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Iwona train your dog

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Iwona train your dog

My name is Iwona (Evona) and I'm a proud owner and a partner in crime of the beautiful boy featured here. Come aboard, buckle up and enjoy the ride.

Together we are on a journey to discover and share dog training tips to make your life more wonderful. Dog training based on compassionate approach, both to the dog as well as the owner.

07/01/2024

Bonding time for the boys 👣💕🐾

Noodles is loving life, and we're loving life with him!
First time on a ferry, and he took it in his stride. No worries about dogs or humans!

His arousal is still really high, and although I love it, he has very little skills to bring it back down. I tried to manage it with on and off lead walking.

Look at his face! Such a happy boy 😍

05/01/2024

Noodles is overcoming his fear of swimming, and he's doing so well with it!

There is a bit of work needed to build the right muscles and with them his confidence, but he really surprised us all today with his eagerness to play! He even jumped into water without any help and is loving catching his ball!

Last time, he wouldn't take treats. He wouldn't even look at the ball. This week, he didn't want to finish his session 😍

I definitely see the effect of his hormonal implant now, and on top of this, his energy is high! He loves spending time with his family and with the support of fabulous people at Pawseidon Hydro Hub he gets to do more in his life!

01/01/2024

Happy New Year!

Noodles has been amazing over the festive season! His implant is definitely working 🥳
Just before Christmas, he had a testosterone spike, and he was challenging to live with... but on Christmas Eve, he was the best boy ever!

We also had a few walks where I took him off lead for brief moments, and he delivered! No interest in other dogs, beautiful recall when asked.

On New Year's Eve, he went to a pub and again was just the perfect behaving dog, ignoring others and making himself comfortable under the tree 🎄🐾💕👣

The future looks bright here, but our journey is far from being over here!

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26/12/2023

My boy surprised us over the festive time. It took him about 4 years of learning to enjoy enrichment toys, but it definitely paid off big time!

11 people of different sizes didn't stop him from enjoying his filled and frozen Kong, keeping his nose away from people's plates and the food on a table.
Another proud moment for us this year!

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25/12/2023

Merry Christmas to you all!
Have a wonderful time cuddling your pups 🎄🎁👣💕🐾

14/12/2023

A little update on Noodles for you.
The implant is definitely working. We're not at a level where I would comfortably take the lead off him but we're definitely going in the right direction.

Here is our walk in a new place. After initial excitement, he settled nicely and was able to walk with me happily. No frustration, no pulling, and no treats.

28/11/2023

I can't believe this is the same dog I wrote about only a few weeks ago 😅 it's far from competition ready, but look at this ENGAGEMENT! He's pushing and going forward, at times not listening, but he's in it and having fun! No treats on me 🥳🥳🥳

I couldn't ask for more!

21/11/2023

It's been 4 weeks since Noodles had a Suprelorin implant.

The difference is amazing already 😍 he can stay some parts of the walk on a loose lead. He can move past some dogs without freezing or rushing towards them. He starts to show interest in a ball and enjoys squeaking it when out. His listening is coming back. He also shows joy of interaction with his humans, wagging his tail and pushing for engagement.

More smiley faces show up on our walk's calendar! 🐾💕👣😊

09/11/2023

I'm so grateful for this dog 🫶

I haven't been training him much recently because I didn't enjoy it. His frustration was rubbing on me, and I wasn't able to find ways to get us going again.

My confidence also got knacked, and I'm slowly rebuilding it now whilst still recovering from a horrible cold 🤧

I pushed myself to try again, and I loved his attitude towards me. I'm so proud of myself for trying different techniques to keep my feelings at bay and therefore to be the person he wants to be with. 👣💕🐾

He's the best teacher I could wish for. Fun, kind, fair, and forgiving. What else could I ask from him? 🤷‍♀️🥰

08/11/2023

There is a very small difference already 🥰
It's tiny in the general scheme of things, but it's huge for me!

Noodles stopped vocalising his frustration, and our long line became enough freedom for him. He started to offer very infrequent check-ins and, on occasions, responded to my voice. I was very concerned about tying the frustration he experienced with me and our training, so I'm loving the change! 👣💕🐾

Sometimes I'm asking a bit more from him before I reward him, but I mainly praise him and send him straight back to sniffing.

