Articles – Oxford Dog Training Company

When “Happy” Isn’t Happy: Rethinking How We Read Our Dogs

admin — Mon, 30 Mar 2026 03:58:17 +0000

One of the most common misunderstandings in dog ownership is surprisingly simple. We often assume that a busy, excited, noisy dog is a happy dog, and that a quiet, low-energy dog is somehow bored, sad, or lacking stimulation. In many cases, the opposite is true.

The Jumpy, Barking Dog

A dog that is constantly jumping, barking, spinning, or demanding attention is often described as “full of life” or “just very happy”.

But from a behavioural perspective, this kind of activity is not always a sign of happiness. It is often a sign of over-arousal.

These dogs can be:

Unable to settle
Easily overstimulated
Reactive to small changes in their environment
Constantly seeking interaction or stimulation

In some cases, this behaviour is driven by excitement. But very often, it is driven by something closer to anxiety. The dog is not choosing to be energetic, they are struggling to regulate themselves.

The Quiet, Low-Energy Dog

At the other end of the spectrum, a calm dog is often misunderstood.

Owners may worry that their dog is:

Bored
Under-stimulated
Lacking enrichment
Not “living its best life”

But a dog that can rest, settle, and remain calm in its environment is often demonstrating something far more valuable: emotional stability.

These dogs:

Recover quickly from stimulation
Do not feel the need to react to everything
Can exist comfortably without constant input

In many ways, this is what we should be aiming for – a dog that is calm is not a dog that is missing out. This is often a dog that feels safe.

Where We Go Wrong

Part of the problem is that we view dogs through a human lens.

For humans, excitement often feels like happiness and stillness can feel like boredom – so we project those interpretations onto dogs.

But dogs do not need constant stimulation to feel fulfilled. They need:

Clarity
Stability
Appropriate outlets for their energy
The ability to switch off

When we misread behaviour, we start to reinforce the wrong things.

We:

Reward jumping and excitement with attention
Encourage constant engagement
Feel guilty when the dog is resting
Try to “fix” calm behaviour by adding more stimulation

Over time, we can unintentionally create the very problems we later struggle to solve.

Encouraging the Right State

If we want well-balanced dogs, we need to shift our focus. Not just shift it from bad behaviour to good behaviour, but from high arousal to stable emotional regulation.

This means:

Valuing calmness
Rewarding stillness
Allowing dogs to rest without interruption
Avoiding the urge to constantly stimulate or entertain

It also means recognising that a dog bouncing off the walls is not necessarily thriving. Sometimes, the calmest dog in the room is the one that is coping best with the world.

Final Thought

Good behaviour is not just about what a dog does, it is about the state the dog is in while doing it. A truly happy dog is not one that is constantly excited, it is one that can move between energy and calm with ease, and spend much of its life in a place of quiet stability.

Why AI Can’t Replace the Relationship Between Humans and Dogs

admin — Sun, 29 Mar 2026 15:16:08 +0000

Artificial intelligence is becoming part of almost every area of modern life.

It can write, analyse, diagnose, and teach. It is already being used in education, healthcare, and even aspects of animal care. It is not unreasonable to imagine a future where AI plays a role in dog training, offering guidance, creating programmes, or helping owners understand behaviour.

But there is something fundamental at the centre of dog ownership that, at least for now, cannot be replicated – the relationship itself.

Because when we look more closely at how dogs experience humans, it becomes clear that this relationship is not just behavioural. It is biological.

Dogs do not simply listen to what we say, they respond to what we are.

Dogs Experience Us Through Biology, Not Just Behaviour

One of the most important differences between humans and dogs is how they gather information about the world. Humans are primarily visual, whereas dogs are primarily olfactory (sense of smell).

A dog’s sense of smell is not just better than ours, it fundamentally creates a whole different world compared to how we interpret ours. Dogs can detect subtle changes in human body chemistry that we are completely unaware of. Stress hormones, changes in heart rate, shifts in emotional state – these are all detectable through scent.

To a dog, a human is not just a person, a human is a constantly changing chemical signal.

This means that when an owner feels anxious, frustrated, calm, or confident, the dog does not have to guess. The information is already there and no words are required.

The Nervous System Connection

Beyond smell, dogs are also highly attuned to the human nervous system.

