Cumbria Dog Training

I'm usually very lucky with the dogs who come to stay with me, either for residential training or home boarding and never moreso than now. One youngster who is staying is 4 month old British Bulldog Sidney, who has been with me for a just a few days and who returns home tomorrow. He is one little character who has won the hearts of everybody with his friendly and happy personality. More news later this week on my other guests. Janet "Fly like the wind Sidney"

I doubt that the Winter Solstice in one weeks time will be any more miserable than today. It's rather summed up my feelings since receiving a phone call to say that Spike, a lovely little 6 yr old Border Terrier who I've known all her life, had been put to sleep earlier today.  I felt particularly sorry for her owners who I know thought the world of her. I'm not embarrassed to say I was in tears when I heard the news, expectant as it was. But I think I'll finish on a funny note rather than sad, showing Spike pictured with the equally lovely Dexter. Janet TWINS - Spike and Dexter

Having completed another of my very popular "day courses" I am now warming up with a glass of mulled wine, after a day working in sub zero temperatures with Rufus, an American Bulldog. Each course is tailored for the individual dog and today's is a very good example. Rufus arrived at 10.00 this morning. After a quick cup of tea with his owner, I quickly established that one thing I needed to work on was his aggression towards other dogs on leads. This needed alot of time and the introduction of my own very calm dogs, before Rufus finally realised that he needn't be so hostile. Having enjoyed lunch at the Millyard Cafe in Morland, it was into the "sheep chasing" part of the day. After a controlled charge at them (in which all were completely untouched), my training proved successful and this powerful young dog now respected the animals completely. It was a fitting end to a great day and I was very pleased to have met such a wonderful dog and his lovely owner.

Recently I've had a young Border Collie staying with me, who if truth be told, proved to be quite a challenge - and I couldn''t understand why. Arriving for residential training, Teddie just wasn't as receptive as most dogs are. She was a rather anxious dog to say the least, and I wondered if I would ever be able to allow her off the long line without seeing her run into the distance, oblivious to my commands. As Paul said, "she's a difficult one to figure out". On contacting her owner, I discovered that she'd been taken from her mother at FOUR weeks and taken at five. As any good breeder will tell you, you can collect your pup when he/she is two months old. This information put a new light on things and, with this information in the back of my mind, had a rethink of the most appropriate way to train this lovely young animal. Adopting a variety of methods improved things greatly and, as you can see, Teddie did advance to walking off lead on the Fe