That Dog

When that teenage stage hits... don't take it personally. Kevin had a gundog session today and whilst we both had fun and learnt lots of new bits and pieces, it highlighted some things to work on with Mr teenager. 1. Lead walking around people 2. Four feet on the floor when someone has something fun 3. Stay with more distractions 4. Sit.... because apparently he's forgotten how to do that 😆 However it also highlighted some stuff he actually is okay at.... 1. Recall 2. Meeting new dogs and playing appropriately 3. Didn't jump up on meeting new person 4. Did some work with new dogs in close proximity 5. Retrieved to hand every single time 6. Learnt some new direction cues 7. Swimming/paddling He really loves retrieving, so much so he's so fixated on the dummy that he stops eating... which is a big thing for anyone that knows Kevin 🤣 SO.... It would be easy to come home and fixate on the things he wasn't perfect at, but actually he did some good stuff too. Take the wins, work on the stuff that pops up and power through! 😁

5 months with Kevin..... So puppy raising has given me a new perspective on what I feel are the foundation skills that a puppy should have and it's not the order I expected! 1. Socialisation I took Kevin everywhere! Cafes, parks, walks, shops, in the van, to classes, school trips, vets etc that was the absolute priority for me. 2. Engagement I'm fun to be with, I wanted him to know that. 3. Crate training I can't have a dog with separation anxiety when I live by myself and work by myself. Crate training started on day one. 4. Drop One of the first things I taught him through toy play. Makes things so much easier when you have a puppy running around with things they shouldn't have. 5. Recall Both to a cue and a whistle. He was off lead from his first walk in the park around other dogs. I wanted recall and engagement whilst he was in that puppy recall stage. 6. Retrieve Again, taught using play. Bringing things to me rather than running away and guarding them is beneficial and more fun! 7. Manners Simple things like don't pounce on the food bowl, wait until I give you permission to come out the crate, don't try and get out the van unless you're told. He's going to be a big dog, I want polite big dogs. 8. Leave it Taught using food, really really straightforward easy exercises 9. Down and go to bed Stay in a down position and go and sit on your bed when I ask you to. Sherlock helped teach that one. 10. Noise desensitisation Getting him use to loud noises, fireworks, the door knocking and teaching him to head towards the conservatory if he hears a knock on the door! Now you may have noticed I've done all of that and left out lead walking! I've actually not done much of that with Kevin at all, it wasn't on my list of priorities. It's something we're working on now but it was something I knew I could work on later on, I wanted to get everything else set up from day one to ensure I had good habits in place and a confident dog! This week I bo

It's been a while since I caused some controversy.... the problem with secure fields 😂😂 Now I LOVE a secure field for my dogs, not because they have behavioural issues or no recall but because I don't have to encounter other dogs running at me when I'm trying to enjoy a nice walk with my dogs 🤭 However.. when I use a secure field, I don't just unclip my dogs and ignore them for the hour. Secure fields are a great place to practice your dogs recall or as a decompression space for reactive dogs for example, or simply as a place where you don't have to see anyone else when you're out walking. However if you're not careful they can ruin your recall.... - If you are going to a secure field and unclipping your dog for the hour and not engaging with them during that time, you're teaching them the environment is more fun than you. - if they have no recall then trying to catch them at the end of a walk is damaging your recall. - if you only call your dog back to you to go home, you're going to damage your recall Take your dogs to the secure field but interact with them and work them! 😁 My dogs get some time to run and do whatever they want when we are there, but we do regular recall practices, I'll take some toys with me, we might do some fun trick training, might do some gun dog retrieves etc but you can see how close they choose to be and how much they try and get some interaction when we are there 😂 I'm not saying be a fun sponge and not to let them enjoy the field but you'll be surprised how spending even a quarter of the time that you're there doing 'something' with them will make your life easier 😁 If you're not sure you will be able to get your dog back at the end of a trip then stick them on a long line until you are confident they're listening. Enjoy me being mobbed by my dogs and if you stay til the end you might get a blooper!

