...Making dog training fun, fun, fun...

10 GOOD REASONS WHY THIS OUTING WAS SO USEFUL FOR MY CLIENTS AND THEIR DOGS

• Another great location for the ‘Doggy Club Group 2’. Everyone was introduced to another great location!
   
• This week we were in Cannes!! Clients had another fun session; working with heelwork, training their dog’s good greeting behaviours, ‘leaves’ and much more, whilst enjoying a beautiful walk along the promenade! 

• Clients and their dogs all had fun socialising, chatting about their week, the training session that day and where we would go next week!
   
• An event was running the day of our class outing so clients had lots of different stimuli to practice with, people with suitcases, people rushing about, photographers and performers. Clients could practice passing the crowds of people, as well as practising passing dogs that were on and off the lead!

• This was another location where clients and their dogs could further progress with their training.
   
• This outing provided the perfect opportunity for clients to work at shaping their dog’s confidence in a more complex environment working with many different types of stimuli!

• This outing concentrated on heelwork so clients were able to work on this while walking along the promenade. There were several heelwork exercises, sometimes clients and their dogs would walk as a group side by side or one in-front of the other as I worked with clients and their dogs to positively shape heelwork skills. I covered simple exercises to more complex ones, for example the order in which clients and their dogs walked would change throughout the walk, enabling clients to focus on basic to more challenging  heelwork, whilst they shaped their dogs confidence around the stimuli occurring around them but also their dogs focus on them. Sometimes a client would have two other group members and their dogs in front so could practice with this more challenging approximation of heelwork where they could practice gaining their dog’s focus as well as practice heelwork with distractions in front of them.

• Clients continued to work at building that special bond with their dog and the best way to do this is through training and having fun with your dog. I truly believe a trained dog is happy dog!! Clients here and from week to week are committing to training and their dogs. They have fun spending time with their doggy best friend and their dog’s best pals in the group and are putting work into developing a good relationship with their dog. Clients are enjoying the experience of going out meeting new people, socialising their dog and having fun on walks/outings with their dog, everything that having a dog should bring, you and your dog having fun out and about!! It’s what it’s all about!! So don’t hesitate, come and join us!!

• There was another competition this week! Clients worked at their heelwork with their dogs but had to complete a chosen behaviour with their dog when my signal was given. As soon as they heard ‘stop’ they had to complete the chosen behaviour with their dog given to the group, e.g. ‘Twist’, ‘Sit’ etc. Clients laughed and had great fun seeing who could complete the behaviour first. See everyone in the photo holding their prizes up! It was survival of the fittest and the completion was fierce, who was going to win! Bryne and Sara were our winners this week! Well done!!

• We all had coffee and everyone enjoyed the sea view and the buzz of Cannes!

Victoria James BSc (Hons),
Animal Behaviourist & Trainer

Victoria James, BSc (Hons) (Licence),
Dresseuse et Conseillère en Comportement d’animaux

Tel: +33 (0)4 93 36 79 09
Mobile/Portable: 0033 (0)6 89 19 50 88
Email: victoriaspettraining99@yahoo.co.uk