Cookie! Quick look at where he remembered seeing a cat but then he’s back ⭐️
Loki & Nala smashing it at last nights training session.
Ralph’s first bite work session at Viggo K9, his second ever bite work session. 11 years old still going strong 💪🏼⭐️
When the cone was upright yesterday, that was fine. But today the cone had fallen over, and Cookie wasn’t happy about that, he really couldn’t switch off from the fallen over cone.So up for a challenge, I placed him a few metres away in a down. At a distance where he was still taking an interest in the cone, but able to take direction. You can see in the video he is looking at the cone ahead. Then he looks round at a dog running about. He also had a few dogs running around to deal with. Honestly I did think he might break the down a couple of times. But it’s good to always work at that level. Then I put him in a heel position and we walked straight past the cone. After that the cone was forgotten about. What I didn’t do was take him to cone and show him the cone and tell him it was nothing to be worried about see it’s just a cone you’re fine! Because that almost certainly would have made him dislike the cone even more and definitely not have helped him switch off from it. I love working with this dog he’s brilliant 🥰.......#dogtraining #patterdaleterrier #lakelandterrier
Nala’s journey so far. #xlbully #bully #dogtraining
My client and her dog Nala working on her out command and some impulse control, going to move her onto some other toys that are of higher value to up the challenge.. lol she had to have a look at herself in the camera 😂. Regardless of the ban and exemption I still have my XL clients work on everything that any other dog would, because they are still very useful skills and important for achieving a well behaved dog at home and in public.
This is one of my favourite things to do with the dogs. Coming across something random in your environment and thinking how you can use it to your advantage. Today we use these old fence posts to practice a challenging heel position, a sit and a down, holding the down position until released.
15 week old Ruby.
Has recently been adopted. Today we worked on loose lead walking, exposure, release commands, stop and sits, and how to teach a desired behaviour in real life situations. Such as if someone stops to talk to her adopter, teaching Ruby where the most rewarding place to be is.
We also covered the importance of advocating for her, as well as bit of work in the home with respecting the space of the other dog, and building value in toys.
Ruby is a cracking girl and a lot of the session was really about building the confidence of the adopter, managing a multi-dog home and making sure Ruby stays on a good path as she gets bigger. ⭐️
Ralph is now at a point where I can use him to help other dogs and owners. So he often comes to work with me.
Last week he made his first appearance at training classes, demonstrating some exercises in front of the six different dogs all ranging in breed and age.
It is important that my dog is an example of practice what I preach.
Some more work with Cookie today around another animals. There was goats in this enclosure and chickens.
This work didn’t start here. I would not take him this close to a fence line with other animals behind it before putting in considerable work to build up to that. Majority of the work has been done away from this environment.
This is a highly stimulating environment for him. Plus there was loads of kids around too.
I’m not using food here because food adrenalises, and I want to do the opposite, so he learns he has the ability to control himself and relax in these environments.
I used two words, ‘sit’ and ‘good’ to maintain the duration. When we left I used ‘heel’ so he knew to keep his cool as we left off.
I was super pleased he was able to maintain a sit position here.
I wasn’t expecting to get to the fence line today but I like a challenge. The animals were the other end so it was still workable at this stage, although there is the smells and the animals were still in view. Cookie is a patterdale x Lakeland terrier, with a decent prey drive. This is only the second time actively working in this specific environment but I have done a lot of work with him on disengaging around other dogs, his recall and also adding structure to his work as well as ensuring he is getting enough fulfilment etc. Now we work on the other animals. Great job Cookie ⭐️
How my dog can enjoy a chew with my cat close by with no drama?
Both my cat and dog have been taught to respect the others space. This didn’t happen overnight. I spent a good amount of time enforcing this. Using spatial pressure to move one away from the other. Pushing one back, pushing the other back. Using my voice. Some nights I was up and down ensuring the space boundaries were being kept.
When Buster (cat) first arrived there was an altercation over food. Following that I could have fed separately, I could shut Buster away when Ralph has a chew. BUT realistically? I work with dogs, there’s always a kibble laying around somewhere, or a treat pouch I put down somewhere and got distracted before emptying. Instead I need to teach them how to behave appropriately around each other and food.
Buster knows there’s a time and place for him to eat and this isn’t the time. He knows there’s a time and place he can be closer to Ralph (dog), this isn’t the time. Vice versa when Buster is eating. Ralph is not allowed to be pushy.
To a certain extent I will allow minor boundary setting, but only when I know it doesn’t have the potential to escalate. The reason Ralph can relax is because he knows he won’t have to be the one to correct Buster, I will handle it.
Repeatedly leaving it up to them just leaves them to be more on edge around each other.
If you are struggling with cat and dog harmony, get in touch/get training help!
Exposure to different environments, surfaces, smells, sounds, sights, situations, obstacles, etc. If you want a dog who can accompany you to places and remain neutral to things/people/dogs in their surroundings. It’s your role to teach them how to interact appropriately and safely with their environment, and build their confidence with new experiences. Not to mention the abiliy to settle in different environments too. It’s never too late to start working on this....... #dogsocialisation #dogtraining #whitstable #sea #beach #staffy #staffordshirebullterrier #dogfriendly #reactivedog
Some thoughts on the current situation regarding the Xl bully.
I had a whole day’s worth more to say on this but I did my best to keep it short. We also need much more enforcement of Section 3 of the DDA (concerning out of control dogs) including more effective deterrents.
Ultimately I think there are lot of factors that need addressing from a social, economic and educational perspective regarding the way in which some people view and use dogs and the fact that dogs are so easily obtainable by absolutely anyone.
I’m making alternative music videos to 2000’s club hits but with dogs. Sound on!
If you’re worried about missed walks because of the heat, don’t be.
This here is a dog, in the garden (a place she’s been hundreds of times) taking in and processing all of the different smells, sights and sounds. Think about the work her brain is doing with all of that.
This is the perfect time to teach your dog to be content doing nothing ✨
An example of all the enrichment and mental exercise of just being outside. All of the sights, sounds and smells she is processing in a place she’s been hundreds of times. Maybe there’s builders across the road now, or a new dog three houses down. Plus this is in one spot, let alone the whole walk!
Interesting when looking at if we always need these extra brain puzzles and games, or when we can be satisfied our dog has had a lot of stimulation and encouraging resting, settling and switching off.
What a way to end the week! I picked Handsome Hank up and we went to the park on our own for the first time and he absolutely smashed it.
On top of that I dropped him home and walked him in through his front door (we are also working on him getting used to me coming round and into the home).
He was amazing and I’m so glad we’ve been able to slowly build up such a great friendship. 💕
#rescuedog #anxiousdog
🐾
#bostonterrier #southeastlondon