Posture, breathing, muscle tension, movement patterns – all of these provide information about whether a situation is safe or threatening. This is where the idea of co-regulation becomes important.

When a human is calm, predictable, and stable, the dog’s nervous system can begin to settle in response. When a human is tense or erratic, the opposite often happens.

This is not training in the traditional sense, it is two nervous systems interacting in real time.

Much of what we call “good behaviour” is simply the result of a dog feeling safe enough to remain regulated.

The Role of Bonding

Over time, this interaction deepens into something more stable.

Through repeated calm, consistent experiences, dogs form strong attachment bonds with their owners. These bonds are supported by neurochemicals such as oxytocin, which plays a role in trust, safety, and social connection.

This is why dogs often behave very differently with different people. It is not just about who gives the best commands or the most treats. It is about who the dog feels safest with, who is most predictable, and who provides a stable emotional baseline.

The relationship becomes a framework within which all behaviour takes place.

Why This Matters for Dog Owners

Many behaviour problems are approached as if they are purely technical. Owners are often given instructions:

Use this command
Apply this technique
Reward this behaviour

But in practice, the outcome is often determined by something deeper.

If the dog is anxious, overstimulated, or unsure, no amount of technique will fully resolve the issue. If the human is inconsistent, tense, or unclear, the dog will respond to that long before it responds to any formal training.

This is why two people can use the same method and get completely different results.

The difference is not just what they do, it is how they are.

Final Thought

There is a tendency in modern life to look for more efficient systems, faster solutions, and better tools. AI will no doubt contribute to that.

But the relationship between a human and a dog is not something that can be optimised in the same way. It is built through presence, consistency, and shared experience, and for now at least, that remains something uniquely human.

Dogs, People, and the Arctic

admin — Thu, 12 Mar 2026 09:07:21 +0000

I recently travelled to Svalbard, which is located deep in the Arctic Circle. Winter there feels stark and elemental. The light is sharp, the air burns your face, and the landscape seems stripped down to the essentials of survival. Even in Svalbard’s main town of Longyearbryn, you feel like you are at the edge of the world.

I went to experience husky sledding – a lifelong dream to experience these dogs doing what they were bred to do. But, as often happens when you spend time around animals, I found myself observing something else as much as the dogs themselves: the relationship between humans and animals when they are placed together in an extreme environment.

One of the first places I visited was a husky café – Café Huskies, in Longyearbryn.

It was immediately clear that the dogs brought people enormous joy. Visitors would walk in, see the huskies, and instinctively want to greet them. Smiles appeared, voices lifted with excitement, and hands reached out to touch fur. From a behavioural perspective it seemed very likely that oxytocin was playing a role. Humans are biologically wired to feel pleasure and comfort through physical contact with animals, and each other, and dogs are one of the most powerful triggers of that response.

But alongside the joy there was a more complicated dynamic.

Some visitors struggled to recognise the dogs as individuals with their own needs and boundaries. A few people tried to force affection on the dogs, treating them more like a tourist attraction than a living animal.

One older husky had clearly learned how to manage this situation. When he wanted space, he simply removed himself. When he did want contact, he would sit quietly with his back to a person so they could stroke him calmly. It was a remarkably clear example of a dog setting his own boundaries.

A younger dog, around seventeen months old, struggled more with the environment. When the café became crowded and noisy he became jumpy and started play-biting. From a behavioural standpoint this looked less like misbehaviour and more like a young dog whose excitement and arousal had exceeded his ability to regulate himself.

The children created another interesting dynamic.

When children became overexcited, the younger dogs often mirrored that energy. The cycle could escalate quickly: a child would become louder and more animated, the dog’s arousal would increase in response, and the interaction would suddenly tip from playful to overwhelming. In several cases the child then became frightened when the dog’s behaviour intensified.

Parents usually stepped in eventually, but often later than was ideal.

It was a small but clear reminder of how strongly human behaviour shapes canine behaviour, even in brief encounters.

The most striking contrast came later when I went sledding with the working dogs.

Before the run the dogs were chaos. They howled, barked, jumped, and pulled against their harnesses with incredible intensity. The sound was constant and the energy felt explosive.

But the moment the sleds were released and the dogs began to run, everything changed. The noise disappeared almost instantly.

