Using the coin game to help with distractions!!
The key here is that Ollie has a job to do. Is he able to continue to do his job regardless of what is going on around him. Today we had a huge distraction of a horse and cart right next to us.
I interrupted the flow of the game a little to shorten the lead as a precaution but he absolutely aced it. So proud of him!! Now to start pushing him on to see if he can continue to do his job around bigger distractions!! #scentwork #dogtraining #dogsofinstagram #superdog
I absolutely love learning new ways of training to help my own dog and of course my clients dogs. Predation substitute training is so so cool and although Ollie doesn’t have a huge chase drive he has become more interested in rabbits recently. This morning we had a great opportunity to put some of our training into practice!! He did so so so well 🥰🥰 Chase and prey drive struggles with your dog?? Drop me a message!! #predationsubstitutetraining #dogtraining #dogsofinstagram #lovelearning
Scent work
Does your dog struggle to focus and get distracted easily?
This is something we are working on with Ollie as disengagement is an important skill.
Disengagement is your dog’s ability to see value in moving away from things in the environment. I see so many dog who struggle with this and can stare or get frustrated when they don’t get to go and engage with the other dog or person. Some dogs even find it difficult to engage from their environment and get distracted super easily.
We have grown Ollie’s disengagement a lot recently helping him to understand that he doesn’t need to worry about things in his environment and there is a benefit from coming away.
Today Ollie was able to continue to focus on his job in hand (some searching) despite horses going past and a friend of our walking past and speaking to me. This is huge for him.
Little video of Ollie doing some scent work in a pub when we had a weekend away. He is amazing here being able to focus with all the new smells, noise and dogs in the other room.
If your dog struggles with distractions drop me a message :-)
Off Lead Freedom
What is off lead freedom for you?
For me it’s about Ollie being able to explore the environment and go at his own pace and do his own thing.
But for it is also about him seeing the value of staying close and engaging with me and checking in. Of course emergency really is none negotiable and something I am constantly proofing with Ollie.
However it’s so so important to grow the concept of proximity and disengagement. This is something we have worked on loads with Ollie and he has made so much progress. He is always checking in and seeing where I am which I love and aways reward.
In this video he has started to show a lot more interest in the hedges because of the rabbits however is still able to listen and disengage.
If you want to start your journey to off lead freedom drop me a message now and get a session booked in before Christmas!!! 🥰🥰
Loose lead walking
Do you find walks stressful? Does your dog pull on the lead?
Your walks don’t have to stay like that!!
There is so much you can do to make walks more enjoyable for everyone. Ollie used to pull like a train and now we have lovely loose lead walking and so much fun.
Drop me a message to see how I can help you :-)
Charlie
Couldn’t be more proud of this wonderful team. Charlie can worry a lot on walks and it can make things rather stressful.
But wow have they put in so much work and it’s great to see him engaging on his walk rather than scanning constantly and pulling on the lead. Well down to you both you should be so so proud of how far you have come!! 🥰
Happy Friday!!
Hope you all have some fun plans for the weekend. I have a weekend off from 1-2-1s so we are going to have a lot of fun. Probably finding some more puddles 🤣🤣
Loose lead walking
Pulling on the lead is such a common struggle and doesn’t make walks particularly fun for anyone.
But there is so much we can do to help and make walks enjoyable for both you and your dog.
Ollie used to pull like a train and walks were not fun at all. We have put lots of work into growing the value of proximity and he is now so much better - we still have moments where things are too exciting for him but we always have so much fun!!
I offer 1-2-1 sessions but now also joint sessions where you can come and training with a friend. This can be so much fun as you can help keep each other accountable and have so much fun along the way.
Drop me a message to see how I can help.
Remember training doesn’t always go to plan and that’s okay!!
Just take it all as information and move on. In this video I am doing some scent work with a Ollie and WOW I was so impressed with his searching he was very careful and searching so closely - then I drop his toy 🤦♀️🤦♀️🤦♀️🤦♀️
Don’t put pressure on yourself when things go wrong - have a laugh to yourself and then move on!!
Today’s topic- Loose lead walking and harnesses. Now I talk about this a lot because it’s one of the struggles I see all the time and also something Ollie and I are always working on and topping up.
So a statement is see a lot is ‘Harnesses make your dog pull’.
Now there is a lot wrong with this statement but let’s keep it simple - firstly harness don’t make your dog pull - no tool makes your dog pull. It’s your dog that’s decided what it does and if it has rehearsed and self rewarded with pulling on the lead this behaviour will most likely continue. Yes harnesses are absolutely used for working dogs to pull things but that’s not what we are talking about.
