Kicking off a new month, is part of our team enjoying a delightful spring session of Pawsitive Vibes 😍
We worked on heel work over a new surface for our little video, but outside of that some brilliant waits and stays were mastered, loose lead skills and a couple sneaky recalls too!! As always, the poochies did fabulously and we all had a ball! There’s really something special about girls supporting girls and just exisiting in a kind and supportive environment where it’s strictly Pawsitive vibes and good fun 💛
We even had a new addition join us for this class, anyone spot him 🤭 👶🏼
🪮 HOLISTICGROOMING AND YOUR DOG 🪮
With winter finally coming to a close 🙌 and the warmer months coming in 🤞🏼 we wanted to share some tips around coat care, and a little snippet of what goes on behind the scenes in your poochies grooming session, proudly bought to you by Hazel and Daisy!
Appropriate coat care is important for all dogs, but especially for those allergy friendly babes that don’t shed - what’s that like, we wouldn’t know with collies! 🤭
Non shedding dogs mat up and their coat can thicken suddenly, and easily. As do double coats which as your collies, and tight curly poodles can become a whirlwind of tangles in no time!
Over winter we leave their coats longer for warmth which is fab, but sometimes these coats get too long and without the right grooming tools and brushes, we can have a hot mess in no time - we’ve been there and didn’t even know about it!
We do love our little educational posts, and say we’re here to help with our holistic grooming approach! If you’re unsure of where your poochies coat may be sitting under the surface, or want to have a chat about our approach and services, we’re more than happy to help!
Why holistic?
Our holistic approach is a unique and tailored option to a standard grooming salon. We work with your dog, to achieve a comfortable, rewarding and happy experience- we’re not pushed for time and it’s just your pooch, and us.
We hang out with calming enrichments, reward based training techniques, free play time and of course, our Fear Free methods! There’s also some cool jams happening, some dance breaks and a whole lot of love! You can see why I’m an animal trainer, not a professional dancer 🤭🫣
This holistic approach is perfect for:
❤️Fresh puppy introduction benefits
🧡 Nervous or “spicy” poochies
💛 Older babes that need a high level of patience
💚 we work with your dog, where they are comfortable which means the big kids are done on the floor
🫶🏼 BUILDING A SOLID RECALL 🫶🏼
Baby Rory is popping up with another snippet of our training recently - featuring my clumsy hands dropping the lead 🤭
We say it in class, and can’t say it enough - A Recall is the most important thing you can teach your dog!
Why do we need a solid recall? 🤗
❤️ SAFETY! Simple, it’s a safety feature that is so, so valuable to your dog, and your life in so many aspects… like here, I dropped the lead.. oops! But with her favourite tuggie, and a solid recall foundation down, I had no worries about her coming back!
What things do we need to set up for success?
🧡 5m long line! Preferably one with an ethical background 🤭 thanks WAGD 🫶🏼
💛 Rewards! So many tasty snacks, always! Or, alternatively a toy like a tuggie! Again, thanks to our friends at WAGD, we have a brilliant one available for you to purchase!
💚 In the early days, a low distraction environment! Save the beaches and adventures for a little later, once you’ve got some foundations down first ✨
How do we teach a Recall?
🩵 We start off with teeny, tiny baby steps in a calm, low distraction environment - like your lounge room! First things first, establishing a positive connection to their name! Say their name, give them a tasty treat and encourage some tuggie time!
💜 Once they’re learning that responding to their name means good things happen, you then add in the movement! Take a few steps backwards, say their name and reward straight away! No need to ask for sits, manners can come later!
🩷 PRACTICE! Practice this lots and lots! Once you start seeing them zooming back and choosing you as an option, then we slowly add in the rest of the world!
If you’re after some more in depth guidance on teaching a recall, send us a message to find out about our options! From advice and private consultations to group programs, there’s something for everyone 🫶🏼
Ps. It’s so lovely having some 1:1 time with Aurora
🩷 PAY YOUR PUP FOR CHOOSING YOU 🩷
Today we share a little snippet of Auroras first big, real world training session. Firstly, we want to highlight the importance of foundations in a low distraction environment and creating those bonds and skills at home so when you head out, you’re set up for success 🤍
So let’s set you up for success!
