Bit of confidence building and fun in training today.
Day 8 with Frank means we need to start pushing distraction proofing. It’s my goal to have Frank as proofed and reliable as possible before his final day with me and we transition the training back to his owner.
5 month old Frank is learning to maintain sit stays with me while I’m teaching a class. My Demo Dogs need a high degree of distraction proofing in order to be helpers to both me and my clients. #metropawlitandogtraining #yycdogtraining #calgarydogtraining #calgarypuppytraining #yycpuppytraining #sitstay
Frank’s first time transitioning his Come training outdoors. Little did I know there was a soccer game going on! #metropawlitandogtraining #yycdogtraining #yycpuppytraining #calgarydogtraining #calgarypuppytraining
Frank just learned the concept of Place a day ago. Thanks to his puppy foundations (and just who he is) we started adding distraction proofing to this exercise ahead of schedule. #metropawlitandogtraining #calgarydogtraining #yycdogtraining #calgarypuppytraining #yycpuppytraining
Frankie is learning to sit patiently at the door before walking through it with me. I absolutely love this puppy! #metropawlitandogtraining #yycdogtraining #calgarydogtraining #calgarypuppytraining #yycpuppytraining
Frank is back with me for round 2 of Demo Dog training and I could not be more proud of this awesome puppy! At just 5 months and his 6th day of training with me, this was his first time working his down stay in front of a major distraction like this and I have to say he really made my heart swell with pride! #metropawlitandogtraining #calgarydogtraining #yycdogtraining #yycpuppytraining #calgarypuppytraining
Quorra and I were filming today (blog post coming soon) to show you what we love doing best. Playing. That training happens is just a side note. A part of the game for us. When we work this way we bring out the best in each other. Our obedience is powerful and precise but relaxed. She invites me to play as freely as she offers obedience. Because both to her are one and the same - fun. Ironically it was when we were drilling hard every day that we were performing at our worst. Learning to work purposefully but relaxed hasn’t always been easy but it has definitely been worth it. How often do you genuinely play with your dog in training?
Conversations you have with your dog…
Buddy Blue is new to my Demo Dog program. While he’s been through obedience classes before with me he’s here to learn to work through his anxieties. His training is actually very solid. But like many dogs, when his state of mind is anxious even the simplest tasks are hard. We were practicing Place in this session but it wasn’t the team running agility behind me - it was my leaving him that caused him to want to break the exercise. Over the next few days, we’ll be reinforcing distance work and teaching him some confidence working away from his handler. We will also be giving him tools to help him achieve an overall calmer state of mind and be able to relax more at home and on his regular outings.
As a seasoned Demo Dog, working with Quorra is as comforting and easy as putting on your favorite pair of gloves. That I can trust her so much that I don’t have to focus on her is an incredible blessing. Her job today was as critical as mine - calmly hold her position, staying completely neutral to help build other dogs’ confidence while I’m fully focused on coaching my human students. Throughout it all I’m feeding off her energy as much as she is mine. And the working partnership we share is how we’ve been able to successfully help so many dogs and owners over the years. I’m so grateful that it’s not only on the sport field but in day to day life that our working partnership is so strong. Want to get this level of reliability with your dog? Ask us about our upcoming training programs! We’d love to help you too!
Really proud of our nose work students! Bella here is showing off finding a hide! Over the past few weeks, my students and I have been having a blast learning a different way of doing nosework and we're so excited to see the results coming together!