If a dog has rehearsed pulling on the lead over and over sticking a harness on them isn’t going to change that. Changing the tool you use (whether that’s a harness - collar or headcollar) may in the very short term adjust the level of pulling however unless this is paired with loose lead training your dog will revert back to pulling on the lead.
There is so much you can do to make walks fun and it all starts with playing games and growing your bond. Relationship is key!! Ollie used to pull all the time and didnt really even register I was there however this is what our walks are like now. YES I use a harness!! Drop me a message to see how I can help you!
We had our second session yesterday with Charlie and I couldn’t be more proud of him and his mum. Charlie can be worried on walks and will bark if he is unsure and get rather stressed out.
So we went to a nice quiet place and started working on lead skills, a strong ‘this way’ and a game called rewind, plus allowing him to explore the environment. We have also been looking at Charlie’s trigger picture and how we can change it. He did so so well and it was lovely to see Charlie relax and enjoy his walk. His focus and engagement was fab. We had some lovely shake offs, some bits of sniffing and he even took food and had a drink for the first time out on a walk. These are all lovely signs that he is relaxing. Super well done to Charlie.
Loved this video from his family working on his confidence 🥰🥰 He is a lovely dog 🥰🥰
Reshaping your dogs walk!! This is sometimes I have recently been doing with Ollie. Something simple like changing a harness or collar or even changing a lead can make such a difference.
Our change was moving to 3m lead - this allows Ollie to have more freedom and space out on walks. This change combined with loose lead training, growing proximity and perfecting my lead handing skills (check out Grisha Stewart Academy and Empowered Animals, LLC) has resulted in more relaxed walks with little to no pulling on the lead.
Yes - Ollie can absolutely walk to heel and he is always engaging with me however walking to heel isn’t something we need all the time on our walks. I use it for crossing roads and getting past triggers however other than that Ollie gets the freedom to sniff and check out his environment. Paws & Claws Nottingham did a fab post about this the other day 🥰🥰
Pushing on Ollie with his scent work. 🥰🥰 NHU Ecology and Detection Dogs
Having some fun doing scent work over the weekend. We are now looking at stepping it up a little with more difficult areas to search but always returning to easy wins. This is what all your training should be like. Sometimes we push on and sometimes we go back a step or two. 🥰
If you are interested in starting scent work with your dogs. Check out NHU Ecology and Detection Dogs as this will definitely help inspire you to have a go.
Pulling on the lead can be such a big struggle and I totally understand how hard it can be. We have been there and sometimes we still are especially when Ollie’s bucket is super full or the environment is too much.
Just remember that we must always set our dogs up for success!!
Here we have some lovely loose lead walking using a 3m lead. Ollie is choosing to stay super close and hang out. Previously, before we worked on his proximity he would be at the end of the lead the whole time. There is so much that you can do to make walks more fun for everyone. Drop me a message to start your journey 😍😍
Growing proximity is one of the key concepts we focus on when it comes to both recall and loose lead walking. Here we are in an open field and Ollie is choosing to hang out with me rather than disappearing off. This hasn’t always been the case however it’s amazing to see how far he has come.
Love a bit of recall training in the woods - so many distractions here for Ollie. He loves the woods and all the smells!
We have worked hard on our emergency recall as well as recall generally but I never want to over use it so it looses its value but it does also need topping up. It’s so so so easy to poison your recall by using it too much.
I used it here as I was pretty sure even if I didn’t call him he would have come back anyway to play a game with me as his proximity is really good!! 🥰 I called him and he came straight back. This is fab especially in woodland like this with so many distractions!!
Let’s talk about loose lead walking. Now this is something I am constantly working on with Ollie. He used to pull like a train all the time and it was not fun at all.
We have been working a lot recently topping this training up as it is so so important.
Proximity games and his ‘go sniff’ release cue are keys parts of our training. But so is just general engagement and focus out on walks and around distractions. Your relationship with your dog is key and we are continually growing this bond throughout our training. While always keeping it fun!!
Drop me a message to see how I can help turn your struggles into strengths.
When your dog recalls way from ducks mid chase you know you have started to grow his emergency recall!! 🥰🥰
Absolutely loving using this Belay device for walks with Ollie. It’s helping his loose lead walking, working on BAT and also giving him the freedom and autonomy to make choices when it comes to distractions on our walks. It’s hard to film as really you need two hands. Love love love it. Finally I have got to grips with my mechanics!! Grisha Stewart Academy and Empowered Animals, LLC #dogsofinstagram #happydogs #reactivedog #labrador #labradorretriever #gamesbaseddogtraining #prodogtrainertribe #prodogtrainer
