2 in 1. After all the rain last Saturday the grass has grown so much. Lola is in for training , so its a awesome opportunity to train with distractions.
Will continue setting up the course after this chore is completed. Hope to see lots of eager dogs and people on Saturday 17th August starting at 1.30 and into the afternoon.
A bit of a longer video than normal, but we wanted to show people how the changes happen throughout the basic obedience course with the walking of dogs, we included the before and after as students often forget about the learning they put into achieving their final goal of having a dog that can be so much easier to own when they can understand what they need to be doing in different situations.
AGRESSION DISPLAYS AND TRIGGERS. To a person who does not know the background of this dog, or who does not understand about certain triggers for dogs then do read on to learn more.
There is always a reason why dogs do anything, and for this dog it means she is using her survival instinct in an attempt to make me go away.
l was warned about this by the owner and when l found out why l do totally understand why this normally cute, friendly little dog (outside of her kennel area) will act in this way.
She was rescued from a meat market in China or maybe it was Vietnam, but either way her past memories have now become her triggers for her to survive as certain sounds, and situations can cause the old memories to come back.
When l close the metal door to her kennel sleeping area she throws herself at my fingers as l push the latch down , she nipped me yesterday when l was not fast enough. The trigger for this would have been the memory of being crammed into a metal holding pen before being sent to market, she is very reactive around food as she probably had to compete with other dogs for food or may just not have never be feed during her time of being held before the market day.
Removing her leash from her collar is impossible if she is around her kennel area, downstairs by the main door is no problem, but around her kennel it brings back memories of being bound up with tape on her legs and mouth to prevent her from biting anyone before she is killed for meat.
I am sure she has come a long way from the time she was adopted by her owners who were working in this country. We expect so much of dogs without stopping to think about what is causing their present reactions. Like humans they also have triggers that will bring back memories, nothing just happens for without a reason.
AGILITY FUN AFTERNOON ON SATURDAY 10TH AUGUST IS POSTPONED UNTIL SATURDAY 17TH AUGUST.
Same time, same place, but hopefully with lots of sunshine next Saturday afternoon.
WE do show a lot of videos of the agility group that has been training for over a year now and are still going strong. But we rarely show the progress that the newer group from this year have been making.
This was taken a few weeks ago, the new skills they are learning every week is really starting to show.
Our next new pre-agility class will start in the fall time of 2024, date will be announced in mid-August, but until then do not forget about our annual fun agility afternoon that is being held at the st martins dog kennels on Saturday August 10th. All dogs of with or without agility experience are welcome to the agility fun afternoon.
When it is to hot to be running around to do training with a dog l have in for board and train, then it is a good idea to do it sitting down!
But really all training should be done with the owners in all sorts of different positions, if l only ever recalled the dogs while in a stand position they would think it only applied when l was in the stand position they had always used. This is why l always train everything with a verbal word so if they get confused they can respond to the words they have learned.
Luna is making good progress as she has been coming for private training sessions at my kennels. Her owner is noticing how much easier it is for her to chill out now at her home.
She is loving her training sessions as she is learning impulse control, now we just need to get her to listen when she is in a heightened state of arousal when she is around other dogs.
So this is why she is practicing taking commands when she is in a excited state of mind. She thinks it is fun as she follows her owner's instructions much more quickly than she usually would. And for all of her quick responses she gets to chase her favorite ball.
Our annual AGILITY FUN afternoon will be held on Saturday 10th AUGUST 2024 at my boarding kennels location near to Saint Martins.
For this year l am looking for feedback for anyone that might want to do a 1/2 hour private lesson with me one week before the event. This would be a session so that l could safely introduce your dog to the equipment before you try out the real set up course at my kennels on the following Saturday.
For dogs attempting a tunnel, a-frame, dog walks etc it can be a very daunting experience, with this time we could go through many of the common parts of the equipment that dogs struggle with in the beginning.
Cost would be $30.00 for the session, this includes the hst. Spots would need to be booked in advance.
The Fun agility event at my kennels is open to any one or any dog with or without agility experience.
More details will be posted in the coming weeks for the event so do keep checking in.
