Blog

  • Thoughts and tips on puppy exercise + book recommendation

    Thoughts and tips on puppy exercise + book recommendation

    I recently started re-reading a book I bought a while ago called “How to Build a Puppy” and stumbled on some interesting stuff, so I posted about it on our kennel’s Instagram account and thought it would be useful to share on the blog too. Since I only thought of sharing it here afterwards, here’s… Read more

  • Puppy training 101: disengaging from humans

    Puppy training 101: disengaging from humans

    For one reason or another, Astra has found humans mesmerising for a long time – not just hypergreeting in close proximity like Nell, but intentionally seeking them out, as you can see here. I’ve been working on this consistently on every walk, and to be honest, it’s quite frustrating for me after living with Grace,… Read more

  • Training puppies to disengage and recall

    Training puppies to disengage and recall

    Disengaging from distractions is perhaps THE most important life skill for a puppy, and the sooner they learn, the better. Of course, their brains are not yet capable of a lot of things – impulse control being one of them, because the parts of the brain that control activation develop faster than the parts that… Read more

  • Building curiosity and confidence in search

    Building curiosity and confidence in search

    I’m quite opportunistic when it comes to training. What I mean is that I try to look at the environment on walks through the dog’s eyes and take training opportunities as and when I see them. In this case, our local forest is full of branches fallen after the big storm a few weeks ago,… Read more

  • Disengaging from distractions

    Disengaging from distractions

    Disengaging from distractions is perhaps THE most important life skill for a puppy, and the sooner they learn, the better. Of course, their brains are not yet capable of a lot of things – impulse control being one of them, because the parts of the brain that control activation develop faster than the parts that… Read more

  • Proprioception and balance training in the forest

    Proprioception and balance training in the forest

    This is so easy to do yet so beneficial for dogs (and especially puppies) because it slows them down and really gets them to pay attention to how they navigate obstacles. That develops their proprioception and balance – abilities they will very soon need when they become adolescents. Dogs mature physically much faster than mentally,… Read more