Hey Team - in this video I show recorded the first session of everyday heelwork (this is NOT focus heelwork we have in the course HH -even though there are some similarities) Even though later on I want my dog to walk with the head down looking at the environment I start with the dog looking at me (face). Reason? dogs are learning placement shoulder-leg on the left much faster as they are much more focused. Also keeping this level of focus (dog looking at our face constantly) is simply not sustainable as dogs cannot walk like that on long distances. Therefore as I progress I allow my dog to look wherever they want and look at me only if I say their name. Teaching dog to switch back and forth look wherever you like - look at me has some practical advantages especially with reactive dogs at early stages of their training or easily distracted dogs. When I walk past the trigger eye contact with the trigger eg. other dog is much more confrontational. I can simply ask my dog hey look at me, your safe with me, you don't have to deal with that. Similar thing we do in our human world - we don't make deep eye contact with other people walking past. Then if someone is staring at us ( that make at least me bit uncomfortable) we often look away or look at the phone to avoid confrontation. With my dogs I want the to look at me and get my support when walking past triggers before they are ready to just ignore them. I will also do that with my perfectly friendly and social dogs- when walking past distractions I will often ask them to look at me so they are less tempted :) Let me know if you have any questions! ps. I have spaniel for residential training now- one of the goals is to teach street heeling. I'm tempted to document that. Shall I?

We are hosting Alex in Bristol in a few weeks and still have a few spaces left. These won't last long so save your space as soon as you can. View details and book here.

🤩 First of all - Welcome New Members! I'm super happy our community is growing! 🎾 Just quick reminder - you can still join PWP Challenge and get benefits of community, live Q&A's and my mentorship on play formula that builds motivation, confidence, relationship and emotional regulation. I'm really loving this this challenge and the community there is absolutely amazing! link here: https://www.skool.com/play-with-purpose-the-lab/about 🤓 Couple of you asked when there will be free webinar- it is coming and will be on 'Can play help your reactive dog?' is that something you would be interested in? let me know in the comments! 🥋 we have now belt system to reward the most active members! Skool is measuring your activity- the more you post/comment, like the higher score you get. You can see it on Leaderboards tab. the most active members will get free/discounted memberships, merch, mentorship/private calls etc.

What is the most important skill in dog training? If over the next 30 days you could acquire one dog-training skill as a superpower, which one would you choose? ps. If you think I missed one, comment it.

Hey Team, I’m opening the second edition of Play with Purpose — this time as The Lab. This is a live, coached environment where we break down play and motivation and remove the guesswork. 📦 What’s included - 🧩 Core course – Play With Purpose: Step-by-step framework to build engagement, confidence, motivation, relationship and focus in high arousal - 👥 Community: learn with other like minded dog owners and trainers - 🎯 5 week of my direct coaching - 📲 Weekly live Q&A (your questions answered) - 🎁 Bonuses (Luring Mastery, Powering Recall with Play, Retrieve Anything Guide) - Ps. Grads of PWP will have priority for Heelwork Hackers once is up. 🐕 Who This Is For - 🧠 Dog trainers - 🏆 Sport & working dog handlers - 🔥 Ambitious dog owners and all of us that are using rewards in training :) 💰 Pricing (clear and honest) Most “challenges” charge around £100 for one week. This is five weeks, live, with coaching. Early access price: £97 total (129 USD) • Now only available inside this community • Limited to first cohort • Price will go up later If you’re in, don’t wait. Click here: https://www.skool.com/play-with-purpose-the-lab/about?ref=7f1c744ba01a4ce68aae9b8cda9235c6 I will see you inside!