Too busy to post!

Its been a busy few days which have meant that some of my tasks have been put on hold, namely writing this blog. Anyway Bailey is still with us and still proving to be a lovely dog, very calm and respectful around the house, but quite sparky on his walks with a love of life which is always good to see!

Did some more training with Elvis the Staffy the other day, he is very tense around other dogs because he was nor properly socialised and so he wants to meet dogs but doesn't know how!

We had him on a long line and walked him behind our test dog Foley the Springer Spaniel and then gradually alongside with no problems. The dogs were then allowed to run free with Elvis on a dragging long line supervised by me. If Foley came running past this elicited the prey / chase response in old Elvis and that had to be corrected. When we stopped to speak that was when the explosion occurred as his brain stopped focusing on other matters and went back into habit mode of aggression as a form of defence.

So homework for his owners is muzzle training for his next session so we can let him be more relaxed around strange dogs without worrying about them getting injured. This requires them to use a clicker to reward the dog when the muzzle is around, before slowly building up to him wearing it! I'll post this phase separately as it is important that this is done correctly or the dog wont accept the muzzle and will try to remove it!

Happy training!