Fair Weather Dog Training Club

14/09/2024

What a great afternoon to start back at Agility with the Fair Weather Dog Training Club today at SteepleAston. We've had quite a long holiday break and all the dogs were fabulous even my Yogi who usually just does zooming around the ring. Today he was ready for agility and actually did as I asked. The other dogs in todays class were also amazing and hadn't forgotten what they had to do. An enjoyable agility session 👌

12/09/2024

Debunking the Myths Around Mantrailing

Mantrailing, the fascinating sport of having dogs track human scent, has been gaining popularity in the last 10 years. It combines a dog’s natural ability with human teamwork, creating an exciting and rewarding experience. Let’s debunk some of the most common myths surrounding mantrailing.
❌ Only Certain Breeds Can Do it:
One of the biggest myths is that only specific breeds, like bloodhounds, are capable of excelling in mantrailing. While bloodhounds are well-known for their strong sense of smell, all dogs have incredible scenting abilities. From small terriers to large retrievers, virtually any dog can participate and enjoy mantrailing. What matters most is the dog’s motivation and interest in following a scent, not its breed.
❌ Mantrailing Is the Same as Search and Rescue
Though mantrailing and search and rescue (SAR) share similarities, they are not the same. Mantrailing as a sport is a controlled, recreational activity aimed at building a dog’s ability to follow human scent for fun and training purposes. SAR, on the other hand, is a critical emergency service requiring specialised training to locate missing persons in real-life situations.
❌ It’s Only for Highly Trained Dogs:
Another misconception is that mantrailing is reserved for professionally trained dogs or that it requires advanced obedience skills. In reality, mantrailing is open to dogs of all training levels. Many dogs pick up the sport quickly because it taps into their natural instincts to sniff and follow trails. It's an excellent way for dogs of any background to bond with their owners and develop focus.
❌ Mantrailing Is Too Easy for Dogs
Some people believe that mantrailing is too simple and doesn’t challenge a dog mentally or physically. This couldn't be further from the truth. While dogs are naturally inclined to follow scents, mantrailing requires them to stay focused for extended periods and navigate complex environments. It’s mentally stimulating and physically demanding, as the dog must work through various distractions and terrain changes. For both the dog and the handler, mantrailing provides a rewarding challenge.
❌ Mantrailing Is Only About the Dog
Mantrailing is often thought of as a dog-centric activity, but it’s truly a partnership between the handler and the dog. Handlers need to learn how to read their dog’s body language, understand scent dynamics, and provide the right encouragement during the trail. Success in mantrailing comes from the teamwork and communication developed between dog and handler, making it a fulfilling activity for both.
❌ It’s Just a Game of Hide and Seek
While mantrailing might seem like a simple game of hide and seek, it’s much more nuanced. Dogs are trained to follow specific human scent trails over various distances and in different environments, from forests to urban areas. Mantrailing involves understanding wind patterns, scent dispersion, and terrain effects, making it a complex and strategic activity.
Want to know more? Send us a message

10/09/2024

08/09/2024

UK Scent Sport

Are you interested in doing some scent work with your dog

I have 2 spaces available for a taster session on Monday the 14th of October, 6.30-8 pm

This is in a hall environment so your dog must be able to be around other dogs and feel comfortable working within the hall

The cost of this taster session is £20

08/09/2024

Well, what another busy weekend I and the 2 cairns have had.
On Saturday Ava helped with a dog training display at the fete in Sutton Under Brailles organised by Lesley Caines, who we train with. It was a brilliant display with James the Daschund and owner Sue doing a Heel work To Music (HTM) display. And what a tremendous display it was too! Then Lesley, Julie and myself did some lovely tricks with our 3 dogs. Finally Liz & Steve did a 'Go To Bed' trick with the 2 beddies, B & B. Again the dogs were brilliant as was Liz & Steve! We were later joined by Lucy Creek and her 2 dogs. Lucy has been the Crufts winner for HTM with her dogs for several years and very experienced! Her Mabel did a fabulous HTM display and then Lucy showed us how she trains her puppy who is just 5 months. A lovely day out. Thanks Liz for the flapjacks, yummy!
Then today, I helped to organise a Fun Dog Show along with his Mum Caroline Sofroniou for a young man, Jayden who has had a heart transplant. He wanted to have a dog show to raise money to buy equipment for the Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital. And what a fabulous turn out there was. We had 50 dogs at the show. Jayden's Mum has said they have raised over £1000!!! There was a raffle and tombola as well. So many businesses and people had donated so many prizes and donated money.
Another fab day for me, although I had to leave Ava & Yogi at home today.

