New Year: New Actions?

Yep, it's that time of year again when the world seems full of good ideas and shiny resolutions. Not to mention the fields are full of dogs suddenly being walked more than usual.

I'm (Morag) a big fan of setting goals, tracking actions and reviewing progress.

But I'm NOT a big fan of the whole new year/new you shenanigans.



The trick is to figure out your goal, and then break that down into the daily or weekly actions that will get you closer.

Rather than tracking your success each week, just make sure to record what you actually did. You can control what you take action on even if the results are variable!

For example

I can make a point of practicing attention games with Laird at least twice on every walk in dense woodland.

Does that guarantee that he will have been paying attention?

Heck no!

But it massively increases the chance that he will be paying more attention as the days and weeks go past...

We can give you the games, techniques and tools - you just need to put in the consistent effort.



We're officially back in the office from Monday 6th January, and bookings are already open for our January classes (start 15 Jan) if you want some support in taking those regular tiny actions!

Morag, Clare & Laura
Well Connected Canine


What’s going on in WCC Land? 


Weekly classes are moving to Wednesday evenings from 15th January 2020
 

• APDT Good Companion classes at 18:30 Book Here

• Relaxation & Bodywork classes at 19:30 Book Here

Workshops & Activities

Gundog Games workshops with Clare will run monthly AND you can buy three workshops at a discounted rate, so long as you use them within 6 months
 

• Games for Gundogs Book Here
• Games for Gundogs Multibuy Gift Certificate: Book Here

Social Skills for Dogs That Struggle are running in smaller groups, more often! See all your options for January, there's at least four sessions per month now: Book Here

Parkour really is the activity for all occasions and we have an introductory session in January plus a brand new Parkour Challenge in the Wild workshop in February
 

• Parkour Fundamentals: https://app.acuityscheduling.com/schedule.php?owner=13187434&appointmentType=12264254
• Parkour Skills: Outdoor Adventure: https://app.acuityscheduling.com/schedule.php?owner=13187434&appointmentType=12264316

Multi-dog harmony was a popular request last year so we’re offering a webinar in January to introduce the core skills, AND a practical workshop in February to put it into practice. BOOKINGS OPENING SOON!

There are fewer places on most workshops so you can get more focused, individualised help!

New Puppy...are you really ready?

I have a confession… I’ve had a lot of puppies over the last 9 years, probably about 10!!. Now, they weren’t all my puppies, some were foster puppies for rescue and some were client puppies and some I was lucky enough to keep

And you’d think by puppy number 10 (Summer the Flatcoated Retriever) I’d find puppy raising a walk in the park, wrong! Each and every time it’s blooming hard work.

Don’t get me wrong, I’ve got excellent strategies and management skills for toilet training, dealing with mouthing, teaching the puppy to be happy alone, training etc. but all of that takes time and commitment.

The hard work is getting up every 30-45 mins to take the puppy out to toilet, making sure I have tug toys everywhere for playtime (instead of puppy using my trousers), managing interactions with my dogs so nobody gets bullied (Spencer the German Shepherd is such a softie he often gets picked on by puppies), sitting next to puppy’s crate until they fall asleep at night (and sleeping with my hand on the crate). The daily time dedicated to taking the puppy somewhere new and having a new experience…..I’ll stop there, you get the idea.

Preparing for a new addition

This week I went to visit Emily and Mike and their amazing Working Cocker Spaniel Sully. Emily and Mike will soon to be adding a new addition to their family, Buzz the Working Cocker Spaniel puppy. Emily and Mike have already successfully raised one puppy, but they wanted some extra help with a few things to prepare Sully for the new puppy coming home.

We talked about how they might manage the new puppy and Sully at home to ensure both dogs get human time without any issues. How, when and if we might want to intervene when the dogs are interacting together.

Puppies are hard work, even if you’ve already raised one puppy or are an experienced puppy raiser…are you ready?

Where to find extra support

One of the best ways to make sure you get some additional support with raising your puppy is to attend a well run puppy class, with instructors who are experienced and ideally qualified to teach you and your puppy. 

We are happy for prospective puppy parents to come and observe our classes before they commit to booking with us so they can meet the team and see how we train. 

