Therapy Dog Training - Chin Rests!
Miss Annie has been practicing her polite greetings and training tricks!
Annie is enrolled in our Therapy Dog Level 2 Programme and she is going from strength to strength!
We love the fact that her owner has changed a cue with ‘chin rest’ and used the cue ‘visit’ instead!
Annie is such an amazing Labrador and she is perfect for Therapy Dog Work!
Annie is half way through our level 2 programme and we are so proud of her and her owners! ☺️
Our Award Winning Adolescence Course!
Our Award Winning Adolescence Course!
❗️🤫 Want To Know All Of Our Top Adolescence Training Secrets? 🤫❗️
Our Adolescence Course: 5 weeks
Sunday 8th September - 14:00 - 14:45
2 Spaces Remaining!
What we cover:
👃 Scent Training - Training to specifically find a scent to work that awesome adolescence brain!
❗️Did you know that 15 minutes of scent training is the equivalent of your dog going on a 6 mile hike! ❗️
🦘 Jumping up and food manners!
🐿️ Impulse control around wildlife and everything that moves!
📣 Whistle Training: Getting the PERFECT recall every…single…time!
✋ Emergency Whistle Stop!
💨 Fast Retrieves! Make retrieving things super fun! For most dogs the possession part is the best part but we change that and train for them to love to bring objects to you!
🐕 Disengagement from the environment, this could be other dogs, birds, people…including those pesky sexy squirrels!
🐾 Mirror Heel Work Training
🌈 Confidence & Optimism
To book, please send us a message!
Disengagement With Other Dogs!
Tom is our youngest retriever and is in the full blown adolescence stage.
Tom finds the world exciting, all the smells, wildlife, dogs and people.
Here are our cues that we proof and use in his every day life!
In this particular video we use a variety of cues:
⚫️ Middle cue - Safe position and close proximity control
⚫️ Wait cue - Stationary (calm) cue whilst watching other people and dogs walk past
⚫️ Yes cue - The Marker cue - we use this cue when Tom has seen or heard something in the environment, this automatically gets Tom to check in and look at me. It is also a cue to tell him when he has done something right (sees dog, looks at me, reward)
⚫️ Good boy or good job - The duration marker - this cue tells him what he is doing is really good (doesn’t always follow with a treat)
⚫️ Close - into heel position to walk alongside me
⚫️ Middle turn - trick training and disengagement cue if I need to block his line of sight or to focus on me more.
All of these cues are super important when teaching disengagement away from other dogs and people. ☺️
Why is Scent Work good for Reactivity?
Why is Scent Work good for Reactivity?
☑️ Lowers heart rate
☑️ Mentally stimulating
☑️ Provides an outlet
☑️ Physically tiring without the need of strenuous physical exercise
☑️ Increases optimism
☑️ Promotes calmness
☑️ Strengthens owner and dog relationships
☑️ Reduces stress levels
Here is Ruby a rescue pointer/ springer practicing her scent work whilst other dogs and people are in close proximity in the forest.
Katie, one of our DTC Trainers and our Scent Instructor goes into detail talking through Ruby’s behaviours whilst searching.
Fantastic team work with Ruby and her owner!
You can begin your scent training journey with us through our Adolescence course!
Make your own Doggy Ice Cream! Follow our steps below! Stay safe in this heatwave! 💙🐾
🍦Make your own Doggy Ice Cream!🍦
Follow our steps below!
Stay safe in this heatwave! 💙🐾
Stress Free Walks! Award Winning Dog Training!
Stress Free Dog Walks for £21!
We sold out in less than 24 hours last month!
Our 30 day step by step online programme with our Head Dog Trainer!
▪️Does your dog love other dogs and pull or lunge on the lead to get to them?
▪️Does your dog fixate on other dogs because he is so excited to greet them?
▪️Does your dog lie down or sit firmly not wanting to move when they see another dog?
▪️Does your dog drag you down the road?
