Poki Loki 🥳
It’s Poki-Loki’s birthday and a couple of weeks ago marked ONE whole year of him being part of our family.
I can’t really get my head around the fact he hasn’t always been with us. Everyone that knows him loves his weird quirks, treat pleading eyes, ball drive and general gremlin-ness 🤩
Poki has taught me so much about dogs and working through a dog with an apprehensive state around food and therefore would guard it from people. He’s given us plenty of moments of frustration and tears but so much knowledge and perseverance on how to work through it together.
He’s goofy, sweet (occasionally demon 😖) and so much fun to be around. He never does anything at a slow pace 🤣
Here’s to many more adventures together!
Big thanks to Jess at @dundeedogtraining for setting Loki up on the right path, trusting us with him and continuing to support us, even to this day. And to both Jess and @hungarianvizslawelfarecharity for giving dogs like Loki another chance ♥️
Friday Adventure Walk 🐾
Friday Walk 🐾
We had an amazing walk on Friday - the sun was shining so we headed to St Andrews.
The pack walked along the beach and then did the best lead walking around the town. We stopped off at @jannettas_gelateria where these boys got an ice cream! We headed back along the beach and home again.
It was great to walk through the town with 15 dogs - think we got some amazed looks from passersby! 🐾🏖️♥️
Social Walk Sundays 🤩
Social Walk Sundays 🤩
We started off the morning with a Neutral Walk through @honesthounds and @longtallsally_roucandane 🐾
Followed by our own Social Walk through Cammo Estate. This is a tricky walk location as it can be busy at the weekends.
We focused on:
🐾 appropriate interactions
🐾 proprioception & confidence building
🐾 some chilled out down stays
🐾 reading body language
🐾 dealing with incoming dogs & reactions
Looking forward to next week 🥰
The Educational Walks 🐕🐾
The Educational Walks combine positive social interactions with structured training opportunities throughout. The dogs can have time to run, explore, sniff and interact as well work on specific aspects such as: lead work, tricks, confidence building, etc.
Social learning is hugely impactful for humans and dogs. The dogs learn from our lead but also through the behaviour of steady adults around them. Many of the dogs attending our walks are or have been reactive towards other dogs and/or humans but are learning from the positive role models around them.
Relationship, respect, body language and positive social interactions are at the heart of our work but most of all fun and happiness of dogs and their owners.
If you’d like to get involved in our Educational Walks, please contact me at [email protected]
Busy Sunday 🐾🐕
A busy but rewarding Sunday 🐾
It’s amazing to see how the @honesthounds group has blossomed - it started out with only a few of us and now these dogs are the steady role models for new dogs joining. I hadn’t been in a while and I couldn’t believe the size of the group today. Almost 50 members in our HH Fife Group Chat 😮 What an amazing community! I certainly wouldn’t be where I am without it and I know many people who would say the same. It’s a platform I wish was available at the start of my dog ownership journey and I can’t see why anyone, with an interest in dogs, wouldn’t want to be part of it ♥️
We then went for an off-lead Social Walk. It’s great to watch the dogs interact respectfully and to be able to help owners read the body language of their dog and others. We also spoke about obedience (how your dog follows commands) vs behaviour (what your dog does out with commands) 🐾
We were also lucky enough to be joined by Honest Hounds/Dundee Dog Training’s very own Jessie, Jess and Willow 🥰
Cani-cross 🏃🏼♀️🐾
Cani-cross 🏃🏼♀️🐾
Wee Loki is absolutely loving Cani-cross right now. He’s honestly a natural at it. He always keeps tension on the lead and if I could physically go any faster I have no doubt he’d match my pace.
Having friends to run with means accountability for me, and just a great laugh. But it’s made even better by the enthusiasm Loki has for running.
Educational Walk 🐶🧡 A very successful Ed. Walk today in Camperdown Park. A variety of dogs being respectful of each other. We focused on eye contact, displacement and confidence building.
Educational Walk 🐶🧡
A very successful Ed. Walk today in Camperdown Park. A variety of dogs being respectful of each other. We focused on eye contact, displacement and confidence building.
Tilly Glen - The Law - Ben Cleuch - Ben Ever 🏔️ Social Walk up The Ochils. 10km with 10 dogs. 🐕
Tilly Glen - The Law - Ben Cleuch - Ben Ever 🏔️
Social Walk up The Ochils. 10km with 10 dogs. 🐕
Dogs passed lots of people and dogs. I was majorly struggling, guess I’m not back to full health yet. Need to teach the dogs to pull me up 🤣
We discussed endorphins, finding the balance of good cop & bad cop, bringing down energy, advocating for your dog and reading situations before they happen.
Great walk 💙
Another day of Tiny Tim learning how to be a pet dog 🧡🐕 This is exactly why puppies need lots of structured sleep throughout the day - so much to learn 🧡
Another day of Tiny Tim learning how to be a pet dog 🧡🐕
This is exactly why puppies need lots of structured sleep throughout the day - so much to learn 🧡
Playing around for some dinner!
Tonight we had some fun and earned some food.
I taught Vinnie “Dead” a few days ago and now we will work on getting his head on the ground. Will this become a helpful command for walks and behaviour? No. Is it a bit of fun and keeps his brain working? Yes.
Why use a bowl when you can do things like this instead?
Social Walks 🐕
Social Walks 🐕
We’ve been practising close proximity passing & positive interactions.
There’s been lots of progress being made and as a group we’ve been trying to take @dawn_thinkitchangeit advice about writing down the positives. We did this at the end of the residential retreat with @dundeedogtraining and it was effective for having concrete evidence of progress as well as getting our dopamine in a positive way.
Some of our positives from yesterday & today’s social walks:
☑️ Passed two stranger dogs without reaction
☑️ More engagement from their dog even with many distractions
☑️Calmer behaviour around other dogs
☑️ Walked with loose lead
Social Neutrality Walks 🐶
Social Neutrality Walks 🐶
Another great weekend of walking with a group of open, honest and non-judgemental people and their dogs.
Our social walks provide an opportunity to walk, talk, learn and share experiences with your dog and other likeminded owners.
The walks are available for ALL dogs and owners to work on:
🔹engagement
🔹 relationship with dog & owner
🔹understanding body language/behaviour
🔹obedience
🔹neutrality around other dogs & people
🔹recall
🔹exposure in a safe environment
🔹practise & repetitions
We walk every Monday morning, Wednesday evening & Saturday or Sunday in a variety of locations. Send me a message if you’d be interested in joining the amazing group.
