Bonnie the cockapoo (currently 22 months) and Mary learn with Clare
The story so far…..
When we first went along to Clare’s East Kilbride class, Bonnie was very easily excited by other dogs and found it hard to stay focused. I was a very inexperienced new dog owner, a bit overwhelmed by all the research I’d been doing in books and on the internet. We have both learned such a lot over the past year, in a secure and understanding setting, guided (and challenged) by Clare.
Our lives have changed in lots of important ways, among them….
Learning the Focus Game.
Thinking about which cues I use.
To be challenged regularly to think about the end goal before setting up.
Play, Clare reminds us to think about using a dog’s characteristics to prepare for the right kind of play.
Having a better idea of what it means to have a connection with Bonnie has been a crucial building block. It wasn’t unusual for Bonnie to have a zoomie at some point in the class: hoping for a chase; enjoying running free; teasing the other dogs. I saw this in isolation from the bigger picture of Connection. I’m still working hard at this but have an understanding now of what we’re trying to achieve together.
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