Check out Bundy and his owner smashing some loose leash walking! We still have some work to do but very happy with their progress so far!!
Harley the Rotti X Kelpie X Belgian Shepherd nailing her loose lead walking and keeping her focus around distractions! Well done to Harley and her owners 👏🏼
So so proud of Maxxie and his owner for absolutely smashing his training! I worked with Maxxie and Honey over a year ago so we could get them walking nicely together and coming back when called which they both did amazing at. However Maxxie was timid as a puppy and was scared of dogs that rushed up to him, as he got older this fear turned into reactivity. Walks became unpleasant again as he would actively be looking for dogs, spotting them, fixating on them and finally lunging and growling at them. After a few weeks of hard work he is so much more relaxed on walks, when he sees dogs he doesn’t fixate, he just refocuses on his owner, when we have calm dog’s approaching his is able to go up to them and have a sniff and he then checks back in and moves away 🙌🏽👏🏼. Well done to both Maxxie and his owner and a shout-out to Maxxie’s sister Honey for being super chill and focused (as long as there are no kite-surfers.)
Well done to Toovey and his owner for smashing his training package. Toovey was struggling with pulling on his lead, jumping up, not going outside when asked, barging through the door to come in, playing too rough with his sister and stealing things off the bench. After completing his training package Toovey is now walking great on lead, coming when called, not jumping on his owner, staying in place on his mat, going outside when asked and waiting for permission to come in, playing much more calmly with his sister and responding to “leave it” when his Labrador nose takes him sniffing around the bench! So proud of all Toovey and his owners hard work 🙌🏽
Meet Marlo!! Marlo’s owners initially contacted me because Marlo was being extremely destructive when they weren’t home including eating the walls 😳. Thankfully, we were able to get on top of this very quickly using enrichment strategies to help keep Marlo busy whilst his owners were out. That left us with time to nail recall and loose lead walking 💪🏽 Marlo is such a clever boy, awesome job to him and his owners 👏🏼
This is Vinnie the Wolfhound X rescue. Before we started training Vinnie was hard to walk as he would pull constantly, and he was almost uncontrollable when he saw dogs. Vinnie is now able to hold his focus when walking as you can see in this video! Vinnie is also able to disengage with dogs in the distance. Awesome work 🙌🏽
Meet Audrey the 7-month-old Boxer. Audrey completed my puppy school program and went on to do a 1:1 package. Audrey is your classic highly energised Boxer puppy who thinks everyone is her best friend and doesn’t quite understand her size or strength. Audrey’s owner and I did heaps of work learning how to stay walk nicely on a lead, come back when called and stay focused when there were distractions like other dogs around. You can see in this video Audrey nailing checking in after noticing a dog, previously she would have tried to rush straight up to say hi so we’re so happy with how much she has achieved during training 👏🏼
This puppies progress is incredible!! This is Harvey the 5 month old German Shepherd X Great Pyrenees. During our first session Harvey barked like crazy at every person he saw on a walk and it was really hard to get his attention back. We taught Harvey some focus games to help get his attention back, today was our second session and as you can see in the video Harvey is watching some people work in the distance and he is able to ignore without any prompts 🙌🏽 We saw 6 different people/groups in different scenarios, some with prams, machinery hoses, toddlers and even the post man and although Harvey watched and focused on each trigger he ignored every single one multiple times with no barking or pulling!!!! So so proud. Harvey is still a little on edge and unsure so we’re continuing to do his focused loose lead walking and confidence building activities, cannot wait to see how this pup progresses!
Check out these before and after videos of Tilly! No more biting, tugging and pulling the lead! Tilly is also learning to wait on her mat when visitors arrive, not to run out the door when people are leaving the house and she’s been nailing her recall. I can’t wait to see what she has achieved by the end of our package 👏🏼
Barney
Barney and his owners absolutely smashed his package!