By using three simple strategies, you’ll be set up for the perfect foundations and having your pooch choosing you in no time 😍
❤️ Puppy offers you engagement - PAY IT OUT!
🧡 You ask for engagement - PAY IT OUT!
💛 Have high value snacks too, and remember foundations need to be proofed in a low distraction, predictable and safe environment before you take them to the real world!
We have been putting in a boat load of foundation work at home, and school so when we do head out into the world like we have in the video, I know what I can ask of her to check her focus, plus I know where she is at with her confidence in those skills!
In this video, we start with a sit, to check if she is ready! Then after a little scratch and children watching, I ask her for the engagement by using her name, which she responds to! Again, this shows she’s able to focus 🥹 then, she begins to choose me over the rest of the world without being asked! It may have been only a couple times but it shows that we have established foundation skills and a bond that will last a lifetime 💛
After those couple magnificent choices, she spots a small child and heads off! In my head I go oh no, I’ve pushed her beyond threshold… ask for a recall on the off chance and what does she do?? SHE COMES! So it’s multiple treats and happy voices 😍
We then checked in with a hand target touch as I just wanted to see if I still had her focus and boy did I! So we finished up and headed back to the car. All this happened after a 5 minute walk AND a 15 minute sniffari, puddle play and recall work 🥹
We work through all these foundati
🌟 FIRST GROOM SUPERSTAR 🌟
Tiny but mighty little Albie had his first ever groom recently. With our holistic approaches, plenty of treats and all the love and patience in the world we are proud to say he was the perfect first timer 💖
We loved having Albie come to us for his first time, it’s super important that the new experiences of life are a positive one and we were so proud that his beautiful pawrents chose us 🥹
Enjoy our little clip and just look at all those tail wags! 😍
Part of our dedication to positive experiences is breaking up the session with enrichment and opportunities to wind down, with things like the snuffle mats!
Have you ever seen such a happy, sweet and relaxed soul during a first groom before? 🥹
We’ve only seen a small handful and are proud to offer a holistic approach to the dog grooming world. Little Gally had her first puppy groom with us and goodness did she do well! 😍
We had to have some lap time, outside walks, snuffle mats and plenty of treatos to get through the face and head trim but look at those little snippets of our unrestrained session! She LOVED our snack range and wrapped up the groom with plenty of kisses which we adored!
We’re so proud of you, Gally 💜
Let’s talk about LEASHES 🤭
A leash or a lead, what’s the first thing that comes to mind when you head that word?
Control? Security? Walking? 🤷🏽♀️
For us, things like Safety, Security and enjoyment comes to mind!
How many lead options do you and your dog have?
For us, we have a few types of leads that we float between for our own dogs and all of yours that we work with!!
Firstly, our Clip-It lead from DOOG - these we love as it’s multi purpose! It can be used as a standard lead of 1.8m and then shortened as needed, or used as a waist lead! We love these for our hands free walks and training, plus those sneaky cafe stops for a puppachino. We also love the standard leads, who can’t say no to all the pretty options we have at HQ 🤭
We also LOVE our 3m lead, these are fabulous for a little bit of extra room to move and explore while on a walk in an open space. This allows our poochies to have more freedom to explore all the smells of peemail and channeling different sensory experiences under their footsies!
