Holistic Dog with Niki French for CRA Day 2026
Niki French: Why She Tells Clients to Stop! Walking Your Dog
If your dog turns a walk into a battle before you've even left the drive, this episode is for you.
For Canine Regulation Day, I sat down with Niki French, the Twickenham-based trainer and author of Stop! Walking Your Dog, who left a corporate career about eight years ago to work with dogs who genuinely struggle to cope outside. Her advice to clients like Gail, whose collie Ella just couldn't settle on a walk, became the seed of her first book, written in around nine months back in 2020. Her own dog Bodi, a collie-lurcher rescued from Battersea, was the proof in her own home too: dropping his second walk changed his evenings completely.
We talk about what regulation actually means from her side of the lead: avoiding emotional extremes, giving dogs real choice, and working with a dog's nervous system like a dimmer switch rather than an on/off setting. We get into the chicken-and-egg loop between an anxious guardian and an anxious dog, the breathwork and humming tools her partner Ash (a Wim Hof practitioner) brings into her toolkit, and a subject that rarely gets talked about: sleep. Niki shares a case study of a dog named Rogue who needs 18 to 20 hours of sleep in a 24 hour period, and why fragmented naps that miss REM sleep matter more than most guardians realise.
Niki's follow-up to Stop! Walking Your Dog launches in late October, covering the more nuanced next steps: pain, health and nutrition, with four new case studies including an update on Gail and Ella. The waitlist is open now at puptalk.co.uk.
In this episode:
How Niki went from corporate life to specialising in dogs who can't cope with walks. The client story, and the dog, behind Stop! Walking Your Dog. What regulation looks like from a trainer's side of the lead. Why an anxious guardian and an anxious dog can get stuck in a loop together. Breathwork, humming and the tools Niki uses to help guardians regulate. Why sleep is one of the most overlooked parts of a dog's regulation. What to expect from Niki's second book, out late October.
Bio & Links
Niki French is a Certified ACE Trainer and KAD® Kids Around Dogs Approved Professional, founder of the award-winning Pup Talk, and author of the Amazon best seller STOP! Walking Your Dog. She specialises in supporting families living with nervous, reactive and over-excitable dogs, helping them feel calmer, more confident and better equipped to make kind, practical choices for both dogs and children.
Niki’s work is grounded in modern, evidence-based practice and focuses on emotional wellbeing, safety and understanding behaviour in real-life settings. She is ABTC registered (Animal Behaviour & Training Council), a PACT ATI accredited member (Animal Training Instructor), and a Bronze Scent Detection Instructor with UK Sniffer Dogs.
Book wait list link -
https://puptalk.co.uk/book-two-wait-list/
If you want other links:
www.puptalk.co.uk
Free Facebook group - Pup Talk with Niki French
https://www.facebook.com/groups/puptalk/
Instagram / TikTok / Twitter @puptalk101
About Nina
Nina Fotara KCAI (WG) is the multi-award-winning Holistic Gundog Specialist™, a trainer and behaviourist at Confident Canine® in Essex. Her work is built on balancing both ends of the lead, working with a dog's nervous system state and the energetics its guardian brings, rather than just the behaviour on the surface, with clients in person and online worldwide. She's also the founder of the Canine Regulation Project™, home of the annual Canine Regulation Day™ on 14 September.
Find Nina
Websites:
Confident Canine® main site: https://confidentcanine.co.uk
Holistic Dog® online platform: https://holisticdog.uk
The Holistic Dog® deck page: https://holisticdog.uk/deck
Canine Regulation Project™ Website: https://canineregulation.org
My social media profiles are as follows:
FB: https://www.facebook.com/confidentcanineuk/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@holisticgundogspecialist
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Theholisticgundogspecialist
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/confidentcanineuk/
Join the Canine Regulation Project™ pledge: www.canineregulation.org
A note on this podcast
This podcast is for general information and isn't a substitute for individual veterinary, behavioural or professional advice for your own dog.
