So we are on lockdown number two in England right now and that might mean lots of us are working from home again, or furlough is continuing. All this time at home with our dogs has been increasing struggles for a lot of our student’s dogs, including separation related behaviours which can also have an…
When training your dog, it is important to remember that there are many layers involved. Your dog may be able to listen to you in your lounge, or even your garden, but can they listen on a walk? Can they listen when out in new environments? With all of the dog training games we teach,…
Here is Suzi's story, an On The Ball student, recalling her previous dog training experiences and what joining On The Ball has done for her relationship with her dog Dave. I always grew up with dogs but I never trained as such. I’ve known Dave my rottie/staffie/GDS cross since he was a day old and…
Many people are pre-programmed to walk their dog three times a day, and at specific times. Do you recognise the scene? Action prompting to go out. Doing laps around the lounge or barking at the door when you pick up the lead. All these behaviours are actually stress inducing for your dogs from the frustration…
Hannah and Sam share their training journey at On The Ball with their nearly 2 year old Lurcher Noodle. Noodle came into our lives at 10 months old as a rescue from the RSPCA. He was full of life and a complete live wire! Having recently lost our placid 14 year old Greyhound, we knew…
Calmness is a concept that a lot of dog owners struggle with. But I want to assure you that dogs CAN be trained to learn how to be calm. There really is hope for EVERY dog. In my previous blog 'Can you teach a dog to be calm?'we talked about some key management steps you…
Calmness is a concept in dogs that some find easier to master than others. When your puppy or dog is overtired, excitable, and won’t relax, we can often think that the only way to tire them out and get them to sleep is by taking them for longer walks, or playing for longer. Does it…
Some people have never ONCE taken their dog to training. That might be because they think their dog doesn’t need training, they think it’s expensive, or they even think that dog training is just a bunch of ‘useless’ tricks. I WANT YOU TO SHARE THIS BLOG WITH THEM! If we want to make sure our…
Socialisation is something of a mystery to a lot of new puppy owners. The term socialisation actually means ‘the activity of mixing socially with others’ or ‘the process of learning to behave in a way that is acceptable to society’ So, how on earth do we apply such a broad meaning to our dogs and…
The weather is improving, the sun is shining, the heat is rising and you are loving life right now! But let’s make sure we don’t forget about our canine companions! In the UK our annual average temperature is 14 degrees, so when we have a heat wave, or random days of temperatures soaring into the…