02/10/2026
Meet Max š¾ Small dog. BIG character. šā¤ļø
I wanted to share this lovely video and feedback from Maxās owner, Fiona, because for some reason her original post didnāt make it onto the Paws2Train page when she tagged us!
Iāve known Max since he was a tiny puppy. Over the years heās done 1-2-1 training, classes and summer boot camps with me, so he already had a really good foundation of obedience. And anyone who knows a Jack Russell will know that although they might be small, they can have a HUGE personality and Max certainly does! š
Recently, Max and his family moved up north, where they found themselves surrounded by deer, hares and pheasants. For a little dog with Maxās prey drive, that was a whole new level of temptation!
His family were finding that when that prey drive kicked in, his recall simply wasnāt enough. Max was running off and getting himself into bother, and they reached the point where they no longer felt confident letting him off lead.
So they made the journey back down to work with me and introduce Max to the e-collar.
Because they now live so far away and needed to head back up north, we worked through a more intensive programme together. Max already had all that previous obedience training behind him, so we werenāt starting from scratch the foundations were there. What we really needed to address was that strong prey drive and give his family a way of communicating with him when instinct was taking over.
Fast forward four weeks⦠and look at him now! ā¤ļø
Max is back off lead, listening to his recall and, in Fionaās words, āprancing around like a happy wee dog.ā š His family feel completely confident that he isnāt going to disappear off and put himself in harmās way.
Thereās still work to do because training is always an ongoing process but Fiona says Max has never been happier with his new-found freedom.
And thatās what this was about for me. Not changing Max or taking away that brilliant little Jack Russell character, but giving him the freedom to enjoy being a dog while giving his family the confidence that they can keep him safe.
Thank you so much, Fiona, for making the journey back down, for trusting me with your little pocket rocket, and for the lovely words. ā¤ļøš¾
He may be small⦠but Max certainly doesnāt do anything by halves! š