Obedience and Bikejor

Today has been rather action packed... and great fun.

First stop was with Clare Williams from Chesvale Dog Training Club, along with a few of her fellow trainers, who taught us all about Heelwork and the Novice Recall in Obedience. Along with a 'what is' style video, we filmed a 'how to teach' for each exercise, we're very keen to get these edited and added to the site.

Then it was on to see Jackie England and Jo Hart with Riley, her German Longhaired Pointer for their first ever go at Bikejor. After 20 minutes, both Jo and Riley had (alongside a fair bit of mud) great big smiles on their faces, they definitely seem hooked!

We also got to try out our new GoPro, stay tuned for some 'dogs eye view' footage coming soon!

Scent work in Oxfordshire

Today we were off to Oxfordshire to join Heather Donnelly again, but this time we were filming scent work. Heather told us all about how to teach a passive indication and also how to pair the scent we want the dogs to find with food, so that they start to look for just the scent. This is the same type of training that search dogs do, whether they are searching for drugs, bombs or missing people.

The dogs that were training today were just pet dogs though, with wonderful owners who really understand how important mental stimulation is for our pet dogs, and who thoroughly enjoy spending a few hours teaching their canine companions to learn a new skill.

We're thinking of having a go at this with our office puppy Skyler, it would be great to teach her to find the scent of our lost keys!

February 2015

We've discovered that office puppy Skyler is no lover of the great outdoors in the winter.  That is to say, she enjoys herself when she gets on a walk but the prospect of going on one is not very appealing, despite her warm winter jacket. I think I know how she feels. But, it's a good time of the year to start preparing for those outdoor activities for when the warmer weather comes.

Maybe you've considered Obedience. This month we find out why Obedience is a sport for all breeds, and if you want to make a start on Obedience, how about starting heelwork with the stand beside.

Maybe the idea of Tracking is more appealing, in which case you could find out how to introduce articles in Tracking. Or, if you fancy giving Carting a try, you could learn what Carting equipment you'd need.

If you want something useful for all training, Kamal Fernandez tells us how to increase an interest in rewards.

This month we also learn about muzzle training, as it's better to be safe than sorry, and about a new product called the Doddle.

Finally, we learn what sort of campaigns The Kennel Club get involved in.