We still have a long way to get back to where we were, but I'm hopeful that the implant will work as well as it did last time 🤞

31/10/2023

Noodles had him hormonal implant (Suprelorin) put in again last Tuesday.

As much as I wanted to keep him intact and blame my training techniques for not getting the results I was hoping for, the truth is that there are 2 completely different dogs to train.

I spoke about it at length with my dog training friends, his vet, physio, and whoever was able to shed a bit of light into it.

Noodles with implant is like an old pair of boots... comfortable, reliable, and easygoing. He won't give me blisters or cause me any other discomfort.

Noodles without the implant is like a funky pair of high heels. The ones you look at and you know it'll be painful to try them on. You'll get blisters. You might even fall and break your body.

I wish there was something in between, but as far as I know, there isn't.

I know there are others who can rock these heels, but for me, my family, and the lifestyle we have, it's not doable.

I continue to mark the quality of our walks to keep a record of our journey for myself. Yesterday was one of the worst walks we ever had. Today, he was a dream dog. There is no predictability what the next one will look like.

29/10/2023

Looks like Noodles is taking the yoga business more seriously than I thought 😅😍

27/10/2023

Walking Noodles again became a tricky task so we're trying to have fun where we can 🐾💕👣

24/10/2023

Noodles is definitely getting better at practising shavasana with me 👣💕🐾

24/10/2023

How do you get such a good dog in a cafe? I've been asked several times 🐾💕👣

Here is the secret 🤣

20/10/2023

Stunning walk at Avon Heath today. The weather held beautifully for us!

Noodles is back on a long line, but he was awesome in the play park/cafe area. There were many more people than we normally encounter, but the boy listened well and ignored dogs as well as people 😍

19/10/2023

First underwater treadmill with Pawseidon Hydro Hub for Noodles!

He was such a good boy 🐾💕👣

Hopefully, the team will get him fit and confident to swim🤞

15/10/2023

A little trip to Dorchester. Sweet little walk in the old town and gardens finished with a coffee!

Noodles enjoyed new sniffs and was awesome in disengagement from other dogs. Lead walk was challenging, but we spent a nice afternoon together 👣💕🐾

12/10/2023

I've been observing Noodles over the last few months, and I'm giving myself and him a bit more time before making the final decision.

To be honest, he's so much better than he used to be. At home, he's a perfect pup. All the issues that pushed us to make the decision about the implant are gone.

Outside, there is definitely a noticeable difference. I've tweaked the training a bit again. Ask him for more before rewarding, using more environment based rewards and less food. So far, each and every walk is different. So I'm data collecting to keep my head level.

I'm hoping that by the end of the year, I have a clearer picture to make the right decision for us. At the moment, I'm leaning towards neutering or another implant, yearly this time.

You might be surprised to read this. Most odds are leaning towards having it done, but... and this is a huge one for me personally: I love the energy Noodles has now! He's back being bouncy and ready to go!

If only I find ways to channel this energy into our relationship 🐾🔥👣

In a mean time, Noodles is going to have a full physio assessment and treatment with a focus on body conditioning, swimming lessons to strengthen his skills, and, of course, veterinary assessment to discuss further actions.

26/09/2023

Training

Our training journey continued with a few successes. His loose lead walking became almost impeccable! With my son having his dream come true to be able to walk his dog independently.

His behaviour at home improved, too. No more hu***ng and the crazy spells minimised. He was settling well after walks, and his demanding behaviour subsided.

He started to engage well in play outdoors for short times, but it was a huge improvement for our standards.

His ball became his world again. If he had a ball, nothing else mattered. He proudly carried it around, following us. He loved to chew it, making it squeak.

Actually, following us was the biggest improvement. In the past, his roaming, common for intact dogs, was extreme. At his worst, if I let him off the lead, I had to chase him around a park. He never looked back or checked in. He explored space and was going faster and faster, from one dog or smell to another. Therefore, he was never off lead apart of pre planed meet-ups with friends or secure spaces.

With the implant, he wanted to be close. He enjoyed our company, wagging his tail happily and engaging in play. He sniffed other dogs but always returned to us. He was also able to pass other dogs without saying hi.

