Cadbury, Sparrow, Merlin, Swift and Me
https://youtu.be/iiilC4pHMF0 Sparrow's running contacts have been an ongoing experiment as I have adapted my training to suit her and to re-teach her what to do with contacts. We are reaching a stage of consistency that is very exciting, but I want to push Sparrow's understandings of her contacts, to discover if she is really grasping... Continue Reading →
Sometimes you have to go back to go forwards. In fact that happens a lot in dog training. Recently I felt Sparrow was not quite clear on the criteria I was asking for with her running contacts, so I took a step back, I reassessed and I decided to go back to groundwork. I began... Continue Reading →
Today's session of running contacts involved trying to phase out the use of the toy. Sparrow normally runs down the contact to a click and treat box, now we want to have her driving from the dogwalk onto another obstacle. Naomi was helping me today (thanks Naomi!), she has been helping me iron out the... Continue Reading →
Swift is now 13 weeks old and full vaccinated, so she is pretty ready to rock and roll puppy style! After Sparrow's 1-2-1 session with Helen Anderson this month, we spent 10 minutes playing with Swift. Many people believe that a pup can't start doing agility until they are over a year old, and in... Continue Reading →
Sparrow has come a long way since we started training her running dogwalk using a piece of carpet. She is now running a full dogwalk and we are incorporating distance, speed and other obstacles. She still has a lot to learn and a lot to proof, but already she is faster and more confident, which... Continue Reading →
I've been working on lots of fun games to play with Swift to encourage her to try new things and to develop our bond and relationship. Puppies have so much to learn that it can seem daunting sometimes, but this fun little game incorporates several later areas of training without your pup even realising it.... Continue Reading →
For the third year running I qualified for the Beachside Finals at Waxham Sands. This year I had Merlin and Sparrow running, both in Novice grade but different heights. Beachside is the show where the journey began for us back in 2013 when Merlin started competing. I always feel at home with the Beachside team.... Continue Reading →
Tuesday night means Broads night, which has got to be just about the best evening of the week. Heck, we even had coconut tarts to munch on between classes! Two smaller courses had been set up to test us, each one having enough sneaky traps and variants to keep us busy. As there was a... Continue Reading →
Shaping is a method of training using a clicker. Instead of luring or showing the dog how to do something, the behaviour is developed through clicking and rewarding desirable movements. The handler gives no verbal cues and the dog is effectively leading the trick training. To make things more interesting there are two types of... Continue Reading →
Easter weekend and time for the first big Kennel Club show of the year. I woke excited but then the nerves kicked in and by the time I was at the showground I had managed to knock my confidence by stressing about the day ahead. Not a great start and my tension fed straight down... Continue Reading →
Team Jackson 