Group Classes in Hamworthy and Poole

• Session One: What Is Your Dog Actually Working For?
  Saturday 24th October at 0930
  

• Session Two: Exploring The World Together
  Saturday 31st October at 0930
  

• Session Three: Raising The Bar
  Saturday 7th November at 0930
  

• Session Four: Paying In Real Money
  Saturday 14th November at 0930
  

• Session Five: The Real Thing
  Saturday 28th November at 0930
  
  £130 for all five sessions.
  Classes capped at 5 dogs. A small group means I can meet individual needs.

The Smiling Lead Course Syllabus….

Session One: What Is Your Dog Actually Working For?
Motivation, marker training and the mechanics that make everything else work

We'll find out what your dog genuinely loves, which is sometimes different to what you’d expect, and you’ll learn some of the theory that makes everything easier. How to tell your dog, in a language they understand, that they've just got something right. Where your hands go. Why the kit you use matters more than you'd think. It's the least glamorous session and it's the one everything else is built on.

Session Two: Exploring The World Together
Engagement games and bonding exercises that get the lead hanging loose

The world is interesting. It always will be, and I'm not going to pretend you can compete with a hedge full of rabbits or woodland full of squirrels. So we don't compete with it, we join in. Rucksacks of surprises come out and the engagement and bonding games begin. It shifts something. Your dog starts checking what you're up to, because you've become part of the interesting stuff rather than the thing anchoring them to the ground. That's the beginning of a lead that stays loose on its own.

Session Three: Raising The Bar
Obstacles, distractions and staying connected when the world gets busy

Now we make it harder, and yes, some of it is a bit sneaky. There will be things to weave around, things to climb over, and a few temptations parked exactly where your dog would most like to go and have a look.

Session Four: Paying In Real Money
Using what your dog already wants, out on the walk

A walk is already stuffed with things your dog desperately wants, and we can use them. The gate they're itching to get through. The water they'd like to fling themselves into for a swim, the dog or person they want to meet, the smell that requires a full investigation. Your dog checks in, walks nicely for a few strides, and gets released to go and have it. This is the session the training starts running on things you'd find on any walk anyway.

Session Five: The Real Thing
A guided walk, out where it counts

We go for a walk where the distractions haven't been arranged by me in advance. It's a chance to have a go at everything in a real setting with me on hand.

Who it's for…

Dogs aged six months and up who've got into the habit of towing their people about.

Because it's a group class, your dog will need to be able to cope within a few metres of other dogs without tipping over the edge, whether that's excitement or something less friendly. If you're not sure where your dog sits with that, drop me a message and we'll work it out together.

How it runs…

Five sessions, with a break built in before the final one so you've got more time to practise before our real life walk.

Each week you'll get a few things to work on at home, usually for ten or so minutes a day. I'll be straight with you here. This is the bit that decides how your course goes. An hour with me once a week can't outweigh a habit your dog has been practising every single day. but ten minutes a day. The dogs who transform over these five sessions are, without exception, the ones whose people did the homework. Little and often, in your kitchen, in the garden, on your walks. It doesn't need to be long and it doesn't need to be perfect.

Each session takes place somewhere public around Poole, Hamworthy and Upton, and I'll confirm the location before each one.

The final guided walk is for dogs who are ready for it. We'll talk about it as we go, and if your dog needs a bit more time we'll sort out something that works better for the two of you.

What you'll leave with…

A dog who's learning to check in with you rather than drag you about and a method you understand well enough to enjoy practicing with your dogs on your own.