Parkour is amazing (or how going to class made our holidays better)

(Blog written by Laura and the Daring Duo)

As anyone who has attended one of our Parkour workshops or classes will already know, I agree with that statement on principle, but given that we were halfway along a footpath deep in the Welsh countryside and, not two minutes earlier, had been talking about what we were planning to have for lunch, it wasn’t really what I’d been expecting to hear.

When I turned round though, I saw this and it all suddenly made perfect sense

The route from our holiday cottage to the local village was a little over a mile and included at least six stiles, two kissing gates and a metal bridge, all of which I hadn’t really noticed because we’d been able to just move past them.

Our parkour practice means that Brian and Seamus are confident about problem-solving the obstacles in their paths – they’ll work with me to climb up on things, wriggle under things, jump over things and are basically happy putting their feet on anything!

If my dogs weren’t confident in exploring and navigating their environments, it could have been an absolute nightmare of a walk (and I’m lucky; my two are both small enough that in a worst case scenario, I can always lift them over an obstacle.

I distinctly remember Laird’s first encounter with a stile being a LOT more challenging and involving two people, a lot of encouragement, a rear end lift and a flying sausage!).

The games we play in a training class are always best when they translate into a real world setting and make our lives easier and more enjoyable.

Classes should be fun, but the things we learn there are often more than just a trick to be saved for that training setting and sometimes they can come in useful in unexpected ways.

The world is full of obstacles for our dogs (literal and figurative) and I’m a big fan of using whatever you have in your toolbox to help your dog work through those obstacles in the ways that work best for them.

I’d love to hear about how you and your dogs have used the things you’ve learnt in classes in your daily lives, especially if you’ve been inventive and used things in ways you hadn’t expected to!

If you can’t think of an example, that’s okay – it’s never too late to start trying out the things you know in different situations and see if they give you new and interesting approaches to whatever challenges you face.

Have fun problem-solving your week!

Laura and the daring duo 

PS For literal problem-solving fun, why not come along for one of our Parkour workshops this autumn. We have introductory and progressions sessions suitable for all types of dogs and we’d love to see you there!



PPS If you’re in a sticky situation with something that you and your dog can’t work out how to problem solve, you don’t have to struggle alone – why not drop us an email at the office and see if it’s something the team can help you with?