08/09/2024

Don't worry, my dog is friendly!

Actually, that's not always okay! While your dog may be friendly, not all dogs (or people) feel the same. It’s important to remember there are many reasons why you shouldn’t let your dog run up to others. A common misconception is that this type of greeting is socialisation, it’s not. It’s actually teaching your dog to be rude! After all, would you run up to a stranger and hug them? Please keep these points in mind:

🐾 Always prevent your dog from approaching other dogs, on lead dogs may feel anxious or become reactive.
🐾 Respect the space of other pets and their owners.Sudden interactions aren't welcome by all dogs.
🐾 Some dogs prefer not to be bothered. They may need calm and distance.
🐾 Maintain control of your dog. If you can't reliably call your dog back when off-lead, then keep them on lead in unsuitable places.

Respect others’ space to ensure positive interactions for everyone.

05/09/2024

What a mind blowing afternoon have I had today. A training Tracking session with Darren Carmell from Nose for Adventure with my 2 cairns as well as watching a Search & Rescue dog being trained. I was a track layer for the Search and Rescue dog and watching him being trained as well as laying the track for him to find me was totally amazing! Such an amazing, clever dog!! One of the tracks I laid was not the same as the Instructor had asked me to do (I get lost so easily, especially in woods!) so the dog took a while to find me as both handler and Darren were blind as to where I actually was. But this young collie found me in the end. Such an amazing and a brilliant dog. Such an education for me too in Scentwork!

Ava , Yogi and I had a Tracking session with Darren which was again a wonder to watch these 2 dogs working. Ava is still getting the hang of tracking and I was interested to see that her nose was down on the track the whole time, she was not displaying her usual distraction behaviours as she does when Mantrialing in rural places, she will p*e and sniff a lot as well as go off searching for other interesting smells e.g. squirrels, passing dogs and people, animal scents, etc. Today she was straight on the track, nose down on the track all the time!! She worked so much better than I had expected today xx
Yogi is much more advanced in Tracking than Ava and Darren laid slightly harder tracks for him. First was a straight line Track of about 25 m which he was on immediately. The food was more spaced out for this session. The second Track had a right turn to it and Yogi took the turn as if he had being doing tracking all his life! A very pleased and proud owner. Thank you so much Darren, looking forward to our next Tracking session with the 2 cairns. Oh, and you make a very nice cuppa Darren! 😀

05/09/2024

Billy works with a specialist dogs team to uncover secretly hidden illegal to***co.

03/09/2024

‼️ NEWS FLASH ‼️

SAS: Catching the Criminals is a new TV series starting on Monday 9th September. We were delighted to be included in the filming of this new TV series and even more delightede to have former SAS leader Billy Billingham, join us on a number of to***co operations.

We believe we feature in a couple of episodes and it looks like to***co dogs Griff and Cooper will definitely be in episode 3.

If and when we get some more news, we’ll let you know.

***co

31/08/2024

What a lovely morning my 2 cairns & myself have had today. We were Mantrailing with UK Scent Sport and both cairns PASSED their assessments. Ava her Level 3 Urban Level Mini Mantrialing and Yogi his Level 2 Urban Mini Mantrialing. So proud of them both as they had worked so well.

29/08/2024

Had such an enjoyable Mantrialing session with both of my cairn terriers, Ava and Yogi on Wednesday. Although it was cloudy it was a very hot day. Doghampton were in charge of us with Susanne and Emma our Instructors. This session was all about dogs finding the scents of the misper's (pretend missing persons) who where hiding and covered up with camouflage netting. The netting helps to stop the odour of that person from spreading so making it more difficult for the dogs to find the misper. I am so proud to say that both Ava and Yogi found the mispers with no problems, they were both working so much better than I have seen for a long time! If I am allowed I will post their video on here so you can see!

