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11/04/2026

Day 2 of Bucky’s recall training with a whistle. I decided to challenge him while we were out hiking today. Not only was he outside in the woods in a brand new environment with a ton of distraction, I was also recalling him from his best buddies, Potter & Driver. This is the first time I’ve done whistle training with him in the woods. We added in a little more distance each time and he crushed it! Next step: Adding in even more distance and more daily life distractions KC

11/02/2026

I recommend spending the most time on Step 1. This step is going to create the association between the sound of the whistle and the reward. I also recommend switching up the food rewards. I started with cheese and then randomly switched to steak as I increased the difficulty (recalling when my dog was out of the room). This keeps your dog excited and guessing as to what reward he’s going to get next. Make sure the rewards are HIGH-value.

This is only the first part. The next steps would be to add in more distance and distraction inside, and then move to new environments outside, but because this video is Bucky learning this in real time, we aren’t to those steps yet. For reference, Bucky learned this in one day, split between 2 sessions about 20 minutes each.

10/27/2026

Little Bucks is a little bigger now! We’re still working on holding eye contact. He does a fantastic job of not pulling on the leash (mostly!) and walking beside me. There are still things to fine tune and work on and that’s okay. I have yet to fade out the hand lure. That won’t come until later. Right now muscle memory and continuing to practice with distraction in new environments is my focus. Heeling is weird for a dog, especially a puppy who just wants to explore the world. Just wanted everyone to see his progress!

10/26/2026

Sniffy mats are an awesome way to incorporate mental stimulation into your dog’s routine. Sniffing decreases stress and gives your dog an outlet that can help reduce other problem behaviors like countersurfing or getting into the trash. In order to reduce problem behaviors, it’s important to make sure all of your dog’s needs are being met. Mental enrichment is one of them!

10/18/2026

Flirt Poles are a great way to help build drive in your dog while giving them an outlet for their natural urge to chase. As a tracking pup in training, I want Bucky to have high drive.
He’s a working line GSD so naturally he will, but this helps.

During this exercise I also practice the “Aus” (Drop it) command - which is what the treat trade was for in the video. It helps teach your dog to take a moment to calm down during times of high arousal/excitement which is a great skill for any dog to have. While drive building is important, it’s equally important for your dog to be able to bring it down a notch when you need him to.

10/12/2026

As with most skills, there are multiple ways to teach this. Marllow tends to learn best through shaping and thinking things through. Let us know what works for you!

dog

10/05/2026

The hand lure is faded out now. He’s got the verbal cue down. Every now and then he needs a little reminder but hey, my boy is 15 weeks old. He’s growing and learning more and more every day. Our next steps have been working on this in other locations like Home Depot, Michaels, outside parks (not dog parks) and anywhere else with distractions. We even did it in my kitchen with the blender running so he gets used to focusing on me even with loud noises in the background.

As I mentioned last video, his movements are a tiny bit slow, but I’m not training for speed right now. Thanks to everyone who has continued following Bucky’s training journey!

09/27/2026

This video shows our next progression: Adding the Cue. Stay tuned for Part 3, the complete removal of the hand lure.
I practice this in small sessions, 2-3x a day for about 10 minutes. It only took Bucky a couple sessions to get to this point. You’ll see in the next video where his progression has gotten to, but we still practice as much as we can and in different environments. Every dog learns at a different pace, and that’s completely okay. Move at your dogs pace, and remember that dog training is NOT linear. Keep training 🙂

Note: As he gets older, he’ll get faster and it’ll look more like a spin instead of him just moving himself into the front position. But for now, I’m not too worried about speed. He’s still a baby and he’s got lots of time to improve

09/22/2026

My original video is with my older Shepherd, Marllow. This one’s with my 13 week old Shepherd, Bucky. Check back for his progress! (Part 1 of 3)

09/19/2026

This one is one of my favorite things to teach. It’s so much fun when your dog starts to put the pieces together. I hope you guys enjoy this as much as I do!

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Bel Air, MD

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