It was really nice to see so many of you get into the Two Bowls Game! Thanks to @Ave Paasuke for that - it was fun to revisit - and for tagging me to take up the mantle this week. Here is a reverse orbit - the dog circles around you whilst you stand stationary. Start by having them sit in heel position and lure them backwards around your body. If your dog has never gone backwards in a straight line then I would recommend looking at that first. If they all struggle some hind end awareness with a pivot bowl or platform would really help you. I purposefully didn't clean up the vid too much, because you might run into the same issues- I had some confusion with her guessing I wanted position changes and so she got a little stuck. Just chuck the treat to reset and try again. I've clearly also taught her to sit with her right hind splayed out like some kind of chicken drummer so make sure you don't teach yours that. It's very ugly 🤦‍♀️https://youtube.com/shorts/zMfqZDJkWQg?si=8FGgCt2jUeSUySjg Reward the smallest try and in a different place each time.

Well, it's a special weekend this week as it's Easter. What are you getting up to?

Let’s start a training chain. How it works is that we take turns sharing an exercise or training challenge with the group. Everyone can give it a go at home and share their videos or daily training posts. We then tag the next person to share the next exercise. You can either film it, type it up or share any way you feel comfortable. Just have it ready to post by Sunday 😊

So many things to teach and so little time! Now that the grass is finally dry(ish), it’s time to properly restart hoopers training. I filmed a session of hoop value shaping with both dogs, as it’s a useful comparison to show people the different stages - Kairo being more experienced than Amigo. On the obedience side, Kairo and I are continuing to work on contact heel. I accidentally backwards heeled into the wall so her backup was (understandably) wonky for the next few tries, but I’ve been able to straighten it again. Kairo had man-trailing on Sunday and trailed an excellent double blind, although she did decide to activate parkour mode and take us over a fallen tree lol. Tonight, Kairo and I did some play with restraint - mostly holding her back and racing to the toy. Amigo even joined us, which is unusual as his toy drive is minimal! I’m still trying to build up Kairo’s toy drive and create value in the toy. And, after being on the waitlist since December 2024, Kairo has managed to get into a Beginner Scentwork course! Looking forward to starting that in mid-April, as I think Kairo will naturally offer a freeze indication.

So here you can enjoy me flailing about like some kind of migratory fish with a couple of toys in a play session with Aster. I know I'm rusty, I see a lot of crap handling there 😂 in my defence, I've had to take a very long break from play as we've hit soooo many blocks any time I've gotten the urge to whap out the old triangle misses. Honestly we've been stuck for months - not because we didn't know how to do things but I didn't know why Aster's interest lasted for a single rep before serious zone out - I'm sure to begin with it was a pain issue with all that junk with her hind end lameness but even once that cleared up it was getting to the point I was worried it was becoming patterned behaviour. I was getting to feel frustrated any time we tried playing, which is just crazy. It's supposed to be fun!! And I'm pretty sure this was transferring to Aster, even though she's a lot more resilient to that kind of thing than the spaniel. Anyways, the last few days I have really focused on my mindset and revisited play with the intention for it to just feel fun. I don't really give a shit if she bites the rope atm, I'm just wanting her to engage and sustain interest for more than 20 seconds. It seems to be working, and I did try to commit to "running away" (more flailing) when Aster has the ball to prevent the bogging off with it. So thanks for that @Nick Benger ! https://youtu.be/RG4_l8ZNRDA?si=dSkWX8XOSQP5YNVu