The dogs settled into a steady rhythm, pulling the sled across the snow with complete focus. What had looked like frantic chaos only minutes earlier resolved into calm, purposeful movement. It was a powerful illustration of what happens when a dog is allowed to do the work it was bred for. The excitement beforehand was not anxiety. It was anticipation. Once the dogs had purpose, their behaviour regulated itself.

Outside of the sled dogs, the wildlife offered another small insight into behaviour.

During a snowcat journey we encountered several reindeer. What was striking was how little fear they showed toward humans or vehicles. They watched us with curiosity rather than alarm.

Later I learned that reindeer in Svalbard have no natural predators on the islands. Without the evolutionary pressure of being hunted, their behaviour has adapted accordingly. It was a simple but powerful demonstration of how ecology shapes behaviour.

What stayed with me most from Svalbard was the contrast between two different kinds of human–animal interaction.

In the café, the dogs were part of a human leisure environment. The joy people experienced when meeting them was genuine, but the dogs had to navigate a constant stream of unpredictable human behaviour.

On the sled, the relationship was very different. The dogs were not an attraction. They were working partners, engaged in the task they were bred to perform.

Seeing both environments side by side reinforced something fundamental about dogs.

Dogs cope best when their behaviour has purpose, when their emotional signals are respected, and when humans recognise that they are not just companions, but animals with their own needs, limits, and instincts.

In the Arctic landscape, where life is defined by function and survival, that lesson felt particularly clear.

The Dogs We Overlook: Bias in Dog Adoption

admin — Mon, 12 Jan 2026 09:18:05 +0000

Walk into almost any rescue centre, and you’ll notice a pattern. Some kennels are empty, while others remain occupied month after month. The dogs inside those kennels are not less loving, less trainable, or less deserving – they are simply victims of human bias.

When it comes to adopting dogs, we like to believe our decisions are based on compatibility and lifestyle. In reality, many are driven by unconscious preferences that have little to do with the dog in front of us.

Black Dog Syndrome

One of the most well-documented adoption biases is Black Dog Syndrome. Black dogs are consistently rehomed more slowly and euthanised at higher rates than lighter-coloured dogs.

The reasons are surprisingly mundane:

Black dogs photograph poorly, making them less appealing online
Their facial expressions are harder to read at a glance
Cultural associations unfairly link black dogs with danger or aggression

None of this reflects temperament. Some of the calmest, most emotionally stable dogs I’ve worked with have been solid black — they simply didn’t “stand out” on a website.

Breed Bias: The Staffie Problem

Staffordshire Bull Terriers and Staffie-crosses are another group that fill rescue centres.

Despite being one of the most people-oriented breeds, they are often labelled as:

Aggressive
Dangerous
Too much work

Much of this stigma comes from poor ownership, sensationalist media, and outdated thinking. In reality, well-bred, well-supported Staffies are frequently affectionate, resilient, and deeply bonded to humans.

The tragedy is that many are dismissed before anyone takes the time to meet the dog behind the label.

My own Staffordshire Bull Terrier (Bruno) – who most of my clients meet at some point – is the perfect example of how perfect a rescue Staffie can be. Most of my clients meet him because he is the perfect dog to help anxious / reactive dogs calm down, for boisterous adolescence dogs to learn to calmly say hello, and for puppies to socialise with an adult male.

Senior Dogs: Overlooked and Underestimated

Older dogs may be the most unfairly treated of all.

Potential adopters worry about:

Shorter lifespans
Health costs
Emotional difficulty of loss

What they often miss is what senior dogs offer:

Emotional maturity
Lower exercise demands
Established personalities
A remarkable ability to settle into home life

Senior dogs are rarely trying to “figure out” the world. They already have. For many households, they are the perfect match.

Size, Energy, and the “Cute Factor”

Puppies, small dogs, and “fluffy” breeds are adopted quickly — often before rescue staff have time to fully assess suitability.

Meanwhile:

Large dogs
High-energy breeds
Dogs with nervous or shut-down behaviour

These dogs are left waiting, despite often being more adaptable in the long term when supported correctly.

This isn’t about blaming adopters. It’s about recognising that aesthetic preference often outweighs behavioural compatibility – and that mismatch can lead to returns, frustration, and further trauma for the dog.

