Doggone Active

31/10/2025

A common problem I see and hear from people is that their dogs don’t like their harness/lead going on and either freeze or run away when it’s time to have them on.

Often it is because we as humans are pretty impatient and just do things to their dogs and hope they will deal!

I am not immune from this 🙈😆

Mokshi at 9 weeks has been starting to be less cooperative with me just putting her harness on so tonight we did a conditioning session - shaping her to stick her head in her harness.

Harness on = good things!
A bit like any relationship, I want to make the other party think it’s their good idea to do something 😉
Because she’s young, the stages went really quickly… some dogs may take several sessions of looking towards the harness, targeting it, putting their head near it etc before you move on.

Warts and all 4 minute session!
I will repeat this set up a number of times and may stick a word on it to mean something is going on head.

28/10/2025

Last few spaces in final course of 2025!
Puppy Lifeskills - held in a secure woodland setting!

Starts Saturday 8th November 9.30-10.30

🌳For puppies from 12 weeks up to 6 months

🌳Develop the foundation skills needed to form a great relationship between you and your new puppy.

We will cover:

🐕‍🦺Recall
🐕‍🦺Loose Lead Walking
🐕‍🦺Games and Tricks for great relationships and brain work
🐕‍🦺Self control and manners
🐕‍🦺Basic obedience skills and handling
🐕‍🦺 Have lots of fun!

You will need plenty of high value treats and toys at each session and your dog should wear a flat collar and lead or harness.

Click on https://doggoneactivepackington.as.me/NovLifeskills25 to book 🤩

21/10/2025

As this is the time of year when I run most puppy sessions and having my own I thought this was worth a good old share!

I always say I’m the most antisocial dog owner - apart from exposing my dogs to a variety of things I don’t need them to be desperate to be social.

Some of mine have been tolerant, most have been selective and one that was a solo dog apart from those she lived with.

I would love Mokshi to be social - her breed/genetics and the raising her breeder has done make this much more likely but… if she’s not then that’s ok!

DON’T FORCE ME TO BE SOCIAL!

It may be really disappointing or frustrating when our dogs are not the social beings we expected them to be.

Many people assume dogs should just naturally get along with other dogs, after all they’re the same species.

Some believe the “unsociable” dog has a behaviour problem that needs to be “fixed”.

Early, appropriately timed and proper socialisation is really important, but sometimes despite all of this, some dogs are just not that sociable or socially selective to varying degrees.

Sometimes this can be improved, especially if the cause is from a negative experience, but genetics, breed tendencies, individual personalities, health and age all contribute to tolerance and sociability, which also change throughout a dog’s lifetime.

If we, as a human species, don’t get along with everyone we meet, how can we expect our dogs to?

Do we label or try to fix every person that has an argument; doesn’t make friends with everyone they meet, dislikes some people, or just prefers not to be social as having a problem that needs to be fixed?

Why is it so easy to accept that every individual person is different than to accept that every individual dog is different?

When we have done what we can to improve our dogs’ social skills, we need to accept and acknowledge our dogs for the individuals they are, allow and respect their choice of whether to be sociable or not and never force interactions that dogs are not comfortable with.

21/10/2025

Mochachino aka Mokshi came home last night!
Isn’t she diddy 🥰
Looking forward to getting to know her ☺️
She will be available for puppy cuddles from next monday! 😇😆

15/10/2025

I have a few spaces available currently in my regular weekly agility groups
Monday 7.30-8.30pm
Wednesday 7-8pm

LE12 9EF
Max 5 in group
£58 per month (44 sessions a year)
Flexibility to change days if a session can’t be made (other alternatives will be available soon)

👍 Agility club first class trainer and qualified dog trainer
👍 Positive dog training
👍 ‘How to’ videos available
👍 Session tailored to each person/dog
👍 Fun training for you and your dog ☺️

A trial session is also an option!
Drop me a message for more info ☺️

14/10/2025

Any one waiting for replies - I have a few hours tomorrow when I’m catching up with admin so will get to you then!
Last few weeks have been a bit crazy!!

12/10/2025

Something exciting coming…
Meet Mockshi!
She is 7 weeks tomorrow and coming home in just over a weeks time - and yes…. not a collie 😝

I have loved watching her develop since she was a day old… Her breeder has done the best job with her.

New puppy training video model incoming 🥰

09/10/2025

Micros Story

Meet Micro the Great Dane (such an amazing name)
I started training her and Aaron nearly a year ago in puppy classes.

As a 14 week old, she was nervous!
She didn’t want me near her, was a bit worried about noises, quite liked other dogs and adored her owner ☺️

Aaron and Micro went through puppy and adolescent classes, tried out some agility foundations (which she was fab at!) and did the training.

But she was still nervous, noisy and getting bigger!

She would bark and bounce when she saw other dogs (a great dane jumping vertical is a sight to behold 😆)
She would spook at runners, kids, people… and… it was embarrassing… comments were made, aggressive being an adjective used more than once.

As her season hit, Micros relationship with Aaron’s parents dogs who looked after her broke down - hormones can be hard…

Katy came and did some 121 training, we looked at foundations again, muzzle trained her to keep everyone around confident and worked on bridging the gap with the dogs.

This past month I have been going out with Katy, Aaron and Micro twice a week to different places, from tesco car park to The Ferrers and Hicks Lodge helping them all to rebuild some confidence that they can take her places other than secure fields.

Yesterday we had bikes, pushchairs and dogs milling about and in our path and Micro not only coped, she thrived!

They have been my inspiration for setting up my Train and Walks as seeing the progress they’ve made over the past couple of months has been one of the most rewarding experiences I’ve had so far.

Is it all perfect? No
But training and living with a dog isn’t a straight road (Disney stories aren’t real sorry 😝)

I’m really proud of the work they have all put in and look forward to hearing about all the wins and positives in the future.

07/10/2025

Yesterday I borrowed Ellen’s Bramble for her first training day. We had so much fun!

Was it perfect? Heck no - see how good I was in my first clip 😆

Most of the 3 hour session (two shorter ones with a break) we practised 2/3 obstacles at a time.

I’m looking forward to stealing her a bit more to get her contacts sorted and going on some more training days!