Throwback to our Sunday Kennel Club Good Citizens class, having a blast with temptation alley to finish the session ๐พ๐พ
Very impressed with Katy managing to take her mom a sheep toy - as she knows they are her favourite animal ๐ฅฐ๐
Dogs with character are our favourite ๐คฉ
Hoopers and Trick classes were so much fun yesterday!
Here's Lark showing us her new skill - Take a Bow!
Inky's Assistance Dog Training Journey - Video Diary Update ๐
This weekend we took Inky to the Lichfield Christmas Food Festival ๐พ๐๐พ
Lichfield is very familiar to Inky, but it doesn't usually have so many people and food stalls!
When working as an assistance dog it is vital that Inky is able to totally ignore food. So many situations, aside from general food on the floor include this skill.
โ Settling in cafรฉs and restaurants - often with dropped crumbs around!
๐ Doing the food shopping - loose fruit and veg, the meat and bread aisle often smell fantastic!
๐ On public transport, where people may be eating
๐ผ Children in pushchairs eating - perfect dog height!
We both so proud of how well he did, especially in such a busy environment ๐ฅฐ
If you have any questions about Inky's assistance dog journey, please pop them in the comments below ๐
Inky's Assistance Dog Training Journey
We've decided to do a little bit of a video diary for Inky's assistance dog training ๐
Today we had a trip into Birmingham ๐พ๐พ It was very busy - totally understandable for a Saturday afternoon and the German Christmas Market being on ๐
Before jumping to this high level of activity, we have worked on all the different aspects we knew we would encounter.
๐ A train station
๐ Travelling on a train
๐ถ Strange sounds
๐๏ธ Busy places
We made sure he had time to acclimatise, time out in quieter areas during our visit and called it a day before he started to show signs of being mentally tired.
For the first time in such a busy place, he did fantastically well!
If you have any questions about Inky's assistance dog journey, please pop them in the comments below ๐
Most of our followers will already know how lucky we are to have @justadizzyrascal who keeps Tracey safe, by alerting to her seizures.
Dizzy loves working, going anywhere and everywhere - but just sometimes she needs a bit of a break ๐ด
Inky spaniel will be 2 years old in January and has been working very hard on his training, as Dizzy's little apprentice ๐
As a cocker spaniel, being calm and collected doesn't come very naturally to him ๐คฃ it's taken time, patience and a lot of hard work!
But he's really doing well and we're now at a stage where he can start practicing in busier places with his "in training" jacket ๐
So.... who fancies us doing a little video diary of his progress over the next few months?
What part of assistance dog training would you really like to understand more about?
Here's a taster of his recent training sessions out in Lichfield. Of course it involves a biscuit from every dog's favourite coffee shop @melbourneinlichfield
๐พ๐พ
๐พHOOPERS WORKSHOPS! 28th OCTOBER!๐พ
Fancy trying something new with your dog?
We are running our popular Hoopers workshops again in October. These workshops are held at Tuppenhurst Barn B&B & Cafe and are 2 hours long.
These workshops cost ยฃ40.
Levels to suit all dogsโฆfrom complete beginners who have never seen a hoop, to people who are in hoopers classes and want extra practiceโฆall the way to course running for the more advanced dogs!
Drop us a message to book now!
This weekend Inky has been working hard on his training ๐พ๐พ
Inky is just one week short of being 18 months old. He is a working cocker spaniel and full of beans....all the time ๐
This is totally normal for his age, breed and general personality ๐ฉต
So right now, our expectations are in line with all three of those factors.
He is young and very lively, so our focus has been on him remaining calm in busy environments ๐๏ธ
Long term Inky will be working towards his public access test for assistance dog work, to ensure that Dizzy has an apprentice ๐
But right now, it's all about calm, spaniel style ๐คญ
A Week in the Life of an Assistance Dog - Day 5
Winter wonderland certainly hit us overnight โ๏ธโ๏ธ
The roads were treacherous this morning and after a slippery hour and 40min to get from Walsall to Lichfield, we were glad all the walking dogs weren't home alone today and so didn't need us to come out to them.
Our weekly Competitive Obedience class was also cancelled due to the weather, so with Crufts starting today, we decided to stay warm and dry by leaving the van in Lichfield and hopping on the train to the NEC.
Dizzy is very used to busy places, but for anyone who hasn't experienced Crufts before, busy is an understatement!
Even on a Thursday, usually the quietest day, it's absolutely jam packed with people and dogs ๐พ๐พ
In true Dizzy style, she took it all in her stride and absolutely loved it. The main arena is loud, with random bright lights and as the schedule was running late, we ended up being there for the Police dog display before the agility final we had gone to watch. The loud barking, role play riot scenes and criminals attacking the police was like water off a duck's back to her. Proud is an understatement.
Not all dogs have the genetic makeup or temperament to cope with an environment like this. Collies in particular can be naturally quite noise sensitive, movement focussed and can struggle to cope with the sensory overload a situation like this can pose.
If at any point we had felt that Dizzy was not happy in the environment, we were fully prepared to go home. Her welfare comes first, always.
Dizzy is a dog in a million ๐ and this along with a big dose of careful socialisation, kind training methods and lots of hard work, allows her to do the very important job that she does.
So here's a lovely video of Dizzy's afternoon out at Crufts today ๐ she's very tired this evening ๐ด๐ด
Hoopers Workshop - Saturday 28th January 2023
Whether you have never seen a hoop before, or can already run a full course, this workshop covers it all ๐คฉ
We have spaces available in both sessions:
10am until 12pm -
Introduction to Hoopers - for dogs who have never done any Hoopers before or have very limited experience.
1pm until 3pm -
Sequencing and Course Running - for dogs who can already complete short sequences or run full courses.