What Bias Costs Dogs

Every day a dog spends overlooked in rescue has consequences:

Prolonged stress
Behavioural deterioration
Reduced chances of successful rehoming

Dogs do not understand why they are passed over. They only experience the absence of connection.

Choosing Differently

Adopting responsibly doesn’t mean ignoring your lifestyle or limits. It means asking better questions:

How does this dog cope emotionally?
What support would help them thrive?
Am I choosing with my eyes — or with understanding?

When people look past colour, age, and labels, they often discover the dog that fits their life better than the one they initially imagined.

Final Thoughts

The dogs most in need of homes are rarely the ones that catch our eye first. But they are often the ones who repay patience, understanding, and empathy tenfold.

Adoption isn’t about finding the “perfect” dog. It’s about recognising potential and giving it a chance.

Do Dogs Actually Live Like Wolves in the Wild… or in Zoos?

admin — Sat, 27 Sep 2025 04:59:18 +0000

If you’ve ever looked into the history of dog training, you’ve probably heard about the wolf pack debate.

🔹 In 1947, Rudolf Schenkel studied captive wolves in a zoo. He saw lots of aggression and fighting for rank, and concluded wolves lived in dominance hierarchies with an “alpha.”
🔹 Decades later, David Mech studied wild wolves. What he found was very different: wild wolves live in families — parents raising pups — not endless battles for dominance.

From there, much of the dog training world concluded: “dominance is a myth, so we should throw out the whole idea.”

But maybe the truth is more nuanced.

Dogs Don’t Live Like Wild Wolves

Your dog doesn’t live in a wild wolf family unit. They live in what we could call a forced pack: a human household, sometimes with unrelated dogs, limited freedom, and shared resources.

In this sense, their world is closer to Schenkel’s captive wolves than to Mech’s wild families. And in forced packs, disputes and hierarchies do happen.

So Schenkel wasn’t entirely wrong — but he was looking at wolves in an unnatural context.

Parent, Not Alpha

Here’s the crucial part: dogs aren’t wolves. They’re paedomorphic — in other words, juvenile wolves that never grow out of adolescence.

That means what they need isn’t a harsh “alpha,” but a parent figure:

Someone who sets boundaries.
Someone who provides structure and safety.
Someone who guides without intimidation.

Parent or alpha — the labels matter less than the approach. What matters is that leadership is calm, consistent, and humane.

Why This Matters for Training

Cesar Millan tapped into this truth when he talked about “calm, assertive leadership.” The science community rightly pushed back on punishment-heavy methods, but the core idea still holds: dogs need us to be stable leaders.

Today we have even better tools to apply that idea humanely:

Dopamine to fuel learning and motivation.
Oxytocin to strengthen trust and connection.
Parental-style leadership to create boundaries and security in the “forced pack.”

Put those together, and you get something better than dominance or permissiveness: you get balance.

This doesn’t mean we bring back harsh dominance methods. It means dogs thrive when we provide clear leadership: calm, predictable rules, and a strong sense of safety.

This is why Cesar Millan, for all the controversy, resonated with so many people. He tapped into that truth: dogs need us to be steady, calm leaders.

Final Thought

Dogs don’t live in theories. They live in our homes. And in our homes, they need the best of both worlds:

The joy of learning (dopamine).
The calm of connection (oxytocin).
The safety of parental guidance.

So maybe the question isn’t: “alpha or not?”
The better question is: “are you showing up as the parent your dog really needs?”

Dog Friendly Service Stations in the UK

admin — Mon, 07 Jul 2025 07:31:27 +0000

For years I had always assumed that service stations were not dog friendly places – I only had memories of seeing service dogs in them. Then after the first lockdown I treated myself and my Staffie Bruno to a week in Cornwall, and was informed by a client that the Hog and Hedge on the A30 was extremely dog friendly, and it was. Bruno could come with me anywhere in the building, including the toilets.

My 2^nd encounter was much more recent. Again, Bruno and I were on our travels, this time to Whitby. I stopped off at Leicester services, and as it was very warm, was not going to leave Bruno in the car. I decided to see how far into the building we could get, as getting as far as the toilets would be a win.

As it turned out, I did not need to worry. We wandered up to the food court, queued at a well-known fast-food burger chain (not that one, the other one), and not only did no one ask us to leave, Bruno ended up getting attention and fuss from every staff member who walked past (who doesnt love a Staffie).

