It’s a Puppy School collab! Puppy School, Tewkesbury, Ledbury and Cheltenham and Puppy School Gloucester teamed up at the Cheltenham Animal Shelter Open Day. It was a pleasure to be involved in such a worth while fundraising event.
If anyone needs any proof that reward based puppy training works, for any breed of dog, you need to look no further. Take 5 dogs, all under a year old, all of whom have been through Puppy School training. All have had the best of foundations set for the wonderful, unique and quirky adult dogs they will certainly become. Put them into a ring, in an unfamiliar environment on a boiling hot day, surrounded by other dogs, families and loads of noise and ask them to show their skills and tricks- and watch them totally NAIL it. Introducing, the Puppy School display team.
The pups adorned in their Puppy School bandanas were ready and raring to go. Frankie (the 11 month old Fox Red Labrador) boldly stood at the front to lead everyone in to the ring, demonstrating the loose lead walking that is a fundamental skill in Puppy School and did so with total confidence. His head held high and tail going. Next followed Misty (the 11 month old Blue Merle Collie) spritely and prancing. I actually think she could master some dressage the way she trots. Then Olive (the 8 month old Pug), she may be tiny but don’t be fooled, she’s got it all going on, a little ball of sass and character. Then Nala (the 5.5 month old Labrador), the youngest of them all and totally bouncy and excitable. As soon as she got into the ring, she settled on her mat and got ready to show her skills. The 5th puppy, Cleo, (the 7 month old Charcoal Labrador) showed up to all the rehearsals and religiously practiced but had to be left at home on health grounds. Not one to miss the lime light, she still did her thing from the comfort of her back garden.
The water bowls were full, the umbrellas up to give some well needed shade and their handlers praying that they all did what was rehearsed. Looking on, it was quite funny to see the range of breeds involved. All different shapes and sizes and all with their own personal entourage, attending to their every need. Puppy School wouldn’t have it any other way, the dogs needs must always come first.
The stage was set and it was time to go, it was all in the ‘paws’ of the pups and whether they were willing to show us their stuff. We are all familiar with the saying 'never work with animals or children'. We’ve all been very gently nurtured as new puppy owners by our Puppy School Tutors to have faith in our dogs. It boggles my mind how the Tutors are seemingly always one step ahead and can see what’s coming before even the puppies can, and they ALWAYS have faith and rightly so. Cue some suspense music (duh, duh, duh - are you singing that in your head) and TEMPTATION ALLEY was good to go! Aside for all the other unique distractions of the day, Tutor Jacki, from Puppy School Gloucester threw in some willing child audience members. What puppy display would be a puppy display without some audience participation or in this instance, audience temptation, evidence of the ‘always have faith’ approach. The children all dutifully stood on their spot as Frankie did his run and he was just perfect, followed by dainty Olive and bouncy Nala. From the garden and with no distraction, Cleo was happy to do a wait and recall, happily galloping towards her Mummy and some fresh chicken. There is no such thing as temptation, when all you want to do is get to your Mummy or Daddy who is armed with some delicious treats. Puppy School advice is- Always be more interesting and exciting to your dog than anything else around them. You could see the handlers really did feel the faith at this point and the sweat running down foreheads really was because of the heat. Of course, the pups needed an opportunity to show off their tricks. Nothing gets an audience melting into the paws of the pups like some cute tricks. They look so easy, but any dog owner will know that it doesn’t come easy, it takes practice, consistency and determination. The pup must want to do it, maybe they want to please or maybe they want another lovely treat in reward for just being amazing. Frankie was up and totally focused, he played boop the button, unfaltering and without hesitation. Then Misty showed us her spin, her amazing high five, even a high ten and finished with the most adorable hugs and kisses which would have the most hardened individual oooooing and arrring. Olive took her spot and did a lovely spin, totally in her own time and when she was ready and then beautifully ‘said’ please for a treat. Then Nala, the baby of the group and panting with heat almost nailed a roll over and did a brilliant spin. Cleo was excited to ‘speak’, spin and sit pretty. It can only be admired the determination of the handlers to teach their dogs these tricks and can only be utterly respected that the skills required by the dog and handler are taught exceptionally well during Puppy School training.
The hard work was done and now it was time for some toy play. We are taught that toy play following a training session not only helps to embed the training, increase the bond between dog and handler but it also leaves a positive feeling for the dog that training is so much fun and really that’s one of the nicest reasons to have a dog, it’s fun!
The crowd went wild and it was time to take a bow, after all, the pups deserved every ounce of applause that they got. They all retreated to the Puppy School stand, for a dip in the splash pool, some cold fresh water and a well deserved (really stinky) long lasting chew, ready for a meet and greet with any audience members. Well done to them and well done to Puppy School for sharing, teaching, educating and showing us the precious dream of having a well behaved, smart and well mannered dog can be an actual reality.
To see a full video of the puppy display and read more fun facts about the display team puppies, go to Puppy School Gloucester https://www.facebook.com/puppyschoolgloucester and Puppy School Ledbury, Tewkesbury and Cheltenham https://www.facebook.com/PuppySchoolLedbury on Facebook and give them all a round of applause from the comfort of your own living room (oh and a page like/follow will also be amazing, let’s get supporting our local, totally amazing and totally dedicated trainers!)
Jacki from Puppy School Gloucester says-
How many people can say they love what they do and do what they love? I started Puppy School Gloucester out of pure love, joy and passion for reward based, positive training for Puppies and Dogs. There is a world of opportunity out there for dogs and their owners. As a dog owner I have been driven and determined to give my girl the best life, giving her exposure and experiences, constantly enriching our bond and educating her and I adore every second of it! I love that at the helm of Puppy School Gloucester I have the absolute pleasure of sharing the precious journey between tiny puppies and their owners and beyond, laying down strong and fundamental foundations for a full, positive and adventurous life together.
Tammy from Puppy School Ledbury, Tewkesbury and Cheltenham says- I absolutely love what I do and hope owners see that and get as much out of it as I did when I started with my boy, Manny. I'm lucky to have a great team of Tutors too, who work with me and we are here to support owners give their pup the best start in life and through their training journey. We are totally passionate about what we do, using modern, positive reward based training, which is informative, interactive and fun!
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