Once dogs have got the hang of recall cues, we need to start to test their ability to recall around distractions - just like this lot!!
Well done my Tuesday evening pups!! 🎓🎉 They all had a fantastic final class yesterday evening! Tested all the things they have learnt over the course and even learnt some new tricks too!! 🐶
Well done Sunday puppies! We did a lot of recaps in today's classes and all the pups showed just how much they have come on over the last few weeks 🤩
Recall is one of the activities we focus on during courses, as lots of dogs struggle with this and there are so many ways we can make it fun for both dogs and owners!
At intermediate level, we work not just on recall - but recall past other things too! What a clever girl 🤩
One of the things teenage dogs find most difficult is controlling themselves when excited. By playing simple wait games with them, we can help them to realise waiting can be good (and fun too!).
This is one of the most important cues to get right with puppies:
- Helping to keep them safe
- Understand what they can and can't have
- Build overall impulse control
Look at this pair go 🤩 We aim to make dog training fun and interesting for both dogs and owners! Learning happenS much faster if everyone is having fun! In doing this we help dogs learn to do activities in different ways and places - this is known as proofing and is important if we want our dogs to be able to follow our instructions anywhere we go!
It's been nearly a week since our puppy social! Here is a little taste of some of the things we did during the session 🐾
These classes are not just about puppies running riot together - as this often isn't helpful for puppies or owners. Instead, we work on lots of different elements of socialisation to help puppies learn about the world and owners understand their puppy!
Including:
- how to read dog body language.
- how to support puppies with controlled interactions.
- how to help puppies learn.
- how to build up confidence around strange noises.
- how to encourage puppies to learn about their world.
- and much, much more!
The "Find" cue! 🐾 Today my beginners tried out a little bit of scent work - learning a "find" cue. This is an activity which has so many benefits for dogs and it's so easy to do!
It is often one of the first simple activities I work on with dogs and pups. Getting dogs to use their noses can:
- Help them to calm when stressed or over excited.
- Prompt them to engage the thinking part of their brains.
- Give them mental stimulation and enrichment.
- Provide them with an outlet for foraging drives.
- Increase the bond between dog and owner.
Teaching dogs to walk through doorways and gates nicely!
Intermediate course dogs, start using cues such as "wait" in different ways, such as waiting to go through a gateway until told 🐾
Training doesn't have to be all serious!
It can be good for dogs and owners to spend time together working on pointless but fun activities too! When training with positive reinforcement this is a fantastic way to bond and have fun with your dog. Training helps keep dogs learning and exercising their brains throughout their lives - which reduces behaviour issues and promotes good mental health too!!
Look at this clever little lad! 🐾 In puppy classes we built up training activities such as "sit" and "side" so that puppies become more and more confident with these cues. Then we can start to combine activities together... Like here!!
Bark and beyond is training with a difference, we focus on strengthening the bond between pet and owner.
