Our day at Tilley Farm: an introduction to Free Work
- Jul 10
- 6 min read
Recently Sam and I, along with our two friends Leah (Hecate Dog Training) and Kelly (Shining Eyes Dog Training), attended a private, Free work session with Matt Donovan at South West Dog Skills.
Honestly, this day was amazing for us.
The session took place at Tilley Farm which is such a peaceful, beautiful place. It’s a sanctuary for rescued horses and donkeys and is right in the middle of the Bath countryside. Lots of green fields, quiet spaces and just a really calming environment overall.
For us though, the best part was the training barn and hall. It felt like the perfect place to really explore what Free work is, learn some new things and basically just nerd out over dogs for the day.
Why Were We Interested in Free work?
As dog trainers, we're always looking for ways to better understand the dogs we work with.
A lot of training focuses on teaching dogs skills and behaviours, which is obviously important. But sometimes the most valuable information comes from simply observing dogs and understanding how they move through the world around them.
The dog training world is always evolving, and we think it's really important to keep expanding our knowledge and understanding. Every course or workshop helps us become better trainers and better coaches for owners too.
When we heard about the opportunity to spend a day learning more about Free work, we jumped at the chance.
So, what actually is Free work?
Free work was developed by Sarah Fisher as part of ACE (Animal Centred Education). ACE is an approach that focuses on animal wellbeing, movement, behaviour and learning.
At first glance, Free work can look like a bunch of enrichment activities set up on the floor for your dog to explore. But once you start learning about it properly, you realise it’s so much more than that.
Free work involves using different textures, surfaces, heights and types of food to encourage dogs to move through an environment at their own pace. You might use crunchy treats, chewy treats, licky stuff, different mats, towels, boxes and lots of other sensory items.
Rather than asking the dog to perform behaviours or follow instructions, the important thing is that the dog is free to choose how they interact with everything.
Why Does That Matter?
One of the biggest things we learned during the workshop was just how much information dogs give us when we stop directing them and simply watch.
When dogs move through a Free work setup, they're constantly making choices. What they choose to investigate, what they avoid, how they move between activities and how they use their body can all give us valuable information.
You can start noticing things like:
how they place their feet
whether they avoid certain surfaces
how they carry themselves
what they choose to interact with first
what helps them feel more confident or relaxed
The way a dog moves can tell us a lot about their confidence, emotional state and physical comfort.
For example, a dog hesitating before stepping onto a particular surface isn't necessarily being stubborn. They might be unsure of the texture, lacking confidence or finding that surface uncomfortable. Without slowing down and observing, it's easy to miss those little details.
Dogs tell us so much through the way they move and interact with things once you slow down enough to really watch them. Something as simple as how a dog places a foot can tell you a lot about what they're experiencing in that moment.
With work, social lives, housework and everything in between, we don't always make time to just watch our dogs. Free work gives both dogs and owners an opportunity to slow down and simply be.
For example, in the session we took along my dog Lyla, a 2 year old Golden Retriever. At this point Lyla had only been with me for a few weeks. While observing we noticed that when Lyla was at a snuffle mat her back feet were slightly pigeon toed. This lead to some medical investigations and I found out, that Lyla has weak thigh muscles that need help building up. This would have potentially been missed if I hadn’t had the opportunity to slow down and really observe how Lyla walks and places her feet. Being able to address this now while she's still young will help massively when she is older to reduce any potential pain.
Something we really loved was how Free work can then be carried over into other areas like loose lead walking, recall, greetings around dogs and people, confidence building and much more.
What Did We Learn?
Honestly... loads.
One of the biggest takeaways for us was just how much information you can gather by slowing things down and properly observing dogs.
It sounds simple, but when dogs are given the chance to slow down and explore freely, you start noticing so many little things you'd normally miss.
The biggest ‘wow’ moment of the day, that really challenged my way of thinking was when we got onto to the topic of exits. With the way free work is set up I was convinced that the dog would never get bored of exploring and I would have to step in to end the session. However, this was the complete opposite. Dogs want to finish an activity and find that exit and they show this in different ways. They might move towards the door, take a long drink of water or come to you for support. Knowing this can help you then learn when your dog needs a break, or to head home.
We're already thinking about ways we can start bringing parts of this into our group classes and one-to-ones.
You may start seeing elements of Free work appearing in some of our sessions over the coming months and we're excited to see how it can help dogs build confidence, slow down and make better choices.
Try This at Home – A Simple Introduction to Free work
One of the nicest things about Free work is that you really don’t need loads of fancy equipment to give it a go at home.
You can keep it super simple using things you probably already have around the house:
towels or blankets
cardboard boxes
different textured mats
cushions
lick mats
chews
treats with different textures
The idea isn’t to tell your dog what to do or guide them through it. It’s more about giving them the chance to explore at their own pace while you observe.
You can scatter different food items around on different surfaces and heights (the height should be no taller than your dogs natural head height) and then just let your dog move through the setup however they want to. Make sure food is easily accessible, it should not be difficult for your dog to get the food.
While they’re exploring, watch:
what they go to first- was it a chew, a licky mat or a snuffle mat?
what they avoid – was it the bath mat texture? Lower items? Higher items?
how they move- are they stiff on one side? do they bunny hop? Does one foot stay backwards? Is their tail moving to the right or left?
whether they seem confident or unsure
what helps them relax
Some dogs will rush straight in while others take their time and carefully explore everything first. Neither is wrong it is just more ways to learn about your dog.
A few tips if you want to try it:
keep sessions short to begin with
don’t overcomplicate the setup
let your dog take breaks if they want to
avoid constantly talking or directing them
make sure everything is safe and stable
Film each session so you don’t miss a thing!
Sometimes the most interesting part is just slowing down enough to properly watch your dog.
Final Thoughts
We came away from the day feeling really inspired and excited to learn more.
A huge thank you to Matt for such a brilliant workshop and to Leah and Kelly for being excellent company and fellow dog-training nerds for the day.
We’re really looking forward to bringing some of what we learned into our own sessions and classes soon.
And if you ever get the chance to explore Free work with your own dog, we’d definitely recommend giving it a go.
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