We added a new challenge for the agility group students. They were asked to complete the set up BUT this time with their hands in their pockets or behind their backs. There are a lot of different ways that students communicate with dogs during a run, take one of these communication tools away and it really tests the other skills that the students now have to use.
It was really interesting to watch how the dogs and students worked through this new challenge.
Just wanted to give a shout out to these two students and their dogs who graduated the basic obedience class last week. They both had individual reasons for coming to class . Oliver the duck Toller was almost on his way back to the breeder because of his behavior issues, but we did some privates and then the group class.
l am very happy to say that now Oliver will now be staying with his owners forever.
The little dog called Roxy came to class because her owner wanted to help her get over her issue of always barking at everyone. She did so well, now to test out if she can be as calm when she is at the owner's holiday cottage around lots of new challenges around her.
The classes are not just about sits, downs, stays, comes etc. It has so many other benefits for the dogs.
if you want to join in our next class it will start on Thursday 22nd August.
The next new puppy class is Monday 22nd July.
to register go to the website www.abcdogtraining.org
Gigi update for anyone that saw the post last week about her. It has been over a month now and so far when we go to take her for a walk she always pulls back, and we have to coax her to go through the kennel door to the outside area. We take her with other dogs in the hope that one day she will get used to being relaxed around other dogs and enjoy their company.
Today's big SMILEY moment happened when she decided to go out of the dog first, all by herself without being coaxed out.
So many people would not even think of this as an issue, for Gigi it is a scary thing to cross that threshold, but it looks like her daily walks are becoming more rewarding as they mean only positive things are now happening in her life.
We are hoping in the future to find Gigi a forever home, but until then we will continue to help her forward in her rehabilitation while searching for that new home.
Just a reminder that we have our annual AGILITY FUN AFTERNOON happening on Saturday August 10th, open to anyone with or without agility experience. More details will be following in the next month about this event.
Our next set of pre-agility classes will start in September 2024, message me if you want to be put on the notification list for any agility related events.
On the subject of this video, really impressed with my dog as she usually demolishes most jumps that are in her line of sight, lol.
Piper is from is making it look so easy to do the STAY on your matt exercises, we were low on dog distractions for this part of the training so we substituted a few other common distractions, plus my own dog. In the back ground is Trapper who benefited from the opportunity to practice the DOWN with only a few distractions in the room.
Kudos for a great learning job with both of the dogs.
Working with Summer the lab dog who has impulse control issues around some dogs. You do not need another dog present to get started with teaching a few impulse control exercises (The other dog you can hear in the video is my own dog who is in her crate, but is bark protesting because she wants to be able to catch the ball that l am using as a distraction for Summer.
To be able to help the students to the best of their ability my class helpers get to work with other people's dogs when they get the chance.
Every dog is a individual with different personality so a chance to work with CJ the shepherd is always a good opportunity for both my helpers and CJs owner.
Addison happily graduated from the level 2 basic obedience class on Thursday evening. This is what she has to say about the course. I do not translate doggy singing so l will just take it that she was very happy about the class and its content. lol
Life is always more run when you get to practice the COME command with a new friend. Pyrson the Pyrenes (or the big white fluffy one) is in for training and loves this training method.
the students did not know it last night in class, but they were running a masters standard course work!!!!
wow, what a difference a year makes for the training for all the dogs.
A few weeks ago our introduction to the agility equipment class students finished up the course work by putting together everything that the dogs have learned so far.
This week they will be moving onto the next agility section which is all about their handling skills. They will have a year of classes ahead of them where they will be many high and lows as they make progress with their dogs, but if they put the effort in the result will be amazing. Looking forward to working with the new students in class time.
If anyone was in the skills classes last year and had to stop for any reason , but would like to rejoin again then message me as l have a few spots available in the new groups.
Most of the time people just look at the final video of the finished behavior. They hardly ever think back to the beginning stages. This is some of our new agility class students being introduced the A frame for the very first time, for some it was a challenge, but they trusted in their owners (who are also new to this sport) and together it will be awesome to see their confidence grow with each passing class.
