Training Tip Tuesday – Having Fun!

This is the start of what we plan to be Tuesday Training Tips.

We are still learning WordPress so apologies if the links to a separate page make this a bit clunky…. please feel free to offer advice.

Welcome to Training Tip Tuesday….

Firstly I want to start by saying that mum & I are not professionals in dog behavior or training. We train as participants through our local dog club (run by wonderful volunteers) and through some people who specialize in agility (check out links for both on Friends of 1st World Dog) . My 1st World Dod disclaimer is that this is a collection of things mum and I have learnt from these lovely and we wanted to record them for our sake. If they help you too that is awesome. These are the views of mum and I and if there is one thing we have learnt in the world of dog training so far it is that lots of people have lots of opinions and styles. Take in what we wish and see what works for you.

So let’s start with the most important thing. Fun. Mum and I do lots of training kinda stuff together. The reason we do it is for fun. I love getting out and learning new things, hanging out with mum and getting lots of praise, treats, pats and attention. Until we started investigating we didn’t realise how much was out there in our local area. There are lots of different things to do with us dogs. The ANKC rules, even if you don’t want to compete, might give you some ideas of things to do. We are still checking out different things. We started with basic Obedience, have been trialling in Rally O, Agility and even got our Endurance Title the other week. Thinking we want to give tracking a go and see if that is fun… Sounds fun if I get to keep my nose on the ground smelling stuff.

Many clubs, including ours, have you start with some obedience. It is for your own safety, and mum or dad’s sanity, so you vaguely stay with them and come when you are called etc. Apologies for those that enjoy Obedience but it can be a bit boring…. but definitely worth it to get the basics.

But I will keep coming back to fun. I generally won’t do stuff unless I am having fun, hence frustrating to both mum and I. But the good news it that it doesn’t take too much for me to have fun. Hearing mum’s voice in a happy tone and a spring in her step that she wants to be there too makes it fun. Getting praise, treats and positive attention when I do the little things right also makes it fun, especially the treat bit. Mum always (unless she is going out somewhere dressy without me) has treats in a pocket for when I randomly do good stuff.

Different things make different dogs happy, we are kinda like humans in that respect, we are not all the same. So get to know your furry friend and understand what they enjoy. A Q&A probably isn’t going to work in this case so get out there and try new things.