29/08/2024

Wanting a behaviour from our dogs to stop is common. Sadly, there are so many 'trainers' who appear on television or have massive social media followings who will advocate using devices and methods that 'will stop it fast'. Let's be honest, as humans we are often results driven, so I can see why these would appeal to people who don't know why these things should not be recommended and used. The reality is that they can make the situation so much worse.

Suppressing a behaviour doesn't mean that the reasons that behaviour happened aren't still there, just that the dog can't do what they feel they need to in that situation. That can lead to increased frustration, stress, fear - depending on what the driver for that behaviour is. Think of it like a pressure cooker, adding more and more pressure, with no way to reduce that pressure. Eventually there comes a point where the pressure is just too much and boom.

If a behaviour is something we can't live with, there are things we can do without suppressing that behaviour. Manage the situation so that the dog is not in a position to practice that behaviour - for example baby gates to stop them jumping up at arriving guests or finding quiet areas to walk if your dog is uncomfortable with other dogs close up. If there is something you would prefer them to do in that situation keep using the management and then, using kind and ethical methods, teach them what you would like them to do instead. If the behaviour is not something that we can simply train an alternative for - a dog who reacts to other dogs around for example - find a behaviour consultant who uses modern and kind methods to help the dog no longer feel the need to use that behaviour.

Behaviour suppression is never the answer.

Here are links to a couple of blog posts that explore the topic a little further:
https://www.goodguardianship.com/post/the-first-question-to-ask-wtf-what-s-the-function
https://www.goodguardianship.com/post/why-we-should-look-beyond-stopping-behaviour

18/08/2024

Had such a great day with DogHampton today doing some scentwork training over large indoor and outdoor areas. I worked Ava today and the odour was Kong so I was very surprised she found most of the hides as it is sometime since we worked with Kong. She was awesome!! she worked so well for me not too much messing about outside. Comment from Susanne was I was leading Ava at times!! Which I know I do but not when I'm working Ava. I ran Yogi over the last course and he was fabulous too. It was lovely to met new people and renew old acquaintances, A lovely day and we had CAKE!!! What more can I say!
Now have 3 very tired fairweathers!!!

17/08/2024

14/08/2024

The Fair Weather Dog Training Club continues to run weekly Obedience and Scentwork classes every Thursday evening at Arncott village hall, Arncott near Bicester. This club has been training dogs for over 20 years. Jennie, our Instructor is a fully qualified dog training Instructor and an approved Member, Assessor and Instructor of Academy of Dog Training & Behaviour. The club has been listed with the Royal Kennel Club Good Citizen Dog Scheme to run and assess their courses for over 20 years! In that time the club has trained hundreds and hundreds of people to have a well behaved and sociable dog!
The classes we run are open to everyone. Come along and teach your dogs new skills as well as new tricks. Yes, even those dogs who have to wear a muzzle by law as well as those dogs who are nervous of other dogs are all welcome to join any of our courses. These are the classes we are running in Arncott at the moment:
1. From 6:45pm to 7:30pm an 8 week puppy socialisation course. This is for puppies less than 6 months of age and able to socialise with other dogs after their innoculations. In this class puppies will be taught basic obedience as well as how to interact with other puppies and people for when they are adult dogs.
2. From 7:30pm to 8:15pm there is a Basic Obedience, 8 week course. This is for any dog older than 6 months. In this course you will be shown how to train your dog to be a happy and sociable dog with good behaviour and an immediate recall. All done in a way that it is a fun game for both handler and dog.
3. From 8:15pm we run Rally and Scentwork courses. They run fortnightly so Rally one week and Scentwork the next week. For Rally dogs need to have already done some basic Obedience. For the scentwork course any dog over 4 months old can join us.

For further information or to get an information leaflet and booking form please contact Jennie Fairweather by FB, or Email [email protected] or phone 01869322996.