“The training worked!” When a plan comes together...

“How did you get your dogs to do that?” someone shouted over at me in the park yesterday.

I looked over, wondering what he meant.

Freya as usual, was insisting on training and doing tricks at me while Brontë wimbled happily by my side. Laird was thundering back towards us.

The chap wanted to know how I managed to get my dogs to come back when I called them. He had a little Lhasa apso who was very definitely staying on lead.

“With cheese and balls” was my mostly serious answer!

We had an interesting conversation about making sure we give our dogs a good reason to come back to us and how we might start training it.

And then, I came home to open my email and found a message from Jane and John (not their real names) who have been working hard to stop their big retriever crossbreed from charging off to greet other dogs and ignoring any suggestion from the owners that she might want to come back.

Your training works!

It was busy with dogs today so it was a good test for her. She did very well and we were really chuffed. We then met some friends who have 3 dogs. They kept remarking about how calm she was compared with when they’d last seen her 2 or 3 months ago. She was almost laid back with the other dogs!

Recall, or coming back when asked to, is one of those essential life skills.

It can turn walking your dog from a tiresome task into a pleasant enjoyable experience.

And when we talk about recall, I need your dog coming back promptly when you call or whistle them. Not just coming back at the end of a play session or after chasing the rabbit!

It’s a deceptively simple process, but you have to be consistent in your training and only take tiny little steps forward when your dog is really ready.

The not-so-secret Secret Recipe for Recall

• start playing games that encourage and reward your dog when they pay attention to you (parkour, scentwork, tracking, hand targets, and anything else) 
• stop letting your dog run off and ignore you (long lines are your friend) 
• start teaching a brand-new recall cue (a word or whistle pattern) and link it with the best ever reward for your dog (find their crack cocaine) 
• practice the new recall in very low distraction places to begin with (inside the house, in your garden, in a secure field and so on) 
• gradually build up the level of distraction and always be willing to drop back a stage if your dog is struggling

If you're reading this email or blog, and have an nagging sensation that your dog's recall is not as good as it could be, why not commit to recall being your summer training project?

• It’s never too late to sharpen up or introduce a reliable recall. 
• It really can save your dogs life. 
• And it will improve their quality of life and yours! 

I would love you to come and post in our small friendly private Facebook group if you’re taking on the summer recall challenge. https://www.facebook.com/groups/WellConnectedCanine/

What steps are you taking so that your dog isn’t practising the wrong thing?

And do you know what your dogs crack cocaine really is?

Of course, if you’d like a little bit of extra help and expert coaching, there is always our three-week intensive training programs.

Find a 3 week intensive

We offer level I and level II Baby Come Back courses to sharpen your skills, and you can ask us for a private course too!


Happy recalling

Morag, the big Yin (it’s nearly his one-year gotcha Day) and the collie girls 

P. S. Our recall is a bit of a work in progress. Freya is pretty reliable except if she gets too far away and finds a real bunny, but Project Squirrel has been a great success. Laird is pretty amazing unless he is actively on the hunt for something, and deer are our personal nemesis right now. But I promise we are working on it, and I’m using exactly the same techniques that we teach you in our courses!

P.P.S. yes, it has been a while since I emailed and blogged to you all, sorry about that! I've been a bit poorly lately and am still recovering so don't be surprised if it takes me a little longer to reply to emails or messages


What else is going on in WCC Land?

Sat 25th May Gundog Games

Sun 26th May Herding Dog Games 

Building resilience in a brain wired for PTSD

You all know by now that my wee Berlingo van was hit by another driver in December, causing quite a lot of damage and trauma. Bronte shook it all off and started to make friends with the emergency crews immediately! It’s taken rather longer for Freya and me to find out confidence again.

I’ve joked in the past that collie brains in particular seem almost to be hard-wired for traumatic experiences.

This isn’t meant unkindly, I really do love my collies and smart super-sensitive dogs in general! But collies are so often hyper aware of their environment, have incredibly acute hearing, pick up on the smallest changes, learn amazingly fast and in unexpected ways.

Depending on the individual dog, if they have a more “pessimistic” outlook then it might take just one bad experience for the dog to feel those situations are never to be trusted…  Freya is pretty typical of this. She started out really confident about travelling, relaxed, would sleep through anything and was my best co-pilot.

In the last 5 years we’ve been in two minor and one more serious accidents together. Telling Freya that the whole process of travelling is safe is hard. She’s learned to be worried by sudden changes in speed, bumps, traffic noises and more from those accidents, even though 98% of our journeys were okay.

We ARE making progress thankfully!

