Ready, Steady Go!
Ready Steady GO!
Focus on me without even trying!
I shout ready steady go and he's focused on me ready to chase!
A great game for breaking a dog out of fixation, redirecting arousal and emotions and having fun offlead!
We love the versatility of this game!
It's easy to teach too!
Simply get excited say Reeeeeady Steeeeeady GO!
And throw a treat or ball!
Make sure you practice it around no distractions then you can do it in higher emotional situations in future!
Searching for the Dummy
It's been a few weeks since I was an in patient at the hospital.
Honestly recovery is a bit slower than I thought, it's all a bit complicated but I'm still weak and I'm still only managing short onlead walks for Arkle due to pain.
This could be frustrating for a young reactive dog.
I am making sure his needs are met in different ways though!
I could relentlessly throw a ball up my garden, as I have that space right?
Wrong! That wouldn't be good for his joints for one and would instead get him all whipped into a frenzy!
That would increase his likelihood of reacting and cause other issues.
Instead, one thing we do is play games with his rabbit skin dummy.
He loves this 🙌
Here we are playing it as a search game.
I pop him inside, hide the dummy outside and then release him to search and retrieve the dummy.
You can see he really enjoys this!
Darting back and forth to try pick up the scent, he really wants to find that dummy!
Then he's bringing it back successfully! 🥳
This game works his brain and body in equal measure without being too much for his joints!
And he absolutely loves it!
In addition this is a great outlet for prey drive and encourages him to see me as a valuable team mate around prey; not the fun police! 🚨
Handling Prey Drive
🐾 Prey Drive? It’s Gonna Happen! 🐕🐈
Let’s be real—cats are everywhere in our daily lives! Instead of battling your dog’s prey drive with dragging, grabbing, or shouting (which won’t work ❌), we take a smarter approach.
✅ Our 3-Step Method to Managing Prey Drive:
1️⃣ Let them observe – Give them a moment to process
2️⃣ Allow natural check-out – Give them time to disengage
3️⃣ Use a chase game cue – If needed, match their energy to redirect focus
Using high-arousal cues works way better than trying to force a calm response when they’re already amped up! ⚡
And guess what? After some time training around this cat… he got bored and ignored it completely! 😂👏
The full 1 minute breakdown of this has been added to the Rapid Recall course for those of you with it 🐾
🎥 Watch our Reel to see this in action!
Squirrel Recall
When life hands us squirrels... 🐿️
We use them 😆
The squirrels in the garden are a fan of tormenting Arkle, they sit on the fence opposite our back door...then run!
Thankfully I've been prepared for them since he was a puppy and we've always worked on it, so he does listen in their presence 🙌
We started this with recall with me calling him in from the garden with me in the kitchen and giving him high value rewards from the fridge ( a whole cocktail sausage or slice of ham!)
And then letting him back outside as his reward.
Then once I felt confident, calling him off the squirrels from the kitchen and then letting him straight back out.
The squirrel is THE fun part. So if I can safely let him go back out, I absolutely will as that's a big part of WHY he listens.
As he knows my Recall doesn't end fun, and we work an awful lot on recall from distractions generally.
Notice Not React - In Real Life
I am hoping I can start to bring you more posts like this where I can show you how I am handling situations, in a real life situation, with real life things happening! 🙌
I have recently talked about how we don’t want to use distractions for your reactive or over excited dog. Arkle is a reactive dog, when he is stressed and over emotional he will react by barking and lunging.
Arkle is NOT dog sociable. He does not want to play as an overall rule (there is the very odd exception of the odd daxie or terrier he reacts to wanting to play, which is a mystery to me still!)
Arkle’s reactivity is about creating distance and in a unique way he does guard his treats from stranger dogs and this is a BIG concern for him (unhelped by offlead dogs mugging me when he was young)
Anyway, back to the clip and THIS is what I mean when I say I am not distracting him.
Watch the sequence of events.
1️⃣Arkle sees dog.
2️⃣Arkle gets marked YES for noticing not reacting.
3️⃣I reward arkle on the ground initially - for him this reduces fixation and calms him.
The YES is not to distract, it is to tell him he made the right choice- looking at the dog and not reacting. This conditions this behaviour of "notice not react" in the long run.
I am at a distance he can handle.