He became the dog I always wanted, a true companion and a loyal partner in crime.

With recall, we got probably to about 75%. Don't get me wrong, I managed the environment and my own actions for him to succeed 100%. There were just occasions when I chose to let him take his time before calling. I observed his body language and only called when he was able to come back.

And then I started to notice that his behaviour was changing again. It was the beginning of August. I knew the implant was wearing off.

25/09/2023

Learning from those who I look up to is always a pleasure. Even if I need to use headphones and a tripod to get the trainer with me.

We talked a lot about how to progress my training, and I've learnt tones again.

Thank you, Corrine Wren .wren

25/09/2023

Anxiety

His anxiety increased initially, too. He was much more aware of people, running towards them like he used to. Only to be hugely offended if they tried to interact with him.

As I mentioned before, we stripped the training completely, went into more isolated areas, and trained, trained, trained.

After a couple of weeks, Noodles started to be more engaged with me. He was attentive and interested in treats I had on offer. He even ignored some of the unexpected people we saw.

I managed to move slowly to more difficult environments, and to my surprise, Noodles started to understand that he had a choice. He didn't have to run to people. He could choose to be with me and be rewarded for making this choice.

As the food was so important for him, the training didn't require many repetitions, and in no time, he was able to walk past people without being interacted with. To say more, people presence became a visual cue for him to check with me.

As the months passed, I noticed that although he's still a bit jumpy when something unexpected happened, he recovered much quicker from any episode. I'm not sure if his anxiety decreased, but he sought my support whenever he needed it.

I think, over time, his confidence grew. He was able to stay engaged in sniffing, he had choices, and walking towards strangers stopped being the first one.

24/09/2023

The beginning was not a smooth ride.

Initially, there is an increase of testosterone from having the implant put in. His reactivity to other dogs increased, too, especially if any dog showed any signs of discomfort around him. Any bark towards him would set him off.

I minimised the time he spent with other dogs, chose more rural walks, and let him settle for a couple of weeks.

From there, it was a pretty easy ride tbh. Yes, there are some changes that I needed to manage, but nothing fazed me as much as his behaviour beforehand.

The main thing that I need to monitor closely is his food intake. With the reduction of hormones, his appetite and obsession with food increased. I guess if you live with a labrador, you're dealing this on a daily basis, but it was a real shock for me, even though I was prepared for it.

From a dog who wouldn't take treats on walks, to one who would drool and wouldn't walk a step away if he knew there was food available. Begging at a table, stealing food - countersurffing, trying to nip it out of a hand without permission, scavenging when out and about to name a few.

Of course, in some respect, I used this to my advantage, but weight management is a real concern. I had to cut his food portions because he was putting on weight fast. I'm still not 100% happy where he is, but it's a work in progress.

23/09/2023

It's been really quite here for a long time. Noodles' adventures continue in a different way, and I am learning how to navigate them.

I think it's a good time to talk about the progress we've made since the beginning of this year and a bit of reflection.

You might notice that somehow the training just came together and suddenly from a little (big) ferral boy he became the best family companion. There is no magic in here. I didn't suddenly discover any tricks or change my training methods but I reached out for tools that I denied the use of before.

In January, I said yes to Noodles having implant: Suprelorin, which supposed to last 6 months. Leading me to this decision were several recommendations from other dog professionals, but mainly escalation of his unwanted behaviour at home.

As you might be aware, I'm generally against desexing dogs, as much as I'm against any removal of other body parts of animals without a valid medical reason. The implant was used here mainly as a tool to see if we can push the training a bit further.

Over the next few posts, I'll share with you my observations. If this is something that interests you, tune in!

