Live with the CityDogExpert

Hello, again, you lovely Pet Parents, you!

As you’ll all know by now, we love hearing from our Pet Parents. Hearing their joys and successes and praise for our treats but their problems and issues that they’re experiencing too, so we can try and help. 

After all, we’re Pet Parents too, and it’s not always easy, and every dog is different so figuring out what works for them is like a puzzle. That’s why we started writing on this blog to share our own experience of being Pet Parents, what’s worked for us, and what hasn’t and provide you with all the information you need. 

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Launching Instagram Lives

It’s been six months since we launched this blog, and although we love sharing our health, relationship and happiness posts, we decided it was time to take it to the next level and start doing regular Instagram lives with doggie experts. 

This was because we want to provide all our Pet Parents with the opportunity to access as much information about being a Pet Parent as possible. Research can only go so far, so we wanted to connect you with the experts and gain access to their tips and advice as well. We’re planning lives with Dog Trainers, Behaviorists, Groomers, Dog Dietitians, and so much more! 

Now, you don’t need to have an Instagram account to access the lives as we’ll always do a write up like this one to share, provide a transcript and link you directly to the video so you can watch it back for yourself. Or, if you like, feel free to give us a follow on the Bounce and Bella Instagram account so whenever we go live, you’ll get an instant notification. 

Our First Instagram Live with the CityDogExpert

As we’re writing up this post, we’ve already done our first live – HOORAY! There were minimal technical difficulties, and we got to talk to Kimberly, the CityDogExpert, a dog trainer and behaviourist with over 17 years of experience in the doggy business world! She also specialises in force-free training and positive reinforcement training.

Along with having over 17 years of experience, Kimberly is also the founder of CityDogExpert, Europe’s number one city dog blog, owner of City Sit Stay, runs the podcast CityDogs, has been a dog foster to over 155 dogs in three years and is a pet parent to SIX Pomeranians! We don’t know how she does it!

As you can expect, Darren and Kimberly had a lot to talk about, and we only had 30 minutes to do it all in! You can check out on our Youtube Channel or check out our summary below.

Instagram Live with the CityDogExpert: https://www.instagram.com/tv/CPWG4pipv2d/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet

Live with the CityDogExpert Summary

• We began the live by discussing Kimberly and how she got into dog training herself. Surprisingly Kimberly wasn’t always a dog person and used to be terrified of dogs growing up after being attacked as a child. It wasn’t until her family adopted a rescued retriever called Meg that Kimberly changed her mind and began to fall in love with dogs.
  
• The result of Meg has meant Kimberly has become a massive advocate for recusing dogs, and she’s even ended up being a foster mum to over 155 dogs in the past three years alone before helping them find their forever homes!
  
• However, that doesn’t mean Kimberly is against buying dogs or breeders; instead, only she encourages people to always do as much research as possible due to her experience of purchasing from a breeder result in her dog, Gabo having several health conditions.
  
• Set Up To Succeed! It’s a phrase that Kimberly says she probably overuses when helping pet parents train their dogs, but it’s a phase she believes in entirely. Kimberly believes that as Pet Parents, we should do everything within our power to set up our dog’s environment and everyday life so they are in the best position to succeed. Kimberly demonstrated an example of this with her puppy during the live.  Having a packet of Bounce and Bella grain-free training treats beside her, so if her puppy did become agitated or uncomfortable, then she could put the treats down for them so they weren’t put in a situation where they could start chewing wires etc.
  
• Kimberly continued to talk about Set Up To Succeed and how it also involves remembering to praise our dogs, whether they are puppies or adults or senior dogs. We as humans love getting praise, and it’s the same for our dogs, which is why it’s imperative when training that we ensure they receive that praise from us.
  
• As Kimberly specialises in City Dog life and care, the conversation of Set Up to Succeed moved onto dogs in city environments and how they are set up to succeed entirely different to dogs who may live in country or urban areas. Kimberly emphasised that dogs are amazing at adapting, and in city environments, it’s about building them up slowly to allow them to acclimate.
  
• However, it’s not only about building up dog’s slowly in training. Kimberly enforced the idea that training isn’t linear and that it’s natural sometimes to move back a level if you find your dog is having difficulty and not be afraid to do so.
  
• The live ended with Kimberly revealing that as a dog trainer, she believes she is primarily training pet parents and providing them with the framework to set up their dog to succeed rather than training just to their dog.

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We loved hosting our first Instagram Live with the CityDogExpert that is Kimberly and are certainly eager to work with her again. Darren has remarked that he still has a billion and one questions to ask about city dog life and how that differs from his own experience as a Pet Parent in the country. 

PS
If there is a doggy expert you’d like us to connect with or a topic you’d like us to focus on in future lives, let us know or pop us an email at darrenc@bounceandbella.co.uk.

PSS
Want to try the treats that Kimberly recommends for training her dogs? Check out our grain-free training treats here and if you’re a first-time customer, check out our limited one-time offer of 50% off!