JJ Barrs: 121 Dog Training

04/11/2024

How cute are these two?! 😍 George is growing up to be a very cute doggy and Dora is settling into her new life with lots of love ❤️😍 we had a look at counter surfing today to help George control his urges and not pinch the odd sandwich…. Labrador’s have a hungry gene which means they sometimes don’t feel full, this can cause some issues if they discover where they can find food. Sometimes it’s lifestyle changes and sometimes is establishing those boundaries and expectations early on and helping them see a better way to get food. Well done guys!! See you soon xx

04/11/2024

I’m so behind on my social media 😂🫣 all will be explained soon. Here we have Walter learning abit of self control and heel! He’s such an amazing dog with lots of potential but in his adolescence he’s struggling with boundaries (as a lot of dogs do). I took Dave for a day out and to work with Walter and we all learnt about motivation, rewards, expectations and boundaries while practicing heel! Well done guys!! Keep up the good work!

02/11/2024

22/10/2024

Harry’s first trip with us to the seaside 🥰🐶 he’s doing really well with his recall training and it makes it 3 easier when the sea is 1 side and cliffs the other 🤣😜

17/10/2024

🏡 home visit🏡
What a gorgeous nose I got the pleasure of seeing 🐶😂😅 we had a home visit with Betty to work on her chatty habits and started to see some great results with her TV commentary 🫣😅🐶 well done guys!! See you again in a couple of weeks! Who nose.. we might get to just sit and watch some TV 😂😅👏

15/10/2024

So true!…

DISTANCE ASSISTANCE
It’s not easy having a reactive dog. As much as we may feel frustrated, restricted, angry or even ashamed or embarrassed, our reactive dogs are also experiencing a range of negative emotions when they react to something that triggers them.

This reaction is usually caused by anxiety, fear, feeling threatened, frustrated or related to pain.

These emotions cause high levels of stress and stress prevents both us and our dogs from being able to process information, think clearly or learn a different, more acceptable way of reacting to whatever triggers us.

This is why creating enough distance is so important. I’m really scared of snakes and even struggle to look at them. The only thing I want to do is run away and create as much distance as possible.

If someone was restraining me, forcing me to sit down and look at the snake while trying to feed me my favourite chocolate, telling me there was nothing to worry about or trying to educate me about the specific species, it would do nothing to alleviate my fear and would only increase my stress levels.

Doing this at a sufficient distance, where I felt safe would be far more effective and my stress levels would be much lower. In time, with patience and practice, I may even be able to get much closer to the snake without having a negative reaction.

The same principle applies to reactive dogs. Creating sufficient distance where they can see the trigger but still feel safe and don’t react is the best way of helping them to cope with their feelings.

Some dogs (and people) may never be able to decrease that distance and that’s also okay.

Accept your dog for the unique individual they are, keep working on the things you can change and accept the things you can’t.

15/10/2024

🧑‍🎓 🐶 Hermann graduated from his puppy program 🥳 and I think we turned a corner with his bity bitys and heel work today! Well done Hermann and his family! I’m looking forward to seeing him progress as he goes into adolescence and adulthood.

Check out puppy programs here: I have just a couple of spaces left to start before Christmas…. That’s right…. Puppy programs are 6 weeks long and there will be a new intake in January.
https://www.121dogtraining.co.uk/puppy-training

10/10/2024

🤩 A 1:1 with Dora 😍 I love this lil lady, she’s full of character and that does show through in her enthusiasm but we have walked through town a couple of times with lots of opportunities to practice our “look-Yes-reward” 💕🥰 well done both! She’s doing amazingly well!

09/10/2024

Hello Ally! This adorable little girly is learning all about her den environment (crate) and practicing for the big night on her own with some snooziest with the door shut. What worked for you guys and your crate/sleep training?…

It’s great to be consistent and try to let them out once calm and when your sure they maybe need to go loo at night, keep physical contact to a minimum and try to keep everything calm and minimal so they don’t wake up to much before you get to tuck them back in for the rest of the night.

For day time naps it’s just practice going in and sleeping so you can let them out once they wake and tire them out ready for the next nap. Puppy’s do want to be with us and next to us so it’s a big adjustment, some will adjust quicker than others. You got this guys!!

