Halcyon Hounds

11/02/2025

Here Catherine Manfield is practicing a simple (for her fab young dog Billy) hoopers sequence in a new environment.

This is great training!!

We need to practice our dogs skills in various environments, making the skills really easy to begin with.

This could involve equipment, or be working on our dogs focusing on us and playing.

11/02/2025

We had some super Training Club Levels Awards passes on Sunday -

Ellie and Riddle Level 1

Helen and Glen Level 4

Michelle and Lincoln Level 4

Very well done Everyone 🌟🌟🌟

10/02/2025

Very well done to Toby, Neddy, Lola, Ozzie and Bustie who completed our Foundation Skills course yesterday.

You were all great and have come so far.

Noodle couldn’t make the last session but has also done really well.

A special well done needs to go to our younger handlers in this group who were just brilliant.

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

09/02/2025

Congratulations to everyone who completed our puppy class today.

Mika, Stitch, Belle, Sally, Reggie and Harvey.

You are all superstars. Very well done.

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

09/02/2025

Well done to everyone who attended our Mini Course Running Session on Friday and our Course Running session today.

Thank you very much for coming.

You were all amazing!!

09/02/2025

It’s a lovely morning and the arena is great, so hoopers classes and course running are on!!!

08/02/2025

Thank you very much to Cath Manfield from The Doggie Den for a great hoopers workshop today.

Newt and I really enjoyed ourselves.

I am so pleased with how confident and engaged Newt was.

He also settled well whilst waiting his turn.

Well done to everyone who attended 😊.

07/02/2025

We are hosting some fabulous workshops alongside Canine Relate this year.

ACE Freework with Matt Donovan. 2nd March.

Sports Skills with Kamal Fernandez. 31st May.

Handler’s Choice with Kamal Fernandez. 1st June.

Dog Field Activity Day. 26th July.

‘Treators’ with Tamsin Durston and Elinore Vickery. 6th September.

‘Paw-tathlon’ with Tamsin Durston and Elinore Vickery. 7th September.

Full details can be found using this link and we are based near Bristol -

https://www.halcyonhounds.co.uk/book-online

06/02/2025

Dogs and puppies need training and time and money spent doing this needs to be considered before taking a new dog or puppy into our homes.

However I do appreciate people generally lead busy lives, myself included, and making practicing our training skills as easy and accessible as possible make it more likely that the practice gets done.

Try having mini training stations around your home that are preloaded with everything you need for a training session, such as treats, toys and any equipment you need. I have training boxes in my office and garden and a training bag lives in my van.

This makes it so much easier to grab a spare minute or two here and there to practice training. You could work on recall games, settling, lead walking, tricks, play, sports skills and much more.

Those minute sessions soon mount up into hours over a week or month, and it’s great when progress can be seen.

Happy training 🐾 🐾

05/02/2025

There are occasions when we may discuss using equipment such as muzzles or headcollars with clients in order to keep all parties safe and happy.

Choosing items that fit well and introducing them carefully, at a speed the individual dog can cope with, and by pairing them with things your dog likes, helps the dog be as comfortable and happy as possible.

04/02/2025

This will be a super hoopers camp ❤️

Hoopers camp 2025 4-9th August
We have a couple of spaces left on our annual hoopers camp. You get a chance to train with some awesome trainers, have great fun and spend quality time with your dog/s.
Small training groups, lunches and camping included .
This is an opportunity not to be missed - once these spaces are gone they are gone.
£50 deposit will reserve your space. Payment plan can be arranged to pay the balance in a way that works best for you.

https://calendly.com/pawfectability/hoopers-camp-2025-1

04/02/2025

Giving a teenage dog a toy to hold when being walked with other dogs can be really useful.

It gives them a job to do and helps prevent them from annoying other dogs with inappropriate, bolshy, teenage behaviour.

This tip was given to me by Jenny Gould from The GSD Hub Club and has helped me hugely when walking Newt off lead with my other dogs.

(Newt says Thank You to Katie and Ned for the toy 😊).

03/02/2025

We are reeling here at Spaniel Aid HQ. We expected January to be busy, but no one predicted 197 requests to surrender a dog to us, including 11 pairs. After follow up calls, 109 of those requests resulted in us agreeing to accept the dog. This doesn’t include strays or returning dogs.

By the time Spaniel Aid turns 10 on the 1st March, we will be very close to reaching 5,000 dogs taken in for rehoming. But they have never come in at the rate they are now.

Speak to any other rescue and they will tell you the same: owner surrenders are at an all time high. The waiting list for dogs to go into the major charities is months long. For dogs with issues, demand for rehoming is outstripping the available supply of homes. We have never been more needed, but we take no joy in it.

Why is it so bad? The cost of living crisis continues to hit hard, making it difficult for people to afford the time and money to care for a dog. Indiscriminate breeding, especially during lockdown, is still having an impact: dogs aged between four and five are still arriving in disproportionately high numbers. It remains too easy to acquire a dog without being fully prepared for the commitment. Too many people fail to do their research about the breed characteristics. And dogs are increasing treated as commodities, a new lifestyle accessory to be given to charity when it no longer suits.

At Spaniel Aid we have always taken a non-judgemental approach to owner surrenders. We know that life sometimes brings surprises that no one anticipated, and we are here to help you find the right home for your dog, if yours is no longer the best place for them.

But if you are thinking of getting a dog, remember, dog ownership is hard. You have to go out in all weathers, training is time consuming and demanding, dogs bark, get sick, chew stuff, and yes, they sometimes bite the hand that feeds them. You have to change your life to accommodate a dog, different holidays, days out, nightlife, even jobs. You have to accept that bringing a baby into a home with a dog carries the risk that the dog will not be able to cope.

Is it worth it? Of course it is. Dogs give back so much more than they take. We are all dog lovers or we wouldn’t be here. We will continue to work silly hours, unpaid, to find these dogs the very best homes. And there are thousands of great homes out there. And we will continue to shed tears for the ones to whom we have to say no, sorry, we have no room.

To foster for us: https://spanielaid.co.uk/forms/foster-application-form/

03/02/2025

We have a couple of places available on our Foundation Skills course starting on Sunday 16th February.

This class is suitable for dogs who are comfortable in the presence of dogs and people and are over 5 months of age.

We cover topics such as recall, lead walking, jumping up, play, rewards, body language, handling, self control and more.

In the present class we have dogs ranging in
age from 5 months old to 9 years old and in size from chihuahua to a large husky cross!

The course costs £85 and includes training notes and a rosette and certificate on completion of the course.

https://www.halcyonhounds.co.uk/service-page/foundation-skills-class-sundays-8?referral=service_list_widget

02/02/2025

Set your alarms to enter the first Doggie Den hoopers show of the year!!

❗️ Billypup has some news❗️

Our first canine hoopers UK show of 2025, Saturday 29th March, will be open for entries via agility plaza tomorrow, Monday 3rd February at 6pm.

Don't forget to set you alarms x

02/02/2025

Congratulations to Amy and Duke who passed their Level 3 Training Club Award on Thursday.

They both train skills above this level, but the flat position needed for level 3 took 8 months to perfect as Duke’s elbow kept getting in the way!!

Amy persevered and Duke now has a super flat position!!

Very well done 🌟🌟

02/02/2025

We still have places available on our Hoopers Mini Course Running Session on Friday afternoon.

There are less obstacles in the courses and the obstacles are much closer together than in full size courses.

Rosettes are given for clear rounds.

More details can be found here -

https://www.halcyonhounds.co.uk/service-page/hoopers-mini-course-running-session-2?referral=service_list_widget