The Trials and Tribulations of Owning and Training a Puppy! Part 6

I think my biggest hurdle this week has been making time to do some training with Brin on his own. This is truly important for his recall on walks but also for his competitive obedience work.

The scent has taken a back seat this week (and last), it’s really important to prioritise what needs the most work and not to stress about what you can’t achieve because of time. Don’t they say our most valuable commodity is time and you just have to make the most of what you have.

The recall is still a work in progress, but we had a brilliant session in the forest just the two of us at the weekend and another one near home on Tuesday. The second one was slightly hindered by me forgetting any treats or toys and having to improvise with pinecones - thank goodness there’s a lot of them around here!

Tuesday night is obedience training evening for us, and we go to a class around 20 minutes from home. The class is mixed ability so it’s great fun to watch dogs who are further along their competitive obedience training, and I find it helps motivate me, as well as being a really great group of people to chat with. Brin loves this class but it lasts 2 hours with everyone getting a chance to train individually around 3-4 times. We are both shattered after that, and Brin had to have a day off on Wednesday to recover.

It’s easy to forget how much sleep a young dog needs (around 18-20 hours per day) - if Brin doesn’t get enough sleep it makes him a bit tetchy (I’m the same to be fair!) and he starts being a bit hyper and doesn’t pay attention to me. This is worth bearing in mind when you are training as it will contribute to your puppy ignoring recalls and other commands. When Brin has had his rest day, he’s then back to full on crazy whippet puppy and is eager to train and play once more.