08/10/2024

🏡 🐶 Home visit
I had the pleasure of meeting this wonderful young lad! He’s only 11months old and in the beginning of his adolescence 😜😅 a completely lovable BFG 🥰❤️ we are just working on being a little more gentle with his adolescent learning so no1 becomes a tug toy hehehe 🤪 🥰 taking it back to basics and ensuring English is understood can massively help larger dogs remember their skills and focus on better behaviours. Large dogs don’t get away with half as much as the chihuahuas of the world so we have to be sure we have got great learning foundations 🤩🥰

07/10/2024

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ REVIEW
Thank you so much sincerely Equestian for taking the time to leave some kind words. Reviews are a big part of the selection process for a lot of people, it’s so lovely to show others we are kind, caring and supportive. Any past or present clients are invited to leave some kind words on Facebook or google and we are forever grateful for taking the time to share those thoughts.

Link to reviews: 121 Dog Training https://g.page/r/CZ28wthNlraFEBM/review

05/10/2024

Weather permitting there will be a dog show…. And a good excuse to look around the new school, (dogs are allowed outside only so you might want to tag team if possible)

Join us on Saturday 12th October at our Fun day and Craft Fair at Wellington Place Primary School between 10 am and 3pm for a day packed of amazing activities!

03/10/2024

1:1’s Dora!! Ahhh this girl amazes me every time I see her, as we continue our work it’s so interesting how everything develops.
this is a reminder of the ‘trainer effect’ where someone like me comes along and can almost appear to wave a magic wand and get the results you have been banging your head against a brick wall for….
Why does this happen?… (I’m sure my fellow trainers won’t mind me revealing this great secret to you…. Not 🫣😂) it happens because we have the confidence that your dog WILL do it and do it so well! There is no doubt in our minds that your dog won’t achieve great things (most of the time 😏😜) because let’s be honest…. That’s our job… to make the steps very easy to achieve and to help empower you guys to feel confident and secure in your doggy guardianship skills 😍
If you don’t have the confidence then fluff it! They say if you stand in the superman pose for 2 mins you are much more likely to succeed in your mission. It’s all in the confidence 😍❤️🤩 YOU CAN DO THIS! ☺️👍

Have fun practicing and find out more about 1:1 programs here: https://www.121dogtraining.co.uk/121-training-session

🐾🎉

03/10/2024

❤️🐶 Attention Puppy Parents - if you’re bringing home a new puppy or beginning your training or just looking to sharpen up those all important fundamentals then this is perfect for you.

https://www.121dogtraining.co.uk/puppy-training-program

Taught in person for 4 or 6x face to face 1:1 sessions with industry expert JJ Barrs with free online access to all your learning and more!

Topics we can cover:
🐾Training 101 How to do anything
🐾Basic Dog Behaviour
🐾Heel
🐾How To Get Loose Lead Walking
🐾Recall
🐾Off Lead Safety
🐾Keeping it Fun
🐾Stay & Wait
🐾Control Around Livestock
🐾Socialisation
🐾Sit, Down & Stand
🐾Common sense methods
🐾Greetings & Behaviour
🐾Leave it​​​​
🐾Problem Solving

To find out more and book you and your puppy in follow this link to the website: https://www.121dogtraining.co.uk/puppy-training-program

02/10/2024

How cute is this lovely lady?! She’s done her first assessment and begin her online training with Therapy Dog Training UK and with a little work she could be well on her way to being a certified therapy dog 😍 well done Gertie and her family 😍🤩

For more info about gaining the therapy dog certificate then have a look here and get in touch with any questions https://www.121dogtraining.co.uk/copy-of-therapy-dog-training

02/10/2024

Yay!! A break in the rain 😍❤️ 🥎

01/10/2024

Very true, every dog has a personality and it wouldn’t be possible to have a social dog 100% of the time just like us humans, some love to be around people and others just prefer Netflix & chill… also where they are in their life might play a part in this, older dogs are over it and younger dogs think the world is AMAZING 😅🤩

DON’T FORCE ME TO BE SOCIAL!
It may be really disappointing and frustrating when our dogs are not the social beings we expected them to be.

Many believe dogs should just naturally get along with other dogs, after all they’re the same species.

Some believe the “unsociable” dog has a behaviour problem that needs to be “fixed”.

Early, appropriately timed and correct socialisation is vitally important, but sometimes despite all of this, some dogs are just not that sociable.

Sometimes this can be improved, especially if the cause is from a negative experience, but genetics, breed tendencies, individual personalities, health and age all contribute to tolerance and sociability, which also change throughout life.

If we, as a human species, don’t get along with everyone we meet, how can we expect our dogs to?

Do we label every person that has an argument, doesn’t make friends with everyone they meet, doesn’t like every other person, prefers not to socialise - as having a problem that needs to be fixed?

Why is it so easy to accept that every individual person is different than to accept that every individual dog is different?

When we have done what we can to improve our dogs’ social skills, we need to accept and acknowledge our dogs for the individuals they are, allow and respect their choice of whether to be sociable or not and never force interactions that a dog is not comfortable with.