We had the pleasure of taking the beautiful Belle along with us on a couple of walks this week 🐶
Badger enjoying a leg stretch last month.
I keep his exercise varied, being a sight hound he loves to give chase with toys, he gets a massive buzz from chasing, catching and sprinting and i like to give him opportunities to do these things. However, I do not do these kinds of activities with him daily for a few reasons, so we have to have boundaries.
1) He is a young dog and his growth plates are still closing
2) Being a high energy breed, he runs fast and stops hard meaning there is a lot of pressure on his muscles and joints.
3) Being a border collie means he has exceptional focus, however this can lead to being completely fixated with toys and not get any enrichment from the environment.
4) Before finishing a walk where he has chased toys, we do ten minutes of scatter feeding in the grass to make sure he has decompressed from chasing before we go home.
5) On “walkiewalks” when we go to the woods or follow a trail, we have no toys at all so the walk is relaxed and he takes in the environment and responds to me. Sometimes I will only play tug on the field with him and not throw anything at all.
Anyone else have a toy obsessed dog?
Your reminder to keep up grooming practises with your doglet.
Mach is a curly Cavapoo who as a puppy didn’t have a great first grooming experience, and has therefore become a dog who doesn’t trust people who want to “faff about” with him. Unfortunately for Mach, he has a poodle coat that needs to be groomed daily and a professional groom at least every 8 weeks. It’s safe to say that Mach had a zero tolerance approach this idea!
He has seen his fair share of different groomers and, and after months of working on desensitising grooming sensations and pairing up with an experienced mobile groomer, he can almost tolerate a basic groom ✂️
So, if you have a curly coated dog make sure they make good friends with their groomer and learn to love being groomed 💇♀️
Maple showing us her progression, a sit with distance and duration followed by recall to middle.
🙌
#puppy #puppyclass #labradorretriever #labradorpuppy #chocolate #lab #chocolatelab #IMDT #dog #trainer #dogtrainer
STOP ✋ (nicely done by the lovely Barney)
NEW COURSE DATES ADDED TO THE WEBSITE! from 15th April 23 😁
Improvers Club is an ongoing group for existing clients, every Saturday at 10:00 🏵️
Beginners Course - not just for puppies 🐶
Reactive Rehab - Limited availability 🐕
Waggology training field will be closed over the Easter Weekend 🐣
Being a dog trainer means ….. spending more time than I care to admit, untangling long lines 🫣😂
This is Tara, the sweetest Patterdale Terrier who has recently been adopted out of rescue.
Taking her new life in her stride, showing great progress with targeting the mat during boundary training on our beginners course.
Dogs notice one another as they’re walking head on - they hear a cue from their owner that they know how to respond to - they get a big, fat reward for making a good choice …. And repeat … and so on.
It’s a beautiful morning up at the training field 😍
Don’t forget your high value rewards. See you soon!
🐾
Give me that slipper!!
Before you can test the “leave it” cue on stolen items, it has to be learnt first and then well rehearsed on different articles.
Daisy quickly learned to make better choices with positive reinforcement.
This is covered in Puppy School which starts on 10th September.
🐾
#dogtraining #puppytraining #puppyschool #dogtrainer #dogtrainingtips #dogtreats #dogtrainingisfun #dogtricks #dogtrainingadvice #dogtrainersofinstagram #waggology
Spaces available for Puppy Play Time tomorrow at 1pm in Longfield 🐾
www.waggology.com
2 acre secure paddock
Trainer support
Tunnel, toys and paddling pool.
£12 book as you go, no term to commit to.
Oscar picking up the all important “collar grab” during the recall workshop.
🐾
#yorkipoo #recall #recalltraining #longline #trainingfield #dogtraining #dogtrainer
A throwback to when these little dudes were puppies 🥰
Puppy Play Time sessions are still available to book. Learn about how your pup communicates when playing, body language signs to look out for, what to do if it looks like it’s getting too much.
Playing with other puppies isn’t the only way to socialise, but also learning how to disengage from others and take the time to enjoy sensory activities.