Barney was barking inside a lot which was a big concern as his owners are due to have a baby soon. The great news is after we figured out his triggers we were able to add some calming enrichment strategies in and now he is barking much less. Barney was also reacting to dogs on walks, but he is now able to look and ignore them without barking or lunging. Barney’s recall has also come a long away, he is improving at his loose lead walking and he is smashing all his confidence building exercises! Well done to Barney and his owners 👏🏼
Pumpkin!
This is Pumpkin, the 4-month-old Groodle X English Sheepdog, who is a true mix of her breeds, she is smart, loving, boisterous and very vocal.
During our package we focused on minimising her attention seeking barking, keeping her out of the kitchen and helping her learn to settle.
Pumpkin’s owners love taking her out and about to cafes but this started becoming stressful when she began barking at dogs and people when out. We taught Pumpkin how to ignore dogs and settle in busy environments. We also practiced loose lead walking, walking passed triggers without barking and finally coming back when called in distracting areas! I’m so happy with Pumpkin’s progress, her owners are doing amazing 🤩
RECALL TIPS
There’s nothing better than watching your smiling dog bounding towards you.
Recall is one of the most important skills we can teach our dogs to help keep them and others safe.
TIPS:
- It is important that your dog understands what you’re asking them to do before you try to do it in a distracting environment. Choose a word such as “come” and add a hand signal and ensure your dog can respond to this cue at home first.
- No repeating! Calling out to your dog over and over with no result will only confuse them and teach them that they can ignore you.
- Give them a high value reward when they succeed to let them know you love that behaviour, rewards can be faded out over time as they improve.
- Use a long lead in the beginning, once they’re reliable on the long lead we can practice in secure fenced in areas, slowly increasing the level of distraction we are working with.
- Your dog may find it hard to focus when you start practicing in distracting environments, so rather than trying to call them back straight away, let them roam and reward them anytime they choose to look at you. They will learn that focusing on you is a great behaviour and will do it more often, making recall a much more achievable skill!
Let me know if you have any questions!
What an amazing session to end the year on! Max is the large German Shepherd you can see in the video, when I first met Max he could barely focus when out on walks, recall and loose lead walking were nearly impossible. Even worse was his reactivity to dogs. When Max spotted a dog he would become almost uncontrollable with barking and lunging. With lots and lots, and lots of work, we have got him to a point where he can walk past dogs without reacting, and yesterday we were finally able to get him inside the park interacting with other dogs which has been a long term goal for Max. It was so rewarding to watch Max running around with the other dogs and to see how overjoyed his owners are with his progress. I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and I look forward to seeing you and your doggies in the new year ❤️
Cousin helping out at a few of todays sessions, so happy with how all the doggies did 😊
I cannot express how unbelievably proud I am of Rex and his owners for getting him to this point. Rex’s owner announced to me during our last session that she took Rex out for a walk ON HER OWN for the first time. We have been working towards this goal for a long time!! When I met Rex he was constantly pulling on lead, he was very difficult to hold. Rex was also lunging and barking at every dog he saw or heard (and some people.) In the video you can hear dogs barking and Rex is able to ignore and keep walking 👏🏼👏🏼
Rex’s owner also came across a dog on her first walk out with him, she moved slightly to the side like we’d practiced, Rex watched as the dog walked passed, no pulling, no lunging and no barking!! Rex’s at home behaviours have also improved, he no longer jumps on people, he doesn’t try to run out the front door and he is much more settled. Our next goal is for Rex’s owner to be able to walk him to the shops and I have no doubt we will be able to smash this goal as well 💪🏽
Finished up Winston’s training last week! So proud of him and his owner, we practiced recall in distracting environments, loose lead walking in lots of different places, socialising with other dogs, swaps, sit and drop stays and as you can see in the video we did lots of desensitisation to traffic! It’s super important to teach your puppies to ignore traffic as they can sometimes develop a tendency to lunge at and chase traffic, particularly if they’re a herding breed!
