A Thank you from Alba Dogs - Reflecting on a Special Year

As the year draws towards Christmas, I have been taking a little time to reflect, and my heart feels very full.

I want to say a huge thank you to everyone who has brought their dogs along to Sensory Sessions at Alba Dogs. To those of you who come every week, trusting me with your dogs’ emotional and physical wellbeing, thank you for your consistency, your curiosity, and your commitment to understanding your dogs. Watching your dogs settle, soften, and grow over time has been incredibly special.

Thank you also to everyone who has come along for training sessions, inviting me into your lives to support you and your dogs through challenges with compassion and understanding. Behaviour change takes time, patience and trust, and I am so grateful to each of you for being open to learning, adapting, and seeing your dog for who they are, not who they are expected to be.

I am also deeply thankful to those who joined me for ACE Workshops, TTouch classes and Snuffle Bag workshops. These sessions are always about learning together – slowing down, asking questions, and finding gentler ways to support our dogs. I appreciate every one of you who took the time to come along, listen, explore, and take these ideas back home.

An incredibly special thank you goes to those who joined my Alba Dogs Walking Together Membership. This community has been such a joy to build. Supporting you and your dogs through walks, shared learning and connection has been one of the real highlights of my year.

It truly has been an incredible year so far. I have met so many wonderful dogs and people, and some of you have become more than clients – you have become friends. That is something I never take for granted.

As Christmas approaches, I thought things might quieten down a little… but instead, I am as busy as ever, and I feel incredibly grateful and overjoyed by that. Alba Dogs continues to be a place of connection, learning and calm, and that is entirely thanks to the people and dogs who walk through the door.

Christmas this year is going to be a special one for us, with family coming home to stay. It will also bring a bit of chaos, and like many of you, I will be supporting my own dog, Amber, through the business. Alongside making sure she feels safe and secure, I will be offering plenty of enriching activities to help her regulate and decompress – gentle sniffing opportunities, calm searches, familiar routines, rest time, and moments of connection that allow her to feel included without becoming overwhelmed.

I will also be leaning on my skills in TTouch, ACE and Emmett where needed, supporting Amber’s body and nervous system so she can move comfortably through the festive season. Just as I encourage you to do with your own dogs, her wellbeing will come first.

Thank you for being part of the Alba Dogs journey. Your trust, kindness, and willingness to do things differently mean more to me than I can ever put into words.

I wish you and your dogs a calm, connected and joyful Christmas.

Merry Christmas from Alba Dogs 💛