This made me realise that there must be more dog owners out there who by default leave their dogs in the car when at a service station, not realising they can join them.

So, with this in mind, I decided to put together a list of all the known dog-friendly service stations in the UK:

Annandale Water (A74(M), Dumfries & Galloway)
Beaconsfield (M40, J2, Buckinghamshire)
Bothwell (M74, South Lanarkshire)
Cairn Lodge (M74, Lanarkshire)
Cherwell Valley (M40, Oxfordshire)
Cobham (M25, Surrey)
Doncaster North (M18, South Yorkshire)
Donington Park (M1, Derbyshire)
Gloucester Services (M5, J11A–12)
Hamilton (M74, South Lanarkshire)
Hopwood Park (M42, Worcestershire)
Hog & Hedge – Newbury (M4, Berkshire)
Hog & Hedge – Okehampton (A30, Devon)
Killington Lake (M6 Southbound, Cumbria)
Kinross (M90, Perth and Kinross)
Leicester Forest East (M1 Leicestershire)
Reading (M4, Berkshire)
Sarn Park (M4, Bridgend)
Skelton Lake (M1, Leeds)
Strensham (M5, Worcestershire)
Tamworth (M42, Staffordshire)
Tebay Services (M6, Cumbria)
Telford (M54, Shropshire)
Tiverton (M5, Devon)
Warwick (M40, Warwickshire)
Winchester (M3, Hampshire)
Woodall (M1, South Yorkshire)
Woolley Edge (M1, West Yorkshire)

Extra, Welcome Break, Roadchef, Moto now allow well-behaved dogs on leads inside foyer, seating & toilet areas

This is an ever-growing list. As I discover new ones, I will add them. If you discover new ones please let me know, and I’ll add them. If you ever have an issue at one of the services listed here please let me know, and I will remove them.

Happy travels, to you and your pooch!

Hot Cars Equal Hot Dogs

admin — Tue, 01 Jul 2025 04:42:42 +0000

With the warm weather here again, it’s always a good time to be reminded about just how serious keeping your dog in a car, without air-conditioning or big open windows, during the heat can be.

Instead of a lecture about how dangerous it is, let’s instead look at the numbers.

The numbers below are taken from a study done at San Francisco State University

🔥 How Quickly a Car Heats Up (Even with Windows Cracked)

Outside Temp	Temp in Car After 10 Min	After 30 Min	After 60 Min
70°F (21°C)	89°F (32°C)	104°F (40°C)	113°F (45°C)
80°F (27°C)	99°F (37°C)	114°F (46°C)	123°F (51°C)
90°F (32°C)	109°F (43°C)	124°F (51°C)	133°F (56°C)

🟠 Even with windows cracked, temperatures rise at nearly the same rate.

Some other information for you to keep in mind:

A dog’s normal body temperature is 101–102.5°F (38.3–39.2°C). Heatstroke can begin at 105°F (40.5°C)
Dogs can suffer organ failure or die in just 15–30 minutes in a hot car
Heatstroke signs: heavy panting, glazed eyes, drooling, rapid heartbeat, vomiting, or collapse

So, as you can see, your car can quickly become a dangerous place to keep your dog, even for a short period of time. If you don’t believe us, here a great video to illustrate the point:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dwEg1RoULBw

This summer, please leave your dog at home if you can’t take him with you when you get out your car.

Dogs and Human Civilisation

admin — Wed, 25 Jun 2025 06:43:42 +0000

Introduction

The idea that dogs helped accelerate the development of human civilisation is a compelling idea, even a romantic one. Dogs are our most loyal companion after all. Whilst it is not directly proven, there is archaeological, genetic, and ethnographic evidence to suggest that dogs enhanced human survival and may have been the catalyst for key social and technological shifts

Key Ways Dogs May Have Accelerated Civilisation

Improved Hunting Success – Dogs helped humans track, corner prey, and guard kills

Evidence: Dog remains in hunter-gatherer sites like Bonn-Oberkassel (Germany) (~14,000 years ago)

Impact: Higher calorie intake, food surplus, and support for larger groups of humans

Security and Guarding – Early dogs likely guarded camps and warned occupants of danger

Evidence: Ethnographic parallels in Amazon, Africa, and Arctic cultures

Impact: Safer camps enabled longer stays or semi-permanent settlements, and higher numbers

Transportation and Labour – Dogs were used to pull sleds or carry loads in some cultures

Impact: Extended range of travel, trade support, and survival in harsh environments

Food Storage and Settlement – More hunting success meant more food, leading to storage needs

Impact: Encouraged the abandonment of nomadic lifestyle, and enhanced early settlement patterns

Conclusion

While causation is hard to prove, the correlation between dog domestication and human development is strong. Dogs likely contributed significantly to our hunting success, and therefore our access to food, safety and social cohesion – overtime enabling us to build larger and more permanent settlements, breed for successfully, and grow as a species. Thank you, dogs.