Find out more about our Puppy Classes by clicking below

If you’re not local to us try looking on the APDT website for a trainer who runs classes local to you.


Already attending our classes but need some extra help? Don’t forget we can offer a discounted Puppy 121 session for those attending classes, you can email your trainer directly or the office info@wellconnectedcanine.co.uk

Happy Training 

Clare and the gang

P.s. Do you have a gundog puppy? Interested in learning more about these amazing dogs? Want to get started with some gundog foundation training? 

Watch this space - Baby Gundog Training workshop coming soon! 

*whispers* have you set any resolutions yet?

So it’s a new year, apparently! 

I have to confess, I’m not super into the whole new year-new you/new training thing. Not because I don’t set goals, but that’s not a once per year thing for me.

Here at WCC we run on 4 x mini years (12 week years, or Morag Years as Clare likes to call them!), which gives us four times as many new year – new start opportunities!

The problem with most resolutions is they’re unachievable, much too vague, and the deadline is so far away that we lose any sense of urgency…

Working in shorter blocks of time, with clearly defined goals really does change everything. 

If you’re not convinced, why not read the lovely message that came in from Laura & Roman.

They’ve worked so very hard through 2018, and made amazing progress from taking long car trips, attending rehab class, relaxing during firework season and having “Monty Don” moments in the garden!

"If anyone's feeling determined but also a bit unsure about how to go about making some real progress with their dog, can I recommend working with Morag on a 12 week plan. I did this with my lurcher, Roman, last year and we made huge and unexpected progress.

Morag helped us define our overall goal, then break it down into smaller objectives, which we worked on for 12 weeks, adjusting as we went along. We had regular Skype calls to keep us on track which really helped.

Our overall goal was to go to Morag and Clare's Rehab Club, so we could practice being around other dogs. Unfortunately, the location is about an hour's drive from where we live, and Roman was very unsettled in the car on long drives. 

Before we could think about how Rehab Club could help us, we had to think about getting there! So our smaller objectives were for Roman to be able to travel longer distances in the car, without getting anxious, to be more relaxed about visiting new places, and to be more settled in the car on his own.

Each week we had specific aims, like introducing new drives, increasing the length of drives, practicing the Relaxation Protocol in different places and in the car.

By the end of the 12 weeks, we'd progressed to a couple of practice drives to where the Rehab Club takes place, and have now been to Rehab Club about 5 times, where we were able to work on Roman's reactivity to other dogs, which has also improved a lot. 

I found the plan quite intensive but the structure helped me keep on track. I was also able to see clearly how much progress we were making. And of course, I couldn't have done it without Morag's patience, encouragement and humour"

So what’s your small, achievable and clearly defined goal for the next few months?

Feeling brave? Post it in the FaceBook group, that’s where I’ll be putting mine shortly!

 

What's going on in WCC Land?

Don't miss out on your WCC fix this month, we have seminars, workshops AND adult classes start back on 21st January.

• Book 10 week classes or 3 week intensives up front and pay online (don’t forget to use your codes) 
• Book a 10 week class but spread the cost over three payments (instructions here ) 
• Book 10 canicross classes and get one free OR book each week individually

Book an evening seminar


Book 10 week block classes

Book a 3 week intensive

Special Reward Codes

Our glamorous assistants can use their special discount codes, and anyone in the WCC family who books more than one class (paying up front) can use your special dedication code. If you think you should have a code, but can’t remember it please email the office for help (info@wellconnectedcanine.co.uk)

Don't lose sight of how far you've come when you realise how far you have to go!

It’s the start of a new year, which tends to result in lots of retrospectives and a helping of unrealistic resolutions.

What we’re less good at is giving ourselves (and our dogs) credit for the progress we have achieved.

Clare posted about some of her thoughts and plans in our special WCC Rehab “virtual coffee and cake” FB group (you’re welcome to join if you use our behaviour services or attend rehab club)

The last week before Xmas was pretty hectic for me, and I’ll be honest I was dreading Laird’s last Helpful Hounds class.

The previous week had been rather eventful (one grabbed and bruised hand, stolen toys, complete inability to concentrate, and a total failure to complete any task). I’m so grateful to my ever patient class mates!

