Oh hell yeah! Well done girls!

Your position on the leaderboard doesn’t reflect your dog’s training or behaviour. The leaderboard is based on member engagement within Walkys — things like commenting, participating in discussions, and being involved in the community. Your dog is a great dog and is very well behaved. As we’ve spoken about before, a well-balanced dog that can confidently navigate all areas of life is the ultimate goal. The Walkys levels are designed to show progress over time. They aren’t something most dogs achieve in just a few weeks. The program was created to help people work through challenges, build skills, and gain life experience with their dogs step by step. While your dog has been with Walkys for some time, the new level system has only been running for around six months and has gone through a number of changes during that period. Not reaching a certain level doesn’t mean your dog is failing. It simply means there are still specific skills or areas that need more development before progressing to the next stage. That’s completely normal and part of the process. A level is simply a snapshot of where your dog is today. It is not a measure of your dog’s worth, your effort, or your success as an owner. Some of the best dogs in the program may not be at the highest level because their owners haven’t focused on completing the required exercises, while other dogs may be at a higher level simply because they’ve spent more time working through the system. What matters most is whether your dog is improving, coping well in everyday life, and building a stronger relationship with you. That’s the real success story. Our staff speak with you regularly and provide homework and training exercises to help you continue moving forward. The important thing is not the level itself, but the progress your dog continues to make along the way. Lex :-)

A lot of people think that pulling a dog aside to sit and watch a trigger means they aren’t making a big deal of it. But from the dog’s perspective, we’ve just stopped everything, moved over, and focused on that one thing. We can accidentally teach the dog that the trigger is important and deserves their attention. That doesn’t mean we walk a reactive dog straight past every trigger. We still need to respect threshold and distance. If a dog is over threshold, they aren’t learning. They’re reacting. Our job is to find the distance where the dog notices the trigger but can still think, respond, and stay engaged with us. Once we have that distance, we use movement. Instead of stopping and staring at the garbage truck, dog, or person, we calmly move through the environment. The dog learns that the trigger exists, but nothing changes. We don’t panic, we don’t stop, and we don’t make it the centre of the walk. If the dog needs more space, we create more space. If they can cope closer, we gradually reduce the distance over time. The goal isn’t to force the dog through their threshold—it’s to work at a distance where they can be successful. Neutral movement teaches the dog that distractions are just part of life. We acknowledge them, move past them, and reward the dog for staying calm and making good decisions. P.s how wonderful is Eliza! She is the best!

We are excited to meet him!

Hahahaha that’s awesome!