When this little guy was 8 weeks old, his owners reached out to me for some help on getting him started off on the right paw, especially knowing that he would be a change of pace from their previous beloved dog.
Our sessions together started off with puppy and general lifeskills with a big focus on recall and other skills they needed for him to be a confident, friendly dog. So, that they could enjoy off lead walks together and to be able to take him on holiday and adventuring with them.
His owners have put so much time and energy into him from the beginning and throughout the curveballs that adolescence has thrown their way.
We finished sessions together at the end of last year. So, to receive this message and video/picture of him all grown up and fabulous is so great to hear.
'Hello Alexandra, I hope this year is treating you well 🥰 Every time Albie gets on a log I think of you ☺️ he’s happy and healthy and all your advice and training has stood us in good stead. He’s still full of energy and has his moments but all in all a good boy. Sending love from me and Albie 🐾 X'
#londondogs #cockerpoo #cafedogs #Bexley #offlead #recalltraining #dogtrainer #puppy #puppytips #Kent #recall #distractiontraining #chase #foundationskills
Take care of you as well
This is your gentle reminder to take care of yourself as well.
Life is full of musts, should be doing and needs, whether that's general life things, our dogs, family or many other things going on. So much so that looking after yourself, filling your own cup, is something that can fall down our priorities list (or off it completely), something true for many of us, myself included.
So, earlier this week I took some time out for some self care, some filling my own cup. For me, that was in the form of a night away, good food, time in nature and some time in the spa.
I'd love to know what self care looks like for you, drop a comment below and let me know
#Bexley #offlead #reactivitytraining #fearfuldogs #adultdogs #yorkie #poodle #miniatureschnauzer #spaniels #gundog #dogwalkersuk
I love getting updates like this, gold stars all round for their homework 😊
Teaching our dogs to settle on cue is such a useful skill for all sorts of things. Whether that's to help with excitement at the front door, keeping our dogs safe when we're cooking or taking it on holiday like this duo (and so many more options).
They'd already started their settle training but in their first session with me, we added a few tweaks to make the behaviour stronger.
So, it made my day to receive videos and this message "We have been away for a few days and he has been great. He's settled when we've been to cafes with people and dogs around but not too close and outside. And here is on a very noisy ferry"
#Bexley #reactivity #reactivity #londondogs #reactivitytraining #fearfuldogs #London #tricktraining #cockerpoo #adultdogs #dogsonholiday #cafedogs #adventuredogs #dogstravelling
If you're familiar with this page, it'll come as little surprise that I share my life with a lot of dogs who have big feelings about the world.
I often suggest ditching the routine for dogs and its numerous benefits (but more on that another time). However, the reverse is also true, there's times when predictability can work in our favour.
One such instance is when it comes to dogs who find people a bit scary. Either myself or people more generally.
When we're first starting out with those dogs- we take our time, have patience and add some predictability in to the mix to help them feel safe around us.
Now, how this works in reality depends on the situation itself.
But, take this guy (in getting confident around me), for instance, in the beginning, we:
- Respect his personal space and no touching until he's ready (he knows when I say I'm not going to touch him, he knows I won't- despite that cute face being difficult to resist!).
- Work on me becoming a predictor of epic things (the carrot 'tax' and boxes have become a firm favourite for him)
- Create a sense of predictability by letting him know where I'm going and remove the element of surprise as much as possible
- Giving him the time, space and patience he needs to remember me and trust me.
It can be super tempting to move on fast, some dogs will move through the stages quickly, while others might not. Building a strong foundation is totally worth it in the long run
#Bexley #EnrichmentActivities #dogtraining #reactivity #labrador #tricktraining #fearfuldog #adultdogs #gundog #multidoghousehold #forcefreedogtrainer #socialisation #trainertips
With new followers, I thought I'd tell you a little about myself and my dogs. I'm Alexandra. I share my life with four dogs, all rescues or rehomes- 2 papillons, a yorkie and my pup is a mixture of breeds (poodle, papillon, yorkie, Chihuahua and Pomeranian). They range from 11 months to 13 years old.
Together, we play, train, explore and adventure. Our training focuses on those skills we need to enjoy walks and adventures together.
We do scentwork and trick training together and we've dabbled in competing. Our adventures have taken us all over the U.K and most of our travel has been done by trains, boats and buses.
I'm a dog trainer who specialises in reactive dogs (those with big feelings about one or multiple things), recall, scentwork and tricks. 3 of my dogs have joined me on numerous occasions as demo and stooge dogs to help me with my work.