▪️Does your dog follow a scent and leave you behind?
▪️Does your dog zigzag across the pavement?
▪️Is walking your dog in busy places just too embarrassing?
Don’t worry, our easy to follow step by step programme will transform your walks!
Unlock the secrets to achieving stress free dog walks
How it works:
▪️Sign up with your email & click the link below to book your space
▪️Enrolment start date is Sunday 25th August (Self paced learning) - Pick up the training as and when you are able to and when you are out and about at your leisure!
▪️Access to 35+ self paced 3-5 minute video lessons with practical steps to help you achieve stress free dog walks!
▪️Access support to your Facebook group
▪️Video feedback with our Head Trainer & Dog Training Specialist
▪️Weekly Zoom Calls with the Head Dog Trainer to make sure your training is going as planned - Plus Q&A
▪️Resources, Ebooks and downloadable training trackers - Download and read anywhere!
▪️Lifetime Access to the Programme!
▪️Plus - Transferring skills into busier environments videos!
Our training videos, teach your dog to focus on you rather than on the environment.
Boosting your relationship, growing skills of engagement (with you) and disengagement (from the environment)
Learn how to transfer the skills and strategies into real life environments so you and your dog can head out on stress free adventures together!
To book, please click the link below!
https://puppy-and-friends-academy.ck.page/p
Music To Our Ears!
Music To Our Ears! Sound On!
Natt is the fantastic owner of three Frienchies and one Bull Dog.
Natt has rescued two Frenchies and the time and effort she puts into all of her dogs training is just incredible.
Here is her gang doing some scent work on the laid out scent course that she has done for them.
All happily snorting about locating treats - a massive enrichment activity.
Reggie, her Bull Dog has just completed our puppy classes and is eagerly awaiting to join our Adolescence course.
So lovely to see an owner take enrichment and outlets seriously and see ALL of her dogs thrive!
Well done Natt and Family 💙
Molly the Golden Reteiver is doing brilliantly with her training. Here she is practicing her whistle recall and whistle emergency stop!
Molly the Golden Reteiver is doing brilliantly with her training.
Here she is practicing her whistle recall and whistle emergency stop!
Molly has just completed our adolescence course and is now enrolled into our GUN DOG training course.
Molly is a dream to train and has an amazing working drive and is a wonderful example of her breed.
Well done Molly and to her awesome handler; Linda. 🤩
Our Enrolment For Our Next Award Winning Therapy Dog Level 1 Programme Is Now Open!
Our Enrolment For Our Next Award Winning Therapy Dog Level 1 Programme Is Now Open!
🗣️ As Heard on BBC Shropshire
👥 Do you want to improve your dog’s training, such as loose leash walking, engagement and social skills?
❓Want to take your dog into busy environments and have them be cool, calm and collected?
❓Or maybe you are just wanting to focus on specific things like how to stop jumping up at visitors and strangers or even how to settle around distractions!
⭐️ Or is your ultimate goal for your dog for them to become a fully accredited Therapy Dog?
We have put together the perfect programme for owners to enable them to start their Therapy Dog training journey.
This course is suitable for all ages and all breeds and all levels of training.
This programme is designed to help owners prepare and train towards achieving their accreditation, plus also for the owners that just want to do more with their dog’s training and start to build all of those invaluable good doggy social skills!
❗️Dates Avaliable:❗️
Sunday 2nd June - 14:00 - 14:45
6 Week Programme
💰Cost £170 - Full Package
How our programme works:
➡️ Sign Up to our 6 week programme
📲 Join your online support group
👩🎓 Attend our face to face weekly training classes in a group setting at our training centre & exposure classes
🪪 Custom made uniform for you and your dog to wear when out and about practicing crucial exposure training in dog friendly environments - ID Badge and Training Vest.
✅ Exposure Classes - Practice and transfer training skills into a real life environment!
