One of my big tips for recall is to never stop practicing!
You don't want to use it only when you really need it just to discover it's not as strong as it used to be.
- Recall can be a fun game that your dog really enjoys to play with you, not a chore.
- Always provide a reward of some sort at the end to keep it motivating.
- Practice doesn't need to be a big deal. You can do it during your daily activities.
- Make sure when you call your dog you are sure they are able to respond to set them up for success.
- Slowly build up to more and more challenging situations as your dog is ready.
- Don't over do it. A few times over the day is enough.
Here we used a high distraction situation to practice. Winston was busy supervising his sheep, he even had his head through the fence! It was raining and I was in the shearing shed which muffles the sound of my voice. The reward here was only kibble, this is all that's generally required on the farm as I can use the reward of sending him back to sheep or to another farm activity he enjoys to really make it powerful!
#bordercollie #kelpie #herdingbreed #bordercolliesofinstagram #recall #recalltraining #positivereinforcement
A Herdy Sunday with Lauren!
We were lucky enough to have Lauren Vest come to Canberra to teach a group class this weekend.
It was a great opportunity for our more experienced dogs to practice working in the open paddock.
Some of these dogs are headed for trialling and some for farm work so they had specific skill to work on.
They all did so well and it was a joy to see them and their handler work as a team.
#bordercollie #kelpie #herdingdogs #herdinginstinct #sheepherding #dogsofcanberra
Our first Training From the Couch class wrapped up last week.
The class was born out of my current health situation that meant I had to do all my dogs training while sitting down! As it turns out this concept was of interest to quite a few people and their dogs.
The class was a lot of fun and I enjoyed watching everyone learn new things and be just as fun for their dog without having to stand up and move around.
One of the tricks we learnt throughout the 5 weeks was "put your toys away". I love this behaviour for many reasons but it was particularly suited to Training from the Couch as it meant your dog would bring back all their toys rather than you having to go and get them 😉.
Thanks to Wren the border collie and Ellie the poodle for their progress videos!
#trainingfromthecouch #dogtraining #forcefreetraining #bordercollie #standardpoodle #putyourtoysaway #dogsofaustralia
It was a bit wet up at the farm this evening but farm life goes on! At least it was better than the horrendously hot day we've had.
The border boys were not worried about the rain when it's farm time. The sheep on the other hand were not so enthusiastic 😅.
#farmlife #farmlifebestlife #sheepdog #bordercollie #rain #pouring #dogsofcanberra
Today we had our very first 'Farm spot' visitors! Yes this is a very obvious play on Sniff spot 😉
The very special dogs to first trial our new service were Mack the Cattle dog and Candy the Lab.
The dogs and their family had the space to themselves to explore and play. Splashing in the trough was a big hit with both dogs, Candy decided to top that off with rolling in poop to make herself smell wonderful 😅.
Post Farm spot photos revealed exhausted, satisfied puppers snoozing when they got home.
The space includes:
- Two paddocks adding up to an acre of fenced area to explore
- An open grass paddock great for ball and frisbee play
- A second paddock with more trees and bushes to explore and find shade.
- A large water trough for the dogs to drink from and splash in.
- Views of livestock such as sheep and cattle
- A trigger free space for reactive dogs. No other dogs present, no traffic or urban noises. 1 person will be present on the property but won't interfere with the session.
- All conveniently located in Tuggeranong ACT
- $45 per hour
Spots will be limited
#sniff #cattledog #lab #dogsofcanberra #reactivedog #safespace
Due to my health my services will be changing for the rest of this year.
For my current clients I will be in contact soon to let you know how we will proceed.
Unfortunately I won't be taking on any new in person clients until next year.
New services I will be adding will be some more online classes, webinars and zoom consults. Please let me know what you would be interested in learning about!
I am also thinking of including a new service where people can come to the paddock with their dog, similar to a sniff spot. This is great for reactive dogs. Feel free to message me for more details.
Thanks for all your support and to everyone that sent through lovely messages already ❤️
*I will do some more posts in my story about the reaction to the iron infusion as I think it's really important for people to know about. I certainly wish I had known much sooner.
Border collies and.......cat toys?? 🤔
These cat toys have been a fantastic find for our indoor games! The boys are absolutely smitten with them and get the crazy herdy eyes on every time I get them out 🤪.
#bordercollie #dogtrainer #herdingdogs #dogsofcanberra ##dogsofaustralia
Cassie the Aussie Shephard can be quite worried about new people and would respond by barking and lunging.
Her and her mum have been working hard for some time now to help Cassie feel more comfortable with new people and develop a strategy that works to help Cassie feel safe when she is being introduced to someone new.
We make sure to begin at a distance and mix up the new person moving and being still so Cassie can get comfortable with the person doing different things. If she continues to be comfortable, we progress to slowly getting closer. In this video, I am with the new person, and Cassie is with her mum.
In the past, this process would take place over several sessions, but now it can be done in just one.
Cassie has made fantastic progress with this, and her mum should be extremely proud of what they have achieved.
#aussiesofinstagram #aussieshepherd #aussieshepherdsofinstagram #reactivedog #reactivitytraining #reactivedogsaregooddogstoo #meetingnewpeople #dogtraining #positivereinforcement
Chasing and wanting to control moving household items is a super common behaviour in our border collies and other herding breeds.
Possible chasing options include:
- Vacuum cleaners
- Brooms
- Lawn mowers
- Shovels
- Wheelbarrows
And the list goes on!
So can we teach our border collies to be calm around these objects? Yes!
To do that we need to understand why they are doing it. Some may be afraid but that isn't the most common reason. Often it is movement they want to control and are havin fun doing it!
To work with a movement control fun junkie we need to put a few things in place first.
Manage the environment so they can't practice the chasing!
Give them alternative, safe outlets for their herding behaviour with herding games.
Train a solid alternative behaviour you want them to do instead when the object is around. For Archie this is to settle on his mat.
Include some elements of movement control in training your alternative behaviour so you are fulfilling needs. In this video Archie gets to chase and catch a find it treat before returning to the mat.
Put it all together slowly. Introduce your object at a distance and low intensity to start. Slowly build up while your dog is successful.
And of course, have fun training!
#bordercollie #bordercollietraining #bordercolliesofig #kelpie #koolie #cattledog #forcefreetraining #positivereinforcement #herdingdogs #herdinginstinct #dogsofcanberra
Saturday walks in a new place 🥰.
The boys had a fantastic time with a new environment, new smells, new trees to wee on 🤪.
#bordercollie #kelpie #herdingbreed #saturday #saturdaywalkies #newwalkingroute #dogexplorer #Canberra #canberradogs
The weather and having covid has meant doing fun indoor activities for busy border collie brains! They really aren't too fussed about not getting out for a run around as long as their is something fun to do.
Winnie is loving adding new behaviours into his ball game to keep him on his toes 🤗
#bordercollie #bordercollielife #herdingbreed
#busybrain #forcefreetraining #indoorgamesforrainydays #covid