Opportunities to ask the trainer questions too.
#playtime #puppy #puppylife #bodylanguage #puppytraining #dogtrainer #dogtrainingtips
Imagine this gorgeous face greeting you when the door is answered 🤩
Working on the door for one of Billy’s sessions, by building on behaviours he already knows.
It doesn’t have to be complicated for your dog to have good manners when answering the door if you build them up to it.
It has to be rehearsed when the dog is in a capable state for learning - IE not when a delivery person is on the other side; you can work up to that.
Well done Billy 🐾
#visla #dog #dogtraining #dogsofinstagram #dogprofessional #doormannersfordogs #doormanners #waggologydogtraining
The moment we’ve been waiting for 🤩
Over the last few months we have started from scratch with Pepper.
She is a young rescue who (potentially due to something occurring during her puppy fear period) is petrified of going on walks. She would run and hide at the sight of her harness and wouldn’t go near the front door.
Through positive reinforcement training and sheer hard work and determination from her owners, Pepper now puts her head through her harness to be dressed, can walk on the lead and today she crossed the threshold to outside on her own without frantically backing out of her harness!
She is still a work in progress as she discovers the outside world, but I have every faith she will be enjoying her walks with her lovely family soon. 🐾
#dogs #dogtrainer #spaniel #waggology #positivereinforcementtraining #perfectfitharness
Sniffing on walks is not bad manners 😃
🐾 Aside from being insanely scrummy, there’s a lot to be said about a dogs nose.
They have 220 MILLION scent receptors in their nose - humans only have 5m!
🐾They were born to sniff! It’s their most natural behaviour aside from eating/ drinking.
🐾It’s how they learn and process their surroundings.
🐾They find it relaxing as it releases dopamine - using their nose to search for treats is more mentally stimulating than chasing a ball
🐾They use their noses to socialise - that classic butt sniff is so important!
🐾Dogs are opportunists - they love any activity that involves seeking, sniffing, searching, hunting, finding, digging and chewing. They find it satisfying, relaxing and helps relieve stress.
🐾 Slow and sniffy walks encourages calmer lead behaviour.
🐾Use the smells in the environment to help your dog grow confidence. Hide treats in piles of leaves, let them stop to sniff the hedges, lampposts, trees, driveways, pavements. Think of all the new encounters they can have from sniffing out the other dogs, cats, foxes, badgers, people and anything else that’s left a scent. This is how dogs learn and process their world.
🐾If you have 30 minutes to walk the dog, then it’s their 30 minutes, right?
If they want to spend 10 of those minutes snuffling in one pile of leaves then let them, and better still make it more enriching for them by dropping little rewards for them to find.
🐾There’s nothing wrong with stopping for 5 mins at a time on your walks and encouraging your dog to stop and explore one area, and join the fun by making sniffy games. They’ll love you even more for it!
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#dogsnout #cute #letdogssniff #dopaminefix #dogscience #dogenrichement #positivetraining #whatsinitforthedog #IMDT #dogtraining
A little refresher trainer for Nero as he had picked up a few bad habits on the lead.
In this short clip you can see he is checking in with his handler, is immediately “marked” and rewarded for his behaviour. This lets him know when he’s getting it right! Despite him feeling a little out of control on some previous walks, no aversive or uncomfortable equipment was required to get him back on track. Happy dog = happy handler.
#dogtraining #dogtrainer #gsd #leadwalking #positivereinforcement #waggology #happydogs
Practising a bit of “free work” with Mabel in the woods.
Through repetition and reinforcement of recalling her when she gets to a certain distance, it’s so much fun to see how she checks herself and comes back even when she’s gone out of sight.
She is still reinforced for coming back even though she wasn’t asked to. This is where positive reinforcement comes into its own, as it teaches dogs to repeat behaviours that we like, thus making great decisions for themselves!
#dogtrainer #gsd #imdt #positivereinforcement #recall #woodlandwalk #trainingwalk #freework #kentdogtrainer #waggology
