This week, I’ve had the pleasure of working with both Harvey and Ryker!
Both of these boys made huge leaps in their Scentwork and some of their behaviour choices.
Harvey is a young, very busy, and gorgeous Springer Spaniel. When we first started working together, he couldn’t stay still for even a nanosecond and was often fixated on shadows.
His guardian has put in so much effort to learn how to help Harvey and keep him mentally stimulated—essential for a working-line Springer who truly needs a job to feel calm, content, and fulfilled.
This week, Harvey managed to complete a line search of pipes calmly! Not only that, but he worked for a full hour with all the blinds open on a sunny day without getting distracted by shadows once! 🥳 What a superstar! 🤩
Ryker and Suzy have been working with me for a while now, and this week, we took their Scentwork on the road!
Ryker has had some reactivity around other dogs, certain people, and sometimes even vehicles and cyclists. So for this session, we had to carefully consider one of the four D’s of dog training—Distractions!
Since we were increasing the difficulty of the environment, we made the Scentwork itself easier to set Ryker up for success.
We headed to their local village park, making the searches so engaging and rewarding that Ryker completely ignored two dogs, all the people walking past, and even several vehicles—including a couple of loud skip trucks! 🥳 Another superstar! 🤩
How has Scentwork helped them?
For Harvey, it has provided much-needed mental stimulation, helping him learn to focus, settle, and manage his impulses. Instead of fixating on shadows, he now has a job that keeps his brain engaged in a healthy, productive way.
For Ryker, Scentwork has given him something to focus on in challenging environments, building his confidence and resilience. Instead of reacting to the world around him, he’s now able to stay calm and engaged in his work—even in busier places.
Two incr
Arrived back home last night and waiting for me was a very exciting parcel! New equipment for one of our new Scent Sport classes 😍🐾 Thank you The College Of Scent Dogs Ltd
Today was a lovely session with Conaill and his guardians.
We have been working together for a short while now and we put a training plan in place to help with engagement & focus for Conaill as he tended to forget he had guardians with him when he was out.
Dogs need to be able to sniff and wander when on lead but dragging you around to do that can be quite frustrating and even painful. 😥 Your walks can then become quite stressful for everyone involved. Conaill guardians were not enjoying their walks with him.
Everyone at home has been following the plan getting those key skills, games and exercises in place before taking it out on the road.
This was him today in a place that he has always pulled and even dragged them along, forgetting they were at the end of the lead!
What a difference; Conaill is so much more engaged and because of that engagement we have some lovely loose lead walking, but he also gets the chance to sniff and look around too 😀
Well done Conaill and guardians 🤩🤩
If you would like some help with loose lead walking, focus, engagement or have another struggle you’d like to discuss, send me a message and we can arrange a call to see how I can help.
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2025 has been interesting so far here, with me being ill, the boiler breaking down and then storm Eowyn doing its thing leaving us with no power for 6 days! I think 2025 may start in February for us 🤣
In between all this I have been working on some things with my own boys, I’m super impressed with their stays and recall in a pretty busy park in Carlisle this week. We had bikes, cars, other dogs and joggers all passing by at various points and they were superstars! ⭐️⭐️
Would you like to work on your dog’s recall and long distance stays?
Pop me a message and let’s have a chat to see how I can help 🐾😊
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Perfect trainers dogs…..
Perfect trainer dogs……..
Just for a bit of fun I thought you’d like to see our outtake from today’s training!
Trainers dogs aren’t always the perfectly trained dogs you see on Social media….well, mine aren’t anyway! 🙈🤣
What I love most about this outtake is Eddie is having the best time 🥰😂
Enjoy your dogs and enjoy your training even when it doesn’t quite go according to plan 🥰
If you or your dog are not enjoying yourselves then stop, take a break and try again either later or another day 😊🐾
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Muzzle Training
Muzzle Training 😊
An important skill for all dogs!
We know some dogs need to wear muzzles to keep them safe or it is a legal requirement (don’t get me started on that one!) Conditioning them to one so they are comfortable with it is a skill most guardians will have done for those dogs.
Lots of guardians will say that their dog doesn’t need a muzzle, and in normal day to day life that may well be the case however, life doesn’t always go according to plan 🤷♀️
Honestly, you never know when or if your dog may need to wear one.
Preparing them for situations where it might be needed is a skill that can’t be underestimated 😊
Eddie and Blaze can stand and place their nose in the muzzle but will also lay down and place their nose in. It actually doesn’t matter where the muzzle is they happily place their nose in it. 😊
If your dog is hurt and injured it is very possible that they may only be able to communicate their pain by snapping or even biting when you try to help them. Dogs will try to protect themselves from more harm, they have no idea at that moment in time that you are trying to help.
If injured they may well be laying on the ground so being able to place a muzzle on when they are laying down is a skill in itself that can be incredibly valuable.
Training your dog to wear one in a calm, positive way means they’ll feel comfortable and relaxed if they ever need one. It’s a useful and I believe essential skill.
Want to know how to start? Comment below or pop me a message and I’ll help you 😊
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When you’re trying to film some lovely loose lead walking and check ins you realise who loves the camera and who definitely does not! 🤣
Today I want to give a big shout out to Dougal! What a superstar today in his Scentwork session. 🥳🐾
As I think most of you know Dougal struggles with the outside world. He can be very noise sensitive so we have been working with him mainly inside while we build his confidence and love for Scentwork.
Today I felt he was ready to tackle outside in his garden. Now to many this may not seem a big step but for Dougal it really is; outside where traffic is rumbling past and dogs are barking is very distracting and hard to ignore.
He smashed it today, yes he went to look and sniff the air but he did not react to any of the noises and returned to the job he was asked to do 🥳🥳
How far you have come Mr Dougal!! One very proud trainer today 😍
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“Why does my dog always walk right on the fence line or the hedges on walks or pull to get there?”
A question that is often asked when working on loose lead walking 😊
When scent moves, it behaves like a bit of smoke or mist, moving with the breeze or air currents. When it meets a fence line, hedge, or verge, it tends to get “caught” because these barriers disrupt the air flow.
The scent get snagged on leaves, grass, or the fence itself, making it hang around longer and spread more slowly.
Your dogs get a stronger, more concentrated whiff of the scent as they follow along the line. It’s nature’s way of setting up a track that’s easier for them to follow!
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Is Scentwork Time-Consuming?
Honestly, not at all!
Like many people, especially on the run up to Christmas, time can be particularly stretched - which might feel like a barrier to you having a go with your dog.
Scentwork can easily be integrated into your daily routine. You can start with just a few minutes a day and gradually increase the time as your dog gets more skilled and enjoys it even more.
Training sessions can be as short as 2-3 minutes—what us dog trainers like to call "kettle sessions." While you’re waiting for your kettle to boil to make your cup of tea/coffee you can get a training session in 🙂 Just a few minutes of focused training can really engage your dog and provide great mental exercise.
As your dog becomes more accomplished at their new skills, you might find they would enjoy longer sessions. Even then, keeping it to 15-30 minutes a few times a week can work wonders, depending on your schedule.
The good news is you don’t have to do it every day!
Even a few sessions each week can significantly improve your dog’s behaviour choices.
Once you and your dog find your rhythm, it’s really quite easy to fit scentwork into your day!
This session with Blaze was in between my admin work and took us less than 5 minutes to do, he then went off for a nap while I continued my work 🥰🐾
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Dog sports foundation training. Scentwork & Scent sports. Training classes & 1:1 training consultations.
