Saints Schooling for Dogs

How do I train my own dogs and what knowledge and skills will you learn on your own journey training with me? Mabel's Progress An older video (in post below) of young Mabel - making a great choice, having run ahead of me, to then sit quietly whilst cows graze not far away. After this clip I walked up to her, stepped into her side and rewarded her quietly whilst she remained in the sit. She is incredibly high drive, quick to lose focus so rewarding anything that I love that she does increasingly encourages those great choices she makes, especially when in perhaps a more demanding situation. I wouldn't have minded if she had been in a stand or a down and stayed motionless - her pausing and taking time to relax and be still is all I am sometimes looking for with her. Using the long line allows me to create some distance from her and gradually push her training on so she can have more freedom but, I am ready to help support her and prevent her from making any big error such as too much focus on wildlife or livestock. I often prefer, personally, to guide and reward what I like and to avoid perhaps telling her to specifically sit (for example). When at distance, if the dog is told to sit and they don't, you are inadvertently potentially reinforcing them not to sit by speaking to them if you keep repeating a word and they don't do what you require and, if off lead, you can't support them when needed and help them get things right. Yes, things still can go wrong but you are in a much better position to quickly step in and 'create' what you want from the dog. My aim is to set up situations and the desire in my own individual dogs that they more automatically learn to offer me the very behaviours that I want. It is this collaboration and relationship building that I hope to instill in those I work with so they experience the same joy with their own dogs. Any questions or views feel free to comment below. An add on to the above, I do train and use a 'wait' too. The abov

Taking bookings/payment now for 6 week courses (6 x 55 minute sessions), start dates 24th January and then 7th March. Email [email protected]. Can’t manage one week? Don’t worry, that’s covered with bonus of zoom sessions as well. The Puppy Course – up to 18 weeks of age at the start of course - 6.30pm The Older Puppy Course – over 18 weeks of age and up to 9 months - 7.30pm Over 9 months of age - 8.30pm Investment includes: 6 mid-week 30 minute zoom sessions for all - Tuesdays at 8pm - the initial one takes place before the first Friday night of training. Plus 1 x 30 minute 121 zoom session - at mutually agreeable time - available once the course has been booked and paid for. Investment - £150.00 Venue - Lonmay Public Hall, Lonmay, Fraserburgh, AB43 8UH Puppy At Home packages are also available. Please note, whilst all are welcome, if your puppy struggles around other dogs and/or people or is really anxious in new situations then 121 would need to be booked initially. Thank you for understanding this decision as the welfare of all dogs attending is always at the forefront of the decision making. Periodically, complimentary 'Food for Thought' zoom sessions (20 to 30 minutes) are available for those who are yet undecided if 121 is for them. These are available to book between 6pm and 9pm any evening except Fridays and Sundays.

#gsdofinstagram #gsd #gsdlove #gsdlife #dogtraining #positivereinforcement #choicebased #rewardbased #dogsofinstagram #dogslife #dogs #aberdeenshire #onetoonecoaching #onlinecoaching #dogsofinstagram

The Puppy's Choice 2024 - Young Puppy Foundations Up to 6 months of age but with some flexibility to 7 months 5 week course Start Date Friday 6th Sept. 2024 - every Friday for 4 weeks with the 5th week being Thursday, 3rd October. Time 7pm to 7.50pm Venue Lonmay Public Hall, Lonmay, Fraserburgh, AB43 8UH Investment £120.00 Email [email protected] to book #puppycourse #puppytraining #puppy #puppies #rewardbased #choicebased #sensitive #onetoone #foundations #positivereinforcement #dogtraining #aberdeenshire #movinghome #relocation #onetoonecoaching #onetoonetuition

Keeping training light and fun with young Mabel. She may appear to be full on and can be but, she is an incredibly sensitive soul and, depending on the environment she can find focusing quite difficult if too much is asked for and for too long so tiny, tiny steps. Happy training 🐾 #dogtraining #gsd #gsdofinstagram #positivereinforcement #sensitive #choices #choicesmatter #aberdeenshire

Young Mabel 💝

Happy Times 🧡🖤💕 #happytimes #gsd #friendsforlife #lovelife #kindnessiscontagious © SAINTS SCHOOLING FOR DOGS 2024

Food For Thought Training Tip. Does your dog knock the top pole off the clear jump in working trials? Do they have a naturally long, ongoing stride? This may mean they find it difficult to shorten, to sit back and to lift their front end off the ground in a manner where they can form an arc (bascule) over the jump which would enable them to clear it more cleanly. Plan some grid work and make careful use of placing poles. Teach them new skills so they are able to shorten their stride and once they learn new techniques try and not interfere more than is needed. In brief summary, work towards allowing them to go down a grid, spacing between jumps specific to the individual, eventually reduce to 2 jumps and then one with a placing pole until removing the latter. Analyse after each run and make adjustments as needed to spacing and/or heights of jumps. Don’t rush the process and don't overtest your dog as they will sour. I tend to not place toys out generally for jumping but, where that is done, we need to take care to ensure that the toy in itself is not causing the dog to jump long and flat or in a hurried manner. Video yourself and analyse exactly what is taking place, why it is and what you can do to change it. It may be something you are doing that, with a quick tweak, can change the outcome. Yes, there are many ways to train kindly and the above is what I have adapted that has worked for my own large breed dogs (mainly GSDs) What have you found that works best for you? #jump #gsd #gsdlove #jump #workingtrials #fearfreedogtraining #fearfree #sportsdog #choices #fearfreetraining #freeoffear #sportdogs #agility #dogsport #dogsports #sportdog

RUBY - LONG JUMP SEQUENCE © SAINTS SCHOOLING FOR DOGS 2024

A 121 training session At Lonmay Public Hall, AB43 8UH has become available tomorrow 8pm. 50 mins. Investment £36. Email [email protected] to book plus advise what you would like to get out of the session. You can team up with a buddy and share the session/use it as a 'meet your trainer' opportunity. Little sweetie Cooper from 2020 on an outing with me, looking at helping him to become more engaged with his family and coming up with some ideas to help him remain in the vicinity of them whilst improving his ability to walk nicely. An absolutely cracking little dog 🥰 - he tried so hard and was so attentive. I think we need to be incredibly mindful that onlead work doesn't make the experience itself, from the dog's perspective, totally sour. We expect so much from them, to adjust their pace and the ground that they would naturally cover in their stride to suit every individual that walks them - and it is jolly difficult for them. Let's give then a reason to be in our vicinity, to be as attentive as needed depending on circumstances, keep our 'demands' light and encouraging and think more about making walks an enjoyable experience for both our dogs and ourselves 🐾👣🌻🌺☀ This little session was on a small patch of grass on an industrial estate. It was only a few minutes long, we then had a cuddle and refreshments and got on our way. Doing little bits and pieces like this will really super charge your training and keep it fun for both of you. The skills you teach can then be more easily incorporated, in little short bursts, on your longer walks when you don't have the means to perhaps set a situation up to help the dog as I did in the video. Happy Training ☺