Let The Dog Lead
Last night a very cold and wet session but more work done! Varro has been out of work for a while now whilst his owner was super busy so it’s nice to have him back!
Although it’s not the best lighting in the world, here we are teaching Varro that he can lead the dance!
I touch his leg, which makes him a little bit uncomfortable but then he pushes into the bite and I let go of his leg, giving him a button to remove something he considers to be pressure.
This teaches dogs to be strong in the head, and to deal with the things that make them uncomfortable. It puts Varro in the driving seat and in time makes him stronger and more forward.
Another one in the bag, and another step closer despite the awful weather!
Well done to all those who made it out last night to club! When it’s cold and dark it can be hard to drag the motivation out to get in the van, drive to the field and get to work, but you lot continue to do it.
Consistency beats everything in this game! The more consistent you can make your training, the better you get and there’s just no substitute for that.
See you all Saturday!!
Enthusiasm Matters
On the quest to build the ultimate protection dog, correctness is not enough. We also want high levels of enthusiasm from the dog.
As the great Bart Bellon says, the dog should perform the behaviour with heart and soul. We don’t want flat robots around here.
Enzo is coming together really nicely now and we continue to work every Saturday afternoon and every Wednesday evening even though it’s freezing cold and pitch black.
We wrap up, stick the lights on and get to it!
Keep it up Josh! Super work lately!
Object Guard
Some lovely work from our highest graded member Jake with his dog Ember at club last night.
Ember is full litter sister to Drogo who you all know and love and she’s progressing lovely in all her behaviours.
This Saturday we have grading day and I’m super excited to be absolutely promoting these guys to their new grades. Usually we keep promotions a secret until the day but everybody in the club can see these guys are flying.
A real asset to the club, and excited to see more progression!
Obsidian BLCK - Keeping It Fun
When training young dogs it is important to keep the training fun so the dog doesn’t end up in a burnt out state, small in the head.
Putting strict rules around exercises when young can cause a whole world of problems later down the line.
Here Chloe and Diesel are working on the retrieval of keys ready for the dropped object in the prisoner transport.
This is a very strict exercise with a lot of nuance but as you can see here, this is much more like a game than an exercise. We are getting the work done but Diesel just believes he is playing a game!
Obsidian BLCK - What a Progression
When Jo first came to the club she had a very reactive working line German Shepherd that she wanted as a pet.
Jo dived head first into what was right for Callie and got the work done. She was previously extremely people and dog reactive and is now starting to look like a rounded working dog.
Jo shows up week in, week out and does the work required and it’s really starting to show now.
Excited to continue the long journey with these guys and they’ve really become an integral part of the team! Great work guys!
Obsidian BLCK - Enzo
Josh and Enzo working on the ‘Man Revieren’ exercise. Eventually this exercise will turn into a search and guard exercise.
In KNPV this will be in a forest, the dog must find the decoy and guard him, but in BLCK we will test this in a multitude of scenarios including in the home.
This is a great exercise for arriving home and seeing a window smashed, or the door left ajar to make sure the home is clear and safe.
If the decoy stands still the dog must guard until the handler arrives, but if the decoy flees or fights the dog may bite to neutralise the given threat.
Early days for Enzo but stay tuned as this boy develops!
Obsidian BLCK
Another awesome club day on Saturday, the team really making some good strides now. We have a grading day on the 9th November so stay tuned for some well earned promotions for the team!
I’m super proud of all the guys who are here week in week out working on building that well rounded protection dog and not wavering on their goal!
Video of Drogo working the front attack, prisoner transport and escape bites! He’s coming on a treat and all the pieces are falling into place exactly as we hoped.
Obsidian BLCK - Little Things
When training protection dogs it’s easy to forget about the small stuff and just look at the reel on Instagram, but every fun reel has a million small pieces to a complex puzzle.
In this video Koji is working on his desensitisation to collar pressure. He’s fine being held by the lead but can begin to redirect on Elliott (with two t’s) when the collar is held.
Piece by piece we fix another problem. Together as a team.
Obsidian BLCK - Social Control
Another hugely important part of training the ultimate personal protection dog is having social control. We don’t need all dogs to be friendly with people, but socially neutral is a must.
This Doberman is pretty flammable to people so this is lovely work for Ashleigh doing some lovely control in close proximity of people. Onwards we continue!
Obsidian BLCK - Control
Obsidian BLCK is the quest to build the perfect well rounded personal protection dog and obviously a part of that is having ultimate control.
Here is one of our members Jake with his dog Widow exhibiting some beautiful competition heelwork.
These guys have absolutely flown in progress. Just a few years ago Jake only had his pet English Bull Terrier and had never trained a dog and now he’s one of the coaches in BLCK, and flying!
Big things from these guys next year!
Obsidian WHTE - Using The Nose
Part of the quest to build the ultimate pet dog is making sure that the dog uses its nose well. Dogs are naturally scent based creatures so using this powerful tool is not only helpful, but also very enriching for the dog.
This is Meg at our WHTE club day which happens every Saturday morning, working on her indications.
Meg chose a horse shoe for Logan to search for because she has seven horses, so this becomes a useful real life skill for her. We have other members who choose things relevant to their life, or even something random!
If you want to get involved with the club, and start your journey to a perfect well rounded pet dog, get in touch!
