Trainer's Tips RSS

The principle is, anything you reward will happen more often, so: A: Don't reward unwanted behaviour e.g. continue your walk being pulled in the direction your dog wants to go B: Do reward what we call in Dog Training a ‘Mutually exclusive behaviour’ e.g. build value for staying by your side and practice loose lead walking consistently "10 Pecks" Here’s a quick game you can play outside your house before you head anywhere this week. Grab one handful of your dogs’ meal allowance. When it’s all been used up end the session.   Each day 50g of my spaniel Thea’s...

For the fellow long-haired dog owners Firstly, what is a bramble womble?! 👇This repeat offender is what we at Anglian Dog Works affectionately call a bramble womble. AKA a dog with an affinity for ‘wombling’ undergrowth! Here in the UK it is shooting season meaning there will be lots more game birds around. So while we’re past the summer stickies, this time of year whether you are working a gundog or are just enjoying walks in the countryside, the brambles are extra tempting. So here are my top tips:First, a de-tangler spray before will reduce the amount of bits that ‘stick’.And/or...

My go to Focus & Impulse Control game… Being a working breed specialist, I often train excitable young dogs, and I love starting a session with a game like this! You teach your dog to suppress the instinct to chase after something that moves and to engage you to access the food thrown out. It helps develop the part of the dog’s brain which controls their own excitement so they can exert more self-control taking pressure off you to be hands-on the whole time. Encouraging eye contact opens a communication channel that can be used to guide your dog through the rest...

  Words falling on deaf ears The trouble with us humans is we chatter! Dogs can quickly learn to switch off and ignore our words as background noise; this doesn’t pose a problem as we potter about the house nattering BUT can cause an issue when our verbal cues such as a recall fall on deaf ears!   Tool of choice The benefits of a whistle are generally when we have a whistle on, as humans, we go into ‘training mode’ so it is not overused like our words can sometimes be. The sound of a whistle can carry better than...

Tips and tricks to engage and motivate your dog in training Without an appropriate channel unmet natural instincts can come out in all sorts of problematic ways: running, chasing, playing, hunting and lack of hearing when they’re busy doing something ‘important’ to name a few! It’s not enough to teach them they shouldn’t do these behaviours, to ‘scratch the itch’ you must find their dogs safe opportunities to express natural behaviour.    How to motivate your breed of dog? You might find it interesting to learn about something called “The predatory sequence”. It is a behaviour chain that is made...