11/09/2023

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step (Lao Tzu)

Noodles finally made the decision I was hoping for🥳

I've been matching his energy on our street walks for a long while now🌪 I'm sure my neighbours are convinced I'm a lunatic 😇 and not much would surprise them anymore 🤣

Noodles has not only chosen to ignore 2 people whilst going out for a walk last night, but he has done the same thing on our way back 🥳🥰

It's not always a smooth sailing, but he came back to me whilst maintaining his loose lead, to engage in a food play without prompting 👣💞🐾

09/09/2023

The boys are best friends 🐾💞👣

I've received this picture today whilst I'm at work. My heart is full of gratitude and delight. 🩶💞💙

27/08/2023

How can you say no to this sweet face 😍

I think Noodles is grateful for his haircut today. He's been nothing less than a pleasure! After several hours of grooming, he asked for some play 👣💞🐾

25/08/2023

Today, we met Marshall 🐕🥰

It took Noodles a little while to warm up to Marshall due to him being a young, intact lad, full of energy and playfulness. Marshall's parents have done an amazing job with raising this smart boy! It was a pleasure to be around him 🐾💞👣

Noodles used beautiful body language to communicate with his new friend, and they got to play together, taking turns and showing off their craziness 🥳

Noodles then role modelled settle skills, giving hopes to this young boy's family 😍 yet again, I'm very proud of him 😊

09/08/2023

My beautiful boy! I'm so! So proud of you today 🐾💞👣because for the first time in 3 years, Noodles did not react to his "trigger neighbour." 🥳🥳🥳

Where we live, there is one family whom the street reactivity started with. Lots of little negative or rather unwanted interactions from them quickly escalated to Noodles reaching for his big guns to express his need for space, and he has been very reluctant to put them down ever since.

Today, I took him outside to play our food games, which we practised on the street for a while. The neighbour walked out of their house and walked in front of us. Noods stayed with me whilst I moved us further away 😍

He definitely was aware, quick head flick, and a massive shake of at the end of our play confirmed this to me 🥰

02/08/2023

Our running journey continues. We now run more than walk, and today, for the very first time, we run in a horrible rain...

The plus side was that there were very few people around us, so I was able to test Noodles' commitment to our running. I took the lead of him, and to my surprise, he stayed with me for the whole of the run 🥳🥳🥳

I hear you asking what's running got to do with dog training?

So far, I learnt that Noodles loves being in the heel position when I move fast. But he lags when I do the same route and don't change things frequently - not a new observation but confirms my theory about Noodles as a learner. Repetition creates doubt in his head and is boring for him. Sprinting or jumping through paddles made our run much more fun today 🤣 and after the first 10 minutes, I didn't care anymore about being wet🫠

I also learnt a lot about reward placement! It's such an important skill, but I never paid much attention to it as Noodles was always pulling 🤷‍♀️ Now I can encourage him to be where I want him to, by rewarding him in a certain way!

I realised that our marker word is so strong that I can use it as a positive interrupter whenever I see him getting distracted. We also have a strong "keep going" marker, which is another surprise for me 🥰

And most of all, running with this buddy is so much nicer than running on my own 🐾💞👣

After the run, well deserved TLC. Red light treatment to prevent any aches and a comfortable spot to rest 💤

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A little update on Noodles for you. The implant is definitely working. We're not at a level where I would comfortably take the lead off him but we're definitely going in the right direction. Here is our walk in a new place. After initial excitement, he settled nicely and was able to walk with me happily. No frustration, no pulling, and no treats. #dogtraining #dogslife #suprelorinimplant #ourexperience #noonefitsall

I'm so grateful for this dog 🫶 I haven't been training him much recently because I didn't enjoy it. His frustration was rubbing on me, and I wasn't able to find ways to get us going again. My confidence also got knacked, and I'm slowly rebuilding it now whilst still recovering from a horrible cold 🤧 I pushed myself to try again, and I loved his attitude towards me. I'm so proud of myself for trying different techniques to keep my feelings at bay and therefore to be the person he wants to be with. 👣💕🐾 He's the best teacher I could wish for. Fun, kind, fair, and forgiving. What else could I ask from him? 🤷‍♀️🥰 #dogtraining #dogslife #rallyonline #bestdogever

Yesterday's morning started as a "disaster." I was rushing to get us out of the house, and after a 40-minute drive, I realised that I didn't put a lead in my car. Normally, I have at least a spare long line, but I cleaned the car recently, and the line didn't make its way back yet. I always have this litte "competition lead," though, so I had to use it as there was no way to pop back home. The lead is so thin that it can easily give me rope burns if Noodles pulls me. On top of this, it is not much longer than his body length! And normally we use 3 meters long one 😬 To say the least I was dreading it!🥵 Noodles surprised me yet again. He was totally cool about it. I got him out of the car, let him acclimatise and off we went 👣💞🐾 #dogtraining #looseleadwalking #bestdogever #partnership

