The whole day today was so much better, I made our training time a much more fun time by including me running and jumping and crouching - Ripple wasn't sure what was going on and kept a very close eye on me, probably wondering what had happened to me . We went to the vet to get Ripple weighed (25.5kg, but he told them his harness weighed loads and loads ). Then tonight it was school, we only had 2 episodes of very minor biting which stopped very quickly. He did all the exercises very well and when I could see him getting bored I added in a couple of touches and twirls to make it more interesting for him - I'm not sure what the trainers thought but keeping Ripple happy and focused was more important to me. I know that I won't have this much success every day but it's shown me that no matter how bad it gets I can turn it around - especially with the help of everyone on the forum.
Great news. We have to experience the bad days in order to appreciate the good ones and you will have more and more good ones as you continue to train Ripple. Good for you. I am so pleased you sound so much more positive. xx
@SteffiS - have you been to the Falkland Estate for a walk before? There isn't too much poo around, although I would pick my spots for off lead (well, bearing in mind deer and Lilly-recall). Great dog-friendly place for coffee and cake at Pillars
@drjs@5 - that's a really good idea, thank you! We used to go out to Pillars when Ripple was very small as part of his socialisation, but with the bad weather we haven't been back for ages, and of course then he was too small for walking very far so I hadn't thought about walks on the Falkland Estate.
It's the ones that make a fuss of mine when I'm trying to get him under control that frustrate me Don't worry, I get loads of strange looks from other people too. We will get there one day.
I'm so glad you've had a better day and some fun. It's so easy to forget to just have fun sometimes. Have you tried prawns or smoked salmon as a high value reward? Dexter loves it. Seems a bit pricey but once you section it out, goes along way. He loved squirty primula too but that made him sick he doesn't seem to handle fattier foods. Once you get going on your new found fun and games, I think you'll find the biting will stop. You and Riley will soon be inseparable
Really very happy to hear you had a better day! Keep on with it - and looking forward to your new thread, as Mags says, called 'Having a much better time with Ripple'
I was thinking about using sardines as he loves his sardine biscuits but I need to find a way of dispensing them without getting all my clothes and everything covered in fish and oil . I'm sure I've seen something you can put them in to make it easy to feed them as treats - not sure whether it was on the forum or on a gun dog link on Facebook.
I find the Squeezy Tube really good for dispensing sardines, pop it in my pocket and it's dishwasher safe too!! You can buy them on Amazon.
I bought some salmon paste in a tube (for dogs) from ZooPlus last time I did a food order. I think it is salmon and potato based - stupidly awkward thread on the lid but Lilly did some fab retrieving on the beach with it This is the link to the thread Sardine Dispenser
Oh my, I just read the sardine dispenser thread and laughed my head off! I especially liked the part about finding a gun type syringe so that you could 'point and shoot' blended sardines!! Haha
