Great first puppy session of the year 🙂🐶🐕🦮🐩🐕🦺🐾
Less than a week ago I introduced you to Harry (staff) that was scared to walk on the lead. Today I’m going to introduce Rocco (puppy spaniel) that was/is experiencing the same problem. Rocco has a beautiful temperament but from the beginning it was clear he wasn’t as confident as Harry. Therefore I knew progress would be a lot slower. I spent quite a bit of time getting Rocco used to myself, the other puppies and the new environments. He’s needed quite a bit of reassurance and plenty of cwtches. Last week Harry managed a walk in the park on day one. Today Rocco has only walked in the car park at my centre. It has been a case of little and often then back in to play with the puppies. For the most part we worked together on our own but by this afternoon I knew it was time to involve Leia and even finished with Harry showing him the way 😊
Meet Harry the beautiful four month old Staff puppy 🥰 Harry’s owners have been working really hard to desensitise his fear of the lead. However he just refuses to walk and freezes in one spot. Harry has been dropped off yo my centre to socialise with other puppies and also have some work on encouraging him to walk on the lead. Sometimes all it takes is a little understanding of what to do when he panics, when to praise and of course…a little helper 🙂🐶 this is his first walk with Leia
Beautiful day at the centre. Perfect time to practice Ben’s stay, down from a distance and recall with distractions 😊
Well I think I made the mistake of allowing Ted to see me put a dog in the van. He spent half the time going back to the van thinking we were going home instead of searching 🙈
A few weeks ago I posted a video of both Ben and Tink being introduced to the send away command. This is a command that I have never taught any of my dogs so it’s always enjoyable to bring in something new. In this video you will see Ben progressing to doing a send away with a down on command. He’s a little too clever at times and doesn’t go the full distance to the area he’s intended to reach but it’s definitely really good progress.
You’ll see in the video that I pretend to put the ball on the cone in an attempt to wean out the need to put a lure in place. The fact that he stops a little too soon tells me that I have put a dummy ball in place one too many times so the next couple need to have a ball there to bring a more enthusiastic send away.
I use the word “free” as my excitement/terminal marker. This means when I am training through play drive I use this word. The reason it is a terminal marker is I use it to mark the moment they’ve completed what I’ve asked them to do. “Free” means - good job, you’re free to come and get your reward.
Give it a try and feel free to post any videos here 😊
NB - this exercise is a great way to inadvertently practice the stay command whilst you’re setting up the activity
It’s been a while since Rocket saw his original family. Rocket’s owners asked me to take him on when he was around 7 months old because his owner was very unwell after an accident at work and as a result he is now in a wheelchair. Rocket was loved very much but they knew he was going to grow into a big dog that would need a lot of 121 time training with plenty of exercise. I had been working with Rocket since a pup and he had stayed with me quite a bit so I was proud that Steve and Lori had asked me to bring him into my family. Around 18 months later here is Rocket seeing Steve again 🥰
Just started introducing the send away command with my boy Ben. Two days later he’s increasing distance. I’m looking forward to taking him to the next step over the coming weeks. This video also shows how I use my prevention marker “ah” to prevent him from making a mistake and going back to the ball too soon
Little video from the first couple of weeks from puppy/junior/adult obedience courses at my centre and Margam Park 😊
Don’t forget there is a week off this Saturday as a midway break
So good to have my puppy classes back up and running after five months off ☺️
Introducing our newest addition to the Jones house - Teddy. I’ve been working with him since a pup and he’s had various issues. He couldn’t have had a more loving, caring committed family but unfortunately it hasn’t worked out. He’s spent a lot of time with me and my family and when the his owners made the heart wrenching decision to find him a new home it was an easy decision to welcome him into our family. Here’s to the start of his journey with us ❤️
