As promised to my classes, here is the video of me teaching Hades to perform a chin rest on an object. Believe it or not, he had never done this before the video- but he has done lots of shaping before! I started off by clicking and rewarding interest in the stool. He quickly picked up on the fact he would get a click and reward if he put his chin against the stool. Note how I feed him in position to reinforce it further. Once he is consistently targeting his chin to the stool, I start to gradually increase the time he maintains the position by waiting a few seconds before clicking and rewarding.
This behaviour can come in handy for consensual handling tasks, with this specific training session aimed at using this behaviour for Hades’ monthly injections in the future.
Picasso mcgee!
Zeus doing his painting 🧑🎨🎨
Zeus painting!
Zeus is almost there with his chain behaviour for my uni assignment- just some little bits and pieces to polish up and fade out but I’m super proud of him!
Hi everyone! I am now back from my weekend in Cornwall, thank you for all your good luck wishes we had a great time.
Just some general housekeeping. Please please please make sure you keep up to date with your invoices. This business is my only source of income so when invoices are paid weeks after they are due it really does effect me. Just think how you would feel if your pay day was late 🥲
And a friendly reminder that if you sign up for classes, you do not have a confirmed space until you pay the deposit. Unfortunately I cannot afford to keep a space for you unless I have payment as in the past I’ve had people drop out just days before, leaving me unable to fill the space and out of pocket.
For those who may be interested in a group walk for their dog, I have had a rare slot come available for 10:30 every Tuesday in the burgess hill/wivelsfield/ditchling/hassocks area. Please message me if interested (your dog must have a reliable recall!) ☺️
Here is one of our runs at the weekend- a lovely run, just unfortunately skipped a few weave poles!
Walkies in the sun!
The shnauzie girls having a lovely walk in the sunshine today. Please please please can this weather continue 😫🙏☀️
‘Leave it’ challenge 🤩
Just a little of what we get up to at the Friday puppy workshop! A challenging leave it demonstrated perfectly by foreign rescue puppy Xena. My classes are all about teaching you the skills to train behaviours that we can eventually practice in more realistic scenarios (such as ‘accidentally’ dropping some food!).
Puppy fun!
Last night’s puppy workshop 🥹🥰
Just a friendly reminder that next week there will be no FRIDAY puppy class. Class will recommence March 15th. Please message if you’re interested in attending 😊
Wait to recall challenge 🐾
Puppy class graduation acing the wait to recall challenge! This exercise tests the dog’s impulse control using distance, duration and distraction- something that only can be achieved with lots of work. Note how Pluto the little cocker spaniel puppy holds his wait even when the other puppies recall either side of him 😍 Super impressed with these guys 🥰
Zeusy painting! 🎨
What do I do after work? Teach the dog to paint of course 🤭
(Disclaimer- the paint is dog friendly and washable ☺️)
So so proud of this little lady today! I visited Cookie for the first time last week as her owner was struggling with getting her lead on her (let alone getting her out of the house!). Cookie is an ex-breeding dog and lived a very sheltered life in kennels before being rehomed. Today she went on her first proper walk and slowly but surely we are working on building her confidence out in the big wide world. Super impressed with her progress and her owner’s willingness to put in the hard work.
(Just a little disclaimer- Cookie is also on a weight loss journey as she’s obviously a bit rotund at the moment 😁)
Bella and Tilly 🐾
How utterly adorable are these two tiny ladies 😍 🥰
Zeusy flying 💫
Zeusy at his last training session of the year yesterday- he’s smashing it!!
I know a lot of you really want me to teach agility classes. Unfortunately it’s just not where my passion lies and I’d like to keep it as my hobby. I hope you all understand ❤️ However, if you are interested in agility classes, I highly recommend Sian Else who runs Quad Squad dogs, she trains us! 😁
Very much looking forward to next year’s competition season, aiming for Crufts 2025!
Send-away
Zeusy practicing a ‘send-away’ behaviour, with a five second stay and then recalling into the present postion- all on a verbal cue 😁 Been working on this awhile now for a university practical assignment and safe to say he’s smashing it!
This behaviour can be really useful in everyday life too. Teaching a send to mat cue can help keep your dog out of the way, and safe, when you are cooking in the kitchen. It can also be used as a tool to encourage settling- minimising unwanted behaviours!
A beautiful walk with the Shnauzers
A beautiful walk with the Shnauzer girlies a few weeks ago.
Training my own dogs!
The boys doing a bit of training this evening! Zeus is in the early stages of working towards one of my assignments for my university degree. For this, I have to teach him a behaviour chain, which I’ve chosen to be learning how to paint! Hades is working hard on his impulse control, practicing some tricky ‘leave its’ with my mum. It is important to get everyone in the household involved in practicing behaviours like this so your dog gets used to training with everyone 😊
Bam being a star!
Handsome Mr Bam on his 121 training session today! He is working on relaxation on walks and building his confidence around other dogs. His lovely owner is doing a super job with him! 😊
Wait to recall with the puppy class!
The puppy class practicing a tricky wait to recall with plenty of distractions!
A spot of muzzle training with Hades today (out of focus 🙄😂). I will be joining the many other trainers in offering free muzzle training sessions to any XL bully owners. We also cover muzzle training in my adolescent dog class (I still have spaces for October and ALL breeds are welcome 🥰). Muzzle training is important for all dogs, even if they wouldn’t harm a fly, as you never know when you may need to use one.
Please note this muzzle hasn’t been correctly sized for Hades. We are just using it for training purposes 😄
Thursday morning crew enjoying a shaded, sniffy walk. It’s already pretty warm out here 😳
A shady walk for Wednesday morning gang today at the fantastic Paw Pens at More House Farm 😊
