Good day all round. Woods, walks, training outside… fully took advantage of the no rain 😅 and a bit of Samoyed practice as well. https://www.instagram.com/reel/DUq4WRpjF91/?igsh=MXNxdnZtcHdqbTVwaQ==

Haven't posted for a bit as ive been in Paris for a couple days for work. I know!! Jammy bi-hatch aren't I. I got yesterday afternoon to do some sight seeing which was great fun. Had the best hot chocolate I've ever had too😂 Before we went we had another play session and have also had one since coming back. I'm just really not getting anywhere with training at the moment if I'm honest. I don't think Aster is enjoying any of it. I'm going to just park it for a while I think. Just feel like every session ends on a negative note and it's killing our motivation. Agility is being cancelled week after week too with this shitty weather and I don't even know what it is I want to achieve. I'm being a right negative nelly aren't I! Boo friggin' hoo. What do you guys all do when you're fed up? I forgot the explain the dead rabbit bit....Aster caught one on a ride today. It was a massive one and she carried it 2.5 miles home, mad buggar. She'll be sore tomorrow I expect but was a cheap dinner for her!

Hey guys, hope you’re all doing well and enjoying this surprisingly nice weather we’ve had lately 😅 I’ve been pretty quiet all January to be honest. I’ve been struggling a bit to post like I used to, so this is just me checking in before the end of the month haha 🙌 Karma is almost 5 months now and honestly, she’s so much fun to work with. The first couple of months were not easy at all, especially with three other dogs in the house, but I feel like we’re finally getting there. More sleep helps too 😂 I haven’t crated her for the last month and she’s settled really well with the other dogs, which makes me super happy. Most of the time she’s just chilling or chewing her toys. I’ve also started leaving all the dogs alone for short periods. The max so far is about 1/2hours, which means I can actually go to the gym again etc. I still keep an eye on her on the cameras, but I’m honestly proud of how much progress we’ve made after those intense first two months of basically watching her all day so she learns what’s allowed and what’s not. Her best friend is Suzy now and those two go absolutely wild together 😂 but overall I’m just really happy. She’s crazy smart and fast. Proper little pocket rocket. I’ve finished all my previous courses and now I’ve picked up Heeling Styles and PPD from Nino, so I’m starting to learn how to teach her to bite. Well, trying to at least 😅 I’m really enjoying playing with her and I just got my first sleeve, which is honestly so cool. We’ll see how it goes. A lot of people say you can’t be a decoy for your own dog, but with so many resources available these days, I think you can achieve a lot if you put the work in 🤓 and then take it to the next level. Below a few videos and photos 😊

What was the last thing you trained your dog? Tell us about it.

We've been continuing to work very short sessions on position changes whilst it pisses down and sneaking out on rides in between. We met the neighbour and his spaniel on a walk the other day and Aster was brilliant. Into middle and look at me, which i was really pleased with. We went to the park today for some "other dog" exposure and to see if she would play etc. We started with me just sitting in the boot of the car and her watch the other dogs in the park first as they were a bit close to start with. A few barks but she could disengage and look at me. We got out and did some food bowl-outs to get her moving and engaged. It started strong and petered out a bit so we got a toy to kick around which she couldn't have cared less about. Switched to her chuckit ball and thrower which she hasn't had in a while (but has always been her fave) and she was like a different dog. We did some "arounds" with the bench, some source focus, bark activation etc. Was pretty easy with that particular toy and agree had a great time. My worry though is that she is (i am) completely reliant on one particular toy as a motivator and the games/exercises in themselves have never become particularly reinforcing... she's really hard work at the moment in terms of getting much out of her during training. Feel like our play stuff hit a wall and has been going backwards for a while. We finished with another session just watching the other dogs from the boot of the car which was very good (auto-looking at me) so was pleased with that.