Tell me about yourself and your dogs
#recalltraining #reactivitytraining #tricktraining #scentwork #papillons #yorkies #dogtrainer #dogwalker #Chihuahua #Poodle #adventuredogs #demodogs #scentdogs #trickdogs
One of the options we have to keep our dogs happy, especially whilst it's hot outside, is encouraging them to use their most powerful sense of all, their nose.
Scentwork, in all its forms, is a passion of mine, the benefits are limitless.
Just one way we can introduce it into our dogs' lives is scatter feeding.
Start with a few treats or some of their food.
If your dogs are new to this, start easy- close together and on a flat surface. We can add levels of difficulty to it for instance, crumpled paper like my girlies are loving here.
.
#Bexley #rescuepup #papillons #canineenrichment #enrichmentfordogs #enrichment #poodle #Chihuahua #multidoghousehold #yorkie #socialisation #adultdogs #adolescentdogs
A video from 2015 that popped up on my memories, it made me smile, and it's too cute not to share 🥰
Now, you all know how scared of everything that Rio was when he came to us, dogs, people, you name it.
As his confidence and social skills grew, he has developed a particular fondness for nervous dogs, which continues to this day.
One of his super skills is being intuitive with nervous dogs, knowing what they need to feel safe, when it's time to move closer, when to back off. While some of it's been taught, he's also got a sixth sense, too.
This video shows 3 dogs, 2 of which could be described as nervous of other dogs when it was recorded, playing.
They weren't strangers but playing together, particularly as a three, was a major breakthrough.
#Bexley #reactivity #socialisation #adultdogs #forcefreedogtrainer #fearfuldog #Papillon #dogsplaying
On what would have been Skylar's 8th Gotcha day, the pain of losing her still fresh, I thought it was about time to share more of our story together.
8 years ago, we weren't looking for a 5th dog but the universe (and lots of relentless tugging on our heart strings, you know who you are!) had other ideas.
She'd come into rescue in a bit of state, despite being loved- she was underweight, had rotten teeth and been bred from, she'd survived a long time on scavenging (due to them forgetting to feed her) and had pretty much all her teeth taken out whilst she stayed in foster.
Given her history and how she was when she came to us, all she needed was a loving home, a little potter and a warm lap to curl up on. Right?
Well, she started out that way. But, as is frequently the case with rescues, her true self started to come through, once she'd settled in.
Early on, you'd let her off lead for walks and she'd just follow behind your feet, where you went, she went. Then she remembered her spaniel ancestry and discovered squirrels. So recall was one of the earliest things we worked on so we could give her the freedom she craved but in a safer way.
When we ran classes, she'd come down and watch, she had zero interest in taking part. Until one day, as I was teaching, I ended up with her at my feet, barking at me. She'd figured out how to wiggle free from her harness and was telling me, in no uncertain terms, that she wanted to learn what the others were.
We had a fair amount of quirks to sift through early on along with confidence around dogs and people. We had some curveballs thrown our way including set backs in her confidence and handling after she was floored and bitten by a dog on a walk and massive health issues later in life.
She was small but mighty. Brave and bold. A warrior, strong and sensitive, loving and cheeky.
#Bexley #offlead #papillons #rescuepup #recalltraining #reactivity #dogwalker #multidoghousehold #scentworktraining #forcefreedogtrainer #s
He smashed his first session of the 'magic mat'
The idea of this being that we can introduce the concept of a settle mat in the car. As part of the plan to help him and his owners towards calmer car rides with him in the future.
To start with, it's just about building value in the bed and he quickly picked up that it was a great place to hang out, regardless of how far away from his humans it was.
#Bexley #reactivity #recalltraining #tricktraining #reactivitytraining #rhodesianridgeback #deafdog
Her wiggles may be a little gentler than when we first met all those years ago but I still get lovely waggles 🥰
And there have been some cheeky nibbles of my pockets after treats this week from her
#Bexley #dogwalker #redsetter #gundog #setter #multidoghousehold
Rio pupdate- a week on 🐾
A week ago, Rio was in agony. Literally screaming and howling, very reluctant to move whilst also initially panicking and wanting to flee from the pain. He wouldn't eat or drink.
Seeing him like that and the look in his eyes-I don't have the words at the moment to describe the pain and panic in his eyes, his whole body. It broke my heart into a thousand pieces seeing him like that, I really thought he wouldn't still be here today 💔
But, this little video makes my heart happy 💞
We're not out of the woods yet and I'm definitely not counting any chickens yet.
