Tag: dog body language
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Why Does My Dog Jump Up and What Can I Do About It?
If your dog launches themselves at visitors, scrambles at your clothes or bounces up when you walk through the door, it can feel as though they’re being rude on purpose. You might even wonder whether they’re testing you. However, most jumping isn’t “naughty” in the way we tend to mean it. It’s usually a normal…
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What Is Scentwork for Dogs? A Beginner’s Guide
Have you ever watched your dog investigate one particular blade of grass for what feels like three working days? To us, it may appear that absolutely nothing is happening. To our dogs, however, that little patch of ground can contain an entire story. Who has been there, how long ago they passed through and possibly…
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VARK, Not BARK: Dog Trainers Need to Understand How Humans Learn Too
As dog trainers, we spend a great deal of time learning how dogs learn. We talk about reinforcement, association, motivation, timing, environment and whether the piece of cheese in our hand is actually more interesting than the spaniel disappearing into the undergrowth. All very important stuff. However, there is another animal standing at the end…
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How Does a Dog’s Nose Work? Scentwork, Sniffing and Hot Weather
Scentwork is often suggested as a good alternative to walking when the weather is hot. That makes sense. It can be done indoors, it doesn’t need lots of space and a dog can enjoy using their nose without racing around or covering miles. However, scentwork isn’t a magical hot weather loophole. When it becomes extremely…
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Sharing Your Lovely Words Without Feeling Like a Show Off
I’m very lucky to receive some truly lovely reviews from the people who bring their dogs to SkellyWAGS or homes I visit. I read and reply to every one of them. I appreciate every one of them. Occasionally, they even make me feel as though I might know what I’m doing. Then comes the difficult…
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Puppy Classes in Kent
Our 6 week puppy course covers all the basics to get you and your pup off to a flying start. The course covers all of the basics such as recall, sit, wait, down, loose lead walking and more.
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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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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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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…
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Loose Lead and Recall
We began our newest 4 week course at the weekend centred around better lead walking and recall. Lead walking and recall may not seem that well connected so why do them together? Well the honest answer is that they like all things dog training require focus from our dogs, however it is a two way…