Wilson's Dog Training

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30/10/2025

🐶Notes from Tuesday’s Drop-In Session at the Village Park
We had fun working on our heel position with all the park distractions on a windy day, and we upped the challenge on our recall game – even calling dogs AWAY from tasty treats - Rosie and Whisper did great! It’s good to see the progress they’re making each week.

📒This week’s suggested homework: Finding Heel Position with the Clockface Game - a nice game to play off-lead, indoors – ideal for rainy days! Do 2-3 rounds, 1-2 times a day, until your dog is flying into heel position from any direction.

HOW TO PLAY: Stand in the middle of an imaginary clock face - you're facing 12 o'clock with your treats and clicker and your dog is on your left side in heel position.

1️⃣Round 1 – 6 o’clock (behind you):
Drop a treat behind you so your dog can eat it, then say “Heel” and wait for them to come back into position, click and drop another treat behind. Repeat 4x
2️⃣Round 2 – 9 o’clock (left side):
Drop treat to your left so your dog eats it, say “Heel” and wait for them to find heel position, click and drop the treat to your left. Repeat 4x
3️⃣Round 3 – 12 o’clock (front):
Drop treat ~1m in front so your dog eats it, say “Heel” and wait for them to find heel position, click and drop the treat in front of you. Repeat 4x
4️⃣Round 4 – 3 O’clock (right side):
Drop treat to your right so your dog eats it, say “Heel” and wait for heel position, click and drop another treat to your right. Repeat 4x
Watch our demo videos to see how we did it 🤣

💡Tips if your dog is struggling:
1) Say “Heel”, and lure your dog into a straight sit at your side, click and feed 2-3 treats to his mouth while in heel position, then drop a treat behind you for the next repetition.
2) Use a placeboard or wall to fix wonky sits.

As always, if you have questions, or want to share your progress, just drop a comment below!

Next week: We're practicing our Polite Greetings - Can your dog approach a person with a dog and auto-sit nicely at your side while you have a quick chat? 🤔We’re working on calm hellos!

29/10/2025

🐾Badger and I out this morning at HappyDoggyDayz field https://happydoggydayz.co.uk/ practicing our sit-stay-walkaway, some heelwork, and a couple of marked retrieves. The place board helps him to stay in position as I walk away - we just need to build up some duration now (2 minutes) and a little more distance (20 yards), to be ready for our Grade One test! 🍂

27/10/2025

📝Notes from Last Week's Drop-In Session in the Park
We played various recall games off lead which was lots of fun, as well as working on 'Finding Heel Position', and getting our training mechanics right!

This is the game we're playing in the video:
✅RECALL GAME: Elastic Recall in the Park (or Beach!)
A more advanced recall game, to build on Elastic Recall (on a long line or in your garden). It's a great way to introduce larger distances and to test your recall off lead around distractions.

🐾HOW TO PLAY: You need enough space for two people to walk parallel at some distance apart - up to 60 metres. Then simply call the dog back and forth between you using your verbal or whistle recall cue. Do this up to 6 times (as it's tiring for the dog), giving an amazing reward each time like 2-3 pieces of chicken/beef. You want your dog to come running towards you at speed as soon as you call him.

💡TIPS FOR SUCCESS:
You can encourage your dog to come running towards you at speed by running away from him and letting him catch you up, then playing a quick game of tug as a reward, or giving some treats before the other person calls him back.

If the dog anticipates the recall cue, don't reward him - only reward for coming when called! The person furthest from the dog just calls him again.

⚠️SAFETY POINT: If you suspect your dog may get distracted by other park users and/or run off at the first taste of freedom, use a secure dog field to test the game out first.

🐕‍🦺Try it out and let us know how you get on in the comments.

🐕‍🦺We're back tomorrow for our regular Tuesday drop-in session! We're playing recall games again, so bring your dog's fa...
27/10/2025

🐕‍🦺We're back tomorrow for our regular Tuesday drop-in session! We're playing recall games again, so bring your dog's favourite toy 🥏 as well as tasty treats. And we'll be practicing our heel work as usual. If you have any questions, just drop them in the comments below!

19/10/2025

🐾Reminder for next week's free drop-in session at Ainsdale Village Park 🍂 - we'll be there on THURSDAY at 10am instead of our usual Tuesday.
We'll be playing recall games this week, and practicing walking to heel past other dogs without losing (too much) focus!
If you have any questions, just put them in the comments below!

