13/07/2025
✨Athos✨
Athos' dad consistently puts in the work. He’s set clear goals for Athos’ future, and the progress they make each week is a testament to his commitment. That said, life sometimes gets in the way, work commitments, unpredictable weather, family obligations, it happens to all of us.
This week, Athos was quite hyper during his session. He was easily distracted and found it hard to settle and focus.
Let’s unpack this a little, just like we did during the session. Athos is now 17 weeks old. Welcome to the pre-teen puppy phase! This is often when some adolescent behaviours begin to emerge, and you might find yourself wondering, “Where did all my hard work go?” But rest assured, those foundations are still there. Now’s the time to dig deep and stay consistent.
Athos’ dad also mentioned that training was more difficult this week due to time pressures and poor weather. So, what we saw in the session was very likely a combination of natural puppy development and a lighter training week. Totally normal and expected!
In our session, we focused on helping Athos re-centre and build back his focus through calm, structured activities. We shortened our training bursts, used more frequent breaks, and adjusted the environment to reduce overwhelm. We leaned into pattern-building games and reinforced basic cues he already knows well to bring some wins back into the mix. By the end of the session, we saw some lovely moments of calm focus shining through, proof that the foundations are there, just waiting to be tapped back into.
