Wow, what a weekend. First of all, after a bit of shouting at UPS, my Leerburg parcel arrives. Hurrah!

We had friends over Saturday, who thankfully are good with dogs. After 15-30 mins of shyness, Teagan was almost her old self again, happy to receive physical praise from all of us.

We then went to see a Schutzhund club on Sunday. Teagan was a little feisty, but seemed fascinated watching what the dogs were doing. Shalini met an old friend - who now breeds Dobes and has some Schutzhund trained Dobes too. And........ people who will talk about and sometimes use prong collars! Halleluyah!!

We just watched and chatted for a couple of hours, and learnt a lot.
Some more friends popped over that evening and after a few barks Teagan settled again.

We went back today for a one hour private session.
First thing they did was have Shalini take Teagan for a short walk to see how she behaves. It took a couple of mins for Teagan to settle into her old ways, and for them to see what the issues were.

The trainer showed us how to handle Teagan properly, and how to use the locked 'fur saver' collar. The transformation in Shalini was almost instant. She became more confident, and easily understood what the instructor was saying.

We went back to the field and continued working on the basics of leadwork, corrections and praise, finding Teagans levels in everything.

Teagan was a star - she responded really well to the 'new' Shalini, firm but fair, and walked to heel like she'd been doing it for years. That was with the distractions of 3-4 other dogs in the area too. A good 'pop' on the leash and she'd drop straight back in to the heel.

They were very impressed by Teagan's ability to learn, and how Shalini picked up the 'new' style of training. Her confidence has soared, and understands that Teagan responds to a balance of firm corrections and praise. They seemed to think Teagan would enjoy Schutzhund, and said we could come back next week!

The whole session like a Leerburg training video - with a London accent

Shalini and Teagan were both exhausted, and Shalini was absolutely buzzing. The confidence she has lost in handling Teagan was back - and then some.

I'm really proud of them both. Teagan is heading back to her old self, and Shalini understands the training and is looking forwards to putting it into practice.

A great weekend - so I thought I'd share it with people who'd understand.


PS They're also excellent proper breeders, and had some VERY cute GSD pups.....

that's fantastic - good for Shalini and Teagan! very positive stuff to build on, which is exciting i'm sure

Awesome! Glad to hear about Shalini's progress! Dogs are pretty easy, it's the handlers that often need help. Boy, do I know it.

It never ceases to amaze me watching an experienced handler with a dog. They make it look so easy don't they? Every movement and every command is right on the mark. Its a beautiful dance to be sure. Glad you had fun that's what its really all about, right?