This was on one of his walks- I say walks, I carry him to a good place and he has a mooch, a little wander and a sniff of whatever he wants and I carry him home again.
They may be very short but are definitely helping him, providing enrichment in a calm way and letting me keep track of changes in his movement and day to day.
He started to want to go further and do more!
He's eating again- albeit smaller, more frequent food and drinking.
Wednesday night was the first time (since it all started) that he's slept all through the night.
Thank you all again for your messages, check ins and the like.
I am around and have been/will be working all week. We're just making adjustments so that he's not alone whilst also looking after you all (and your pets). Thank you for everyone's willingness to be flexible, if it was needed (so far so good it hasn't🤞)
#Bexley #papillons #rescuepup #dogtrainersdogs
With the summer ahead of us, the busier places can present us with some training challenges and can be a stressful time to be out and about with our dogs.
For now, let's focus on recall, it's a small word but a powerful one.
I've taught recall so much, it's something I'm passionate about that I can get a little carried away with it all. Recall is just one part of the bigger picture of off lead freedom.
But, what actually is a recall?
To me, it's about being able to not only having a snappy response to being called in an empty park.
It's about choosing to come away from distractions such as other dogs and people. Or the sudden influx of picnics in the park or super tempting squirrels.
There's lots of different pieces to the puzzle, all of which can be broken down into bitesize chunks. More information on that to follow.
It's not something that will happen overnight but it's worth it's weight in gold
#Bexley #offlead #rescuepup #recalltraining #dogtrainer #yorkie #multidoghousehold #distractiontraining
It's a 'sit in the sunshine and let the smells come to you' kind of day ❤️❤️
He got a carry to a park where we just sat, let the sunshine soak in and let him sniff the air.
He's drinking regularly and today is the first time since Wednesday that he's eaten anything. It was only a tiny bit but that's progress.
I even got a gentle swoosh and a mini waggle today.
The dogs had a blast at their first time at a local secure field @foxyhoundsdogfield.
We booked this ages ago with the intention to take everyone. But with Rio being poorly, he isn't up to it still today.
So, with him safely looked after at home, we took the others. They thoroughly enjoyed running around and letting off steam. Whilst also emptying their 'buckets' from the last few days where there's been heightened stress.
#multidoghousehold #Kent #adolescentdogs #adultdogs #tricktraining #yorkie #Papillon #poodle #Chihuahua #yorkiecross #rescuedogs #dogtrainersdogs #recall #recalltraining #reactivity
'A' whistle recalled from a squirrel today 🥳
#Bexley #rescuepup #recalltraining #dogtrainer #reactivity #Papillon
#poodle #distractiontraining #forcefreedogtrainer #chase #Chihuahua #yorkie
I'm so sorry for your loss 💔
Molly was one of my very early originals. We've been together for years, through adolescence, adulthood, and into a slightly slower pace of life more recently.
We started off on solo walks before finding her a variety of friends over the years to share her daily walks with (once we got past her reluctance to leave the couch 🙈). She had playdates with Ridgeback besties Ronnie and Reggie 💔 In the last few years, she found an unlikely best friend in my Yorkie, Xena, little and large. They soon became inseparable.
We'll all miss you ###
#Bexley #offlead #recalltraining #dogwalker #reactivity #Kent #fearfuldog #rhodesianridgeback #tricktraining
A little snippet of Xena's indication training for scent.
With the sun shining, it was the perfect opportunity to do some sessions in the garden.
We're teaching her that keeping her nose on the coin regardless of what else is going on or my distance to her. She's sensitive to my movements so we are breaking it all down into bitesize chunks.
She had added distractions of people and noise from other gardens and pup running free.
So I asked for less from her this time and it's all starting to weave together
#Bexley #rescuepup #dogtraining #enrichment #scentworktraining #Scentwork #distractiontraining #scentdog #puppytips #nosework #terriers
Yesterday was a massive step for this 'little' guy and what a way to finish the day.
I was able to let myself with his people home and he greeted me like I was one of his own 🥰 Step by step, he's accepting me as a safe person. We're working on a few different levels with him.
For dogs, particularly those who can find people scary, life can be very restrictive for both their humans and the dogs themselves. By building up having another safe person, it opens up so many possibilities
#tricktraining #deafdogs #Kent #rhodesianridgeback #fearful #dogtrainer #Tricks #tricks #barkingdogs #Bexley #dogwalker
A quick reminder to go and vote (pups optional 🐾)
#Bexley #dogs #rescuepup #reactivity #tricktraining