🦮Notes from Tuesday’s drop-in session in Ainsdale Village Park 🌳Thanks everyone for joining this week's session! It’s go...
15/10/2025

🦮Notes from Tuesday’s drop-in session in Ainsdale Village Park 🌳
Thanks everyone for joining this week's session! It’s good to see the progress you’re all making. The three topics we covered were:

✅Heelwork: We looked at the progress on getting 10 quality steps of heel position on cue, and gave tips to improve. See the ‘bitesize heelwork’ demo video for a reminder of the method.

✅Luring: We had a go at luring our dogs to spin in a circle and lured them into the down position. What is luring? It is getting your dog to follow a treat in your hand (the lure) - where your dog’s nose goes, the rest of him follows – you move your hand to get your dog into the position you want, then click and treat. It can be used to teach Sit, Stand, Down, Middle, Sit-at-Side, Spin, Place, and much more. See the homework notes below for a step-by-step method for the Down position.

✅Marker Words: We talked about four key marker words and how to use them. See the infographic for a handy reminder.
💡Top tip: don’t talk so much to your dog when teaching new behaviours - he'll learn to ignore you! Instead, try to use only your clicker and marker words to help him understand you.

📅Next week’s drop-in session is on Thursday 23 October at 10am (instead of Tuesday). We'll be playing lots of recall games which should be fun!
Suggested Homework below. Let me know in the comments if you have any questions, or want to share your progress.
Happy training and see you next time!
---
Homework: Teach Your Dog to Lie Down using Luring and the 4 Marker Words!
Lure your dog into a "Down" position using just four marker words: *Click* (or “Yes”), “Nope”, “Good”, and “Okay”.

Here’s a step-by-step guide to help you.
Try 6 reps per round and do 1-2 rounds per session. If your dog gets it right 5-6 times, move to the next step. If they get 3-4 right, stay put. If they get only 1-2 right, move back to the previous step.

🐶Preparation
Find a quiet, low-distraction area at home.
Use a comfortable mat if needed to encourage lying down.
Grab your treats and have your clicker ready.
Click-point: Elbows and butt on the ground (sphinx position).
Remember to focus on using only the clicker, marker words and the eventual “Down” cue!

1️⃣Step 1: Lure with Treat in Hand
With your dog in front of you, hold a treat in your hand, and let your dog sniff it. Then, move your hand downward from the dog's nose in a diagonal path toward the ground and slightly back toward the dog's chest, guiding them to hinge backwards in one steady, smooth motion into a sphinx down position.
Click when both elbows and hips are on the ground, then release the treat from your hand between their front paws. That's one rep.
Repeat 5 more times.
Struggling? Try a comfier mat or quieter spot. Your dog may put their elbows on the ground but leave their hips in the air, just wait them out, don’t release the treat until they drop their hips too. Move to Step 2 when you get 5 solid reps.

2️⃣Step 2: Lure without Treat in Hand
Use the same hand motion as before, but no treat in hand.
Click for the down position, then treat as before. Repeat 5x.

3️⃣Step 3: Add the Verbal Cue "Down"
Say “Down,” wait 1 second, then lure into position as before (no treat).
Click and treat when they lie down. Repeat 5x.

4️⃣Step 4: Fade the Visual Cue
Say “Down,” wait up to 5 seconds without luring to give your dog time to think...
If they lie down, Click and treat. Repeat 5x
If they do something other than lying down, say “Nope!” and repeat “Down.” Try again up to 3 times, then take a break before going back to Step 3.
Move to next step once you have 5 successful reps.

5️⃣Step 5: Add Duration with “Good”
Say “Down,” wait for the lie-down, then wait 1-2 seconds and say “Good” instead of clicking. Place a treat between their paws to keep them there a bit longer.
Say “Okay” to release, then toss a treat to get them moving. That's one rep. Repeat 5x.
Build up to 10 seconds over a few sessions.

🐾Reminder for our next Tuesday drop-in session at Ainsdale Village Park🌳 - our focus this week is on the 4 key words we ...
12/10/2025

🐾Reminder for our next Tuesday drop-in session at Ainsdale Village Park🌳 - our focus this week is on the 4 key words we use in marker training that help our dog understand what we want, practice our luring skills to get the dog into the position we want, and build on our heel work and recall progress.
If you have any questions, just ask in the comments below! 🙋‍♂️

🌳Notes from our Drop-In Session yesterday🌳Another great session yesterday at Ainsdale Village Park, despite the addition...
08/10/2025

