Havok K9 Services

The next time someone asks how I hurt my arms, I'm going to show them this... The green rag that was formerly a bite sleeve, used to have my arm inside !! At least he's entertained 🤣

Top tip for gardening with your adolescent Maligator..... Don't! 🤣🤣 After "helping" me move (scatter about) various bits of chopped branches, Havok decided to show off his rather impressive bark chipping skills, presumably to save me time putting them in the chipper 🤬 He also "helped" immensely by proceeding to scatter bits of branch and bamboo across the grass so I could chop it even smaller with the mower ! How very considerate 🤔. Needless to say, he loves gardening but in the end I had to thank him for all his hard work and dig out an old puppy sleeve to keep him occupied .... I mean as a reward 🤣 where he then spent the next hour an a half product testing it to see if it was still as tough as he remembered..... ( it wasn't apparently) Good thing is that he's sensible enough to lie in the shade and he's now knackered for the afternoon. 👍

So much for his fluffy dragon toy..... At least he's enjoying himself 😈

Not quite Kyl level of focus / impulse control.... but getting there 👍

Think someone's pleased about winning the tug toy !

Havok just reminding me that he's still a puppy (all be it, a very big and powerful puppy) Who'd have thought a dropped apple could be so entertaining !

Nice relaxed couple of mile walk back to the car with a physically and mentally tired pup. Perfect time to proof some basics !

Morning leg stretch for the big guys 😝

Not saying Kyl is obsessive but..... Self control set at level 10 !!

Early morning exercise....

So Havoks first holiday and the first time he's been allowed to truly run off lead ( he's normally on a long line.) Safe to say, I think he's gonna enjoy this next week !

So according to Sam, our resident nutcase is 7 months old today and boy, is it showing. Whilst he's growing in size and confidence, he's also starting to mentally develop and as is always the case around this age, push his luck and boundaries. This is the stage that as a trainer I'm most often asked about, and the stage where a great deal of people start to struggle as our dewy eyed puppy who follows us without question dissapears to be replaced with a young dog who's more interested in the world around them and who's instincts are developing. The simple advice that I give in class is to stick with it, don't give in, be consistent and clear and realistic. Don't accept "close enough" and try (it's hard) not to get frustrated. The one thing that's sometimes missed however, is not to be afraid to go back to basics if needed in order to move forward. The clip here shows just that..... going back to using a lure as Havok really struggles to concentrate at the moment. This was his third attempt at being filmed and his lack of enthusiasm shows. The previous two attempts were interrupted by a daschund making his presence known and Havok just checked out but I stuck with it, swore under my breath and got him to do something. I will admit, I was losing enthusiasm myself with the distractions but hey.... it is what it is. Of course, I could post up a edited video of all his best bits making us look good..... but is that real ?? I'd rather show things as they are.... including me, making mistakes Am I worried about precision ?? No. I'd rather he just worked with me, stayed motivated and I'll worry about tidying things up later.

Lots of people see Havok at the gate and remark how calm and we'll behaved he is for a puppy..... Well this went on for over an hour, resulting in a totally destroyed toy ! This is after a snooze following exercise and training. Just imagine if he wasn't exercised / trained and he didn't have toys or know how to play.... or worse, his toys were toddlers (in his view) or he was left unsupervised with kids. And people wonder why I say they are not an ideal family dog ! (He enjoyed himself tho... 🤣)

Broken 😈🤣🤣

Blink and you miss it.... 😈

So Havoks morning yesterday was spent at Portland Park doing recalls, wait at distance and making a start on his emergency stop. Today was back to the boring subject of leadwork. Whilst I'm using the command of heel, I'm not looking for the precision of a competition heel or that level of focus. Whilst it looks great, I'd rather he was more aware of his surroundings and what I'm doing whilst staying close as that's what his role will ultimately require. It's a little rough and still a work in progress but considering he's not quite six months old yet and he's learning so many things, I'm quite pleased with where he's got to so far.

Since the first day we got him, Havok has been in the crate at the main gate during drop offs and pick up for daycare with the aim of getting him used to clients, staff and other dogs and being able to stay calm and relaxed during busy periods. Looking at how he is after a couple of months, I don't think we've all done a bad job. (It's a whole different matter if he's given a certain command tho 😈)

So recently Havok has been busy working on all the boring stuff like recalls, positions and leadwork. His leadwork is improving and he's now changing pace whilst maintaining his position by my side from a walk, to a creep and to a run. It's still a work in progress but we've got plenty of time to nail it down. As he's spent most of the week doing boring stuff, today was a free morning just for play and a good game of tug was the weapon of choice. Normally when I train tug, I avoid the dog coming directly at the body or jumping up but now that Havok is cleanly targeting the tug I'm relaxing that rule. Obviously, with a pet dog playing with children the rule should stay in effect but Havok will be working someday and may have to engage a person head on, plus I'm pretty used to maligator bruises. The one area of tug that he hadn't got to grips with was bringing the tug back to continue the game. Generally I don't teach an out / leave early on to avoid conflict in play by constantly removing the reward item but as Havok is such a possessive dog, I had to teach the out first and work on his engagement second (in some of the other videos I've got the tug or sleeve attached to line to stop him running off with it !) Well finally he appears to have got the idea 💡 and has realised its a lot more fun to stay engaged than running off with the toy. I still have to move backwards and clap to get him to bring it, but it's a pretty good start.

Savage 😈🤣