ThinkDog Academy

ThinkDog Academy Based in the heart of Maida Vale, London. ThinkDog Academy aims to strengthen the bond between you and your dog. Get in touch to book your first consultation!

Did you know that you’re basically teaching your puppy to run away?Comment below your thoughts ✨
02/03/2021

Did you know that you’re basically teaching your puppy to run away?

Comment below your thoughts ✨

Yup. That’s right.I use a long line still with Tiggy despite how good her recall is.Why?Well despite her being absolutel...
01/03/2021

Yup. That’s right.
I use a long line still with Tiggy despite how good her recall is.

Why?
Well despite her being absolutely amazing, she can still be a bit nervous when very large bouncy dogs come towards us.

And to ensure her safety, I like to put her on a long line in very busy areas not because I don’t trust her but I don’t trust the public

I’ll also use a long line when I’m in an area I don’t know. There’s new smells, distractions and until I have an idea of the area, I like that extra bit of safety

A good example is when we were in Richmond park and I didn’t see the deers. Thankfully she recalled but putting her on a long line once I’ve spotted them ensures their safety and her safety.
(In case she gets a bit curious because she’s never seen them before)

Aside from that, I LOVE going back to basics.
Basics are the foundation to everything. We need step 1 before step 10.

Especially at the moment. We really push that independency during scent work I need her to be that way.

But I can’t have her practising that same freedom / independency in a busy London park. So it’s good to remind her she can’t always be independent!

Let this be a reminder that if Tiggy, who has solid recall and is neutral with pretty much anything goes back to basics and gets put on a long line in busy London parks

Then you should 100% be doing the exact same thing with your puppy if they don’t have a strong recall.

26/02/2021

How to get your puppy to start listening to you

Episode 5 is out today!!

You see, if you want your puppy to listen to you more then you need engagement.

In order to teach them anything, you need them see value in you

Stop trying to compete with how many treats you can test your puppy on in hopes they’ll want to come for it

If they continue to get a bowl of food as soon as they come home, they may not even be hungry enough for the treats!

All Tiggy’s food and toys come through me. If she wants to play, she plays with me.

This has created such a strong bond that I don’t even NEED food and toys anymore because she wants to be with ME (but I still pay her of course)

So if you want your puppy listening to you more, you need to teach them to see value in listening to you more!

Books are brilliant.I have hundreds.It helps me gain more information, hear other opinions and understand more theory ba...
26/02/2021

Books are brilliant.
I have hundreds.
It helps me gain more information, hear other opinions and understand more theory based information.

But it does not replace a trainer and working towards YOUR goals with YOUR puppy.

This also includes YouTube videos, Instagram posts etc.

I can tell you hundreds of ways to teach heel work, prevent resource guarding and loads of other problems

I might cover THOUSANDS except the one that works for YOU and YOUR dog.

So yes, books are brilliant. Yes, YouTube videos are absolutely amazing

But just because you’ve read a book or watched a video, doesn’t mean you have the right information to succeed with your puppy!

Meet Rio ✨Rio had his first session with us last Sunday and wow!This little one reminds me so much of how Tiggy. Neutral...
23/02/2021

Meet Rio ✨

Rio had his first session with us last Sunday and wow!

This little one reminds me so much of how Tiggy. Neutral with most things but still sensitive that you need to advocate for him whilst he’s so young.

We worked on sharpening his recall, making engaging with us super fun and valuable and also touched on a few other problems they were having

Rio has a very cheeky habit of barking whenever his owners are stood still.

This can be pretty embarrassing when you’re in a public place

Thankfully, after just a few times of ignoring him and rewarding for doing something more productive - he didn’t bark for the rest of the session!

He also has resource guarding however with the improvement of his engagement in just 1 session and his owners preventing him picking up anything he can’t have, I’ve got no doubt he’ll start trusting them around things he has!

Finally, I decided to get Tiggy out for 5 minutes and thanks to her neutral and gentle nature, he showed all the signs of a neutral but curious pup!

I can’t wait to see Rio’s progress throughout the programme and no doubt he’ll be reliably off leash in due time!

Well done guys 🐾

Training your puppy is inevitable!You may not be ready but your puppy is.I talk way more in depth about when you should ...
23/02/2021

Training your puppy is inevitable!
You may not be ready but your puppy is.

I talk way more in depth about when you should start to train your puppy in episode 3 of my perfect puppy podcast

Link in bio ✨

Do you train your puppy?
Let me know in the comments below 👇🏻

Walking Barney ✨Barney had his third session with us today and we covered everything lead walkingTeaching tiny puppies t...
22/02/2021

Walking Barney ✨

Barney had his third session with us today and we covered everything lead walking

Teaching tiny puppies to walk nicely on a lead is honestly not a massive priority in my opinion. Socialisation is far more important.

However, we started to shape a very basic heel position and started rewarding when Barney went into a heel himself

This will be really useful when Barney is able to be reliably off lead as they’ll be able to call him into heel in busy environments

I use this DAILY with Tiggy. In fact her off lead heel is better than her lead walking because it’s what I practise the most! 😂

We then practised change of direction and very gentle leash pressure due to dog’s natural opposition reflex

Overall everyone did brilliantly and I’m super excited to see their progress!

Meet Luda ✨Luda is only 8.5 weeks old but her owners want to give her the very best start and get the right help from th...
21/02/2021

Meet Luda ✨

Luda is only 8.5 weeks old but her owners want to give her the very best start and get the right help from the beginning

A LOT of problems can arise in the first 4 weeks of your puppy’s life (before their 2nd vaccinations) so best to minimise the stress and get help from day 1!

Thankfully I offer a pre walk session to give you and your puppy the best start!

We covered crate training, name teaching, markers and communication, engagement, toilet training, separation anxiety and having overall fun with our puppies!

Luda and her owners now have loads of things to work on before their first session in the perfect puppy programme and I cannot wait to meet and start training this stunning girl 😍

Well done guys! Stress free puppy life for the win! 🥳

15/02/2021

How to socialise your puppy (before the 2nd vaccinations) 🐾

Ever wondered how to socialise your puppy before their 2nd vaccinations?

You might think your puppy can’t go outside but that’s simply not true!

Find out how to socialise them safely and properly so they become a very confident adult dog 👍🏻

Click the link in my bio to listen to the full episode 🥳

Meet Sufi ✨This beautiful girl had her first session with us today and props to her owners for how much they’ve done wit...
15/02/2021

Meet Sufi ✨

This beautiful girl had her first session with us today and props to her owners for how much they’ve done with her

She’s got ALL the foundations and is really reliable when at home but as soon as she’s outside it all goes out of the window!

However, in one session she was recalling off sticks and smells instantly. Which is a joy to see such a quick improvement in only 1 hour

Sufi also has mild barrier frustration because of playing with dogs but by the end of the session, she was way less interested in Tiggy!

I can’t wait to see them for session 2 next week when we can dive into socialisation and counter conditioning her to dogs!

Well done guys 👏🏻

Socialising Barney ✨Barney had his second session with us today as well and WOW! What a difference 🙈This little one was ...
14/02/2021

Socialising Barney ✨

Barney had his second session with us today as well and WOW! What a difference 🙈

This little one was really nervous but after a fantastic session last week and introducing him to Tiggy he’s now super confident.

Before joining the programme he also wanted to say hello to everyone but since his owners have done their homework, he’s way more neutral to people and he’s much more confident around dogs.

They have the tools & the checklist now in order to socialise Barney correctly and make him confident and neutral in every environment!

Well done guys, I can’t wait to see the progress next week! 🐾

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