As the clip progresses you can see he does look at the terrier with a bit more fixation, I don’t handle it perfectly (remember im out of od practice and very weak post hospital stay) So i end up marking YES twice without treating- not good practice. But then i use cheery praise as a bridge which gets him moving.
The lead is kept slack in the main, aside from one moment where i think i grab it instinctively (mistake- I talk about this on our 4 week reactivity course, our handling is often not perfect as humans!) But because I have worked on this it does not trigger a response from him. 🥳
I then allow him to watch them pass into the distance, once the trigger has passed, for Arkle I don
Whippet Clear Recall
Is your recall clear? 📢
Or are you having to run across the field waving chicken and dancing?
Shouting and squealing "being more interesting than everything" as you were advised... 💃😬
Here you can see Arkle during a training session with his dummy retrieval.
During this I throw away his high value dummy, send him to fetch it then recall him off it.
Look at his INSTANT reaction.
I'm not having to move.
I'm not having to dance around.
I'm definitely not squealing and shouting nonsense.
One clear cue.
One reflex, he returns to me.
Even when facing away , in high arousal in pursuit of something he reeeeeally wants!! 🥳
Why?
Because he knows that "Arkle come" means return and he gets paid.
I've taught this clearly and deliberately in lots of setup ways since he was a puppy.
In addition here you can see he is allowed to return back to what he was doing before!
The ultimate reward 🙌
When training your recall make sure:
✅ Your recall cue is clear
✅ Your rewards are consistent
✅ That you are practising deliberately, not just when your dog is running off !
We LOVE recall games here and love practising these exercises!
No aversives needed 🙌
If you'd like to unlock better recall with your whippet, check out the comments below 👇
Rudi the Lagatto working hard at Scentwork School 🏫
Teaching scentwork can be tricky as we want to guide our dogs, but Rudi definitely understands the idea of searching and of what the target odor is.
So we just gave him a moment to work it out and he remembered to go sniff the tin with the Kong!
Excellent work and patience!
Nellie the Flattie learning to wrap a cone !
Learning to go round a cone is great for body awareness, confidence and working those bright brains! 💡
Love seeing your dogs learn!
Dealing with Noise Reactivity
Does your dog bark at noises? 🤔🗣️
Teach them noises = food for quiet 🤫
Here is Snickers the mini Dachshund who has started some work with me to reduce some reactive behaviours.
The key to reducing reactivity to noises is to setup scenarios where your dog can hear noises and not react.
We are teaching them to Notice Not React.
Here we started knocking verrry quietly and marking her good behaviour with YES and then treating her for not reacting.
You have to practice similar games in controlled situations for this to transfer to real life.
Extra Tip - Try marking and rewarding your dog for hearing noises round the house on walks.
Have treat stations around the house to have rewards to hand that you can use.
Some super lead walking in Puppy Power this week 🤩
Lead walking can be a tricky skill to master, after all the world is full of distractions!
And pups have short attention spans!
Remember:
✅ Reward good choices , such as a slack lead
✅ Practice alot at home & in the garden
✅ Practice in quiet places
✅ Have patience and let your puppy process things from a distance
If your puppy really struggles, try taking them somewhere quieter and have them on a long line.
Rewarding them for checking in and following you when you change direction.
It's often easier, the longer the lead is initially!
Bruno the Lab puppy learning to lay down!
Learning an off switch is so important for pups!
We teach this by paying the calm down, and releasing with a release cue when we want them to break the down.
This creates a solid position and understanding.
Bruno picked the calm aspect of this up very quickly and was quite happy to lay there awaiting food 😆
Teaching drop is SO important!
Don't wait until your puppy has stolen something though! 🙅♂️
If you only practice when your puppy steals things, your not teaching drop...
You are ✨ negotiating ✨
While that is most certainly better than shouting at your puppy, or chasing them ( don't make it a game!)
It's teaching them to steal first, and then they'll get a treat for dropping.
Instead practice drop with toys, and day to day items as a regular game.
If you only practice drop when your puppy has something hiiigh value, and then they lose access to their thing ( your slippers perhaps!)
You may find they don't want to drop anymore.
Make drop engaging and something you regularly do!
Whippet Wonders with Zara Lipsett. Whippet Specialist Dog Training & Behaviour Services. Offering services online worldwide. Zoom consultations & Courses .