The Role of Technology in Human-Dog Relationships

admin — Tue, 10 Jun 2025 07:18:48 +0000

Technological advances have filtered through into every part of our lives, and have even affected the relationship we have with your dogs. There are so many ways now that technology can be a part of your everyday life with your canine friend – but is this a good thing?

Advantages of Technology for You and Your Dog

There are many ways in which technology has helped dog owners. Here are some of the most useful aids:

Tracker – losing your dog is one of the most heartbreaking experiences a dog owner can have. Investing in a decent tracker with GPS technology means if your dog ever runs off, you can simply use your phone to track them down. As much as it would be good for us all to retain our hunter / tracking skills, I’d much rather use my phone to find my lost dog

Medicine – there are simply too many advances in veterinary medicine to list here, but they have all served one purpose – our dogs are living longer, and living healthier lives for longer as well, and this can be nothing but a good thing

Doggy-Cam – being able to watch your dog’s behaviour when you are not home is an invaluable tool for owners who want to help their dogs with separation anxiety. We no longer have to guess how much stress they experience when we are not there. Just don’t spend all day watching your dog on your phone when you should be at work, or interacting with other humans socially

Smart Microchip – these are replacing the standard microchip that you are legally required to put in your dog. They monitor your dog’s vital health signs such as temperature, heart rate and exercise habits

But It’s Not All Good for Our Relationship…

There are tools that exist already that you could easily use to replace time with your dog. Whilst these may feel useful in our ever-busier world, it’s seldom a good thing to spend less time bonding with your dog. These tools can be used when you really need them, but you should always make sure you are making time to do these activities with your dog as well

Automatic fetch machine – you simply teach your dog to drop a ball into a hole, the machine fires the ball at a pre-set distance, and hey presto – your dog is playing fetch with itself

Treadmill – now even I am guilty of having trained dogs to use these. They can be of great help when working with high energy dogs, nervous dogs etc. Or if it’s 40C outside and you want to exercise your dog. But nothing beats getting out the dog lead, and taking your best friend for a walk in the fresh air. This is the number one bonding exercise you can do with your dog

Automatic feeders – these can be set to drop an exact amount of food into a dog bowl, at a pre-set time. This is great if you are going to be out and your dog needs feeding, but as with the other items listed here, make sure you spend time feeding your dog as often as possible. Feeding your dog is an important ritual in your relationship with them

And the Future Could Be Even Worse…

Images once seen in science fiction films no longer feel so far away. AI robots walking your dog, AI dogs, virtual reality for dogs – all these things could soon be part of our lives, and all these things could distance your relationship with your dog further

Conclusion

Whilst some tools can improve our dog’s lives, and our relationships with them, some can also replace our time with them, weakening the bond between human and dog, and creating a lazy owner. Some advances in technology could even make this worse. So whatever the future holds of pet-tech, please never replace the human-dog experience, and make sure you bond with your dog – it’s what they want more than anything else

The Best Parks In Oxford

admin — Mon, 02 Jun 2025 04:18:48 +0000

If you live in Oxford like I do you will know that we are truly blessed to live here. We are privileged to enjoy such a historic and beautiful city, and yet are only a short drive away from some of the most famous countryside in the world.

What people outside of the city don’t always realise that the greenspaces within the city of Oxford are also very beautiful, making Oxford the perfect city for dogs and dog owners.

As a canine behaviourist, I am lucky enough to visit the city, the parks and the surrounding countryside every single day. To help fellow dog owners who live in and around the city, here some of my favourite and the most popular parks, along with the pros and cons for which one from the point of view of a dog owner.

