7 months on…

Having started D4Dog walking in May of 2021, I had intended to give a 6 month update on the experience and journey (literally and metaphorically speaking.)

Walking dogs has been a revelation, in many ways, there are so many unexpected events, pathways and emotions, not to mention learning about the area we are lucky enough to live in and call home – is there a better part of the world than South Devon – maybe, but I doubt it!

In seven months I have built up a solid client base of Owners and dogs, who allow me to walk their dogs, with a variety of regularity, some every day of the week, some occasionally as needed. What I hadn’t expected when starting Dog Walking, was the emotional connection with the dogs – it might just be me(!) But the speed with which the dogs become part of the D4Dog family has surprised me. But it’s definitely in the plus column!

I have been extraordinarily lucky with the weather, there have been a few days of heavy rain, some cold days, but so far the weather has been wonderfully moderate and frankly dull. However I know that the climate tends to balance out, so dry mild autumn may turn into cold wet winter.

The biggest change/news is the decision to develop our Dog services to include Training and Behaviour work. It was a natural progression as many owners discussed training and a number of our ‘walking dogs’, given the nature of the walking service we offer, had a few issues such as ‘pulling on the lead’, and ‘reactivity to other dogs’. Meeting owners walking their dogs whilst out with client or our own dogs, led to conversations and the topic of training and behaviour modification would come up again and again. So I made the decision to enrol on some formal courses to complement and deepen the knowledge and experience I already had.

One of the biggest realisations was just how relevant my previous career as a Teacher and subjects of expertise – especially developmental psychology, is to dog training and behaviour modification. I knew those years of teaching Pavlov, Skinner and Thorndyke would pay off…

Being a good trainer, requires being a good teacher. Being a good teacher is harder than it seems, but nearly 30 years of teaching young adults and adults of all ages is a good foundation for successful dog training.

Training and behaviour modification is a team effort, there are three key elements, the dog, its owners/family and the trainer. Everyone of these components needs to work together, if the trainer fails to effectively communicate with either the dog or its owners/family, then the training is going to be less effective than it would be, if they’re all working together.

Thats why our ethos, our motto, for D4dog Training and Behaviour is Happy Dogs, Happy Owners, Happy Days!