• Freya is back to coping well with almost all traffic noises when on walks (she was terrified of buses and vans 6 weeks ago)
•  Freya will confidently approach the rental van, play games around it (Parkour, Scentwork and Tricks), and is learning to slam the van doors herself.
•  Freya will often choose to jump in the crate in the back, and stay in with the crate open even if I walk away or move the van doors.

We’re almost ready to close all the doors, and sometime after that we’ll start playing with the engine noises.

Why has she been able to make this pretty considerable progress?

Partly because I’m doing everything I can to take pressure off her, so we can do things at her speed.

Partly because we’re using supportive medication – I’ve worked through these issues with her twice before without meds and its taken longer each time. Being able to travel with me is essential to both of our quality of life so we’re taking help from every angle.

Mostly we’re making progress because Freya is amazing!

In our training sessions over the years Freya has learned she can problem solve with my support, she can choose to do or not do things, and she can always come back later after a break.

Specifically, Freya knows the crate game REALLY well, she can shove things with her nose, put two paws or four paws on something, and how to make noises in the house.  We’re using all these to build her confidence interacting with the van and putting her in control.

Ultimately I want to see Freya not just interacting with the van, but doing Scentwork confidently all through it without even realising.

It’s a LONG process, but I am constantly inspired by Freya and her wee brain.

So for anyone who asks why you bother training your dog, or teaching them “tricks”….

Here’s my reason.

Because it builds confidence, resilience, and gives us both something to fall back on when life gives us lemons!

Have a fabulous week

Morag and the collie girls

PS Want to get in on some of this awesome fun training with your dog? Check out our Canine Activity Foundations class where you can learn the basics of Parkour, Agility, Rally and Scentwork over 6 weeks http://www.wellconnectedcanine.co.uk/classes/canine-activiity-foundations/

PPS if you’re struggling with your dog’s behaviour don’t forget we can often help. Even just a phone consultation could give you the tools you need to make those changes. Email Laura on info@wellconnectedcanine.co.uk for more information.

What Farah did on her holidays (quality of life for senior dogs)

You might have noticed the absence of emails and blogs for the last couple of weeks – I’ve been on holiday with my three collies.

Holiday time, or more specifically downtime, is surprisingly important. Without quiet time brains don’t get a chance to process all the information or learning – and that’s true for our dogs just as much for ourselves.

So the only “training” I worked on was Freya’s ongoing “Project Squirrel” (resist chasing the squirrel and come back when called). We had lots of new places in Scotland to practice and it went really well – more about that next time.

Most of my time was focused on Farah, affectionately known as the “little old lady collie” now. Farah is about 13 yrs old and bright as a wee button. However her physical body is slowly giving up on her (hip & elbow dysplasia, arthritis and heart issues). We need to balance medication, massage and acupuncture to keep her pain levels down.

Quality of life is our priority right now, and for the moment I think we’re managing ok. 

 

Here’s what Farah did on her holidays (in her own words)

“I started by supervising a canicross training camp in the Forest of Dean. While I enjoyed sleeping on my own air mattress I was less impressed at being told I couldn’t do any of the running – these youngsters have no idea how to do it right.

I’ve been out for dinner several times though I did have to chase down a waitress who foolishly took away my chips. The waitress stopped and apologised which made it a bit better, but I still didn’t get my chips back.* 

The chauffeuring has been better than usual with daily trips to good places, often with streams or rivers for me to guddle** in. I particularly enjoyed the morning visits to Loch Tay.

We stopped off on our way back from Scotland as it’s a long drive, and the room had a whole bed just for me – this is proper luxury retirement. Shall have to ask for my own bed at home…

Coffee and bonus cheese sniffing at cafes has happened fairly often (but could always be improved), so many dog friendly cafes make it much easier for me to have exciting days.

I convinced mum to get back into the kitchen and bake my favourite biscuits this weekend (cheese flavoured obviously) as she’s been a bit slack lately. I tested the dough several times, and then the biscuits – you can never be too careful.

One day mum did sneak in teaching a workshop, but I made
it clear this was not acceptable by eating her dinner roll, opening my medication pots and eating a whole tub of cocktail sausages at lunchtime***

It’s been a lovely couple of weeks, and I do hope my mum can keep up with this new lifestyle as I’m rather enjoying it….”

Notes and translations

*The chips were left over, Farah had already had several and didn’t need any more!

**Guddle means paddle and mess around in water

***I now know not to leave ANYTHING in the front of the van – she really is growing old disgracefully!

Have a wonderful week!

Morag and the collie girls


PS This is a great website with lots of helpful hints for your older or arthritic dog https://www.caninearthritis.co.uk/