🌳Notes from our Drop-In Session yesterday🌳
Another great session yesterday at Ainsdale Village Park, despite the additional distraction of a very noisy lawnmower and strimmer! Here’s a recap of what we worked on, plus some suggested homework to keep the progress going:
✅Polite Greetings
The aim is to teach your dog to just calmly sit at your side when you stop to chat—keeping their paws on the ground! We did some parallel walking with other dogs (dog-human-human-dog formation) and enough distance to discourage lunging and build calm behaviour around other dogs. Some of you even progressed to pausing for a quick hello before moving on which was good to see! 🤸
📒Homework: Practice walking near or past other leashed dogs in the park, being generous with your rewards, and starting at a distance that keeps your dog comfortable. The aim is to anticipate and prevent any lunging, barking, or pulling towards another dog – using distance as your friend and rewarding generously for calm behaviour, or abort mission if necessary!
✅Recall
Last week, we worked on chasing the treat (elastic recall) to get a speedy return. This week, we worked on a consistent, clear ‘recall picture’ for your dog! For example, I use a clear cue—“Badger, Come!” (with emphasis on the “K” sound), hold my right hand out as a nose target to get him in close enough to grab his collar with my left hand, and then reward generously. This avoids a grab and run and lets me attach his lead if needed. I then let him go again – freedom to explore is a big reward even when you use a longline!
📒Homework: Practice a consistent, clear recall cue, say it only once and reward BIG—4-5 tasty treats or a throw of the ball or quick game of tug. Do around 8-10 repetitions a session.
💡Top Tip: Save your “official” recall cue (e.g. “Connie, Come!”) for when you’re set up to reward her to keep it a high-value fun event, and use a casual attention-grabbing cue like “pup-pup-pup” for around the house or if you’re not sure she’ll come back.
✅Heelwork
We revisited “Bitesize heelwork” (watch the video on our page from a couple of weeks ago for a reminder). Start with getting your dog’s attention, and sit him at your side, give a clear “heel” cue, and take a step or two, click for perfect position, then stop to give the treat – this helps to build an ‘automatic-stop-when-I-stop’ over time – repeat for 1 minute, then have a short sniff or play break before doing another round or two.
📒Homework: Practice bitesize heelwork a few times every day to make heel position rewarding and fun for your dog. Aim to build up to 10 perfect steps in between treats before adding in distractions, like walking past a toy or a bowl of food.
📅Next Week: We'll spend some time on our training mechanics like luring skills, how to create a 'reward event', and practice using the 4 key words ‘Yes-Nope-Good-OK’ to communicate clearly with your dog while training to get faster, more reliable results. We will of course work on our recall, and heelwork too!
🙋‍♀️Got questions or suggestions for next week? Drop them in the comments. Happy training and see you next week at Ainsdale Village Park!

📒Notes from Tuesday's drop-in session:🐕Thanks for joining our drop-in session this week - we had a good turnout and hope...
01/10/2025

📒Notes from Tuesday's drop-in session:🐕
Thanks for joining our drop-in session this week - we had a good turnout and hope everyone enjoyed it and learned something helpful! Here’s a quick recap of the three main topics we covered and suggestions for what to practice during the week:
✅Focus & Engagement
We started with 'circuits' to help your dog settle in the park, followed by the 'focus-on-me' game to get their attention on you. Focus is the foundation of learning, without this you can’t train! If you struggled with this, practice at home with the 'focus-on-me' game using treats. Once your dog can look at you for 2 seconds, ask for a known behaviour like "sit." Then, work on a 'sit-at-my-side', building up to 10 seconds.
💡Tip: Keep sessions short (3-5 mins, 3-4 times a day) and train before breakfast or dinner using their food as a reward, or keep the treat pot and clicker by the kettle and train while you’re waiting for your tea to brew!
✅Recall Games
We had fun with recall practice using 5m biothane longlines (wipe-cleanable—I recommend the Heim brand available from Zooplus). Try the 'elastic recall' game this week—your dog will love chasing treats and speeding back to you to chase the next one! Do about 10 reps and use treats that are easy to spot in the grass and quick to eat (cubes of mild cheddar work well) to keep the momentum going.
✅Sit & Heel
We worked on sit-at-my-side, luring dogs into position and rewarding them. Some of you even progressed to “bitesize heelwork” where the goal is 10 perfect steps in heel position to earn a click and treat. Practice off-lead in your kitchen or hallway: cue “heel,” take a step, and if your dog moves with you, click, stop and treat, if they can do this well, take it outside to the garden, or the park. Check out the “bitesize heelwork” video for extra tips!
🐾What’s next? The time flew by, and we didn’t get to polite greetings this week, so we’ll start with that at our next session. In the meantime, practice what you learned - little and often is most effective - and drop any questions below.
Happy training, and see you next week!

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