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Hollie Mcphillips | Dog Trainer 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

@wild.dogtraining

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↟ Helping owners navigate reactivity
⛰︎ Real-life training for real-life adventures
❤︎ Rescue advocate
Virtual • In Person • Groups • Pack Walks

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"Why won't my dog settle in public?"

Because you're asking for a behaviour they haven't learned yet 😔

Your dog shouldn't be expected to relax in a busy environment if they can't do it confidently at home first.
Build the behaviour where it's easy. Practise until it's reliable. Then gradually increase the distractions as your dog gains confidence.
Throwing them into a busy environment too soon often leads to frustration...for both of you. Your dog struggles, you feel disappointed, and it's easy to think, "My dog just can't do this."
But the problem usually isn't the dog, it's that the environment was too difficult, too soon.

Success comes from progression, not pressure. Build the foundations first, and your dog will thank you for it 🌿🐾 #dogtraining by @wild.dogtraining

When we first met her, this young rescue had already experienced more than most dogs her age.
arriving from Spain at just 4½ months old, with an unknown history and very limited experience of the world, she was displaying behaviours her owners were struggling to understand.
After receiving conflicting and inappropriate advice from previous trainers, they came to us looking for a clearer way forward.
Our priority was to understand the dog in front of us and establish the foundations she was missing.
Through structured play, engagement, lead work, some basic obedience, now implementing place and settle training, we’ve been teaching her how to channel her drive, regulate her arousal and communicate effectively with her handlers.
Just a few weeks in, the progress is already evident.
Shes able to make better choices in environments she once found difficult.

Her owners have also worked exceptionally hard, applying everything consistently between sessions and developing a much stronger understanding of how to support her.

There is still a long way to go, but this is a promising start!

#dogaggression #dogtraining by @wild.dogtraining

This is why play is such a big part of our training.
We’re not playing just to burn energy or make them tired. We’re giving them an outlet for what they naturally enjoy... chasing, grabbing, pulling, carrying and biting, while teaching them that those things can happen with us.
That creates a dog who has somewhere to put that drive, rather than constantly looking for their own outlet.
And because we’re part of the fun, we build engagement at the same time.

Play gives the dog an outlet.
We build the relationship through it.

That’s what makes it such a powerful training tool. by @wild.dogtraining

🤔 by @wild.dogtraining

I knew I’d rescue again. Big dogs like these are so often overlooked, and I knew there would always be another one out there who needed a home.

After losing Prince, I adopted Lando, another livestock guardian.

What I didn’t expect was how much he would remind me of Prince.

It’s in the little things, the mannerisms, the way he looks at me. Sometimes I catch a glimpse of Prince in him, and it’s both comforting and heartbreaking.

I miss Prince more than words can explain. But I’m grateful that, while my heart was still broken, I found another dog who needed me just as much as I needed him. 🤍 by @wild.dogtraining

Imagine enjoying your walks instead of constantly worrying about what your dog might react to next...

Reactivity can become a habit. Spot a dog, fixate, bark, lunge. The more it happens, the more rehearsed that behaviour becomes.

But what if we gave your dog something better to do?

By building engagement, teaching them to disengage from triggers and developing reliable recall, we can help them practise different responses, make better choices and learn that there’s more to the world than reacting to everything in it.

Recall isn’t a magic fix for reactivity, but it’s a valuable skill that can give you more options, more control and more freedom to enjoy the world together.

Less time managing reactions. More time enjoying the walk.

Want to help your dog build better habits and enjoy more freedom?

Message us today 📩 by @wild.dogtraining

🌿🌿🌿 by @wild.dogtraining

The famous Flexi lead🙃
Susan is walking along the main road… susan’s dog is somewhere in the next postcode. The lead is at full extension, communication is nonexistent, and they’re essentially two strangers who happen to be attached by a piece of string…
then another dog appears, and suddenly susan’s frantically trying to reel in 20 metres of dog ✌🏻

And this is where the flexi gets a bad reputation…

A flexi is actually one of my favourite training tools, and I use it a lot in my own training and with clients. But like any tool, it needs to be used with intention, not simply clipped on and left to do its thing.
I use it to build freedom with structure, give dogs room to explore while maintaining communication, and work on recall without immediately removing that physical connection. It can be brilliant for teaching dogs that having more freedom doesn’t mean switching off from their handler.
But that doesn’t happen just because you’ve bought a flexi lead.
You still need to understand lead handling, read your dog’s body language, recognise what’s happening around you and know when to give more line and when to take it in. Your dog needs to understand how to respond to you too.
A flexi isn’t something you attach to your dog and hope for the best. It’s a tool you actively work with.
Don’t be a Susan. by @wild.dogtraining

Somewhere along the way, people started confusing boundaries with cruelty and saying no with damaging trust.
But you can love your dog without saying yes to everything.
Some of my clients tell me that learning to set boundaries has been one of the BIGGEST things to improve their relationship with their dog.
Not because they became harsher owners, but because they became clearer, more consistent and more confident.
We talk endlessly about what we should reward, but what about teaching our dogs what isn’t acceptable?
And no, that doesn’t mean shouting, intimidating, punishing every mistake or expecting a dog to understand something they’ve never been taught.
It means having boundaries, being consistent and communicating clearly.
Understanding that our dogs need guidance, not just affection.
We can overwhelm our dogs with constant talking, touching and interference, yet somehow believe that saying no is where we cross the line.
Kindness without boundaries isn’t the same as good guidance.
Your dog doesn’t need you to say yes to everything. They need you to be fair, clear and consistent.

You can be loving AND have expectations.

You can build trust AND set boundaries.

And you can say NO without being the bad guy.

#dogtraining by @wild.dogtraining

Why do I work with reactivity?

I spent years working in rescue, fostering and rehabilitating dogs, and watched hundreds of them come and go. I’ve taken the leads from multiple owners who had reached the point where they couldn’t cope anymore, and watched them walk away from their dogs.

I saw the same story time and time again. Dogs struggling with reactivity, dogs that had become difficult to manage, and dogs eventually being surrendered because things had reached breaking point. Some were rehomed. Some stayed in rescue. And some never got that chance.

I’ve never been able to look at a reactive dog and only see the behaviour. I see the dog behind it. I see what they’re struggling with, what they’re trying to communicate, and what we can do to help them navigate the world differently.

That’s why I chose to specialise in reactivity.

I don’t want to wait until a dog ends up in rescue, or reaches a point where euthanasia is being considered. I want to help before things reach that point. by @wild.dogtraining

My heart will always belong to rescue work.
When we heard Barney’s future was so uncertain.. facing options like kennels, being sent back to Romania, or even PTS 💔 we couldn't just stand by. Between our busy schedules, I teamed up with another fantastic trainer @mldogsport ... together we've made the time to foster, train, and support Barney.
After fully assessing him, it’s clear he shows zero aggression... he’s genuinely just a big, affectionate puppy who has taken to my personal dog brilliantly. What was mislabeled as aggression is actually frustration-based leash reactivity. We're guiding him through those big feelings on walks now so his next adopters have the support they need and he never faces being returned again. #dogtraining #rescuedog #adoptme by @wild.dogtraining

PUPPY CLASS | MOTIVATION & ENGAGEMENT

Theory + practical this week, focusing on why motivation matters and how we build it.

We want puppies who don’t just listen to us.. they want to engage, work and communicate with us.

That foundation makes a huge difference as they grow, supporting everything from recall and focus to navigating distractions and reactivity.

Build the relationship first. The training follows.

New puppy? Want to start them off on the right track?
Message us for details on our puppy classes! by @wild.dogtraining