Earthsea Labradors

16/08/2024

Huey drooling over my Peanut Butter protein shake. 😆🤤

08/08/2024

Huey snoozing with his great, great grandma Ruth. 💕🐾

03/08/2024

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/zRoFv9moT5YQN5ND/?mibextid=qi2Omg
Elsies sire....so sad....what an amazing dog😔

By Chad Hunt My love of waterfowl hunting is secondary to my love of dogs and all that is involved with having a great retriever. I love waterfowl hunting because I am lucky enough to have a great retriever. This is a story of the bond and the many trials and tribulations that my retriever, Boggs an...

02/08/2024

Trainers sometimes get frustrated when they don’t see the progress in their dog they expect or desire.
They often respond by pressing harder, hyper focusing on the specific area in which their dog is not advancing….the exact opposite of what many dogs need.

They have a vision of how they want their dog to develop; a preconceived timeline of what a dog should be doing and when. If these expectations aren’t met they mistakenly convince themselves if they could improve “X”
(ie a wider outrun, squarer flank, better pace, stronger shedder etc)
all the pieces would come together.

But the key to helping dogs realize their full potential isn’t found by achieving the perceived next step,
improving a single aspect, employing a more sophisticated technique or trying a new gimmick.
Rather it’s found in the standard, understanding and totality of all the bits of training that comprise “the body of work”.
More specifically, it’s dependent upon the quality of the fundamentals, coupled with the right mindset.

Foundational skills are paramount and there is no embarrassment in going back to improve them; once mastered, they provide the springboard for future breakthroughs.
Focusing on these and staying in one place a bit longer gives your dog a mental break. Moreover, you reap the benefits found in the power of habits.
The repetition and routine inherent to core fundamentals develop confidence and cultivate mental fortitude.

It is a better and much less detrimental approach than pushing a young dog too hard to take the next step if he’s not ready.
While some dogs learn very quickly others need time to plateau, get a bit more experience, confidence and maturity before they’re ready for the next step.
Dogs that are slower to develop are very different from precocious dogs when they are young, however, if nurtured correctly, the two dogs can appear indistinguishable as trained dogs.

Instant results or training epiphanies are not common and the majority of the time, sudden improvement is actually a reflection of the cumulative body of work. The little nudge from a different approach that achieves quick and marked progress, probably wouldn’t have had a fraction of the effect without the supporting body of work.

One of the best gifts you can give your dog is letting go of the expectations of what you want him to become, and accept him for who he is—
As you help him through what he finds difficult, keep in mind
every dog learns at a different speed, requiring it to take the time it takes, for your dog to understand and enjoy a new concept.
Being patient in your training empowers learning, fosters partnership and strengthens your bond.

01/08/2024

Dogs are notoriously bad at dissipating body heat. Watch for early signs of heatstroke, also known as hyperthermia, in your dog to avoid serious outcomes.

28/07/2024

One Week!!!!

28/07/2024

"Rocky" goes home at 3 today. Huey is going to miss him almost as much as I will. What a great puppy. 💛

25/07/2024

😆 Truth!

22/07/2024

Another worthy read for new puppy owners!🦈🐾

From Valleys Dog Behaviour And Training

THIS IS A PSA

Puppies bite. They bite a lot. They bite hard. Their teeth are sharp. You might bleed. It might seem relentless.

Scaring the pants off them by yelling, pinning, shoving or shouting will not only do precisely zero, it will potentially create a fearful adult dog.

Puppies bite more when;
They are tired
They are hungry
They are bored
They are overstimulated
They are teething

Read that again. They bite MORE when they are the above. They will also bite when they are absolutely fine. They are dogs not dolls.

Be compassionate not scary. They will grow out of it but only if you teach them a good alternative. Trade for toys. Use a pen or a crate. Teach calmness. Reward gentle interactions. Grit your own teeth and ride it out while reinforcing good stuff and proactively managing bad stuff.

Be proactive when you know biting happens like after some play, when excitement goes up, when they are overtired (7-9pm witching hour anyone?) and give them a good chew or help them settle, or channel that energy into some training.

It does get better basically. Don’t panic. Most puppy biting isn’t aggression. Be CONSISTENT and PROACTIVE and expect more than a few bites along the way.

Signed,
Aalto the Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever (aka the ginger shark)

22/07/2024

Sharing again because I have puppies going home soon.💕

Puppies are puppies, not adults

They don't have developed bodies or brains and it's unfair to place expectations on them as if they do

Would you ask a kindergartener to get a master's degree? When we expect puppies to learn and behave like adults, we set them up to fail. Even a 2 year old dog may have a developed body, but their brains are still cooking in there, just like a 20 year old human.

