Door dashing
Door dashing in my book is not allowed. Crate, car, patio or front door.
So I train for it…from very young it’s one of the pups first lessons.
Vital is also the eye contact and waiting for permission to come out….and listen for their name.
Slowly they learn that an open door means bum on the floor and wait.
The result a calm controlled exit which sets the walk or any training nicely.
You get out what you put in! 🐾👍🏻
Incoming
Spaniel incoming !!….🤎
1-2-1 with this little chap practicing sitting at distance…long distance.
We haven’t done this for a while, often when we walk away from our dogs they can start to panic, and want to be with us.
So I teach distance sitting slowly building it up allowing my dog to learn it’s ok to sit wherever I am.
Training happens over time not overnight and here are the results.
Good job Mouse 👍🏻🤎🥾🥾
Walking
And finally…
Pace number 3…regular walking.
This is your own pace, the speed you feel comfy travelling at. This is my pace.
Again the dog will be needing to keep an eye on your direction, and if you change direction and stop.
I often take 6 spaniels and walk at this pace, for about 40 mins, they haven’t ran anywhere but they are asleep fairly quickly afterwards.
Of course, my dogs do run, sniff, and wander about freely on walks, and come back when told.
Tired dogs are happy dogs ♥️🐾
Combining all three paces on a walk adds interest, so you are not just plodding on, engages the dog’s brain and gives some great exercise.
Fish gotta swim
Birds gotta fly
Dogs gotta walk
Am off for another walk.🐾🥾🥾
The second of my walking paces is:
2. Sunday stroll
Slow walking which allows your dog to take in many sights and sounds. Keeping an eye on your movements and when you turn or stop.
Occasionally, sitting the dog helps steadiness and the walk is calmer. You can focus and plan where you are walking next and use the upcoming dog / cat / bike / squirrel as a learning tool!
I often use this pace for heel work, rush and they try and beat you there first. Take it nice and slowly… and remember to breathe. 🐾👍🏻
Following on my from my short but rather humorous conversation with an owner who approached me…about draining the dogs brain (instead of making it fitter by running for an hour)…I thought I would share my 3 main modes of walking
1. Heel toe….its exactly as it sounds slowly. My dogs have to match my speed or lack of it, and walk gingerly, with me. The dog can’t rush, it has to think and keep an eye on me and slow right down.
This is not always easy and takes a lot of concentration for them, and drains their brain. 15 mins of this will have any of my dogs sleeping soundly on their return home.
Running round for an hour will drain some physical energy of course, but constantly running a dog may play havoc with joints, hips over time, adrenaline will need time to subside, and they get fitter and can run for longer.
Use their brain to get them to think, plan and execute a slow walk and Fido will be mentally drained.
I recently did a 6.5 hour drive, the journey was due to take 3 hours… due to floods I went the long way round! 🙄 I didn’t run anywhere just concentrated driving….and when back I was mentally tired. Same thing for Fido!
Springy dings
The Springy dings having fun in the water….💦
This is what experience and training looks like. Both dogs go back on command, but look at how they are at different stages of training.
The puppy is enjoying the water, it’s all a bit new for him. Look at my main man….he just stands there waiting for his next command… paying me attention.
There are other dogs off camera…but he is fixed on me. I didn’t stop him and tell him to look at me. So why does he watch me like a hawk?
I might throw a dummy, a ball or I might walk away. He knows this. And this is my value to him. I bring a lot of value (and fun) to his life.
The puppy isn’t at this stage quite yet…that’s ok for now…I want him to experience the water and build his confidence. I am not rushing him.
I don’t compare my dogs, I train them individually, and sometimes together…if I need something from the more experienced ones, or to teach the youngsters something.
But we always have fun. 👍🏻🐾
Stop whistle
Stop! ⛔️
Being able to stop your dog is a great skill…it can be a life saver.
I don’t mind if my dogs sit or lay down as long as they stop and wait for their next command.
We start when they are puppies when feeding, that’s 4 opportunities a day to introduce the sit whistle.
Very quickly they learn the sound and action of lowering their bum.
We progress to sitting when walking, and adding distance.
This is a home-bred pup I have been working on…he’s a very soft boy and is lovely to train.
When that whistle goes he has to stop what he is doing. Stop means stop! Good job little man 🤎🐾
Calm
The Labrador doing sit and hold training.
He’s sat and looks calm….look again.
Often the tail is a great indicator of what state of mind the dog is in.
If you learn to read your dog’s body language, it can provide a key to your training.
It’s still wagging slightly which means he’s not calm enough for the next command…so I wait until the tail has stopped…then he is ready to listen.
Dogs leak out information all the time…observe them they are here to teach us too! 🐾
Popular misconceptions….🐾
Spaniels are hyper
Spaniels are crazy
Spaniels don’t listen
Spaniels please themselves
Spaniels don’t switch off
Spaniels don’t walk to heel……
All the above would be true…if you don’t train them! 🤔
Spaniels
My main man is helping me get the pup into cover more. I do sessions with the pup 1-2-1 but I ain’t going in the thicket !
So my hard hunting Spaniel is showing him that anything is possible, you just got to go for it.
Funny how dogs can teach us too if you know how to listen. 🐾🤎🤎
Cones
Those that train with me know that I use cones to walk around and sit at….so I thought I would use my dogs as the cones 🤣….and walk round them. 🥾🥾
Steadiness is all part of the plan….be consistent and calm…whatever you chose to walk around 🐾
Hold
Muddy hell…he did it! 🤎🐾
We have been working on the correct position of a retrieve with the rehab case. We are getting there…
When I look back things he didn’t do…
Recall at all
Eye contact
Retrieve to hand
Sit on whistle
Check in
We will keep going…it’s a slow journey but all dogs need time.
Time to learn, time to process, time to rest and time to adjust. Let’s go George.🐾👍🏻
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