But for final week, Laird really did pull it out of the hat.

We opened doors (“shove” = push the nose target), we closed doors without breaking them (“tug it” = grab and pull the tuggy on the door handle), settled beautifully without stealing stuff.

And then the really amazing bit.

The dog that steals and eats basically any plastic related items…waited while I threw out a plastic pot before retrieving it to hand when asked *shocked*

Even better, when we went to the pub later on Laird managed to socialise calmly and even settle for 10 minutes without any non-consensual humpage! I think that because the girlies handle pubs perfectly, I forget how much work went into that bit of their training.

So, since Laird came home with me in May 2018, he’s made some pretty amazing progress.

Are we done? Heck no!
A brief Xmas trip to the Lakes emphasised that his interest in hunting has gotten much stronger, and we need to bring that under control asap. I’m not even going to start listing the things he ate, or the number of times he stole toys from my parents new dog.

 I’m looking forward to the next year with my UltraCollie Freya, ShoutyDog Bronte, and BigYin Laird – life is guaranteed to be interesting!

Are you thinking about next year's training goals?

Determined to crack that reliable recall or learn a new set of skills?

Choose from three week intensives to 10 week block classes, and don’t forget we’ve a new programme of evening seminars too – these let you find out a bit more about special topics before committing to a workshop or full class block!


Book an evening seminar

You asked us for more payment options, so here they are!

• Book 10 week classes or 3 week intensives up front and pay online (don’t forget to use your codes) 
• Book a 10 week class but spread the cost over three payments (instructions here ) 
• Book 10 canicross classes and get one free OR book each week individually 

Book 10 week block classes

Book a 3 week intensive

Special Reward Codes 

Our glamorous assistants can use their special discount codes, and anyone in the WCC family who books more than one class (paying up front) can use your special dedication code. If you think you should have a code, but can’t remember it please email the office for help (info@wellconnectedcanine.co.uk)

Happy New Year!

Morag and the WCC Team 

New events! Rally-O competition and APDT Good Companion Awards

Some information on our forthcoming events below. I would also like to thank the fourteen very kind people who responded to our request for puppy socialisers with York RSPCA - you know who you are! 

We are exploring the options for more outdoor classes including groundwork and socialisation opportunities to be held on weekends and I will keep you updated!

Wednesday 29^th June 2011: Fun Rally-Obedience Competition

Levels I and II classes

Food rewards allowed in some classes

On and off lead options

Entry on the day: £2 per class

Q&A and course walk through from 6pm

ALL DOGS WELCOME – REQUIREMENTS ARE HEEL, BASIC POSITIONS, STAY, WALK BACK, HEEL UP

Please see http://www.apdt.co.uk/ukrally.asp for more details

Please register your interest by email to morag@wellconnectedcanine.co.uk

Wednesday 6^th July 2011: APDT Good Companion Award Test Night

Companion Puppy (6 months):                  6pm

Companion Dog (level I):                            7pm

£5 per dog (includes test, certificate and rosette if successful)

Please contact Morag to register (morag@wellconnectedcanine.co.uk) and to receive the criteria

Training assistants and assessments...

The Well Connected Canine classes are going really well, we're having great fun and seeing some really great changes in the dogs (and humans!). A few people have asked about assessments and things like the Kennel Club good citizen tests. Although we cover all of the material anyway I know its nice to have something to show at the end of a course, especially when things were difficult to start with.

Personally I'm not a massive fan of the Kennel Club and there are aspects of the Good Citizens tests that I feel uncomfortable with, however I am incredibly excited to see that the APDT who operates a kind, fair and effective training techniques only policy are developing their own assessments.

You can be sure that we will be one of the first to offer these assessments just as soon as they are agreed and ready to go!

In other exciting news, we will be looking for training assistants to start working with our classes in September or October this year. As numbers increase its important to make sure everyone can access the personal support that makes our classes so successful, its also a great way to spread the knowledge of kind, fair and effective training techniques.

So, if you or anyone you know has some experience in training dogs and would like to talk to me about assisting in any of our classes - just let me know!

Enjoy the sunshine!