Yes, dogs and humans are different, but sometimes we need to understand the parallels between our development in order to set reasonable expectations. Look back on your developmental years and imagine having today's adult expectations placed on you. It just isn't reasonable or fair, is it?

Another common problem I see (and have fallen victim to) is the curse of the 2nd service dog. We put so much focus into that perfect first dog who saved us, and forget that they weren't always that fully trained adult. When a puppy can't live up to the standards set by that retired or passed dog, resentment can build and harm your relationship. Your 2nd dog will never be your first, but we need to prioritize bonding with the new dog *as they are,* including stage of development. A teenage puppy can never be as good as a trained adult and that is OKAY! It doesn't say anything negative about the puppy other than that they aren't developed enough to have all those skills mastered.

Giving puppies grace is one of the most important things we can do in order to set everyone up for success as a team

Petri is still a do**us, but after 4 months old he definitely didn't get stuck in a tomato cage again. He did that because he was a puppy who hadn't yet figured out how to use his body and brain, which is completely normal

21/07/2024

I have one yellow boy available from the Dux/Elsie litter. Ready to go next weekend. He's active, energetic and quite handsome as well. Looking for an active family with which to share a lifetime of adventures! Love this guy! 💛

20/07/2024

Lunch out of the snuffle matt! Honing our foraging skills. 😁

20/07/2024

Dux produces such confident puppies! The first time I put the new slide in the pen, the little girl went right up the stairs and down the slide. After seeing her, the boys are following suit! I love it!

14/07/2024

We're working on "sit" and doing quite well. The trick/goal is in getting all 5 to do it simultaneously. That in itself is a sight to behold. I just melt over the expectant little faces. The "I sat, now where's my reward look".🥰😊

04/07/2024

Yup, the humidity has returned! There's actually an ice pack wrapped in a wet towel under those puppies! 🥵

04/07/2024

Happy 4th all!

02/07/2024

As if I'm not doing enough brushing around here, the Buffalo (Ruth) is moulting again! She hates staying still to be brushed, so I literally have to hand pick all those tufts out! 😲🤣

02/07/2024

Score a 30% discount on any of our dog sport decals or tees at ShopCanineAesthete.com 🛒👕

29/06/2024

One of the most important qualities for success is mental toughness.
It fosters inner motivation, achieving goals, fortitude in facing challenges, remaining calm under pressure, the ability to perform consistently,
move on from disappointment, view adversity as an opportunity and perhaps most important,
— irrespective of your definition of ‘success’, whether you’re a novice just starting or a 40 year expert, it empowers the mindset to take you from where you are, to where you want to be.

Here are 3 tips to help improve mental toughness:

1. Make your Best Effort.

It’s less about the outcome than it is about whether you put in the best effort, relative to you and your dogs potential. That includes every aspect of preparation, both in your dogs training and in your personal development and goal setting. There will be days when things go your way and inevitably, there will be days when they don’t. What you can control is how much you did to get you and your dog ready for the moment.
The great coach John Wooden said: “Success is peace of mind; a direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you did your best to become the best you are capable of becoming.”

2. When it doesn't go your way, choose to stay positive.

It’s essential to know the difference between the things you can control and the things you can’t.
If something that is out of your control doesn’t go your way, try to avoid sliding into disappointment, anger or frustration, which are emotions that are firmly within your control. Choose to remain positive.
Especially with trialing, there are often times you walk onto the field armed with various strategies, ideas, and hypotheses about how it will play out. But with 3 thinking entities (you, sheep and dog) you don’t always know what’s going to happen.You may not have control over what happens. But, you can choose how you react.
One way to keep perspective and motivated is understanding that if things go your way, great; and if they don’t, that’s okay, too, since you have a chance to learn and overcome them in the future.

3. Learn from Losses

When things don’t work out, rather than get defeated or take it personally, arrive at a place where you grow from the negative experience.Try to reframe it as an opportunity to learn and challenge to improve —If things don’t go well but you and your dog learned something, it turns into a positive outcome.
Over time and with experience, you can develop a way to use losses to foster improvement and inner drive. What you learn, through review and self-reflection, is often a greater positive than whatever benefits might have come from ‘winning’.

Building these habits can help you improve on the field, and moreover, as a partner to your dog.

macraeway.com

29/06/2024

I haven't heard back from everyone quite yet, but it looks like I have one black and one yellow male available. 🖤💛