snooze you Lose, Right?
Not when it comes to our dogs! Why Your Dog’s Sleep Matters, by Bert. “Hi all, Bert here with my Friday Blog. Hope you are all well and rested.…did you see what I did there! Lets dive straight in and talk about why sleep matters. Now, I know what some of you are thinking: “My…
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Reactive Dog!
Living with a Reactive Dog. Bert looks into what it is really like for our guardians. “Alright, lovely humans, it’s me Bert and my Friday Blog. I want to have a bit of a heart to heart about something important, what it’s really like living with a reactive dog. However before I start just for…
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Beginners Scentwork Game.
Fun Beginners Scentwork Game. It is no secret that we love our scentwork at Skellywags and the benefits it can have for our dogs and us. Scentwork does not have to be all about the indication or making it harder, lots of different levels/grades it is most importantly about the dog sniffing and having fun.…
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Life Skills Workshop. Why do we not call it Obedience training?
The main reason is because we do not like the word OBEDIENCE and what it implies, the same as why we use the word CUE instead of COMMAND. Although only words they still have an association to them, as a human I would rather be asked to do something instead of told or commanded to…