Scentventure Guide Justine, Wilderness East (2025)

09/07/2025

Well, time for a Barney update! 🐾

Barney’s human, Joanne, first got in touch because Barney was barking at people in cafés and pubs, and it was getting worse.

This wasn’t just about settle training. We needed to understand why he couldn’t settle and it turned out he was worried about people.

To support him, we used a mix of confidence-building training and scentwork that’s calming, alongside the settle training. That scentwork is a key ingredient in helping Barney truly feel settled on the mat, not just stay there. That’s what leads to real success.

And would you look at this update while Barney’s off on a holiday with his family… a picture of him relaxing in the beer garden, along with a delighted message from Joanne saying, ‘No barking! He’s even making friends with the pub staff!’

Love it. This is what training is all about. Session wins are amazing, but real-life success is what we’re all aiming for 🙌

Well done, Buddy! Enjoy your holiday!

07/07/2025

🏵️Well, would you look at that Oscar has only gone and passed Introduction to Scentventure! 🙌

Oscar has been an absolute star to get to know. He first started in my behavioural sessions.

He has the most wonderful humans and is the most docile, playful chap, who, after some unfortunate life experiences, has some worries about the outside world.

He started out cautious of me. The most important thing we can do for cautious dogs is listen to their body language to tell us what they need, ideally picking up on those really subtle signals. It didn’t matter that Oscar was wearing a muzzle, it was still important to listen to him. Listening builds trust. It’s a two-way conversation. At the same time, I was showing Oscar that I wasn’t going to harm him and listening.

By session two, Oscar started to put me on his buddies list and we were able to remove the muzzle. We let Oscar guide the pace. Bit by bit, I started to see the Oscar Laura had told me all about… even the “if we’re buddies, you owe me a treat” look 😂

But joking aside, building trust is absolutely essential. It’s the first ingredient Oscar needed in place so I could support the training process properly.

👃Once we worked through the behavioural sessions, Oscar moved on to Scentventure and wow, wow, wow! He’s a Scentventure Detection superstar. Not only has he passed Introduction to Scentventure, he’s now ready to join group classes and of course continue to build his Scent Detection skills in Level 1 Scentventure!

Well done, Buddy! And of course, your fabulous parents Laura and Marc 😍

04/07/2025

Let’s talk about motivation!😐

Whether it’s running, dog training, or anything else, lack of motivation hits us all.

Of course, there are times we all need rest. I’d actively encourage that.

Even after rest, getting back into session routine can feel like a slog. I LOVE running, but some days I just can’t be bothered. Honestly, the thought of it makes me want to take up a new hobby 😂😅

Today was one of those days. Not that you’d know it from my post-run selfie once I’d nearly finished! 😂

That run was a 7km run. So how did I do it? Because I had zero motivation initially.

I made a deal with myself to run 1.5km and if I still felt the same, I’d call it a day. But guess what? Just doing it built my motivation to keep going to the goal of the session 💪

Sure, there will be days when I do call it early. But how many sessions could I rescue just by starting?

That’s a bit like dog training. Sometimes we absolutely can’t be bothered to train. I get that too! But explore it. Is there a genuine reason? When rest or a reset is needed, take it. But sometimes it’s a motivation kickstart that’s needed.

Procrastination is progress’s biggest enemy.

Motivation kickstart tips:

🤝 Make a deal with yourself about when you’ll stop that session if you’re not feeling it. Make it a small, doable target.

📈 Remember why you’re doing it.

⏰ Think ahead and ask how you will feel when it’s over.

🍗 Have things prepped to make starting easier, like a treat tub ready to go.

💤 Think about how you’ll feel at the end of the day if you don’t do it.

☕️ Reward yourself for doing it!

This most certainly isn’t an anti-rest post. This is a reminder to rest when needed and also to try those sessions when you can. Both are needed for progress

Some days, taking rest will be the push you need to take to make progress and bring back motivation. Other days, it will be about pushing yourself to start. 💪

30/06/2025

Today in Stress-Free Walks - Walk Your Dogs with Confidence Challenge, we’ve been learning all about cheese trees… and I adore them! Well, not me personally licking the tree 😅

There’s so many reasons to love them!

😮‍💨 They’re brilliant for taking a breather during the walk – not just Alfs, but me too.

👅 The stopping and licking has a brilliant calming effect.

🌳 Building engagement with me after all I’m the one who makes trees fun! 🙌😂

👀 Diverting Alfs’ attention from something that might worry him.

🐕‍🦺 Teaching that being on lead isn’t boring or frustrating.

I’ve used cheese trees many, many times, sometimes on quiet days, but they’re also brilliant for building into training sessions.

Loved this week with and

Address

Wilderness East

Website

https://www.dogwoodadventureplay.com/training-behaviour

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