It’s been a while since I’ve published an update on the boy’s progress. We have been working hard over the last few months and I’ve also done load of CPD which has been very helpful. We attended practical workshops with Kamal Fernandez and Kay Laurence over the last few weeks, and I hosted Sarah Owings from California a couple of weeks ago and we talked at length about how to progress his training. Sarah has been through a very similar process with her dog, Tucker over the last few years.
I’ll write more about the detail of what we have been doing when I have more time. I’m also presenting at the IMDT Conference on Logan as a case study next weekend so I don’t want to give away too many spoilers!
Bullet points I have been helped identifying over the last few months
- he needs a constructive outlet for his energies (I was doing this to a certain degree but focused what I was doing)
- different toys for different games; Kongs seem to be too arousing for him if he is chasing them but ok of he is searching for them, soft toys are good for chase and games where I play a bigger role
- play more co-operative games with him
- teaching him release cues to fluency so he knows exactly what is expected of him
- he is not the same dog as he was this time last year, so the reasons for doing stuff or not doing stuff may (and very often are) either not there at all or very different.
Stay tuned for more over the next few weeks, I have plenty of video and thoughts to share.
Thanks for reading.
Glasgow Dog Training By Dog Behaviourist John McGuigan 