The importance of the ‘thinking gap’… 🤔
When you are teaching a dog a new skill and have progressed through the luring and hand signal stages to the naming bit, it’s really vital after the first few reps to give your dog the opportunity to show you if they’ve made the connection between the word and the action yet, in what I call the thinking gap.
A few seconds is what we’d normally suggest but with Seren I could see the cogs still going around and she has been close to doing the verbal all weekend so I thought I’d give it a bit longer. 30 seconds later and BINGO!
In the second video (and the next attempt just a few seconds later) that thinking time was down to about 10 seconds and by clip three it was almost instant. That was 3 consecutive attempts and I stopped at this point to let the ‘good one’ sink in. Don’t wanna overdo it and end on a rubbish attempt.
Have you explored the thinking gap?
Librela - an undocumented side effect
This is my dog Zen who is 10 years old and has a bit of arthritis, and has had 2 episodes of back spasms in the last 8 months. In April she was given her first Librela injection - a monoclonal antibody targeting nerve growth factor - which is a relatively new drug used for the alleviation of pain associated with osteoarthritis in dogs.
While it works brilliantly for some dogs, giving them a new lease of life and freedom of movement when all hope seemed lost, for others it does nothing. The study that enabled it to be licenced for use only gave the drug to 141 dogs out of the 287 in the trial group, with the rest getting a placebo, so the test group was very limited and few side effects, however there were some cases that weren't permitted to be part of the group (that had IVDD), and some who developed "neurological deficits of the pelvic quarters".
This is what we have recently seen in Zen within 2 weeks of starting her on Librela, and what you can see the in the video. She can be seen staggering around, falling over and generally having poor control of her hind limbs, often knuckling over or losing control and falling. She doesn't appear to be in any discomfort however.
This isn't to scaremonger or put you off using Librela if all other avenues such as NSAIDs have failed to benefit your dog, however I would highly recommend reading the study first as the prescribing information for this drug makes no mention of IVDD or hind limb neurological issues, so this is worth bearing in mind as it could have a detrimental effect on your dog if they already have something going on. I will put a link to the study in the notes.
I'm pleased to report that since I raised this with the vet and withdrawn the Librela treatment, her symptoms have improved dramatically (now 2 months after the last jab) and she is much more in control of her legs!
Man and dog working together in perfect harmony! 😍
Rudi the Springador has lots of spaniel–like traits and is really energetic with the strongest work ethic of any dog I’ve ever known. He is really enjoying the quartering activity we have been working on recently, where he gets guided onto caches of treats, toys balls and Gundog dummies, which we have squirrelled around for him to find. Chris’s challenge is to try and target Rudi onto those treats and toys, so it’s fun for everyone!
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As you can see by the crazy tail, he loves it!
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#gundogtraining #fungundog #gundogtraining #swindondogtrainer #positivegundogtrainer #fungundogtraining #spanielsofinsta #spanielsofinstagram #springerspaniel #springerspanielsofinstagram
On Saturday I introduced Bruno and Milo to seen retrieves in longer cover. Here they are showing us some lovely self-control, waiting until released to seek out the dummy, having to work a bit harder now it's not clearly visible, as it would be in shorter grass, which is what they are used to.
Some dogs enjoy the thrill of the chase, while others enjoy the effort of the search, and you can clearly see the difference between the two here, but both dogs are learning some new skills and having great fun, and that's what fun gundog is all about!
#fungundog #fungundogtraining #gundogtraining #positivegundogtrainer #PositiveDogTraining #swindondogtrainer #positivegundogtraining #fungundogswindon #fungundogtrainer #workingcockerspaniel #workingcockers #workingcockerspaniels #sprocker #sprockers #sprockerspaniel #sprockerspaniels #sprockersofinstagram
Love trying to video the dogs doing a slo-mo shake after a dip in the paddling pool!
Would love to see a slo-mo video of yours too!
Gundog training (even for fun) is actually a pretty small skillset, but done to a high standard. In our training we focus on:
☺️ Steadiness (calmness around a dummy, sit stay/wait, heelwork)
👃Searching (marking or scenting out a dummy)
🔁 Retrieve (going out to get a dummy, and bringing it back/recall)
Without exception, all of these activities translate to benefits in your everyday life with your dog. Calmness around toys and food, loose lead walking and a good 'stay' help create a calm and low-stress environment. Scentwork helps stimulate your dog and really tires them out (so you can get some peace and quiet!) and a good recall is probably the number 1 thing people want from their dog, so it's an essential as far as I'm concerned!
Last week I went to the beach with Lena and she had lots of fun off-lead time because she is well behaved. She can recall away from other dogs, and can ignore them if asked which means she gets lots of play time without fearing that she won't come back, or that she'll be off causing trouble somewhere!
Here she is on the beach practising a seen retrieve. As you can see, Lena is a Rottweiler, and not your typical gundog. There are lots of other dogs and surfers around (although this shot makes it look quite quiet!), and she is calm, focused and works well and best of all HAVING FUN!
If you think your dog would benefit from this work, then provided they have a bit of a work ethic and don't just want to snooze on the sofa all day, then maybe gundog training is for you?
#fungundog #fungundogs #fungundoggames #fungundogclasses #fungundogtraining
Happy Christmas!
Lena and Zen have had a busy day of walks, toys, extra turkey lunch and lots of playtime. Now they are settling down as we watch Strictly and Lena is fighting REALLY hard to stay awake but is losing!
Hope you’ve had a great day!
Extra one for a walk today🤣
Puppy & adolescent dog training. Home visits. Fun gundog training. APDT qualified trainer with 10 years experience.