Then our absolute favourite training lead, the 5m recall!! This lead is a godsend to recall training and safety of our puppies and adult dogs! Especially for those beach and bush walks that have plenty of room to play and explore, all while working on those rockstar recalls as well! 🥳
The bonus of the longer leads give a dog more radius to explore and less opportunity to rehearse the behaviour of pulling. It also releases tension and pressure so you can capture and reward the offered attention and you can use the environment as an added reward - how cool is that? 😍
A lead or a leash is no more than a seat belt, it’s there for safety reasons, it’s not there to control your dog.. that may sound confusing and you’re probably wondering what we’re talking about! But through our programs and private sessions, we show you and guide you through how to use your leash as simply as a safety tool, not a control factor and w
🐱 NEW SERVICE 🐱
To add to our growing range of services, we are super keen to announce we are offering a Cat specific program for Trick Training! 🥳
We love our cats and kittens here at HQ and keeping them safe, secure and an enriching life is a priority. So having a cat trained to do cool things is a huge bonus! 🫶
Another love of ours is fun and laughs, so enjoy our Thomas, also known as Smoosh and his first collection of skills 🥹
💖 HAPPY APRIL FOOLS 💖
Go forth and be amazing, play some pranks and have a ball today, and everyday 🫶
Here we are with the ever gorgeous, Alaska! 💜
This sweet little lady came to us and got to hang out for a one on one to work on practicing her good girl skills around distractions, mostly other dogs. We worked on some skills that Alaska has perfected with her fabulous family at home! I may have dropped a treat or two 🙈 but this best girl didn’t even notice! 🌟
Billy hung around wanting to be involved and it was the perfect balance of distraction that this girl needed! 🥰
She did so well, check out our stories for her beautiful posing practice and lead walking 😍
🌻 PROOFING THAT RECALL 🌻
There’s not much worse than a dog that won’t come when it’s called… we’ve all been there! 🥲
Here at HQ we have just invested in some super brilliant tug toys to use as another reward for proofing those recalls! Billy has tested them out in a recall session just recently and we know he’s going to continue to improve with a variety of training games and reward options 🥳
For us, the important part is that when he engages in tug, so do we! He only has a teeny snippet of tug motion here, but you get the idea 🙈 Billy really just wanted to trot along with his catch - classic retriever!!
It’s a bit tricky to see on the video but make sure you take note of how much force (not much) we put into the tug motion. Notice how we only use one finger, we tug when he tugs and always make sure to match his pressure for a successful and safe game 😍
This session itself was 3 blocks of 5 minutes with scheduled breaks in between plus the initial engagement with the tug prior to actually getting this video with the tug as a reward. We also used verbal praise and never forget the rapid fire treaties for fabulous work, followed by a sniff for the rest at the end of a session to debrief 🫶🏼
🌻 ENRICHMENT - BLOG POST 🌻
What’s the first thing that springs to your mind when you see posts and/or hear you need to provide enrichment for your dog?
I know looking back, at say 7 years ago all we saw was dollar signs and no real guidance onto what we can use. So we didn’t use anything and boy have we learnt some things about the value of enrichment over our time with many different breeds, temperaments and behavioural change of dogs.
Yes, there is plenty of options out there to purchase (we have most of them at HQ 🙈) but did you know there is simple, cost effective and just as worthwhile options in your own home?
Something as simple as this brilliant tip we heard over our week of intensive learning. Nothing goes into the recycle bin without being used as enrichment first! 🫶🏼
Safety first, no glass, soft plastics or tin cans etc. nothing that can cause immediate harm to your dog please, if you’re unsure just send us a message and please, please DO NOT leave your dog unattended when you’re using this enrichment method!
The quick and easy, fool proof method is loading up some paper from a delivery with some tasty treats or your dogs kibble and popping them scrunched up, back into the box! How cool?! 😍
Other things you can try:
- empty paper towel and toilet paper rolls with kibble or treats inside, top them up, flip the ends in and kachow, just like that you have enrichment!
- milk cartons/plastic bottles, remove the lid and again pop in your dogs treats or kibble and then let your pooch work it’s brain on how to get the good stuff!
- egg cartons, pop different flavours, textures and sized treats/kibble into each compartment, shut the lid and look out, it’s like a free choice selection of what they can eat first once they’ve opened it up!
Sound on for Fly doing her sniffles and digs to get those goodies out in her enrichment yesterday out of one of our delivery boxes and packaging 😍
We promise you a high quality, educational, worthwhile and positive learning environment 🤍