Bury Knowle Park (Headington)

Located on the London Road in Headington, Bury Knowle Park offers a large and picturesque green space, a café, tennis courts, and even a library.

Pros:

Bury Knowle is a very busy park, so lots of practice with other dogs and people for your pooch
Very tame squirrels (due to being fed by humans daily), so great practice for your dog’s prey drive
Lots of picnics so you can work on temptation
Café in the park is dog friendly, so you can both stop for refreshments
A quick walk into Headington and you will be met with lots of dog friendly cafes, pubs, dog friendly shops etc
Ample parking nearby – both in Waitrose, and street parking only a few minutes’ walk away

Cons:

A busy park means lots of triggers – if your dog is very excitable or anxious, it may be too much stimulus for them
Pretty much all the exits lead to busy roads, so your dog’s off-lead skills need to be top notch to be safe and under control at Bury Knowle

Cutteslowe Park

At the top of the Banbury Road, you will find Cutteslowe Park – a popular greenspace for dog walkers and sports teams alike

Pros:

Lots of parking (weekends and school holidays can be tricky thought!)
Great café onsite that does genuinely good food
Huge greenspaces, perfect for doing long line and off lead work with your dog. The playing fields at the back are particularly good for this, as you can see for miles in every direction
The pond gives you chance to work with your dog’s prey drive, especially if they are particularly fond of birds. Beware of the swans however – they are not dog friendly! (and you should of course your dog is always under control around wildlife)
There is a woodland area as well, giving you and your dog shade if needed, plus a different type of terrain to explore

Cons:

It can get very busy during good weather and when the schools are out, so be aware of picnics, off lead dogs and off lead children
Not a lot of shade (apart from the woodland area) when the temperature rises
Lots of sports events take place here – your dog will need to be under extra control during these

Port Meadow

Tucked away behind Jericho, Port Meadow is less of a park, and more of an amazing, never-ending green expanse, complete with a river, cows, horses, and ample room to roam with your dog

Pros:

When quiet, you will struggle to find a better place to be off-lead with your dog
The easy access to water gives you the chance to let your dog swim
There are some amazing dog friendly pubs within walking distance of the meadow

Cons:

The free-roaming cows and horses, along with the geese, make Port Meadow a dog walk (especially off-lead) filled with lots of potentially dangerous encounters for your dog
Parking isn’t great to access the meadow – your best bet is from the Wolvercote end

University Park

The most central of the parks, University Park offers the most perfect of Oxford settings – surrounded by university buildings, university sports teams, and a stones throw from the city centre

Pros:

Central – as central as a park can get in Oxford
Great outdoor café onsite
The river and pond gives you chance to practice your dog’s behaviour around birds
Big green spaces, perfect for recall training

Cons:

Parking – the only nearby parking is very expensive. There are 2hr bays about a 10-minute walk from the park, if you park down near the Dragon School area
Another popular spot for sports events, so keep your dog under control during the matches
Some of the exits head out on to busy roads, so make sure your dog doesn’t venture out of the park

Shotover Country Park

By far the most woodland-type park in Oxford, Shotover gives you a proper countryside feel right at the edge of the city

Pros:

You really do feel like you are in the countryside here
Big spaces to practice all sorts of skills with your dog
Lots of wildlife to work on that prey drive

Cons:

Parking isn’t all that great
Wildlife – great to practice with, but a lot of troublesome triggers if your dog has a very high prey drive
You can often get taken by surprise by off lead dogs here. Dogs are not always under control, so if you have an anxious dog, control around other dogs is hard work here

South Park

You will not get a better view of Oxford than from the top of the hill in South Park – you will see the spires of Oxford alongside rolling green landscape. South Park can be found at the top and bottom of Headington Hill – in between Headington and Oxford city centre

Pros:

Did we mention the view already?
Lots of green space, great for training your dog
Woodland area and open areas, giving you both shade if you need, and space to run around
Lots of squirrels to tempt your dog, and therefore for you to work on that prey drive

Cons:

Parking – there is none
South Park gets super busy in the summer, so beware of students and their picnics
The exits do mostly lead out on to busy roads

We have only touched the tip of the ice berg here with the available parks in Oxford, and we apologise if your favourite spots haven’t been mentioned. If you ever see an Oxford Dog Training Company t-shirt in any park in Oxford, please come and say hi – we will be more than happy to help you with your dog.