I’m always honest on this page and it’s been a difficult week. If you’re one of those people that have provided support in any way whilst I’ve had quite a few teary moments know that you are very much appreciated! ❤️ I’ve had a wobble, and I promise to get a grip and get back to being on top form soon 🥹 In the meantime, day by day, Kevin enters the teenage stage of development… the time where most people start to think “oh my god, what have I done” Enjoy this funny clip of our “go to bed” stand off yesterday. Kevin knows what this means, but in all honesty the pizza I was eating caused a lapse in self control. It gave me a laugh, and I don’t know what I’d do without them 🥰🐾

Who are we??

We’ve been going a bit viral this week with loads of new people following the page after watching videos of the boys being their crazy selves!! 🤣 So here’s a quick video introducing them both and what they like getting up to! 😆 Feel free to introduce your dogs! Would be lovely to put dogs to faces!! ❤️

Because I know all of you LOVE videos of my dogs being idiots so here you go!! Anyone else's dalmatian like to stick as close to them as physically possible? Or charging head first into furniture when they have a whole field to run about in?? 😆😆 So in this video you get: - slobbering - off lead heeling - colliding into benches - Kevins ridiculously slow running - Kevins really none discrete stalking - Me dancing because my dog got a retrieve - Sherlock also celebrating because Kevin got a retrieve - Kevin hitting everyone with a frisbee I mean come on... what's not to love 🤔🤔🤔

Communication between dogs! 😁 So my dog eat their meals separately, and if they have high value chews they eat them in separate areas; simply I don't want to cause issues or have them feel like they need to guard. They do have a box of chews and toys that they have access to at all times that they will help themselves to 😁 When Kevin first came home, Sherlock wouldn't share ANYTHING with him, it's not a natural behaviour for dogs to share their resources. And he has been used to being an only child for a long time. Lots of management, Sherlock knows a drop and leave, it was one of the first things I worked on with Kevin. Fast forward to this. They will regularly take chews and share them like this. They might take it in turns or they might sit and eat the same chew, this isn't something I've pushed, I've watched it, but as their relationship has developed so has this behaviour 😍 In fact Kevin has a really annoying habit of being desperate for someone to share with him, to the point he’ll try and eat a chew on Sherlocks head or my shoulder 🙈 Notice though, the clip at the end. Sherlock has decided he's had enough of the sharing. That's fine. He had a bit of a grumble and a lip curl and Kevin understood and moved away politely. Communication!😁

IT'S A PODCAST DAY!!! Today we're dishing the dirt on the not-so-professional, professional pet care services! Including some horror stories, and how to identify the pet services that offer the best care! Remember if you have any questions you want us to answer, pop them in the comments and we'll chat about them on the podcast! 😁 https://open.spotify.com/show/6YLVwwRUcsoHdQJi9vnJ4H https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AODFVxOdTt8

What are you working on with your dogs at the moment?? 😁 Tip for you... whatever it is you want to work on with your dogs this week, push at it for at least a week! Really commit to that training for a week. By that I mean: - Consistently train it with 100% attention and energy - Have multiple daily sessions - Take your rewards out with you - Make sure your dog is set up for success and getting it right Now that's not to say your 'issues' will be fixed in a week BUT by showing up daily for 7 days in a row, you will start to see a positive change! Enough of a change to be an incentive to keep going! If you need to, film your sessions, keep a diary, tell your friend or trainer you're going to give them daily updates for week. Be accountable! And you will see results! 😁 Tell me below what your goals are for the week, and let's have a check in this time next week and see if you have managed to achieve it??? 🤩 Here's the boys having individual training sessions today!

Kevin diaries are back!!!!

Anyone else have a totally not normal dog?? 😝 What’s the weirdest things your dogs do? Jump In Dog Therapy think this was Kevin’s attempt at hinting 🤣

Finally a day where it's not a ridiculous minus degree 🤣 Can you tell which is Kevin and which is Sherlock?? Points in the comments if you manage to guess right... who is in blue and who is in yellow???😆 We went to Cheshire View Dog Park this morning to blow off some steam, it was a bit cold but much better than it had been before but a great excuse to pop for a coffee on the way home! We even saw Betty and Wilma in the next field - was Dalmatian take over hour clearly😆