We have contracts with many businesses that allow us to train our Therapy dogs at their establishments - such as ASDA, Morrisons, Shoe Zone, HomeBase and many more…
🙌 You will also be able to practice around different people, dogs and also various exposure settings during our exposure classes
🗒 Weekly printable training tracker to help you alo
We capture the best pictures during our puppy photo shoot… 😂💙
We capture the best pictures during our puppy photoshoot… 😂💙
Let us take away the stress of going away… Dog Walking & House Sitting!
Let us take away the stress out of going away…
Dog Walking & House Sitting!
We know how hard it is going on holiday and leaving your fur baby behind or even allowing someone to come and walk your dog whilst you’re at work!
Our team of highly trained dog walkers and home boarders can provide clients;
Dog walking;
⚪️ Custom made care plans around your dogs needs
⚪️ Basic training - such as recall training
⚪️ Videos & pictures
⚪️ Access support to Head Trainer
⚪️ Enrichment
⚪️ Award scheme
⚪️ FREE meet and greets
⚪️ Progress reports
House sitting:
⚪️ Trial night sleepover
⚪️ Custom made care plans around your dogs needs
⚪️ WhatsApp group
⚪️ Basic training - such as recall training
⚪️ Videos & pictures
⚪️ Access support from Head Trainer
⚪️ Enrichment
⚪️ Award scheme
⚪️ FREE meet and greets
⚪️ Progress reports
About our dog walkers and house sitters, which are;
✅ DBS Checked
✅ Insured
✅ First Aid Trained
✅ Canine Communication trained & qualified
✅ Trained and mentored under the Head Trainer at the Academy
Please send u a message if interested in our dog walking and house sitting service:
⚫️ [email protected]
How Has Your Dog Helped With Your Mental Health? An owner’s brave story…
How Has Your Dog Helped With Your Mental Health?
An owner’s brave story…
Mental health week is fast approaching and we are advocates for raising awareness!
Specifically through our Therapy and Assistance dog programmes.
Sookie, the Golden Retriever is enrolled into our Therapy Dog programme.
Sookie’s handler has bravely shared with us his story and his reason for starting his Therapy Dog journey with us;
‘I have been in a silent battle with my mental health for 10+ years until recently, where I had to reach out to get help because I was losing the battle with my mind, all the pressure built up and it was too much for me to take.
So this therapy dog training has really helped me in ways I can’t explain’
This is one of the many reasons why we love what we do, helping others - especially for those that may be suffering in silence.
Our face to face courses and programmes are always designed to be supportive for owners and also to help achieve their training goals.
Our Trainers are not only accredited in Dog Training & Behaviour but also have extensive qualifications and experience in the mental health sector with supporting and enabling vulnerable children, young adults and the elderly.
We are super excited about Sookie’s Therapy journey and also her handler’s journey - you can follow their Instagram page below:
https://www.instagram.com/sookies_therapy_smiles?igsh=YmNzbGpja3lnZWlp
How has your dog helped your mental health? We would love to know in the comments… 🌈
❗️Loose Leash Walking - Adolescence Addition! ❗️
❗️Loose Leash Walking - Adolescence Addition! ❗️
Walking our adolescence dog can sometimes be so hard as that amazing brain is so wired and everything and anything is constantly being fed in, which means a very excited brain!
However, I appreciate the struggles you may be experiencing! As our own adolescent puppy, Tom is almost 12 months old, everything in Tom’s brain is SUPER exciting!
Our top tips for loose leash walking and getting that fantastic adolescence brain to engage - is as follows:
As soon as you get out side, do some scent training - lower your dogs arousal levels by giving them lots of sniff time and a job to do!
Once you get out of the home, do proximity follow me game!
⚫️ Throw a treat out away from you, allow your dog to get the treat.
As soon as dog has taken the treat, and the head slightly lifts up, mark with a ‘YES’ and reward by throwing a treat the other direction. REPEAT!