Noodles is always full of silliness 🤣🥰 He makes me laugh so much! We learn to enjoy more play, and things sometimes go a bit 🤭🫣😍 #personalplay #dogtraining #focusgames #FDSA

Having fun with Noodles whilst doing our Focus Games homework 👣💞🐾 He took the carpet from under my feet 🤣😅 #FDSA #focusgames #engagementtraining #dogtraining #laughteristhebestmedicine

Noodles is awesome! In this short clip, he shows me that the training works. Biker approached us from behind, surprising me completely, and Noodles happily skipped towards me for a reward! My perfect hiking companion 🐾💞👣 #dogtraining #dogsofdorset #uptonheath

Beautiful weather and a happy dog 🐾💞👣 Bank Holiday at its best! Love his expressive tail 😍 #dogwalking #decompressionwalk #dogofdorset

Being silly at a farm... love the engagement in the presence of other animals 👣💞🐾

Play with a toy is the hardest part of the training we currently working on! It takes forever to raise his arousal to the level he's able to grab the toy but also stays committed to being with me. I'm taking all the small wins, even if they last a minute 🐾💞👣 Play might be another indicator for me, of how Noodles feels in the environment, like food used to be. Small steps in the right direction 🥳 it's exhausting though 🤣🥵 #dogtraining #playtime #dogofdorset #engagmenttraining #SetleyPark

Walks like today remind me how far we have come! Noodles was absolutely fine at the start of the walk, but he sniffed something, and his anxiety spiked. He held his tail low throughout, but he was able to take treats and occasionally respond to my voice 👣💞🐾 All the treats in the world to help him feel happy 😍 #yellowdoguk #dogtraining #dogslife #anxietysucks

When my training doesn't go to plan because the fluff puff has other ideas 👣💞🐾 #dogtraining #playwithdog #hamworthypark

Building relationship and engagement 🐾💕👣 whilst squeezing a bit of training in there 🤫🤩

Playing silly games with whistle in Poole Park. I still cannot believe this is my boy 👣💕🐾 soon we will be walking off lead 🥳 We obviously started with much smaller distance but got carried away 🤣🤪 #poolepark #dogtraining #recall #recalltraining #positivereinforcementtraining #funwithdogs #dogofdorset

A little training session with Noodles this afternoon. I'm so proud of him and the journey we are on together. My boy is definitely growing up! #engagmenttraining #dogofdorset #positivereinforcement #dogslife #dogtraining #dorchesterymca

Noodles hates the wind. He loses his mind and is overwhelmed by it. I'm feeling unwell so not really up for all the pulling he can do. Instead of a big walk we stayed in one spot and did some sniffing for food. He engaged well again - although most of the spreadable cheese ended up on his ears 🤭 Afterwards he was able to focus on me and was able to respond to verbal cues 🐾💗👣 We are revising 1,2,3 from Control Unleashed and continuing with the engagement game I wrote about previously. #dogtraining #noseworkdog #positivereinforcementtraining #controlunleashed #engagmenttraining #dogslife

Noodles was superb today and we managed a dry walk before the heavens opened 🥳 Here is a snippet from our engagement game this morning. He activates my movement by offering an eye contact. At the end I tried to progress to the next level where Noodles needs to offer any behaviour before my movement happens. Proud of my boy 💞 The training is based on Denise Fenzi's engagement course and we're at the very beginning of it. #engagementtraining #dogtraining #doglife #hamworthypark #positivereinforcementtraining

Nice walk with Noodles this morning 👣💕🐾 The plan was to decompress a bit, let Noodles choose where we went. All was going well until I decided it was time to go back 🤣 Completely lost my bearings in the woods and ended up in a different car park 🤷😅 Our relaxing walk turned into a power walk and both of us were exhausted. Noodles even stopped pulling 😂 and then lay down the second I popped him in the boot 💤 #warehamforestdogwalk #dogsofdorset #dogslife #decompressionwalk

Noodles is improving by leaps and bounds since receiving his physio and doing the recommended exercises at home 🥰 He's so much more happy in his skin and it shows in his pushiness and engagement! It was a real joy to train with him today 👣💕🐾