Puppy Sessions
Monty
Monty originally came to me for puppy classes and was fabulous throughout his course – picking things up very quickly!
As he got older, it became clear that Monty was struggling with separations from his owners – and from his mum in particular. This was causing problems at work, as Monty goes to work with mum and would cry and work himself up whenever she had to leave him to go to a meeting.
We worked together over the course of two 1:1 sessions at home to help Monty with his anxieties. We established that rather than having true isolation distress, Monty was actually suffering from frustration/FOMO when he wasn’t with his owners, which is very common in young dogs.
We looked at how to make sure Monty’s needs were being met day to day through enrichment and scent work; how to get him having fun on independent tasks and how to show Monty that he wasn’t missing out on anything fun when mum & dad were out the room.
Now, Monty is happy to be left without his mum and is able to happily settle with other people when he’s in the office. A great result for Monty!
Bruno
Bruno’s owners initially got in contact when he was a puppy, as they wanted to give him the best start in life. They signed him up for a Puppy Package so that we could work together at home before he started his classes.
We spoke about the standard puppy behaviours of biting and toilet training, as well as helping Bruno to settle in the night and prevent separation anxiety from forming. He absolutely smashed puppy classes and was an attentive learner!
Half way through his course of classes, his owners mentioned that he had been resource guarding. When he was given a high value treat (in this case, a cow’s ear) and they went to take it off of him, he snarled, showed his teeth and snapped. This really took his owners aback because he had never shown these tendencies before.
We spoke about how to handle if Bruno ever had an item that he shouldn’t have, rather than chasing him. We also looked at how to teach him to ‘trade’ and how to distract him when he has something he shouldn’t. It was also important for us to work on Bruno seeing his owners approaching him when he had his. cows ear as a positive thing that was going to add to his experience rather than a negative that was going to take away.
As with all his training, Bruno picked this up very quickly and his owners have had no further issues with his guarding behaviours.
Mia
Working with puppies is one of the best parts of my job and I have a particular soft spot for Pomeranians! Mia’s owners contacted me when she was 9 weeks old as they were interested in puppy classes.
After a little conversation, it became clear that Mia had not had much of a chance for socialisation yet and so we decided to move forward with a Puppy Package to prevent any fearfulness or reactivity from forming.
When I first met Mia, she did not know her name or any basic commands so we looked at how to teach her the basics. We also spoke about toilet training, getting her to settle through the night, building up separations and diet. Mia was proving to be a little fussy around food so we spoke about how to get her motivated to work for her kibble, without using higher value treats.
Once she had had her vaccinations, Mia joined puppy classes and was very confident coming in, which was lovely to see. She picked up all of the commands and her owners worked hard with her at home so that she was able to move onto more advanced obedience.
Well done to little Mia!
Loki
Puppy training for Loki, the Frenchie. His owners got in touch when they first brought Loki home to start their Puppy Package as they were keen to get advice on certain behaviours that come with bringing home a puppy. He was 11 weeks old when we first started work together.
Over the course of our 2 puppy sessions, we worked together on a number of key areas: toilet training, puppy biting, settling at night, crate training, separations, impulse control, jumping up, barking
After his vaccinations, Loki joined us at Puppy Classes where he learnt lots of new skills (most importantly, how to listen to his owners when there are distractions around!) and he did a wonderful job. Have you ever seen such a cute little face?!
Elsie
Puppy training sessions for Elsie the blue staffy. Elsie’s owners came to me for training when she was 5 months old, seeking help to give her the best start in life but also to address a few unwanted behaviours that had cropped up and they were unsure of how to manage.
Over the course of our sessions, we worked together on a number of key areas:
- Recall
- Focus on walks
- Loose lead walking
- Calmness around visitors
- Doorbell desensitisation
- Boundary training at the front door
- Mouthing/puppy biting behaviours
- Over excitement around other dogs
- Toilet training
- Digging in the garden
- Enrichment opportunities
This might seem like a lot to tackle but Elsie was a superstar throughout and her owners showed 100% dedication to her and her training. We found ways to address the route cause of her behaviours (which was general puppy excitement!) and by addressing this, everything else fell into place for Elsie.
Elsie has now learnt solid routines and behaviours, which she can take forward with her through adolescence and into adulthood, in order for her to be happy, calm, enriched pooch.
Bean
Training for Bean the Boston Terrier. Bean was six months old when her owners came to me looking for help with her recall.
Bean was over-excited around other dogs and was unable to disengage when she saw them. If she was off the lead, she would not listen to calls to come back and she would be gone! Whilst her love of other dogs was sweet, her owners recognised that it jeopardised Bean’s safety; a solid recall is absolutely essential. What if Bean ran over to a reactive, on-lead dog? What if she ran across a road?
Recall training looks different for every dog as they each have their own reasons and motivations for not wanting to return to their owner, but for Bean, it was simply that other dogs were far too exciting.
We worked together on a mixture of training and management strategies with the end goal of making Bean’s owners the most exciting thing on her walks so that she would choose them over other dogs. We taught Bean new commands that her owners could throw in on their walks together to keep her focus and engagement on them. We also spoke about how to read the environment and Bean’s body language to prevent her from ‘locking on’ to other dogs and retain her attention.
As Bean is still young, her recall training will be ongoing but her owners now feel equipped to handle whatever their walks may throw Bean’s way.
Teddy
Puppy training for Teddy. Teddy’s owners came to me three days after he came home, at just 8 weeks, and he was just the scrummiest little chonky boy. His owners were very keen to give Teddy the best start possible and wanted to hit the ground running with his training and make sure they understood puppy development.
Through a mix of online consultations and in person training, we spoke about all areas related to healthy puppy development. Exercise, sleep, routine, crate training, diet, toilet training: we covered it all together. We also spoke in particular length about the importance of socialisation and habituation and what this entails. In terms of his training, we hit the ground running with some basic obedience, impulse control and recall.
Fast forward 6 weeks and Teddy is now 14 weeks old and thriving. We had an additional session to revisit everything Teddy had learned so far and his owners are delighted with the progress he has made. Teddy has already learned to engage/disengage from other dogs/people and has the foundations of a very solid recall.