Sounds silly, but actually this game is teaching your dog to bounce back to you and give you that awesome engagement!
⚫️ Walk backwards and mark any eye contact, walk slowly at first - it is not a race! When walking backwards the only thing your puppy can see is you, and this makes it a super fun and focusing game for your puppy! Every time your puppy looks at you, mark and reward!
⚫️ Side position, you cannot reward this behaviour enough! The benefits are huge - plus it is super important when teaching loose leash walking.
⚫️ Ratio rewards - change up direction and pace and change up the ratio of reward. The whole purpose of this exercise is that your dog follows you and gets rewarded for making good decisions for checking in with you, being by your side, giving eye contact and so much more! Change up the ratio rewards if they are ready to, two steps walking, reward, four steps walking, reward… etc…
Do these training exercises every day for a few minutes and it will make a huge difference to your loose leash walking.
Pl
❗️How To Create A Calm Dog That You Can Take Anywhere! ❗️
❗️How To Create A Calm Dog That You Can Take Anywhere! ❗️
Yes, you CAN teach a working dog to settle and CHOOSE to be calm just like Benji the Border Terrier.
Border terrier’s are known for their amazing work drive!
Bred for jobs that require lots of decision making and concentration skills, such as rat hunting, Benji’s breed is highly intelligent!
No matter what breed you have, you CAN teach them the value of learning to settle and to be ‘calm’
Our next Therapy Dog programme level 1 starts - Sunday 24th March and we teach owners how to create a calm, well balanced dog!
❗️Video: Benji is currently enrolled in our Assistance Dog Level 4 Programme. This video assessment is of his settling skills around distractions.
❗️Our Student Work Experience Programme!❗️
❗️Our Student Work Experience Programme!❗️
Our student work experience programme specifically helps students that are struggling with School Life.
Enabling them to boost their confidence, find their passion and have work experience in a safe, fun and positive environment!
It can be incredibly daunting for a teenager, navigating the stresses of school life.
Our programme has been created to give students a safe and positive place to go to.
We are specialists in training Therapy and Assistance dogs, and also have a wealth of knowledge, qualifications and experience in mental health which helps us support children and young adults effectively.
❓Did you know that we can teach dogs to respond and interrupt various behaviours that your teenager may do, such as:
⚫️ Stimming / repetitive behaviours
⚫️ Self harm behaviours
⚫️ Anxiety episodes
⚫️ Manic episodes
⚫️ Ticking
⚫️ Alert to panic attack
⚫️ Deep pressure therapy
⚫️ Crowd control
⚫️ Interrupt dissociation
To name just a few…
ONE IN SIX CHILDREN struggle with mental health and we are massive advocates of promoting therapy and assistance dogs in every day life for children, students and young adults that are struggling.
If you have a teenager that would benefit from work experience with us, you can apply by sending info and contact details to:
📩[email protected]
✅ We are DBS checked, regulated and vetted by schools and colleges that use our student work experience programme
Benji - Assistance Dog Level 4
Benji is currently enrolled in our Assistance Dog Programme.
His owner is making her way through their assessment videos.
This particular video is assessing his off lead skills.
Walking through a busy park past people and other dogs.
Benji has to remain by his owners side and ignore everything in the environment.
A massive well done to both Benji and his owner. The progress they have both made is fantastic! 👏
👀 How We Feed Our Dogs! 👀
Toppl Edition!
We love these Toppl’s from Bevy’s Fur Babies Online Pet Shop
They’re a fantastic enrichment activity and keeps our dogs busy for up to 35 minutes… 👀👀
You can use kibble or wet food in these Toppls too!
You can receive our discount code below: ‘puppyandfriends’
https://www.bevysfurbabiespetcare.co.uk/
❗️How AWESOME is Beau?❗️
Beau has been learning how to find and retrieve her owners keys!
We teach lots of invaluable skills & mitigating tasks on our Assistance Programme!
Well done Beau! 🌟
